Before the war began, doomsday preppers were not a welcomed group in society.

    Looking at their traits alone, it was hard to find any qualities the world would consider virtues.

    Those who fancied themselves psychoanalysts often said that preppers’ thinking was rooted in delusions of grandeur, selfishness, and resignation.

    Well, except for the delusions of grandeur, they weren’t entirely wrong.

    I won’t deny it.

    With such thoughts, I took on debt, dug my bunker, and pandered to Kim Elder’s whims.

    But not just anyone can become a prepper.

    You have to be tough.

    You need the kind of insensitivity that allows you to remain unshaken by the deaths of people unrelated to you.

    Not to the extent of someone like the Human Hunter, who indiscriminately kills without a shred of humanity, but you must lack the ability—or the willingness—to empathize with others’ suffering.

    When the world collapses, millions of pitiful, desperate people will emerge. If you try to help them all, you’ll inevitably share their fate.

    In my mind, the ideal doomsday prepper is a cold, detached observer.@@@@

    No matter what happens around them—whether hundreds of people die or heart-wrenching tragedies unfold—they ignore it all and live solely for themselves.

    Such a person deserves to become a legend.

    After all, aren’t the last humans often spoken of as legendary?

    Unfortunately, I’ve always been a bit lacking to truly become a legend.

    *

    I learned it was coming the day after I checked the International Residence.

    After finding another place to stay for the night, I visited Gukwiwon, almost out of habit, and unexpectedly came across invaluable information.

    This kind of intel is the main reason I maintain my connection to the city.

    [Breaking through the kill zone, a massive monster is advancing south.]

    [Estimated to be of the Kraken type.]

    [Speed: approximately 22 km/h. Heading: south-southwest.]

    [Entry into Seoul has been prevented, but it is expected to circle around the outskirts.]

    [Estimated time to dissolution: approximately 56 hours.]

    In the Gukwiwon lobby, a computer provided real-time updates on classified information uploaded to the internal network.

    “A Kraken type...”

    I’d encountered one in China before.

    It’s like a living skyscraper.

    A monster capable of withstanding all known weaponry with its sheer size and armor-like skin, breaking through kill zones and shattering defensive lines as it advances.

    That said, it’s not invincible, and from my perspective, it wasn’t particularly dangerous.

    It’s unintelligent, with simple patterns of behavior, so as long as you prepare adequately, the chance of dying to it is low. Even if left alone, it eventually self-destructs.

    People like to say hunters—especially saviors—are the natural enemies of monsters. But in reality, a monster’s greatest enemy is Earth itself.

    The moment monsters cross through a rift, they begin to lose vitality and disintegrate for unknown reasons.

    Once their vitality is depleted, they break down into particles and vanish. The larger and stronger the monster, the faster this collapse occurs.

    There are exceptions, of course, but this particular monster was the kind that dissolves.

    If I had to compare it to something, I’d say it’s like a typhoon.

    It wreaks havoc on human territory, destroying everything in its path while it’s alive. But as time passes, it loses its strength and dissipates. Just like with typhoons, intelligence agencies monitor the monster’s movements and predict its path so people can prepare for its impact.

    And this “typhoon” was going to pass through my territory.

    That sent chills down my spine.

    If I hadn’t received this information and had stayed in my bunker, I’d have been like an extra in a disaster movie, obliviously partying away until—huh?—I’m wiped out without even realizing what hit me.

    How would I have died, I wonder?

    Most likely while writing a post on the community site.

    SKELTON: (Skelton Shock) "?!"

    Something like that, I imagine.

    Recently, I’ve been getting the feeling that I’ve become not just unpopular but actively avoided in the community...

    I feel like I’m in a worse position than the Human Hunter.

    But surely, I haven’t been blocked by too many people, right?

    Unfortunately, there was no word from Kim Daram.

    I understood. She didn’t know my exact location, and she was undoubtedly swamped with work.

    While lingering in the Gukwiwon lobby, I caught a glimpse of her stepping briskly into an elevator alongside stern-faced soldiers, hunter-turned-bureaucrats, and politicians.

    Still, I couldn’t help but wish she had at least sent me a warning. That would’ve been nice.

    *

    Bang!

    A gunshot echoed in the distance.

    For the first time in my life, I was caught in an attack—not directly, but it was close enough.

    The attack had happened far up ahead, completely out of sight.

    Still, it was enough to bring the entire convoy to a halt, creating the rare sight of a traffic jam in the middle of this apocalyptic wasteland.

    Police and soldiers blocked off the road, offering only one piece of advice: wait until the situation was resolved.

    After a three-hour delay, the incident finally came to an end, but by then, precious time had been wasted.

    As we passed through the area, I saw bodies scattered across the road.

    They lay sprawled out with lifeless eyes staring into the void, uncovered even by simple tarps, denied even the barest respect.

    I couldn’t tell if they were looters or victims.

    *

    I returned to my bunker immediately to prepare.

    I moved some of Kim Elder’s plants indoors, gathered camping gear, food, water, and other necessities. For observation, I took binoculars with night vision and a cheap drone.

    The most important piece of equipment was the four-wheel-drive buggy sleeping in the underground garage. Against a monster like this, mobility was key. Keeping distance was the best strategy, and in the worst case, I needed to escape before its twin death beams created a zone of obliteration.

    I poured an entire tank of long-stored, sealed gasoline into the buggy without hesitation and sent the drone up to survey the area.

    There were no immediate threats nearby. While the Gold Pack to the south was concerning, I had no plans to head in that direction.

    I parked the buggy on a low hill above my bunker and waited.

    There was still some time before the monster arrived.

    At first, my mind was blank.

    After a brief moment of emptiness, I began thinking about the monster’s expected entry point and possible escape routes. It didn’t take long. I had already simulated every potential scenario involving this area while constructing the bunker—even the appearance of a colossal monster.

    I sipped on coffee absentmindedly as I waited.

    Two hours left.

    It would show itself soon enough.

    Attached map of its path heading south -

    When no one answered, I drove straight into the sniper’s territory.

    Time was tight, so I had to cut through the Gold Pack’s area.

    Of course, the mutated dogs came chasing after me, drooling.

    “You mutts are like gaming laptops, aren’t you?”

    I evaded them with gunfire and speed, finally reaching the sniper’s territory, only to be greeted by a sharp gunshot.

    Bang!

    The bullet struck the ground at my feet, kicking up dust.

    I grabbed the radio and spoke.

    “Didn’t you hear me? You’re all going to die!”

    No response.

    I tried again.

    “Are you going to let your daughter die too?”

    That worked.

    The sniper and her daughter emerged from the darkness.

    “Skelton!”

    The girl smiled brightly and waved at me.

    “The car?”

    The sniper shook her head.

    “Gasoline. Spoiled.”

    “Get in.”

    I hadn’t expected them to get in right away. I thought I’d have to convince them.

    But the sniper surprised me by climbing into the car with ease.

    “Seen it.”

    She fumbled through the words in her broken Korean as she fastened her seatbelt.

    “Seen what?”

    “Monster.”

    Ah, so that’s why she was so cooperative.

    “Hold on tight.”

    We drove away, putting as much distance as possible between us and her territory.

    From a small hill overlooking the area, we watched as the colossal monster appeared.

    A massive figure, like a building with legs, trampled the ground with contempt and fired net-like beams of malevolent light, erasing everything living in its path.

    The death beams, which destroyed only living things, narrowly missed my bunker.

    If I’d been there, I wouldn’t have died cleanly.

    I probably would’ve been sliced in half.

    Even the battle-hardened sniper was reduced to a trembling lamb in the face of this otherworldly horror.

    As I watched them, I spoke.

    “Hold still for a moment.”

    “What?”

    “Photo. Smile.”

    “Why?”

    “I have a printer at home. I’ll make you a copy.”

    Even in a world like this, you need memories.

    By coincidence, just as I snapped the photo, the typhoon vanished from our territory.

    The monster that had trampled the earth and scorched all living things was consumed by radiant light, disintegrating into particles and fading away.

    Against the dark, barren landscape, the shimmering gold fragments drifting in the wind were hauntingly beautiful.

    “...It’s beautiful.”

    The girl murmured in awe, her mother holding her hand as they both watched the mingling of what belonged to this world and what didn’t.

    Click.

    A single photo was saved to my folder.

    *

    SKELTON: (Skelton Photo) Untitled03

    My photo sparked a modest reaction within the community.

    I collected a rare number of comments and even received a few likes.

    Many commented on how cute the girl in the photo was.

    Some asked what kind of photo it was, but I chose not to answer out of respect for the sniper family’s privacy.

    Unfortunately, my warning and the information I shared didn’t end up being very helpful to my community members.

    None of them were located in the monster’s path.

    Even Keystone, whom I thought might have died, turned out to be alive.

    Keystone: "I thought I was going to die from food poisoning."

    Did that bastard block me or something?!

    Whatever.

    The person I wished would block me didn’t, though.

    Defender: "Skelton, this is seriously impressive. You’ve got a sense of aesthetics. Your handling of light is a bit rough, but your composition is solid."

    If it ended there, I could let it slide.

    But Defender, of all people, decided to take an even greater interest in me.

    It could’ve been worse.

    Soon after, I received a message from him, complete with an attached photo.

    In the photo, my back was clearly visible, sitting in the four-wheel buggy alongside the sniper and her daughter.

    Message from Defender:

    "Skelton. This is you, right?"

    SKELTON: "Nope."

    Message from Defender:

    "Thanks for saving my life. I owe you one. I’ll repay this debt someday."

    “...Ha.”