Unread Messages (5)

"JessicaFullTimer: Huh? What's this. The world's still not over? What happened? Wasn't Han Gyeo-ul supposed to be buried alive? Did he finally pay real money for the game? No way, I definitely left after confirming he rejected every DLC the viewers tried to gift him, though?"

"Musiell: Nope, Lol, the soldiers saved him before he suffocated, kekeke."

"JessicaFullTimer: What...did you say? What the hell, then how much did I miss? Anything big happen? Don't tell me the streamer finally had sex while I was gone or something?"

"Musiell: Tsk tsk. Such lack of faith. Still expecting sex in this stream, huh."

"JessicaFullTimer: So he didn't? ... Well, I guess not."

"SweetMocha: But really, you missed a bunch, Lol. The mutants were so freaky when they ran over the water."

"Storm224: For real. The visuals were intense. Even the streamer seemed a bit shocked at the time?"

"JessicaFullTimer: What are you talking about? What, the mutant's supposed to be Jesus? How do you run on water?"

"groseillier noir: Not Jesus, Peter, obviously. Since he fell through in the middle."

"OlympicsGold: Peter, Lol, that's a holy punchline."

"JessicaFullTimer: Damn! Now I'm curious. Maybe I left too soon... I should've waited a bit longer."

"AppSoonie: Don't think you were too hasty. I was about to leave too, tbh."

"EastVillageSmeagol: Christ. Isn't this too much, honestly? If you're going to broadcast, a 'Return from Death' DLC is a must! Maybe the BJ's too young to get it—doesn't even know common courtesy, no consideration for the audience, totally clueless."

"9thGradeCivilServant: Courtesy? Why are you bringing that up here?"

"EastVillageSmeagol: Isn't it obvious? If you're running a commercial broadcast and taking money from viewers, at the very least, you shouldn't end it with a random death. Who gave you permission to die in the middle?"

"Storm224: Feels like there was some idiot like this before... Is it a new crop of morons? Human greed is endless, and so are their mistakes."

"DoomtsDoDoomts: I'm that idiot from before. Kid's talking reckless. Wanna die?"

"ActiveXStaresDown: Don't fight, you bank security programs."

"Wilma: Secure brogram?"

"ActiveXStaresDown: Sounds right but actually useless in reality."

"Wilma: LOL."

"Don'tPitchWithNames: If they get banned, it's their own loss. In the end, they just watch because it's fun."

[Don'tPitchWithNames has gifted 100 stars.]

"DoomtsDoDoomts: I should just stop talking."

"Storm224: Yeah, do that."

"DoomtsDoDoomts: Seriously..."

"BanditHom: -------------Cut line (From here it's the normal people)-------------"

[SweetMocha has gifted 100 stars.]

"SweetMocha: LOL I'm totally normal, starting with me."

"SweetMocha: But actually, after watching all along, isn't it kind of an advantage to not have DLC?"

"SweetMocha: Since he's weak, it makes it tense, makes you root for him more, and since it's over if he dies once, it's scarier, makes you immerse more..."

"OlympicsGold: Yeah. Honestly, other 「After the Apocalypse」 streams don't have that sense of suspense. They don't get the setting. Do you know how that original star-sellout old guy's show is doing?"

"HardKay: Original star-sellout? Ah, that Park Woo-chul or whatever, right?"

"OlympicsGold: Yup. That old man's also doing 「After the Apocalypse」 lately. Before I came to this channel I was watching his stream."

"HardKay: But what's the old guy like? Is he any fun at the game?"

"OlympicsGold: Nah, boring as hell. Doesn't make up for it with skill at all. Last I checked he'd bought the 'Unlimited Power' DLC. Was shooting lightning from his hands, fighting a gamma Grumble. Looked like a total idiot..."

"Mustafa: Lightning, Lol, I can't even imagine. If you put that on this streamer, it'd be so jarring. I get that people have their tastes, but I like the more realistic approach."

"OlympicsGold: There's ups and downs for everyone. Cheaper sex and vicarious thrills. The old man really has that bossy vibe down. His catchphrase is, 'If you want to live, strip, you bitch.'"

"Eeektah: After that, doesn't he say, 'Now, feel what it's like to be alive!' while doing it?"

"1BillionLoan: LOL, total nutjob. How do you even come up with lines like that?"

"ProudPrincess♡: That's horrid -_-"

"YeominROCK: It's kind of oddly entertaining. Explains why he makes good money. But nothing stays with you after watching."

"YeominROCK: The old guy even does love as DLC."

"YeominROCK: Like, 'Cupid's arrow! Activate!' then the girl goes 'Hyaaang, I love you, heart, boom boom,' all that crap, Lol."

"Eeektah: Hey, but actually, that's kind of fun to watch! Doesn't bother with buildup, just gets right to the action."

"OldSpice: Then why are you here?"

"Eeektah: Because this is more fun."

"OldSpice: LOL"

"Eeektah: LOL"

"Eeektah: Even with the same title, DLC changes the world completely, but still, the old guy's apocalypse and this channel's are way too different. Hilarious."

"1BillionLoan: Nothing new about that. Look, even in the trendy 'Imperi Romanorum' setting, vanilla is just standard medieval Europe, but install the Georgius Pack and dragons start flying around in a fantasy drama."

"TeamLeaderKimMiyeong: What's 'vanilla'?"

"1BillionLoan: Stock/Plain."

"TeamLeaderKimMiyeong: And what's 'plain'?"

"1BillionLoan: It means the default version, dummy. Nothing else applied, that's 'plain' and 'vanilla.' OK?"

"TeamLeaderKimMiyeong: Thanks. You want a loan?"

"1BillionLoan: Are you nuts? Did you even look at my nickname before asking that?"

"TeamLeaderKimMiyeong: Yeah. People who already have debt grow it faster."

"1BillionLoan: FU"

"AdolfFutura: But didn't that Park Woo-chul guy become the most successful of the first generation BJs? He must've made a ton of money, so why's he still doing it? Does he really want to act like that at his age?"

"Don'tPitchWithNames: Maybe he wants to raise his Afterlife Insurance score."

"AdolfFutura: Wait—you can still raise your grade after you're in a coffin?"

"Don'tPitchWithNames: Yup, the important thing is the money."

"ElectronicAnkleMonitor: Hey, but what's the point of raising your grade anyway?"

"FavoriteLook: The most important part is your AI improves, apparently?"

"ElectronicAnkleMonitor: Huh? Don't they use the same artificial intelligence engine anyway?"

"ProudPrincess♡: It's a hardware difference."

"Don'tPitchWithNames: Hardware's fine as an explanation, but more specifically, it's a gap in computational power."

"Don'tPitchWithNames: Each grade gets a different default computational allocation."

"Don'tPitchWithNames: Basically, the data mining time drops as you climb the ranks. The search-type AI just gets that much faster. They say above grade A, you can allocate 90% to search modules and not even notice a slowdown."

"ElectronicAnkleMonitor: Oh, that's sick. Does that mean the AI upgrade package becomes always available? Other grades, you have to subscribe to use that, right?"

"SALHAE: What an unfair world, even after death..."

"NitrogenPacked: Stop with the unfairness whining, jeez. Where else in the world is there a society with so much opportunity as ours? We're the first globally with nationwide postmortem coverage. You lose nothing after dying, and you get what you put in. All that's left is for it to go up."

"SALHAE: Was my one comment so outrageous?"

"NitrogenPacked: Outrage, Lol, who's mad? I'm just flabbergasted. People who whine about Afterlife Insurance scores are just lazy. They never think about improving their own rank, but sure love spending on DLC. Live within your means."

"SALHAE: Got it. I'll stop talking. Guess I'm the idiot."

"NitrogenPacked: Yup."

"NitrogenPacked: Society's not bad at all. It's the ones who don't try that are bad."

"20sRetiree: What a nasty attitude."

"FirstStrike: The medicine that's good for you always tastes bitter, kid."

"20sRetiree: Whatever."

"まつみん: I don't know much about Korea so I can't say, but... something about this just feels wrong..."

"9thGradeCivilServant: I wonder, does the old star-sellout himself actually enjoy this?"

"9thGradeCivilServant: I hope my afterlife isn't so ridiculous."

"AppSoonie: Depends how much effort you put in. Hit grade A with enough extra payments. Since it came up, how much did everyone deposit?"

"BillyHarrington: Not much. I'll need another 40 years of saving to maybe scrape a C rank... Haaa. If I could get to B like the streamer, I'd probably just kill myself then."

"HellExpert: 40 years? Didn't know you were that young?"

"BillyHarrington: Dummy. I mean I've put Afterlife Insurance on deferred mode and I'm topping it up more."

"HellExpert: LOL. But does it still pay out if you die by suicide? I thought it didn't?"

"BillyHarrington: Only for the base guarantee grade. If your deposits are enough, you can get paid even if you kill yourself. Not like I'm actually planning that just to raise my rank."

"BillyHarrington: Just one more month of work and I can get one more DLC. That thought is what keeps me going these days."

"HellExpert: LOL, that's hella sad, dude."

"IngrownToeNail: I'm just planning to stick to the basic guarantee. Is that not good enough?"

"DangerousUnderBlanket: That's F grade. If you want to feel frustrated enough to die again, go for it."

"IngrownToeNail: Shit, right. What am I supposed to do? My pause period is so long, it's damn hard to raise even one level."

"OldSpice: Pause period? There's such a thing?"

"IngrownToeNail: Yeah... If you have no income, you can apply for exempt status. Then you don't have to pay until you get a job. But it's a dumb move if you care about the afterlife."

"OldSpice: Is there a way to make it up?"

"IngrownToeNail: You just pay all the missed contributions plus interest in a lump sum."

"BanditHom: What, interest too?"

"HalfDarkHome: The interest can't be much, can it? Since it's not tax, doesn't the standard rate apply?"

"Don'tPitchWithNames: The Afterlife Insurance collections aren't taxes."

"HalfDarkHome: Feels like a tax anyway. So it's higher than the official rate?"

"IngrownToeNail: Same as the insurance policy loan interest."

"Jjarappappa: Policy loans... right, I remember those ads. Who actually takes that?"

"1BillionLoan: So what's the policy loan interest rate?"

"IngrownToeNail: 17.5%"

"HalfDarkHome: Holy shit, Lol, that's loan-shark rates, lMAO. Higher than I expected, I spat out my drink."

"HellExpert: LMFAO"

"MagnaCarta: Why the hell is it so high? I'm just borrowing against my own deposit. It's not like the lender is risking anything."

"NitrogenPacked: Because of old farts who didn't work when they were young."

"NitrogenPacked: All those bums are on the basic guarantee grade. To put it simply, they have no deposits. They rely on the basic pension for Afterlife Insurance, and take loans against it, so of course the rate is high."

"DdongDdaengDdaeng: Shouldn't the interest rate scale with the deposit amount? Fucking sucks. Old people sucking the lifeblood out of the young—wish all the leeches would just die."

"IngrownToeNail: Exactly. If we just got rid of those old-timers, everyone else could get better service."

"Blair: Old people ruining the country—guess it's the same everywhere. Goddamn Brexit."

"まつみん: Sorry, but everyone becomes old someday."

"GrapesOfWrath: Even if they say crap like that, they're all just life's losers. I bet they never even thought about why a basic pension exists. People should come before money."

"NitrogenPacked: Losers? Me? LOL, I've already got 1 billion saved, okay? I'm a B grade, ok? And I can keep saving more."

"HogoodHoGuGood: What, 1 billion? Is this bastard a gold spoon?"

"MagnaCarta: Pitchforks, we need pitchforks..."

"FrankSausage: Mom! Where's our family's pitchfork?"

"Mother: Check the second drawer of the fridge!"

"FrankSausage: Ugh, it's not there..."

"Mother: How many whacks do you want if I find it?"

"RewardGained: Mom came outta nowhere, Lol, what a name match, lMAO. Idiots are in sync."

"KorMericanAlliance: Why the hell is there a pitchfork in the fridge, Lol"

"Владимир: Pitchfork? What are you people talking about..."

"Владимир: Anyway, interesting stuff. Afterlife Insurance is a solid business model, but seems like there's more to cover than just ActiveX."

"groseillier noir: You've been acting like some Russian official this whole time. Is that your shtick?"

"Владимир: Who knows."

[Владимир has gifted 100,951 stars.]

---------------------------= Author's Postscript ---------------------------=

# Movie

The author likes to watch movies alone.

But ever since serializing, it's almost impossible to find time.

I still regret missing the re-release of "5 Centimeters per Second."

Grrrr...

I want to see Star Trek too... Can't even do that. Ugh...

# Q&A

Q. Nesstor: @You say your mind is getting clearer... Will the day come when the author awakens and whispers with the starlight? (Maybe that's already how the novel is being written—) And a ghoul that feels fear, does that mean it still retains some 'memories'?

A. The day of death by exhaustion draws near. / Memories? Who knows.

Q. RGZ95: @Like a boomer creature or polluting the source with tumors... yuck.

A. The story did establish it's probably not toxic, though... :)

Q. 淸流蓮: @Today as well, my inner child is restored. Gotta have that like you need water, it runs dry in the heat. Thanks again for your good work ♥

A. The writer's inner child dries up quickly too! How can I restore it? Thank you as always for your kind comments!

Q. YakaruBita: @It feels empty without comments...

A. So I decided to start them up again, little by little. Satisfied now?

Q. Gomsiju: @I buy a lot of books but e-books just don't feel like owning something, so I hesitate to buy them... It's not the same as pay-per-episode. I usually end up waiting to rent.

A. Honestly, I don't really like the lack of sense of security with e-books either... but I guess it's just how things are now. In genre literature at least, physical books are no more, no less, than romantic.

Q. Habika: @I'll buy them whether print or e-book... I really hate corpses but this is so fun. It's way more enjoyable with your recommendations!!! Without them, would web serialization even have that special flavor? Don't let yourself be pushed around by readers' demands—strike a good balance, please.^^

A. I'll stick to my convictions when it comes to writing the novel, but outside of that I'll try my best to accommodate readers. I'm amazed you're reading even though you hate corpses—thank you for enjoying it!

Q. rumen: ㅋㅋㅇㅍㅇㅈ don't you serialize there? On ㄴㅇㅂ you can pay per episode, but elsewhere do you have to buy by the book?

A. I'll be serializing on Kakao as well, but Naver wanted early serialization... Kakao will be later, if at all. I probably won't get a banner there either.

As for payment, I don't even know yet—whether it'll be by episode or by volume. Nothing set in stone. I'll let you know if I find out.

Q. CountNyang: @Here, have a coupon! I bought 3 days' worth of novels thanks to you. I regret it—actually, it's such a fun read that it's worth it. But my money... I'm too into your writing. Take care! Hail Scarlochen!

A. Scarlochen, even here... tremble tremble...

Sorry about the Seal Breaker serialization delays. After signing the contract, the Crypt takes priority. I'm already pulling all-nighters as it is...

I'm really glad you're enjoying it. I hope the Crypt makes up for Seal Breaker's absence in the meantime.