ㅇㅇ: “Hey, doesn’t this look like Filkrum’s art style?”
ㅇㅇ: “Yeah, feels like Filkrum drew it.”
ㅇㅇ: “Maybe DragonC is just mimicking it?”
ㅇㅇ: “Nah, this is DragonC’s revenge. Remember when Filkrum plagiarized and messed with him before?”
SKELTON: “Hmph…”
ㅇㅇ: “Hmph, my ass, you noob.”

The mixed reception to DragonC’s latest work was inevitable.

After all, it was Filkrum who drew it.

I had given him a few ground rules, one of which was that, no matter what, he must never reveal he was Filkrum.

As a result, DragonC reinvented himself as a mysterious artist who communicated solely through his works.

But, of course, challenges arose.

Message from DragonC: “Hey, people on the Viva! forum keep sending me messages and acting all buddy-buddy. What should I do?”

“Hmm…”

SKELTON: “Ignore or block them.”

Message from DragonC: “Got it. I’ll do that. But, uh, what if my wife or kid gets sick, or we need to go outside?”

SKELTON: “Send me a message. I’ve got basic stuff like painkillers and antibiotics.”

Message from DragonC: “Thank you. Really. And I’m sorry for all of this. I don’t even know how to express it…”

SKELTON: “Time will sort it out.”

And I meant it.

Time has a way of fixing everything. Whether fast or slow, our fates inevitably converge on the same endpoint.

gijayangban: “Large-scale eruption observed at the Paju Gate.”
gijayangban: “Reports indicate the presence of colossal-tier monsters.”
gijayangban: “I’ll post updates as the situation develops.”

For once, our journalist friend was doing their job.

Their intel was hot off the press, even before it made its way to the crowded Failnet forums.

“…”

I sighed. Of all the videos I’d hoarded before the war, not one was about operating an espresso machine.

Sure, I enjoyed coffee, but I wasn’t someone who couldn’t live without it. Instant mix coffee had always been a perfectly fine substitute.

Fiddling with the machine by instinct, I managed to brew something drinkable, though it lacked the richness of what DragonC used to make. Maybe I should invite Defender’s sister—she used to work at a café—to teach me how to use it properly.

As I sipped my mediocre coffee, I refreshed the forum, waiting for more news from gijayangban.

gijayangban: “Five colossal-tier monsters confirmed.”
gijayangban: “Heading south—two directly south, one southeast, two southwest.”
gijayangban: “Map of projected paths attached.”

An hour after the post, an emergency alert blared over the shortwave radio.

“This is an emergency disaster broadcast. Five colossal-tier monsters have emerged in Paju. Four are moving south. The exact routes are being tracked. Residents in affected areas are advised to evacuate to nearby shelters and follow the instructions of local authorities. This includes Paju, Uijeongbu, Yangju, Goyang, Gimpo…”

I glanced at gijayangban’s map while the radio droned on.

The paths of the two heading directly south seemed troubling.

They’d pass through Seoul—that was a given. But after that? Would they hit Incheon, or, as before, take a sharp turn and end up in my territory? Or maybe they’d be neutralized before getting that far.

The destination of monsters was anyone’s guess. One thing was clear, though:

Paju was now officially monster territory.

No, scratch that. The entire northern region was now their domain.

I imagined it looking like those satellite photos of North Korea: a bleak expanse of gray, drained of life.

gijayangban: “Four colossal-tier monsters advancing southward.”
gijayangban: “Two heading due south, one southeast, one southwest.”
gijayangban: “Attached: Updated projected paths image.jpg.”

About an hour later, my K-Walkie emitted a distinct ping.

Personal ID: REDMASK.

It was Woo Min-hee.

Speak of the devil.

What could she want?

Honestly, I didn’t want to answer. Every interaction with her left me in a foul mood.

But ignoring her wasn’t an option.

If I didn’t pick up, she’d start suspecting me. And with her sharp intuition and tendency to jump to conclusions, it wouldn’t take long for her to figure out my identity as Skelton.

I cleared my throat, then answered.

“Min-hee! What’s up?”

“Hey, senior~.”

Her voice, though tinged with her usual playfulness, didn’t sound hostile.

“You’re listening to the radio, right?”

“Uh, yeah, sure am!”

“There might be a Kraken-type monster heading toward where I dropped you off last time.”

“Wait, you called just to tell me that?”

“Of course! You’re my senior, after all. Can’t have you dying on me—there’d be no one left to attend your funeral!”

“Min-hee…”

I was… oddly touched.

We’d been through a lot, but she was still my junior, someone I’d fought alongside.

For a moment, all the resentment I’d felt toward her seemed to melt away.

Maybe Woo Min-hee wasn’t so bad after all?

“By the way, do you know ‘Eomchang’?”

“!!!”

Forget what I just said.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Uh, Eomchang? What’s that? Some kind of curse word?”

“Don’t you use the internet?”

“Internet? What’s that?”

“…”

“Oh! You mean that thing on computers? Like Yahoo? Lycos?”

“What era are you living in?”

“I haven’t touched the internet in years.”

“I see.”

She chuckled.

“Figures. You were always the type to avoid group chats and stuff. Always acting so high and mighty.”

“….”

“Anyway, your ID reminded me of someone weird. Just thought I’d ask.”

“My ID? You mean Skelton?”

“Yeah. Weird guy who does beatboxing. Feels like someone old trying to act young. Like, fifty? No, more like sixty. Oh, wait.”

Someone was calling her on the other end.

“Gotta go.”

The line went dead.

Rude as always, but honestly, her abruptness felt like a blessing this time.

I hurried to my laptop.

SKELTON: (Skelton’s Beatbox Video #3)

A video I’d uploaded over a year ago.

“Would you like to delete this video?”

“…”

Deleting it wasn’t an option.

That would only raise more suspicion.

Suppressing the urge, I clicked play to check it.

Thankfully, my past self had been more cautious than I remembered.

The video was just a dark screen, with a faint silhouette of a figure moving occasionally. All you could hear was the beatboxing.

“Boom-chk-boom! Pssh! Chk-chk-boom!”

Listening to it now, I found myself involuntarily bobbing my head along to the rhythm.

Everything seemed fine.

Except…

There were comments I hadn’t noticed before.

Kyle_Dos: “Man, this sucks.”
mmmmmmmmm: “You’re trash~ trash~ gonna die alone in your bunker~ I’m off to ‘The Hope,’ lol.”
keystone: “I wanna punch this idiot in the face.”
SeamonkeyPAPA: “*********”
Anonymous848: “Wow.”
DragonC: “(shocked face emoji)”

What the hell was this?

Still, seeing those old usernames brought back memories. Some of them were long gone now, either dead or disappeared.

Sighing, I closed the video and started prepping my vehicle.

“Defender, you there?”

Da-jung answered, as she usually did.

“Skelton! What’s up?”

“What’s your brother doing?”

“Sleeping. He sleeps more than you’d think.”

“You heard the radio?”

“Yeah. Think it’ll make it all the way here?”

“Last year, one got pretty close.”

“Really? Is it dangerous?”

“Very.”

“How should we prepare?”

“Get a vehicle ready. If it shows up, run until it’s out of sight.”

“We’ve got a scooter.”

“A scooter isn’t gonna cut it.”

I wasn’t too worried about them—they were resourceful enough to handle themselves.

Just as I was about to hang up, Da-jung brought up something new.

“Oh, Skelton. Did you see DragonC’s latest chapter?”

“Yeah.”

“How about that? Doesn’t seem like DragonC drew it. Looks more like Filkrum’s style. Could it be...?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’re collaborating. They’re both artists, after all.”

“Hmm. Did DragonC actually take Filkrum in?”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

I hadn’t yet told Defender about what happened to DragonC.

Still, it was only a matter of time.

I was already planning for the opportunity.

“Skelton!”

I had an idea to bring my sharpshooter neighbors and the Defender siblings together in one place.

“What’s up, Sue? Where’s your mom?”

“She’s napping.”

“Still on the internet?”

“She found some shocking news online.”

“What kind of news?”

“She said she’ll explain it herself.”

“It’s not something weird, is it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s juicy?”

“Juicy or not, you heard the radio, right?”

“Yeah, but do you think it’ll come all the way here?”

“Who knows? Better be prepared just in case.”

I made all the necessary preparations and kept my ear to the radio.

The monotone voice of the radio broadcaster continually updated us on the location of the colossal creatures, broadcasting through fragile airwaves.

“Colossal-class Unit 3 has passed through Seoul and is moving south. Currently approaching Suwon, where it is expected to dissipate.”

I climbed the hill that sheltered my bunker and peered north through my binoculars.

The northern landscape was barren, save for the faint lights of a few pioneer outposts. Beyond that, nothing but darkness.

But above, the sky was full of stars.

Beneath an infinity of stars, I waited for the guests.

In the distance, a glowing light began to spread.

The radio spoke again.

“Colossal-class Unit 3 has dissipated. Dissipation confirmed. Moving on to updates for Unit 4.”

This time, the monsters hadn’t made it into my territory.

It looked like I’d have to postpone the meeting between the sharpshooter mother-daughter duo and the Defender siblings.

For a moment, I stood atop the hill, watching the colossal-class disappear into the night.

The death of a monster—especially one of the colossal-class—always had a way of captivating the human gaze.

My communication device suddenly buzzed.

“Skelton. Are you seeing this? The lights in the north are so beautiful!”

It was Da-jeong.

She was witnessing the same scene I was.

“Is that a monster’s death?”

“Yeah.”

“...It looks like butterflies made of light. Countless of them.”

She sounded mesmerized, as if it were her first time seeing the dissolution of a colossal-class.

Well, anyone seeing it for the first time would speak of its beauty.

Because the death of a monster truly is beautiful.

Bzzzzt—

Another signal came through the radio.

“Skelton!”

This time, it was Sue.

“Are you watching? The monster is dying!”

“Hey, Skelton.”

Rebecca must have joined her.

“We’re hungry. Give me some chocolate.”

“...”

I stayed silent, and Sue’s voice came through again, scolding.

“Why does Mom keep saying weird stuff? That’s why Dad left us!”

“...Sorry. But Sue, Skelton—the monster dying, isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yeah.”

Just then, the collapsing monster tilted violently, expelling what seemed like thousands of butterflies, scattering the sky with particles of light.

Perhaps that’s why.

Both my radio and my communication device fell silent.

I too watched the infinite butterflies Da-jeong had mentioned.

“...”

I hope human deaths can be like that too someday.

That day, most of the people who refused—or were unable—to leave Seoul met their end.