Chapter 12

The Apocalypse Game I Created Became Reality Chapter 12

“...”

I stared at the screen for a while.

For a moment, I considered not answering.

But.

‘Honestly, I am curious what she has to say.’

If I were still working at the company, it would have been an awkward relationship.

‘But that’s not the case anymore.’

Press.

Soon, I tapped the call button.

“Hello.”

- Oh my, Yi-hyeon~ It’s been a while.

Her voice was extremely friendly.

Far beyond what I had expected, just like the call itself.

“What brings you to call me at this hour, Assistant Manager Lee...?”

- Oh, don’t be so stiff. We did work at the same company, after all.

If she had just been an ordinary former coworker, I probably wouldn’t have reacted this sensitively.

But the last image I had of Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jeong was...

‘With the CEO...’

I sighed and cleared away the stray thoughts.

Just remembering it made me feel filthy.

“I’d appreciate it if you could keep this brief and get to the point.”

-...

A brief silence passed over the phone.

And a moment later.

- Fine. If you’re going to be like that, I’ll ask you directly.

That was exactly what I wanted.

- Yi-hyeon. Do you happen to use Blind×?

“What?”

- You know, the community mainly used by office workers. Haven’t you heard of it?

“I know what it is, but I don’t use it.”

- Really?

I tilted my head without realizing it.

Why on earth was she asking me something like this?

- It’s nothing else, but a post went up there today. And it became a popular post not long after.

“What kind of post?”

- A story about someone confronting the CEO before quitting. Of course, it says ‘new company,’ so it doesn’t reveal which company it is... but our company is classified as a ‘new company’ on Blind× too, you know?

Ah.

Only now did I understand why she had called.

“It wasn’t me.”

- Ah, of course it wasn’t. Yi-hyeon, you’re not that kind of person...

“I’m hanging up now.”

- Why are you in such a hurry? Like someone with a guilty conscience.

At that moment, Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jeong’s voice changed slightly.

A layer of friendliness peeled away.

“I clearly told you it wasn’t me.”

- If it wasn’t, then that’s a relief... but just in case, let me say a few more things.

Without waiting for my response, Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jeong continued saying what she wanted to say.

- There’s such a thing as professional conduct, you know. We should respect the things that need to be respected between each other, right?

“And?”

- Especially when it comes to things that happen inside leaking outside. So I’m just saying we shouldn’t do anything that could cause misunderstandings. Defamation and things like that are scarier than you think these days. You know it can still become a problem even if what you say is true, right?

There was no value in listening any further.

So I was about to end the call around there.

- But that game you worked so hard on. Last Protocol. Did you hear that it’s shutting down this time?

Hm?

“Yes, I saw.”

- I knew you would have.

Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jeong spoke in a strangely bright voice.

- It’s a shame, isn’t it? It was a game we all stayed up all night making together. But the company didn’t really have a choice either. It just kept costing money, and there weren’t any users. The CEO put up with it for a long time too.

To paraphrase.

‘So basically, I’m the root cause because I made a failed game in the first place?’

Anyway... I was getting sick and tired of this damn company by now.

“Don’t call me like this again.”

- Yi-hyeon.

“Calling someone who already quit at this hour to talk about confidentiality and defamation isn’t exactly normal either, is it?”

- It’s not that late.

“I wasn’t saying that so you could nitpick my wording. I’m hanging up now.”

- No, wait...!

Click.

I ended the call immediately.

Then I cleanly blocked her number too.

Not just Assistant Manager Lee Hye-jeong, but while I was at it, everyone categorized under the company.

‘It’s not like I was close to anyone there anyway.’

Of course, at the time, I had no idea.

How much this action of mine would make the people at the company fret later on.

_____________

That night, I didn’t have the energy left to do any more work.

I had captured a precursor entity, experimented on it, and even experienced leveling up. On top of that, I had received an exhausting call from the company.

Maybe my mind was more tired than my body?

“Haah...”

After returning to the base, I dropped down onto the workshop floor.

These days, I was practically using this place as my home.

I had also spoken with the landlord of my previous home and moved out a few days ago.

Of course, I got the full thirty-million-won deposit back too.

‘In this situation, money is basically ammunition.’

Maybe because of that, I was getting used to the old fluorescent lights, the low hum of the ventilation shaft, and even the noise from the equipment room beyond the wall.

Still,

“It’s way too bleak.”

If the atmosphere is too bleak, a person breaks down.

It was the same in Last Protocol.

One of the systems players complained about the most was.

[Sanity]

...This one.

It wasn’t as intuitive as hunger or thirst, but it was a stat that tormented players far more persistently.

‘I did make it as a reflection of reality in its own way.’

If you stay alone for too long, your sanity drops.

If you stay in the dark too long, it drops.

If you keep eating the same food, it drops.

If you go too long without speaking, it drops.

“It was a stat people hated even in the game.”

Reality would probably be worse.

I turned on the laptop.

This time, instead of looking at survival materials, I created a folder.

[Offline_Entertainment]

The name was a little funny.

An entertainment folder for apocalypse preparation.

But it was necessary.

Surviving isn’t just about remaining alive.

If you want to endure, you need a reason to endure.

Slide.

I organized things one by one by category.

Movies, dramas, variety shows, music, e-books, web novel backups, comics, packaged games, board game rule PDFs, cooking recipes, workout videos, meditation music.

I carefully saved all of it onto an external hard drive.

“Is meditation music a little much...?”

I thought about it for a moment, but included it anyway.

Something like this might become necessary later.

I also split the data between two hard drives.

One to use in the workshop, and another to store inside a waterproof pack.

‘You never know what might happen.’

I also bought another used tablet.

Along with an e-book reader, a small Bluetooth speaker, earphones, a rechargeable radio, playing cards, and a few small board games.

‘I don’t know if I’ll ever have trustworthy companions in an apocalypse.’

Still, preparation needed to be thorough.

“...That’s enough for today.”

Lastly, I wrote a sentence in my notebook.

「Mental health is a resource too.」

If it gets depleted, naturally, it has to be replenished.

______________

The next day.

I opened the defensive equipment list again.

After personally facing a precursor entity, I had realized something for certain.

‘Information alone isn’t enough.’

Becoming physically stronger was important, but ‘gear advantage’ was even more important.

“Guns are impossible, for starters.”

This was South Korea.

Firearms weren’t realistic.

I had excluded them from the plan from the very beginning.

Instead, I selected things that could legally be prepared under the current circumstances.

‘For sports, training, decoration, self-defense, work...’

Of course, I had no intention of buying just anything indiscriminately.

‘I can’t stand out too much.’

Anything that required permission had to go through the proper procedures, and storage had to comply with regulations too.

Buying too much would draw suspicion.

“Hmm...”

I had already looked into it in considerable detail over the past month.

I had even contacted the police station and carefully checked whether certain items could be imported.

‘Protective equipment like gas masks or stab-resistant vests can be obtained freely without permission.’

The problem was offensive weapons.

Especially bladed weapons, which absolutely required prior authorization.

Still,

‘I can learn how to sharpen blades and sharpen one myself later.’

Anyway, I prepared the equipment by category too.

For protective gear, I bought a stab-resistant vest, cut-resistant gloves, a gas mask, and various protective pads.

For training equipment, I obtained a bow and bladed weapons after going through the required authorization procedures.

Of course, only in small quantities, enough not to draw suspicion.

Third, I looked into ‘traps’ for dealing with intruders.

Animal capture equipment sold for preventing damage from wild boars or stray dogs.

‘I don’t intend to stay hidden inside the base forever, but at least the base, my only place to rest, has to be safe.’

In the afternoon, I moved on to food production.

Stockpiling was important too.

Canned food, rice, pasta, oatmeal, salt, sugar, cooking oil.

Naturally, those all had to be gathered.

But.

‘There’s a limit to just stockpiling finished products.’

After the end, buying more would be difficult.

So what I needed was.

“Growing things.”

There were too many variables outside.

Assuming the worst, I needed to prepare at least the bare minimum.

‘Food that can be grown underground.’

The first thing that came to mind was vegetables.

Lettuce, herbs, sprouts, bean sprouts, microgreens, mushrooms, and so on.

‘I remember hearing something like that before.’

That there were underground facilities storing various seeds in preparation for nuclear war, and some even grew them deep below ground.

‘Sprouts and bean sprouts especially don’t take up much space.’

They grow quickly too.

Meaning they could be cultivated to some extent even without sunlight.

‘As long as the water is managed properly.’

On top of that, there were plenty of other benefits to expect, such as psychological stability.

Creak! Creak!

Afterward, I assembled a small growing rack.

Dedicated grow lights, water trays, seeds, growing medium, a spray bottle, hygrometer, ventilation fan, and so on.

From the outside, it just looked like an ordinary indoor gardening hobby that plenty of people had.

‘This is actually pretty fun in its own way.’

I started by growing bean sprouts and sprout vegetables as an experiment.

Of course, I wasn’t expecting much.

The goal wasn’t production volume.

Checking the environment, humidity, smell, insects, mold, and water consumption.

That was what I wanted to examine.

‘Especially since there are some things that should definitely be worth growing in a basement like this.’

Mushrooms.

Of course, I had to be careful about moisture and smell.

If you grow them wrong underground, it turns into mold hell.

But if successful, they can become a good way to supplement protein and texture.

‘Of course, not enough to replace meat.’

Still, it would be better than nothing.

“Calories separately.”

Carbohydrates from rice and grains.

Fat from cooking oil and nuts.

Protein from canned food, dried legumes, and protein powder.

Freshness from sprouts and mushrooms...

‘Complete self-sufficiency is ridiculous.’

That was impossible in a 92-square-meter basement.

But supplementing missing nutrients.

Delaying the hell of a monotonous diet.

That much was possible.

‘I’ll have to get the rest from the outside world.’

I scattered the first seeds onto the growing rack.

Small, insignificant seeds.

In a few days, sprouts would emerge from here.

It was such an ordinary part of everyday life, but strangely, it calmed me a little.

Spritz! Spritz! Spritz!

I sprayed only a little water.

Someday, when the outside world was dying, small patches of green might grow down here underground.

“...”

I imagined that scene for a moment.

A dark, damp basement.

Supplies lined up on shelves.

Locked doors.

The world beyond the ventilation shaft, and sprouts growing inside...

‘...I hope they grow well.’

That was what I was thinking when it happened.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

“Hm?”

My phone buzzed several times in quick succession.

「Last Protocol Guild Open Group Chat」

When I checked, it was the open group chat that had become fairly active over the past month.

‘A replacement, I suppose, now that the in-game communication channel is gone?’

- VegetableCracker: It’s really boring now that the service ended.

- PeninsulaPrince: Shouldn’t we have an offline meetup or something?

- VegetableCracker: Out of nowhere?

- PeninsulaPrince: Honestly, it feels like a shame to just let things end like this. Think about how long we played together.

- VegetableCracker: Are you serious?

- PeninsulaPrince: I’m always serious. Since it came up, why don’t we actually have a meetup this time?

Oh.