If you grew up with the internet, you’ve probably seen your favorite childhood sites or games vanish without a trace.

If you’re from an earlier generation, you’ve probably experienced seeing the amusement parks or restaurants you visited with your family replaced by apartment complexes or different eateries.

Within similar memories, a boy comes to understand that growing older means facing the relentless passage of time—and that time doesn’t always move in a direction favorable to him.

From the moment I joined Viva! Apocalypse!, I’d already accepted the fact that it would eventually decline and collapse.

At best, three years.

I figured that if I could share meaningful information with other doomsday preppers during those three years, it’d be well worth the investment.

But thanks to humanity’s unexpected tenacity and positivity, and the discovery of technologies no one had anticipated, Viva! Apocalypse! became even more crowded and vast than it had been at its launch.

Still, even Viva! Apocalypse! couldn’t escape its moment of decline.

The departure of VivaBot symbolized the end of an era.

VIVA_BOT014: The deal between Melon and the government fell through. Melon had agreed to hand over admin rights for Viva! Apocalypse! in exchange for being sent to Earth—but as you know, the U.S. is in a state of civil war now.

VIVA_BOT014: Honestly, even though the Stargazing Obelisk Company I work for is based in one of the safest zones among the 50 states, that safety was only possible thanks to the goodwill of the U.S. government. Now that Melon and the U.S. have severed ties completely, that support is being withdrawn.

VIVA_BOT014: Half the servers have shut down, and maintenance has stopped. I don’t know what role Necropolis plays, but the entire board’s stability is going to be shaken soon.

“...”

With a shallow sigh, I began typing on the keyboard.

Tak tak tak

SKELTON: So in the end, the problem is Melon Mask?

That’s the heart of it.

If Melon Mask stopped his rampage and handed over admin privileges to the U.S. government, at the very least, the forum and VivaBot could be stabilized.

VIVA_BOT014: Probably.

VivaBot didn’t sound confident at all.

And understandably so.

VIVA_BOT014: He’s ignoring everything I say, even though I’m part of the company staff.

Even employees like VivaBot had been completely shut out.

SKELTON: Hm... I see...

In any case, what’s clear is that Melon Mask is the root of the problem.

He needs to be persuaded.

*

How do you persuade Melon Mask?

That’s a hell of a tall order.

Melon Mask is fussy, temperamental, and absurdly narcissistic.

Honestly, if he weren’t talented, I wouldn’t want anything to do with him.

“It’s not gonna be easy. Dealing with Melon always felt like trying to talk to a self-declared king. He insists on staying at the head of the table. To him, you, me, Dongtanmom—we’re just circus monkeys putting on a show.”

M9 had a closer personal rapport with Melon Mask than I ever did.

Being able to get along with all kinds of people isn’t just a matter of having a good personality. It takes tact and adaptability—the ability to read the room and adjust to each person’s unique quirks.

After scrolling through his old chats with Melon on his phone, M9 shook his head.

“The world’s most precious ‘Me’ is going to die, right? No matter what we say, it won’t get through to him.”

That might’ve been his honest conclusion based on all his observations, but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

What I wanted was a sliver of hope.

Problem is, there’s no one left to offer it.

With a soulless gaze, I refreshed the message board again, racking my brain for some way to soothe Melon Mask.

All the times we managed to appease him—it was all just a show.

A show for his sake. Or a show where he was the star.

Two very different kinds of performances, but legendary ones nonetheless. Each time, we barely managed to delay the end of Viva! Apocalypse!

But even the sweetest lullaby gets old after three days.

We’d already maxed out our potential with those legendary shows. The thought of putting together another one left a bad taste in my mouth.

And honestly, even I—Skeleton, the very star of the Great General Show—wasn’t confident I could top it.

That miracle wasn’t just mine. It was thanks to the soldiers and citizens of Seoul, the unseen supporters behind the scenes, and my comrades.

And one of those comrades had stayed behind in Gyeongju.

I’d probably never see them again.

Then maybe there was only one option left.

“...Do I have to step in myself?”

I tried everything. Thought through every possible angle.

But in the end, it seemed there was no other way than for Skeleton—legendary namefag, Viva! Apocalypse! itself—to personally confront Melon Mask.

Sure, Melon Mask might’ve created Viva! Apocalypse!, but Skeleton was its brightest star.

“I’ll reach out to him publicly.”

At the moment, Melon Mask had blocked all messages.

No need to message him directly.

Right now, he personally censors every single post that mentions him on the board.

There’s suspicion he’s using a bot, but I can tell. I’m a fellow attention seeker.

Melon Mask checks everything, even the insults.

And if that post is from someone on his level—or maybe even above? Someone like Skeleton?

He won’t ignore it.

SKELTON: Yo, Melon~! Long time no see. How about some quality bro time? ㅇㅅㅇ

A hunter always moves forward.

The notification popped up immediately.

A reply from Melon Mask.

SKELTON: Yo, Melon~! Long time no see. How about some quality bro time? ㅇㅅㅇ

ㄴMELON_MASK: GET LOST!!!!!!!

“?!”

[ You have been banned from the forum! ]

*

VIVA_BOT014: I’m really sorry, Skeleton. Melon deleted your account entirely. We can’t recover it. Our admin access is blocked too.

umchang: (Skeleton makes a shocked noise) THUD!

umchang: (Skeleton is actually in shock) Wait, then the Skeleton account is lost forever...? ㅠㅠ

VIVA_BOT014: Yeah. For now, that’s the case.

umchang: ㅠㅠ

VIVA_BOT014: But look on the bright side. Melon also blocked all new account creation and name changes, so no one else can steal your nickname.

umchang: Hmph ㅠㅠ

VIVA_BOT014: Acting pitiful won’t help. I really can’t do anything.

“...”

If an Awakened could travel to space, it wouldn’t be too late to go right now.

I want to see Jeong Dae-kyung again.

umchang: Isn’t this too much? I’m not just some random user, right? I was there from the start and led Viva! Apocalypse! through its golden age...

VIVA_BOT014: What can we do? Melon only cares about himself. He literally goes around saying selfishness is the source of his power. He feels no shame. Just look at the women he dates—you get the picture.

umchang: Can’t the U.S. government do something? Maybe fire a rocket up there and make him change his mind?

VIVA_BOT014: That’s the problem.

VIVA_BOT014: Melon isn’t the only issue anymore.

VIVA_BOT014: And what happened to him isn’t solely Melon’s fault, or even just the fault of the U.S. government. To put it simply, everything is falling apart.

umchang: Ah.

I think I finally understood.

Nations that had seemed to maintain order—North America, Western Europe, Japan—had started collapsing rapidly this year.

I’d seen rumors on the board, even if indirectly.

But tragedies far away always feel less real than small events right in front of you.

Like Cha In-seop once said, what does it matter who the mayor of Hamheung is?

Our Viva! Apocalypse! was built on thousands of satellites capable of post-apocalyptic internet service. But it still relied heavily on traditional infrastructure.

Massive data centers in California and Arizona, for instance.

Those facilities were protected by the U.S. government. So even five years into the war, they’d remained largely intact.

I’d heard from VivaBot that there’d been some staff cutbacks.

And those laid-off employees had never returned.

VIVA_BOT014: There are countless reasons—shortages, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ racial and political conflicts, violent personalities, power-hungry warlords. But those were chronic illnesses. Painful, yes, but not fatal.

VIVA_BOT014: What caused the total collapse was one thing.

VIVA_BOT014: The monster attacks are becoming more brutal and relentless.

VivaBot sent a photo.

umchang: What is this? Executioner-type?

VIVA_BOT014: As expected from you, Professor. You’re right. Executioner-types make up the majority now. Instead of sending mid-sized packs all at once, they’re deploying them one by one, from multiple directions—never giving us a moment’s rest. The moment our defense slips, they increase in number.

umchang: Damn.

VIVA_BOT014: There may even be another General-type like the one Skeleton defeated behind all this. One thing’s clear—this place isn’t safe anymore.

VIVA_BOT014: The industrial and agricultural zones have been overrun. The military is doing its best to hold the power sector, but it won’t last long.

VIVA_BOT014: Melon isn’t our only problem.

“Phew.”

I exhaled and lifted my hands from the keyboard.

I’d been under an illusion.

That hope still existed in this world.

That these days would go on without reason, uninterrupted.

But the truth is, we were walking the path of destruction even before the war began.

The rifts are getting more cunning, more brutal. They’ve started mimicking humans. And the monsters leading their charge—the Generals—seem to have been born from humans themselves.

The only reason Korea hasn’t seen that level of escalation is that our population has dropped to less than 10%.

But who knows?

Maybe even that tiny cluster of humans won’t be spared by the rifts.

“...”

Suddenly, my mind cleared.

Or rather, my eyes opened.

It felt like something that had been clouding my vision was finally lifted.

That’s right.

We are a species in decline.

But destruction isn’t an ending—it’s a process.

Even those on the path to ruin can still dream.

And because of that, we still have something left to say.

umchang: Let me ask just one thing.

I posed the question.

umchang: What’s Melon’s dream?

I knew the answer.

Everyone on this board knows the life story of Melon Mask, the creator.

He didn’t go to space just because it was safe.

VIVA_BOT014: He’s always dreamed of space.

Of course. That’s it.

Melon Mask’s dream lies in space.

umchang: One last request. Just once—please connect me to him for a live conversation.

VIVA_BOT014: But...

umchang: I have something to say.

It was three hours later when I was finally connected to Melon Mask via video call.

His face appeared on the empty screen.

In just a few months, he looked like a completely different person.

His facial structure seemed warped, like the bones themselves had collapsed. Pale, ashen skin clung loosely over what was left.

Melon spoke.

“So. What is it, Skeleton?”

It was being translated in real time, but I felt as if he were speaking Korean.

Our eyes met. That alone confirmed it.

In some strange way, we were connected.

“I have a dream, Melon.”

Melon Mask scoffed like a cynical old man.

He moved his hand.

Seemed like he was about to end the call.

I didn’t rush. I didn’t panic.

Calmly, in words that were mine—but could become his—I said:

“The odds are almost zero. Probably impossible. There’s practically no way to achieve it.”

Melon Mask’s hand paused.

It wasn’t that he’d changed his mind.

He was giving me a brief reprieve.

Even in his shattered state, there wasn’t a single sliver of peace or softness left in him.

“My dream is to close the rifts. To erase them completely. To become humanity’s legend.”

A faint smirk crept onto Melon’s lips.

“Bullshit.”

He said.

I nodded.

“Right. A harder dream to achieve than yours.”

Melon tilted his head.

“What did you just say?”

“I said my dream is harder to achieve than yours.”

“You think you even know what my dream is?”

Melon Mask asked coldly.

I shook my head.

“Then why talk about dreams?”

“Don’t you like space?”

“I used to. So what? What does it matter? Now I’m sick of it. It’s hell. This—this is why I ended up like this! Cough!” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Melon started coughing violently.

Each time he coughed, crimson splattered across the screen like spilled paint.

He grinned as he wiped the blood from the webcam with his sleeve.

“I’m going to die soon, Skeleton. I’m losing the most important thing: my life. No words can comfort me. I’m not even in a state where I can dream anymore!”

“You can still dream.”

“I think it’s time you stop with the jokes.”

“There’s a rocket there, isn’t there?”

“There’s zero chance of returning to Earth.”

“I’m not telling you to go back. I mean the opposite.”

Melon stared at me, puzzled.

I smiled faintly.

“There’s a hell of a way.”

“?”

“As improbable and impossible as my dream. Ridiculous, even. But if it works... it might become even more legendary than mine.”

The sarcasm on Melon Mask’s face began to fade.

He was starting to focus.