Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 81.2: Snowman (2)

Hwang Dae-seop: “What? Not funny? Don’t you think it’s hilarious?”

No one left a comment on Hwang Dae-seop’s “Wife.”

No one liked it, either.

Those of us who’ve been on these boards for a long time might not be able to decipher every nuance of a post, but we can tell whether it was written with good intentions or bad.

“Wife” fell into the latter category.

It was created purely to provoke us, to force us to confront truths we’d rather ignore.

And yet, “Wife” quickly garnered likes.

Failnet users sympathized with Hwang Dae-seop’s grotesque creation and managed to push that repulsive photo into the trending list.

ㅇㅇ : “It’s a bit dark for black comedy, but hey, this is reality.”

ㅇㅇ : “Ever since the terrorists started running rampant, there’s been no food distribution, no electricity, no heating.”

JedongDad: “I lost my second son last year. He hadn’t eaten for two days, and I was on my third day of starvation myself. He passed in his sleep.”

ㅇㅇ : “I’ve seen a lot since the war started, but this is the worst it’s ever been.”

ㅇㅇ : “Now this is modern art.”

In the face of Viva! Apocalypse’s silence and Failnet’s enthusiastic reception, Hwang Dae-seop uploaded his next creation.

Hwang Dae-seop: “Mother.”

The technique for this new piece was identical to “Wife.”

He dragged a corpse outside, posed it, and covered it with snow.

The only difference was that the hands were exposed this time.

The fingers, with their index and middle digits severed, were blackened from decay but still bore the wrinkled marks of a life lived long and hard.

Beneath the horrific photo, Hwang Dae-seop left another comment.

Hwang Dae-seop: “Isn’t this fun? Huh?”

Who could possibly find this amusing?

One thing was certain: since Hwang Dae-seop started posting, the snowman uploads on our board had completely stopped.

The heavy atmosphere was one reason, but so was the fear of engaging directly with this madman.

Amid the silence, Hwang Dae-seop unveiled his third piece.

Hwang Dae-seop: “Father.”

His third creation was identical in technique to “Mother.”

Once again, none of our users commented.

The commentary shifted back to the Failnet users, though their reception was noticeably colder this time.

ㅇㅇ : “Figures he’s a celebrity. Still lived with his parents, huh?”

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ㅇㅇ : “Did you have a good shelter?”

ㅇㅇ : “You used to live in Incheon, right? Around Songdo?”

ㅇㅇ : “Seems like life wasn’t too bad. If you hadn’t handed your parents over to the Pioneers, you must’ve been in decent shape.”

Even a cursory interest in Incheon would reveal the class divide among its refugees.

Hwang Dae-seop, among the many displaced, seemed to have lived relatively comfortably.

He had warmth, safety, better meals, and more electricity than most—likely in a place even the thug-like government enforcers wouldn’t dare touch.

Perhaps this was why his third piece made it to the trending list but with half the views and likes of his previous works.

But Hwang Dae-seop didn’t seem to care about these reactions.

Hwang Dae-seop: “Funny, right? So funny you could die laughing, huh? You losers!”

His audience was always us preppers, and his taunts were squarely aimed at us.

I had no intention of engaging with this pitiful man, but...

There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way.

Failnet users taking shots at us was one thing, but a man who made money mocking us now lecturing us on morality felt absurd.

I wasn’t the only one who thought so. A few users retaliated.

dongtanmom: “Yum-yum... If it’s that cold, why not burn the snowman for firewood? Or is it too lean to burn well? Yum-yum...”

Defender: “Wanna die?”

Defender, who’d recently faded into the background, returned with a classic death threat.

mmmmmmmmm: “Should’ve come to The Hope before your family kicked the bucket, idiot. What? Don’t like tilted shelters?”

Their responses don’t warrant evaluation.

To me, both Dongtanmom and Defender had misread the situation.

Hwang Dae-seop was a dying man.

His health, and likely his spirit, were already broken.

Insults and threats would hardly affect someone in his condition.

So, I decided to counter him in my own way.

I returned to the collection of H. Sawatari’s snowmen for inspiration.

Like any true artist, H. Sawatari had named his works. Among them was one called “Girlfriend.”

It was a snowwoman sculpted with immaculate detail—long hair, a blouse, and a skirt. The smooth surface, crafted solely from snow, resembled marble.

According to the description, the artist had only used snow and water, hardening specific areas with a light spray to maintain its shape.

“...”

It wasn’t an easy piece to replicate, but the standards of our board were far below those of the Sapporo Snow Festival.

Even a decent approximation would suffice.

Scrape, scrape—

I began reinterpreting the piece.

Using water to solidify the base, I built a large block and shaped it into the delicate form of a woman with my trowel and hands.

After an entire day of meticulous work, the piece was complete.

“Hah...”

Given its difficulty, there were plenty of flaws.

The face, in particular, was a disaster—closer to a panda than a woman.

Still, as a whole, it resembled a woman well enough.

I uploaded it to the board.

SKELTON: (Skelton Art) “Wife”

The title deliberately echoed Hwang Dae-seop’s first piece.

While his “Wife” had been a corpse carelessly covered in snow, my “Wife” was a reimagination of human beauty, crafted entirely from natural materials like snow and water.

The title was the same, but the intent, effort, and outcome couldn’t have been more different.

My work quickly rose to the trending list, receiving praise from both Failnet users and board regulars.

Anonymous 458: “Even a bug can roll. Who knew Skelton had talent for making snowmen?”

ㅇㅇ : “Is this the same guy who lost his mod privileges in a day?”

Anonymous 1311: “Not bad. Pretty decent.”

ㅇㅇ : “Impressive.”

tntn_Orthopedics: “How’d you manage the weight distribution?”

Anonymous 424: “The face is weird, but the female body features are spot on.”

ㅇㅇ : “It’s not like Skelton stuffed a real body inside, is it?”

dongtanmom: “Yum-yum... Are you sure you made this? Didn’t you just steal someone else’s work? Yum-yum...”

rokaGG: “Uh...? This looks familiar...”

gijayangban: “?”

The reactions were as I’d anticipated—overwhelmingly positive.

A few trolls showed up, but that was expected. Trolls like Dongtanmom would leave negative comments no matter what.

What truly mattered was Hwang Dae-seop’s reaction.

The true purpose of my “Wife” was to challenge him.

But Hwang Dae-seop didn’t respond.

Still, I knew he’d seen it.

He hadn’t posted anything new during the 24 hours my “Wife” dominated the trending list.

Maybe he’d run out of dead family members to turn into art, but someone as venomous as him would’ve said something.

I wasn’t done yet.

Despite the success of “Wife,” I immediately began working on my next project.

Naturally, my work started with studying H. Sawatari’s collection.

I needed a piece to counter Hwang Dae-seop’s “Mother.”

There was one.

A piece titled “Wicked Hag.”

The name was a bit crude, but it was the only work featuring an older woman, and its difficulty seemed manageable.

If I omitted the trademark pointy hat, it might just work.

Immediate "Reinterpretation"

Unlike two days ago, there were no drones today, but I noticed a strange mutation prowling the snowy field in the distance.

Perhaps it had come out to hunt now that the weather was warming.

It looked like a cat, but it wasn’t.

It was larger and sturdier than a typical feline—perhaps a lynx?

Though it seemed unlikely to approach, I prepared two firearms just in case and began my work.

SKELTON: (Skelton Art) “Mother”

In this new piece, I focused particularly on the wrinkles and the expression of time-worn agony on the face of an elderly woman.

Unfortunately, my skills weren’t enough to create anything beyond a “Wicked Hag,” but the board received it warmly nonetheless.

Among the many praises, one recurring comment stood out: it reminded them of their own aged mothers.

Most doomsday preppers had abandoned their families.

While some had prepared for the end with their loved ones, as far as I knew, those people had all died within the first year of the war.

The rest had lost their families, particularly their parents, during the war—or perhaps been cut off by them beforehand.

After producing two consecutive hits, even VivaBot took notice of me.

VIVA_BOT014: “Did you really make that, Skelton?”

It was enough to warrant a direct private message.

SKELTON: “? Yes, I made it.”

VIVA_BOT014: “Prove it.”

SKELTON: (Attached image file: .jpg)

VIVA_BOT014: “Ah... It’s real...?”

SKELTON: “When’s the next mod recruitment?”

VIVA_BOT014: “Not happening.”

<The host has left the chatroom.>

“...”

Not a very honest woman, I see.

The Skelton Snowman Series, reinterpreting H. Sawatari’s works, was a massive success.

It was so well-received that it erased the ill will from my past “mod badge incident.”

Of course, I understood that this success wouldn’t have been possible without the anti-thesis that was Hwang Dae-seop.

The backlash against him had buoyed my popularity. Without Hwang Dae-seop, my snowman series wouldn’t have gained such traction.

As I basked in this second wave of success, Hwang Dae-seop broke his long silence and unveiled a new piece.

Hwang Dae-seop: “Son”

In brief, the piece depicted a boy who had died before reaching adulthood, discarded on the roadside, with snow piled over him.

A pair of basketball sneakers, likely something the boy had loved in life, rested in his skeletal hands, which protruded from the snow.

As always, Hwang Dae-seop didn’t forget to leave a provocation at the end.

Hwang Dae-seop: “Isn’t it funny? Huh? Why aren’t you laughing? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

It seemed clear that Hwang Dae-seop wasn’t very familiar with the internet.

Like many older people, he appeared to resist new things and preferred to stick to the world he knew, however inconvenient.

Perhaps that’s why?

He didn’t understand how the internet worked.

Repetition doesn’t win popularity.

“Wife” had shocked us, but repeating the same formula three times—without any artistic sense and using nothing but grotesque material—only drew disdain.

Though the subject of “Son” likely weighed heavily on him, public opinion was merciless.

“Son” didn’t make the trending list, nor did it even receive the token praise common among Failnet users.

Instead, the spotlight shifted to me.

Defender: “Skelton! Looks like you’re doing well. So, when’s the next piece coming out?”

SKELTON: “Next piece?”

Defender: “Yeah, Son.”

Son, huh?

Would it be too much to attempt another?

Making the trending list, garnering countless comments, and receiving praise—it felt good.

So good, in fact, that I hadn’t thought about Rebecca, her daughter, or even Defender much lately.

“Hmm...”

Should I try again?

As it happened, I had the perfect subject.

H. Sawatari’s “Baby Angel.”

If I removed the wings and added... let’s say, anatomical accuracy, it would become Son.

Scrape, scrape—

The reinterpretation began.

Now practically a professional snowman artist, I completed a highly polished piece in just three hours.

SKELTON: (Skelton Art) “Son”

The reactions were predictably ecstatic.

This must be what it feels like to be a star.

Why hadn’t I pursued an idol career?

One comment, however, caught my eye.

rokaGG: “Isn’t this just a ripoff of that Japanese artist’s work?”

RokaGG.

A nobody of a user, but one of the malicious trolls who’d taken down my idol, John Nae-non.

Why is he still alive?

While it’s sad when a board user disappears, I’d happily see RokaGG vanish quickly.

Still, I checked for any reaction from Hwang Dae-seop.

Nothing.

Since the failure of “Son,” Hwang Dae-seop had been silent.

Meanwhile, the troll king Dongtanmom continued attacking him relentlessly.

Dongtanmom: “Yum-yum... So, no family left to turn into snowmen? Why not recycle yourself? Yum-yum...”

As venomous as ever.

But my own problems loomed larger.

A user sent me a private message.

RokaGG: “Japanese board user H. Sawatari—Honoka Sawatari CH. You copied this, didn’t you?”

“...!!”

RokaGG.

That trash was threatening me.

RokaGG: “Confess while I’m being nice. You’re just like John Nae-non, pulling the same crap.”

I agonized over what to do, cycling through countless strategies, but nothing felt right.

I was just about to consult Da-jeong remotely when...

Hwang Dae-seop posted a new piece.

Hwang Dae-seop: “Me.”