# Consolation
For the first time in a long while, Gyeoul paid a visit to the dark serenity. The familiar weightlessness enfolded his body as if to welcome his return.
Amid the pitch blackness, Gyeoul spotted something unfamiliar floating far off in the distance. A translucent sphere filled with bright orbs—the Stars that he had collected. The light emanating from the sphere was so bright that he had to squint his eyes to look at it, but its surroundings were still dark as there was nothing within the light’s reach. Nothing but an endless void in all directions. But Gyeoul liked it the way it was. If anything were to be there, he’d have to delude himself, to tell himself that it was all real.
‘Then I’d have to try hard to cut off the subsequent thoughts.’
He liked the darkness. It was a haven of peace and tranquility. But Gyeoul had never had a chance to come back to this place since starting his twenty-seventh playthrough.
‘Because I have to become something I’m not…’
In fact, he was not supposed to come back to this place. Here, there existed Gyeoul and nothing but Gyeoul. The boy, therefore, redeemed his original self in here. And he could not let that happen.
But he also couldn’t help but come back. The stone in his heart rolled about particularly roughly today. The weight had brought the boy down into the void.
Gyeoul waited for the right time. The stone would lighten itself over time, as it always had.
To settle the torn pieces of his mind down to a still oblivion. The time necessary for the bloated memories of the past to turn into small sediment. It was the only way for the boy to console himself.
But for some reason, they didn’t settle.
It was his most shameful memory. Rarely in his life had he been treated like a human being, but he had never been so violated as though he were some kind of non-living object as then. The boy’s anger seethed like fiery lava and the sharp stone sizzled, crazily jabbing at his heart.
Gyeoul tried to think of something else, something to calm himself down. And much to his relief, something appeared in his mind not long after. The woman who wasn’t treated like a human being, just like himself. Though it was merely for a brief instant, the sadness he peeked from her face covered beneath her hair left a deep impression on him. ‘There is another person trapped in such a hellish life apart from me…’ That mere thought helped ease his pain and loneliness.
How long had he been drifting inside the void? The boy’s contemplation was interrupted by a sudden flicker of light. It was a message from a non-human intelligence notifying him that it was now time to return to those who were weary of their own lives, thus yearned for his fabricated life.
The boy breathed out a heavy sigh. The time he had spent lost in thought flew by too fast. It wasn’t even complete yet.
‘Can I really make it?’
However, he knew that he had no other choice.
# Negotiation (3), Camp Roberts
Gyeoul still had his eyes closed. Though he was standing still, it felt like the ground was shaking as if he were standing on a wobbly jelly.
‘Just a little more until I can be fully immersed.’
Three, two, one.
The boy opened his eyes and immediately spoke in a quiet voice.
“What do you mean you don’t understand?”
In front of him stood two people, Yura and Jinseok. While Yura looked completely daunted, Jinseok had a slightly displeased look on his face. But even as he cast a cross look, his eyes were busy studying Gyeoul’s face. The sight of the boy standing in silence with his eyes closed must’ve made him think that he was angry.
But even so, Jinseok wasn’t afraid of speaking his mind.
“I would’ve accepted if it was Jaejoong. But Yura, I don’t think she’s fit for the task. Don’t you remember what happened in Paso Robles? Her mistakes kept putting us in danger.”
It was an objection to choosing Yura for the role of the combat team’s leader.
“Of course, Yura is much better than those who only care about themselves. At least she has the courage to volunteer for dangerous missions. But that doesn’t mean she’s capable of leading a combat team. She’ll just get everyone killed.”
Although his logic was sound, it was obvious what he ultimately wanted. ‘He probably wants the position for himself.’
It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. A man without greed was no better than a man without will. So it was also a kind of talent. For the 「Winter Alliance」 to not get stuck in a rut, there had to be a figure like Jinseok.
That would’ve been true under ordinary circumstances. But now, Gyeoul couldn’t put Yura down.
“If that’s the case, am I qualified to be your leader?”
“P-pardon?”
“If the leader is not supposed to put his people at risk, I don’t think I deserve to be a leader either.”
Jinseok was so agitated that his entire face became aflame with blushes.
Having caught Jinseok off guard, Gyeoul turned to Yura before he could think of an answer.
“What about you? Do you agree with him?”
Yura hesitated to respond. Several emotions flashed across her face, guilt being the largest one, followed by fear. The boy, however, calmly waited for her. And indeed, her answer was no different from what he expected.
“Umm… You know… I’m just a girl… weak and emotional… So… I’m sorry… I appreciate you giving me the chance, but… I don’t think I’m the one you need.”
Gyeoul noticed a group of people constantly throwing glances at him from a distance. The boy was not so stupid as to not realize what this situation meant. ‘They must be the ones that pushed them to come.’
Yura continued after biting her lips for a few seconds.
“It’s okay if I’m the only one getting hurt. But thinking that the others might get hurt because of me, I just can’t take it… Besides…”
“Besides?”
“People going out for missions are usually men, right? Then I think they’re better off having another man like Jinseok as their leader rather than a girl like me.”
“And that’s exactly my point,” said Gyeoul with a smile. Both of them looked puzzled at his sudden remark.
“What do you mean…?” Yura asked, tilting her head.
“Jinseok-ssi, could you turn around and cover your ears for a minute?”
“B-but why…?”
“Please.”
Jinseok, while looking perplexed, followed his request. The boy then looked directly at the people who were busy eavesdropping and smiled until they backed off a few steps. And when his eyes reached Yura, he noticed she had tensed up.
“Don’t be so nervous. I just want to explain why I chose you as the leader of the first combat team, so please relax. If you’re still not up for the job after hearing me out, then I’ll change my decision.”
“Oh! O-okay!”
As if she had missed the whole part of Gyeoul telling her to relax, Yura took a big gulp and held her fists tightly.
“You just said it, didn’t you? It’s mostly men who go outside for missions.”
“Yeah?”
“That’s because of the sex ratio.”
Gyeoul composedly continued with his explanation.
“Even now, the sex ratio of our faction is quite skewed. Do you know why? It’s because it was only men who went out to fight and died whenever something came up. I’m also sure that more men than women were sacrificed during our evacuation to this camp.”
Even in reality, more men than women were found dead in areas with high crime rates. Because men were superior in power games, fights and wars were also theirs to deal with. It was the same principle that good resources depleted faster. And the refugee camp here at Camp Roberts had a higher crime rate than any other crime-prone district that existed before the epidemic.
“And this is only going to get worse in the future. People who have a strong conscience or a strong sense of responsibility are always the first to confront injustice and take risks for everyone. It’s gonna get harder and harder to find men with good hearts. This is just between two of us, but there are probably not many people better than Jinseok. Though he’s a bit hot-tempered, he’s reliable.”
Yura eagerly nodded. Even within the 「Winter Alliance」, there were several men with highly dubious behaviors. It wasn’t that there weren’t any suspicious women, but there were more men with such behaviors. And that was because, as Gyeoul said, the good-hearted men died early.
“What the men will do to the women when that happens, that’s what I’m worried about.”
Yura had a hesitant look.
“It makes sense, but I think we might be worrying for nothing. I mean, I heard there were times when women’s rights were expanded because there were fewer men…”
What Yura pointed out was probably the case of World War I. However, that was not the case for the current refugee camp.
“That’ll hardly be the case for our camp. There’s nothing that can be called a job that women can take over. Just see what the other factions do to their women.”
The reason why women’s rights were promoted during the war was that women worked as production workers and maintained the production power in place of men. But in Camp Roberts there existed neither a society nor any factory to maintain.
“Uhm…”
Yura fidgeted with her fingers with a troubled expression. The following words were closer to whining.
“Will that happen… when we have you, little boss?”
“If the remaining men rise against me or move to other factions, then yes. I can’t handle the entire alliance by myself. I can’t say it will happen for sure, but it’s too big of a risk to just ignore it. We should prevent it beforehand.”
Some players of Days After Apocalypse deliberately pushed for this to happen. It was an effort to introduce polygamy to the community. Their goal was not survival, but the fulfillment of their desires.
It was usually done like this: First, they reduced the number of men in the community while leaving only the capable ones. Whenever women went out on missions together, they would kill the men by intentionally exposing the women to danger and making the men die instead. When they returned from the mission, they would tell the others that the men had sacrificed themselves in order to protect the rest. Of course, they wouldn’t solely kill men. It was to avoid suspicion, as well as to create fear amongst women.
Humans were beings that could be easily trained through fear. As the sense of community degenerated, women limited their roles on their own accord. Because they didn’t have to expose themselves to external hazards. They chose to give up all responsibility and rights in exchange for their safety.
The Control AI responded to his thoughts.
「AI Advice (lvl 10 Insight): 『Community Trait – Male-dominated』」
「The prerequisites for applying this trait to the community are as follows: 『① Female members outnumber male members by more than 180%』, 『② Grant the 「Feeble-minded」 trait to more than 30 percent of the women in the community』, 『③ The average skill level of men is 5 or higher than that of women』, 『④ Form a community opinion unfavorable towards women』, 『⑤ Grant the 「Conservative」 trait to more than 80% of the members of the community』…」
「The expected effects if 『Community Trait – Male-dominated』 is applied to 「Winter Alliance」 are as follows: 『① May execute 「Polygamy」』, 『② Grant a permanent downward revision to the faction’s organizational efficiency, health, diversity, productivity』, 『③ Grant a permanent downward revision to women’s productivity』, 『④ Grant a fatally-high permanent downward revision to mission success rate if women are present in the team』, 『⑤ Grant a permanent downward revision to men’s willpower』…」
He didn’t even need to finish reading to know it all. A trait without any advantages but with plenty of disadvantages, only existing to fulfill the players’ desires. That was what it was all about. It wouldn’t be a problem for those armed with Talent Advantages or tons of DLCs, but Gyeoul was going to do no such things. He just didn’t feel like doing so.
“I think I get the picture,” Yura said with a sigh.
“Just like you’re a billboard for the U.S. Army, you want me to be a billboard for you, right?”
“Yup. I don’t think anyone can do it except for you, Yura-ssi.”
“But why? You know how bad I am at fighting!”
“Oh, do I?”
Stunned by Gyeoul’s remark, Yura was lost for words.
“I think you can be more confident in yourself. Remember? You volunteered to join me on a mission, and once again for an even more dangerous one. That’s what I call talent. Fighting? Honestly, to me, you all are more or less at the same level.”
“That’s because it’s… you,” Yura said confoundedly. To her, Gyeoul was a being already outside of human standards.
“Then can’t you just trust my insight too?”
“Uh… That’s not…”
Not knowing what to say, Yura began to tousle her hair.
“Just trust me and give it a go. You can quit if you really feel like you can’t.”
“What? I can? But… why? That’s just gonna be a waste of time and opportunity, isn’t it? There are others who are more willing to take on the job…”
“It’s not a waste. Remember when I told you I needed a goat back in Paso Robles?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I do. But what does that have to do with this?”
To Yura who was having a hard time following the conversation, Gyeoul told her the story of 「Lobo, the King of Currumpaw」.
“I mean it. You can quit whenever you want to. But I’m sure this experience will not go to waste.”
“Ugh…”
After some moaning and several sighs, Yura finally gave her consent.
“Okay, I’ll try. I don’t know what you see in me, but I’ll do my best not to disappoint you.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”
Now that the conversation was over, Gyeoul tapped Jinseok’s shoulder. The young man looked back silently with his hands still clumping his ears. There was no sign of surprise.
“You can stop covering your ears now,” said Gyeoul, gesturing to his ears.
“Are you done talking?” Jinseok asked, but when he realized Gyeoul was staring directly at him, he quickly averted his gaze.
Given his personality, the fact that he had been quietly covering his ears, that he didn’t flinch even a little when Gyeoul tapped on his shoulder, and that he immediately looked away when their eyes met gave Gyeoul enough clues to read Jinseok.
‘So he did listen to the conversation.’
He was, in fact, worried that he wouldn’t listen to it. His remark about Jinseok being reliable was also meant for him to hear it.
‘What I did to him back in the gym, he probably has it bottled up inside.’
If such a scar was left untreated, it would fester inside him and possibly cause a bigger problem later on.
Pretending not to know of his eavesdropping, Gyeoul explained to Jinseok. “It’s been decided that Yura will be the leader of the first combat team and that is the end of the discussion. I won’t go back on this decision.”
“Alright, sir.”
He didn’t show any sign of protest. Probably due to the relief of not having lost favor from Gyeoul. Gyeoul, having confirmed once again that he had heard the conversation, let out a sigh of relief.
“But there’s one thing you need to know.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know if you’ve realized, but I said Yura will be the leader of the ‘first’ combat team.”
“That means…”
Jinseok looked at the boy in eager expectancy. Gyeoul answered with a nod.
“I have to organize a platoon, remember? I’m thinking of having each combat team leader also lead a squad. So we’re gonna need two people at the very least, and quite a lot more for the full shift system. For that reason, I’m going to start assigning people this task, and I think you’re the right one for the job. But of course, I’m not going to announce it right now, because, as you can see, we don’t have enough people.”
“Then I’ll be waiting.” Jinseok’s tone was resolute.
“Now, if we’re done talking, I think I’m going to have to take my leave. I should meet with Sumiyoshi-kai before it’s too late.”
“Please be careful,” said Jinseok, accompanied by a polite nod.
“Don’t worry.”
Yura once again came up and asked carefully.
“If you’re going to meet Sumiyoshi-kai… then should I maybe… escort you?”
“You don’t have to worry about that for now. I’ll leave you with tasks you’ll be able to handle, so take it easy.”
“Ha… That’s good to know.”
Yura brightened up for a moment, then her face turned serious and advised him to take precautions.
“But be really, really careful. I’ve heard Sumiyoshi-kai is full of wild and crazy people.”
“I’ll be okay as long as they have brains to think with. They can’t afford to harm someone who belongs to the U.S. army.”
“Hmm… Maybe you’re right.”
Only after reassuring Yura did Gyeoul set off to the Japanese area.