Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 81.3: Snowman (3)

The man buried in snow took a selfie.

His face, covered in snow as if he were a snowman, stared at us with lifeless eyes. His last words were replaced with a comment.

Hwang Dae-seop: Why isn’t anyone laughing? ᄆ

It was the final act of a comedian who had once been a household name.

The forum users, who had silently ignored Hwang Dae-seop for years, finally began discussing him.

Not a single word was positive.

Let’s borrow the words of Dongtanmom, the most notoriously unpleasant user in our forum:

dongtanmom: Nom nom... Keeping your mouth shut tight all this time, only to throw a tantrum when your family kicks it and you’re about to follow them? What, trying to sour the mood for the rest of us? And what are we supposed to do about it? Nom nom...

What, you think one loser like you dying changes anything? Lol, nom nom...

The others may have differed slightly in tone, but their thoughts were not far from Dongtanmom’s.

We had already witnessed far too much death and tragedy.

Some had been verbally slaughtered by him before.

And so, it seemed that the story of Hwang Dae-seop, the central figure of Our Neighbor’s Apocalypse, would end there.

But I’d like to expand on that story a little further.

The catalyst for this continuation came from an artistic duel that unfolded afterward.

*

SKELTON: I was merely "reinterpreting."

<Message sent.>

I am not the same as John Nae-non.

As a "disciple," I, Park Gyu, have always embodied the concept of Cheongchul-eoram: the student surpassing the teacher, no matter who the teacher may be.

This was true of Jang Ki-young, and it’s no different with John Nae-non.

Though I might not leave behind an immortal legacy, I am stronger, wiser, and far more shameless on a human level.

If John Nae-non had even half my brazenness, he would still be on our forum. Then again, he wouldn’t have created Failnet, either.

In any case, after much deliberation on how to handle the persistent threats from rokaGG, I decided to confront them head-on. Of course, I also sought advice from others.

Message from seamonkeyPAPA:

Here? It’s livable enough. Remember that dentist? He’s here too.

After a long time, I reconnected with Da-jeong.

As soon as she saw my dilemma, she gave her blunt opinion.

Message from seamonkeyPAPA:

It’s no big deal, right? You can use inspiration from the snowman guy who died two years ago. You’re the one who actually made the work, SKELTON.

SKELTON: It’s not that simple. There are... complications.

I couldn’t deny that I’d considered the same thing as Da-jeong.

However, my relentless pursuit of perfection—my Achilles’ heel—kept tripping me up.

For example, with Wife, I added the following commentary below the piece:

“As a single man, I created this work entirely from my imagination. It was a challenge to conceptualize and construct the image of an imaginary wife.

The process of turning countless mental images into one concrete form was akin to giving birth to a child. (Excerpt)”

Similarly, with Mother, I wrote:

“I tried to express the passage of time as a tangible material through the snow. It was no easy task.

The immense agony and internal conflict were overwhelming. An idea came to me like a comet out of nowhere, and I attempted a technique that no one else has tried before... (Excerpt)”

Message from seamonkeyPAPA:

Why would you write stuff like that?

SKELTON: It just happened.

That’s right.

If I had simply posted the photos without commentary, I wouldn’t have been so easily cornered by rokaGG.

Ironically, it was my own meticulous explanations that pushed me into this bind.

Message from seamonkeyPAPA:

See? You should’ve kept it simple—just some blog-quality ramblings no one actually reads.

SKELTON: ...

Message from seamonkeyPAPA:

What’s done is done. Just tough it out. What else can you do? Your reputation as SKELTON can’t sink any lower anyway.

I disagreed with Da-jeong’s assessment of my reputation, but I decided to follow her advice.

Stand strong.

After all, only the strong survive in this world.

The internet is no different—it’s a mirror of the world.

And so, I chose to face rokaGG’s challenge head-on.

SKELTON: I was simply "reinterpreting." Fine, let’s say I copied it. Could you replicate it the same way?

Unlike my role model, I acted boldly.

Perhaps startled by my fierce response, rokaGG didn’t reply.

It wasn’t until a day later that I received a message from him.

Message from rokaGG:

ㅇㅇ

The moment I saw it, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

What kind of confidence was this?

Did he think creating snowmen was child’s play?

Sure, it’s a child’s pastime, but crafting art from snow the way I do isn’t for just anyone.

It requires understanding the fleeting nature of snow, the technique to mold it like clay, an aesthetic sense, and resilience to the cold.

Message from rokaGG:

Let’s settle this with H. Sawatari’s most challenging piece, Pieta. I’ll give you three days to complete it. We’ll post our works on the forum for evaluation. If I win, you apologize to the forum.

SKELTON: (skeptical) And if I win?

Message from rokaGG:

Not that it’ll happen, but... I’ll grant you one wish.

SKELTON: (in disbelief) As if you could fulfill my wish.

Message from rokaGG:

Fine, I’ll do whatever the forum decides.

SKELTON: If you lose, you’ll become my recommendation-slave.

And so, an unplanned artistic duel began.

The Pieta.

Recreating Michelangelo’s famous sculpture in snow.

I, too, hold Pieta as the pinnacle of H. Sawatari’s work, but the difficulty is immense.

Even crafting it from clay would be challenging. Yet H. Sawatari captured it in snow.

Three days wasn’t a lot of time.

However, I had the experience of countless past works and the endless time of a person exiled to a world without end.

For people like us, focusing on something is a blessing.

The three days passed quickly.

I looked at my finished piece.

“...”

To be honest, it wasn’t even half as good as the original.

The face of Jesus looked more like a monster, blurry and misshapen. The Virgin Mary resembled a panda, just like my Wife piece.

The crown of thorns, in particular, was beyond my skill. I had to simplify it into a vague, clumped shape.

SKELTON: (SKELTON Art) Pieta

Despite everything, I didn’t think of defeat.

After all, I’d never encountered anyone better than me.

But deep down, I couldn’t shake a tinge of unease.

Surely, rokaGG hadn’t challenged me without a plan.

As soon as I uploaded my work, rokaGG posted his.

rokaGG: Pieta

“?!”

The moment I saw rokaGG’s Pieta, I double-checked H. Sawatari’s original.

It wasn’t stolen.

It was rokaGG’s own work.

The verdict was clear: this was no contest.

rokaGG had nearly perfectly recreated H. Sawatari’s snow sculpture.

From the Virgin Mary’s sorrowful expression to the agonized face of Jesus and even the intricacies of the crown of thorns—it was all there.

Compared to his masterpiece, my Pieta was nothing more than a cheap knockoff.

In that moment of crisis, I acted swiftly.

<Delete this post?>

“...”

Click.

I deleted my Pieta before stepping onto the execution stage.

Message from rokaGG:

? Where’s SKELTON’s Pieta?

SKELTON: What are you talking about?

Message from rokaGG:

Your Pieta.

SKELTON: Paella? Sounds delicious.

Message from rokaGG:

No, the one you just uploaded. Didn’t you label it SKELTON Art?

SKELTON: ?

Message from rokaGG:

What, did you delete it because you knew you’d lose? At least you have eyes. Lol.

Message from rokaGG:

Haha, I majored in sculpture, by the way.

SKELTON: Your mom.

The mockery from rokaGG didn’t bother me.

What mattered was that in the end, I had won.

rokaGG: Exposing SKELTON’s Crimes

rokaGG posted a lengthy critique accusing me of plagiarism.

But the forum’s response was cold.

Anonymous458: What nonsense is this? It’s just snow. Who cares if someone copies a Japanese guy’s work? It’s about the meaning, not the art. Why act like some big-shot artist?

Ballantine: If you’re so talented, why not show off from the start? The holier-than-thou attitude is worse than the copying.

dongtanmom: Nom nom... That guy’s no hope, but neither are you. Nom nom...

mmmmmmmmm: Honestly, my snowman was more creative.

Anonymous1311: What were you doing when Hwang Dae-seop was alive?

Though I lost the duel, I won the court of public opinion.

Unlike me, rokaGG lacked the mental fortitude to withstand criticism.

Without a word, he deleted his critique and his Pieta.

His Pieta was objectively better. I won’t deny that.

But his intentions were impure.

While I reinterpreted Hwang Dae-seop’s tragedy in my snowman art, rokaGG only sought to humiliate me.

That’s the difference that led to this result.

In the end, even the duel wouldn’t have garnered much attention.

A follow-up about Hwang Dae-seop was posted.

A PaleNet user living nearby discovered his snowman and family and investigated his home, sharing their findings.

Anonymous: The third Songdo refugee shelter where Hwang Dae-seop lived was supposedly a hidden haven for the wealthy. Even the people there eventually revolted. Naturally, all supplies were cut off.

Looking at the state of his place, he clearly couldn’t survive without rationing. The guy didn’t even burn wooden furniture to stay warm. He wasn’t destined to last long.

One by one, his family died, leaving him alone. That’s when he started posting here.

Oh, and he left a will.

The will, disclosed by an anonymous PaleNet user, contained a single line:

“Why isn’t anyone laughing?”

The moment I read it, I remembered his last comment:

Hwang Dae-seop: Why isn’t anyone laughing? / ᄆ

In his final moments, his body and mind likely failed him, leading to that strange typo.

I interpreted the “/” as a misplaced “?”.

But what about the incomplete “ᄆ”?

Most ignored it, but I’ve been captivated lately by the concept of “authorial intent.”

What did he mean?

I revisited his posts.

He called us losers, stirring resentment and a perception of his actions as a dying man’s curse.

Yet in nearly all his posts, he repeatedly asked why we weren’t laughing or finding things fun.

It’s strange.

If he despised us, he could’ve cursed or insulted us. Why ask about laughter instead?

I recalled his old YouTube show, Our Neighbor’s Apocalypse.

The bumbling character he portrayed, "Myeolmangi," was clumsy and straightforward—nothing like the complex person who sought meaning from our reactions.

It made me wonder: What if his questions weren’t insults or curses but genuine inquiries about our lack of enjoyment?

In the end, his will echoed his last post:

“Why isn’t anyone laughing?”

I realized the man who greeted us in his snowman form was no longer fully Hwang Dae-seop.

He wasn’t just the comedian but a fusion of his war-torn self and his former character, Myeolmangi.

His snowman series was the dark epilogue to Our Neighbor’s Apocalypse.

He believed his miserable fate could be a source of comedy for us.

But his reality was far too grim for his comedy to be recognized as such.

Everyone misunderstood his true intent.

In the cold indifference of snow, Hwang Dae-seop became a snowman and died.

I interpreted “ᄆ” as an unfinished mi-an-ha-da—“sorry.”

I re-uploaded my Pieta to the forum, renaming it Hwang Dae-seop.

This time, I made some changes.

I replaced Jesus’ face with Hwang Dae-seop’s likeness. I altered the Virgin Mary’s face to resemble a man and etched “VIVA” onto his forehead.

Unlike my other works, I left no commentary.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

Hwang Dae-seop didn’t make it to the top posts.

It was an appropriate conclusion for a broken comedian lost in despair.