[No, I’m telling you, in an apocalypse, crafting skills are totally overpowered.]

With no new games to play, I had been drifting through various online communities. Then, I ended up settling on one game for the past three years.

The name?

Concrete Under.

The setting was America.

As the threat of nuclear war grew, massive underground bunkers, resembling ant colonies, were constructed beneath major cities. But when nations finally started launching nukes at each other, humanity had no choice but to retreat underground. The game depicted the struggles and survival that followed.

Players took on the role of one of many survivors, free to carve out their own path. The open-ended nature of the story, combined with the unpredictable encounters with different factions and individuals each playthrough, made it wildly popular.

And it didn’t stop at just one bunker. As players expanded their base, digging deeper into the earth, they’d run into mutants, rival survivor groups, and other unexpected challenges. Some chose to live in comfort, while others sought out danger.

Or, thanks to the underground rail system connecting various bunkers, some found themselves thrust into unwanted confrontations with neighboring survivors.

Or, for those with the ambition to endure, they could go beyond mere survival—conquering and integrating isolated bunkers to forge an underground empire, connected by rails beneath the wasteland.

Of course, some players took this freedom to absurd levels. There were those who turned the apocalypse into a literal theme park, making survival seem more like a joke than a struggle.

Others? They focused on… repopulating the human race—leaving behind countless descendants, complete with detailed documentation.

Some didn’t care about building anything at all. Instead, they wielded a single sword, hunting monsters on the surface and showing off their trophies. Others became one-man armies, eliminating entire factions with a single gun.

With limitless playstyles, the game attracted players of all kinds.

And because of that, veteran players who had exhausted all the content were now locked in endless debates.

Just looking at the comment section:

Comments:

ㄴ If you max out the skill, Sharpshooter is the most OP—one headshot kills no matter the distance.

ㄴ Yeah, if you can actually aim.

ㄴ While you're calculating bullet velocity and wind resistance, I just click and it's over~

ㄴ While you're wasting time scrounging for AP rounds—less than ten per bunker—I just click and it's over~

ㄴ Samurai build is sick, try it out!

ㄴ Yeah, if you actually make the katana.

ㄴ But you can’t unlock the Demon Decapitation skill as a crafter, can you?

ㄴ Who needs it? Just build a guillotine and cut off heads with a *bigger* blade~

ㄴ Newskin mutation makes you immune to radiation, meaning you can farm resources without worrying about anomalies.

ㄴ Just craft a ton of gas mask filters and you’re fine.

ㄴ But Newskin has trash Charisma, though…

ㄴ Isn’t that thing just a walking kimchi? (TL: Literally the food, like saying you look like a potato.)

ㄴ That’s an insult to kimchi.

ㄴ If you craft everything yourself, what about the weight limit? Wouldn't a pack mule build be better for farming?

ㄴ Just build a gym, train strength, and you'll be fine later. No need to waste a skill slot on it.

ㄴ Bro, you're acting like early game doesn’t exist. The early game is brutal.

ㄴ Just get good and it's over~

A fresh-faced newbie had wandered into the forum, unknowingly attracting a swarm of veteran players eager to "help."

This was just a fraction of the comments—there were that many.

Most players recommended builds that eased early-game combat, mitigated anomalies, and minimized weight restrictions. That made sense. After all, surviving the brutal early game was the hardest part.

But in the long run? If you had enough supplies stockpiled, those early challenges became irrelevant.

The real endgame content involved hunting down terrifying mutant creatures, creatures with thick armor that required powerful ammunition and weapons to take down. Gathering materials and crafting those weapons was far easier than raiding and looting them. In fact, looting often meant clearing out rival bunkers—wasting time and resources in the process.

In short, crafting was the way to go. Crafters thrived from start to finish.

Sure, it meant suffering through daily boss fights in the late game. But for newbies, the biggest challenge wasn’t the late game—it was surviving long enough to get there.

Especially since character death was permanent. If you died, you had to start over from scratch, with a completely new name and appearance.

Some players enjoyed the idea of dying a heroic death and uploading their dramatic "final moments." But many became too attached to their characters—when they inevitably met their end, the grief drove them away from the game.

So, for pure survivability, crafter builds were king. That was my stance.

Comments:

ㄴ Do you even know what "newbie" means?

ㄴ Yeah, and I’m still recommending it.

ㄴ You trying to get them killed? You do realize that crafters have the highest chance of dying early, right? Half of them get ripped apart by zombies on Day One.

ㄴ Grandpa, get in the wheelbarrow.

ㄴ I’m not a grandpa.

ㄴ Next post: "Built 50+ Outposts in the Wasteland"

ㄴ You probably just reroll until you get a character with lucky stats.

ㄴ Crafter = zombie food.

Zombie food? Really?

Sure, crafters got nerfed due to their endgame potential, but they were still viable.

Once you got past the early hurdles, crafters became the backbone of any successful bunker.

I mean, who were the ones always showing off new bunker designs on the forums? The crafters.

I was about to write a detailed rebuttal, but then—

Ping! Ping!

Two notifications popped up.

Comments:

ㄴ If you're so confident, why not make a new character and write a newbie guide?

ㄴ Honestly, you make it sound fun. Any chance you could put together a guide?

ㄴ No no no no no, don’t do it!

ㄴ Please don’t! If you start with a crafter, you’re doomed!!!

ㄴ If they quit, it’s on you.

A newbie… was asking me for help.

Like a helpless lamb wandering into the den of veteran players, this poor soul had come straight to me, asking for guidance.

As someone with over 2,000 hours in this game, how could I possibly ignore that?

I couldn’t.

Without hesitation, I turned on my computer and sat down.

Customization was limited, but a few rerolls were enough to get a decent-looking character.

Class? Crafter. No question.

And the name?

“Lee Hyunwoo.”

This time, I was putting my real name on the line.

Not that it really mattered—I could always make up some excuse when I posted the guide later.

My in-game avatar even looked like me. Black hair, black eyes, light skin—somewhere between yellow and pale, the typical complexion.

Satisfied, I pressed Enter.

And then—

“…Huh? A blackout?”

Darkness swallowed my vision.

And in my hands—not a keyboard, not a mouse.

Click.

A flashlight flickered on, casting its beam against a concrete wall.

A wall I knew all too well.