Whether it was due to the emotional upheaval or his decaying body, John Nae-non needed to rest.

The man in the radiation suit stood by his side, tending to him.

The way John Nae-non tightly gripped the man’s arm with his trembling, bony hands, while frequently coughing up blood, made it clear—he didn’t have much time left.

As he was administered a sedative and began to catch his breath, the man with glasses approached me.

“I’m sorry. You’ve come a long way, only to waste your precious time like this.”

“What happened to him?”

The man hesitated, his words faltering.

After a moment, he sighed, speaking in a resigned tone.

“…John Nae-non attempted to install a new nuclear battery.”

“A nuclear battery?”

“Yes. The latest model called Neo Alpha. Unlike older nuclear batteries, which prioritized stability and longevity, Neo Alpha produces enough power to rival a small power plant. However…”

The man’s expression twisted in disgust.

“It was incredibly unstable. During the power installation, something went horribly wrong. John Nae-non ended up taking a massive dose of radiation exposure.”

As I listened, a question began to form in my mind.

Sure, electricity was an essential resource for anything resembling a human life.

But a power plant’s worth of electricity?

Did anyone in this apocalypse truly need that much power?

“Why would anyone need so much electricity?”

I cut in as soon as the man stopped speaking.

The man looked at me for a long moment before replying, his voice full of certainty.

“Yes. We need it.”

John Nae-non had risen from his seat and was now looking directly at me.

It seemed he was ready.

I approached him.

Perhaps it was because of the backlight from the medical equipment, but his grotesquely transformed face was shrouded in darkness, making it hard to see.

Only his eyes—sharp and glowing like those of a wild animal—stood out in the gloom, fixing their gaze squarely on me.

“I know who you are.”

John Nae-non spoke with difficulty.

His speech had shifted from polite to informal, but I didn’t care.

At this moment, he wasn’t John Nae-non the forum user. He was Goo Ssang-hyo, a fellow hunter who was older than me.

“I saw you in Cheorwon. Yeah, it must’ve been when I’d just finished training at the professional academy and was deployed to the frontlines for the first time.”

Cheorwon.

That would’ve been the period when I’d returned to Korea to make some quick cash.

I had risked my life in a fight there—only once.

“I saw it from afar. The way you fought. There were two monsters that day. One was a Dancer, the other a Spider, right?”

“…”

So he’d seen it.

What an irony.

“It was the first time I’d seen something like that. I’d seen videos, and I’d done simulator training, but the real thing—yeah. Those things were something humans just couldn’t handle. You know why? They don’t look like they have souls, right? Even dogs and cats have souls. But those things? Do you think they have even as much soul as a worm on a fishing hook?”

I do think they have souls.

Faint ones, so frail they’re barely distinguishable, but still there.

“There were a few Awakened rookies there, too—barely deployed. But they couldn’t do anything. They were terrified. But then…”

John Nae-non reached out with his trembling hand, as if trying to grasp something lost to the past.

“There was you. The strongest among the school graduates. You were the only one there. The rest? They were nothing.”

His eyes, filled with memories, trembled violently.

The shaking of his pupils and his hands revealed just how deeply his emotions were stirred.

Staring into the distance, John Nae-non slightly turned his head.

The faint red blotches covering his face caught the dim light, revealing his ghastly appearance.

“The Awakened…”

John Nae-non bit at his lower lip with gums where his teeth had once been.

“I think they’re monsters. The way they use their strength—it’s just like the monsters, isn’t it?”

“…”

“They babble about upward waves and downward waves. They think they’ve got it all figured out, trying to put it into theory. But to me, it’s all bullshit. They’re just monsters. Or maybe… human mutations.”

He looked at me.

The light from the back cast his face into shadow again.

“I wanted to know who you were. I begged those young Awakened brats to tell me your call sign.”

“…Is that so.”

I replied just to get this conversation over with.

I was getting exhausted.

My body was tired, and I’d been through too many situations like this.

“At that fan meeting, I ignored you.”

“I’m not some great person. I deserved to be ignored. Anyway, can I check the equipment…?”

“You were my idol.”

John Nae-non cut me off, nodding.

“Yes, you were my idol.”

In the darkness, his glowing eyes grew bloodshot.

His faint voice grew weaker and raspier.

“…”

In the silence that followed, I didn’t know what to say.

Finally, it was John Nae-non who broke the silence again.

“…They say they almost closed a rift in India.”

His tone had changed.

The hunter Goo Ssang-hyo had turned back into John Nae-non, the forum user.

“What? In India? Wasn’t it completely destroyed?”

“They gathered the best elites on a small isolated island and attempted to counter a low-intensity rift. After many failures, they learned its true nature and figured out a way to close it.”

It was hard to believe, but his story bore an eerie similarity to what was happening in Korea.

The island of Jeju-do came to mind, and so did the face of Lee Sang-hoon.

And what he’d said to Kim Daram about stabbing me in the back.

“Where did you hear that?”

Anyone could say things like this.

What I needed was proof.

John Nae-non lowered his head, revealing a faint smile on his face.

“There’s more to the sea of information than just Viva! Apocalypse!. There are other places, too.”

John Nae-non turned and gestured for me to follow.

The man with glasses supported him as he walked.

Behind his bedroom was another lead door.

A Geiger counter mounted beside it was registering a dangerously high level.

John Nae-non didn’t seem to care. He opened the door.

Thud—

Beyond it lay a room filled with a blistering heat that drove away the pervasive chill.

Countless blinking lights, wires, and cables ran through the room, connecting to what looked like a server system.

John Nae-non bent down, entering the room, and beckoned for me to follow.

“Come on in, Skeletton.”

Had it been four or five years ago?

I remembered becoming his fan after reading one of his posts.

Somehow, without realizing it, the man who had once captivated me had dragged me into the swamp he’d created.

“Come on.”

Drawn by his call, I bent down and stepped into the room full of lights.

It wasn’t just computer equipment.

The blinding brightness that greeted me came from dozens of monitors mounted on the walls.

I looked closer.

ㅇㅇ: Why the hell is the server crashing this early in the morning? Where’s Master John? What’s he doing?

ㅇㅇ: What’s this in Busan? Is that the ocean?.jpg

ㅇㅇ: Is it true the president is dead?

“…What is this?”

It was unmistakable.

An internet forum.

A real-time forum where people were still posting.

I turned to another screen.

SsangmundongJonathan: I’ve successfully set up the communication equipment. It really works. Nice to meet you all.

DescendantofByunKang-soe: Nice to see you, Jonathan.

Hydralisk123: Kaaak! (Translation: Nice to see you, Jonathan!)

Another forum.

I glanced at yet another monitor.

HelloThere: My mom brought home wild herbs. Holy crap, they’re delicious.

ChocoParfait: Doesn’t it feel like the server crashes more often lately?

CatMeowCry: Is it true Jeong Bo-hyun and Ban Seol-ah broke up?????

Another forum.

What the hell was this?

Internet—a place beyond Viva! Apocalypse!?

I turned to face John Nae-non.

The blinking lights from the servers cast patterns across his pale, skeletal face, appearing and disappearing like stars.

He spread his emaciated arms.

“A community for the failed.”

For a moment, his face overlapped with the confident man who had once introduced himself to everyone at the barbecue.

“Failnet!”

He looked back at me, his expression one of satisfaction.

“I created this!”

That’s right.

There was another forum.

The one that Reporter Guy sometimes referenced—a second online board existing amid the apocalypse.

Unlike the isolated, satellite-based Viva! Apocalypse!, this was a place where anyone could connect, post, and share their thoughts, just like in the old days.

“When I got chased off the forum, I thought about a lot of things. Should I host a grand event to make a flashy comeback? Or should I stay quiet, just lurking in the shadows? But both options felt frustrating. Unsatisfying.”

John Nae-non turned his bloodshot gaze to the massive power generator bearing a radiation hazard symbol.

“So I thought, what if I create a site to rival Viva! Apocalypse!? Just like Melon Musk.”

The man with glasses nodded vigorously, adding:

“Failnet is giving hope to countless people in despair. People have survived, gained hope, and connected because of it. Now that the government and institutions have fled to Jeju Island, Failnet is the only refuge left for the people of Korea.”

His eyes glistened with tears.

“But for that, Ssang-hyo hyung-nim paid a heavy price… To me, he’s greater than Melon Musk. Would that con artist have walked into a radiation-soaked room to shut down the power and save lives?”

John Nae-non gestured to the man to stop talking.

“Jung-min. Enough. Just give it to him.”

In this room filled with light, only the two of us remained.

John Nae-non looked around the room, his eyes filled with nostalgia.

“…I wanted to show you this.”

As he smiled, I watched the people’s connections play out on his countless monitors.

Sometimes lighthearted, sometimes foolish, sometimes trivial—but proof that life still existed scrolled rapidly across the screens.

“It’s… incredible.”

There was nothing to add or subtract. That was my honest impression.

I never imagined that this man—this seemingly petty, materialistic man—could have created a world.

“And one more thing. Actually, this is the main point.”

John Nae-non tapped one of his machines, letting out a satisfied chuckle.

“Soon, I’m going to take revenge on Viva! Apocalypse!.”

“Revenge?”

“Yes. To those ungrateful Korean forum bastards who kicked me out.”

“?!”

“Most of them will be confused, but I hope at least you, Skeletton, will understand. The revenge that John Nae-non has planned, which will begin soon.”

He didn’t explain what that revenge would be.

John Nae-non’s follower handed me the equipment I’d requested.

It was perfect.

Before I left, I looked back at him.

John Nae-non stood there, arms outstretched, gazing at the world he’d created with a strange sense of fulfillment.

Whether it was because the darkness had grown too thick, or because my vision had blurred, I could no longer distinguish John Nae-non from the light surrounding him.

Whenever I stand before a monster, I feel the deep-rooted hatred inside me blaze like dry coal catching fire.

“…”

The small-type monster standing before me now—a Dancer-type—is specialized for close combat.

You could call it a Hunter-killer monster.

Despite its massive size, stretching 6 meters long, it moves with uncanny agility, as if it’s dancing. Any Hunter who dares approach it is reduced to pulp by its two spike-like forearms.

It’s nearly impossible to defeat without equipment.

But with the right tools and reflexes sharp enough to match its erratic movements, it’s not invincible.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The earth shook as the grayish-white monster filled my field of vision.

What I needed now was the resolve to die—or more accurately, the will to drive one clean shot into the monster even if I died.

Clack.

The monster raised its spiked forearm high into the air.

It was ready to skewer me, like the comrades whose bodies were cremated locally because there was no way to bring them back home.

But I wouldn’t let that happen to me.

Feeling the eternal flames of hatred burning within me, I pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The instant I fired, the force sent me flying backward. A monstrous harpoon tore through the air and impaled the monster’s body.

Direct hit.

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

The charges inside the harpoon detonated in a chain reaction, tearing it apart from the inside.

The monster split into two halves, its remains turning into colorful ash that began to dissipate.

“…Phew.”

With that, my territory was secure.

Outside the forest, the sniper and her daughter were waiting for me.

“Oh my God! Skeletton Hunter?! Are you a Hunter?!”

“Well… something like that.”

“Skeletton!”

They seemed deeply impressed by what they had seen, especially Soo, who couldn’t stop staring at me with wide eyes.

I ruffled her hair lightly before leaving.

“…Let me know if this happens again.”

“Okay!”

“Oh, and Rebecca.”

“What?”

“Don’t post about today on the forums.”

“Why?”

“Just don’t. Before I shut your internet off.”

“…Fine.”

With my exhausted body, I returned to the forum.

There was much to talk about.

The story of John Nae-non, and especially about his revenge.

For now, I’d tell Defender—just him.

I wondered what kind of expression he’d make upon hearing news of John Nae-non.

Smiling to myself despite the weariness, I logged into the forum.

“…What?”

The scene that greeted me looked like I’d entered the wrong house.

ㅇㅇ: Vikki-ya-hoo~! Vikki-ya-hoo~!

ㅇㅇ: We came from Failnet. We came from Failnet. We came from Failnet.

WhoAreYou: LMAO.

Hydralisk123: Kaaak! (That means “Hi, Viva bastards!”)

WalnutMom: You all had this kind of fun and didn’t tell us?!

ㅇㅇ: We came from Failnet. We came from Failnet. We came from Failnet.

…

What the hell was this?

Why had the forum turned into this chaos?

It didn’t take long for me to find out why.

Foxgames: I’ve been saying the traffic’s been weird for a while now. Turns out, it’s because of an invasion. These guys are all from Failnet. But don’t take it as a bad thing.

Foxgames: If they can invade us, it means we can invade them too.

Foxgames: The world just got bigger.

The moment I read that, I slapped my forehead.

Who could’ve imagined such an incredible revenge?

With deep respect, I muttered:

“John Nae-non.”

He had been my role model.

And apparently, he had thought of me as his idol.

Now, I too would see him as my idol.

A man who had created a world and connected it to another—he was more than deserving of that title.

What kind of relationship is it when two people see each other as idols?

An infinite chain of admiration.

I thought of Ouroboros, the snake that devours its own tail—a symbol of eternity.

It represents unity, yet within that unity, there’s always something bigger and smaller.

The head is greater, and the tail is lesser.

I wanted to give the honor of being the head to John Nae-non.

To that man who had become one with the light in the faint darkness.

John_nenon: (John Nae-non) Here’s my lunch for today. Haha.

I looked at his post.