31. The Man Who Became Light (3)
John Naenon asked for a break, as if the agitation of emotions had affected his exhausted body.
A man in a protective suit with glasses was helping out next to him.
Judging by the frequent coughing up of blood and the clenching of the man’s arm with convulsive hands, it doesn’t seem like there’s much time left for discussion.
The man with glasses approached him while he was taking a breath.
“sorry. To come a long way and waste such precious time.”
“What happened?”
The man with glasses hesitated.
After a while, in a resigned tone, he spoke calmly of what had happened to Jonnaenon.
“······John Naenon tried to introduce a new type of nuclear battery.”
“nuclear battery?”
“The Neo Alpha is the latest model. While conventional nuclear power cells prioritize stability and lifespan, neo-alpha cells can generate enough power even for small-scale power plants. but.”
The glasses man’s face contorted.
“It was very unstable. Eventually, something happened while doing power work. Jonnaenon-nim took a large amount of radiation as it was.”
Throughout the story, one question raised its head.
It is true that electricity is an essential resource for human life.
But what about a power plant?
Would a person living in the age of destruction need that much electricity?
“Do you need that much electricity?”
Waiting for the man to finish talking, he asked abruptly.
The man looked at me blankly and answered with conviction.
“yes. Required.”
John Naenon stood up from his seat and was looking this way.
It seemed ready.
I approached John Naenon.
The face, which had turned ugly due to the backlight of the medical equipment, became one with the darkness and could not be seen properly, but only those two eyes, like those of a wild animal, glowed in the dark and kept me straight.
“I know you.”
John Naenon said with difficulty.
It changed from honorific to flat language, but I didn’t care.
Now he’s talking as Gu Ssang-hyo, a hunter who’s older than me, not as an argument.
“I’ve seen it in Cheorwon. Yes, it must have been around the time I was deployed to the frontline for the first time after leaving the specialized course training center.”
it’s iron
Is it the time when you came back to Korea and made a lot of money?
I only risked my life once there.
“I saw it from afar. the scene where you fight. Two monsters appeared at the same time. One was a dancer, the other a spider.”
“…”
You must have seen that scene.
Ironically.
“I saw it for the first time. something like that I’ve seen it in the video and played simulator battles, but those that I actually saw are like that. It was something that humans, humans couldn’t handle. Why, don’t they look like they don’t have a soul? It’s something that dogs and cats have too. But do they have as much soul as a lugworm on a fishing hook?”
I tend to think there is.
Compared to humans, it would be faint enough to be no different from a façade.
“There were a few newly deployed kids called Awakens. But I couldn’t even get my hands on it. that got scared There…”
John Naenon stretched out his hand.
As if trying to hold on to the past that will never return.
“The strongest from school. there was only you The rest was nothing.”
The eyes that looked at the past shook violently.
I could feel the agitation of deep emotions in the constantly shaking pupils and trembling hands.
Looking into the distance, Jonnaenon turned his head slightly to the side.
The darkness brought by the backlight dissipated, revealing a disfigured face with red spots.
“Awaken.”
Jonnaenon tried to chew his lower lip with his missing teeth.
“I see them as monsters. Isn’t working hard just like a monster?”
“…”
“Is it an upward wave? Is it a downward wave? Others think they are theorizing and talking bullsh*t, but in my eyes they are just monsters. Or maybe it’s a human mutation.”
he saw me
At the same time, the darkness brought by the backlight covered his face.
“I wanted to know who you were, so I begged the young Awakens and listened to their callsigns.”
“······is that so.”
I replied because I wanted this conversation to end quickly.
slowly getting tired
My body is also tired, and I have been through this situation quite a lot.
“At that time, I turned away from you at Jeongmo.”
“What a great person I am. It’s cheap even if you turn away. Anyway, I want to check the equipment…”
“Even if you see an idol.”
Interrupting my words, John Naenon nodded.
“Yes, you were my idol.”
The man’s eyes, which had been shining only in the dark, became bloodshot.
The faint voice became more and more subdued.
“…”
In this uncomfortable silence, I didn’t know what to say.
It was John Naenon who opened his mouth again.
“There is a story in India about almost closing the rift.”
The tone of voice has changed.
Hunter Koo Ssang-hyo returned to the bulletin board user John Naenon.
“yes? in India? Didn’t it perish there?”
“It is said that they gathered only the best elites on a small island isolated by the sea and tried to attack low-intensity rifts. After much trial and error, they seem to have figured out the true nature of the rift and figured out a way to close it.”
It’s hard to believe, but the story of John Naenon had a chilling resemblance to what’s happening in Korea.
The island of Jeju Island and Lee Sang-hoon’s face naturally flashed through my mind.
Also, the words he said to Da-ram Kim that he could hit me in the back of the head.
“Where did you get the information from?”
Words are something anyone can say.
Proof is needed.
John Naenon lowered his head, revealing his face.
A faint smile hung on his face.
“The sea of information remaining in this world is Viva! Apocalypse! not only There are plenty of others.”
John Naenon turned around.
“There is something I want to show you.”
A man with glasses supported him.
Behind Jonnanon’s bedroom was another, leaden door.
There was a Geiger counter next to the door, and it was reading pretty dangerous numbers.
John Naenon opened the door without hesitation.
thud-
What settled beyond the door was hot air enough to blow away the pervasive chill, countless flickering lights, and the connections of wires and cables as numerous as those lights.
I have very little knowledge on the IT side, but it seemed to be some kind of computerized system.
Data storage, servers, things like that.
Jonnaenon bent over and entered the room, beckoning me to come in.
“Please come. Skelton.”
Was it four or five years ago?
I became a fan after reading John’s post.
The man who once fascinated me, unbeknownst to me, plunged me into the swamp he created.
“Come on.”
As if drawn by his call, I bowed down and entered a room of countless lights.
It wasn’t just computer equipment.
A light that was bright enough to blind me for a moment hit me.
It was a number of monitors hanging on the wall.
I saw those monitors.
ㅇㅇ : No, why is the server bursting in the morning? master john. Where are you doing this baby?
ㅇㅇ : This is Busan, but what is in the sea?.jpg
ㅇㅇ : Is the rumor that the president is behind the truth?
“······This?”
Undoubtedly.
it is an internet site
Posts are also being uploaded in real time.
I saw another screen.
Ssangmun Dong Jonathan: Communication equipment setting was successful. It’s a real connection. Nice to meet you.
Descendant of Byeongangsoe: Nice to meet you, Jonathan.
Hydralisk 123: Kaaak
It is also an internet site.
I saw another screen.
From nob le mt l dot com
Goodbye: My mom has been digging for me; John Mattang;;
Choco Parquet: Don’t you think the servers explode too often these days?!
Meow myoung cry: It’s true that Jeong Bo-hyun and Ban Seol-ah broke up??????
This is also an internet site.
how the hell did this happen
Viva in the world now! Apocalypse! Not the internet.
I turned my eyes to see Jonnaenon on numerous screens.
The flickering lights from each monitor and communications equipment now appeared and disappeared like stars on Jonnanon’s pale, tired face.
John Naenon spread his bony arms.
“A community of failures.”
The face of the man who proudly introduced himself to everyone at the barbecue restaurant came to mind, overlapping the face of the dying man.
“Failnet!”
With a relieved expression, John Naenon secretly looked back at me.
“I made it!”
Yes.
There was another bulletin board.
Another Internet bulletin board that exists in the era of extinction, where journalists often spread information.
Viva, a closed satellite-based Internet! Unlike Apocalypse!, I heard that it is a place where anyone with a means to connect can post their thoughts and opinions as in the past, regardless of distance or location.
“······When I was kicked out of the bulletin board, I thought about many things. Open an eye-popping event to make a splendid return, or remain as a nunting user and watch them return. But neither of them were frustrating and I didn’t like them.”
John Nanenon stared bloodshot at the huge power plant with radioactive markings perched in the corner of the room.
“I thought about it. Viva! I wondered how about making a site comparable to Apocalypse! Like a melon mask.”
The man with glasses standing next to him nodded strongly and added a word.
“Failnet is throwing a light of hope to countless people who are in despair even at this moment. In fact, countless people have been saved and given hope thanks to Failnet. Now that the government and institutions have irresponsibly fled to Jeju Island, Failnet is the only remaining internet refuge in Korea.”
Tears welled up in the man’s eyes.
“But in return, Ssanghyo was seriously injured… To be honest, I think Hyungnim is better than Melon Mask. Would the impostor go into a room with radiation and turn off the power to protect the equipment and the people who would be harmed by it?”
John Naenon gestured to the man.
“Jungmin-ah. Stop it and give it to me.”
There are now two people left in the room filled with light.
John Naenon looked back at his room with emotion-soaked eyes.
“I wanted to show you this.”
He smiled and saw the connection of people on the countless monitors he created.
Sometimes it’s light, sometimes frivolous, sometimes trivial, but the evidence that people are still alive can be seen vividly through the scrolls that move quite quickly.
“That’s great.”
It is an honest impression without adding or subtracting.
I couldn’t imagine.
That this person, this slightly frivolous and snobbish person, would create a world.
“And one more thing. In fact, this is the main goal.”
John Naenon tapped his machine lightly and let out a pleasant laugh.
“Viva soon! I will get my revenge on Apocalypse!”
“Revenge?”
“yes. To the Korean bulletin boards who don’t even know the grace that kicked me out.”
“?!”
“Perhaps everyone is confused, but I just want Skelton-sama to know. The vengeance of Jonnaenon, which will begin sooner or later.”
What the revenge was, he didn’t tell me.
A follower of Jonnanon brought me equipment.
The equipment was perfect.
I saw him before leaving.
John Naenon was staring at the world he had created with open arms, lost in a strange aftertaste.
Whether it was because the darkness was too thick, or because my eyes were blurry, what was happening in the room was indistinguishable from the light that surrounded him.
*Every time I stand in front of a monster, I feel the old hatred within me burn like a dry coal.
“…”
The small monster standing in front of me right now – the dancer type is a monster that specializes in close-range combat.
A monster that catches a hunter?
Even though it is a huge body reaching 6 meters in length, it moves strangely with agile body movements as if dancing, and turns hunters who have engaged in close combat into porridge by swinging its two awl-like arms.
It’s an opponent you can’t beat if you don’t have equipment.
However, if you have the equipment, if you have a reaction to follow its chaotic movements, it is not too much to kill it.
thud! thud! thud! thud!
As I watch the grey-white enemy filling my field of vision with the earth shaking, all I have to do is be prepared to die.
To be precise, the will to put one foot in him properly even if he died.
clap
His awl soared into the sky.
It must be the thought of taking a picture of me from above.
Just like my colleagues who were cremated locally because they couldn’t bear to send their bodies.
but i won’t be like that
Feeling the fire of hatred that will never be extinguished, I pulled the trigger.
pop!
The moment I pulled the trigger, a huge harpoon flew and pierced the monster’s torso with an explosion so intense that my body flew backwards.
Jung hit.
Pupperpuppung!
The charge inside the harpoon set off a series of explosions, tearing him from the inside out.
In the end, the monster was split in two and turned into ashes with colorful colors and began to disappear.
“・・・・・Whoa.”
With this, my area has been secured.
A sniper mother and daughter were waiting for me outside the forest.
“Uh, how?! Skeleton Hunter? Hunter?!”
“Well, something similar.”
“Skelton!”
They seem to be very impressed with me.
In particular, Suu can’t take his eyes off me with his eyes wide open.
He lightly stroked his hair and left.
“・・・・・If there is anything else like this, please contact me.”
“huh!”
“Oh, and Rebecca.”
“why?”
“Don’t post on the bulletin board today.”
“why?”
“If you don’t want to upload it, don’t upload it. before cutting off the internet.”
“…”
I returned to the bulletin board with a tired body.
There are many stories to tell.
The story of John’s discussion, especially the story of his revenge.
First of all, I just need to inform the defender a little bit.
Defender guy.
What kind of expression would you make if you knew John Naenon’s current situation?
I accessed the bulletin board with a smile on my face in the midst of languid fatigue.
“uh?”
A landscape greeted me as if I had come to the wrong house.
ㅇㅇ : Bikiya hoo~! Vikki Yahoo!
ㅇㅇ : I’m from Failnet. It’s from Failnet. It’s from Failnet. It’s from Failnet. It’s from Failnet.
Who are you: hahahahaha
Hydralisk 123: Kaaak
Hodumam: You guys lived doing fun things like this, right?!
ㅇㅇ : I’m from Failnet. It’s from Failnet. It’s from Failnet. It’s from Failnet. It’s from Failnet.
…
…
what the hell is this
Why is the message board like this?
Unidentified bastards are taking over our bulletin board.
After a while, I found out why.
Foxgames: I thought the traffic was increasing strangely before, but it was also a sign of an intrusion. These kids are right. Everything came from Failnet. But it doesn’t look bad.
Foxgames: Just because they broke in means we could.
Foxgames: The world has been expanded.
The moment I read that article, I hit my forehead.
Who could have imagined such a wonderful revenge?
said with respect.
“Respect.”
He was my role model.
It is said that my role model regarded me as an idol.
I also consider him my idol now.
He who created one world and connected it to another world deserves it.
What kind of relationship is a relationship in which each other regards each other as idols?
chain of idols. There, I thought of Ouroboros, the serpent biting its own tail.
The symbol of eternity means singular, but there are big and small things in it too.
The big one is the head and the small one is the tail.
I want to give Jonnaenon the honor of being the head.
The man who became one with the light in the twilight.
John_nenon : (Jonnaenon) Today’s lunch hahahaha
see his writings