Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 46.2: The Messiah (2)

It was a memory from long ago, so distant I could barely recall it.

I believe it was a Thursday.

A world of ash-gray skies.

Beyond the horizon, countless colossal monsters swarmed—a realm of nightmares.

I vividly remember the radio chatter that reached me as I lay broken, my arms and legs shattered, unable to move in that forsaken place.

Radio Transmission:

"What’s the Professor’s life signal?""It’s not showing. Too much noise in the rift.""Should we keep searching?""Let’s check one more time.""No, I’m against it. The Professor’s dead. If he were alive, he would’ve contacted us by now.""The Professor isn’t dead.""Even if he’s alive, I don’t think it’s worth risking our lives to save him. Fool, you’re the leader now. Give the retreat order.""Minerva... No, Hye-in... How can you say that? Have you forgotten how Park Gyu saved you?""He’s the one who said it, didn’t he? ‘The incompetent have no place in our war.’ Now, he’s become one of them. What? Do you want to deny it? Think about our value. We’re worth more now than thousands like him.""Fool, what’s your decision? An electromagnetic storm is coming— a big one.""...We’re retreating."I was abandoned.

The reason? I was deemed worthless.

A year earlier, who would’ve believed it?

Once considered a candidate for the world’s greatest hunter, now labeled as useless.

To die there might have tied up the story of Park Gyu with a bitter lesson—a finality steeped in regret.

But I came back alive.

I reset my broken bones and dosed myself with painkillers just shy of a lethal amount, dragging my body across the terrain until I reached the patrol routes of the exploration team.

For nearly a month, I survived on emergency rations, enduring hunger as I waited for the next expedition.

By the time I was found, my weight had dropped from 81 kilograms to 45.

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But my resolve hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

Even then, I clung to my pride and dignity as the “Professor,” an elite.

I refused to accept that I was worthless and volunteered for the artificial Awakening enlightenment trials.

This was the same extreme ordeal that claimed the lives of countless children, now known as the mental resonance test.

I attempted it three times, failing each.

One attempt left me comatose, confined to a hospital bed for a month, with no memory of the time that had passed.

Looking at my emaciated arms, I finally closed my eyes and admitted the truth.

Park Gyu was an ordinary man.

A human unworthy of confronting the infinity that lay beyond the rift.

I stared blankly at the sticker affixed to the corner of my room.

It was black, hung next to one bearing Suu’s name.

Black—the color of incompetence.

It also symbolized my lingering obsession.

A glaring reminder that I was still desperate for power, despite being declared unworthy.

Message from IamJesus:

Mimimimi.

While I was comatose, I heard that Woo Min-hee and others had awakened as Awakened beings.

I didn’t know the exact details, but the rumors intrigued me.

They said that Awakened beings could draw others into their fold.

Like an exemplary mentor inspiring those around them, a powerful Awakened could guide others toward enlightenment simply by proximity.

Woo Min-hee had been an apprentice to the Savior, Na Hye-in.

Once, Min-hee asked me why I didn’t ask for help.

I could have.

I could have begged to glean even a sliver of understanding, just by staying near the greatest of that era, known as the Savior.

But back then, I was a different person.

Despite opportunities, I didn’t seize them and chose to retire instead.

More than five years have passed since then.

I’ve changed—if only a little.

I’m now in my thirties, learning to navigate relationships and the dynamics of living among others.

My Message to IamJesus:

Mimimimi! Mimimimi!

Response from IamJesus:

Mimimimi?

My Reply:

Mimimimi!

I made a belated attempt to bond with IamJesus.

Even now, our connection remains solid—though it’s a private camaraderie, hidden from others.

*

“Senior, how have you been?”

Woo Min-hee contacted me.

There’s a rumor that some Awakened have abilities that let them perceive others’ intentions. Not quite mind-reading, but interpreting brainwave patterns to gauge someone’s direction of thought or intent.

Woo Min-hee didn’t have such a gift, but I knew exactly why she was reaching out.

“Does your internet work?”

“Internet?”

“Yes. You know, the Starfield system and laptop I sent you. Did you not receive them?”

This girl—blocked by IamJesus—was now scrambling to find me. She must be desperate. The fact that she’d reach out to someone as socially barren as me spoke volumes.

Considering the value of someone like IamJesus, it was no surprise she was panicking. Establishing a research facility in crumbling Incheon and pouring enormous resources into its operation was all about finding high-level Awakened like him—an Alpha-class, no less.

But I had no intention of revealing my online activity to her. My privacy, my life depended on it. If she discovered I was Eomchang, she’d hunt me down across the entire Korean peninsula.

“I don’t use the internet. Never did, remember? I don’t like it. It’s just not for me.”

“What did you do with the equipment, then?”

Min-hee pressed on, her tone lacking any respect for her senior. It was the voice of a daycare teacher scolding a misbehaving child. Feeling oddly guilty, I replied sheepishly.

“I gave it to Baek Seung-hyun.”

“Whaaaat?!”

She screamed, her prosthetic hand screeching against metal, as if trying to split my eardrums in two.

“Geez, calm down. What’s with the sudden outburst?”

“Why would you give something like that to someone like him? Seriously!”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you go take it back?”

“How am I supposed to take back something you already gave away? Ugh, this is so frustrating!”

Suddenly, a heavy silence fell on the other side of the line. After a few seconds, she screamed.

“DongtanMom!!!!!!!!!!!”

And just like that, the line went dead.

Seems she finally figured out who DongtanMom was.

“...”

I hoped this revelation would make DongtanMom disappear forever.

Min-hee’s frantic demeanor only confirmed how crucial IamJesus had become. Once a forgotten relic of our forum, he had now ascended to the pinnacle of Viva! Apocalypse!, becoming its defining figurehead.

As soon as FailNet was restored, its hordes flooded into our forum like a tsunami. They took the Alpha Awakening photos of IamJesus and plastered them all over their site. It even made the “Best” section of a student forum I used to frequent, with the image of his glowing eyes topping the charts.

That post amassed over 4,000 comments:

ㅇㅇ: “Holy crap, forget certificates, glowing eyes are the new thing now!”

ㅇㅇ: “Is this for real?”

ㅇㅇ: “Certified divine awakening. Move over, scrubs!”

ㅇㅇ: “What did he even eat to achieve this?”

ㅇㅇ: “Isn’t this Guardian-level Awakening?”

ㅇㅇ: “I heard Guardians emit a full-body glow, though.”

ㅇㅇ: “Not quite Kang Han-min-tier, but definitely close.”

ㅇㅇ: “Jeju Island Free Pass, for sure.”

ㅇㅇ: “Not just Jeju. Big names are already sucking up to him in his posts.”

...And so on.

It was undeniable. IamJesus was now the undisputed name in Viva! Apocalypse!, a literal deity among us.

Yet, despite this seismic shift, IamJesus himself remained unchanged. He continued posting cryptic Bible verses no one ever read. But the world is a fickle place.

IamJesus: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them.’”

Whenever he posted, a chorus of replies followed:

ㅇㅇ: “IamMen~”

ㅇㅇ: “IamMen~”

ㅇㅇ: “IamMen.”

ㅇㅇ: “JeeMen.”

DongtanMom: “NyaMen~”

His following had grown into a devoted congregation.

Even as underground factions continued their courtship of IamJesus, the offers became increasingly absurd:

CrunchRoll: “Let me lay it all out. I’m a gang boss in the southern provinces. My gang’s got 1,200 members, tons of women, drugs, booze, games—you name it. You love games, right? I’ve got every damn Mario game ever made.”

Dies_Irae69: “We don’t have much to offer, honestly. But if you want a family, come to us. We’ll be your family.”

Armeegruppe_B: “You know the Legion, right? Join us. We’ll make you a general instantly.”

DongtanMom: “Nya...”

But IamJesus, possessing an iron will, refused to waver. No matter how tempting the offers, he stood firm, resembling Christ himself resisting Satan’s temptations in the desert. Even the Defender siblings couldn’t hide their amazement.

“Wow, I thought he was just a nutjob, but this is incredible. Skelton, you seeing this?”

Da-jeong was ecstatic.

Even Defender couldn’t help but admire him. “Man... this guy’s something else.”

However, Defender soon voiced his characteristic concerns.

“Still, don’t you think this could get dangerous for him?”

And he was right. It wasn’t just online factions vying for IamJesus. They’d undoubtedly scour every post he’d ever made, trying to pinpoint his location to claim the rare prize of an Alpha Awakener.

I asked Defender, the expert in hunting people, for his opinion.

“How do you think they’ll track him down? Can they locate him based on the photos?”

“I looked at a few. Aside from the... uh, adult toys, there’s nothing incriminating. He doesn’t seem cautious—just never leaves his bunker.”

“Got it. By the way, has Justice Min been bothering him?”

“Nah, not recently. That guy hasn’t posted anything in ages, so it’s hard to tell what he’s planning. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s searching for IamJesus, too.”

“So, there are more fans than we think?”

“Of course. You know how valuable an Alpha Awakener is. Didn’t you have people like Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in in your cohort?”

“Yeah, they were there.”

“How were they?”

I recalled that day—the day I witnessed their “transformation.” It wasn’t like IamJesus, with glowing eyes and radiant halos. Instead, the world itself seemed to shift around them, as if bathed in an indescribable light.

But there was one thing that stood out: a small flame in their hands. It felt as if it held the weight of humanity itself.

“...They were a level above IamJesus, I’d say.”

Still, tracking him down wouldn’t be easy. According to Defender, satellite-based networking made pinpointing someone’s location nearly impossible without “Melon Mask”-level authority.

The real issue was IamJesus himself. How long could he resist the temptations? His frail body, his impoverished diet—it was a recipe for disaster.

Then, one day, he messaged me.

IamJesus: Mam... ㅠ

A tear emoji. It spoke volumes.

Skelton: (Skelton Concern) Maaaaaaam?!

IamJesus opened up, something he rarely did.

IamJesus: I’m hurt and hungry... ㅠㅠ

He was reaching out—not to the gangs, not to the religious cults, but to me.

Skelton: Where are you?

I knew what I had to do. This wasn’t just about altruism—I needed him, too. My heart remained in the battlefield.

If he could give me the strength to return, I’d gladly become his disciple.