Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Black
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The invaders from Failnet had been messing up the message board for three straight days.
In the flood of nonsense posts, our board's users held their breath, waiting for the storm John_nenon had stirred up to die down.
But these guys showed no signs of leaving. If anything, their numbers were growing.
Considering Failnet's nature, it wasn't surprising—trolls only multiply, they don't decrease.
Anyone with a phone and signal could hop on Failnet anytime.
As long as there was data and reception, anyone could log in and wreak havoc.
In the midst of this chaos, one user made a move.
The reporter who'd been using Failnet for a while dropped a long post.
It was a clever pivot—if they couldn't use our board, we'd go play on theirs.
I'd been curious about Failnet anyway, so I pored over the reporter's manual.
Failnet was definitely different from our single-board community.
It was a multi-layered structure with tons of specialized boards for every topic.
If you wanted, you could get admin approval to start your own board on any subject.
The boards were ranked top to bottom by user count, and the biggest one was the "Survival Info Board."
I clicked into the Survival Info Board.
...
The vibe wasn't much different from ours.
Just way more posts and users—dozens of times ours.
I wasn't particularly curious about the content, but I clicked on Pro Beggar Man's post anyway.
The age group definitely seemed younger than ours.
Though childishness was a tie.
Failnet had popular posts too.
But with so many boards, even hot posts could get buried and overlooked.
To fix that, John_nenon created a hall of fame aggregating the top posts from every board.
That was the "Hotplate."
According to the reporter's manual, the Hotplate was Failnet's alpha and omega.
What did the heart of Failnet look like?
Truth be told, that was my real reason for logging into Failnet.
Heart pounding, I clicked the Hotplate.
...
"Oh."
Unlike the survival board, this felt solid.
The post quality and info level blew ours out of the water.
Filcrum88 alone was a top webtoon artist.
She made more from streams than comics these days, but even I knew her name despite skipping webtoons.
We had Dragon on our board, but he wasn't in the same league.
Like the difference between a rookie on the cusp and a pro at the peak.
Anyway, the Hotplate was incredible.
Nothing but fascinating posts.
They say user count makes a site king—and it showed.
But Failnet had flaws.
As a public board site with no accounts, there were no private messages, users weren't trackable, and "troll users" swapping names constantly were rampant—way more than ours. Worst, the site was slow and unstable.
Even Filcrum88's webtoon took forever to download; I brewed coffee and cleaned the bunker waiting.
Still, undeniable: Failnet had far more entertainment.
Good sign.
Failnet users were rampaging our board now, but soon they'd all migrate back?
Speaking of, so many boards.
Beauty, games, movies, literature, construction, guns, sewing/repairs, flea market—you name it.
Hundreds of them; easier to list what's missing.
One caught my eye amid them all.
[Pioneer Board]
Pioneers had their own board.
Ranked around 700th, so low traffic, but not shut down—some users.
But it was private.
Per the reporter's manual, some boards could go private with admin okay, usually password-protected.
I clicked it.
Password-locked, as expected.
But I'm no ordinary user.
Park Gyu here—friend of Failnet creator John_nenon.
I messaged John_nenon's alt account right away.
John_nenon's assistant, huh.
No difference either way.
I stated my request: Pioneer Board password.
Power and connections—nice.
Park Gyu: washed-up hunter IRL, but online? Friends with gods.
With divine favor, I entered the Pioneer Board.
"Hm?"
...
"......"
Strong urge to comment.
It's "message board," not "sign board."
Anyway, dead board.
Hardly any activity—just one guy posting every couple weeks to keep it from auto-closing.
18Kim Hakmin's posts were empty, naturally.
Now a ruin, but a year ago it had some life.
Posts like pioneer mindset, pioneer song, pioneer guidelines—corporate intro page stuff, barren as hell.
I clicked the one with actual content.
It had a photo attached.
Grainy, hard to make out, but a group of refugees—pioneers.
Below: poster's text.
-Lately seeing kids getting cold feet about our "dirty work." If you hate it, fuck off.
Look outside.
Too many useless people.
Whining, protesting all day. Wasting food.
We're not kicking out the young talent who could help the country, right?
Fucking boomers.
Those old bastards ruined the nation.
They're paying the price.
Today we armed a few trash old farts and shipped 'em rural.
What're they gonna do about it?
People like us keep the country running.
A year-old pioneer post.
More like from the pioneer squad sending them to die.
No more info here.
One other intriguing board.
Beatbox Board, right?
As I went to click it, an alert from Viva! Apocalypse!
Message from Rebecca.
What the hell was she saying?
"......Hm."
Right in the middle of fun browsing, this hassle drops.
Well, it was possible because the distance between us had shrunk.
We'd been distant even after I acknowledged them as neighbors, but after she brought the scholar's gear, things warmed up fast.
Checked surroundings with periscope, grabbed weapons, headed out.
The abandoned field was cloaked in twilight.
Far horizon flickered with firelights.
Fires from pioneers booted from the city.
Westward: past bushes, Mad Sniper's daughter pedaled toward me, rifle slung over shoulder.
"SKELTON!"
She waved spotting me.
"What's that? Haven't seen it before."
"Found it ages ago. Found repair guide online."
"Oh yeah? Mind if I check it?"
"Sure."
Inspected the bike.
Decent rig.
Repaired well too.
"Online repair guide, huh?"
"Yeah. Searched on the laptop you gave. While Mom napped."
"Good job. Gunfire's been quiet lately—keeping watch properly?"
"I think not shooting's better now."
Soo looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
Innocent yet bold face.
Thoughts flooded.
When she first came to my bunker, just a scared ordinary kid.
Who knew she'd thrive alone in this brutal world.
Never had kids, never will, but... proud? Yeah.
"Want something to eat?"
"Juicy stuff."
"Juicy, got it. That's a javlin in your basket?"
Soo nodded.
"You were tired last time, so didn't bring. Now."
"That's why you're here."
"Yeah. Bored too. Mom's online again."
"Come in."
Soo entered my bunker.
She frowned at the central toilet, like first time.
"Weird."
"That weird?"
"Perverted."
"......"
Bit my lip, prepped her snack.
She loved juicy things.
Thawed two frozen mangos in microwave, served with slushy ice bits.
"Wow!"
Soo devoured it gratefully.
After finishing, she stared at me.
"Something to say?"
"SKELTON super strong, right?"
Follow-up from back then.
"Me?"
"Yeah!"
What to say.
Strong? By human average, yeah.
Too many passed me up, that's the issue.
Uncharacteristically pondered long, wry smile.
"So-so?"
"Liar. SKELTON's crazy strong. Hunter, right?"
"Hm, was a hunter. Not anymore."
"Why?"
Soo jerked her head up.
"Hm, no power. Ability, I guess."
"Ability? Psychic power?"
"You know it. Oh!"
Woo Minhee's litmus-like telepathy test paper.
Perfect timing.
No plans to tell her good results, but world's full of what-ifs.
Say Rebecca dies from attack I can't handle, I'm critically wounded, Soo alone.
Then? Worth contacting Woo Minhee.
Mouth alone won't move her.
She gave the test for a reason—not charity.
Good result? She'd happily fetch Soo.
100% sure.
Woo Minhee's brutally honest that way.
If useless, not even a tissue.
Didn't chip in a won for Kim Daram's wedding...
"Soo. Wanna bite this?"
"What's it?"
"Said to test hunter potential."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Whiter the color, higher potential. Up?"
"I'll do it!"
Soo fired up.
"Get SKELTON-strong, protect everyone maybe."
"Nice."
"Kill annoying Koreans too."
"......Don't take after Mom too much."
"Kidding."
Soo bit the test paper.
What result?
Brand new white for Woo Minhee's welcome mat?
Or face-saving gray?
Gray's ominous now, but insurance I need.
"Huh."
Soo tilted head.
Black.
No color change.
Regrettable, but I laughed.
"Why laugh, SKELTON?"
"Sorry. Slipped."
"You try!"
Soo offered hers.
Unplanned test.
Grabbed fresh paper anyway, bit it.
Bitter taste hit tongue; faint hope stirred.
Lingering regret.
For divine selection too.
No more hiding in boonies; back as "Professor"—overambitious, but proud.
Re-team with those I hurt and hurt me: Kang Strongmin, Na Hyewon.
Storm rifts, banish monsters I loathe.
Hatred still burned.
But reality? Cold.
"What! SKELTON's black too!"
Soo burst laughing.
I stared at unchanged black sheet, chuckling.
"......"
Two black sheets side by side.
One from far-off girl Soo; other, Park Gyu.
She taped them to bunker wall as souvenir.
"We're both black."
Flop, but Soo seemed happy.
"C'mon, take you to Mom."
"Okay!"
After Soo left, stared at paired blacks long.
Sudden thought.
Black always bad?
"SKELTON, whatcha doing? In that weird toilet?"
"......"
Time to rethink toilet placement seriously.