Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 46.1: The Messiah (1)

There’s a term called Oldbie.

It’s used to refer to veteran members in contrast to Newbies, the newcomers. It’s a term often seen in internet communities and games.

I, Park Gyu, am undeniably an Oldbie of the Viva! Apocalypse! Korean forum. While there were gaps in my activity, I was one of the earliest adopters who registered for the service when it first launched.

Because of that, I pride myself on knowing the forum’s history and evolution quite well.

The forum’s atmosphere has shifted over time, reflecting the state of the world. Broadly, it can be divided into three distinct eras: before the war, during the early days of the war, and one year after the war began.

Before the war, the forum was an intellectual and academic space. It was a gathering place for mature users who debated survival strategies and post-apocalypse scenarios. Discussions were refined and thoughtful, shaped by the social decorum of older adults.

This era’s most representative figure was none other than John Nae-non.

The second era was the Age of Chaos.

It was a time when pre-war values clashed with the violence and confusion of the early stages of collapse. Sophisticated users, accustomed to academic debates, began blending into the internet’s rough-and-tumble culture.

The third era is what I call the Age of Adaptation.

This is the era we are living in now.

By this time, everyone had grown accustomed to the despair of the apocalypse and the rules of online discourse. Failnet users had also integrated into our community, creating the liveliest period in the forum’s history.

We are in the Age of Adaptation, where everyone knows how to navigate the internet and blend into its culture.

But during the Age of Chaos, many users were still fragile and unaccustomed to the harshness of internet culture.

Looking back now, it seems insignificant, but back then, there were four so-called "forum maniacs" who stood out:

The Murderer, the Schizophrenic, the Attention-Seeker, and the Cultist.

The Murderer eventually evolved into Defender, a well-known user.

The Schizophrenic and the Attention-Seeker both died.

The last one, the Cultist, degraded into something akin to forum debris—something no one paid attention to anymore.

That last one was IamJesus.

He was a user who would quote Bible verses at every turn, spew nonsense about the Rapture, and eventually faded into obscurity.

In a way, he became something like an NPC—a background character no one cared about.

But then, he awakened.

Like a prophet, his eyes began to glow with a radiant light.

He became an Awakened.

Not just any Awakened, but one so high-level that even the factions in Jeju Island would welcome him with open arms.

Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.

This story begins when I started taking an interest in IamJesus, the user who had been relegated to the sidelines.

*

It was a year and a half ago when I first began to pay attention to IamJesus.

Back then, the world was still relatively peaceful.

I was in touch with Kim Daram, the country hadn’t split into chaos, and Seoul’s shield-like protection remained intact. While bizarre events like lotteries stirred up the citizens of Seoul, I, Park Gyu, could still look forward to the end of the world without any major worries.

To confess, I had ambitions back then.

I wanted to elevate the relatively unknown Skelton into a user with significant influence on the forum, just like the other "named" users.

I tried uploading some creative content, but the forum’s response was lukewarm.

Discovering that my taste didn’t align with the forum’s preferences bruised my ego a bit, but it also made me think of another way to become a popular user: networking.

I hatched a somewhat shallow plan. By increasing the number of users I networked with, and pushing each other forward, I figured I could naturally become a "named" user without needing any special creative skills.

This idea came to me after observing Kyledos, who lacked any creative abilities but secured a niche in the forum by forming a tight-knit network of users.

So, I set out to find networking users of my own.

But not just any users—choosing the wrong ones could tarnish my reputation. I needed users with some level of recognition and influence, ones whose association would elevate my status.

That’s when I truly started to take notice of IamJesus.

Back then, he was one of the Four Madmen of the Forum, a title shared with a murderer, a schizophrenic, and an attention-seeker.

Unlike the others—one who stared at walls and wrote diaries, another who picked fights with everyone, and the last who posted proof of their killings—IamJesus seemed, at least from his posts, like someone I might be able to reason with.

Posts by IamJesus

When will the Rapture of the believers occur?Armageddon = A war of otherworldly beings on Earth.The zombie apocalypse was foretold in Zephaniah 1:17.There was something about him that felt off.

At a glance, I knew this was someone I shouldn’t get involved with.

Yet, I approached him because, every now and then, he displayed small glimpses of humanity.

More posts by IamJesus

Dinner tonight.Progress in today’s game.It hurts.Super Mario Time Attack.At the time, forum users didn’t have much tolerance for trolls, so most had blocked him. Few users had the patience to look at the musings or daily life posts of such an unlikable figure.

As a result, the views on his posts often hovered between 1 and 2. Considering 1 was the default view count, this meant nearly no one read his posts.

I wasn’t the first, but I was one of the rare few who added to that 1 on his posts.

By reading his sporadic updates, I gleaned fragments of his life:

He lived in a prefabricated "factory bunker," subsisted mostly on military ration packs, and used a laptop perched on a low desk while sitting cross-legged on a dingy mattress. That mattress, by the way, was littered with adult toys. He spent most of his days gaming.

The games he enjoyed were varied, but his favorites were classic side-scrolling action games—ones where you press buttons to jump, run, dodge obstacles, and reach the goal.

Though he never revealed his face, occasional glimpses of his hands in photos suggested he hadn’t done much manual labor. By forum standards, he appeared relatively young.

What I saw in him was loneliness.

A guy who seemed no older than his mid-twenties had prepared for this world from his early twenties—probably with his parents’ money.

And now, here he was, severed from his parents, unable to form connections, living a life of isolation, staring at walls and spouting nonsense.

Eating bland rations, battling loneliness with cheap toys in a dingy corner.

It wasn’t a happy life.

I didn’t feel compelled to approach him.

And honestly, IamJesus himself resisted connection.

I once saw another user, RealKorean, attempt to engage with him:

Conversation with RealKorean

RealKorean: "Hey. How long are you going to post this stuff? Your taste in games is similar to mine."IamJesus: [No response.]RealKorean, known for his disdain for refugees, lived somewhere near Paju. Like others from that region, he eventually disappeared without a trace. Before vanishing, he tried multiple times to reach out to IamJesus, but the latter never reciprocated.

Final message from RealKorean

RealKorean: "Ignoring me?"That short, sharp comment marked the end of his attempts to connect with IamJesus.

It was ironic.

Someone who craved attention enough to endlessly post on the forum would retreat like a turtle when someone extended a hand.

After RealKorean gave up, IamJesus returned to his routine: posting Bible verses, speculations about the Rapture, and snippets of his mundane life.

White noise.

And so, my interest in him waned. I stopped paying attention.

But then, the "white noise" became the center of the forum’s universe.

When IamJesus posted a photo that revealed his newfound radiance, reactions were mixed.

Forum Reactions

Anonymous848: "What the hell is that?!"Anonymous458: "Did he swallow some radioactive material?"Anonymous121: "Is that a TikTok filter? You know, that cheap Chinese video app."Foxgames: "???"Others, however, recognized the phenomenon:

Dies_irae69: "Can I message you? This is important."Anonymous777: "Wow."CrunchRoll: "Check your DMs."dongtanmom: "Yum."armeegruppe_B: "Achtung!"inevitable: "Congratulations. You’ve awakened."gijayangban: "!"Even I could tell what had happened.

This was the hallmark of Alpha Awakening—an event where high-level Awakened individuals exude an extraordinary aura, signaling their chosen status to the world.

Suddenly, IamJesus, the madman no one cared about, had become the most sought-after person on the forum.

Private Messages to IamJesus

Dies_irae69: "You’ve awakened an incredible power. Join us. We’ll protect you."inevitable: "Have you heard of the Universal Convergence Religion?"CrunchRoll: "Here’s what we can offer."dongtanmom: "Need porn?"armeegruppe_B: "Do you want to be a hero?"gijayangban: "Help me with my story?"Yet, true to his eccentric nature, IamJesus responded by posting screenshots of these messages for everyone to see.

The forum exploded.

In the midst of the chaos, I, too, sent a message.

My Message

SKELTON: "Mimimimi."It was impulsive, something I sent without much thought.

But then, something surprising happened.

Response from IamJesus

IamJesus: "Mimimimi."The very man who had ignored powerful players and shady organizations had answered me.