Chapter 5

5. Anonymous337

"First, you need to roll the wool into a round shape with your hands. It might be difficult for beginners to get the right amount, but you'll get used to it as you keep doing it."

The dark air-raid shelter is filled with the light from the monitor and the warm voice of a man coming from it.

This video was not made before the war.

It was filmed a year after the war began.

The source is none other than our community, "Viva! Apocalypse!"

This miraculous site continued to operate even after the nuclear bombs fell.

Despite the monthly $100 deduction from my account, which made me feel half-scammed, our founder, Melon Mask, turned out to be a responsible and skilled person, contrary to his reputation.

The city he lived in was destroyed by a nuclear missile barrage, and he probably burned to death inside it, but the legacy he left behind has become a star, forever with humanity, installed on servers in artificial satellites in the sky.

"Viva! Apocalypse!" is one of the few internet communities that remain at this point.

Although my mentor, Johnnnon, is gone, the community still maintains a level where Koreans can create topics.

Of course, not everyone is normal.

I have blocked four of my fellow users.

A pseudo-religious fanatic who spouts nonsense about rapture, a narcissist who posts his diary every minute, a schizophrenic who picks fights with anyone, and a psychopath who enjoys hunting humans and proudly posts it.

On the other hand, there were good people too.

One of them is Anonymous337, who made the "How to Make a Wool Felt Sheep for Your Daughter (3)" video I'm currently watching.

Anonymous337 was a warm and caring adult, someone with a fatherly nature I lacked.

Instead of relieving his boredom in the air-raid shelter with alcohol or drugs, he made toys for his son and daughter, and uploaded the process as videos with sweet music and witty editing to the community.

He was incredibly skilled; the robot model he made for his son through woodworking was of a quality that could be sold on the market.

I wanted to see his son's happy face when he received the gift, but he only posted the making-of videos silently.

Perhaps it was due to security concerns that he didn't show his family.

Indeed, no other voices were heard in his videos, which revealed how meticulous Anonymous337 was.

I tried to make a robot by following Anonymous337's tutorials, but with my cat-like hands, I ended up creating something that looked like a phallic idol from an unknown village.

Recently, he has been serially posting videos on how to make a sheep doll using wool felt for his seven-year-old daughter.

The quality is as high as the robot he made for his son, and I secretly look forward to its completion.

"This is how you make the ears. It might look difficult, but it's easy once you get the hang of it."

His doll is not yet complete, but it's so cute and adorable that I want to buy wool felt and tools the next time I visit Seoul.

*

It has been a year since the war began.

The world has become harder to live in than when the war started.

There are no more nuclear missiles or air raids, but the monsters' reach has extended beyond the ceasefire line to the southern regions, and trade has been cut off. The government has lost control, and recovery seems distant.

A chilling wind has swept through the community.

KaosGate: The number of refugees has increased recently. They keep looking around my air-raid shelter.

Anonymous121: I'm in the south, and refugees have been wandering around here for a while. Be careful. If you help them out of pity, they'll come back as robbers.

Recently, more posts about refugees have appeared.

While the number of refugees has indeed increased, several community users have also disappeared.

Among them was the mentally ill person I had blocked, who posted a diary every day.

The community has concluded that the recent disappearances of users are the work of refugees.

Qwer1234: It's the refugees. They killed and took over the air-raid shelters. They probably killed the families too.

RealKorean: If those refugee bastards show up in front of me, I'll blow their heads off with a shotgun.

Some users have already declared refugees as enemies.

Well.

I'm skeptical.

Refugees are just refugees.

Sure, some might have received professional search training, but how many such people are there in South Korea?

Isn't it just a matter of bad luck?

There are others who share my perspective.

Ironically, it's someone I blocked.

After reading a keyboard battle, I realized that the person on my block list shared my thoughts.

His username is Defender.

He is a human hunter, a despicable person in the community.

Since the war began, the human hunter has regularly posted kill confirmations.

He would post two photos irregularly to report his deeds: one showing the victim's body from a distance, and the other showing the victim's face covered with a black plastic bag and their fingerprint inked next to it.

He killed different people each time.

His methods varied.

Sometimes he used a gun, other times a blunt object.

When he killed women and children, he only used a black plastic bag.

It wasn't for fun.

There was only one reason.

They had invaded his territory.

To me, there's little difference between a psychopath who kills for fun and this guy.

I unblocked him and searched for his posts.

Defender: It's not the refugees.

Defender: Didn't everyone call construction companies when building their air-raid shelters?

Defender: Be careful of the air-raid shelter construction companies. They know your locations.

At the end, the human hunter posted his usual kill confirmation.

But this time, the body wasn't covered with a black bag.

The pale, frozen face, along with the usual fingerprint, also displayed a construction contract and an ID card.

No doubt.

They were the employees of the construction company he contracted with.

The community users ignored his words.

Was it because they didn't want to listen to the human hunter?

Or because the human hunter revealed an unacceptable reality?

That's up to imagination.

A more pressing issue arose.

My favorite community user, Anonymous337, disappeared.

His disappearance, as a family-oriented and caring father with exceptional craftsmanship, was a huge shock to me.

*

Time flowed again, from autumn to winter.

The temperature dropped below zero, and a toxic fallout-laden wind blew from west to east.

The situation in the community also grew colder.

Anonymous231: Is Anonymous423 still alive? It's been a while since he posted. If you're alive, give a thumbs up. I'll do the same next time.

Lone_wolf: Did Kaos_Gate get taken out too?

The disappearance of fellow users is no longer a rare occurrence.

Many users have vanished.

Despite preparing for the apocalypse, they couldn't withstand the harsh conditions and disappeared from the community.

No one posted condolences.

No one knew when it would be their turn.

I never imagined it would be my turn.

They appeared when the snow, carrying trace amounts of radiation, gently covered the golf course and my territory.

A group in a truck arrived at the golf course and headed straight for my territory.

I observed them through a telescope and recognized a familiar face.

"......Look at this guy?"

It was probably Hong Bu-jang.

An employee of the construction company that helped build my first air-raid shelter.

He was Kim Wang-soo's superior, a man who rarely spoke and always went alone, with a poor reputation.

He did a sloppy job and never joined drinking sessions.

The construction company owner often criticized Hong Bu-jang when he wasn't around.

"Hong Bu-jang. I've known this guy for over ten years, and he hasn't changed. After working so long, he should at least be a foreman, but his personality is like a kid, so he's always a laborer."

This man, who used to leave early with family excuses, returning to my territory is not a good sign.

Especially with four armed men.

I recalled the human hunter's words.

Defender: Be careful of the air-raid shelter construction companies. They know your location.

The culprit is usually close by.

The people who helped build the air-raid shelters remembered them and revisited old customers.

A deadly after-service, you could say.

Their voices were transmitted to my earphones through the listening devices scattered everywhere.

"Is this the place?"

"Yeah. This is it. That's the golf course, and that was the air force base. In between, there's a small hill where we built an air-raid shelter."

"Are you sure it's an air-raid shelter?"

"The guy said he was building an underground concert hall, but who would come to this remote area with no roads? I did a few more bids and built it. It's definitely an air-raid shelter."

"How many people are there?"

"I know of one. At most, it's a family."

The short conversation succinctly clarified the situation.

Hong Bu-jang.

He came to kill me.

To kill me and take everything I have.

"......"

I turned off the lights and opened the air-raid shelter entrance, waiting in the darkness.

I didn't carry a gun.

Just two axes.

Thud-

Two men appeared at the open air-raid shelter entrance.

The one in front was armed with a reinforced plastic riot shield and a baton, followed by a man with an M16.

"Entrance! It's open!"

The man with the gun turned on a flashlight and scanned the shelter.

The two men cheered simultaneously.

"Jackpot! Cigarettes! So many cartons!"

The cigarettes were placed there by me.

To lure them inside.

But these looters were not ordinary.

They didn't move even when they saw the loot.

They moved as a team.

Especially Hong Bu-jang, he's not an easy opponent.

"Does it smell like a body inside?"

The men in front shook their heads.

"No, it doesn't."

"There's no such stench."

Hong Bu-jang's voice followed.

"Check if anyone's inside. Every corner."

No doubt.

He's done this more than once.

"Don't rush in. Set up the shield and move slowly. They might be hiding inside."

However.

Whirl-

I had bad luck.

I waited for the light, spinning the axes in both hands.

The moment the light hit me, I leaped out and kicked the shield with all my weight.

"Oof!"

The shield man fell backward, pushing the man with the gun.

Bang!

The loud gunshot echoed with the flashing light, and I saw the two enemies.

The shield man's hand slowly lowered the shield, like in slow motion, while I counted in my head.

Three, two, one.

And throw.

Whirl-

The axe flew in a parabola toward the man with the gun.

The man, trying to steady himself and aim at me, was too late. The axe pierced his forehead, penetrating his brainstem.

"Aaaah!"

The scream came from the shield man.

Seeing his comrade die, he tried to stand up but my foot was faster, crushing him and the shield.

Pulling the axe from the fallen man, I spun and struck the shield man's head with the other axe.

Crack!

"Chul-ho! Hyung-sik!"

The urgent voices of the looters reached me.

I quietly hid in the darkness, waiting for the next victim.

Hong Bu-jang was not an ordinary man.

"Hyung-sik, calm down! If you go in, you'll die."

He calmed his agitated comrade.

"Chul-ho is dead!"

"Do you have tear gas? Use it. Don't go into the rat's hole; make him come out."

He immediately suggested a practical solution.

A faint smile appeared on my lips.

Indeed, Hong Bu-jang is not an ordinary man.

I answered by closing the heavy door of the air-raid shelter.

"The door is closed!"

"Ignore it. There must be a ventilation shaft."

Hong Bu-jang responded quickly.

"There's only one entrance. I know because I built it. You can see it from the blueprint. The rest is sealed with concrete. Find the ventilation shaft. Let's see how he comes out when we release gas."

A battle between a general and a fool.

I never thought I'd fight such a battle with a mere looter.

But he doesn't know one thing.

After the construction team left, I expanded my air-raid shelter using the knowledge I learned from them.

The emergency exit I created by breaking down a wall is one of them.

Hong Bu-jang could never know this.

Because he's an incompetent carpenter.

He can't imagine that I became a better carpenter.

I calmly left the main air-raid shelter through the second exit, carrying a gun.

I saw the looters searching for the ventilation shaft.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, and one man fell.

Bang!

I didn't give them a chance, and the second man fell too.

The last one standing was Hong Bu-jang.

Without a gun, he raised his hands in surrender.

I approached him with the gun pointed at him.

"How many have you looted?"

Hong Bu-jang shrugged with a bitter smile.

"This is the first time."

I pressed the gun to his forehead roughly.

Hong Bu-jang answered with a distorted face.

"......Four."

"You've looted a lot."

I ordered him to load the bodies onto the truck.

While the bodies were being loaded, I noticed a familiar item.

"......"

It was a wool felt sheep doll.

Seeing it, I felt something inside me snap.

"Where did you get this?"

"From another air-raid shelter."

Hong Bu-jang answered, panting heavily.

"What about the people inside?"

"One man."

"Didn't he have a family?"

"......"

"Did you kill them all?"

Smack!

The butt of the gun hit Hong Bu-jang's temple.

He screamed in pain, but I calmed his pain with more pain.

Two kicks to the abdomen, and he knelt down, speaking quickly.

"Really! He was alone! Alone! Damn it! He was already dead when I got there!"

"Where?"

The distance was surprisingly close.

A 30-minute drive.

Leading Hong Bu-jang, I entered the looted bunker.

It was accurate.

Here.

The place in the video.

The center of the already looted air-raid shelter had a workbench.

A man was lying face-down on the familiar, warm-textured desk, half-rotten.

The blood splattered around the workbench suggested he had committed suicide.

I looked around.

It was a very small air-raid shelter.

Hard to live in alone.

"Now, you're going to let me go, right? I kept my promise."

I added one more body and returned home, checking the video.

I noticed something.

The children's voices were never heard in his videos.

Indeed.

A comment I hadn't seen before caught my eye.

Defender: This guy's videos are good, but I've never heard a child's voice. He keeps talking about his kids, but are they already dead?