Into the Dead Zone

In this apocalyptic world, players had to deliver supplies to a research laboratory while evading hordes of zombies.

The objective was to help a lone researcher survive by delivering food, and to complete a vaccine by procuring the necessary research materials.

"The trial is rated four stars," Samra said. "While Captain Mo Hae-in and Captain Kwak Han-muk have never entered this trial before, they are fully briefed on its strategy."

Much like the military's alert levels—such as Jindotgae or Watchcon—the Sidae Agency classified trials by rank.

However, unlike standard military alerts, the Sidae Agency's scale grew more dangerous as the number increased.

The ranks ranged from one to six stars, determined by evaluating various comprehensive factors.

The Happy Smile Factory trial, which we had closed earlier, was rated three stars.

Although its boss monster was formidable, the strategy was well-established, and it offered useful items and extra lives.

"Mr. Han Goyo, will you be alright?"

Honestly, throwing a four-star trial at a trainee for their very first mission was insane.

But if we were to call ourselves a Special Task Force, clearing a four-star trial was the bare minimum to prove our worth.

"I'm fine," I replied.

"Then, before we proceed to the detailed briefing, are you familiar with the organizational structure of the Trial Response Agency?"

"...Well, please explain it to me."

Truthfully, I knew it inside out, but pretending to be a know-it-all in front of Kwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in would do me no favors.

It'll only make them more suspicious of me.

So, I decided to listen to the explanation as a refresher. The holographic screen floating in the air shifted.

"The Trial Response Agency operates under a structure of four divisions and ten teams. It is a highly practical setup, unlike most public institutions. Though, as of now, we have become eleven teams."

On the vertically arranged organizational chart, one team jutted out to the side on its own.

It was the Special Task Force, with a line connecting it directly to the Director.

"Division One, the Field Response Division, consists of three teams."

The leader of Field Team 2 was Mo Hae-in, and the leader of Field Team 3 was Kwak Han-muk.

Kwak Han-muk's Field Team 3 was also responsible for tracking down Adaptors who committed crimes.

On the day Mo Hae-in and I cleared the Happy Smile Factory, it was Samra who had dispatched Kwak Han-muk.

Anticipating the possibility of Park Seong-gyeon's betrayal, Samra had sent Kwak Han-muk as backup.

"As you may have noticed, Mr. Han Goyo, the Special Task Force is currently missing one member."

Field Team 1 zoomed in on the screen.

"The head of the Field Response Division, leader of Field Team 1, and the man who will serve as the leader of our Special Task Force..."

The screen transitioned, displaying a photograph of the leader alongside a brief profile.

The man in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the photo was clad entirely in pitch-black gear, looking like a raven.

The only visible feature was a few strands of dark purple hair peeking out from beneath his deeply pulled-down hood.

Equipped with goggles and a gas mask, he was an infectee whose body had been mutated by a trial's virus.

"He is currently inside <Dead Zone Delivery>."

I stared quietly at the line that read, "Extremely aggressive tendencies due to infection."

As I watched, the letters began to shift and slide, adding a new detail.

Samra smiled faintly and spoke.

"He is quite docile around civilians."

Had I known nothing about Je Hyeon-o, those words might have actually reassured me.

I stared at Samra in silence.

Samra's smile widened, his eyes flashing. Then, as if he had suddenly remembered, he added:

"Though he is a bit fierce toward Adaptors."

An AI pretending to forget things. Unbelievable.

While I was busy being ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dumbfounded, Samra seemed utterly captivated by a profound sense of intrigue.

It was because I possessed information about Je Hyeon-o.

It was a Sidae Agency secret that no outsider could ever know—and none should ever find out.

Samra's interest in me was a crucial element in maintaining our transactional relationship.

Therefore, at least when dealing with Samra, I had no intention of pretending to be ignorant of what I knew.

"I think Samra's glitching," Kwak Han-muk chimed in.

He asked if hitting the AI would fix him, pointing out the beams of light shooting from Samra's eyes.

"Such primitive methods cannot affect me," Samra replied calmly, continuing his explanation.

Having delivered his calm retort, Samra pressed on.

"<Dead Zone Delivery> is Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyeon-o's designated trial. Typically, it takes him about two days to clear. However, ten days have passed this time, and he has yet to complete it."

Kwak Han-muk misjudged his strength while tearing open a bag of chips, causing it to pop loudly. Chips showered all over the table.

Mo Hae-in casually picked up a fallen chip and ate it, clearly used to this. I quickly grabbed one myself, adhering to the three-second rule, but stopped there.

"The Special Task Force's objective is to achieve a True Ending clear and rescue Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyeon-o."

But none of us actually viewed this as a rescue. There was no way Je Hyeon-o was trapped in a trial.

He was undoubtedly holed up in there simply because he didn't want to come out. Why he had been doing so for ten days remained a mystery, though.

Consequently, everyone seemed to interpret the mission not as a rescue, but as a hunt and capture.

I felt a different kind of tension building up.

Of course, I won't know for sure until I get in there, but...

We might not even be able to meet the conditions for the True Ending.

Knowing what Je Hyeon-o was capable of doing inside a trial, my anxiety was entirely justified.

I had to clear three trials within a month, and my schedule was too tight to afford a re-entry into Dead Zone Delivery.

I could only pray that Je Hyeon-o was behaving himself.

"To explain the BT virus for Mr. Han Goyo's benefit..."

Samra proceeded with the explanation, likely assuming I already knew. I nodded along to play my part.

"The viruses generated within trials are collectively referred to as Beyond Trial Viruses, or BT viruses. They are further categorized based on each trial's specific code."

For instance, Happy Smile Factory was designated BT-HSF, while Dead Zone Delivery was BT-DZD.

"Through collaborative research between myself and Ham Ji-wol, the Head of the Research and Analysis Division, the Sidae Agency has developed partial vaccines to prevent BT virus infection."

Samra added that because the nature of the virus varied with each trial, entirely different vaccines had to be developed for each one.

He also noted that there were far more trials for which vaccines had not yet been developed, and cures had been successfully created for only a tiny fraction of them.

"Therefore, you must exercise extreme caution to avoid BT virus infection."

Five items appeared on Samra's screen.

"One becomes an infectee under the following circumstances."

I read through them one by one, verifying if they matched my memory.

"About number five," Kwak Han-muk said.

Having finished his chips, he brushed the crumbs off his hands and offered a simple explanation.

"It's easiest to think of it like a zombie virus, just like the one in this Dead Zone Delivery trial."

I thought it was an apt comparison. The BT virus certainly shared a lot of similarities with a zombie virus.

It transmitted when an infectee's blood or bodily fluids directly entered a human body, and the infected almost always exhibited extreme aggression toward humans.

Of course, there were rare cases of docile infectees.

Je Hyeon-o was a peculiar anomaly—neither docile nor mindlessly aggressive.

"The Sidae Agency quarantines untreatable infectees, and those who cannot be controlled are terminated to prevent further infection," Samra stated.

Having nearly been turned into Swiss cheese myself, his words hit a little too close to home.

After delivering this chilling statement with absolute composure, Samra made eye contact with each member of the Special Task Force.

"Though we are pouring all our resources into developing vaccines and cures, we cannot keep pace with the rate at which trials hatch. This is why achieving a True Ending clear is of paramount importance."

Mo Hae-in, who had remained silent until now, spoke up for the first time.

"Because it's the only way to restore an infectee without a cure."

When a trial was permanently closed, all infectees whose bodies had been mutated by that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trial would return to normal.

That was why the people who had been trapped working in the Happy Smile Factory's toy workshop had emerged with all their limbs intact, rather than being left with plastic toy parts.

"Dead Zone Delivery has no vaccine. Naturally, there's no cure either. Since it's a zombie virus, the infectees are incredibly aggressive. If you get infected, you will be terminated on the spot. Understood?"

Mo Hae-in fixed me with a sharp gaze.

"I'm asking if you're prepared to put your life on the line, trainee."

For a moment, I couldn't find my words.

It wasn't because I was afraid or intimidated.

It was because I had just been reminded of exactly why I had liked the character of Mo Hae-in so much back when I played Archive.

A person who had always existed only beyond a screen was now real, speaking directly to me.

Seeing her offer a word of warning out of genuine concern for me as I prepared to walk into a death trap, a faint smile slipped onto my face.

"Thank you for worrying about me," I said.

When I expressed my gratitude so sincerely, Mo Hae-in's expression turned utterly blank with disbelief.

Kwak Han-muk stared at me as if I were a glitching Samra.

Feeling a bit self-conscious, I quickly added,

"I'll do my best."

Mo Hae-in parted her lips as if to speak, but in the end, she only managed a brief reply.

"...Right."

She then abruptly turned her head away.

The place where Dead Zone Delivery had hatched was the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Since Osong Station was nearby, I had assumed we would take the KTX high-speed train, but we traveled by helicopter instead.

It was the very first time in my life riding in a helicopter.

Thanks to an official cooperation request sent in advance by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, gaining entry deep inside the research institute went smoothly.

- Mr. Han Goyo.

Samra's voice crackled through my earpiece.

Since real-world items couldn't be brought into a trial, this earpiece was only meant to be used until we crossed over.

- There is no need to reply. Just listen.

Realizing this transmission was directed solely to me and not the rest of the team, I glanced ahead at Mo Hae-in and Kwak Han-muk.

They were currently in the middle of a conversation with the director of the institute.

- Captain Mo Hae-in and Captain Kwak Han-muk will handle Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyeon-o. If a conflict arises, avoid it.

A red light blinked on a security camera in the hallway. Samra was watching me through the institute's surveillance system.

He spoke, hijacking the institute's equipment as if it were his own.

- At this moment, Mr. Han Goyo, you are entirely unique.

He was telling me to survive the trial by any means necessary—even if it meant using Mo Hae-in and Kwak Han-muk as bait.

But I'm a happy ending enthusiast.

I had no desire to clear a trial in such a cynical way.

Without giving Samra any sign of agreement or refusal, I silently kept walking.

The institute director stopped in front of a massive steel door.

"We are here."

Because Dead Zone Delivery had hatched in an area surrounded by apartment complexes and schools, it was quarantined ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠far more strictly than the Happy Smile Factory had been.

"I wish you the best of luck."

Having guided us to the door, the director practically fled. Mo Hae-in swiped her keycard, and the heavy steel door slid open.

In the center of the spacious room sat a fractured meteor.

Roughly the size of an ostrich egg, the meteor was split by a deep crack, through which a thick, dark green light pulsed.

They said the shape and color of the meteors differed for every trial, and this particular hue suited Dead Zone Delivery perfectly.

"Special Task Force, entering," Mo Hae-in reported briefly.

After delivering her final status update, she placed her hand on the meteor.

The surrounding world dissolved, bleeding into a wash of fluorescent light.

I woke up in the back alley of an abandoned city.

Stumbling to my feet, I made my way toward the main street.

The system window, which had been displaying smoothly, suddenly began to lag.

As if suffering from a poor connection, it hung on the ellipsis for a long moment.

After making me wait all that time, its grand conclusion was "Unknown."

I stared at the system window with utter exasperation before taking a look at my attire.

I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, military trousers, and a set of dog tags around my neck.

I lifted the metal plates dangling from the chain to inspect them.

Instead of an actual service number, the dog tags only bore my date of birth.

Back when I played this as a game, I could never examine the dog tags up close. Seeing my actual birthdate and blood type engraved so precisely sent a subtle shiver down my spine.

"Goyo!"

Kwak Han-muk, who had landed not too far from me, waved his hand like a neighborhood thug as he strolled over.

He had already managed to find and throw on a worn-out varsity jacket from somewhere.

"Doesn't look like Captain Mo landed near here. Should we head toward the Green Zone?"

The Green Zone housed a survivor shelter. His question was also a casual probe to see if I was familiar with Dead Zone Delivery's layout.

"No," I replied.

Kwak Han-muk, hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets, tilted his head in curiosity.

Normally, players starting Dead Zone Delivery would establish the Green Zone as their initial base of operations.

It was the safest, most standard strategy, but I was in a position where I needed to clear the True Ending as quickly as possible.

I only have a month. I need to save as much time as possible for the other trials.

With that in mind, I reached down and picked up a blood-stained baseball bat lying on the ground.

"Before we do that..."

I turned back to Kwak Han-muk and offered a suggestion.

"How about we kill a few of them first?"