The Eyes of Zero

Gwak Han-muk, Mo Hae-in, Samra, and the others felt similar to the image I had imagined while looking at the dot characters.

I secretly admired how their features were well implemented in the dots.

But Je Hyeon-oh had never shown his face once in the game.

Not even once had he removed his goggles.

Now, for the first time—both in the game and in reality—I was seeing Je Hyeon-oh’s face, even partially.

And the Je Hyeon-oh who removed his goggles was completely different from what I had imagined.

‘I had pictured him as tall, broad-shouldered, and strikingly handsome, but…’

Under his densely packed eyelashes, a dark purple iris sat in his horizontally long eye shape, staring straight at me.

The iris and pupil were different colors—the pupil a metallic gold that gleamed with unnatural light.

That color shift from infection made it clear he was no longer human.

Unlike me, frozen in shock with my eyes wide, Gwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in were only slightly startled, showing no real reaction.

It was just a weird reaction to removing the goggles.

After all, they had seen Je Hyeon-oh’s face many times before, so they wouldn’t be surprised anew.

I was trying hard not to stare at him too obviously, yet Je Hyeon-oh’s eye shape curved.

Only then did I realize how close I had unconsciously approached him while observing.

‘Since it’s come to this, I wish he would take off the gas mask too.’

I wanted to ask if he could remove it later once we got closer.

“Trainee.”

I was still lost in watching his face when Je Hyeon-oh’s voice snapped me back.

“What’s your name?”

“Han Goyo.”

“Goyo.”

His voice was shockingly low, and his smiling eyes didn’t match at all.

It was like forcing two completely different things together.

“One more time and I’ll really kill you.”

…My spine chilled.

“I’m sorry.”

I immediately apologized.

Gwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in probably thought I was warning him about the dangerous act of using him to deal with zombies.

But I knew.

Je Hyeon-oh was talking about .

‘Don’t pretend to know about it lightly.’

Although he held the rank of lieutenant colonel, Je Hyeon-oh was the youngest team leader at the Era Bureau.

Unlike Gwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in in their thirties, he was only twenty-eight.

The starting point of his repeated special promotions had been .

Originally a promising talent, everything had changed for Je Hyeon-oh after entering .

He became an infected creature with intelligence, turning into the Era Bureau’s strongest weapon.

Thanks to Je Hyeon-oh, South Korea—pushed to the brink of national collapse by trials—had been revived.

There were even adaptors who entered themselves to gain such power.

But none of them had survived.

Je Hyeon-oh was the only survivor of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠.

The Era Bureau had wanted to know how he cleared , but Je Hyeon-oh never reported it.

Even Director Jang Seok-yoon had personally pressed him, yet he still couldn’t get a single word out of Je Hyeon-oh.

After that, many attempts were made to extract information about from him.

In response, Je Hyeon-oh began attacking anyone who mentioned to him.

After one researcher from the Research Analysis Bureau was killed, mentioning in front of Je Hyeon-oh became an implicit taboo.

The Era Bureau still had no idea what kind of trial was.

But I had touched Je Hyeon-oh.

Still, I had something to say.

“Then will you accept me as a team member now?”

Honestly, Je Hyeon-oh had suddenly tried to kill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me from the beginning.

No matter how violent his tendencies toward trials and adaptors were, there had never been an adaptor from the Era Bureau who attacked so aggressively without reason.

When I asked if he was going to kill me, Je Hyeon-oh didn’t answer but shifted his gaze to Mo Hae-in.

“Captain Mo. What is this?”

“This new recruit is a trainee. It’s a one-month short-term contract. The director’s direct special mission team has been newly formed around trainee Han Goyo, who has special knowledge about trials.”

“Um, I’m assigned there too.”

“That’s right.”

Mo Hae-in paused, then looked straight at Je Hyeon-oh and added.

“…He is a team member, Lieutenant Colonel Je.”

Je Hyeon-oh slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“Gwangbam trainee closed the Haspec. He has considerable knowledge about trials. He would be suitable as a team member.”

Gwak Han-muk also chimed in eagerly, informing that Han Goyo trainee was useful.

While the two captains worked hard, I also sent a transmission.

Trust me.

Je Hyeon-oh’s pupil floated in front of me, then looked back at me.

An instinctive chill ran through me.

Je Hyeon-oh still wanted to kill me. It was an inexplicable murderous intent.

But at the same time I felt the murderous intent, I was confident that Je Hyeon-oh would never kill me.

At least while we were in this Dead Zone.

‘If he was going to kill me, he would have done it long ago.’

Je Hyeon-oh couldn’t move after rolling on the asphalt once, right?

Even after the last ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attack was blocked by the restriction and failed, he had had many opportunities to cut off my head.

Yet Je Hyeon-oh had kept me alive.

‘Probably… because he doesn’t know my abilities well.’

Je Hyeon-oh doesn’t know that my abilities are still insignificant.

What he knows is that I can send system windows and apply short restrictions on him.

It was a natural judgment to guess that he was hiding something even greater.

In fact, there was execution. Since he was registered, Je Hyeon-oh’s life was in my hands.

As the eye contact prolonged, Mo Hae-in showed a slight uneasy expression.

Je Hyeon-oh opened his mouth after quite some time.

“Could this also be cleared as a true ending?”

The meaning of the question was clear.

If I couldn’t prove my value in the Dead Zone, whether I had the strange ability to display the system window or not, I would be disposed of immediately.

In fact, I hadn’t confirmed yet if a true ending was possible.

‘But that’s my business.’

Anyway, if I didn’t want to lose my limbs, I had to make sure.

I answered him with conviction.

“I will definitely do it.”

For some reason, a smile appeared in Je Hyeon-oh’s eyes.

The one with crescent moon-like eye shape suddenly called my name.

“Goyo.”

“Yes!”

“You will die early.”

“…Huh?”

He suddenly said something mean and put the goggles back on.

Gwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in stood there dumbfounded, and instead one of them spoke.

“No, Lieutenant Colonel Je. What kind of words are those to our team’s youngest kid right now? Goyo is twenty-four years old now, twenty-four. T-t-t-w-e-n-t-y-f-o-u-r.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Je. You went a bit too far.”

Of course, Je Hyeon-oh didn’t answer. Instead, he just displayed a creepy emoticon on the goggles.

> <

What does that mean…

I just gave up interpreting the emoticon. Anyway, that wasn’t important now.

Finally, Je Hyeon-oh joined the special mission team!

I looked at Je Hyeon-oh, Mo Hae-in, and Gwak Han-muk with a surging heart.

Becoming a team with the top members of the Era Bureau whom I thought were the best while playing Archive games.

It was the best moment since I became a system and was in danger of limb amputation.

“From now on, please take care of me, Lieutenant Colonel.”

I bowed to Je Hyeon-oh, and thought of some hopes as well.

‘Later I might be able to see my favorite too?’

The Era Bureau people like it, but the character I like the most from Archive was not from the Era Bureau.

But since he was an adaptor, I would meet him someday.

Of course, first I had to survive the month safely and keep my limbs.

At that moment, the sound of zombies came with the quiet night air. The remaining dead zombies seemed to be chasing the noise.

“Zip!”

Gwak Han-muk grabbed the Zip first.

“I’ll hide Zip and come back.”

Since there was no other means of transportation as useful as Zip, it was a pity to use it once and discard it here.

But if I hid it wrong, it would be ruined by the dead zombies.

Dead zombies had greater destructive power than normal zombies.

That was why the Dead Zone had become ruins without any decent buildings compared to other areas.

At least I had to go to the Red Zone to hide Zip, otherwise the meaning of the transportation means was gone.

“Captain Gwak. It seems it will take a long time to move Zip to a safe place.”

I pointed to the research institute rooftop.

“What if we put it on the rooftop?”

Mo Hae-in looked at me with eyes that said ‘this crazy guy started again’ while the trainee.

She asked in disbelief.

“What are you going to do to put it up there?”

“By flying.”

A short while later.

We successfully flew in the night sky.

Me, Gwak Han-muk, and Mo Hae-in on the Zip, with Je Hyeon-oh carrying them.

Every time the wings flapped, a cool metallic sound was quietly laid like background music.

Gwak Han-muk, sitting in the driver’s seat, rested his arm on the open window and enjoyed the flight leisurely.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je is really comfortable.”

Gwak Han-muk, feeling the cool night breeze, was very satisfied with the performance of the aircraft.

“Captain Mo. What if we make our Goyo hyung the team leader of the special mission team? Then we can fly like this every time?”

Unlike Gwak Han-muk, who was happy and joking, Mo Hae-in sitting in the co-pilot seat had a face that didn’t believe the situation of flying on Zip.

“Stop the nonsense, Captain Gwak. It makes me want to bite.”

She had a hinge handcuff on her wrist.

It was to prepare for a situation where aggression might suddenly appear strongly.

The reason she sat in the co-pilot seat was to keep Gwak Han-muk’s eyes on her in case of attack from behind.

Thanks to that, I, the youngest, ended up sitting in the back seat.

While listening to the bickering conversation between Gwak Han-muk and Mo Hae-in, I glanced down through the window.

By then, the dead zombies were swarming around the research institute. However, none could climb up to the rooftop.

‘If I just do this.’

If I cleared the true ending quickly like this, it would be perfect.

Je Hyeon-oh, who had flown to the rooftop, circled the research institute once to gauge the position, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then placed the Zip at an appropriate place.

Thud, with a slight shake, the Zip landed on the rooftop.

A few dead zombies hiding in the corner of the rooftop immediately attacked, but there was nothing to do about it.

It was because Je Hyeon-oh had dealt with them in an instant.

While Gwak Han-muk was freeing Mo Hae-in’s handcuffs, I read the system window that appeared in front of me.

◆ Main Quest: Explore the research institute and find the surviving vaccine developer.

You have achieved an astonishing feat in an impossible way!

You have done something unbelievable, but this is just the beginning.

I think you may be able to have new hope if you find the person who will develop the vaccine.

However, you cannot know if everything will go smoothly.

Because many things have already changed.

Finding the researcher who will develop the vaccine was also a quest received in the game.

The quest content was a bit strange, but the context itself didn’t change much.

I started a simple briefing.

“As soon as you enter the research institute, the first thing…”

“Trainee, wait a moment.”

But before I could finish, Mo Hae-in cut me off sharply.

“Are your hunger and thirst levels perfectly recovered?”

“Yes! Now they are full. From now on, I will be careful not to have such things.”

“……”

Mo Hae-in frowned. Then suddenly Gwak Han-muk hugged my shoulder with a thud.

I looked up at him while being pressed.

“We, huh? We think closing the trial is extremely important? Not like some bastards, this is what I’m saying.”

“Yeah, trainee. You’re only a trainee in rank and haven’t received formal training yet.”

Mo Hae-in looked at me quietly and said.

“To be precise, right now you’re not a soldier but a civilian.”

“Ah…. I’m sorry.”

It was when I was about to retreat because I had been too noisy.

Mo Hae-in took out a piece of cloth from somewhere and wiped my mouth. Then handed it to me.

I stood there holding the cloth, so she covered her face with her hand.

Only then did I understand the meaning and wiped my face, and the cloth became blood-red.

Mo Hae-in sighed and muttered to me.

“…It means to adjust your condition while doing it.”