Chapter 15
The System Window that had behaved as though it were malfunctioning finally displayed a normal message.
It felt like an old television that began working properly after someone smacked it once.
But this was no time to leisurely admire the System’s normal operation.
‘Why is Je Hyuno here?’
The Je Hyuno I knew should have been slaughtering zombies in the Yellow Zone at minimum, or the Dead Zone at most.
He had no reason ever to set foot in a peaceful place like the Green Zone.
My entire body taut with tension, I watched Je Hyuno.
He was dressed in black from head to toe.
A fitted combat uniform and a hooded jacket pulled low over his head.
Goggles and a gas mask covered his face.
Standing beneath a night sky filled with countless stars, Je Hyuno was looking upward.
With his entire body concealed, I could read neither his expression nor even his gaze. Yet the sight of his profile gave me a strange thought.
He seemed to be waiting for something.
Something he had awaited for a very long time….
‘Is he waiting for a meteor shower?’
The thought that occurred to me was absurd.
Standing in front of Je Hyuno and entertaining such idle nonsense—I apparently wasn’t tense enough yet.
A System Window abruptly appeared and blocked my vision.
You believe registering ‘Je Hyuno’ would allow you to improve greatly as the System.
You also believe you may obtain a new ability.
I tried to ignore it as usual. In response, the System Window reappeared with even larger text.
‘Je Hyuno’ is a ■■■ Character to you, who are the ■■. This is because he is ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■.
There were so many censor blocks that I couldn’t understand what it meant.
‘Sending it seems rather pointless if it looks like this.’
And no matter how much fuss the System made, I had absolutely no intention of obediently registering him.
If anything, it only made me resistant.
Would you like to register ‘Je Hyuno’?
Would you like to register ‘Je Hyuno’?
Would you like to register ‘Je Hyuno’?
As I dismissed the System Windows that repeatedly appeared and obstructed my vision, I suddenly felt a chill.
Our eyes met.
Truthfully, I couldn’t tell whether ‘our eyes met’ was the correct way to describe it.
His goggles hid his eyes, so I couldn’t even be certain he was looking at me.
To be precise, it was more like ‘I felt as though our eyes had met.’
LEDs lit up across the smooth black goggles.
^ ^
Smiling marks appeared where his eyes should have been.
Creeeak.
The transmission tower beneath his combat boot emitted an ominous noise. A shiver crawled down my spine.
And I…
Ran.
Like a madman, as though my life depended on it.
I practically tumbled down the emergency stairs. I nearly fell several times, but never slowed.
If I tumbled down the stairs, I at least had a chance of survival. If Je Hyuno caught me, I would die immediately.
Before long, however, there was no longer any need to descend the stairwell.
A black line appeared from the wall to the floor.
Seeing it divide the floor indicator precisely in half, I barely swallowed the curse rising to my throat.
The black line slowly widened.
The building was splitting in two.
Its internal steel framework tore apart with rupturing shrieks like terrible screams.
Amid the glass raining like a waterfall, I fell through the air mixed in with all manner of debris.
DZD offered no extra lives like HSF. Death without zombification meant actual death.
But I absolutely refused to die like this.
Dozens of thoughts rapidly surfaced and faded through my mind.
The instant my eyes began to burn, something wrapped around my waist, and a thunderous shout fell upon me.
“Han Goyo!!”
The Lightning-Struck Jujube-Wood Rosary pulled me in. I barely escaped from among the debris.
My view opened, bringing the entire scene into sight.
The broadcasting-station building, split vertically and collapsing to either side.
Je Hyuno, a sharp crescent moon at his back.
When I lowered my gaze, I saw Kwak Hanmuk riding an old-fashioned motorcycle.
His expression made it abundantly clear just how badly everything had gone.
Though I would have known even without seeing his face.
Rrrrumble—!
The building completely collapsed. The earth roared, and thick clouds of dirt and concrete dust surged up to block my vision.
Amid the chaos, the rosary returned to its owner, allowing me to land in front of Kwak Hanmuk.
“F*ck! I thought Goyo Hyungnim was dead.”
He welcomed me with a violent curse.
I was equally glad to see him, so I didn’t bother correcting ‘Hyungnim.’
The mood was almost right for an emotional embrace when Kwak Hanmuk’s expression suddenly hardened.
“Goyo, your eyes….”
“What about them?”
“…Nothing. Let’s get the hell out of here first.”
I promptly climbed onto the seat behind him.
But Kwak Hanmuk didn’t immediately set off. Narrowing his eyes, he glared at the dust as it slowly began to settle.
The motorcycle idled with a distinctive exhaust note resembling the clop of a horse’s hooves.
Step, step, step.
Slow footsteps sounded between the dust and exhaust.
“Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno.”
Kwak Hanmuk called to him in a deeply wary voice, as though facing a wild beast.
No answer came. Instead, we heard the repeated sound of metal striking metal.
Then Je Hyuno emerged through the cloud of dirt.
His black arms were fully exposed beneath the moonlight.
They were made from a metal that did not exist on Earth, mutated by infection with the BT-Z virus.
Where his fingers should have been were metal claws like those of a beast.
Je Hyuno stopped with both arms hanging at his sides and stared silently in our direction.
Ready to shoot away at any moment, Kwak Hanmuk spoke.
“Lieutenant Colonel Je, what has you throwing this tantrum? You’ve already demolished the building. Isn’t it about time you came to your senses?”
At the politely worded abuse, Je Hyuno’s goggles lit up.
T T
Displaying a crying emoticon, Je Hyuno raised one hand. His fingertip pointed unwaveringly at something.
Me.
Read only on MUGEX
Kwak Hanmuk gave a hollow laugh.
“If you want to haze the new Recruit, Goyo is….”
The motorcycle shot forward with a thunderous exhaust note.
“Still just an Albam!”
What did Albam have to do with hazing a new Recruit?
I couldn’t see the connection, but in any case, Kwak Hanmuk and I rapidly left the building’s remains behind.
Neither of us relaxed, however.
“Goyo, did you do something to Lieutenant Colonel Je?”
“Of course not….”
I told Kwak Hanmuk everything I had done after encountering Je Hyuno.
There wasn’t much to tell, in truth.
‘I ran the moment I saw him.’
I knew how dangerous he was and fled faster than anyone. Yet Je Hyuno had still designated me as an attack target.
“Could the infection have spread to his brain?”
“That bastard is in his right mind.”
“What?”
“Lieutenant Colonel Je’s goggles lit up. He isn’t berserk. He’s doing this because he genuinely feels like causing havoc right now.”
Kwak Hanmuk cursed, calling him a perfectly sane lunatic.
‘When his goggles light up, it means he’s rational.’
Even in the middle of this, I carefully stored the new information in my memory.
“It’s hardly the first or second time he’s attacked the Compatible, but he’s never caused this much havoc before.”
Kwak Hanmuk muttered that Je Hyuno had been behaving strangely ever since he holed up alone in DZD for ten days.
“F*ck.”
Kwak Hanmuk suddenly swore.
Every zombie in the Green Zone was pursuing the motorcycle’s roaring exhaust.
The tremendous crash of the collapsing building had blanketed the entire Green Zone.
Every DZD zombie, whose sight and smell had deteriorated until it responded only to sound, had converged upon us.
Night had enhanced their physical abilities, but they weren’t Dead Zombies, so the motorcycle was fast enough to lose them.
The problem was the bridge.
Crossing the river by the large bridge led to the Yellow Zone, but the bridge itself counted as an intermediate area, allowing Yellow Zone zombies to wander onto it.
Zombies from the Yellow Zone, drawn by the sound of the collapse, were swarming over the bridge we had to cross.
Zombies ahead. Zombies and Je Hyuno behind.
Both options were awful, but if I had to choose, I would take the former without hesitation.
Even so, the sight before us was overwhelming enough to leave my back drenched in cold sweat.
The unusually bright moon illuminated the bridge. Hundreds of rotting bodies scraped across the asphalt and panted.
The zombies covering the bridge raced with grotesquely twisted bodies toward the only source of sound.
Toward Kwak Hanmuk and me.
Rattle. I heard the sound of small beads. Dozens of strands of rosary beads shot from Kwak Hanmuk and lashed in every direction.
The beads struck like whips, crushing the zombies on the spot.
Those that appeared sturdy enough to withstand the blows were still knocked away by the rosary’s power, sent flying into the river with splashes.
It seemed we could deal with the zombies without difficulty.
…The zombies, at least.
When my vision abruptly darkened, I looked at the sky. The moon hadn’t been obscured by clouds.
Six wings made from black metal feathers were blocking the moonlight.
His wings spread wide, Je Hyuno flew leisurely as though watching the melee on the bridge.
Our eyes met again.
I couldn’t see them properly, but I was certain. His gaze made my skin prickle.
Je Hyuno drew one arm back, then swung it in a broad arc.
Several pitch-black crescents shot outward and carved through the asphalt. Black lines streaked across the bridge like scribbles.
“Lieutenant Colonel Je, f*ck…!”
Kwak Hanmuk twisted the throttle to its limit. The speedometer entered the red zone.
I clung to Kwak Hanmuk with all my strength. A harsh grinding and vibration rose from below.
Cracks spread rapidly from the black lines, splitting the asphalt apart.
The fractured sections began collapsing layer by layer.
“Graaaaaah!”
Zombies fell with incomprehensible shrieks. Then a huge section of the bridge plunged into the river.
CRASH!
A towering column of water erupted, showering everything around us.
Soaked through, Kwak Hanmuk and I raced across the bridge.
The spreading cracks pursued us.
The motorcycle ran barely ahead of the rapidly approaching collapse.
But there was no chance Je Hyuno would quietly watch us escape. He folded all six metal wings at once and dove.
Boom!
Je Hyuno landed at the end of the bridge.
Slowly straightening, he let both arms hang at his sides and waited for us.
^ ^
The motorcycle had already accelerated too much for us to slow down.
We had no choice but to ram him.
But the instant we collided, Je Hyuno would tear us in half.
The veins standing out on the back of Kwak Hanmuk’s hand twitched.
The rosary strands scattered in every direction converged at their owner’s summons.
He was preparing to fight Je Hyuno.
Only a few seconds remained before the collision.
One of them—Kwak Hanmuk or Je Hyuno—would suffer a severe injury.
One serious enough to make it difficult not only to reach DZD’s True Ending but also to carry out the Special Mission Team’s operations over the coming month.
Perhaps both of them would be ruined.
Would you like to register ‘Je Hyuno’?
Pain radiated from my eyes, which had been throbbing for some time.
The System Window blocked my vision.
You do not like this situation.
You are displeased to see those who should become your ■■ pointing their blades at one another.
Fortunately, however, you know an excellent solution.
Would you like to register ‘Je Hyuno’?
An instant stretched into slow motion. My eyes, already hot, now felt as though they were burning away.
Would you like to register ‘Je Hyuno’?
Would you like to register ‘Je Hyuno’?
For once, I thought it might be acceptable to listen to the System.
No, that wasn’t right.
I wasn’t listening to it.
I was ■■■ the ■■ ■.
Would you like to register ‘Je Hyuno’?
‘Register Je Hyuno.’