TYR 15

Chapter 15

The system window that had been acting as if it was malfunctioning finally displayed a normal message.

It felt like a broken TV that had been hit once and suddenly started working properly again.

However, this was not the time to casually watch the system window return to normal.

‘Why is Je Hyeon-oh here?’

If it was the Je Hyeon-oh I knew, he should have been slaughtering zombies somewhere between the Yellow Zone at minimum and the Dead Zone at maximum.

There was no way he would ever set foot in a peaceful Green Zone like this.

I stared at Je Hyeon-oh, tense from head to toe.

He was dressed entirely in black from head to toe.

A combat suit fitted tightly to his body, with a hooded jacket pulled low over his head.

His face was covered by goggles and a gas mask.

Standing beneath a night sky filled with countless stars, Je Hyeon-oh was looking up at the sky.

Because he was completely covered, I couldn’t read his expression—or even his eyes.

But looking at his profile, a strange thought suddenly crossed my mind.

He looked like he was waiting for something.

For a very, very long time…

‘Is he waiting for a meteor shower or something?’

The thought that popped into my head without permission was ridiculous.

To be having such pointless thoughts while standing in front of Je Hyeon-oh meant I probably wasn’t tense enough yet.

A system window suddenly appeared and blocked my vision.

You believe that if you register ‘Je Hyeon-oh,’ the system will be greatly enhanced.

You also believe that you may acquire a new ability.

I tried to ignore it as usual.

But then the system window enlarged the text slightly and generated another message.

‘Je Hyeon-oh’ is a ■■■ character to you, who is ■■.

He is ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■.

There were too many blacked-out sections for me to understand what it meant.

‘Then there’s no point in sending this.’

And even if it made this much of a fuss, I had no intention of registering him obediently.

If anything, it only made me more resistant.

Would you like to register ‘Je Hyeon-oh’?

Would you like to register ‘Je Hyeon-oh’?

Would you like to register ‘Je Hyeon-oh’?

As I repeatedly erased the system windows appearing in front of my eyes, I suddenly felt a chill.

Our eyes met.

Actually, I wasn’t sure whether it was correct to say our eyes met.

His face was covered by goggles, so I couldn’t even be certain he was looking at me.

A more accurate description would be:

‘It felt like our eyes met.’

A light turned on inside his smooth black goggles.

^ ^

A smiling expression appeared where his eyes should have been.

Creeeak.

An ominous sound came from the radio tower beneath his boots.

A chill crawled down my spine.

And I…

Ran.

Like a madman.

With everything I had.

I practically tumbled down the emergency stairs.

I nearly fell several times, but I never slowed down.

If I fell down the stairs, there was at least a chance I could survive.

But if Je Hyeon-oh caught me, I would die instantly.

However, not long after, I no longer needed to keep running down the emergency stairs.

A black line appeared from the wall all the way down to the floor.

Seeing the line perfectly bisect the floor number display, I barely managed to hold back a curse.

The black line slowly widened.

The building was splitting in half.

The internal steel framework tore apart, releasing a horrifying screech like the death cry of some giant beast.

Along with glass shards pouring down like a waterfall, I fell mixed together with countless pieces of debris.

Dead Zone had no spare lives like a Haspak.

Death from anything other than zombification meant actual death.

But I absolutely did not want to die like this.

Dozens of thoughts flashed through my mind before disappearing just as quickly.

At the moment when I thought my eyes were burning, something wrapped around my waist.

A thunderous shout followed.

“Han Go-yo!!”

The wooden prayer beads pulled me away.

I barely escaped from the debris.

My vision cleared, revealing the entire situation at once.

The broadcasting station building, split vertically and collapsing on both sides.

Je Hyeon-oh standing with a sharp crescent moon behind his back.

And when I looked downward, I saw Kwak Han-muk riding an old-fashioned motorcycle.

I could tell exactly how disastrous this situation was from his expression.

Though honestly, I wouldn’t have needed to see his face to know.

CRAAAAASH—!

The building completely collapsed.

The ground shook, and a cloud of dust and concrete powder erupted, blocking our vision.

During that moment, the prayer beads returned to their owner, and I landed safely in front of Kwak Han-muk.

“F*ck! I thought Brother Go-yo was going to die!”

He welcomed me with a string of violent curses.

I was just as happy to see him, so I didn’t bother correcting the “brother” title.

It was almost the atmosphere for a tearful reunion hug.

But suddenly, Kwak Han-muk’s expression hardened.

“Go-yo, your eyes…”

“My eyes?”

“…Never mind. We need to get out first.”

I immediately climbed onto the back of Kwak Han-muk’s motorcycle.

However, he didn’t start moving right away.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at the dust slowly settling.

The motorcycle’s engine produced a strange idle sound similar to the sound of horse hooves.

Clop.

Clop.

Clop.

Between the dust and the engine noise, slow footsteps approached.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyeon-oh.”

Kwak Han-muk called out to him with a voice full of caution, like he was facing a wild beast.

There was no answer.

Instead, a series of sounds like metal striking metal rang out.

Then Je Hyeon-oh appeared through the dust.

The moonlight revealed his completely black arm.

An arm made of a metal that did not exist on Earth, mutated due to infection by the BT-Z virus.

Where fingers should have been were claws resembling those of a beast.

Je Hyeon-oh stopped with both arms hanging loosely at his sides and silently stared at us.

Kwak Han-muk spoke while preparing to flee at any moment.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je, what the hell are you doing? You already destroyed the building, so shouldn’t you have come back to your senses by now?”

Despite politely swearing at him, Je Hyeon-oh’s goggles lit up.

ㅠ ㅠ

A crying emoticon appeared on his goggles.

Je Hyeon-oh raised his hand.

His fingertips pointed steadily at something.

Me.

Kwak Han-muk let out a hollow laugh.

“Doing a rookie initiation ceremony? But Go-yo is…”

The motorcycle roared.

It shot forward.

“Still just a chestnut!”

I had no idea what a chestnut had to do with a rookie initiation ceremony.

The connection was impossible to understand.

But regardless, Kwak Han-muk and I quickly moved away from the ruins of the building.

Yet neither of us felt relieved.

“Go-yo, did you perhaps touch Lieutenant Colonel Je?”

“No way…”

I told him everything that had happened since I met Je Hyeon-oh.

Though honestly, there wasn’t much to tell.

‘I ran the moment I met him.’

Knowing how dangerous he was, I escaped faster than anyone else would have.

And yet Je Hyeon-oh still designated me as his target.

“Could the infection have spread to his brain?”

“That guy is completely sane.”

“What?”

“His goggles lit up, didn’t they? That means he isn’t crazy. He just wants to cause destruction right now.”

Kwak Han-muk cursed and called him a “walking mental patient.”

‘So if his goggles light up, it means he still has his reasoning.’

Even in this situation, I stored away the information I had learned.

“It’s not like attacking compatible people is anything new for Lieutenant Colonel Je, but this level of destruction is a first.”

Kwak Han-muk muttered that something had seemed strange ever since Je Hyeon-oh stayed alone in the Dead Zone for ten whole days.

“F*ck.”

Suddenly, Kwak Han-muk cursed.

Every zombie in the Green Zone had gathered and was chasing after the motorcycle roaring through the streets.

The collapse of the building had spread through the entire Green Zone.

The zombies of Dead Zone, whose sight and smell had deteriorated and who relied only on hearing, had all rushed toward the noise.

Their physical abilities increased at night, but they weren’t Dead Zombies.

Escaping them on a motorcycle was more than possible.

The problem was the bridge.

Crossing the bridge would take us into the Yellow Zone, but the area leading up to it was considered a transition zone, meaning Yellow Zone zombies could also enter.

The Yellow Zone zombies attracted by the collapse were swarming across the bridge we needed to cross.

Zombies ahead.

Zombies and Je Hyeon-oh behind.

Both options were terrible.

But if I had to choose, I would obviously choose the former.

Even so, the sight before me was overwhelming enough that cold sweat soaked my back.

The moonlight was unusually bright tonight, shining down on the bridge.

Hundreds of rotten bodies scratched against the asphalt and gasped.

The zombies covering the bridge twisted their broken bodies and rushed toward the only sound they could detect.

Toward me and Kwak Han-muk.

Clatter.

Small beads rattled.

Dozens of strands of prayer beads extended from Kwak Han-muk and struck in every direction.

Like whips, the beads smashed into the zombies.

Even the tougher ones that endured the first strike were thrown away by the force of the beads and fell into the river.

The zombies seemed manageable.

…The zombies, at least.

Suddenly, my vision darkened.

I looked up.

The moon had not been covered by clouds.

Six wings made of black metal feathers were blocking the moonlight.

Je Hyeon-oh was flying leisurely with his wings spread wide.

Almost as if he was watching the chaos happening on the bridge.

Again, our eyes met.

I couldn’t properly see them, but I was certain.

His gaze was sharp enough to make my skin sting.

Je Hyeon-oh pulled one arm back.

Then he swung it forward.

Several black crescents shot out and carved through the asphalt.

Black lines were drawn across the bridge like scribbles.

“Lieutenant Colonel Je, you son of a—!”

Kwak Han-muk twisted the throttle as far as it would go.

The speedometer reached the red zone.

I grabbed onto him with all my strength.

A grinding sound rose from below.

The cracks spread from the black lines.

The asphalt split apart.

The broken sections began collapsing layer by layer.

“Grrrraaaah!”

The zombies let out strange cries as they fell.

Then a massive piece of the bridge collapsed into the river.

BOOOOM!

A huge pillar of water erupted upward.

Water sprayed everywhere.

Completely soaked, Kwak Han-muk and I raced across the bridge.

The spreading cracks chased after us.

The motorcycle barely outran the collapse.

But Je Hyeon-oh had no intention of simply watching us escape.

He folded his metal wings and dove.

BOOM!

Je Hyeon-oh landed at the end of the bridge.

Slowly standing upright, he waited for us with both arms hanging down.

^ ^

The motorcycle was already at maximum speed.

There was no way to slow down.

The only option was to crash straight into him.

But the moment we hit him, Je Hyeon-oh would tear us apart.

The veins on Kwak Han-muk’s hands bulged.

The prayer beads scattered around us gathered back toward their owner.

He was preparing to fight Je Hyeon-oh.

Only a few seconds remained before impact.

Either Kwak Han-muk or Je Hyeon-oh would suffer serious injuries.

It would make the true ending of Dead Zone impossible.

And the special task force’s missions for the next month would become impossible as well.

Maybe both of them would be broken beyond repair.

Would you like to register ‘Je Hyeon-oh’?

Pain throbbed from my aching eyeballs.

The system window blocked my vision.

You dislike this situation.

Because you do not approve of those who should become your ■■ pointing blades at each other.

However, fortunately, you know a good solution.

Would you like to register ‘Je Hyeon-oh’?

A moment that lasted less than a second stretched endlessly.

My burning eyes now felt like they were being set on fire.

Would you like to register ‘Je Hyeon-oh’?

Would you like to register ‘Je Hyeon-oh’?

This time…

I thought maybe it would be okay to listen to it.

No.

That wasn’t it.

I wasn’t listening to it.

This was because it was going to ■■ ■ ■■■.

Would you like to register ‘Je Hyeon-oh’?

‘Register Je Hyeon-oh.’