I'm a young god, won't you raise me?

Chapter 21: Chapter 21

I’d been spacing out, but I flinched and snapped back to reality.

It was because of the sharp sound coming from Je Hyun-oh.

The metal hand moving at a leisurely pace was waiting for my answer.

I said what I had to say.

"...I can clear it."

Je Hyun-oh’s head tilted to the side. He seemed puzzled that I was still guaranteeing a clear.

It was a response that, as his suspicion suggested, had a high chance of being a lie.

But what did it matter? By the time my answer turned out to be a lie, we’d all be zombies anyway.

Well, Je Hyun-oh wouldn’t get infected with DeZonDeal, so he’d be the only one left fine.

I pictured him slicing my zombie body to pieces.

’Well, zombies can’t feel pain — so that’s fine.’

Feeling a little calmer, I went back to basics.

It had crossed my mind that the researcher developing the vaccine might be the injured one.

But unlike Mo Haein’s worry, it hadn’t occurred to me that the vaccine researcher might already be dead.

Because the Trial fundamentally followed the framework of a game.

Here’s how I saw the Trial:

1. The Trial is a virtual space built based on the Archive games I’d played.

2. Games have a minimum framework to allow progress.

Thinking with those premises in mind, the conclusion was one thing:

3. The Trial also has a minimum framework to allow progress.

Of course, there are cases where the researcher dies while the Player is meeting them and progressing.

’That’s a Bad Ending.’

But a situation where the researcher meant to develop the vaccine dies before even meeting the Player — that goes against the game’s framework.

It’s no different from Smiley the NPC dying alone in HapFactory.

In short, it was an impossible situation.

There was no chance Je Hyun-oh, who’d entered first, had already met the researcher either.

Because Je Hyun-oh also knew the clear conditions — there was no reason for him to touch the researcher.

Unless he’d been killing an extra zombie in that time instead.

Then another question struck me.

Je Hyun-oh hated the Trial.

He hated staying in the Trial for long, so he always aimed for the shortest clear time.

Yet even though he was in a situation where he couldn’t even clear it now...

Je Hyun-oh was acting too normal.

Given his tendencies, he should be doing something crazy — but instead, he was acting like he was having fun.

’There’s no way Je Hyun-oh knows something I don’t.’

I couldn’t follow the thought process of a madman at all.

Putting my questions about Je Hyun-oh aside for now, I looked at the researcher zombie again.

Something I hadn’t noticed before caught my eye.

The zombie was still banging its head against the glass door.

Even though me and Je Hyun-oh were talking right next to it, it didn’t care.

That meant it had already locked onto a target.

I looked beyond the glass door. At first, hidden in the darkness, I saw a person.

A woman, covering her mouth and crying silently, looked at me with trembling eyes.

Her face, soaked with tears, seemed around my age.

An ID card hung around her neck. She was wearing a researcher’s coat.

Yi Ga-on.

She was the essential condition for the True Ending I’d been trying to find — "the researcher’s younger sibling."

Now I understood the situation.

The True Ending of DeZonDeal is the vaccine production ending. The other normal endings only give clues for vaccine production and end there.

The lone surviving researcher worries about their sibling’s life throughout the vaccine development process, helped by the Player.

And they tell the Player stories about their sibling.

Trivial stories — how the sibling joined the lab as a research intern and worked alongside them, how their parents died early so they raised the sibling alone, that kind of thing.

But they never give a quest to find the sibling — and that’s the trap.

The Player has to use the researcher’s stories as hints and find the sibling on their own.

A so-called Hidden Quest.

If you find the surviving sibling, you can proceed on the True Ending route.

If the sibling is dead or turned into a zombie, you’re forced into a normal ending.

Since some time had passed since Je Hyun-oh entered DeZonDeal, I’d been anxious that the sibling might have died in the meantime.

But instead, the researcher had become a zombie.

Probably when Je Hyun-oh swept through the lab’s zombies, the researcher went out looking for their sibling.

And in the process, they must have met other surviving researchers.

They found the sibling — but then got bitten by a zombie and was abandoned by the other survivors.

’The useless-looking sibling was probably abandoned too.’

The researcher, bitten and left alone with the sibling, must have made a choice. And this was the result of that choice.

Shoving the sibling into the Laboratory Director’s Office — the safest place in the lab, but not too remote, good for dealing with outside situations.

Tying their own limbs. Putting a gag in their own mouth.

They couldn’t bring themselves to tell the sibling to kill them. That would be too horrible a request to make.

"Grrr..."

The gagged zombie slammed its crushed-skull head against the glass door again.

I remembered what the researcher had told me in the game.

"Roasted Chestnut-nim, my sibling? They’re so spoiled. They won’t even call me oppa — just my name. And when they’re in a bad mood, they just yell ’Hey!’ first."

"They joined the lab as an intern because of me... If it weren’t for me, they could’ve been in a safer zone."

"They’re smarter than me, you know. I already got their consent in advance."

"I just want them to live. If they can hold on until I make the vaccine..."

I’d thought I could finish with a happy ending. Like in the game.

I wanted to start over — but I couldn’t.

Not only was there no time to re-enter, but the moment I cleared it through another method and left, Mo Haein — an infected — would be executed.

’If only this were a game.’

Then I’d just quit and start over from the beginning.

As I was indulging in impossible thoughts, a cold chill ran through me.

Je Hyun-oh, standing beside me, was raising his metal hand to deal with the zombie.

"Lieutenant Colonel Je, please wait."

I moved in front of Je Hyun-oh. Blocking the view of the woman looking this way with frightened eyes, I said:

"That female researcher is an important NPC for clearing. She’s the vaccine developer’s younger sister."

I continued, looking at my reflection in his black goggles.

"Even if she’s a zombie now, killing family right in front of her might create a hostile relationship."

Fortunately, Je Hyun-oh listened to me.

Though it seemed less because he trusted my judgment and more because he wanted to see how I’d navigate this obstacle.

With Je Hyun-oh’s cooperation, I tied up the researcher zombie more securely.

Then I knocked on the reinforced glass door.

Knock knock.

The gaunt body jumped.

"I’m a soldier. I’m here to help — please open the door."

But she was still wary. After a moment’s hesitation, I said a name.

"...I know Yi Se-on-ssi."

The name of the researcher who’d become a zombie.

The moment she heard her oppa’s name, Yi Ga-on’s eyes changed.

She stood up abruptly and immediately unlocked the reinforced glass door.

I pulled the door open. Through the widening gap, a cracked, exhausted voice spilled out.

"Y-you know my... oppa? How... my oppa doesn’t have friends..."

"We met briefly for work once."

"Ah..."

I pulled Yi Ga-on out and took out a drink and a chocolate bar from my backpack.

"Wait over there for a moment."

After sending her to a corner, I isolated the zombified Yi Se-on in the Laboratory Director’s Office.

Then I piled up barricades in front of the glass door.

The Laboratory Director’s Office was quite sturdy — he wouldn’t be able to get out until someone removed the barricades from outside.

"Hnng, huff..."

In the meantime, Yi Ga-on was sniffling with tears and snot running, munching on the chocolate bar and drink.

She must have been trapped alone for quite a long time. It was amazing she’d held out this long.

"Thank you..."

Yi Ga-on thanked me.

Then she tried to thank Je Hyun-oh too — but the moment she saw his metal hand, she froze in fear, unable to say a word.

I turned to look at Je Hyun-oh, and I deeply understood how Yi Ga-on felt. freeweɓnovel.cøm

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Even if he hid the metal hand, it wouldn’t solve the problem.

Not to mention the goggles with emoticons, the brutal combat uniform, and the gas mask.

If I saw someone walking around like that on the street, I’d avoid them too.

...Actually, I still wanted to avoid him. I just wasn’t in a position to.

"Can you explain what happened?"

The moment she heard my question, Yi Ga-on burst into tears again. Fresh tears added to the dried tear tracks on her face.

I handed her another pack of jelly. She sobbed loudly as she ate it.

"My oppa, hic, my oppa..."

The explanation that followed was pretty much what I’d expected.

The surviving researchers had used Yi Se-on thoroughly.

Using the excuse of turning a blind eye to his younger sibling — just an intern — taking shelter with them in the confidential lab space, they drove Yi Se-on to the most dangerous places.

Yi Se-on was half-forced to scrounge for food and supplies.

And the moment he was bitten by a zombie, he was immediately abandoned with his sibling.

Yi Ga-on did everything she could to save Yi Se-on as he turned into a zombie.

The researcher Mo Haein had met — that was Yi Ga-on.

Yi Ga-on went all the way to the Yellow Zone to get medical supplies, but there was no way to reverse Yi Se-on’s zombification once it was in progress.

All methods failed, and in the end, she had to watch her oppa turn into a zombie right before her eyes.

I waited for Yi Ga-on’s sobbing to subside a little before asking.

"Did Yi Se-on-ssi leave any information about the vaccine?"

"..."

"I’m sorry. I know this is a difficult situation. But..."

"I don’t know anything like that!"

Yi Ga-on suddenly raised her voice. Then, startled by her own action, she immediately apologized.

"I’m sorry... But I really don’t know."

"I see."

"Even if I did, what would be the point?"

The tears that had just stopped began to well up again.

"My oppa is already a zombie."

I looked at her silently. Thoughts raced through my mind.

I remembered the quest window I’d seen at the broadcasting station.

’Media literacy...’

The ability to filter the reliability of information.

It didn’t take long to make my judgment.

"Yi Ga-on-ssi."

"Sob, hic, yes?"

"You know how to make the vaccine, don’t you?"

At my question, silence fell for a moment. Je Hyun-oh, who’d been watching like it was none of his business, leaned in with interest.

Yi Ga-on answered, flustered.

"I really don’t know... And I’m not a full researcher — I’m just an intern..."

This time, I cut her off.

"You do know."

What had felt off to me was the part where Yi Ga-on said she’d ’gone to the Yellow Zone to get medical supplies.’

The lab, being a place that handled viruses, was well-stocked with high-level medical supplies.

There was no need to go all the way to the Yellow Zone — yet Yi Ga-on had risked her life to go there.

There could only be one reason.

"Because you went to the Yellow Zone to get vaccine ingredients."

Yi Ga-on’s face turned pale.

I pulled up the quest again.

◆Main Quest: Search the Laboratory and find the surviving vaccine developer.

The quest was already pointing clearly.

Find the ’vaccine developer.’

Whether they were a lab researcher or an intern didn’t matter. As long as they were ’someone who could develop the vaccine,’ the condition was met.

At that moment, a ding sound rang out and the System Window updated.

You have found the surviving vaccine developer!

It was a System Window confirming that my judgment was correct.

’Could’ve told me sooner.’

It had waited until I was certain, then announced the quest success like a congratulations for getting the right answer.

At this rate, the System Window wasn’t much — might as well call it an alarm.

You—

I closed the System Window before it could display any additional messages. Then I looked down at Yi Ga-on.

She couldn’t say anything. Her face was pale, her fists clenched tight.

Her expression was resolute — as if she’d never give up information about the vaccine even if a knife were held to her throat.

But I didn’t plan to threaten her. Instead, I asked a simple question.

"Doesn’t it feel unfair? Your oppa turned into a zombie."

"..."

Yi Ga-on, who’d been staring at the floor, slowly raised her head.

"I’ll help you get revenge."

Her pupils trembled.

"...How?"

Fear laced her voice as she asked back. The researchers must have bullied her quite a bit.

Yi Ga-on seemed to think the surviving researchers were incredibly powerful and dangerous, so I spread my hand and pointed to the side.

Following my hand, Yi Ga-on’s lips parted.

Not two researchers — even two platoons of heavily armed soldiers couldn’t handle this being.

Je Hyun-oh was there.

"I’ll deal with them however you want. Kill them, let them live, turn them into zombies too — anything."

Worried my expression was too hard, I softened my mouth as much as possible.

Yi Ga-on looked dazed. She stared at me for a long moment, then spoke.

"So all I have to do is make the vaccine?"

The True Ending of DeZonDeal is vaccine production.

But I didn’t want to close the Trial like this.

I glanced at Je Hyun-oh. His black goggles were looking at me.

If it were Kwak Hanmuk or Mo Haein, I’d hesitate to say this — but with Je Hyun-oh, it seemed fine.

I said the ending I wanted.

"Please make a cure too."