Seoul National University Hospital, 3:24 A.M.
"Patient unconscious! Multiple trauma! Estimated blood loss over 3,000 ml!"
Hands trembling, gauze flying, the metallic clash of scalpels. At that moment, the monitor beside the bed shrieked.
Beeeep— … Beeeep— … Beeeep— …
Kim Juhui's heartbeat faltered, then flattened into a single line of light.
"Cardiac arrest! Prepare the defibrillator!"
"Epinephrine, now!"
The air in the ER froze into ice.
Inside the bloodstream, 4:20 A.M.
He opened his eyes inside a crimson tunnel.
His body felt as light as a droplet, sound muffled as if underwater. The thunderous drumbeat once called a heartbeat was now only a faint echo off hollow walls.
『Warning: Host life functions terminated.』
『Warning: Biological defense system collapsing.』
"Where… am I? Who… am I?"
Confusion drowned him, until a deeper resonance broke through—
"Found you. At last."
A colossal heartbeat of a voice. Alongside it, a radiant interface flared before his eyes. Strange letters scrolled, a tone too coldly kind.
⟪ZERO LINK: ON⟫
⟪BIO-WAR SYSTEM: Connection Established⟫
⟪HOST: Kim Juhui (25) / Status: Cardiac Arrest⟫
⟪Mission: Restart the heart, restore life⟫
⟪Ability: Access 'Time Before Memory' → Synchronize with host's 'Hope'⟫
And he realized—
His name was Zero.
Nothing else remained. Why he was here, what he had lost—blank.
Then, tiny motes of light gathered and fused into a form: a round face, fin-like white wings, antennae sprouting like horns. Eyes wide, anxious, piercing.
"This way! Chaos is already coming, they sensed you woke up!"
She introduced herself.
"I'm a Lymphocyte. Guardian of memory, keeper of the host. You… you came with her blood."
Her voice trembled.
"This is the host's body. A world divided into six great kingdoms. And right now… we're on the verge of collapse."
The system cut her short.
⟪Emergency: Brain shutdown in T–3:58⟫
⟪Emergency: Oxygen supply halted → Collapse of the Lung Principality imminent⟫
⟪Priority Mission: Prevent Heart Empire's fall, restore power⟫
⟪Failure: Erasure of both Host & Zero⟫
"Brain shutdown? Erasure…?" Zero muttered.
The lymphocyte clutched his hand, warm but shaking with urgency.
"When the heart stops, all kingdoms fall! I don't know why… but within you I sense something foreign. A hope. There's no time to question it!"
The crimson tunnel shuddered.
From a jagged crack spilled warped silhouettes, twisted shadows that should have been whole.
Chaos.
⟪Intrusion Alert: CHAOS—approaching⟫
⟪Directive: Evade / Change route⟫
"Follow me!" the lymphocyte cried. "To the Heart Empire's gate!"
Her luminous wings pulsed, leading the way. Zero chased close behind.
The tunnel walls throbbed with faint pulses, floor glittering irregularly beneath his feet.
—Thump. — … … —Thump.
The gaps between beats grew longer.
"The palace is shaking…" she hissed. "Even the skies of the Lung Principality are falling."
"How do I help?" Zero demanded. The system overlapped his voice.
⟪Priority: Restore oxygen line → Stabilize Lung Principality⟫
⟪Alert: CHAOS scout approaching 25m⟫
Then darkness gathered a shape.
Curved shoulders, trembling wrists, hollow sockets. A False Guardian.
"Don't touch it!" the lymphocyte warned. "It might trigger memories!"
The creature opened its mouth.
"…Save."
One word. Enough to seize Zero's ankles.
In his head—an image: a blue-veined hand clenched around a steering wheel, trembling.
⟪Caution: Resonance detected—Memory Trace⟫
'Why you…?'
The False Guardian's arm swung. Instinct twisted Zero's body aside. Air split, grazing his skin.
"Zero, use your blood!" the lymphocyte shouted.
At that instant, heat flared from his wrist. A golden rhythm burst forth, etching the pattern of a heartbeat into his palm.
First strike—Boom!
The Guardian's chest cracked. Sparks of blue leaked out—scraps of memory. Zero struck again, diagonal, sharp.
Crack—!
The mask split. Mist coiled back. The shadow shattered.
The lymphocyte panted.
"The path is open! To the Oxygen Gate!"
⟪T–3:11⟫
At the tunnel's end, a colossal gate loomed. Half-shut, grinding. Where four valves should have swung wide, they struggled against collapse.
"How do we open it?" Zero asked.
"The royal pressure has fallen. Someone must forge a substitute heartbeat."
Zero nodded. Golden rhythm surged through his wrist again. He pressed his palm to the gate's pillar. Matched his pulse to the empire's fading beat.
One. Two. Three—Pulse.
Thump— Thump— Thump—!
The gate groaned open. Obstacles shattered with a shriek. Air flooded in like a tide.
⟪Oxygen flow resumed / CHAOS saturation falling⟫
⟪ZERO: DNA THREAD–Ⅰ Activated⟫
⟪Skill Gained: 'Alternate Pulse' — Temporary Pump Assist⟫
The lymphocyte exhaled in relief. "We made it. But the inside's already tainted. The Lord of the Lungs is suffocating in the miasma."
⟪T–1:59⟫
A rumble answered, deeper than before. The tone was like the system's, but older, heavier.
⟪Welcome, Zero⟫
⟪You came to erase our failures, didn't you⟫
Zero narrowed his eyes. "System…?"
『No. A shadow behind the system.』
The voice overlapped, two tones converging. The lymphocyte froze.
"This isn't the time for riddles," she hissed. "Save the Lord. The rest comes after."
Zero clenched his glowing hand. Blood had begun to learn rhythm. He hurled himself into the grey storm beyond the gate.
"To save. And then… to demand the truth."
⟪T–1:31⟫
To be continued.