I’m a Young God, Won’t You Raise Me?

It had been a rather reckless move.

After all, it was nothing more than an attempt based solely on a guess.

If I failed, I would die in the most ridiculous way possible.

‘But if I just stand still, I’ll die anyway.’

Without hesitating for long, I drew my military knife and slashed my forearm.

A sharp pain shot through my arm, and in an instant my forearm was soaked. Blood began to run and drip onto the floor.

I lowered my gaze, tense.

My plan was to take advantage of any small opening that appeared to escape.

But the result was far greater than I had imagined.

“…!”

What I had expected was nothing more than a tiny crack when the blood touched the wall.

However, the moment the blood reached it, the inner wall began to melt away slowly.

The viscous surface disintegrated, revealing the torso of a zombie and a massive television.

Everything was returning to its original form, the one it had before being absorbed by the Boss Monster.

No matter how much my blood was the cure, I had never imagined it would have such an overwhelming effect.

Since the “cure” was something that had never existed in the game, it seemed to manifest a far more abnormal effect.

The moment I saw the section that had come into contact with my blood break down, another idea occurred to me.

‘Maybe I can defeat it myself.’

In some Trial endings, it was possible to take items with you.

Generally, the greater your contribution, the higher the quality and quantity of the items you obtained.

However, under normal circumstances, only the player with the highest contribution—or at most, the top three—received them.

As far as I knew, in Dead Zone Deal, only the top two could take items.

Right now, the greatest contributor had to be Je Hyuno.

After all, he had accomplished something that was theoretically impossible.

I had earned a considerable contribution during the battle against the Chef Zombie, but I hadn’t dealt a single point of damage to the final Boss Monster, Nothing.

I had played a crucial role in developing the cure and the vaccine, yes, but even so, there was still a possibility of being pushed down the rankings.

‘I have to become the greatest contributor.’

I didn’t know what might happen in the future, so I needed to prove my usefulness to the Trial Response Agency a little more.

Becoming the greatest contributor even after entering alongside Je Hyuno?

That would be the strongest proof imaginable.

‘Besides, how many hours have I spent playing this game?’

The very least I could do was claim the top spot.

I raised the military knife again and made another cut, this time on my right forearm.

Little by little, anemia and chills began to overtake me.

I’d already had blood drawn once that very day, so physically I was reaching my limit.

As I carefully estimated how much endurance I had left through my increasingly blurred vision.

The ground beneath my feet began to soften.

But the sensation was far too strange to attribute simply to decomposition.

I lowered my gaze and doubted my own eyes.

All the eyes covering the walls had gathered beneath my feet.

Every time a drop of my blood touched those writhing eyes, they returned to their original form before disintegrating.

As soon as the decayed flesh completely dissolved, another eye immediately took its place.

That endless struggle to reach my blood was desperate.

I looked at the countless eyes bathed in my blood.

It looked as though they were crying tears of blood.

Then, at last, I understood what they wanted.

‘They want to become who they used to be.’

If I could, I wanted to return every one of them to normal.

In any case, the blood I had already shed wouldn’t be enough to defeat the Boss.

‘Just until I’m on the verge of death…’

Once I reached critical condition, a warning would appear.

If I stopped the bleeding at that point, I’d probably be fine.

I cut my left leg.

Drops of blood began to fall, and the eyes reacted even more intensely.

They writhed as though trying to crawl directly up my leg.

Was it because of the massive blood loss?

I could barely feel any pain anymore.

Only a strange sense of numbness.

And there was something else that was strange.

The critical condition warning never appeared.

‘I’m still holding on?’

I cut my right leg as well.

Blood poured out in torrents.

Nothing began collapsing at incredible speed, and the small space where I had been trapped started expanding.

Finally.

I could see the outside.

I staggered forward.

My vision was so blurred that I could barely make out what was in front of me, though I could still recognize the silhouettes of those watching me.

I could hear voices as well, but the ringing in my ears was so intense that I couldn’t understand them.

‘Captain Mo is definitely going to call me crazy again…’

Perhaps because I had spent so long trapped inside those entrails.

The air outside felt unbelievably fresh.

I took a deep breath.

At the same time, a system window appeared.

You have won the battle against Nothing!

With that, becoming the greatest contributor was guaranteed.

But for some reason, even though I still hadn’t entered critical condition, my consciousness began to fade.

It was as though all the pain I had forgotten came rushing back at once.

My body swayed.

Then I saw Je Hyuno.

Seeing him immobilized by the wooden rosary beads, I couldn’t help but smile.

Just before I collapsed to the ground, someone ran over to catch me.

I didn’t know whether it was Captain Mo or Captain Kwak.

But even on the brink of death, I didn’t forget to make one request.

“Please grab Lieutenant Colonel Je by the neck for me…”

And immediately afterward.

I lost consciousness completely.

***

When I opened my eyes, several system windows were floating before me.

You have completed the third defense!
(Defenses completed: 3/3)

You have successfully defended the laboratory from the zombies!

You have successfully developed the vaccine!

‘I’m alive.’

I let out a sigh of relief and began reading the system windows one by one.

We had successfully defended the laboratory, and Lee Gaon had also managed to develop the vaccine.

‘The cure isn’t finished yet?’

I tried to sit up, but someone was sitting beside me, watching me.

My vision was still blurry, so I blinked several times.

Only after a while did I make out that the person watching me was Lee Gaon and that I was lying on a cot in the laboratory.

“……”

Lee Gaon didn’t say a single word. She only looked at me.

I moved my lips.

I wanted to speak, but my throat was so dry that it was impossible.

Then Lee Gaon pressed a piece of damp gauze against my lips.

After regaining a little moisture, I was finally able to speak.

“The… cure…”

“I made it.”

Lee Gaon interrupted me immediately and bit her lower lip hard.

I didn’t understand why a system window announcing success hadn’t appeared if the cure was already complete.

Seeing my confusion, Lee Gaon decided to talk about something else first.

“Mr. Gunbam, you were unconscious for two whole days. Your teammates have been clearing the area around the laboratory. Before that, they found Tak Jucheol and Paeng Sangdo and brought them to me.”

After explaining that both of them had turned into zombies and had been kept confined with the help of my teammates, she fell silent again.

I discreetly looked at her.

Her eyes were full of resentment.

“They say you defeated that gigantic monster all by yourself.”

“…Yes.”

“There’s that incredibly strong soldier, isn’t there? The one carrying all those state-of-the-art weapons. Why didn’t you ask him to defeat it? Why did you have to end up so badly injured all by yourself?”

‘Because he was the one who threw me into the monster’s mouth…’

I couldn’t tell her the truth.

Besides, it had also been my own ambition to become the greatest contributor that got me into that situation.

I smiled awkwardly as I sat up.

Even so, I was in better condition than I had expected.

My vision had also become much clearer.

An IV was connected to my arm, but Lee Gaon removed the needle.

“The preclinical tests on the mice were a success. I wanted to try it on my brother immediately, but I waited.”

She looked at me.

“I waited for you to wake up, Mr. Gunbam.”

Apparently, the mission window hadn’t appeared because they still hadn’t verified the cure’s effect on a zombie.

She held out her hand to me.

“Let’s treat him now. Come with me.”

I took the hand she offered.

The laboratory was completely silent.

We had defeated the final Boss, but even so, there should still have been a few zombies left.

Yet not a single movement could be sensed.

‘Did Lieutenant Colonel Je and the other Captains eliminate them?’

I followed Lee Gaon, who remained unusually quiet, through hallways that were just as strangely silent.

We stopped in front of the laboratory director’s office on the second floor.

Tak Jucheol and Paeng Sangdo were tied up with ropes in front of the door.

The zombification had progressed considerably in both of them.

“Lee Gaon! Lee Gaon!”

The moment they saw Lee Gaon, they began pleading desperately.

They crawled across the floor with pitiful expressions.

“The cure? You finished it already?”

“I knew you could do it! Look, here’s my arm. Just inject it here. Okay? Please! I’ll get on my knees if I have to!”

Without paying any attention to their pleas, Lee Gaon began removing the obstacles blocking the entrance to the office one by one.

I helped her.

Hearing the noise outside, Lee Seon let out a deep growl.

Once we had removed all the barricades, Lee Seon appeared.

His appearance had barely changed since the moment we locked him inside.

Lee Gaon let out a sigh of relief.

She took out a case containing a syringe.

Then she looked at me.

“We made it together, Mr. Gunbam.”

That was why she had waited for me.

In front of me, and also in front of Tak Jucheol and Paeng Sangdo, she injected the cure into Lee Seon.

The two of them immediately began screaming desperately.

“Lee Gaon! That’s the cure! That’s the cure, isn’t it?!”

“I knew you’d do it! Look, you just have to inject it here! Please! I’m begging you!”

Ignoring their pitiful pleas, Lee Gaon pushed the plunger until the very last drop had been injected.

The moment she finished.

Lee Seon began convulsing.

His entire body shook violently, and suddenly black tears of blood began pouring from his eyes.

The amount was so overwhelming that both Lee Gaon and I instinctively stepped back.

The tears continued flowing until they completely soaked his lab coat and formed a large puddle on the floor.

Only then did they stop.

And, astonishingly.

From that moment on, Lee Seon showed no signs of aggression whatsoever.

He still hadn’t completely regained his sanity, but the bluish tint of his face disappeared, and some color returned to it.

He looked at us with calm eyes.

Then the system window announcing our success appeared.

You have successfully developed the cure!

“Mr. Gunbam! I think it’s working!”

Lee Gaon shouted at me, her face overflowing with excitement.

“We still have to observe his progress, but I’m convinced it worked. Ah! There’s still one vial left. If we inject one of your teammates right now…”

“There’s no need.”

Once we completed the True Ending and left Dead Zone Delivery, the virus would disappear from our bodies.

There was no point in wasting such a precious cure.

“In that case, could we treat the zombie who’s locked up in the underground generator room? He was the cook at this laboratory.”

“Ah…”

Lee Gaon fell silent.

Meanwhile, Tak Jucheol and Paeng Sangdo continued tearfully begging for the cure to be given to them.

But both Lee Gaon and I ignored them as though they were nothing more than background noise.

“Mr. Gunbam… you’re too…”

She left the sentence unfinished.

Her gaze dropped to my bandaged arms and both of my legs.

“We have nothing with which to repay you.”

In truth, I didn’t feel I’d done anything that justified hearing those words.

Somewhat embarrassed, I replied,

“Don’t worry about it. Besides, Lee Seon had turned into a zombie.”

Instead of nodding, Lee Gaon showed a strange smile.

Then she held something out to me.

“Here.”

It was the portable cassette player I had given her.

I accepted it with a small smile and, almost out of habit, checked the item’s description.

But it had changed.

Portable Music Player: Contains a cassette with 666 exciting songs. Listening to music improves your mood.

The number of songs had gone from six to no fewer than six hundred sixty-six.

“Lee Gaon… did you…?”

I was about to ask if she had changed the cassette.

But I stopped.

The Lee Gaon who had been standing in front of me just a moment ago had disappeared.

In the place where she had stood, only a system window announcing the end of the Trial remained.

(Dead Zone Delivery) Complete!

— Ending: New Horizon of the World.