"AHHHH—"
What came out was something like a scream, but his throat was completely dry and it hurt too much to get anything louder out.
He looked around, terrified, half convinced he was dead and someone was about to harvest his organs.
But no.
He was in a luxury hospital suite. His entire body was bandaged, he could not move his arms, and his legs were completely casted.
The whole place smelled like money.
A lot of money.
He tried to speak again, but his throat was still too dry.
BANG!
The door burst open.
A nurse ran in with wide, terrified eyes.
She looked horrified to see Damon awake. She dropped what she was carrying and started trembling.
She clasped her hands together as if praying.
"Sir Zero, please, do not use your aura! The Captain is on her way! We beg you, please show mercy!"
What?
What the hell was this woman talking about?
Who was Zero?
Who was the Captain?
Damon did not understand anything, and he could not even speak to explain himself because the pain was unbearable.
He could only watch as the nurse ran away in total panic, like she had just seen a ghost.
'Zero… Zero… Zero…'
Then something clicked in Damon's head.
Of course. Zero.
He knew exactly who she was talking about.
He had heard the little goblin kids from the loot-shop forums talk about him like he was a religion.
"He's the solo SSS-rank Hunter!"
"The one without a guild, the guy who clears nightmare-level portals by himself! The most OP guy on the planet!"
Damon understood who they meant, but why had that nurse called him Zero?
What the hell had happened?
All he remembered was the explosion… and that Hunter in the black suit.
On the nightstand, there was a broken fragment of a mask. The same one that guy had been wearing.
It gave off a faint glow, almost as if reacting to him.
That looks insanely expensive. How the hell did it end up broken? And why do I have it?
The door burst open again.
A woman walked in. The kind Damon had only ever seen on TV. They literally used her in ads to recruit people for her guild.
Captain Iris Valen of the Inquisitors.
The girl who could freeze an entire building with a snap of her fingers.
Damon went completely stiff, unable to understand why she was here or why her eyes were full of tears.
She was known as the Ice Queen, ruthless and merciless. But now she looked like a completely different person.
So shaken she seemed ready to fall apart.
"Zero… I cannot believe you're alive," she sobbed.
Damon entered full panic mode.
What? A captain-class S Hunter actually thinks I'm Zero? His heart was about to explode.
He could not even move when the Captain approached and hugged him with absurd strength.
Why the hell does she think I'm Zero?
Damon had a fleeting thought: 'If I die now, it better be from internal bleeding and not because she snapped me in half with a hug.'
Damon found himself trapped in the arms of the strongest woman in the city, who apparently believed with all her heart that he was Zero.
'What the hell am I supposed to do now!?'
And while Damon was losing his mind, a status window appeared in front of him:
[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
[Identity assigned: Zero]