The Truth of Day Zero

I was completely stunned.

How did Mikan know my identity?

I looked at her coldly and asked.

"Um… actually, I started playing this game back when it first launched two years ago. But because of real-life stuff, I ended up playing less and less. That’s why I’m still only level 4," she explained, trying to gather her courage to continue.

"I saw you once... more specifically, during the Abyss Dungeon on the third floor. It was during the first-ever raid event on that floor. I joined one of the raid parties, and I saw you playing solo, not in a party with anyone," Mikan said, her voice sounding nostalgic.

"Oh, that..."

I remembered it clearly. Back then, I wanted to take on the dungeon boss alone, but the other players pressured me to join their raid.

It was a hassle. I didn’t want to raid with others because it only slowed me down.

"Even though we’re using different avatars now, I still remember your movements, your skills, and your gear. There's no mistaking it, you’re Kyouze, the Azure Reaper!"

Mikan said it with complete confidence.

I stayed silent.

"Am I wrong?"

"Believe what you want."

"Hehe, I knew it... I'm glad I got to meet you again." She looked genuinely happy.

I let out a deep sigh.

"Enough. Now it’s my turn to ask. Earlier you said you were forced to help those Outlaw players. Tell me everything."

I stared at her seriously.

Mikan went quiet for a moment, then slowly started to talk. She began explaining how everything started, how we ended up in this death game.

She said that on the night of December 20, 2030, at exactly 10:00 PM, every player received a notification for a special quest from Abyss Code Online.

It was sent to everyone, even those who were offline through their registered emails.

Hearing that made me remember something.

I had already logged out around that time. I must’ve fallen asleep afterward, so I never saw the email.

I still remembered that just before logging out, I was hanging out with Ayane at the Market District in the southern part of Netherbyte City.

We had just sold some rare drop items we got from hunting monsters on the third floor of the dungeon.

Ayane told me she was logging out to rest. But thinking back now, she must’ve seen the quest notification and logged back in.

It made sense now. That’s why I was the only one not online that night.

"What did the quest say? What was the reward?" I asked Mikan.

She told me to check my message inbox in the status window.

Sure enough, I found it , the quest announcement. I had never opened it since I jumped straight into battle the moment, I logged back in.

I confirmed the quest’s existence. It was listed as a main quest:

[Quest: The End of the World]

[Clear the game within the next 6 months by completing the 10th floor of the Abyss Dungeon.]

[Reward: One wish granted and the game will reach true ending.]

[Penalty: The extinction of all humanity.]

Just reading it gave me chills.

Mikan explained that this wasn’t the original version of the quest, the contents had changed once the death game began.

She said the quest used to be much simpler. All it asked was for players to stay online and wait until midnight, 00:00 AM, December 21, 2030.

That was it. Just a waiting quest.

But the real attraction was the reward. That’s what got everyone excited.

Mikan said the original reward for completing that simple quest was a chance to witness the 10th floor dungeon boss, the final boss of the entire game.

Of course everyone wanted that. Who wouldn’t? No player had ever seen that boss before.

Until now, the furthest anyone had reached was the ninth floor of the Abyss Dungeon and even that was only me and a few other high-level players.

No one knew what the tenth floor boss looked like, what skills it had, or even its name.

Just getting a glimpse of it gave players hope that the game could be beaten one day.

I understood now.

If I hadn’t fallen asleep that night, I probably would’ve joined the event too.

I finally understood why Ayane joined and how she ended up trapped in this death game.

From the moment I first met Ayane, she always said the same thing that she would surpass every player in this game and clear the 10th floor of the dungeon.

She wanted to finish the game. More than anyone, I understood that drive.

She was the top-ranked player. The strongest among us. Leader of the most powerful faction in the entire game.

On top of that, Ayane carried a deep sense of pride as a gamer.

I smiled a little, remembering the fire in her eyes whenever she played.

I couldn’t help but wonder... where is she now?

I was just about to ask Mikan, when she suddenly said something that shocked me.

“When that quest started, we had no idea this would turn into a death game. But when we saw the penalty, we realized the truth if we don’t complete the game, we’ll all die. Everyone. Even the people in the real world.”

Mikan’s voice grew heavy with sadness.

She was remembering something dark.

She explained how fear spread among the players. After all, how could anyone beat a game this difficult?

Some players panicked. Others lost all hope and just waited for death. And some… turned into chaos-bringers, the Outlaw Players.

But there were others who refused to give up. Those who burned with determination to clear the game no matter what.

Those were the top-ranked players, the leaders of the major factions.

The five major factions were: Machina Legion, Eclipse Reign, Lunaris Vale, Nihilwalker, and... Scarlett Sanctum, led by Ayane.

Mikan told me those five factions formed an alliance.

They decided to raid the Abyss Dungeon together, determined to reach the 10th floor as fast as possible to free the trapped players and save the world.

In the first twelve hours, they made great progress. They cleared up to the 4th floor with surprising speed.

But once they entered the 5th floor... everything changed.

The game’s difficulty spiked from hard to full-on nightmare.

Regular monsters and boss monsters became absurdly powerful, their strength multiplied many times over.

The raid players were quickly overwhelmed.

And just when they thought to retreat to the surface, the dungeon gave them new system messages:

[Teleportation is disabled inside the dungeon.]

[The only path is to keep moving forward, complete the dungeon.]

[If you die here, you cannot be revived. Permanent death.]

“That’s when the panic really began…” Mikan whispered. “So many players were slaughtered in the Subcore District. The monsters had grown too strong. They died, and they couldn’t come back... real death.”

A few tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Things fell apart at the frontlines. Total chaos. The raid team was trapped on the 5th floor, unable to return. All they could do was wait to die.”

Hearing her words made my blood boil.

I was certain... GOD 404 was doing all this for his own amusement.

Especially when he raised the game’s difficulty. But why now?

Why right when I logged back in?

This is really strange...

I’m certain I logged in twelve hours after the death game began. The difficulty spike when the game shifted to Nightmare level, should’ve happened recently.

But according to Mikan, six hours had already passed since that change.

Her story was clear. It had already been six hours since the dungeon raid entered Nightmare level.

I double-checked the in-game time through my status window. It lined up perfectly.

So how could that be?

Was time... distorted?

The more I thought about it, the less it made sense.

I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

Did I cause this sudden spike in difficulty?

Am I the reason for all this misfortune?

I couldn’t understand it.

It felt like GOD 404 was toying with me.

I clenched my fists in frustration.

Suddenly, Mikan stood up and walked over to me. She grabbed my hand tightly.

“But this chaos can end. You’re the key, Kyouze. I believe that with you, the legendary player! I believe we can completed this insane game!”

She looked at me with absolute conviction.

“At first, I was planning to go after the raid team on the 5th floor. But no one on the surface had the courage to enter the dungeon with me…”

“That’s when I met Albert’s party. He told me he and his group wanted to dive into the dungeon, and they let me join them. I had no idea they were Outlaw Players — they used an item to hide their outlaw status.”

She looked down and continued in a softer voice.

“That’s also when I met Lena’s party. But once we started fighting the Watcher Drone.exe, I realized... the group I had joined was made up of Outlaws. Albert gave the order to sacrifice Lena’s party and take their items.”

“I tried to resist, but they threatened to kill me. That’s how I got dragged into it... I helped them kill Lena’s party.”

Mikan started crying.

All I could do was watch, torn between sympathy and sorrow.

“I understand now… this world…and your situation…” I looked at her with pity.

“Stop crying.”

I took her hand and gently pulled her out of the room.

“Eh? Where are we going? At least let me wipe my tears first!”

“Shut up...Just follow me..”

I started walking..

Heading to a place where everything is remembered.

A place where nothing is forgotten.

….

…

..