'Am I… not dead?'
The aftermath of having his neck sliced open was still vivid in his memory. It was difficult to believe that he was still alive. Even the pain lingered clearly in his mind.
He distinctly remembered seeing his own headless body collapsing to the ground—a clear sign of his death. Yet, all five of his senses were functioning.
'Sense of taste, still active. Sense of hearing, still active…'
As he analyzed his situation, he became certain that he was neither in heaven nor hell.
'In other words, I'm alive?'
The problem was that he couldn't move his limbs. It felt as if a massive weight pinned him down, making even the slightest movement of his fingers a monumental effort.
While his body remained immobile, his mind raced. As he struggled to move, he pondered his current location.
From the sensation on his back, he realized he was lying on a bed. Strangely, the bed seemed to be moving.
When he managed to open his eyelids to test his vision, he discovered that his entire face and body were wrapped in a white cloth.
Through the cloth, he saw the faint silhouette of someone. That person appeared to be pushing the bed he was lying on. The vibrations confirmed it.
Moments later, the background behind the silhouette, initially bright, darkened. It seemed the person was pushing him into a suspicious room.
Clunk!
The sound of a door slamming shut echoed.
From the noise, it wasn't just a door being closed—it was a metal door being locked tightly.
Finally regaining some control over his body, he cautiously removed the cloth covering his face. Before he could fully take in his surroundings, he ensured that the person who had brought him here wasn't watching.
The first thing he noticed was the grayish glow of the ceiling lights and the chill of the air conditioning. These two factors made him realize he was no longer in the Netherworld.
'Is this Earth? But where exactly?'
Zero furrowed his brows.
As he reflexively reached across the bed, his hand brushed against something soft and pliable.
Turning his head, he noticed another bed beside him, similarly draped in cloth. When he pulled the cloth back, he was greeted by the sight of a woman's corpse. That's when it hit him—he was in a morgue.
His suspicions were confirmed when he saw several open freezer compartments, revealing corpses neatly arranged inside.
Meanwhile, amidst the morgue's eerie silence, Zero realized he was lying on an autopsy table. The man in a white coat, likely a doctor, who had brought him here, seemed ready to dissect him.
Proof of this was the surgical tools—scalpels, forceps, and more—laid out in meticulous order.
"Fufu~ Is today my lucky day? So many bodies to work on. Should I call him for help? Nah, I'd rather pocket the money myself."
From the man's words, Zero concluded that he wasn't dealing with a good Samaritan.
Wearing gloves on both hands, the man brought a scalpel to his lips and licked it as if savoring an exquisite meal. In the dimly lit morgue, the man's actions exuded an air of grotesque horror.
But when the man's gaze met Zero's open eyes, his cheerful whistling came to an abrupt halt. His dancing, nonsensical movements froze, and he stood as rigid as a statue. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"Arghhhh!!"
A bloodcurdling scream erupted as the man saw Zero staring back at him.
When Zero blinked, the man screamed even louder.
From the man's perspective, Zero's minor actions suggested that the corpse before him had come back to life. Like someone who had just seen a ghost, the man staggered backward, collapsing to the floor in a faint. Foam—possibly saliva—dribbled from his mouth.
Once Zero regained full control of his body, he sat up and stood.
As the cloth covering his body slid to the ground, a loud banging noise suddenly came from the morgue door as if someone was trying to force their way inside.
Thick chains and a padlock tightly secured the door handle. But moments later, with a resounding Bang!, the metal door fell to the floor unceremoniously.
When the door fully opened, a woman appeared. From her white coat and ID badge, she seemed to be a doctor. The strange part was the camera she held.
Click!
The camera's shutter captured the entire morgue, including Zero. The woman's expression froze as she processed what she had just photographed.
Her face turned red as bright crimson filled her cheeks. She immediately turned away as though she had seen something she shouldn't have.
Her eyes briefly widened when she glanced below Zero's torso. Instead of fear, her face was painted with embarrassment.
"Why are you reacting like that? Who are you?"
Zero was the first to break the silence.
However, the woman seemed too flustered to answer.
'Does she not understand what I'm saying?'
Zero quickly realized he had spoken in the Netherworld's language, not Earth's. After realizing his mistake, he switched to English and repeated his question.
The woman finally responded.
"F-First, cover yourself with that cloth under you!"
Ignoring Zero's question, the woman shouted in a flustered tone. Still facing away from him, she pointed a trembling finger at the cloth on the floor, urging him to use it.
Looking down at his own body, Zero finally realized he wasn't wearing a single thread of clothing. From head to toe, he was completely exposed.
It wasn't shame that prompted him to act—rather, the icy chill of the morgue's air conditioning that made his skin crawl. Quickly, he grabbed the cloth and wrapped it around his body, paying special attention to the part dangling between his legs.
After lying back on the bed he had woken up on, Zero was wheeled by the female doctor from the morgue to a wardroom.
From start to finish, not a single word was exchanged between them.
The atmosphere was tense and awkward.
For Zero, the silence stemmed from a sense of déjà vu.
For the doctor, it was the awkwardness of having encountered him completely naked just moments before.
"B-By the way, my name is Dr. Olivia Thompson. I'm the doctor in charge of you here at this hospital."
Her voice was shaky, whether from embarrassment or simply her natural disposition.
Despite her awkward demeanor, Olivia was striking. Her figure was tall and elegant, with a slender yet curvaceous build—qualities that could easily make her a model.
As Olivia leaned slightly to check Zero's heartbeat with her stethoscope, the proximity forced Zero to notice the cleavage visible beneath her shirt. He couldn't help but catch a whiff of her fragrance, a blend of sweetness and freshness that lingered in the air.
Even amidst her alluring presence, she remained professional, diligently assessing his condition as if he were a rare specimen.
"Is something wrong?" Zero asked, his tone neutral.
"This is truly miraculous. Do you realize that you've just returned from the dead? I was the one who confirmed your death, and I'm confident I didn't make a mistake." She adjusted her glasses and continued, her tone more assertive now. "Additionally, before your death was confirmed, you were in a mysterious vegetative state for two years."
Zero listened silently, his expression blank.
The mention of a two-year vegetative state solidified a suspicion he had been harboring.
The déjà vu he had felt wasn't a coincidence.
As he grappled with the implications, his eyes fell on a digital calendar resting on a small table beside his bed.
Monday, February 23, 2026.
11:30 AM.
'It's true. I've regressed.'
Staring at the date on the calendar, Zero finally accepted the truth—he had returned to the past.
[Mission Completion Reward: Survive Until the End of the Game has been received.]
[You have successfully returned to the past.]