In this plain white room... 11 beds were prepared that will serve as your temporary home. The room was named "Special Room: ZERO."

They weren't simple hospital-looking beds for they were equipped with high electromagnetic output that can make one's body fully secured of their vital signs. There were hologram monitors that surrounded each bed. The screens still showed blank images because there was no sign of a person yet. Each bed was being monitored by the people at the surveillance room located just behind this private room that was only divided by the floor to ceiling wall. The special room was very bright with lights and the air was perfectly bacteria-free. 

The Top 10 players, including you, were getting ready. 

This whole investigation was estimated to last for two months and eight months at its maximum range. Kyungsoo predicted this. He had a huge trust on the people he chosen on this case. This wasn't a typical crime case because it takes time to find out the reason behind the insanity. They made a temporary decision; it wasn't just because of a simple game addiction to turn them crazy. The local hackers thought about hacking the character's game level to make it fast but it'll be easily detectable. If they do, the company will find out about this secret investigation.

They already knew the Red Bullet was comitting crimes but they needed evidence to prove that.

The plan will be like: Hackers will infiltrate the game's manin sytem and take control of the whole gaming core system so that way involving innocent players can be avoided and before doing so, the police force will take action on the company itself located somewhere in Japan though the location wasn't exactly pinpointed yet, but investigators had the mutual feeling of the company being inside Japan. 

The American government will take part on this secretly. Japan was the world's most advanced country when it comes to technology. Ju Ra was just a nail on its finger. It hurts but it was the truth. Korea was advanced as well but by looking at the worldwide statistics, Korea was just listed as the 6th. If you would compare the two, Japan was" heaven" and Korea was the "Earth".

Sneaking into their territory was like raising a death flag.

You lied idly on a soft sofa at a different clinic in SPD located beside the special room with only wearing a gown similar to a hospital gown with nothing beneath.

You weren’t just dozing off at nothing. You were preparing yourself mentally because this case won’t involve a physical situation yet. You were also taking some important notes on your mind about your actions and some significant matters regarding the game. You may think this will be just a child’s play, but it was a game between life and death. How? If you weren’t careful enough, the game masters can kill you in an instant. You would never think of game masters being people who provide fun and interesting gaming experience but you now see them as latent criminals without unknown goals.

The others were being treated as well as final touches before the real “battle” commences. Correctly speaking, Jungkook wasn’t included to be an investigator in the game. Kyungsoo called him in the meeting as a local hacker who can provide unique and useful inventions and hard-to-get information with the help of his genius brain, not as Fantasia Zero’s strongest player. Jungkook didn’t protest because he knew Kyungsoo’s choices are perfect for the plan. Kyungsoo didn’t need the strongest player if he can use the Top 2 and Top 3 together that can surpass Jungkook’s strength.  Jungkook was quite amazed by a mere forensic scientist can be this good tactician. Well, he didn’t know Do Kyungsoo enough.

Sungjae, Jackson, Mark, Jimin, Bambam, Luhan, Kai, and Kou wore the same clothing as you as they also wore nothing under the gowns. The sequence of the owner of the bed didn’t go by how the players were ranked in the game. The first three was yours, Sungjae’s and Jackson’s because you three were the main “actors” of this case. The lives of five hundred million people were in your hands.

Kyungsoo had brought 10 other scientists and nurses inside the special room where each of them instructed the players for getting ready on the first step before they enter the virtual world. All of you lay on the milky-soft white hospital bed as the nurses attached the ECG wires on your bodies. Being the two girls in the room, the gentle female nurses had covered your bare chests with the blanket while the men didn’t have any problem being bare.

Kyungsoo walked over to your side, giving some reminders. “Just play the game how you wanted it. Obviously, never mention any words related to this case, alright?” it was probably your first time seeing Do Kyungsoo smiling. You were surprised at his sudden change of atmosphere because he was usually blunt and serious.

“Understood.” You answered as you looked up on him with a small smile. Kyungsoo was about to walk away until you said something that made him stop on his tracks. “Why was I chosen again?” you questioned with your eyes closed, predicting some possible scenes that might happen in the game.

“It just felt right to choose you.” Kyungsoo simply replied, unintentionally encouraging you more.

On your left side, there was Sungjae sitting calmly. It was kind of odd to see him being attached by ECG wires; he looked like some patient with a terminal disease. He was the last person you think who’ll ever catch a sickness.

“Feeling nervous?” Sungjae asked, wanting to gently pat your head to assure you but he couldn’t.

“A bit.” You honestly confessed. You’ve never been in a case where your life is in danger because you were prohibited. You only do the enforcing while the Inspectors do the “dirty jobs”.

“Jung-gun told me you’re a mage and an elf.”

“He did? Yes, I am.”

“I’ll leave you the support then.” Sungjae winked at you before lying down.

Everyone suddenly became quiet. All of you, except Sungjae and Jackson felt anxious after Kyungsoo announced that everyone will engage in the game in two minutes. They became good friends after seeing them in real life. They exchanged “See you later” either in the game or in the reality.

“Bro! Be careful, aye?” Jungkook said aloud to Jimin through the speakers.

“The next time we’ll meet again in Fantasia, I’ll kick you out from the 1^st place!” Jimin mocked jokingly, letting out a chuckle.

Jungkook’s laugh echoed in the room, “Be my guest, but you have to beat Sungjae-hyung or Jackson-hyung first! Or pass through Mark-hyung if you can!”

Jungkook’s words lifted up the heavy atmosphere inside as series of laughter filled the room. He was still a kid at heart. You found yourself smiling at yourself.

“I won’t go easy on you, Mr. Dimension Controller.” Mark joked at the younger lad, earning a harsh pinch at his bicep from Kou who was beside him. These two were very close.

“Don’t scare him, Jungkook.” Jackson chuckled. He can speak Korean too.

“I’m waiting, Jiminnie~” Sungjae cooed.

“I want to have a battle with Jimin-hyung!” Bambam stated confidently in a cheerful manner.

“A battle of long-ranged classes, I see.” Said Kai.

“I think I’m fine being the 7^th…” Luhan said.

“Don’t you have any ranking goals, Luhan-hyung…?” Jimin slightly frowned.

While the guys made fun of each other…

“ You -san! I’ll be wishing you success. When we finish this, please be friends with me! ” Kou said with a big grin on her face.

“We’re already friends.” You replied with the same smiling expression.

This was the first day of you smiling everytime.

“Oh, that’s cute.” Sungjae and Mark said in unison while you and Kou sent death glares on the men at your sides, in unison as well.

“We’re starting.” Kyungsoo declared briefly.

The hologram monitors had started to read of the vital statistics of your bodies as the NerveGears were placed on your heads by the nurses. The ITs and hackers were already working on their computers. This was probably the first time in the history were the police, ITs, hackers and players were working together.

“I don’t mean to put you unease but I’m repeating this again: You’ll be in the game for months without returning. If we find anything or something happened, we’ll immediately log you out of the game. We’ll temporarily remove the Log Out button just to decrease the possibilities of being found out. We’ve also managed to do character transmissions of Yook and Wang’s to the Korean server. We won’t be able to communicate inside the virtual world but we’re watching your every actions, Understood?”

After Kyungsoo said his final reminders, a female mechanical voice rang around the room.

Game connection sequence… starting in…

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

All noise died down as your vision slowly faded into the darkness. The same was applied to the others. There was the rainbow colored circle drawing you in. After you passed through the welcoming procedure, your account ID and password were instantly registered. One more second, you were totally secluded from the reality.

You’ve completely leapt into the world of fantasy.

The current location you were in was something you didn’t remember but later, you realized this was the last place you got off after a force log out. You were supposed to buy a new staff but something urgent came so… yeah. You viewed the staffs made of oak at the wall, wanting to buy a strong one though you needed to earn more virtual cash to afford one or… have someone generous to buy it for you.

Before you planned summoning Yu Me, a strong ringing sound startled you, stopping you from doing so. An icon appeared below. You tapped on it then a familiar guy but you can’t really tell who it was.

“ You !!!”

“What!? Who are you?”

“It’s me… Sungjae…” the guy from the screen facepalmed.

Sungjae? Really? He looked very different. His hair was very messy where his long fringe met at the middle. The color was slightly gray. His eyes had deep dark eyeliner that emphasized more of his foxy look. He kind of looked different from the real world. His look was just made after some modifications. His voice didn’t change though.

“Do you really have to keep the volume in maximum!?” you yelled back at the boy.

Sungjae ignored you completely, engaging into a different topic smoothly. “Come out of the shop, wait me there.”

You twisted the doorknob and made your way outside. The artificial weather was a perfect sunny day without the blinding rays of light. You waited patiently beside the mages’ shop, knowing Sungjae will come at you in a dash. While in wait, you explained to Yu Me on what happened back then. A half of minute, Sungjae came mounted in a lion, particularly a three-headed mythical beast called the Cerberus; the Guard of the Underworld. It gave off a strong dark aura. Its body was emitting faint dark violet fire.

Its owner was equally striking as well. 

Sungjae wore a white dress shirt with an anonymous man printed on it as the red color complimented his black coat that was hanging suavely on his broad shoulders. 

Sungjae was a duelist. Two unusual large daggers were on his back in a crossing position. The lightnings that embraced the daggers gave him a whole different feeling. He looked very powerful.

The kid got some fierce fashion.

You hid behind Yu Me in an instant when the beast stopped at your front growling. Its black large wings created an aggressive wind with its flapping.

“Sungjae! Tell that thing to calm down!” you demanded in a loud voice, cutely hiding behind the beautiful elf.

Sungjae mocked you with a laugh for a moment before dismounting himself from the beast. Sungjae patted the beast’s body as it lied down on its stomach like a puppy. A very big puppy. Sungjae walked over tp your side after you came out from your hiding.

“Jackson-hyung will be here soon."

You found Sungjae scrolling up and down on his inventory screen. He got too many items on his list. You didn't know his inventory space extends to infinity. You didn't even want to ask how much did he pay for it. Sungjae was now opening multiple windows suspended on the air, tapping here and there. But you were certain he was holding a staff just now.

" You , what's your level again?" Sungjae turned his eyes at you shortly before going back to his handworks.

"... 20..." you said humiliated by the fact. 

Sungjae giggled heartily, "Don't be embarrassed about it. You're just starting and you still have a long way to go. You'll still improve." After Sungjae dragged a red-crystal on the staff on his left hand, the staff glowed magnificently. This action was called Enhancing. This feature was to add additional PATK and MATK at the weapon. As the enhancing level goes up, it gives off an additional effect like the daggers Sungjae possesses. The enhancing level can go up to +50 but it wasn't that easy because the success rate decreases as the enhancing level increases. You have to bleed money for it and work hard for the materials. 

"Here." Sungjae had opened the Trade interface, dragging the staff in an icon form. He didn't need your approval as he did the job for you so you won't refuse.

"I haven't seen you before, human." Yu Me said, unintentionally making it sound so blunt to Sungjae's ears.

"Well, so am I. I'm just dropping by." 

You and Sungjae were thinking the same. NPCs were suppose to be speaking in a more programmed way but the way Yu Me sounded to be more like... a human.

Sungjae turned to the behaving beast on the front. "Ku Ro, Humanization." 

The cerberus roared softly as its whole form turned into a light. You clearly witnessed through the black light that its large body morphing into a shape of a human. The light was blown away. Instead of a beast, a young man appeared instead. His black wings resembled the beast's because the boy was the beast itself, Ku Ro. 

Ku Ro had a raven black hair with white streaks. He possessed light green eyes surrounded by thick eyeliners. Ku Ro was the total opposite of Jungkook's Tsu Ki. Ku Ro came from the Underworld while Tsu Ki was an angel. 

"It's been a while since you ordered me to become a human, you jerk." 

... or not really the total opposite...

You realized the spirit's attitude was based on their masters. You accepted that Yu Me was your another self. You also think that Tsu Ki reminded you of Jungkook. 

Sungjae's eyes became half-lidded and gave Ku Ro the not-amused-look, "And that's the reason why I prefered you being a beast."

Do they ever get along? 

Before they start to kill each other, you began to change the topic "I wonder what happened to Jackson..." You stopped yourself from saying that something happened on his transmission.

In a gush of wind, something pat you on the head. "You called?" 

It was Jackson. His appearance wasn't as the one you expected. Jackson wasn't the powerful-looking type as he only wore a set of white suit. His leg holsters were white as well. His guns were made of silver with his last name, Wang, embedded on each. 

"Jackson-hyung!" Sungjae offered a bro-fist with Jackson while the older returned it back.

"Let's go?" Jackson proposed, earning a nod from every head. 

You walked on the middle of the two guys as the two familiars followed on their masters' back. You felt like an ant between these two towers because you were only 162cm. Not to mention, Yu Me was a lot taller than you.

"Where are we going by the way?" you questioned either of them. 

"Since we've reached the level cap already, let us help you on your quest to kill time. Let's form a party and take party quests so you can level up faster." Sungjae said with a hidden meaning. It suppose to be like: "Level up fast so you can deal with the areas where the madness started."

"But before that... do something about those skin, You -ah." Jackson slowly turned his head away, avoiding to make contact with you.

The robe you had on felt like feathers but not as light that made you feel bare. Your topping was a white long sleeved crop top that showed slight cleavage while your lower apparel showed dangerous amount of skin as it was a long skirt whose sides were the slits ranged up higher than your thighs. 

"I've seen a lot more than that, hyung." Sungjae confessed proudly.

No, it didn't mean like that literally. Let's repeat the scene.

"But before that... do something about those skin, You-ah." the skin that Jackson was referring was the dead monsters that you'll face soon like what you saw during Jungkook's speech back at SPD. It was the realistic limbs that made Jungkook threw up several times.

The way your outfit was described, try imagining the body of the monsters being slitted higher than their thighs or basically, in half.

"I've seen a lot more than that, hyung." Sungjae had witnessed more of the brutal scenarios.

Kyungsoo on the suveillance room, stood with a stoical look. As his back was pressed on the wall, he was smirking on the inside. 

"It just felt right choosing these kids."

Did I fool you somewhere? you byuntae! xD Tell me what do you think of the story so far :) Comment pleaju! Kamsa!

A little poll here: =3