"The power to cure the zombie virus! Let me awaken that ability!"

As Seongho shouted desperately, the floating text in the air responded.

“*Verifying additional settings.*”  
“*Modifying additional settings at the discretion of the administrator.*”  
“*Adjusting the base stats of the Fate Pioneer downward.*”  
“What?”

“*Applying additional/modified settings (1%)*”  
“*Applying additional/modified settings (4%)*”  
…  
“*Applying additional/modified settings (100%)*”  
“*Activating the character status screen.*”  
“*Awakening the power to expel the virus.*”  
“*Enabling growth through virus absorption.*”  
…  
Before he could make sense of it, an array of changes spilled out before him, leaving Seongho scowling.

What he had wanted was a power to *cure* the virus, not just *expel* it.

But Seongho didn’t need to voice his complaint—someone had already acted on his behalf.

“*The Fate Pioneer Team strongly objects.*”  
“*The system cannot override the Fate Pioneer’s authority and must respect the autonomy and judgment of the chosen Pioneer.*”  
“*The Fate Pioneer Team has filed a damages claim against the system.*”

The message was bold and unmistakable. Seongho focused on a familiar phrase in the text: *Fate Pioneer Team.*

He remembered seeing that term in the notification about his selection. Although he wasn’t entirely sure of its significance, it was clear that the *system* and the *Fate Pioneer Team* were separate entities.

As Seongho pondered, the text vanished, leaving him staring at the ceiling of the car. He raised his hand to cover his eyes.

“Damn it…”

A whirlwind of emotions surged within him. But there was no time to dwell on them.

The throbbing pain in his arm reminded him of his current situation, and his body, dressed only in a short-sleeve shirt and shorts, was beginning to shiver—not from fear but from the biting cold.

To make matters worse, the zombie that had bitten him was still outside, banging relentlessly against the car.

‘If I don’t want to die from blood loss, I need to do something.’

Without further delay, Seongho tore off his shirt.

“Gah—!”

Just touching the wound sent an indescribable pain through him, but stopping the bleeding was more important. Gritting his teeth, he wrapped the makeshift bandage tightly around his arm. Tears blurred his vision, but he kept going, ignoring the pain.

After finishing his crude first aid, he took a deep breath to steady himself.

‘I got a message saying I awakened an ability.’

The way to check it was simple.

“Character status screen…?”

Recalling the phrase from the earlier message, he spoke it out loud. Immediately, a screen appeared before him.

---

**[Character Status Screen]**

**- Personal Information -**  
Name: Han Seongho  
Role: Fate Pioneer  
Level: 1 (0/5)  
Physical Ability: 4  
Special Ability: 5/5  

**- Activity Information -**  
Merit Points: 0  
Disorder Score: 0P  
Influence: None  
Title: None  

---

Strange symbols and numbers filled the screen. Two stats, in particular, caught his attention.

‘Physical Ability and Special Ability?’

It wasn’t broken down into specific stats like strength or agility, as he’d expected from a game; instead, they were lumped together under “Physical Ability.”

‘What exactly does a Physical Ability of 4 mean?’

Was it a score representing his combined strength, skill, and stamina? What would be considered a higher or lower stat?

Despite its simplicity, he found it difficult to interpret exactly what the numbers meant.

Lowering his gaze, he spotted the Special Ability stat.

‘This must be the power I awakened.’

‘That 5/5—could it be the number of times I can use my ability?’

In the novel, characters’ abilities weren’t displayed in numerical form like this, so he wasn’t certain. However, one thing was clear.

‘This status screen must be visible only to me.’

None of the characters in the novel ever had access to something like this.

‘Not bad.’

With his stats displayed in numbers, he could manage this unfamiliar power more effectively.

Recalling scenes from *Savior of a Destroyed World*, Seongho thought back to how the protagonist used their abilities. The novel described it as a natural extension of oneself, as if a new limb had grown.

True enough, as he focused, he sensed something new inside him—a small reservoir, like a full orb waiting to be tapped.

When he imagined pushing this energy outward, a bright light burst from his palm.

Startled by the sudden glow, Seongho flinched, but he quickly raised his head. The zombie was still there, ramming its body into the car.

‘If this is the power to repel the virus that the system mentioned…’

Then the zombie outside would be the perfect test subject.

Seongho prepared to move.

‘The window…’

He tried pressing the buttons, but they wouldn’t open. It seemed the windows were locked without the engine running.

That meant he’d have to open the door.

Clenching his teeth to steady his nerves, Seongho could logically understand what he had to do. But actually doing it was terrifying. What if he failed? What if he died here?

Just as doubt and fear paralyzed him, the zombie outside rammed into the car again, causing it to shake. Driven by a sudden impulse, Seongho’s body moved on its own. The moment the zombie staggered back, he flung the door open.

‘There’s no going back now!’

Pressing himself against the opposite door, he braced himself.

*Graaagh!*

The zombie, stubborn as ever, let out a drooling snarl and lunged into the car, its movements frantic. As it thrashed about, its momentum slowed as it crashed into the seats and ceiling.

Thanks to this, Seongho managed to grab the zombie’s head with his glowing hand.

In an instant, a white light flared from his palm, and the zombie’s body went limp.

“*One merit point awarded.*”  
“*Ten Disorder Points awarded.*”  
“Hah…”

As soon as the message appeared, all the tension drained from his body.

He wanted to collapse and rest, but there were too many things he still needed to take care of.

Looking at his status screen, Seongho noticed a change.

‘The Special Ability count has gone down.’

The 5/5 had dropped to 4/5, reinforcing his theory that it indicated the number of times he could use his ability.

There were other changes as well: his Merit Points and Disorder Score had increased.

**Merit Points:** 1  
**Disorder Score:** 10P

Would these points go up every time he used his ability? Testing his power again didn’t increase the numbers, so it seemed they only rose when he used it directly on zombies.

But what did these numbers mean? What would happen if they kept going up?

Seongho reviewed the message he’d seen earlier.

“*Merit Points and Disorder Scores are accrued based on the Fate Pioneer’s activities.*”  
“*Merit Points can be used to receive various forms of support.*”  
“*Excessive Disorder Scores may expose the Fate Pioneer’s location.*”

“What…? Is that all?”

The explanation was irritatingly vague.

How would he receive this support? And who would his location be exposed to?

Still, one thing was certain: a high Disorder Score sounded bad.

But how could he lower it? Was it even possible?

Feeling a surge of frustration, Seongho tried to stay rational, but his thoughts were interrupted when something dropped from the zombie’s body, rolling onto the car seat beside him.

It was… a black orb, about the size of a marble.

Gazing at it, a theory came to mind.

‘My power repels the virus, right?’

So, had he just expelled the virus from the zombie’s body?

“Is this… the virus?”

After pushing the now-lifeless zombie out of the car, he picked up the orb, remembering a line from the message he had seen earlier.

“*Absorb the virus to grow your stats…*”

After a moment of hesitation, Seongho put the orb in his mouth. He figured that with his immunity, it wouldn’t pose a problem.

The orb dissolved on his tongue, and immediately, his status screen updated.

**Level:** 1 (1/5)

It finally made sense—consuming the virus could increase his level, and by leveling up, he could strengthen his stats like Physical Ability or Special Ability.

“Ha… haha…”

The absurdity of it all was overwhelming. Being thrust into this bizarre world was shocking enough, but now he had to *eat* the virus to level up?

The endless stress and absurdity were bubbling up, and he felt an urge to scream, to vent all his frustrations.

But he restrained himself. ‘Zombies have sharp hearing.’

In the world of *Savior of a Destroyed World*, zombies had terrible eyesight and slightly heightened smell, but their hearing was sharp—almost animalistic.

To shout now would be idiotic, and Seongho knew it.

Instead, he glared into the empty air, biting back his anger.

In the cold, white mist of his breath, he focused.

‘I have to get back.’

Back to his peaceful life, the world he had known.

‘So

, what do I have to do?’

He closed his eyes, trying to gather the scattered pieces of his thoughts.

The first thing to consider was that notice from the Fate Pioneer Team.

He had only a faint memory of it, almost as if it had been a dream.

But when he tried to recall it, the details surfaced with eerie clarity, like opening a file saved in his mind.

According to that message, it was simple.

‘They want me to change the world’s fate… and since I supposedly agreed, I can’t refuse.’

It must have been tied to that strange survey he took before bed.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I would never have participated, even with a knife to my throat.’

It would’ve been better to suffer the wound and get treated in a modern hospital.

Frustration flared up again, but Seongho forced himself to concentrate on remembering every detail.