Chapter 59 : Codename Zero (1)

It was a face I had never seen before, even in the original work.

Her fluttering gray braided hair and the clothes she was wearing, what should I say about them?

It’s true that heroes have their own costumes tailored to their personalities, but she, in particular, was wearing something that seemed like it belonged in a fantasy.

Almost like a princess knight.

She quietly revealed herself in front of us with a perfect blend of armor and dress.

The artificial human who walked forward toward the Round Table.

In the eyes of Homunculus – Zero, there was no emotion at all.

It was an expression that made me feel empty just by looking at it, with an inexplicable bitterness in her gaze.

“Now, Zero. Please introduce yourself to the S-rank heroes here, Princess Hoshino, and the fine gentleman over there.”

“Yes. Understood, Councilor.”

Is that really an artificially created lifeform?

The quality is unbelievable for something that was born in a cold glass tube, not in a woman’s womb.

She looked just like a real human.

We were all surprised as Zero, bowing at a 90-degree angle, introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Zero. I am a homunculus who opened my eyes on the B4 floor, A-21, of the underground research building of the Hero Association.”

“What is this…”

“What…?”

“Compared to real humans like you, I am a repulsive and worthless life, but I am confident I can serve as a meat shield. Please take good care of me.”

“Well, what do you think? This homunculus. Doesn’t it already make you imagine humanity achieving a perfect victory over monsters?”

Avanka patted Zero’s head after she gave the kind of fake greeting she had commanded.

She looked at us, expecting the same kind of reaction from us.

But an “artificial human weapon” like that…

It was still far too unethical a result for humanity to accept.

At the same time, it was too “advanced” a plan.

“Creating humans artificially! Councilor Avanka… Do you really have no concept of ‘human rights’?”

“Whoa, whoa. Why are you getting so angry, Lord Makoto?”

The first to react was Lord Makoto, who held the highest rank among the double heroes.

“Think about it! An artificial lifeform… especially a human! What if this technology leaks and her enemies become like us, other humans, rather than monsters? What are we supposed to do then?”

“Hahaha. As expected from the head of the long-established Hunter family. You’re really ‘conservative.’ Have you watched too many apocalypse movies?”

“What did you say?!”

However, Councilor Avanka shrugged and laughed at Lord Makoto’s words.

She firmly denied any warning about the possibility that the homunculus’ technology could fall into the hands of humans who are worse than monsters.

“First of all, the homunculus created with current science and technology is just this one, Code Name Zero.”

“…!”

“That child… is the only artificial human?”

“Yes, that’s right. Lady Roselia. No matter how much people talk about the potential for this technology to leak, this child was created by a ‘miracle,’ and that is the only reason she exists.”

“Miracle?”

The highest level of science and technology in Hero City was concentrated in the underground research building of City A.

Even there, it was a one-in-a-billion miracle that this lifeform happened to come into existence.

That being, Zero, was almost discarded as a worthless existence, judged to have no value.

“Of course, if science continues to advance in the future, we may be able to create more homunculi like Zero in no time.”

“But… right now, it’s difficult?”

“Yes. The research facility that created Zero has closed its doors. We don’t want to rely on such a miraculous probability again now that we have this precious sample. So, we are gathering a new research team to start from scratch, focusing on Zero.”

But that wasn’t all.

“And Lord Makoto?”

“…What is it?”

“You just said to me earlier, didn’t you? ‘Do you have no concept of human rights?’ That question was wrong from the start.”

“What?”

Councilor Avanka walked up next to Zero as if to say Lord Makoto’s entire line of thinking was wrong.

She then grabbed her by the collar.

Screeeech.

“Ah, ah?!”

“Oo…!”

“?! Jang Hoon, cover your eyes!”

Without a word, she tore Zero’s shirt, exposing her voluptuous breasts.

The sudden ‘sexual harassment’ left everyone around the Round Table stunned.

Especially the young lady Hoshino, who was sitting next to me, as if showing me her breasts, pushed my head between hers.

“W-what are you doing now?! And in front of men!”

“That’s right. Councilor Avanka. This is blatant sexual harassment.”

“Sexual harassment? To whom?”

“To whom, you ask? Well…”

No matter how much the world’s norms might have changed, exposing someone’s upper body suddenly, whether male or female, was rude.

Because of that, Lord Makoto, as a hero, wanted to speak up against Councilor Avanka, who had abused her power.

However…

“Zero. Are you angry that I exposed your breasts?”

“No. Such emotions are a luxury for someone like me, a fake. And I accept everything about real humans.”

There was no victim here.

So, I quickly shut my mouth.

“…!”

It must have been a humiliating experience for her to have her breasts exposed, but the homunculus, Zero, stood there without any change in expression.

Councilor Avanka, seeing this, continued questioning her, insisting it wasn’t enough.

“Zero, are you human?”

“No. I am a fake human. Therefore, I have no such thing as human rights.”

“Then, if I tell you to die, will you?”

“Yes. Of course. Not only for Assemblyman Avanka, but I would also obey if other distinguished figures of Hero City commanded it.”

With those words, Zero pointed the greatsword in her hand at her own neck.

The round table, including myself, was at a loss for words.

The only person smiling at this moment was none other than Assemblyman Avanka, who was essentially responsible for Zero.

“Did you see that? Heroes, this is the ‘future’ of humanity.”

“The future…? Are you saying that this horrifying thing, which follows orders without even having its own will and commits suicide on command, is our future?”

“Yes! But there is no need to worry, Lord Makoto! This child will only point their sword at monsters.”

“That is correct. I would never harm real humans.”

“How can we believe that?”

At that moment.

Yoon Ha-eun, who had been silent for a while.

With eyes gleaming like flashing hearts, she stared at Zero, wanting a definite answer.

“Zero… What proof do you have that you cannot harm us, real humans? Honestly, anyone can just say that.”

“Affirmative, Hero Yoon Ha-eun.”

“There have been many monsters who tricked us in the same way, only to stab us in the back. So, do you have any way to prove your words?”

Indeed.

With words alone, anyone could claim to be an astronaut or a president.

That’s why we needed something more certain than words—’proof.’

At that moment.

“Virus.”

“Vi…”

“rus?”

Assemblyman Avanka spoke in Zero’s place.

“That’s right. Didn’t I tell you? Zero is an artificial human created in a test tube.”

“But what does that have to do with this virus?”

“It’s exactly as it sounds. Although Zero appears to have the body of an adult woman, their actual age is just about 500 days.”

“5…”

“500 days?!”

A year is 365 days.

That meant they hadn’t even been alive for two full years.

“And Zero has only been outside the test tube for less than a month.”

“Exactly 27 days have passed, Assemblyman Avanka.”

“Mm-hmm, yes. Anyway, Zero was ‘manufactured’ by a computer that programmed them inside the test tube.”

“Program… Manufactured…”

“You’re making it sound like creating a game character.”

“Oh! That is indeed a ‘progressive’ way to put it, sir. You are correct.”

Zero was created by a computer, and in the process, their brain was programmed with restrictions that prevented them from going against real humans. Additionally, a firewall was installed as a precaution.

This firewall, in the form of a virus—a ‘deadly toxin’—was designed to activate immediately if a fake human overstepped their boundaries and attempted to challenge real humans.

“So, you’re saying they were born with something like a time bomb inside their body?”

“Hahahaha. A time bomb, you say? That is also a very progressive way to describe it, sir. Or rather… Kang Jang-hoon?”

“Then why did you bring this thing, which isn’t even human, before us?”

It looked human, but it was confirmed to be non-human—an unsettling existence.

Lord Makoto, having determined Zero as such, wanted to hear the main point as quickly as possible so that she could leave this pointless meeting.

As if waiting for this moment,

“It’s simple. We are considering placing Zero in the new S-rank position that has opened up.”

Assemblyman Avanka revealed her true intentions.

“What?! A non-human… in S-rank?”

“Who gave you the authority to put something like that in an S-rank position?!”

S-rank heroes were known as humanity’s greatest force.

Hearing that an artificial lifeform, merely resembling a human, would take a position of such honor enraged the three S-rank heroes.

They were so furious that they all stood up from their seats.

However, Assemblyman Avanka saw this as nothing more than ‘conservative’ humans fearing ‘change.’

Riiing.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Just then, as if perfectly timed, a call came in.

With a relaxed smile, she answered.

“Perfect timing. I’ll head there right now.”

Hearing about a monster sighting over the phone, she seemed almost excited as she pointed at Zero and said,

“Then let’s conduct a performance test.”

“Performance…”

“Test?”

“Yes. A second-class monster called the ‘Bat Monster’ has appeared in City B, not too far from here. Generally, only upper A-rank heroes are capable of defeating second-class monsters alone, correct?”

“That’s true…”

“Yes. So, let’s observe. If Zero ends up getting eaten by the Bat Monster, then we will pretend today’s events never happened.”