Zero: The Fish in God's Glass Tank

The early morning chill in the Dark Zone wasn't like winter anywhere else. It carried the acrid, burning stench of machine oil, a heavy odor of rust, and a thick, suffocating smog of fog mixed with airborne ash from the massive scrap yards. Before the sun could fully break, the entire vast expanse was nothing but a bleak, dreary grey.

The colossal junkyard loomed like endless mountain ranges of scrap metal, broken electronic components, and jagged shards of iron ready to slice through the skin of anyone careless enough. In a place where survival was measured by hard, dry crusts of bread, if you wanted to eat, you had to wake up way before dawn just to scavenge for anything left of value.

Amidst that grey fog, two figures—one old, one young—had already been bustling about for God knows how long.

The teenager leading the way had a scrawny build, his collarbones sharply prominent under a worn-out, heavily patched shirt. Prolonged malnutrition made him look frailer than others his age, but his eyes were razor-sharp, flashing like a night hawk's. Using a sharp iron rod to poke aside a pile of rusted sheet metal, he tilted his head toward the hunched old man beside him, who was shivering and breathing out puffs of vapor.

— "Yo, old man! Is the weather extra nice today or what? Usually, I have to drag your ass out of bed, but today you actually pulled up on your own?"

The hunched old man, holding a ragged burlap sack, let out a hacking cough. In a senile yet raspy voice, he cursed under his breath:

— "You little brat! Whether I wake up early or not is my damn business. Do I need a formal invitation to come out and hustle with you? You think food money just drops from the sky for this house?"

Shin snorted, wiping a smudge of dirt from his cheek, and fired back without missing a beat:

— "Hmph, it better be. Just make sure you aren't sneaking off to gamble or bet on underground chicken fights! If we don't scavenge enough kilos of scrap metal today, you already know you aren't getting a single drop of alcohol down your throat!"

— "I get it, you brat!" The old man slipped his hand into a tight crevice within the wreckage and suddenly cheered, "Yo, I think I just found a mechanical component that's actually intact!"

Shin stroked over, eyeing the grease-covered chunk of metal in the old man's hand, and nodded in approval:

— "The core circuit isn't blown yet. If we take this to the black market scrap dealers, it should fetch us at least two loaves of bread. Keep it up!"

The grandfather-grandson duo went back to wading deep into the colossal stomach of the central junkyard. The sharp clanging of metal scraping against metal and the lonely thud of footsteps crushing empty cans echoed through the dead silence.

While the two were engrossed in overturning a pile of scrap from a broken old-generation device, Shin’s gaze abruptly locked onto something. Through a gap between two large sheets of corrugated iron leaning together in a V-shape, he saw something small curling up.

It was a little girl.

The child sat with her knees pulled to her chest, her thin arms wrapping tightly around her scrawny shoulders, shivering violently with every gust of wind ripping through the scrap yard. Her tiny, bone-thin frame looked as though she had been starving for days. Her hair was pitch-black but completely matted, tangled with mud and tiny bits of debris. The tattered clothes she wore weren't nearly enough to fend off the biting chill of the Dark Zone's night fog.

— "Yo, old man," Shin's voice dropped as he tapped the old man's shoulder. "I think there's a little girl curling up in that corner over there. I'm gonna go check on her."

The old man stopped working, his weathered eyes gazing through the gap as he let out a heavy, solemn sigh:

— "In this Dark Zone... every kind of messed-up thing can happen."

Shin didn't hesitate; he dropped his iron rod and took quick strides toward the hidden corner. He gently dropped to one knee on the filthy ground in front of the child, toning down the usual grit in his voice so he wouldn't scare her:

— "Hey there... Why are you out here all alone? Where's your home? Where are your parents? What's your name, and how old are you?"

Hearing a voice, the little girl flinched, burying her neck deeper into her knees. It took a moment before she dared to lift her tear-filled eyes, looking at the black-haired teen in front of her with deep fear and wariness. Recognizing the genuine warmth and concern in Shin's eyes, she timidly sobbed out in a weak, fragile voice:

— "Um... my parents... they're both gone. I don't have a home to go back to anymore... That's why I had to sit here... My name is Loona, and I'm 13 years old..."

Shin froze for a split second. The child's name and circumstances hit his mind like a bucket of freezing water. He knew this exact feeling all too well. He and Kento were just like her—orphans abandoned by this era, scraping by in the darkest corner of the world. A surge of empathy welled up, causing a sharp ache of pity in his chest.

Loona lifted her tear-stained, muddy face to look at the sole savior who had appeared on this fateful morning of her life, softly asking:

— "What's... your name, big brother?"

Shin looked at her, a rare smile gracing his lips. He extended a hand covered in calluses and scratches from scrap metal toward her, saying proudly:

— "My name is Yanagisawa Shin. It's great to meet you, Loona!"

Without waiting for her to react, Shin gently took Loona's ice-cold hand and helped her up. He turned around, leaning forward slightly as he patted his shoulders:

— "Hop on. I've got your back. Let's go home together!"

Loona stared at Shin's scrawny yet dependable shoulders. The tears she had been holding back finally spilled over, washing clean two long streaks down her dusty cheeks. She stepped forward, wrapping her small arms tightly around Shin's neck and pressing her tiny face against his back. Shin hoisted her up, instantly feeling the feather-light weight of a tragically malnourished soul.

Carrying Loona on his back, he walked out toward the old man, who was standing a distance away, leaning on his cane:

— "Yo, old man! Looks like we've got a new squad member today!"

The old man’s eyes widened. Looking at the tattered child on Shin's back, he immediately started nagging, aggressively smacking his ragged burlap sack:

— "Huh?! You little brat, you're just bringing random people home now? Feeding three mouths in that dilapidated shack isn't hard enough? Now you're bringing a fourth mouth to drain our resources?!"

Shin pouted, adjusting Loona on his back to secure his grip, and stubbornly countered:

— "Pfft, you don't need to worry about that. Starting tomorrow, I'll grind harder, wake up earlier, and scavenge more scrap to bring home enough food for her."

With that, Shin shot a side-glance at the old man and landed a critical hit:

— "If you keep whining and opposing this, I am officially nerfing your alcohol ration for the entire week!"

— "Sigh..." The old man immediately folded. He stroked his silver beard and let out a long, defeated groan. "You are literally my kryptonite... Fine, take the girl home first. I'll stay back and dig around a bit more to see if I can find something valuable to trade for some porridge for her."

Hearing this, Shin felt a wave of warmth in his chest. He knew his adoptive grandpa liked to nag, but at the end of the day, he had the biggest heart.

— "Alright, keep scavenging then! I'll drop her off and come right back to give you a hand!"

Shin carried Loona away, disappearing behind the mountains of trash. He carried her along the rugged trails, heading straight for the edge of the scrap yard where a dilapidated, lopsided shack stood entirely isolated. Its corrugated metal roof had rusted into a deep crimson, and the surrounding area was cluttered with broken gears and faulty components that the duo had amassed over the years.

The house was rundown, dirt-poor, and messy, inside of which his younger brother Kento was probably still fast asleep. But from this moment on, beneath that leaky metal roof, the flame of protection had officially been lit for a brand-new family member.

Shin pushed open the rickety wooden door of the shack, the rusted hinges groaning with a piercing screech. Inside, the air was stifling, a mix of musty dampness and the faint, acrid smell of machine oil.

By now, Kento was awake. The 14-year-old boy was sitting dazily on an old tire that had been repurposed as a chair, his hair a messy nest, his sleepy eyes half-lidded as if he hadn't fully booted up yet. In his hand was a stale, rock-hard crust of bread salvaged from yesterday, which he was halfway through chewing as a makeshift breakfast.

The already cramped shack was even more cluttered with piles of broken parts and gears that the two had brought back, strewn all over the floor. Right in the corner of the room, jammed tightly under a battered wooden table, was a bizarrely shaped piece of rusted iron. Covered in dust and twisted marks left by time, it was currently carrying the heavy burden of... propping up a broken table leg so it wouldn't wobble. As Kento chewed his bread and looked at the mess, he was about to stand up and tidy things up when Shin walked right in.

Seeing his older brother bringing a small figure inside, Kento froze mid-chew, stammering:

— "Huh... why are you back so early today? Where's the old man? And... who's that on your back?"

Shin leaned down, gently letting Loona sit on a tattered cotton mattress in the corner of the room. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, grinned from ear to ear, and tilted his chin toward his younger brother to introduce her:

— "Meet our new squad member. Her name's Loona. Found her at the central scrap yard. She's staying with us from now on."

Kento stared at the scrawny girl timidly hiding behind Shin, her clothes tattered and her face smudged with dirt. The innate kindness of a Dark Zone kid kicked in. Kento stepped forward, awkwardly wiping his bread-crumb-dusted hands against the hem of his pants, and offered a gentle smile:

— "Hey there... I'm Yanagisawa Kento, 14 years old. Awesome to meet you!"

Shin stood beside them, crossing his arms over his chest, his tone radiating pure pride and resolve:

— "Hehe, exactly! From here on out, you're our little sister. Kento and I will protect you. We're gonna be a real family under this roof. Sound good?"

Hearing those heartwarming words, the fear and wariness that had gripped Loona's heart for days completely evaporated. Her eyes lit up, filled with joy and excitement at the realization that she was no longer alone—and that she now had two big brothers to shield her:

— "Mhm! I'm down! So from now on, I'm not alone anymore. I have two big brothers!"

Looking at the tiny girl, Kento felt a protective instinct surge within him. He glanced down at the piece of bread in his hand and, without a second thought, snapped it in half, handing the larger portion to her:

— "Are you hungry? Here, have some of this bread, it's for you. Things are a bit tight around here, but with me and big brother Shin around, you don't have to be scared anymore."

Loona timidly accepted the bread, softly mumbling a thank you. Watching his two younger siblings hit it off so quickly, Shin nodded in satisfaction but suddenly remembered his main mission:

— "Alright, you two hold down the fort. I gotta blast. The old man is probably waiting out there by himself. I'll bring back more food around noon!"

With that, Shin spun around and bolted out the door at top speed to head back to the junkyard. From behind him, Kento’s voice echoed loudly through the corrugated metal walls:

— "Make sure to come back early! Loona and I will be waiting for you and grandpa for lunnnch!"

Out on the rugged dirt road leading back to the macro-junkyard, Shin sprinted with everything he had. Suddenly, a thunderous roar ripped through the bleak grey clouds overhead. The immense pressure from massive jet engines blasted away the lingering fog, revealing colossal trash-hauling aircraft owned by upper-tier corporations sweeping into the Dark Zone in droves. These cargo ships were as massive as floating islands, preparing to open their bay doors to unleash thousands of tons of high-tech waste.

Shin looked up, his grey eyes flashing with absolute hype:

— "Whoa! Hell yeah! Today we've got whale-tier cargo drops incoming! There's bound to be tons of high-end components in there. We're about to strike it rich! Gotta secure the drop and get to the old man ASAP!"

He accelerated, shooting like an arrow through the desolate ravines of trash. From afar, he spotted the hunched silhouette of the old man poking at a pile of plastic casings with his iron cane, muttering complaints under his breath:

— "Sigh... What a garbage era. Not a single thing is left in one piece. It's all junk!"

Shin swept in like a hurricane, catching his breath as he smacked the old man's shoulder to deliver the news:

— "Yo, old man! The whale-tier trash haulers are dropping cargo right now! We need to hit the central zone before the other scavengers pull up and clean the place out. If we don't hurry, we're getting cooked—there won't be a single crumb left!"

The moment Grandpa Akaisin heard "trash haulers," his senile eyes instantly went wide. His backache and joint pain vanished in a split second as he jumped up, cackling with pure hype:

— "Bwahaha! What? For real? Where is it, you little speed demon? Lead the way, let's go secure the loot!"

With that, the old man hoisted his ragged burlap sack onto his shoulder, scrambling after Shin. But old legs couldn't keep up with young ones, and he panted heavily, shouting after him:

— "Hold up! Slow down, you little rascal! Wait for me, you're gonna snap my old ribs at this rate!"

Shin didn't look back, laughing out loud as he teased him and accelerated further:

— "If you don't pick up the pace, we're losing all the loot! If we don't land a core energy cell, the whole squad's starving tonight, and little Loona's gonna go hungry too! Hustle up, old man!"

The two figures—one old, one young—faded into the distance as a rain of scrap metal began to pour from the sky. Their laughter mingled with the thundering crash of steel, painting a gritty yet hopeful picture of survival in the Dark Zone. They had absolutely no idea that, back in that broken shack, the piece of rusted iron propped under their table leg was the exact thing that would change their entire destiny forever.

END OF CHAPTER 1