Zeno had already memorized all of his lines by the time he got home. Not just the first episode but the entire thing.
It was 150 pages long, but his dialogue was limited, so he managed to do it.
However, the greatest explanation for this was that he wasn’t human. He read at an incredible speed and had a great memory. He could even remember the major details of his first mission!
As soon as he got home, he picked up Maxie from Doha’s place. Maxie’s ears visibly fell when she saw him. Zeno clicked his tongue. “Do you want to stay in Doha for the rest of your life?” he asked.
Maxie retaliated and bit his arm. Zeno didn’t flinch anymore. He was already used to such tactics.
“Then, come on,” Zeno said. “Just admit you like me.”
Maxie turned away but let herself be carried by Zeno. With that, he was about to leave when, suddenly, he remembered his second objective for the day.
“Doha,” he said, capturing the buff man’s attention.
“Yes?” Doha joyfully asked.
“Can you help me make a Sigmoid account?”
Doha paused for a while before smiling.
He felt delighted. Of course, he was willing to help his friend create a social media account. He had been trying to convince him to make one for the longest time!
Ever since they were young, Zeno was considered… ordinary. He wasn’t quiet, per se. He just didn’t speak unless necessary. He made jokes, but only in the presence of his closest friends, which were just them.
He didn’t like bringing any attention to himself. His mother even scolded him for acting passive. There were times when Doha and the others were also frustrated because they believed Zeno could be so much more.
However, they quickly came to realize that it was the life Zeno wanted.
When they were in middle school, Zeno’s height brought him to stand right in the middle of the line. He also ranked 125th out of 250 students in terms of grades. He didn’t join any extracurricular activities. While Eli was in the science club, Minji was in the singing club, and Doha was in the dancing club, Zeno went home to go fishing with his mother.
He had two girlfriends thus far. One who was kind and one who definitely used Zeno throughout their relationship. Those two broke up with him because they thought Zeno was ‘too’ plain. Zeno didn’t mind because he knew it was the truth.
Doha always thought he was the most good-looking in their class, but Zeno never became popular. It was weird, really. He was deemed ordinarily handsome for such a long time.
In their senior year, when their teachers asked what their dreams were–Eli answered a doctor, Doha answered a gym owner, and Minji answered a singer. Zeno answered to become an ordinary salary man—an office worker.
They came to Seoul to chase their dreams, yet somehow, Eli was the only one who managed to get into college. While Doha and Minji mourned the loss of their dreams, Zeno remained the same.
Somehow, he was always right in the middle.
When the military doctor said that Zeno had lost his memories, they were cautious at first. He had changed a bit, they could tell. However, it seemed his dream to become an ordinary man remained the same.
Yet, there were some changes Doha had noted. It appeared he was more expressive now. He got into acting, had built a small following, and now had asked Doha to help him make a Sigmoid account.
His friend was beyond happy.
“First, you need a username,” Doha started off.
“Is Zeno taken?” he asked.
Doha laughed out loud. “Of course, it’s taken! But let’s still give it a try.”
Zeno typed the username on the screen and showed it to Doha. “It says it’s available.”
Doha’s eyes widened in surprise. “Lucky you,” he muttered. “It’s rare for simple usernames to be free.”
“Create a password then,” Doha instructed.
Zeno nodded and typed in the longest password known to man. He knew that technology was getting better and better, and he didn’t want the risk of getting hacked. So, he typed in a 46-character password, making Doha’s eyebrows raise.
“Can you even remember all of that?” he asked.
Zeno nodded without hesitation.
Doha shrugged. “Alright, whatever you say.”
“And lastly, a profile photo. Do you want to use the ones you took during your photoshoot with Dreamy? Those look very nice, by the way. You looked like a genuine model!”
Zeno shook his head. He clicked on the profile picture icon, pressed ‘take a photo now’, and captured a selfie in less than three seconds. He gave the phone to Doha, who was watching the scene with an agape mouth.
“I’ve never seen anyone use that feature before,” he muttered. When he looked at the photo, he was even more flabbergasted. How was it that the photo appeared to be even better than Doha’s current one?
“Yeah, this is good,” he said. He finished creating the profile and handed the phone back to Zeno.
“There,” Doha said, “you’re all set.”
“Thanks,” Zeno chimed and was about to leave with Maxie. However, Doha asked him a question.
“Why did you suddenly want to make a Sigmoid account?”
Because I have a penalty quest.
Zeno shrugged. “Just bored. I won’t be eating with you guys tonight because I have to go through my script again.”
“Sure,” Doha called out, watching as Zeno left his unit.
As soon as he was gone, a small smile appeared on Doha’s lips.
“It’s like you were really born to be extraordinary,” he muttered.
Meanwhile, Zeno entered his unit and went to his Sigmoid account. He didn’t plan on posting.
The penalty quest didn’t specify that he had to be active on social media—just that he needed to make one.
Along with that, the quest also didn’t say he needed to have an audience for his livestream. He looked at his follower count.
Zero.
He smiled. That was exactly how he planned on keeping it.
However, what Zeno didn’t know was that the best detectives in the world weren’t the ones who worked for the government. Instead, they were the desperate fans who had dedicated their lives to the artist they had liked.
If the Titanic had sunk now, it would have been found in no time due to the presence of such individuals.
Because of that, Zeno’s account was found in a span of minutes.
[+2 Public Perception. +20,000 followers]
[Notable meter: 30.5%]
[Penalty Quest: Avoid being scolded on the set of ‘Stars in My Ordinary Sky.’]
[+5% increase for each instance the host is scolded.]
[Penalty Item: Star Scanner—the ultimate tool for evaluating celebrities, combining both fame and talent into a comprehensive ranking system. This feature assesses a celebrity’s current status in the entertainment industry (A-lister, B-lister, C-lister, etc.) and also evaluates their talent level (A, B, C).]