Zen

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SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!

If you haven't played Mystic Messenger completely, you might read something that will reveal to you the complete story of the game. So please pay attention!

"I'm an actor so there's not much I can do, but I'd love to help anyone who's discouraged by their difficult environment."
—ZEN, Comment from RFA Orientation Guidebook

Zen (real name Hyun Ryu) is one of the main characters available through the Casual Story in Mystic Messenger. Zen is a semi-successful actor/dancer/singer. He can come across as narcissistic about his looks, often posting selfies and exclaiming how handsome he is. However, while it may seem he cares about his appearance the most, he wants to be recognized and appreciated first and foremost for his career skills.

Personality

On the surface, Zen is known for being a very eccentric and flirtatious character. He will often talk about his looks, praising and complimenting himself for how attractive he his, as well as how talented he is when it comes to singing and acting. Zen tends to compare others to himself when it comes to looks, frequently telling Yoosung to work out to look half as good as he does. Despite this, Zen can become very loyal and caring, especially to those he cares about. In all routes he cares deeply for MC. While Zen likes to compliment himself, he often flirts with the Main Character. He usually calls them "sweetie" or "babe".

In conjunction, deep down Zen self doubts himself, wondering if people only see him for his looks, rather than his talents. He can be easily upset if something affects his career, almost entering a depressive state.

He is known for pursuing larger and better musicals, offering up smaller ones or turning them down if the opportunity presents itself.

Like many of the members, he has scars from his past which can't be forgotten.

Appearance

Zen is a tall young man with noticeable muscle tone due to regular training. He is 182 cm (5' 11") tall and his weight is 75 kg (165.3 pounds). He has silver-white long hair with short bangs falling slightly over his eyes, and his hair is tied in a low ponytail which reaches down his back. Zen's eyes are a pinkish-red and almond shaped.

He is shown wearing multiple outfits, including a grey jacket with large buttons and a logo feature, a black turtleneck, tight fitting pants and black formal shoes.

Background story

Zen is the youngest son in his family, and lived with his mother, father and older brother. His family is described as being quite conservative; his parents being teachers and his older brother working as a lawyer. During his younger years, he was harassed by strangers as they followed him to touch him or take pictures of him.

He would often be treated poorly by his parents, specifically his mother, who questioned who he got his looks from and frequently called him ugly, causing a rift to form between the two. Zen would often confide in his older brother, who would explain that his mother was only saying those things to 'protect him' from being used by others due to his handsome appearance. She also wanted him to think that he wasn't handsome, she feared he would follow the steps of her nephew and other handsome men in becoming unscrupulous and damaging the family name.

As he entered middle school, Zen gained a boost in confidence due to his looks, and he began finding his passion for acting and music, to which his mother strongly disagreed with, believing that he should become a doctor or lawyer like his brother.

During these years, he found out that his older brother had started siding with their mother for him to drop his silly hobby and diligently study to become successful like him. Due to this, Zen dropped out of school and ran away from home, renting an apartment, barely surviving with the rent while working small jobs here and there. He also admitted that he even did 'bad things' to survive, including threatening people for money.

After finishing work, he meets Rika, who has a bouquet of roses, and she praises him for his talents and states she's been watching him ever since his first musical appearance. Rika then persuades him to meet V and to get a photograph together, as well as telling him she knows someone who can help him become successful. He meets Jumin Han and instantly dislikes him, denying his offers. Later, Zen eventually joins the RFA.

Casual Story

The player and Zen instantly become very close, to the displeasure of Jaehee, who feels that their relationship may ruin Zen's career. One day, Zen is offered an opportunity to work on a project with the famous singer Echo Girl, which will considerably boost his popularity. Jumin, on the other hand, offers Zen a chance to star in a cat food commercial for his company. Zen disagrees with getting a foothold in the entertainment industry due to nepotism over his talent as well has having a cat allergy, and, after a heated argument, attempts to prove his worth by practicing.

On Day 7, Zen sprains his ankle from overexertion and becomes withdrawn, upset at the prospect of losing the role. At the same time, he continues to decline Jumin's offer. In the afternoon, he meets Echo Girl while buying goldfish bread in front of his house, and despite his consideration of withdrawing from the role, Echo Girl urges him to stay, using her influence to keep Zen in the production.

The rest of the RFA members agree to send the player over to visit Zen to cheer him up, and Jumin sets up an arrangement for transportation on the condition that she convinces Zen to model for his cat food commercial. When the visit comes to an end, Zen brings the player up on the roof to stargaze, and confides his past with her. He admits that he rejected Jumin's help because of his resemblance to his older brother, and feels that he can move on with her help. Right after the player is sent home, Echo Girl arrives at Zen's apartment intending to woo him; however, Zen rejects her advances and sends her back to her manager. The next day, Echo Girl meets both Jumin and Zen separately, threatening to ruin their images. This results in Zen being accused of sexually assaulting Echo Girl on television, smearing his name drastically, later followed by gossip that Jumin is gay.

Jumin is undeterred and enlists Seven to look for information to prove Zen's innocence. Meanwhile, Zen shuts down at facing the possible end of his career since he is only a low-tier actor tied to small-scale musicals. Jumin and the player encourage him to be confident, but he becomes more upset. He rides his motorcycle to a secret location to calm down. After contacting V, Jumin locates him for confrontation, and offers him a chance to act in a commercial for a teacup company that his father recently acquired to help bring back his reputation. Zen comes to terms with his family issues, realizing that Jumin was only trying to help him. He agrees to model in the cat commercial rather than the teacup commercial. He becomes grateful of the RFA, especially the player, who helped him understand the feelings of other people, and is inspired by her to reconnect with his own family. He tells her that he plans to officially ask her to be his girlfriend after the party.

The RFA opt to have Zen hold a press conference at the party. At night-time, on Day 10, Zen has a nightmare where Unknown enters Rika's apartment and kidnaps the player, planning to use her as a hostage to capture the rest of RFA. Zen is utterly horrified when the premonition becomes real. Seven reveals to the player in the morning that Unknown has hacked into the defense system of the apartment, modifying so that the bomb inside will detonate when any RFA member enters or exits. Though the others are reluctant to believe him, Zen becomes frantic to save the player.

Seven eventually disables the bomb, but Zen is even more alarmed that the intruder will approach the player. He quickly rushes over to Seven's place despite orders, and demands he give the address. By dusk, Unknown sneaks into Rika's apartment to avoid motion and heat sensors by breaking the window. Before he is able to do take away the player, Zen enters the apartment with the code to the lock. Unknown initially believes him to be Seven, but when confronted, he threatens Zen with a switch that will detonate the bomb in the apartment if activated. The player breaks away from Unknown.

Zen and the player escape, taking shelter in Zen's home. While the player calms down from the events, Zen suggests that they live together from now on, as it is dangerous for her to stay elsewhere. While Jaehee agrees and approves of their relationship, Jumin is hesitant, as he believes that two unmarried lovers should not live together. Regardless, as the RFA prepare for the party, Yoosung reveals that he has found a witness that may prove Zen's innocence: the vendor of the goldfish bread.

Relationships

Yoosung

Yoosung is a good friend of Zen, and it often stated that Yoosung is jealous of Zen's good looks. Zen often tries to help him quit gaming, encouraging him to find a girlfriend. Zen appears to feel as though he needs to look after Yoosung, and during 707's route when there is tension within the RFA, Yoosung goes to Zen's house to comfort each other, resulting in Yoosung getting drunk.

707

Zen and 707 are friends. Zen often encourages 707 to eat proper meals for his health, rather than his regular diet of junk food. Zen describes him as a crazy boy who has an exceptional talent in hacking, but he doesn't understand why 707 adores cats so much. Zen knows that 707 isn't a bad person, 707 takes care of Zen in Yoosung's route when he goes to stay with him to get away from his stalker. 707 has also significantly helped Zen's career by hacking into Youtube, and making one of Zen's videos go viral, as well as creating a 'Tripter bot' to regularly tweet Zen's selfies.

Jumin

Zen and Jumin do not get along well. Zen often describes Jumin as a 'jerk' and a 'trust fund kid' who cares only about his money, and is unable to do anything without his father or Jaehee's help. Zen tries to avoid him, and dislikes talking to him. Zen hates how Jumin provokes him with pictures or talk of cats. However, Zen admits that he doesn't dislike Jumin as a person, and that much of his apparent anger towards him is misdirected anger towards his brother, due to the fact he feels Jumin's personality is similar to his.

Likewise, it does not seem like Jumin outright dislikes Zen, having extended offers of jobs/sponsors to Zen. It appears that Zen is simply a minor annoyance to him. He sometimes seems a little wounded by Zen's vehement refusal of his help. Zen and Jumin eventually make up on his route.

Jaehee

Being Zen's diehard fan, Jaehee cares about him a lot, and is concerned about the possibility of him getting into a scandal and ruining his career. Zen also cares a lot of Jaehee, as he is often seen reprimanding Jumin for giving Jaehee a lot of work without rest. At first, Zen doesn't believe that Jaehee is his fan, thinking that Jaehee only cares for him as fellow RFA members. During Jaehee's route they become close and exchange gifts as he helps you encourage Jaehee to follow her dreams and become happy. His allergy to cats also helps him sympathize with Jaehee when Jumin leaves Elizabeth the 3rd with her.

Rika

He and Rika met 3 years ago. Zen is very grateful to Rika for recognizing his talent even when he was a complete no-name. She is the one who convinced him to join RFA.

V

V rescued Zen when he was in a severe motorbike accident, and Zen is grateful to V for saving his life. He also one of the people who helped Zen with his fame, by taking photos of him (claiming it's only for "testing").

Elizabeth 3rd

Zen and Elizabeth 3rd never interact with each other, and Zen claims that he doesn't want to. He is allergic to cats to the point that just seeing a photo of one makes his nose itch. It is stated that at a previous RFA party, Jumin brought Elizabeth the 3rd with him which caused Zen's allergies to act up. Despite that, he stated that he doesn't hate Elizabeth 3rd.

The spaceship reveals

Day 1

"I should drink local beer since it’s cheaper."
"I want to be handsome, more than I was yesterday"

Common Route 01 - Casual Story

"Hmmm~ I wanna sing for Elly."
"Why are there so many people whenever I jog?;;;"
"Why do people photoshop their selfies? Lol Mine’s perfect as is."
"Apparently humans are fragments of the universe… Then I must be a fragment of the most beautiful star to exist ;)"
"Does the sun shine brighter, or me? Hey sun, wanna compete?"
"I am excessively beautiful as always."

Common Route 02 - Deep Story

"Dancing is best when feeling lonely."
"Salad for lunch today!"
"Beauty would be blinded by us, me and myself in a parallel universe."
"I wonder what you’d be doing right now…"
"If I were born in old times, I would have had to cover my pecs. Still, I’d look just as great."
"To be or not to be~ God. I wanna act!"

Zen's Route

"Would it have been better if I were allergic to dogs?"
"My fingernail's about to fall off. I should be careful during practice."
"I took my own profile photo for my first audition on a white wall, haha."
"It’s natural to put in effort to something you like."
"I heard there’s a vitamin you can inhale. Maybe I should try it."
"I’m getting more and more greedy."
"Just run. Run until all these complicated thoughts are gone."
"You shouldn’t touch a passing puppy just because it’s cute."
"Should I just sneeze in advance? Achew! Achew! Achew!"
"I’m such a jerk."
"I wish I could just hold your finger while sleeping, so that I can feel you beside me."
"I will shine brighter by your side. I need you."
"I want your only romance to be with me."
"I will confidently go up on stage for those who had faith in me."

Jaehee's Route

"Alright! I’m gonna blind people with my beauty today as usual!"
"Jumin Han that jerk! Satan would love him! ****!"
"Sometimes, it’s not too bad to rely on someone by your side…? I guess?"
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"People who are like my family… this isn’t too bad."
"I used to think that I had to show my very best during auditions, but that wasn’t it."
"Nothing better than Honey Buddha Chips when my blood sugar is low!"
"Believe in myself. My body remembers how hard I’ve worked."
"I have a duty to make ladies happy. I must never make them shed tears."
"Hell Note… Despite the title, it was quite a pleasant show."
"It always pisses me off when Jumin says ‘damn it’ for some reason."
"I once went up on stage without wearing underwear."
"Should I have cut my bangs? Whatever, I still look handsome."
"Oh, I should have bought roses. I could have given a rose to each of the ladies."

Yoosung's Route

"Someone told me the other day that I look like I just survive on morning dew?"
"I barely slept because of a nightmare. I should be careful today."
"All this frustration will broaden my acting eventually."
"Skin must always be dewy and supple. Self-grooming is critical."
"I'm sensing something rosy in the air."
"Nothing is better than fried chicken and beer! And then going for a jog!"
"Shampoo is so expensive these days!! My hair’s long so I use them up pretty quickly…"
"I'm sure rescue workers at 911 are super busy."
"Seven, does this guy never eat?"
"The Monster of the Opera... I'd love to play that role. Sing for me!"
"Oh~ Where is my lady?"
"Ok, Seven may be a hacker, but he still needs more clothes than this."
"I’m going to pray to the night sky. Please let Yoosung lead a happy life."
"Tie? Suspenders? Fedora? Or just go all out and wear a jumpsuit?"

Jumin's Route

"My heart races when I see a full moon. Maybe I'm a werewolf descendent?"
"I've never dyed my hair pink before, but maybe I should try it."
"Is there any lady who'd wake up to my selfies every morning? Of course, in person would be better."
"I was once offered a position in a vampire concept boy band. I would have said yes if it were a musical."
"The ones who have it all are the worst..."
"Even flared pants look cool in musicals."
"What are you doing in this free democratic country!"
"I listened to a sample of the new musical number, and it's perfect for my voice!"
"Nothing feels better than sweating during dance rehearsals."
"The jerk, the rich dude, the weirdo. They're all the same guy."
"I seriously want to hate him, but he makes it impossible... Damn trust fund kid."
"They say love changes people... but isn't this too much?"
"Acting requires more strength than you think, since you need to focus on your emotions so quickly.
"It'd be nice to have my hair down, but what if everyone stares at me? I shouldn't."

707's Route

"The stylist asked me which shampoo I use. I just use Dobe."
"Hey Jumin!!!!! You jerk ******!!! I'm glad the ladies can't hear my thoughts."
"I was offered a role in the film 'Man of the Farm' but I turned it down for a musical."
"I wonder how many people know that I can play the piano."
"Looking at my old photos makes me thing... God, I was handsome back then too... Seriously."
"The best way to fix an old habit is...! Create a new one?"
"I don't think I've ever been in a fist fight with Jumin. I wonder who's stronger."
"I think Yoosung will be such a devoted husband. I do want to see him in love."
"Jumin and I are like cats and dogs. Or maybe a trustworthy dog and a petty monkey. Of course, I'm the dog."
"I feel like I'm watching a coming-of-age show, haha. But of course, it's reality and I can't really enjoy it..."
" Maybe I should take out my cheerleading uniform from a previous show. Would that make me feel better?"
"I should go to the convenience store. I want a drink."
"Where is my hangover drink... Huh? What is this? It's Ph.D Pepper! Who put this in here..."
"My lovely face~ Handsome as ever~"

Another Story

"I can't leave the mirror. My face keeps me from leaving it."
"I don't think the phrase 'clothes make the man' suits me. I am already perfect."
"Zzzzz Zzzzz.... Umm......"
"Sleeping Beauty... I wish a Princess Charming would come and wake me..."
"I'll become a handsome middle-aged man in a few decades, won't i?"
"Wow, what a small world we live in. Didn't expect to meet a fan on the streets."
"My selfies are always perfect, day and night."
"Which mask pack should I use before going to sleep?"

V's Route

"4 cans of beer for 10,000won... god... this is tempting"
"Would there be a day when I star in Offlivious, the hidden camera tv show...?"
"I didn't know before, but Yoosung can be very picky with food..."
"Should I take Yoosung with me when I go jogging next time?"
"I almost got casted on the streets. I wonder how many times it's been just this year..?"
"Should I visit the spa with Yoosung later...?"
"Rika... makes me think of past memories..."
"Feels like I'm engulfed in something larger than life in the past few days. Would the ending be sad?"
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Ray's Route

"If I desperately want it, the universe make my wish come true!"
"Dayum you mirror...! You shouldn't reflect something so good looking..."
"How should I approach Yoosung..."
"White... White..... WHITEEEEE!!!!!"
"I got another script in case one got tattered... Yeay to my foresight!"
"Yoosung, put everything away when you're done eating..."
"Next rehearsal, please..."
"I saw an icecream of V's hair color. It was soda flavor."
"Once a week for hair masks and three times a week for hair treatments."
"OMG! I'm so amazed at my looks... Hey you, face, you should take it easy."
"I can't eat."
"Why does the Buddhism sutra keep coming to my mind... Should I try memorizing it?"
"My skin condition today is perfect!"
"A I U E O! A E I O U!"

Christmas Special 2016

"God... I feel so lonely..."
"I bet no one can sing carol songs sexier than I can."
"I want to wear matching scarves. I can be the best date in the world."
"My god... I don't even want to work but my acting is just perfect..."

April Fool's Special 2017

"Would anyone believe if I say I'm ugly? It is such a ridiculous lie."
"I receive so many love letters on this day. I wonder what percentage of them actually mean it?"

Zen

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