Alex Baek/Relationships

## Friends and Acquaintances

### Hanna Yoo

Despite meeting in a survival game, Alex and Hanna share mutual respect and have complete trust in each other. Coincidentally, Alex met Hanna near the entrance of Zero Game when she first joined the game. After saving her from a Mutant attack, he discovered her Mirroring passive skill. He immediately became interested in pairing with her, and created a scheme to test her wit and survival instinct. Hanna surpassed his expectations to the point of almost costing his life. After realizing Alex was only testing her potential as a pair partner, Hanna decided to stay partnered to him.

    Soon after, Alex assisted her in obtaining a high-level ability, risking his own life to draw enemy attacks away from her.

As Alex helped her train in combat and gain an ability, their "temporary partnership" evolved into a friendship with mutual trust and respect. When they are not challenging game levels, they live together at Alex's Home Base. The night before Level One, Alex slept next to Hanna in her bed to ease her nerves, assuring her that she was more than capable of completing the level. When Red Moon ambushed them after completing Level One, Alex offered to create a distraction to allow Hanna to safely escape. To his surprise, she firmly refused to abandon him. This incident led Hanna to ask questions about his past however, something he was not ready to share with her. Though he fully trusted her, he was afraid she would leave him after learning about his history with Blue Moon. She decided to wait until he was secure enough to confide in her, bluntly claiming that it would probably happen before she died.

In Level Two, Alex discovered that he is deceased in the real world. To his surprise, Hanna insisted remaining paired to him, claiming his deceased state did not interfere with their partnership. When Johan Lee asked if Hanna and Alex were in a relationship, she commented on how terrible that would be, much to Alex's dismay. When Hanna took the 10-Year Potion to de-age herself during Level Two, Alex was shocked to recognize her youthful appearance. He realized that they were previously acquainted in the real world and mulled over the irony of meeting once again in Zero Game, wondering if his death was not enough. Though rattled, he decided to keep this revelation to himself. During the fight against Lucifer, Alex and Hanna shared an understanding of preserving Mika's life without communicating with each other. Despite the atrocious natures of humans that manifest in Zero Game, Alex and Hanna both wish to retain their morals in helping others. He admitted to Micaela that she inspired him to once again believe in showing kindness to others, even at his own expense. After they completed the level, Hanna decided to dissolve her partnership with Alex in order to save Johan and Micaela's lives, assuming Alex would not join her in walking into an unnecessary death trap. Offended, Alex accused her of never asking for help and abandoning him. Hanna became thoroughly embarrassed as he insisted that he would always be there for her.

### Loveme

Alex is one of Loveme's favorite players in Zero Game. For unknown reasons, Loveme watched over Alex as he progressed through Zero Game with Blue Moon. During an incident staged by Jay, Loveme willingly surrendered her Operator rank to save Alex's life. Though he was ridden with guilt and continuously apologized, Loveme insisted that she knew of the consequences of her interference and did not hold him responsible for her demotion. They remain on good terms and only interact when Alex visits the Ability Shop to purchase items. Though she enjoys teasing him and coercing him to buy useless items, Loveme is one of the few people Alex trusts.

### Jay

Alex was once part of Jay's former guild, Blue Moon, before Elliot framed him for annihilating the team. After discovering Jay survived the attack, Alex learned that she was really after his Vested Item and deduced that she would use her Mind Control ability to acquire it.

### Eva Lee

After Alex helped Eva and Kate Lee safely escape the clutches of Alice Neul, Eva used her Clairvoyance skill to locate a target item for Hanna in the third stage of Level One. Though he initially insisted on remaining detached and professional in their temporary alliance, Alex eventually came to trust the sisters.

### Johan Lee

After Johan saved Alex and Hanna from a Zombie attack in the Cemetery, Johan attacked Alex. It was later revealed that Johan mistook Alex for a monster because of his deceased state. Alex decided to trust Johan after Johan taught him how to maximize and properly manipulate his Electronic Master ability. During their encounter with Arachne, Alex reminded Johan to properly face Micaela instead of cowering in Arachne's Nightmare. The two then team up, along with Hanna, to clear Level Two together.

### Micaela

Although Alex and Micaela share a cordial relationship outside of The Battle at Lucifer's Garden, when Micaela dons the Lucifer persona, she becomes ruthless and blunt with her words. She criticized Alex for being too kind-hearted in Zero Game.

### Kate Lee

After Alex helped Kate and Eva Lee safely escape the clutches of Alice Neul, Kate used her Hiding skill to help them avoid monsters and enemies.

## Family

### Elliot Baek

Elliot is Alex's older twin brother. In the real world, they shared a very close relationship until Elliot caused an incident that resulted in Alex's death. In Zero Game, the brothers naturally partnered up as they cleared game levels. After joining Blue Moon, Elliot pair-changed with Alex and took Alex's 100,000 Life Points and turned it into a Vested Item. After hiding it in Alex's earring, Elliot then slaughtered the Blue Moon guild in Alex's body, branding his brother as a ruthless traitor. Since then, Elliot finds every reason to attack Alex with his newly formed guild, White Hound. Estranged from his brother and feared by other players, Alex grew to resent his twin for betraying him.

     Despite this, Alex admitted to Loveme that he is waiting for the day Elliot comes back to him.

During his encounter with Arachne, Alex confronted Elliot about his intentions of joining Zero Game. Elliot confessed that he joined in order to bring Alex back to life in the real world. Because his brother is really dead, Elliot saw Zero Game's Alex as a fake and an obstacle. After Alex promised Elliot he will save himself, the feuding brothers reached an impasse. Eventually, Elliot decided to trust Alex and back off from killing him.

## References

1. ↑ Prologue
2. ↑ Episode 1
3. ↑ Episode 2
4. ↑ Episode 3
5. ↑ Episode 4
6. ↑ Episode 6
7. ↑ Episode 14
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Episode 18
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Episode 25
10. ↑ Episode 22
11. ↑ Episode 30
12. ↑ Episode 32
13. ↑ Episode 36
14. ↑ Episode 22
15. ↑ Episode 16
16. ↑ Episode 3
17. ↑ Episode 19
18. ↑ Episode 11
19. ↑ Episode 13
20. ↑ Episode 15
21. ↑ Episode 28