CHAPTER 192: QUARANTINE

MEN’S REST ROOM.

Yejun knitted his eyebrows when he found himself in front of the hospital’s rest room instead of materializing in front of Wonhee.

[The fuck am I doing here?]

"Is my teleportation skill malfunctioning because Wonhee is upset with me?"

It was possible since he only got the teleportation skill after he saved Wonhee before. He wouldn’t be surprised if the System punished him for making Wonhee upset.

[IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!]

His Status Window popped up and yelled at him.

[Ah, it must be the talking orange.]

Only the talking orange would ’yell’ in all-caps.

[THE SYSTEM BROUGHT YOU HERE ON PURPOSE, STUPID HUNTER HWANG YEJUN! OPEN YOUR EYES AND USE YOUR SHARP SENSES!]

Oh.

Yejun eyes landed on the floor.

A black miasma was oozing out of the gap between the door and the floor.

"H-Hunter Frost-nim."

Hmm?

Yejun looked over his shoulder and found familiar Hunters.

[They work for Soobin Hyung.]

He could tell because of the brooch the Hunters wore in their ties.

[It’s Soobin Hyung’s crest to differentiate his people from APA’s.]

"Don’t come closer," Yejun said, raising a hand to stop the two Hunters from coming close. "It’s dangerous."

The Hunters looked surprised by what he said.

"Hunter Lee Seodam is inside, sir..."

Ah.

[So, that’s where the miasma is coming from.]

"You— go and inform Vice President Yeon Soobin of what’s happening," he said to the first Hunter he was talking to, and then he pointed at the other. "Go and evacuate the Civilians on this floor."

During an emergency, all Hunters— whether they worked for the government, a private guild, or independently— were obliged to follow the Big 4’s orders especially if their ’boss’ wasn’t in the scene.

[Of course, they are warned not to follow the Big 4 blindly.]

Hence, the two Hunters didn’t get offended by being bossed around.

They even gave Yejun a polite salute.

"Yes, sir!"

And then the two Hunters immediately left to follow Yejun’s orders.

[Since Soobin Hyung is here, he’ll prioritize Wonhee’s safety. Ah, I should send a message to Hyung and ask him to let everyone wear a gas mask, just to be safe.]

Yejun kicked the door open after sending Soobin a message using the Status Window, and then he immediately created a wall of ice behind him so that the miasma wouldn’t be able to come out.

And there he found Lee Seodam.

The fake carnivore was glaring at the mirror in front of him as if he was looking at something only he could see.

[His eyes...]

Lee Seodam’s eyes were red.

The warning bells in Yejun’s head rang loudly as he silently approached the fake carnivore from behind.

"Chu Wonhee..."

"Who gave you the right to say my Wonhee’s name so casually, huh?"

Yejun’s eyes met Seodam’s eyes in the mirror.

And he didn’t like how the fake carnivore looked at him as if he was a bug.

[The audacity, huh?]

"Is the Virus messing with your head?" Yejun asked, suddenly grabbing the top of Lee Seodam’s head with his hand. "Should I blow your brains out to kill the Virus?"

He only did that to check if Lee Seodam was already possessed.

But he didn’t expect the fake carnivore to react violently.

Deadly miasma exploded from Lee Seodam’s body.

Yejun immediately let go of the fake carnivore’s head and jumped away from him while covering his nose and mouth with his hand.

He put a thin layer of ice to protect himself from the miasma.

Then he pulled out a gas mask from his Inventory and wore it right away.

[It was a good call to block the door with my ice.]

"Hwang Yejun, you’re really a thorn in my side— then and now."

Then and now?

Yejun raised an eyebrow. "Ah. As expected, the Virus remembers the previous world. You must have been the one who stole the data that the System is looking for."

"Don’t you already know that?"

"Right. Since you were able to hide your puppets from the System itself, their hunch might be right— you got the control over the parts of the System that you’ve corrupted."

The Virus’ name really suited it.

"I would have taken over this body completely had Chu Wonhee not purify it," the Virus said, clutching Lee Seodam’s body. "But now I’m stuck in here. Why don’t you do me a favor and kill Lee Seodam now, Hwang Yejun? You hate him, don’t you?"

Yejun scoffed. "You just want Lee Seodam dead because you want to get out of his body and find a new host."

The System said that the Virus couldn’t find a new host for a certain period of time.

Since Chu Wonhee could purify Lee Seodam’s body to lessen the Virus’ influence, the Virus probably realized that he had chosen the wrong host.

"You probably can’t kill your host."

Because if the Virus could kill Lee Seodam in order to find a new host that Chu Wonhee couldn’t purify, it would have done so already.

"I’m offering you a good deal here, Hwang Yejun," the Virus said, opening its arms as it continued spitting bullshit. "You can’t kill Lee Seodam without a valid reason because APA adores this child. But if you say that the Virus had completely taken over Lee Seodam’s body and you had no choice but to kill him, then you’ll even be hailed as a hero."

If there was one thing Yejun had learned from Song Moonho, it was to keep his mouth shut while the enemy was yapping.

[Because your silence will pressure the enemy to talk more.]

And that was exactly what happened.

"If you kill Lee Seodam for me, I promise I won’t appear for at least two years," the Virus continued. It sounded confident, but Lee Seodam’s pupils were shaking. It was clear that Yejun’s silence bothered it. "That’s enough time for you to prepare for my next appearance, right? I’m being generous here, Hwang Yejun."

Pfft.

"You’re funny," Yejun said. And, in just the blink of an eye, he was already standing in front of Lee Seodam. He grabbed the fake carnivore’s head like he did earlier. "Lemme freeze your brain first."

Lee Seodam— no, the Virus— actually cursed at him. "You bastard...!"

***

WONHEE took a deep breath before she opened her mouth. "Jin-ah, can you keep this a secret?"

"The fact that the System asked me to protect Noona with the power it granted me?" Lee Seojin asked, tilting his head to one side. "Then does it mean that I really awakened because of you, Noona?"

"I’m sorry, Jin-ah..."

"Why are you apologizing, Noona?"

"Because you became a Hunter... and a Hunter’s job is dangerous."

"But I’ve always wanted to awaken as a Hunter."

"You do? But why? It’s a dangerous job, Jin-ah."

"Noona, we already live in a dangerous world," Seojin reminded her carefully. "Living as a Civilian in this crazy world is far more dangerous than living in here as a Hunter. At least, now, I have the power to protect the people that I cherish."

She could see where Lee Seojin was coming from.

However...

"Jin-ah, have you checked your stats yet?"

"I did, Noona. And I already know my basic skills. The System said it will upgrade my Status Window once my awakening is complete."

"Then don’t you have any questions regarding your main ability?"

Seojin fell silent for a moment before he opened his mouth. "I do. The Status Window shows that I have ’Blood Manipulation’ as my main ability. If I remember correctly, it’s the same ability as the Autumn Guild’s Vice Guildmaster. Hunter Song Sunho, isn’t it?"

"That’s right."

"But isn’t it common for some Hunters to have similar abilities."

Wonhee only had to consider it for a moment.

By ’it,’ she meant being completely honest with Lee Seojin.

[But I feel like I can trust Jin— and I want to trust my gut feeling.]

"Jin-ah—"

"Miss Chu."

Oh.

The door suddenly burst open and Kim Taeil entered the room with urgency in his voice and movements.

[Why is Oppa wearing a gas mask?]

"Miss Chu, I need you to come with me, please."

Wonhee, sensing that there was an emergency, immediately stood up. "What happened, Oppa?"

Taeil glanced at Lee Seojin before he turned to Wonhee and confessed the truth. "Hunter Frost-nim is currently apprehending Hunter Lee Seodam," he said while handing Wonhee a gas mask. "Please wear this, Miss Chu."

Oh.

It could only mean one thing.

[The Virus has taken over Seodam-ssi’s body again!]

***

BRAIN FREEZE.

It was a skill that Yejun would use to freeze an enemy’s consciousness.

In short, it was a technique that he would only use if he wanted someone knocked out without using violence.

But his Brain Freeze Skill was one of the skills that was low in stats.

Fortunately, it still worked.

Lee Seodam stood there, frozen. His body wasn’t covered in ice, but his eyes were empty. It was a sign that the fake carnivore was already unconscious.

[His eyes are no longer red, so it worked.]

Most of all, the miasma had already disappeared.

"What happened here, Hwang Frost?"

It was Soobin.

The APA Vice President appeared behind him while wearing a gas mask.

Fortunately, he got the time to send Soobin a message earlier to tell him to wear a gas mask.

"Hyung, we have to quarantine the fake carnivore."

Soobin tilted his head to one side. "Is it that bad?"

"The Virus is trying to kill Lee Seodam to find a new host," Yejun said in a serious tone. "We must keep an eye on him to make sure that the Virus won’t find a way to kill Lee Seodam behind our backs."

***

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