CHAPTER 20: 20: VIRUS - INFECTED

Aria’s ears perked up at the sudden noise, making her stand a little more alert.

Is that a rat or some other animal?

In order to find out, her eyes kept glancing around as she unknowingly edged closer to the male lead’s body.

When Aria bumped into his arm, she didn’t seem to notice.

Her fingers even stretched out slightly, pinching the hem of his black jacket without thinking.

Caelan had noticed all of the woman’s little movements.

He noticed that she seemed unaware of her own actions, probably scared of the unknown sound.

It made him think it was good that she had at least a little survival instinct.

Caelan remained still, as if nothing were wrong with being clung to by the woman.

He neither scolded her nor moved away.

"Do you think ghosts exist here?" Aria whispered, drawing closer to the male lead as she looked around nervously.

"I don’t believe in ghosts." Caelan replied shortly.

"Really, you don’t?"

"Mnn."

"Ghost are dead souls, and I do believe in them." Aria said, turning to Caelan.

Though ghosts couldn’t scare her, she worried that the world she had created might have become a metaphysical one after being abandoned.

After all, the Manager System had once told her that the Abandoned World had long strayed from the trajectory of the original draft.

The original draft, created by its author, would no longer come to pass.

Aria worried that this world had shifted into a different genre.

She didn’t want to feel like a stranger in her own creation.

As Caelan began approaching the staff room with a gun in his left hand, he was ready to shoot at any moment.

Aria followed closely behind, ready to run if trouble broke out.

Caelan gently pushed the staff room’s door open, moving it slowly.

In that moment, nothing revealed itself to them except the absence of mutant monsters or animals.

It was only a young man in his teens lying down, staring at them.

His eyes were already red from crying for a long time, and upon seeing them, tears began to fall.

His hands clutched a broom handle, which he had been using to tap the door and make a sound.

He tried again, dragging it across the floor as if he wanted to say something.

Aria’s worried gaze slowly drifted over the boy’s naked lower body, but then a large hand suddenly appeared.

It completely blocked her view.

"Eh?"

Aria knew the only one who could do it was the male lead.

Caelan had used his hand to cover her eyes.

"Don’t look. He’s naked. No pants." His voice carried a trace of dissatisfaction, leaving no room for argument.

Aria wanted to say there was nothing wrong with that.

However, before she could voice out her protest, the other had already forced her to face his firm chest.

The black clothing could not conceal his well-toned muscles, which caught her eyes for a brief second.

Even so, Aria was not someone who could be easily distracted now.

Something far more important demanded her attention.

She raised her eyes to the male lead’s face and glared at him in annoyance.

"What are you doing! You cannot just do that." Aria protested, trying to turn around again.

Caelan didn’t let her do that.

Since he was much stronger than her, he easily pinched her neck, forcing her to stay still.

"He’s bare down below. Don’t look at it."

"That’s all, he’s just without pants."

To her, it didn’t seem like anything was wrong with that.

Who hadn’t seen a male part in their life?

Well, Aria would admit she had never actually seen one personally in her original world.

Still, she thought there was no problem with her seeing one now.

It was just a male thing, something normal for a man.

Caelan stared back at the woman who refused to listen.

"Are you saying you want to look at a male’s genitalia?"

Aria, hearing the accusation, felt heat rush all over her face.

She couldn’t help but feel wronged and protested weakly in her soft voice.

"Who said I wanted to look at a man’s manhood? I’m not a pervert! You’re the pervert, your whole family is a pervert!"

Aria turned away in anger and obvious annoyance toward Caelan.

The other let her move, and her eyes landed once again on the person lying on the dirty staff room floor.

For a brief second, she caught sight of something that made her gasp at once.

Then again, the male lead’s hand came down to cover her eyes.

"Didn’t I say not to look? You’re disobedient."

"Why... why is he bleeding down there?" Aria’s voice trembled.

She was sure her eyes had seen the young boy’s thigh stained with blood and an unfamiliar white liquid.

Caelan’s eyes hardened.

The moment he saw the boy’s bare bottom and the red mark around his neck.

He immediately knew what had happened.

He put his gun back into the pocket of his military trousers and glanced at the boy’s hand gripping the broom handle, noticing a dark-colored wound on his wrist and instantly recognizing what it was.

Infected.

This boy was already taken by the A-Virus.

There was nothing they could do now, except leave safely.

"Let’s go." Caelan turned Aria around again, taking her arm to lead her away without offering any explanation.

Aria was stunned at how sudden it was.

She tried to resist his pull, annoyed at being dragged like this.

"Hey, where are we going? Wait, wait, Caelan, stop! Aren’t we going to help that kid?"

In Aria’s understanding, the boy she had seen was still human, not a zombie or a mutant monster.

That was why she couldn’t understand why they were leaving without him.

"No." Caelan rejected her coldly.

"What do you mean no? He clearly needs our help. Let’s help him, okay? I will pay you double as I promised."

Caelan stopped abruptly, and Aria collided with his hard back.

"Ouch."

Aria rubbed her nose, which ached from the impact.

She was ready to protest, but froze when her gaze met his cold eyes, piercing straight through her.

Instantly intimidated, she stepped back quickly.

This was the aura of the male lead, and she knew he was not pleased.

Aria didn’t dare meet those different-colored eyes for a moment.

But thinking of the boy in the staff room as they stood outside the convenience store, she felt she had to help him.

Aria huffed, crossing her arms and sounding annoyed.

"What are you looking at me like that for? I just want to help him. Can’t we help him?"

"No. And why do you have to help a stranger? He’s a stranger, and he doesn’t need our help."

Caelan’s tone was sharp, a mix of disbelief at her words and irritation at having to tolerate her.

Aria was slightly surprised to see Caelan’s irritated reaction for the first time since they had been together.

"What do you mean he doesn’t need our help? He obviously does."

That boy was clearly crying and unable to stand.

Aria felt they couldn’t just leave him like that.

Caelan shook his head once and turned around.

He realized this woman was completely unaware of the situation.

"That person is beyond saving. He’s already infected with the virus."