"What's going on here?" Jansen asked softly.
In front of him now, Jansen witnessed a residential scene of abandoned two-story buildings. Many trees, broken cars, and building debris were scattered everywhere.
People looked shabby and frightened. There were several tents of makeshift health posts. Some people carried family members and friends, while others were busy treating people infected with the virus.
"As you can see. This is how people live now," said Matthew beside Jansen.
After a brief encounter with the monsters a few moments ago, Jansen was escorted by Matthew to the neighborhood. But Jansen did not expect that the living situation of the townspeople was this bad.
"They live in these abandoned buildings?" Jansen looked around.
"Yes. There is no security. They only rely on logs to block the door to hide. Every night, some monsters will start arriving," Matthew replied.
Jansen sighed heavily. He felt furious remembering what the Parasitic Creature Eradication Organization had done to make the city live like this in the future.
"Since when?" asked Jansen.
"Twenty years ago. The Parasitic Creature Eradication Organization didn't give out the antidote for free. When the virus spread fast enough, they made people pay ten million dollars."
Jansen glared in surprise. "What? How come... wait, twenty years ago a cure for the virus was found?"
Matthew nodded his head. "Yes. I heard my parents say that Mr. Frank discovered it. He's now the leader of the Parasitic Creature Eradication Organization."
"Frank?" Jansen said in surprise.
Matthew frowned with a surprised expression.
"You know him? Why are you calling him a million names? You're still young," Matthew reprimanded.
Jansen immediately remembered that he was in the future. Frank had automatically aged, while he had not aged at all.
"I mean, Mr. Frank. Yes... I've read about him," Jansen had to lie. He couldn't possibly admit that he was the leader of the Parasitic Creature Eradication Organization.
Matthew let out a long sigh, and then continued walking.
"Ah. I didn't expect that since one of the CEOs of the chemical company that owns the largest laboratory disappeared, the organization would become chaotic. Even though it was the CEO who promised to give the virus antidote for free."
Hearing Matthew's words, Jansen immediately felt guilty. If only Matthew knew that he was the CEO he was talking about-who promised to give the virus antidote for free.
"Hey, what if I told you I was the CEO who disappeared?" asked Jansen hesitantly.
Matthew's steps stopped again. He looked at Jansen so intensely, as if he was scanning Jansen's entire body.
Then Matthew let out a mocking laugh.
"What are you talking about?" Matthew asked. "Don't be delusional. You even scream and run when faced with monsters. You don't look very smart."
Jansen held back his irritation after hearing Matthew's words. But he couldn't be completely angry. He had already guessed that Matthew wouldn't believe his words.
"That's right. You wouldn't believe such a ridiculous thing," Jansen replied with a nod.
"No one knows where the missing CEO is. At first the citizens were still hoping that he would be found so that they could distribute the virus vaccine for free, or perhaps sell it at a low price..."
Jansen looked at Matthew who looked haggard as he stopped his words for a moment.
"...but he didn't come back. The search for the CEO was eventually stopped. Then more and more people lived their lives as usual without expecting the CEO to come.
"But they suffered because the spread of the parasitic virus made some residents turn into monsters. The organization didn't vaccinate against the virus, but instead killed both transformed and newly infected humans."
"The situation must have been very chaotic at the time," Jansen said softly.
"Of course it was. Moreover, in the end, a boundary was built between the poor, the middle class, and the conglomerate. There was an artificial modern city where only the rich lived."
"While they let the poor and the middle class live with the spread of viruses, hunger, and disease?" asked Jansen.
"Yes. They only come every two months to provide food and medicine. If the infection gets out of hand, they arrest them and take them to the Training Center," said Matthew.
"Training center?" Jansen was confused because he had never heard the term.
"You don't know?" Matthew asked with astonishment.
Before Jansen could answer, he heard the sound of wood slamming. Jansen looked over with Matthew and saw three men starting to surround a woman.
"Argghh! I'm not infected! I told you I was healthy! Let go of my hand!" The woman screamed as she struggled, trying to get her hands free.
The three men around her were still holding her hand. They tried hard to force her to stand up.
"What happened?" asked Jansen.
"Someone's infected!" Matthew answered Jansen in a panicked tone.
Before Jansen could say anything, Matthew ran straight into the crowd.
Jansen was still stunned where he stood. He remembered that before coming to this future, when he was the CEO of a chemical company, he had handled someone who was infected with a virus.
[Do you remember anything, Jansen?]
The voice echoed.
Jansen froze and looked around, but no one was talking to him. Everyone seemed preoccupied with the worry of seeing someone infected.
[The me speaking is your system. You've already faced something like this, right?]
"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Jansen with a worried look on his face.
A split second later, a blue holographic screen appeared in front of Jansen's face. He gasped in surprise, walking back two steps.
The screen beam displayed some text.
[NEW MISSION ALERT!]
[MISSION: Take control of the infected person!]
[Reward: 250 level points+]
"Do I have to jump into action now?!" Jansen grumbled silently at his system. "How do I..."
Shortly, another text appeared on the system screen.
[If you need help, say 'Help'. Then the system menu will display the help you need]
Jansen bit his lip in hesitation. While thinking about what to do, he watched Matthew and a man hold the infected woman's hands behind her back. While the other two men were confusedly looking for tools to calm the woman down.
"Help!" Jansen said emphatically but quietly.
[MISSION HELP]
[WHAT DO YOU NEED, JANSEN?]
[HOW TO KILL SOMEONE INFECTED]
[HOW TO CONTROL THE INFECTED ONE]
[HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM INFECTED-PERSON]
"I can't possibly escape or kill the infected person," Jansen said, his breathing labored.
"Give me 'How to control the infected one'!" Jansen continued to say.
The system screen changed again. Now, more text filled the screen.
[HOW TO CONTROL THE INFECTED ONE]
[FIRST STEP: USE 'PARASITE VIRUS TYPE DETECTOR' TO DETERMINE WHAT YOU NEED]
"What are you doing, Jansen?!" Matthew exclaimed when he saw Jansen approaching the infected woman. Jansen ignored Matthew's rebuke and stopped in front of the infected woman. With his breath catching, Jansen focused his concentration on the woman. A split second later, Jansen saw a system hologram screen in front of his face. [VIRUS TYPE DETECTION] [NAME: T-ABYSS VIRUS] [DESCRIPTION: A virus that multiplies rapidly in just one hour. It makes the victim aggressive, uncontrollable, has trouble breathing, and becomes extremely strong] [STRENGTHS: In bites and scratches. The T-Abyss virus will cause sensitive fluctuations that make it aggressive every time the victim sees prey. The level of sensitivity to the sound of movement is very high] 'Aggressive agitation every time the victim sees prey?' Jansen thought. "I'M FINE! AARGGHH!" The woman's voice sounded like it had changed to a male baritone. Jansen watched as two other men arrived with ropes. While Matthew and another man
"WELCOME TO THE TRAINING CENTER! ENJOY THE VARIOUS TECHNOLOGICAL FEATURES THAT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER. Jansen was speechless as he entered the lobby of the Training Center building. As he walked with Matthew and nearly 148 other selected individuals, Jansen took in the futuristic design of the building. There was a large LED screen stretching across the gate that separates the lobby from the inner building. To the left were six glass-tube elevators, several flying robots, and a high ceiling that curved slightly inward. In the center of the lobby was a circular reception desk, guarded by giant robots on each of its four sides. What surprised Jansen was that there were four humans standing guard at the reception desk. What were they there for? Several weapons were mounted on the right and left sides of the ceiling area. Jansen was confused as to why these weapons were pointed at the lobby floor where he was. "Matthew, did they deliberately place these weapons near the ceiling?
"Alexander Jansen, the head of the organization would like to see you." Jansen stopped his movements while practicing resistance techniques. The direction of his gaze spontaneously shifted to a guard coming toward him. Jansen turned his gaze to Matthew, who had been training with him. Matthew gave a nod of his head as if to let Jansen go. Although they both looked confused. "What's the need?" asked Jansen, who walked up to the male guard. "You can only know after dealing with Mr. Frank. Come on, follow me." Jansen's brow furrowed even more after the guard man answered. He felt a little irritated because the guard man in front of him was not friendly at all. Unable to resist, Jansen followed the guard. He had been thinking about Frank, who had become the leader of the organization. Even during training, Jansen couldn't fully use his concentration. Part of his focus was on Frank. He remembered that before he almost died in the tunnel that night, Frank had been chasing him to get
"RUARRRGGHHHH!" "STOP!" Frank called out an order and the parasitic half-human monster stopped its attack. The half-human monster's tentacle arms instantly moved backwards after being twisted relentlessly by Jansen.Jansen moved out of the way with his breath catching. Sweat poured from his temples. He stared at the half-human monster that had turned back into a human. 'What kind of monster is that?' Jansen thought as he watched the half-human monster before him. In all the time Jansen had been researching parasitic virus monsters, he had never found a parasitic monster that could control shapeshifting. The first parasitic virus that Jansen discovered turned humans into full-fledged monsters. So how did the parasitic virus develop into this? "You," Frank said, pointing at Jansen in exasperation. "You haven't answered my question." Frank approached Jansen. As Frank moved, the system screen in front of Jansen's face changed appearance. [WARNING! YOUR HEALTH POINTS ARE REDUCED BY
"Ah, shit..."Jansen walked backwards with a dumbfounded expression on his face. His entire body froze watching the figure of a man staring at him intently. The form of the man beside him was human, but Jansen saw that both his hands were covered in sleeves. Jansen already felt an uncomfortable feeling. His mind pictured the half-human parasitic monster in Mr. Frank's room a few hours ago. "No one is allowed to wander around during the late hours of the night. Rules are rules," said the stranger beside Jansen. The stranger's tone implied a small growl. Although his gaze was intense, there was still a calmness to it. "I didn't do anything. I just accidentally saw this room," Jansen replied awkwardly. "Go away. Don't let me forcibly evict you," the man retorted threateningly. Jansen did not move immediately. He held his hands low as he watched the man in front of him from the ground up. At that moment Jansen's curiosity was somehow drawn to the two arms of the man in front of h
"What did I just witness?" muttered Jansen under his breath. Now Jansen leaned one side of his body against the wall. His adrenaline was pumping after witnessing what was inside the giant incubator room of the monsters. In all his years of research on monsters, he had never built an incubator room to confine monsters. So why was the Parasitic Creature Eradication Organization doing that now? [JANSEN, YOU HAVE A MISSION TO COMPLETE!] "Argh!" Jansen growled in annoyance at the sound of his system. Jansen raised his head and looked irritably at the system's blue LED beam in front of his face. "Why are you giving me a mission to the document room again? Who exactly are you? Why did you bring me to this year?" grumbled Jansen who spoke to the system. [Jansen, you must calm your anger. You must complete all the missions to get your questions answered] Jansen let out a harsh sigh as he laughed sarcastically after hearing the system's words. In his opinion, it was not something that d
"Hey, did you know that today is the start of the parasite monster training?" Joseph asked in an enthusiastic tone as soon as he finished getting ready.Jansen had just entered his dorm room while drying his hair with a small towel. He saw Ryann acting like she was about to punch someone. Jansen stopped walking for a moment, looking at Ryann in confusion. "Oh, hello, you!" Joseph greeted Jansen as the smile on his face spread. When Ryann stopped jumping up and down while punching the air, Jansen resumed his steps towards the closet near the bed. "I don't think I saw you last night. Where did you go?" asked Ryann in a friendly tone. While preparing his clothes for today's serious training, Jansen replied, "None of your business." Ryann frowned somewhat surprised at Jansen's answer. During the silence, she exchanged glances with Joseph, asking about Jansen's reaction through facial expressions. "Oh, right. We're not close enough for me to know what you're doing," Ryann replied
"WELCOME TO THE TRAINING CENTER! ENJOY THE VARIOUS TECHNOLOGICAL FEATURES THAT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER. Jansen was speechless as he entered the lobby of the Training Center building. As he walked with Matthew and nearly 148 other selected individuals, Jansen took in the futuristic design of the building. There was a large LED screen stretching across the gate that separates the lobby from the inner building. To the left were six glass-tube elevators, several flying robots, and a high ceiling that curved slightly inward. In the center of the lobby was a circular reception desk, guarded by giant robots on each of its four sides. What surprised Jansen was that there were four humans standing guard at the reception desk. What were they there for? Several weapons were mounted on the right and left sides of the ceiling area. Jansen was confused as to why these weapons were pointed at the lobby floor where he was. "Matthew, did they deliberately place these weapons near the ceiling?
"What did they do to regenerate a monster virus like that?" muttered Jansen. He suspected that the organization was conducting experiments to create new virus regeneration during his disappearance. Jansen instantly regretted that he had run into the tunnel. He should still be in the past, not in a destroyed future like the one he was in now. "Hey, it's weird that I hear monsters, but there are no monsters in Mr. Frank's room?" Matthew asked. Jansen's face turned surprised. Again, he considered the hesitation of saying that a half-human monster parasite was in Frank's room. Even worse, being Frank's personal guard. "You didn't see any monster?" Jansen baited Matthew. Matthew shook his head. "You saw it, Matthew. The two men guarding the right and left sides of Mr. Frank's throne are a new type of parasitic monster," Jansen replied. *** [YOU'VE COMPLETED TWO MISSIONS TODAY!] [NEW MISSION ALERT!] [Come to the secret document room and find out what Frank is hiding]
"Hey! You're nothing if it wasn't for me helping you out! Don't you remember who gave you the money so that you can enjoy all the luxurious facilities?!" Jarco coughed in pain. His face was already haggard, showing the pain he was enduring. Now he really couldn't put up a fight. After saying that, Frank then squatted down to look at Jarco in disgust. Frank noticed Jarco's battered condition from the face down. Jarco's clothes were tattered and messy. "Hey, you also enjoyed everything that resulted from my experiment, asshole. Why are you acting like a hero now, huh?" Frank asked. Jarco already looked pitiable as he realized his own condition. His face seemed to be grimacing as he held back tears. "You were talking about my promise to help you find your family? Don't you know that your family is dead?" asked Frank in an offensive tone. Jarco was immediately wide-eyed with surprise. Slowly, his face changed to show anger and worry. "What did you say?" asked Jarco. "
Suddenly Jansen stepped back and avoided the two outstretched hands of the half-human monster man looking for prey. But at that moment he felt he couldn't hold his breath any longer. While dodging, Jansen spontaneously let out a long breath. So that the half-human monster man looked right at him. "SMELL HUMAN!" Then, right at that moment, the half-human monster man's amputated hand suddenly became extremely long, stretched out and stabbed the wall next to where Jansen was. Jansen's body instantly stiffened at the sight of the tip of the man's hand, which had many sharp thorns and was as thick as ivory, in the shape of a circle stuck in the wall. Jansen imagined if those thorns pierced his body. "WHO DARES TO ENTER THIS SECRET ROOM?!" The man raised his tone. Jansen was still frozen where he stood, gulping his saliva to neutralize his choked throat. Jansen immediately turned his gaze to Richard who was already moving quickly towards the half-human monster man. Richard
[You must carry out the mission given, Jansen] [Any questions that are confusing to you are in a secret document. No one has ever searched the room where the document is located, nor has anyone found it] Jansen frowned. "Are the secret documents Frank kept the ones he stole from me?" [Correct.] "Ah, it turns out that he hid the document," replied Jansen who exhaled a rough breath. Jansen already wanted to open the door to his dorm room. But the door suddenly opened first. Two men who were very unfamiliar to Jansen appeared. They had scrambled into the room while holding tote bags, but then saw Jansen's figure. "Oh, hey," said one of the men with an awkward smile. "I'm your roommate, Joseph." "And I'm Ryann. Hey, pull over, I want to come in and get the top bunk!" said the man named Ryann. Jansen sighed heavily. He was fed up with two strangers acting this silly. "I want to leave the room. It's better if one of you gives in," Jansen shot back at them in exasp
"Do you think you've run far enough, Mr. Jansen?" Jansen stiffened at the sound of that voice. He looked to the side and saw a shadowy silhouette from a few meters away. The dark atmosphere made it impossible for him to see clearly. "Who are you?" asked Jansen, starting to feel wary. The sound of footsteps scraping the asphalt could be heard as the silhouette drew closer to Jansen. "Hey, who are you?" Then came a sardonic laugh. "Too bad it's going to be bad for you, Mr. Jansen. You've tried to be the best CEO you can be," the voice said later. DOR! Right after the words were heard, Jansen groaned as he felt a bullet pierce one of his legs. Jansen fell after a second bullet pierced his leg again. As Jansen felt the bleeding on his leg, he saw someone dressed in black standing nearby. BRAK! Something slammed into Jansen's head causing a dizzy sensation. His vision blurred, making it impossible for him to see who the person standing next to him was. "Say goodbye to your comp
"Jansen, it's impossible for someone to feel what a cloth person feels if they've never experienced it," Matthew replied. "That's right. I did experience it," Jansen said. "What?" "Betrayed trust. Haven't you ever felt that?" asked Jansen. Matthew nodded his head with a mocking laugh. "Of course I have, Jansen. If I hadn't experienced that, I might not have formed the personality I have now," Matthew explained casually. "What have you experienced?" asked Jansen. "Do you remember the monster hunter team I had before going with you to the training base?" Matthew asked, his tone as if preparing to tell a story. Jansen nodded his head. His sitting position automatically changed to face Matthew out of curiosity to hear his friend's story. "One of the team members who suddenly wanted to look great and have better skills than the others, he pushed another team member-my friend-while fighting monsters," Matthew said, starting his story. "We were supposed to hide s
"Why are you so tense, Jansen? After all, I already know you're young, the same age as me. Meanwhile, this organization has been around for 50 years," Richard replied. Seeing Richard laughing made Jansen feel a little relieved. Jansen also laughed so that the atmosphere between them was not as tense as before. "You're right. I also didn't know that the person who started this organization had disappeared," said Jansen. He deliberately lied to strengthen his theatrics. Richard nodded his head while stuffing both hands into his pants pockets. He seemed to think for a moment. "No one knows how the face of the originator of the organization disappeared," Richard replied. "Maybe it's because the organization covered up the case of the missing person. Or..." "Organizations do want their originators to be unknown to anyone. It is possible that the originator of this organization is someone who has created something great, but the organization does not want to acknowledge his me
Jansen tried to expend all his strength to kick the tentacle's hand. Unfortunately, his body was immediately thrown to the side so that he hit the wall of the room. "Argh," Jansen immediately groaned with pain. Jansen's position lay limp. He watched as the half-human monster man walked over. As his steps approached Jansen, his tentacle arms loosened briefly. "I told you about the rules of this place, but you didn't listen," the man said irritably. Jansen coughed and tried to take in oxygen with a tight chest. He forced his body to get up, but he fell back limp. [WARNING! YOU HAVE 400 HEALTH POINTS LEFT!] [MINIMUM HEALTH POINT LIMIT: 100/1,000] "I really hate dissident humans like you. You must be punished-ARRGHH!" When the man suddenly cried out in pain, Jansen immediately gasped in surprise. Jansen was stunned to see that another man had come to stab the half-human monster in the back. Jansen frowned when he saw the man who seemed to be a training member smiling at hi
"Why would you consider? Was what I did to save you not enough?" Richard asked the question in an urgent tone. Jansen immediately jerked his hand slightly to avoid being restrained by Richard. He looked at Richard seriously for the umpteenth time. "You should know, I need you to convince me more about whether you are who the two officers say you are or not," Jansen said firmly. Richard exhaled with a look on his face that was beginning to look unhinged. "What you should be thinking is what evidence can they accuse me of being a murderer?" asked Richard. "You can do anything for it-after all, you're the senior trainee with the highest score, fighting thousands of monsters," Jansen replied. Without waiting for Richard's words, Jansen resumed his steps. Jansen suddenly didn't feel like doing the mission the system had given him. His feelings were already very doubtful if there was Richard beside him. As a result, Jansen now turns his steps in the direction he came from a f