7. New Mission: Find Secret Room

"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 150 POINTS!] 

[REMAINING HEALTH POINTS: 550] 

Jansen adjusted his breathing while balancing his body. He still felt claustrophobic from the lack of oxygen as he was strangled by the parasitic half-human monster. 

[SYSTEM RECOVERING!] 

[20%]

[47%] 

[66%]

[80%]

[99%] 

[SUCCESS! WOUND RECOVERY IN PROGRESS...]

Frank was astonished to see the thick bruise on Jansen's neck fading rapidly. 

"Why is the wound on your neck healing?" Frank asked with astonishment. 

Jansen was holding his own neck. He didn't even notice that the wounds from the half-human monster's hands were fading. He only felt the sensation of suffocation and tightness diminishing rapidly. 

"This..."

Before Jansen could answer Frank, he heard the sound of the room door opening. Jansen turned his gaze and saw three guard-humans running in a hurry because they looked panicked.

Meanwhile, Matthew followed behind the three guard-humans.  

"Jansen! Are you okay?" Matthew asked with a bit of a shout. 

Jansen was still dumbfounded where he stood. He really didn't know what to say. The events he had seen since a few minutes ago left him still wondering.  

"Jansen! What's going on-"

"Let's get out of this room, Matthew," Jansen immediately cut Matthew off. 

Matthew didn't have time to object.  

Matthew's hand was suddenly pulled by Jansen to step quickly out of the room. 

Jansen didn't care about Frank's call at all. He just wanted to get away to calm himself down. What happened today was not at all unexpected. 

"Jansen, tell me. What happened?" Matthew asked when they both arrived in the hallway.  

Jansen was still trying to calm himself down so he could think clearly. His gaze shifted to Matthew, watching very intensely. 

"Why did you come, Matthew?" asked Jansen.  

"There was a monster moaning from inside that room. People from fifty meters away could hear it. Since I knew you were taken to Mr. Frank's room, I was worried something would happen to you and Mr. Frank." 

For a split second, Jansen didn't move. During that time, he was secretly considering whether or not to ask about the strange half-human monster. 

"Something must have happened. Aren't you going to tell me?" Matthew asked. 

"You know... have you ever seen the kind of monster that can control shape-shifting?" Finally, Jansen couldn't help himself.

Matthew furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?" 

"A parasitic monster that can transform into a human, then turn into a monster. It can control when it changes, and it even looks like an ordinary human," Jansen explained.  

Matthew looked at Jansen with confused and strange eyes. 

"I've never met a monster like that. Why are you asking?" 

Jansen's rough breathing sounded exasperated. He had already guessed that the type of monster he saw as Frank's guard-personal was not the usual type. 

"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] 

[TIME REMAINS: 36 Hours] 

"What else am I supposed to do?" complained Jansen in exasperation. 

Jansen was now in the dorm room. According to the division of The Loser People and The Chosen One, he had to be separated from Matthew. 

After the mission appeared, Jansen lazily got out of bed. He had just intended to rest but something bothered him. 

"Why are you giving me a mission when I want to sleep?" Jansen grumbled in annoyance. 

[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 exasperation. 

Ryann finally sighed in annoyance and backed away, making room for Joseph to enter. 

"Thanks, bro, I'm so glad-"

Jansen ignored Joseph's words and continued on his way. He stepped out of the room past Ryann who was frozen where she stood. 

Then when he had not yet stepped away, Jansen heard a glimpse of their conversation. 

"Isn't that Alexander Jansen who lost a fight with a monster in the fighting test ring?" 

"He's also rumored to have strange powers! I heard that Mr. Frank saw his wounds heal in seconds without medicine!"

Jansen shook his head, thinking that the two men were human freaks. 

Jansen's steps were already at an intersection. He paused to check the system's holographic screen. 

"Hello, system. Can you navigate me to the secret room? Or at least give me directions on how to navigate around," Jansen said in exasperation. 

[REQUEST ACCEPTED!] 

[ACTIVATE NAVIGATION FEATURE...]

[DONE! THESE ARE THE PLACES WITHIN A TWO HUNDRED METER RADIUS OF YOU] 

[WEST INTERSECTION: TOWARDS THE WAREHOUSE, THE LOSER PEOPLE'S DORM BATHROOM, THE DIRTY KITCHEN] 

[EAST INTERSECTION: TOWARDS THE COMMON CAFETERIA, TRAINING CENTER SIDE GARDEN, SWORD ROOM] 

[NORTH DIRECTION: TOWARDS THE LOBBY, THE FIGHT TEST ROOM, AND THE UNREACHABLE AREA] 

Jansen's gaze stopped at the caption 'Unreachable Territory'. He frowned and felt something was off. 

"It's rare for anyone to visit the secret room, so that means it's not a frequently visited area," Jansen muttered. 

Jansen continued his steps towards the North. During his journey, he tried not to make the sound of tapping footsteps while looking around. 

Until finally Jansen arrived at the hallway of the rarely visited area. He looked around for a moment. After making sure there was no one around, he immediately moved to read the nameplate of each room. 

Among the six rooms, Jansen was interested in the name of the room: The Book Room. 

If this was indeed a library-like room, why wasn't it reserved for the public? Why was it in an area that was rarely visited? 

Jansen noticed that the door to the room used a password, face ID security, and also fingerprints. 

"If it's just a book room, why is the security stricter than other rooms?" Jansen asked with a chuckle. 

Just as Jansen was about to focus his concentration on using the system, he heard a sound. Jansen's goosebumps instantly bristled. 

"Rrrghhh..."