Plague's Biochemical Onslaught
The order came from Father: all executives who could assemble immediately were to gather in the conference room.
After quickly changing into proper attire, I arrived at the conference room to find the executives seated with grave expressions—and Father at the head of the table.
Using the nameplate in front of each seat, I confirmed my spot right next to the consigliere. I sat silently, waiting for the rest to arrive.
Before long, every chair was filled. That's when Father spoke.
"──I assume you've all heard the news, but Calione is under attack right now."
He began with a voice laced with anger.
"Parnello."
"Yes, Don."
"Show them what you've prepared."
At Father's words, Parnello stood, remote in hand, and activated it. Photos appeared on the screen behind Father.
Images of men in suits being wheeled into a facility. The familiar badges on their chests were unmistakable.
"These are photos of personnel isolated and receiving treatment in the mansion's basement. Most started experiencing chills, vomiting, and dizziness from midday today. Soon after, blisters appeared on their skin, and now they're all unconscious. And the bigger problem is…"
Parnello switched to the next photo. A very familiar scene unfolded.
"C District."
One of Calione's districts populated by Asian immigrants. It was also the place I'd patrolled with Alesia in the past.
"Citizens in C District are now showing identical symptoms, one after another. Based on reports from on-site agents, we've fully isolated the entire district."
…They'd already quarantined the district?
"There are currently two organization members maintaining order in C District: Mikhail Alessia and Latte. After reporting that the district needed full quarantine and that they'd check the situation, contact with them has been lost."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Father drummed his fingers on the table as he listened, then scanned the executives.
"Permission to speak for anyone with questions, countermeasures, or solutions regarding this incident."
The consigliere raised his hand first.
"It looks like some kind of disease. Is that why you've quarantined C District?"
Father nodded.
"Yes. We're treating it as a highly contagious pathogen. The isolated members in the basement have stabilized with treatment, but C District is another story. Once the situation settles, we'll bring in priests and doctors to handle treatment."
Father's plan wasn't wrong. Calione donated massive sums to the Catholic Church annually, so if he asked, they'd surely dispatch priests to resolve this.
But it would require enormous funds and a long time.
That's why, as soon as Father finished, I raised my hand.
"…Yes. Eugene. Do you have a question?"
"──Yes. A solution."
"What?"
At my mention of a solution, every eye in the room turned to me.
"A solution? What do you mean by that?"
I stood at Father's question, glanced around, and pointed to the photo of the darkened C District.
"The culprit is undoubtedly Villain Union executive Plague. No one else could cause this phenomenon so visibly in such a short time except through his ability."
"…Plague."
I'd suspected as much, but I hadn't expected it to happen this soon.
I pulled a USB from my cube and handed it to Parnello.
"Please connect it."
"Yes, Young Master."
Parnello loaded my prepared data onto the screen. Plague's face and profile appeared on the projector.
"Villain name: Plague. His ability transfers pathogens and viruses accumulated in his body. This intel on his power came from a personal informant tied to the Villain Union, and its reliability is extremely high."
Of course, it was a lie.
The guy was a sneaky, secretive villain. Few knew his abilities for sure at this point, and even less had been revealed.
But I was one of the few who knew him better than anyone—at least for the time I'd spent playing City of Seoul.
So I was laying out what I knew.
'His secretive nature makes excuses like this effective.'
Since he never exposed himself openly, no one could contradict me.
"The disease he's spreading has a source. Eliminate that, and we can contain and treat it. His ability grows and strengthens over time on its own. Dragging this out… is to our disadvantage."
I looked at Father and continued.
"Before the disease spreads further, we need to deploy Calione's elite forces right now and eliminate Plague."
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Father drummed the table in thought, then looked up.
"You're saying we should send Calione forces into that disease-ridden hellhole?"
"Yes."
I answered firmly, and Father stroked his chin beard.
"One wrong move, and those sent there could get infected and die. Even if capturing Plague solves it as you say, we can't throw them into the fire. No matter the outcome, we can't send members blindly into a place with unknown aftereffects. Better to—"
If I went alone, maybe.
The executives shot to their feet at Father's mutter, staring at him.
"What are you saying, Boss!"
"The Don going himself? That's insane!"
"Send us instead!"
"We absolutely oppose sending the Don!"
Father raised a hand gently, silencing them.
A high-level Awakener like Father could likely wrap himself in aura for immunity to most diseases.
But that wouldn't fly. In this emergency, if the top decision-maker left, bigger problems could erupt.
So—
"I'll go."
I raised my hand casually.
Eyes turned back to me.
"You're going, Eugene?"
"Yes, Don. I'll go."
"Impossible. I just said—I can't send you there."
"I've already prepared countermeasures."
"…What?"
Knock knock.
A knock echoed from outside. Moments later, Han Seojun entered, arms full of boxes, and set them on our table.
"All the items you requested, Young Master."
"Good work. You're dismissed."
"Yes, sir."
As Han Seojun left, I opened a box and pulled out an 'item' to show Father.
"…What's that?"
"A gas mask."
It covered only the lower face. My secret weapon prepared for exactly this scenario.
"You plan to head to C District relying on just a gas mask? You know that if what you say is true, a disease from an ability can't be perfectly blocked by something like that."
Father was right. Ability-born diseases couldn't be fully stopped by ordinary masks or gas masks.
They helped, but not completely—which was why Plague's bioterror was a nightmare for newbies in the game, slicing through rookies.
──But with this, it's different.
"It's made by sanctifying charcoal from white sandalwood, activating it into a filter. With this, you're completely immune to Plague's ability."
This was a recipe I'd discovered while playing the game, crafted specifically against Plague, who appeared almost predictably.
Dubbed the 'Portable Disease Immunity Mask.'
It was the item I'd created in rage after dying to him during all sorts of challenge runs, the one that shot me to fame in the CS community.
Back then, the CS community hailed me as the 'CS Schweitzer' and 'CS Nobel in Medicine.'
The item's effect was proven. I'd wondered if it'd work in reality too, but thankfully it did, just like in the game.
"…When did you prepare something like this?"
Father examined the gas mask, realizing it couldn't be made in a short time.
"When Plague uploaded his declaration of war video, I started preparing then. Sorry for not telling you sooner."
Even I hadn't imagined he'd pull something like this. A biochemical attack on Calione's district, not some other group or area.
Remembering his personality from the game, I'd prepped for weird antics from him—and it saved us. Otherwise, disaster.
"No. If anyone's sorry, it's us for being complacent and dropping our guard."
Father stood, picking up a mask from the box to inspect it.
"So, how many do we have?"
"Time was short, so only 50."
"You have a plan once you're in?"
"No symptoms elsewhere but C District means Plague himself or his disease source is there. I'll prioritize eliminating that."
The isolated basement members had likely been exposed while out hunting Plague with Father.
That pointed to C District as the epicenter.
"…You're really going, huh."
"Yes."
Truthfully, no one was better suited than me.
To save those in C District, I had to go now.
"…Fine."
Was it my earnest resolve he read? Father tossed me the mask and looked at the executives.
"I'm delegating this matter fully to Eugene Han Calione. Any objections?"
"""None."""
"Unanimous. Eugene Han Calione is the overall commander for this operation."
Thud. Father placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Come back safe."
To ease the worry in his eyes, I flashed a smile.
"I'll be back."