31. My Buff is a Drug
31. My Buff is a Drug
May 22, 11:15 PM
Otherworld Waiting Room
"Ha! I thought we might finally face a worthy foe, but they still don't hold a candle to our power!"
"Everyone did well. I think we can make this our regular difficulty. Let's move up to E+ rank from now on."
"Hehe. So we can safely move up to E-rank now. It's my first rank-up since I enrolled here! It's so touching!"
"To celebrate our rank-up, shall we have a home party?"
Tuesday arrived, following Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Hye-yong's party had cleared an E+ rank Otherworld for the first time.
Seeing them grow steadily brought a satisfied smile to his face.
'They feel like party members I raised from scratch.'
Of course, all Hye-yong had done was give them buffs.
In any case, Hye-yong was essentially in the player's seat. Since it felt like enjoying a very realistic game, maybe he could allow himself this much pride.
Bwee-reek!
Just as he was feeling good, his terminal rang.
'Everyone's right here. So the person messaging me must be...'
It was predetermined.
[ Bwitgwitgak : Creator! I've confirmed virus dust particles gathering nearby! Another anomaly might occur somewhere! ]
It wasn't good news.
'Ah, what now?'
[ Choi Hye-yong : It's only been about a week, and it's popping up again? You are holding it off properly, right? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Hing... I can't do anything about the ones scattered as dust... ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Just as I called upon you, Creator, the virus is probably using whatever means it can. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : The virus is trying to slowly devour this world using the data it has consumed. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : In other words, I'm not the only one exploiting the fact that your existence force can interfere with this world. ]
'So basically, Bwitgwitgak and the virus are at war around me.'
[ Choi Hye-yong : Just as you use my existence to harvest the power of perception, that bastard also tries to sneak in near me and wreck the surrounding world first. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : If I can't prevent the world or characters from being destroyed by the virus, I'll take damage too, and it will widen the gap for the virus to influence. ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Either way, the weight on my shoulders... ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Well, whatever. Just a measly virus. I'll just get rid of it, right? ]
Bwitgwitgak : (A blonde female character blushes and sends a heart-thumping emoticon)
[ Bwitgwitgak : I feel like I might fall in love with your forcefulness, Creator. ]
'Ah jeez. You're damn annoying, but I can't hate you.'
It seemed even the 'annoying but attached' kind of affection existed.
[ Bwitgwitgak : The anomaly might not have started yet, or it might already be near you, Creator. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Please look around carefully and check for any anomalies! ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Leave it to me. ]
The conversation ended there.
He had said to leave it to him, but he didn't know where or how to start.
'Last time, I could tell something was definitely off...'
Would Na Hee-yeon, who had experienced an anomaly as well, know?
He looked at her, and perhaps feeling his gaze, Na Hee-yeon smiled at Hye-yong and lightly waved her hand.
'...Guess she doesn't know.'
The anomaly might not have arrived yet.
'Should I take a look around the whole school first?'
There was no choice; today's normal routine was canceled.
"Guys, sorry, something urgent came up. I'll head out first."
"Oh, okay! Bye, Hye-yong!"
After receiving Seo Ha-yoon's farewell, he left the Otherworld Waiting Room.
He also sent a message to Ah-yeong.
[ Choi Hye-yong : Something urgent came up, so I don't think I can do the separate raid today. ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Sorry. ]
'I wonder if I can still go out for exercise with her. She'll ask what happened; what should I say?'
That was a problem to think about later.
Hye-yong decided to walk around the facility diligently.
'The boys' dormitory seemed fine...'
Actually, the students didn't only stay in the dorms.
There was a city surrounding the facility on the island.
In fact, there had been a city originally, but when the facility was carved out of the mountain, everything became a city revolving around the school.
High-ranked students sometimes rented houses in the city for the rest of their graduation period instead of living in the dorms.
He'd heard that some drove cars, and some even had private jets.
They were all adults, so driving a car wasn't a big deal.
'Checking the entire city seemed impossible anyway.'
The anomaly could happen to those students too, but he decided to put that on hold for now.
Even just circling the facility would take a while, it was so vast.
It was impossible for Hye-yong to search all of that by himself.
Where should he look for a clue? There wasn't a buff for finding virus clues, was there?
Bwee-reek!
[ Bwitgwitgak : Creator! ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Oh. You're giving me a buff to find virus clues? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Huh? That's not it... ]
'I got my hopes up for nothing. Then why did you call?'
[ Bwitgwitgak : I'll give you a different buff. Please open the Buff Custom window. ]
Still, if she was giving him something, he had to accept.
Hye-yong opened the Buff Custom window.
[ Bwitgwitgak : Buff name: Virus Suppression. Effect: Can temporarily suppress the virus's spread. ]
Thus the Virus Suppression buff was created.
[ Bwitgwitgak : I squeezed out all my strength and managed to make one. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : It's for when you can't eliminate the virus right away, to prevent it from spreading. It'll even stop the inner world from opening. Just cast it on the host. ]
When you can't eliminate it right away. Indeed, without something like this, he'd have no choice but to sit back and watch everything fall apart while twiddling his thumbs.
[ Choi Hye-yong : I've been curious for a while. The person who receives this won't notice it's on them, right? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Yes. The people here can't even perceive me, so don't worry. ]
Then there shouldn't be a problem.
'Still, she does hand out powers when needed.'
Eliminating this virus would surely bring a reward.
With a mindset of focusing on the reward rather than the hardship, he walked around the facility again.
'Hmm... what kind of students rent houses in the city?'
The first one that came to mind was Nishimoto Kana.
She might be based on an anime character, but she was doing pretty well here too.
She exuded an air of luxury; maybe she rented a house and even had a maid?
'That orange-haired girl also looked really strong. Her glare alone already had me beat...'
Hye-yong decided to think about it for a moment.
That girl he had encountered four days ago.
Now that he thought about it, something was definitely off about her condition.
'Back then I wasn't even thinking about a virus, so I just thought she was really murderous and let it go...'
Honestly, a normal person wouldn't walk around a regular street radiating that much killing intent.
Those emotionless eyes...
Without the killing intent, they looked like eyes he'd seen somewhere.
Na Hee-yeon, when she had collapsed after being pierced by those letters, had had eyes like that.
And that killing intent. He'd thought it might just be an Awakened ability or something mana-related, but that didn't seem normal either.
'I think I found it!'
He was convinced. She was the virus's host.
'That bastard virus. Was it already nearby four days ago?'
If he made a mistake, things could go wrong, so he decided to confirm.
[ Choi Hye-yong : I think I found the virus host, but there's something I'm uncertain about. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Please tell me. ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : She seems like she's been in bad shape since four days ago. But you only sensed it today. Is that right? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : I only sense the virus when they start messing with the power of perception. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : Before that, it could have been parasitizing someone and growing stronger. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : From what I see, it's very plausible. ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Got it. I'll check it out. ]
'Good.'
Now he just had to find that girl. But where could she be?
The only clues were that she had orange hair and appeared to be in the middle division.
'I have no choice but to search even without clues.'
If she was infected, she must have caused a disturbance nearby. Just like Na Hee-yeon had half-lost it and strangled Seo Ha-yoon before letting go.
'Right. If she was acting like that, at least a friend would have asked her what was wrong.'
Hye-yong decided to focus his search around the middle division classrooms.
'So this is the middle division classroom... not much different.'
As Baek Yun-seo had said, the middle and high divisions were just divided by awakening age, nothing more.
There was no need for a different structure, so it just felt like a copy-pasted building.
'Hm... I'd like to just grab anyone and ask.'
Was there anyone around? Someone who looked like they'd answer anything without suspicion, like Seo Ha-yoon.
"Oh? Junior?"
A familiar voice came from behind.
Nishimoto Kana.
Hye-yong wondered why Nishimoto Kana was here, then immediately dismissed the thought.
This was the middle division hallway; of course Kana would be here.
"Ah, senior. Hello."
"Hello, junior. What brings you to the middle division?"
Wasn't this perfect timing? If anyone, Nishimoto Kana might know something.
"I'm looking for a student... a girl with orange hair."
Nishimoto Kana put a finger to her cheek and thought.
"A girl with orange hair..."
"She has really scary eyes. Looks like she could kill you just by glaring."
"Ah."
The moment she heard that, she reacted as if she knew.
"I think you're talking about Geum Na-rin, a second-year middle division student."
Geum Na-rin...
It felt like the lingering shadow of a name buried in darkness.
"Did something bad happen to Geum Na-rin senior recently?"
"I'm not close with her, so I don't know for sure, but I think something must have. If only good things had happened, she wouldn't have made that choice."
Hye-yong flinched.
That choice...?
"Where is Geum Na-rin senior right now?"
"She's in the hospital. I only heard she attempted suicide and was taken there in a coma."
She already attempted suicide! 'What kind of virus does this?' If it drove someone to that point, it was no ordinary foe. He felt a little afraid, but he had to go.
"Thank you, senior."
"Hehe. Buy me something sweet next time."
"Of course!"
Hye-yong decided to head straight to the hospital.
May 22, 1:34 PM
Awakened Hospital
'I managed to barge into the hospital, but...'
Hye-yong knew nothing. Which room Geum Na-rin was in. Whether he could visit. In fact, he didn't even know for sure she was in this hospital.
'It's right next to the facility, so it must be the correct hospital...'
Would a nurse answer him willingly?
Whenever Hye-yong watched movies, comics, or novels, the nurse was always unhelpful in these moments.
Someone might think, 'Stop thinking about fiction and live in reality!' but how many people actually experience something like this in reality? Besides, Hye-yong was in a world built on game motifs.
'Still, I have to ask. There's no other way.'
He bluntly asked the nurse at the front counter.
"Is a student named Geum Na-rin, a second-year middle division, hospitalized here?"
"Yes. Geum Na-rin is hospitalized here."
The nurse answered right away without even checking the patient list, as if she knew for sure. He felt she might actually tell him.
"Could you tell me which room?"
"Hmm... student, could you show me your terminal profile for a moment?"
"Ah, yes."
The terminal also served as the student ID for the facility. He ran the profile app and showed her.
As soon as the nurse confirmed it, she smoothly gave out the information.
"Geum Na-rin is in room 525. Are you here to visit?"
"Yes. She's a senior I was close with, and I came because I was worried."
"She should still be awake, so go up to the fifth floor."
It was that easy! Things seemed to be going better than expected.
Hye-yong realized he had forgotten one thing. This hospital was only used by facility students, so there were no outsiders, and therefore security wasn't that tight.
When someone said they came because they were worried, people just looked on kindly; no one would be suspicious.
"Huff, huff..."
Room 525.
Looking at the door, there was a name and photo attached.
Unlike the murderous glare he'd seen, the photo was of a cute girl who looked a bit clumsy at self-expression.
What on earth? What kind of being had made her like that?
After a few deep breaths, Hye-yong threw open the door.