Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: The Price of a Vaccine
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A member of the Dawn Club burst into Master Rios's office.
Seeing the club member's face drenched in a cold sweat, Rios guessed something unusual had happened and immediately stood up, asking.
“What is it?”
“We’re in trouble. The White Calamity virus has spread throughout the base city.”
As if what he had expected had finally come to pass, Rios calmly began to pack his personal belongings.
“What are our club’s losses?”
“Our club is fine, but the Labyrinth's district is being decimated.”
“Where did the virus originate?”
“That's the strange part. They say it started spreading from the vagrant district.”
“…The vagrant district? Not from the direction of the Chapter bus stop?”
Rios had anticipated the White Calamity would one day spread to the base city and had made preparations.
But those preparations were for a virus crossing over from the Chapters, not from the vagrant district.
To be precise, he had never even imagined the virus would originate from within the base city itself.
“Is this the work of Black Night?”
“We initially thought so too, but seeing them scramble and fail to respond properly, it doesn't seem to be the case.”
“Virus type? Prototype?”
“Yes. It's the prototype.”
“Of course it is. Then Black Night, though panicked, probably won't suffer much damage. They have a vaccine, even if it's only for the prototype.”
“The problem is us. Unlike Black Night, we don't have a vaccine.”
“It can't be helped. It's a bit early, but we have no choice but to relocate everyone to Chapter 7.”
*Tiring.*
Just then, hearing a message notification from someone, Rios checked its contents and let out a dry laugh.
“Heh, we'll have to postpone the relocation for a bit.”
“What? If we delay the move, the damage will only get worse.”
“I know. But a rookie who just joined our club dropped a bombshell. I don't think we can move until we confirm if this bombshell is real or fake.”
“A rookie... dropped a bombshell?”
“Mm, a fellow named Adrian claims he has the vaccine formula.”
“A va-vaccine? Adrian? That’s impossible! From what I know, that rookie is a novice who just entered the world of trials. No matter how high his grade is, there’s no way he has the vaccine formula.”
“Under normal circumstances, yes. But what if he's from Black Night? Would it still be fake then?”
“Of course... if he's from Black Night, it makes sense. It wouldn't be strange for him to have the vaccine formula. But as you know, Master, Black Night isn't an easy place to deal with. So much so that no one gets out of there unless they're a corpse...”
“Right. That's why I need to check for myself. Summon Adrian. I need to speak with him first.”
***
When Rios summoned Adrian to his office, he was left speechless by the man's shabby appearance.
Adrian, who was constantly letting out dry coughs as if he'd spit out sand instead of saliva, had a complexion as wretched as a sick rat's, and his once-red lips had lost their color, turning a deathly blue.
Looking at Adrian's state, like that of a terminally ill patient, Rios shook his head and spoke.
“There's no point in talking. It's obvious your claim about having the vaccine formula is nonsense. How could a man who can't even take care of his own body possibly have obtained the formula for the White Calamity vaccine?”
At Rios's remark, which was clearly meant for him to hear, Adrian let out a cough tinged with a faint smile.
He knew Rios was deliberately trying to test him.
He looked at Rios with his odd eyes—one red, one black—and spoke.
“My condition for handing over the vaccine formula is simple... *Cough,* one of your club members. Ha-yun... you are to hand her over to me.”
Adrian's formal manner of address was one thing, but to demand he hand over a club member out of the blue?
Rios clicked his tongue softly at Adrian's insolent attitude.
“Demanding another club member? You must be out of your mind. It's not even confirmed that you have the vaccine formula in the first...”
Before Rios could finish, Adrian pulled a syringe from his coat.
“*Cough,* what if this is the vaccine?”
“…That's the vaccine?”
“It is.”
“Proof?”
“You'll know once you use it. Is proof really necessary?”
Every time he finished speaking, Adrian let out a dry cough, and the palm he used to cover his mouth was now dotted with droplets of blood.
Seeing his condition, which suggested he should be more concerned with his own health than with Ha-yun, Rios asked.
“Forget Ha-yun, shouldn't you be worried about yourself first?”
“I am happy.”
Rios scoffed at his sudden, out-of-place remark.
“What's that all of a sudden?”
“*Cough,* because I've finally experienced what you've always taken for granted. I'd rather live a single day in a world of color than an eternity in a colorless one.”
“…Did you eat something bad? What is this nonsense all of a sudden? Are you on drugs for the pain?”
“Use the vaccine. If it's confirmed to be real, bring Ha-yun to me. And broadcast this message to the entire base city.”
With a smile twisted with malice, Adrian continued.
“I have Ha-yun. So come to where I am. If you don't, she dies.”
“…Do you have an enemy?”
“Less of an enemy, more of a result. Or perhaps, an ending.”
Rios tilted his head.
No matter how he looked at it, this man was not normal.
But why?
The more they spoke, the more a creeping sense of unease rose within him.
It was as if he were facing something that should not exist in this world.
“Fine. If this is indeed the vaccine, spreading a message like that across the city is no trouble at all. However, I cannot allow Ha-yun to be killed.”
“*Cough,* what if I told you I can't hand over the vaccine formula unless she dies? Would you still... *cough,* not kill her?”
“You're stating the obvious.”
The club member who had been listening to their conversation in silence couldn't understand Rios.
This was Rios, a man willing to destroy the world to prevent the Red Butterfly from falling into someone's hands.
And yet, he was turning down the chance to obtain the vaccine formula just by handing over a single club member?
The club member felt his breath catch in his throat at Rios's blatant contradiction.
It was because he felt this contradictory frustration was the very identity of Dawn, the organization he belonged to.
*‘Perhaps we were devoured by the monster called conviction long ago...’*
Adrian's dreary voice broke through the club member's thoughts.
“That offer. I accept. So, as soon as you confirm it's the vaccine, spread the rumor immediately. I don't have much time left. Before that... I must... *cough,* meet him.”
Rios suddenly got the feeling that Adrian was even enjoying his own suffering.
Was that why?
He naturally grew curious about who this person Adrian was so desperate to meet was, but he didn't ask.
He had a feeling Adrian wouldn't answer even if he did.
Instead, he asked something else.
“What got you? Poison? Or a disease?”
“*Cough,* it's neither... If I had to say... well, you could call it the price for injecting an incomplete vaccine.”
An incomplete vaccine?
*Don't tell me, does he mean he used himself as a test subject to create the vaccine formula?*
Rios wanted to ask more, but Adrian, sensing the conversation was about to drag on, stopped him.
“I believe I told you. I don't have time.”
Rios smacked his lips at Adrian's sharp attitude.
“…Fine. Let's confirm the vaccine's authenticity first, and then we'll talk.”
***
In the shop on the second floor of the Testament, Lee Si-woo, who was looking through a catalog, asked Kinis.
“Why is the virus 5,000 points, but the vaccine is 10,000?”
“The Dev set the price, so I do not know the reason.”
The Dev.
At the word used to refer to the Progenitor Demon, Lee Si-woo frowned.
Just as he'd suspected, the demon had set the prices himself.
*‘He wanted to test me. He wanted to know how I've changed after the soul fusion, what my tendencies are.’*
According to the special research journal, the Progenitor Demon was something of a sociopath.
That must be why he could perform such absurd human experiments, genetic manipulation, and soul fusions.
He was, after all, someone who couldn't empathize with others and was indifferent to their misfortune and suffering.
*‘The prices for other useful weapons and suits were absurdly high, while the virus was only 5,000 points. Right, given the structure of the Chapters, it was an amount I was bound to earn one way or another, no matter how frugal I was.’*
And in that situation, the shop opened.
Lee Si-woo had been given a choice.
A choice that would let him earn a massive amount of points easily.
*‘Killing is easy, saving is hard. From an efficiency standpoint, there was no need to save anyone. And yet, the vaccine clearly exists in the catalog. It's as if it's saying, if you're willing to save them even at a loss, go ahead and try.’*
He felt like Sun Wukong in the palm of the Buddha's hand, and he naturally came to understand the Progenitor Demon's intention in creating this world.
The bastard wanted to know.
How his future self, the one who underwent the soul fusion, had changed, and what choices he would make.
“Kinis. What's the situation outside?”
“With the virus spreading unchecked, the city's situation is worsening by the minute. By my estimation, if the virus continues to spread at this rate... the city will completely collapse in a week at most.”
“How many points have I accumulated?”
“Over fifty million points.”
“If I buy vaccines with that....”
“You could save five thousand people.”
“And the city's population?”
“Over thirty thousand.”
Even if he poured in all the points he had earned, saving the entire city was impossible.
Lee Si-woo suddenly let out a snort.
In truth, it was a laughable situation.
The nerve of him, spreading a virus in the city to earn points, only to now be contemplating how many vaccines to buy.
But Lee Si-woo didn't hate this part of himself.
No, after reading the research journal, he had actually grown to like this aspect of himself even more.
It was because he felt that the Si-woo who had become a part of him was alive and breathing.
“I'll use only ten million points to buy vaccines.”
“Purchase one thousand vaccines. Shall I proceed?”
“Yes. Please do.”
Kill thirty thousand, save one thousand.
A truly despicable choice.
But Lee Si-woo didn't care.
He knew this was all the Progenitor Demon's staging, his intention.
*‘It's not my fault. If it weren't for the Progenitor Demon in the first place, I would have had no reason or need to make such a choice.’*
Lee Si-woo scoffed at the self-loathing that subtly reared its head, following his shabby self-justification and blame-shifting.
*‘To survive, I'll do anything. Yes, just as I always have...’*
Just then, Kinis spoke.
“Sir Si-woo. A broadcast is being made in the base city.”
“A broadcast? What kind of broadcast?”
“It's a broadcast repeating a message that someone has Ha-yun and will kill her if you do not come to the Dawn clubhouse.”
At Kinis's words, Lee Si-woo's expression crumbled.
He was a selfish man, capable of willingly killing thirty thousand people for his own goals and gains.
But even for him, there were exceptions where the logic of numbers became meaningless.
“Who's running that broadcast? Dawn?”
“No. It is a man named Adrian. Do you know him?”
Lee Si-woo realized this broadcast was a trap aimed at him.
And a trap he couldn't help but fall into, one he couldn't escape.
“Send a message to Dawn. Tell them to provide proof that Ha-yun is in their hands.”
“And if the proof is confirmed?”
Lee Si-woo opened his mouth with a deep sigh.
“In case the proof is confirmed, find the location of the Dawn clubhouse as well. As soon as the facts are verified... I will head there.”