Infected - Chapter 3



Only Noblemtl

Episode 2

“Are you watching the news now?”

The class president grumbled, sighing softly while keeping his eyes fixed on his notebook.

But Finance didn’t take his eyes off the TV as if he wasn’t listening.

[The hospital reported that after providing basic treatment, they sent everyone back to the airport except for a few domestic patients who wanted to be admitted. The problem is the Swiss man who attacked the passengers. After confirming his identity, he was revealed to be a high-ranking WHO employee. The police said that during the suppression process, riot police officers were injured, and as a result, the police special forces that arrived later had no choice but to use live ammunition.]

[I had no choice but to use live ammunition. What should I interpret this to mean?]

The reporter continued to answer the anchor’s questions calmly.

[As a result of the on-scene investigation and the passengers’ statements, the deceased foreign male is said to have killed two people on the plane. It may be a bit hard to believe, but it was revealed that he committed the crime in a bizarre manner, such as biting their necks with his teeth. Even after being dragged out of the plane, the man continued to attack the riot police, and several of them were injured in the process.]

[It seems like a story that is really hard to believe even after hearing it. I heard there is a protest taking place in front of the police station in relation to this?]

[Yes. The protest that started this morning has now ended as the sun has set. A total of three human rights groups participated in today’s protest. They raised their voices against the police’s excessive suppression and announced that they will continue the protest over the weekend. There is also a heated debate online. There are opinions that say, “It was an appropriate response,” and that “It was excessive suppression.” In addition, there are quite a few imaginative comments, such as, “Are they zombies?”]

[I see. Based on the circumstances revealed so far, it seems like anyone would have thought that at least once. I hope that the truth of the incident is clearly revealed through a speedy investigation. It’s a sensitive issue that could easily develop into a diplomatic issue… … .]

Along with the squad leader who put down the notebook he was reading, most of the members of the violent crimes unit were watching the news.

“This is fucking shit, this is fucking shit. Now he’s biting people to death.”

But Finance just tilted his head and didn’t say anything.

“It’s strange… … .”

“what?”

“No, how many people are there in the Mobile Task Force? Why did they come all the way here and use live ammunition because they couldn’t catch even one person? They’re people who can kill a cow with their bare hands.”

“Air accidents are sensitive. Look at the US. If something is strange on the plane, they shoot you down right away. You can’t even breathe, man.”

“America is like that because of terrorism… Oh, I don’t know. They’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, this isn’t the time for you to worry about others. Just tie those bastards up and upload them. Do it neatly so there’s no trouble. The chief is really angry.”

“Yes, yes. Don’t worry.”

“Kid, what’s the answer? Where are you going now?”

The class president asked Jaejae, who was standing up from his seat.

“I’m going to the laundry. I have to come get my clothes before I can do any work or not.”

“You delivered it. Why didn’t it come today?”

“I think my aunt isn’t feeling well these days.”

Jae-jae answered indifferently and left the violent crimes unit.

The laundromat in the alley across the street from the police station was a place that detectives had been using for a long time.

This was because I couldn’t get home on time and change my clothes due to frequent overnight stays and sleepovers that occurred as often as eating.

The owner of a laundry shop who delivered washed clothes without fail on the appointed day of the week all year round.

When Jaejae heard that she was sick, he thought of showing his face.

Jae-jae parked his car in front of a convenience store and bought a box of drinks as a simple gift for visiting the sick. He then walked down a dark alley.

Whenever I follow this path, Finance always thinks back to when I first started my career as a detective.

At that time, Jae-Jae was full of a sense of justice and had a passion to change the world with his own hands.

Even after a hard night of investigation and writing a report, no matter how tired I was, as soon as the sun rose in the morning, I would walk down this road to find my seniors’ clothes.

Back then, laundromats didn’t deliver like they do now, so it was always the youngest children’s job to go pick up their washed clothes.

Suddenly, the past events that had made me walk this path with such exhaustion flashed through my mind, and I let out a long sigh.

repeat.

Repetition has always been the problem.

A crime that can never be eradicated no matter how many criminals are arrested.

What on earth are you working for?

The inability to answer that question myself was the decisive moment that shook up the finances I had been so passionate about.

At first, I believed that if I started fixing small things on my own, many things would gradually change.

But, whether the world was not so easy or I was weaker than I thought, nothing changed.

As time goes by, we come to realize more and more of the dark sides of the world.

In a world overflowing with all kinds of filth, it was not as easy as it sounds to stand firm in one’s own righteousness.

Many temptations and touches that are becoming increasingly difficult to resist.

Do people know?

As we move dangerously along the border between two worlds, we cannot help but wonder not which side is right, but which side is more comfortable.

Just as I was starting to get a headache from all the excessive thinking, a brightly lit sign for a laundromat illuminated the alley.

“I clearly said I was sick and taking a break… … .”

Finance muttered with a puzzled expression.

The interior of the laundry revealed beneath a brightly lit sign.

But there was no one inside.

“aunt?”

Jaejae, who was slowly opening the door and entering, stopped.

As expected, the laundry shop owner was lying on the floor with his face ashen.

At that time, the memory of taking medicine for a heart condition flashed through my mind.

Finance hesitated as he was about to call 119.

Because the emergency room at a nearby university hospital came to mind.

‘Yeah, just one person.’

Jae-Jae was running with heavy tires lined up on his back.

Besides, didn’t he believe that he was the best in terms of strength and size among all the detectives in Seoul?

Jae-Jeong, who was carrying the laundry shop owner on his back, ran like crazy towards the university hospital emergency room.

* * *

The medical staff, surprised by the sight of Jae-jae coming in sweating profusely while carrying a person on his back, asked the patient.

“Where are you uncomfortable?”

“He runs a laundry shop in the neighborhood, and when I went to look for clothes, he was lying on the ground. I don’t know why he was like that.”

Jaejae, who was wiping away the sweat, shook his head.

“Have you had any underlying health conditions? What medications are you taking?”

“I only know that he has a heart condition and takes medicine for it. I don’t know the exact diagnosis… … .”

“Is there anyone in the patient’s family that can be contacted?”

“I don’t know about that, but try contacting me with this.”

Jae-jae handed the nurse the smartphone he had picked up from the laundry shop.

While the nurse was looking through the address book on her smartphone, the medical staff continued to provide emergency treatment.

“Are you okay?”

“We will have to wait and see, but with the medication, the blood pressure that had dropped is rising again and the oxygen saturation is returning to normal.”

“Haa… That’s a relief.”

Jae-jae, who was sighing in relief, was called to the emergency room by the security guard and had to write down some basic personal information and wear an access card around his neck.

Only then did Jae-jae, who was catching his breath, realize that the emergency room was more noisy than usual.

As I looked around to find the cause, I saw the administrative staff and the on-duty doctor raising their voices at each other in one corner.

“What kind of transfer are you doing at this hour? It’s not an emergency, and why is a patient who was hospitalized in Incheon coming here? And why are you processing this? Who gave permission?”

“Teacher, that’s not it… … .”

“What do you mean, no? Call me right now and tell me to go through the normal admission process tomorrow.”

“No, they’re VIP customers. They’re the chairman’s family. You know, if you do this, I’ll be the only one killed.”

The story was that even though it wasn’t an emergency patient, they were going to transfer to the hospital via the emergency room at dawn.

After that, I sat blankly in the guardian waiting room while listening to various stories.

After a while, several people came in with hurried steps through the automatic doors.

A familiar face walked in behind the person carrying the slumped patient.

It looks quite familiar.

Jaejae, whose eyes were gradually narrowing, opened his mouth as if sighing.

“…Lee Beom-sik.”

The man called Beomsik also stood there dumbfounded after seeing the finances.

Neat appearance.

Other than the expression that the overall feeling was clean, no other words came to Jaejae’s mind.

Hair that is swept straight and neatly organized.

Long legs and a small face reminiscent of a model.

There are also thick eyebrows and large eyes.

At first glance, it reminded me of a certain celebrity.

It was a completely different story from Jae-jae, who had a large body and bulging muscles.

It would have been better if Beomsik had been a movie actor and Jaejae had been his bodyguard.

Beomsik sat in the chair across from Jaegye.

As Beomsik stared at him intently, Jaejae leaned back and frowned.

The look in their eyes was so murderous that it was obvious there was something going on between them.

Lee Beom-sik.

Beomsik was a member of an organized crime group.

But he wasn’t the type of person you see everywhere.

He was the main culprit who cleaned up Seoul, which had been divided as previous generations of gangsters died or retired, in just six months.

Not content with simply placing his boss on the new throne, Beomsik uprooted every single organization in the Gyeonggi area without missing a single one.

It was like a raging typhoon.

His specialty is fighting.

I didn’t care if my opponent was wielding a knife or a bat.

The story of how he single-handedly destroyed a small organization of about fifteen members was already an old story.

Among the gangsters, except for the boss, Beom-sik was called ‘President’.

But even he faced a crisis.

It was my first encounter with finance.

Three years ago, when Beomsik’s organization, which had conquered the surrounding area, was taking root in Seoul.

There was an incident where Jae-Jae arrested Beom-Sik after receiving CCTV footage from the owner of an entertainment establishment he usually stayed at.

Numerous detectives were keeping a close eye on Beomsik’s organization, waiting for their opportunity.

However, they were unable to do anything because there was no proper evidence or justification for arresting him.

The video that fell into Jae-yi’s hands was literally perfect evidence.

Jae-jae, who appeared with the riot police, stood alone guarding the escape route through which Beom-sik could escape.

Inside, detectives were conducting a sort of roundup, arresting members of the organization as they came across them.

As expected, Beomsik escaped through the back door of the nightclub and that’s where he first met Jaejae.

In a dead end with nowhere to run or escape, Beomsik swung his fist at Jaejae without hesitation.

The results were disastrous.

Beomsik, who had never experienced defeat even once, was defeated with just one blow.

It was exactly one room.

Then he was beaten to death until he passed out.

Of course, finances were helpless until that one room was filled.

Unlike Jae-gye, who had precise and powerful attacks, Beom-sik’s fighting was elegant and complex to the point that it could be called a dance.

Because continuous attacks and dodges were essential to prevent anyone from predicting which direction the legs would fly from.

But it was finances that kept their feet on the ground until the end.

He avoided countless kicks and punches, but he waited for the right moment to attack.

But Finance could not enjoy the joy of victory.

In court, Beomsik won.

Thanks to the organization’s prior arrangements, the court judged Beom-sik to be merely a leader of the group and sentenced him to only five years in prison.

Three years passed like that.

Beom-sik, who was released from prison almost halfway through his term, is sitting in front of Jae-ui.

Beomsik laughed bitterly.

If given the chance, they would devour the finances at any moment.

“You came out so quickly? I heard you washed the rags so well. Are you here as an example? Or as a special envoy?”

“Let’s not keep talking.”

“The kid is so shameless… His older brother asked him.”

Beomsik snorted and turned his gaze to the wall-mounted TV.

Finance also naturally followed Beomsik’s gaze and turned to the TV.

[This is breaking news. The Japanese government is currently preparing a speech to the world. It is said that it would be more appropriate to view it as a kind of relief speech. Our station will provide a live interpretation of the Japanese Prime Minister’s speech. Oh, and it has just begun.]

The image changed as the anchor’s eyes, moving anxiously, lowered to the manuscript.

In the video, the Japanese Prime Minister was seen entering the podium with hurried steps, holding a small piece of paper.

The Prime Minister’s words and the Korean interpreter’s voice came out simultaneously.

[This is the Japanese Prime Minister. In mid-June, the Japanese government first confirmed the outbreak of an unknown disease in Fukushima Prefecture. At the time, it was judged that Japan could solve it on its own, so it sealed off the prefecture, transferred patients with the disease, and began research. However, it was not able to stop the spread of the virus, and simultaneous infections occurred in major cities including Tokyo.]

The Prime Minister seemed to swallow dry saliva for a moment.

It didn’t seem like a serious problem when my voice started to shake and my pronunciation became increasingly slurred.

Everyone outside the emergency room, including Beomsik, was listening to the broadcast.

The Prime Minister continued speaking, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

[I’ll tell you about the virus that doesn’t even have a proper name. As some scholars feared, the radioactivity that seeped into the soil mixed with the groundwater, and a mutated rabies virus broke out in the animals that drank it. After that, the animals returned to Fukushima and attacked and infected some of the residents there, and the virus that jumped species evolved further and began to spread rapidly using the human brain as a host.]

Then, suddenly, a man in a suit quickly ran up to the stage and handed me a manuscript.

[Ah, ah, how could this be… … .]

As the Prime Minister stumbled, letting out a sigh that was almost a groan, camera flashes went off one after another.

After a series of heavy breathing, he finally wiped his face and began reading the manuscript.

[It is said that large cities in the central region are collapsing one after another. Major national facilities, including government agencies and public facilities, are becoming useless, and countless deaths are occurring. It is a miserable situation… I don’t know how long this broadcast will last, but we will quickly brief you on what we have learned about the virus. Please… We ask for close cooperation and rescue from each country. It’s the military. Please send troops!]

The Prime Minister, who had been bowing down to ask for help, stood up again and continued speaking with a pale face.

[Infected people develop a fever, muscle pain, and loss of consciousness before dying. They then immediately revive and attack all living things. The incubation period, initially estimated at 48 hours, has now been shortened to between 1 and 3 minutes as the human body adapts perfectly to the infection. And it is getting shorter and shorter.]

The Prime Minister’s speech became faster and faster.

[The infected ones mainly attack indiscriminately using their teeth and fingers. It is certain that they have lost their sense of reason. Perhaps because of this, they cannot feel pain, and they display strength and speed that are difficult for the human body to achieve. Although not all cases have been identified yet, it is certain that they become infected when they absorb the blood or body fluids of an infected individual. It is said that the farther away the bite is from the brain, the longer it takes for them to become infected.]

The Prime Minister, who had been reading the data intently without even taking a breath, raised his gaze and looked straight ahead.

[I don’t know how long Tokyo can hold out. Most of the Self-Defense Forces have been annihilated. The only way to kill the infected is to attack the head, the head… ]

Before the Prime Minister could finish speaking, a scream was suddenly heard and the broadcast was interrupted.

In the studio of a domestic broadcasting station that he had returned to, the anchor was blinking, unable to continue speaking.

And it was the same for people in the hospital.

Infected people