Chapter 182: Wizard of Wizards (2)

Chapter 182: Wizard of Wizards (2)

****

When does a man really feel that he's completely screwed?

Is it when my name grinds my teeth, stranded alone in the heart of enemy territory?

Or when I wake up to a doctor in a white gown informing me, "Your condition is quite poor"?

No.

The answer is "when something goes wrong with me and the friends beside me can't even laugh about it."

Think about it. Those who would always come running over the moment something happened shouting, "Lololol idiot lololol," now come over with serious faces saying, "It's okay. Everything will be alright. Hang in there." At that moment, even the carefree fool who always said, "It's okay, I won't die," starts to wonder, "Am I going to die?"

It's going to take some time before I can adjust to playing the game in my current state, according to those who have been in this strange waiting room before.

First, the administrative researcher who's always by my side managing my body.

"It's an honor to serve you, Professor Park! My name is Cheisha, and I've been appointed as your physician!"

"Ah, yes, well."

"First, I'll explain the condition of your physical body, which you're most concerned about Are you mentally prepared?"

Mentally what?

"Do I need to be mentally prepared?"

"Quite?"

Don't say it with such a happy expression, woman.

The screen that the physician showed me looked like it could drive anyone insane.

In my memory, my body had a deformed arm attached to a normal-looking man, muttering about how the lid of the connection device wouldn't close because of his left hand, but this was.

"Do the data something department handle mutant corpses too?"

"That's you."

.

.

.

.

.

"What?"

"That, Professor Park, is your body."

Damn. Should have listened to the doctor.

"Couldn't you have prepared at least a tranquilizer for me?"

"This is the waiting room for the connector. That's why I told you. You need to be mentally prepared."

My hands were trembling from the shock.

"Is that thing even alive?"

"It's not that thing'; it's your body. You can see inside, right? The heart is beating strong."

"That's because it's visible to the naked eye without any special equipment."

Nowhere in the appearance of that,' which she called my body, was there any trace of my form.

Various mechanical devices were stuck all over the black arms and legs.

The abdomen, wide open, showed signs of ribs melted at the ends as if exposed to intense heat, and the somewhat intact intestines were chaotically mixed within.

"Surprisingly, 99.9% of the genetic traits are identical to those of humans, including the internal organs and cellular tissues. It seems that the transformation occurred while you were alive, affecting non-vital parts like skin, bones, and nails primarily, and then the activity of the box' halted the changes at a certain point."

"So, only the outer parts have transformed, but the core is still human?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"But what about the bone shell on top of the intestines?"

"The ribs have grown about ten more to cover it. There's a similar rare disease in humans."

"And there's an extra heart?"

"If you wake up and play soccer, you'll probably be very good."

Crunch!

Hold it in. This person is a doctor. She doesn't look sane at all, and if I beat her up here, she might just cut off one or two of my fingers and say, It was like this originally. Do you know more about mutants than me? How many degrees do you have?'

What somewhat calmed me down was the progression graph of the mutant virus that this woman showed along with the video of my body.

"This is quite innovative. The virus levels are decreasing, albeit very slightly but its a significant physical reduction. The body tissue is gradually recovering, too. The black parts are regenerating much faster."

"Does that mean I could return to my original state from this appearance?"

"Um yes! The virus is steadily decreasing and recovery is ongoing."

"Waaaaah! Heeeey!!! Fuck, youre not dead, right? This isn't some kind of virtual PTSD treatment program, is it? You're my brother, right? Professor bro! Hahaha heeey!!!"

He started sobbing grotesquely right from the start.

Thwack!

"Ah, you crazy fool! Have you lost your mind? Whos your brother! I dont have a brother like you!"

"Sob! But, but you told me to call you brother back then"

"When did I ever!"

"Ah."

Ezel then broke down completely, collapsing to the floor and wailing. Seeing his breakdown, I realized my mistakeblaming himself for being slow and incompetent, leading to my condition. As he banged his head on the floor loud enough to be heard across a construction site, I decided it was best to intervene. It wasn't difficult; a sharp "Cut it out, you maniac!" got him to sit up straight in front of me, kneeling in formal posture. His obedience was almost more frightening. What on earth had happened two months ago?

"What happened to your face?"

"Uh Sob! This? It's nothing. That bitch burned my face."

What on earth had happened to melt away the playful, mischievous face of my friend into such a gruesome state? As he hit his head on the floor, the loosened bandage slipped, revealing a face terribly distorted by severe burns.

"It's really nothing. There's good medication at the administration, and they say continuous treatment should do the trick."

"Hey, how can you say it's nothing, man! To have burns that melt your skin"

"Should we compare it to your current condition?"

"Ah."

Right. I was injured almost to the point of death. From his perspective, it wouldn't make sense to call his injuries significant. The person in front of him was almost like a corpse.

Anyway, after calming and consoling Ezel a bit, he mentioned that he had formally joined BDSM after leaving Dome.

"Who decided that? I don't like it."

"Ah, why!"

"Look, if you had stayed in Dome, we could have called you whenever we needed an exosuit 1 + 1, joining our homebound slug. Would that have been better? Go back! Go hang on to the President's coattails!"

"Kuh, this harsh and biting feeling it's definitely you! I missed this!"

"What, what madness"

It turns out, two months ago, he had gone through various events that significantly changed his perspective.

"Just my concept of justice changed. You know, eventually, a world will come where a child on the street, when asked how to take cover from enemy artillery, wont have to ask Whats that? A world where you can ask a lone child where their parents are without automatically assuming they are dead. It would be good to live according to the old justice when such days come."

""

"But that's not the case now, right? These days, kids learn the Mozambique drill sooner than multiplication, and instead of toys, they receive knives as gifts. As adults who created this era, we do have some duty to bear a cold, damp justice."

"You Huh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Change of beliefs and the current situation in Dome. He said hundreds of refugees flood in daily. In matters of survival, people become selfish and ruthless. There would have been divisions within Dome too, and given the restrictions on the Investigation Bureau's movements, he wanted to maintain his sense of justice outside the group

"Refugee? What's that? No way. If there's any dissident, President Young would send them straight to the Underdome Human Development Program. Ian and I drove a tank into the Investigation Bureau's quarters and got kicked out. They asked me to choose between opposing Dome or BDSM, but I couldn't answer. That's when I made my decision."

Damn, I was a fool to ask.

During the remaining time we had (Ezel mentioned there was a set visiting duration per person), we just chatted idly until I was about to kick him out when one last question popped into my mind.

"Hey. Why hasn't Vex come?"

"Hic!"

At that, Ezel jumped as if scorched by fire.

Could it be?'

"Uh, um, Vex ahahaha, that, um"

No way. Could it be possible? Could it?'

"Is Vex dead?"

"Ah, no! Not dead! Came back alive, shooting guns and swinging knives, so energetic!"

"Then why hasn't he come? It seems like him to be the first one here."

"He's busy! Yes! Super busy, so busy his eyebrows are fluttering! Ah, my times up! Ill visit again! Bye!"

Ding-!

[Player Soygaybar has logged out.]

Ezel, who clung desperately at times, now hurriedly fled.

The reason for his behavior became clear when Vex visited that evening.

"Sorry Hepburn. Its just, the blood, it gets dirty, keeps sticking annoyingly"

He had reverted to the speech patterns from when we first met.

Just like my friends who couldn't laugh at my situation before, now I was the one who couldnt joke about it.

Vex looked really bad.

****