Chapter 89: Chapter 89- Parasite Attack (Part 1)

Talon felt a chill run down his spine as he looked around him with a cold expression. He tried to expand his senses so that he could feel any presence around him. However, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't sense anything.

"Shit! Can you feel anything, Acrypha?" He looked to his companion as he slowly backed into a wall and held his spear tightly.

"No, there is no one here besides you." She shook her head. "Whatever did that isn't present here anymore." She said.

Hearing her confirmation, Talon exhaled a small breath as he finally dropped his guard a little. He trusted Acrypha's senses more than his so if she said that there was nothing near him then it was indeed the case.

"What happened here? How did it get to them?" Talon frowned as he looked at the dead Rim Kyung.

He didn't even need to look at him twice to know the culprit. It was the same goddamn laughing monster that he couldn't find yet. At this point, Talon was starting to feel as if he was chasing a ghost of some sort.

No matter how much he tried to discover anything about this monster, he would fail miserably. He didn't know what to do and it made him even more pissed off.

"It accessed the gymnasium and killed these two... But, why them?" He racked his brain for answers.

From what he could see, they were the only ones affected. There was no indication that it targeted any other students. Everyone seemed safe, so it wasn't much to worry about.

Talon's guard slowly relaxed and he felt his stress and worry wash away. All the tension he felt for a moment there also disappeared. Yeah, everything was fine after all. But...

'Wait...' Talon frowned as he halted his thoughts at that point. 'Why did I think that everything was fine? It's clearly not... Am I overthinking?'

Resting his back against the wall again, Talon grabbed his forehead.

"Are you ok, Talon?" Acrypha approached him.

"Huh? Oh... I'm fine, I think." He murmured as he pushed himself again and stood on his feet.

"I need to get every student checked and then I guess bury these two, haha..." He laughed dryly as he put his spear away. "I guess they got what they deserved, am I right? Hahaha..."

"Talon?" Acrypha stared at the young man with squinted eyes. "What are you saying?"

"Hm? It's nothing, I was just joking about how they died. It's kinda funny, not gonna lie."

Acrypha: "..."

Laughing to himself, Talon stepped forward to leave the room, only for Acrypha to suddenly appear in front of him with a serious look on her face. Talon didn't think much of it and tried to move to the side, only for her to block his path again.

"What, Acrypha? You're blocking my way. Hahaha!" He laughed amusedly. "How am I supposed to leave the room if you stand in front of me? Wait, you're technically floating, hahaha!"

"Stop right there. Don't move an inch." The woman said in a cold tone.

"Huh? What's happening here? Are we doing a detective roleplay? Hahaha..."

"You're acting weird."

"Weird... What are you ta-"

At that moment, Talon received a notification from his system that made him freeze.

After spitting that parasite out, Talon felt his thoughts clear up completely and his composure came back to him. Wiping his lips, he looked at it. "That little bastard almost killed me! That really was something! It felt so fucking wrong. I wanted to just laugh and joke around."

"Doesn't help that that's what you do 90% of the time," Acrypha replied.

"Hey! Excuse you! I don't joke around THAT much. But, my humor is one of my charming points." He rolled his eyes.

"Can't deny that." Acrypha smiled amusedly.

"Tsk, anyway, how did that parasite get to me? I didn't notice anything change before you warned me."

"..." Acrypha thought for a moment as her eyes fell on the two dead corpses. "You did touch that human, didn't you?" She asked.

"... Yeah, I did. Wait..." Suddenly, Talon realized as he looked at his hand. His eyes squinted as he sharply analyzed it.

It didn't take him long to notice something abnormal. Right in the middle of his palm, a very small hole could be seen that wasn't visible to the normal eye. It was so small that blood didn't even leak out of it.

"So that's where it got to me. Shit..." Clenching his fist, Talon looked at Acrypha. "It passes through touch."

"Exactly."

"This is bad. Really bad..."

Talon didn't know exactly when the parasites infected Rim Kyung and Ji-Seok. So, if someone had touched them during this time, they could definitely be infected. This meant that the students who had entered this place in the past few days could possibly be infected too.

"Oh no..." Looking up with a frown, Talon quickly picked up his spear and rushed to the door. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Closing the door behind him, Talon ran to the main court.

"EVERYONE!! WAKE UP NOW!!" He yelled loudly as he barged into the place. "EVERYONE WAKE UP! IT'S URGENT!"

"Huh?"

"Hm? Mr Talon?"

"What's going on?"

The students were confused by the sudden noises. But, Talon didn't wait as he jumped. "Now, everyone, stand up, don't touch each other, and keep a distance from one another! No questions asked yet! I will explain everything!" He declared in a firm and authoritative tone.

His strong presence made everyone immediately shudder and stand up on their feet even though they were very drowsy. Talon's orders were absolute as he was the one responsible for their survival so far.

"Young-Soon, make sure everyone is here. I don't want anyone absent. Hei-Ran, wake up Hyun-Jae and get her here. Mo Shin, find Chin-Hwa and get him here too." He started giving orders around to get every single student inside the main court.

"Yes sir!" (x3)

'Hurry, hurry! I don't know how much time I have! Shit, think, Talon, think! How do you know if someone is infected? I need to cut down the number of possibilities!'

His brain ran through countless ideas as he searched for a good idea. A few moments of deep thinking later, Talon's eyes shone with a bright light.

Looking up, he asked the students. "Who of you has been feeling a weird urge to laugh the past few days?"

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )