Side effects of body modifications. There are differences for individuals, but is that why they experienced madness? Were they injecting the A virus into their bodies?

The puzzle is coming together. Since beginning body modifications, they were receiving dilutions of A virus. It would have been like nothing normally, but the problem had arisen when the Oriax entered his body. The Oriax is a lump of virus.

It bothered the small amount of the virus to make his mutant potential explode all at once.

“Then that means all Lifers have been injected with A virus. Are we lab rats or something? What on earth have the helpers done?”

He is forming a lot of suspicions that he has not had until now. This must be why it is said that no one knows until they encounter something strange.

[Do you want to separate from me? I’ll do it for you if that’s what you want. I’m somehow a bit weary of you. I feel like I’ll be the one eaten up if I stay with you.]

The Oriax unexpectedly did not make trouble and said that it would detach itself. Then Cha Jun Sung became nervous. What about after it gives him up?

He will be alone in this world full of mutants. He does not have a battlesuit or a vibrating weapon. If he becomes an average human, regardless of his 4th stage of body modifications, how is he to survive? Does he need to dig tunnels underground to move around?

“Let’s go together until I can return to reality.”

[Looking strictly at results, I’ve gained a lot from you. I can do that much for you. How do you want to separate? Do you want to try testing it out?]

Cha Jun Sung nods. They can test it. They need to try it out anyway. They need to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

historical

[Now?]

“Now.”

It is more dangerous if they go outside and separate. The lower level mutants here are scared of him right now. There is no safer place than where they are now.

[Then. I’m starting.]

Thump thump.

Cha Jun Sung’s heart beats faster. He is hoping that the results are on the better side.

Bang!

Something goes high and crosses between buildings. It was like looking at a grasshopper and its ability to jump is incredible. It is none other than Cha Jun Sung. Leaving his tremendous abilities and walking slowly is a waste of time.

It has been a couple of months since he has left Rome. He did not count the days. There is no use. He invested all of his time that was not spent on eating, sleeping, and fighting, on traveling.

Playing numbers by counting the days does not help him in what he needs to do. It might just make him impatient. It is wiser to clear his mind.

[..... We’re going the right way, right?]

“Probably?”

Honestly, he is not very confident. Going through Europe with just a map and compass in itself is reckless. Cha Jun Sung almost went the complete opposite way to France because he took the wrong direction at first. He had believed that he was going the right way. It is fortunate that he realized coincidentally on the way. If not, he would be looking at the sea right about now.

It would have been quick if he had gone in a straight line, but he has gone around. Cha Jun Sung’s current location is Austria’s capital, Vienna. Czechoslovakia is north of here in 12:00 direction.

“Let’s rest in this city today.”

[As you wish.]

He does not easily feel exhaustion since he has transcended human limits. This is the same case for his stamina. He is vigorous no matter how much he walks.

He is resting not because he is tired, but because it is a bother. He needs to recharge occasionally for there not to be any issues with moving. He is sick of seeing mutants everyday. Cha Jun Sung chose a house at random and went inside.

There should be a good place to rest if he searches well enough, but it is all the same from a labor efficiency perspective.

Kung!

Kyak!

Cha Jun Sung lets out a bloodthirsty roar. Mutants living nearby are terrified and run away. It is out of nowhere, but there is a reason for it.

If he does this, he is not bothered while he rests. Other mutants take this as the appearance of a strong mutant and they leave their homes.

It is effective. He has almost completely recovered from the injuries he got from Medusa over the past few months. It is not 100% perfect, but he is 80% better.

Even a level 7 would run away from this roar. There is nothing he can do if there is a level 8, but he has not seen one since Medusa.

[You’re good.]

“I use it once in awhile when I’m bored, so it would be weirder if I wasn’t good at it.”

[I mean you’re not averse to using a mutant’s powers. You hated it at first. Humans are so interesting.]

“Whew! What can we do when there’s no other way. If you leave my body, I become a normal human being. This world is hell to someone without power like me.”

The separation they did as a test. The result was that they split splendidly. As soon as the Oriax left his body, Cha Jun Sung became a simple human. He returned to his state in reality, to when he initialized the 4th stage of body modifications. It is ambiguous as to whether this is a good or bad thing.

Fusing again was not difficult either. Once he accepted the Oriax naturally instead of by force as he had done before, he became a level 8 mutant again.

He has become an unusual body that can become human or mutant. There is no way to prove this scientifically, but this is what the two of them are thinking.

The Oriax is a parasitic type that keeps its host alive. It was able to exercise its mutant potential when it absorbed Cha Jun Sung, but it was only half.

With various issues, they did not take over each other and came to coexist in one body. The subject is Cha Jun Sung but in his absence, the Oriax can take control.

It can separate from the body as is characteristic of the Oriax, but it seems everything related to the A virus has moved over to it. As was said before, there is no way to prove this. This is all just a hypothesis.

The important thing is that he can become a simple human being. Cha Jun Sung cannot get near Czechoslovakia on his own. He desperately needs the Oriax’s help. So what else could he do? He needs to use mutant abilities even if he does not want to.

‘This bastard won’t run away while I’m sleeping, will he? That would be the worst.’

Cha Jun Sung trembles in fear. The only weapon he has now is the Oriax. Though they are helping each other, there is no reason to maintain their relationship.

[Don’t worry. I’ll keep this state for the time being. To use human expression, your body is a demonic house that I’ve bought with my own money.]

The Oriax read Cha Jun Sung’s thoughts. It is a waste to throw him away, but uncomfortable to keep. It cannot exert the power of level 8 once they separate.

That is the greatest reason why it is not leaving him. It would have been able to say with certainty that it would have left if it could be guaranteed that they could separate and it could keep living as a level 8.

“But how do I find the location? Do you remember where you were living?”

[I remember my area, but I don’t know the way in from outside.]

He had gone south in a craze, and going back is work in itself. All Cha Jun Sung knows is that Czechoslovakia is smaller than Korea. He needs to just dig through everything because it is not a large difference. It is total manual labor. Going back and forth could take as long as a round trip.

“How come I don’t see any survivors? Are they all living in one place?”

He has not seen a single human on his way here. Cha Jun Sung does not know this, but he has unintentionally guessed correctly that they are gathered in one place. They escaped the mutants and are living in a place they named Survivors’ Camp. Cities no longer welcome humans.

[Why do you want to find survivors?]

“To ask at least. I would see if there’s anything they know about Public Underground in Czechoslovakia. There might be someone who knows about such a big bunker.”

[It’d be faster to ask a mutant. There might be a language barrier, but the more intelligent ones should be able to understand through body language.]

There are mutants everywhere. This would be more effective than banking on human survivors when they do not know if they will ever see one.

“Wouldn’t a person be better? It’ll be such a hassle to explain this to every mutant we see.”

[Does anything change if you meet a human? Can you speak Czech?]

Cha Jun Sung zones out. Czech? Of course he can’t. He cannot even speak English, so of course he cannot speak Czech.

He might as well be mute without his translator. That is a situation that most Lifers cannot avoid.

[Going through the hassle of explaining with body language is the same whether you do it with humans or mutants.]

[Don’t waste your time on something that won’t work, and change your mind.]

“..... Shut up.”

At that moment, Cha Jun Sung saw an overlap between the cheeky way the Oriax was speaking with Odin.

He felt like he would be hearing annoying things from the both of them once he finds his PDA again.