Episode 28
1012 Words
Never consider yourself the protagonist!
Foolish or wise, no one can truly judge the rightness or wrongness of either. Perhaps everything must wait for the passage of time, allowing history to render its verdict.
"Virtual Color, exchange for a basic virus serum!" At that moment, Adam felt no regret, remarkably calm...
"One basic virus serum, consuming 400 points. Do you confirm this transaction?" The familiar, sweet voice of Virtual Color rang out, yet it lacked the warmth of emotion, sounding more like a mechanical drone.
"Confirmed!" Having prior experience with exchanges, Adam understood that although the voice belonged to Virtual Color, it did not necessarily mean she was present. It felt peculiar...
Suddenly, a soft capsule materialized in the palm of his right hand. Adam looked down to see a capsule roughly the size of an ordinary pill, a milky white orb resting in his palm.
Without hesitation, he opened his mouth and swallowed what he presumed to be the basic virus serum.
The sensation was akin to taking medicine, as he gulped it down with saliva, feeling it slide down his esophagus into his stomach...
"Nothing... no feeling?" Just as Adam thought this, sensations began to surge; his stomach erupted with a sudden, searing pain. It started as a slight discomfort, then within seconds escalated into excruciating agony!
Do you know what pain feels like? It's more painful than childbirth! Though Adam was not a woman and had never experienced giving birth...
"Ah!!!!!!!!!!!" The suppressed groans of pain finally erupted into a scream. Adam clutched his abdomen, wailing in agony, as if a mischievous monkey were violently stirring his insides with a golden staff!
"Hey! What's wrong with you?" Lin Ao, startled by Adam's cries, wondered why he was screaming when the zombies had yet to breach the entrance.
Adam had no energy to respond. His entire body began to convulse, resembling a person suffering from epilepsy, shaking uncontrollably, eyes rolled back, foam bubbling at his mouth...
He looked utterly terrifying!
With a clatter, the steel rod he had clutched so tightly fell to the ground as he collapsed, shaking violently as if possessed...
"Hey! Adam! Are you alright?! D*mn it! Respond!" Lin Ao instinctively stepped back, eyes wide with fear.
Was it the instinct of a former warrior? He sensed an alarming aura radiating from the fallen Adam, a palpable danger emanating from him.
And what of Adam? After swallowing the capsule, what had become of him?
With only a 5% chance, any rational individual would avoid such a risk. This was not a 50% chance! It was merely 5%!
Even a 50% chance is still a toss-up, but 5%? It almost guaranteed that Adam would be infected and transformed into a zombie! Only a fool would gamble on such odds!
Yet, Adam took the gamble! Why? Was he foolish? Did he wish to perish? Certainly not! He had things he needed to accomplish, things he yearned to do!
Not consuming it meant facing the throngs of zombies outside. Even if he managed to kill one, or ten, or even a hundred, one scratch from a zombie spelled infection!
To consume it meant risking infection, but at least there lingered a glimmer of hope for success, a chance at immunity and enhanced physical prowess.
Either way was a gamble; why not take this one?
God tends to favor those who are blessed, those chosen by fortune. Such individuals are labeled as lucky, or perhaps, protagonists...
Was Adam one of the fortunate?
Abandoned by his parents, left at the orphanage's door only days after birth, he never sensed anything remarkable about himself during childhood. His grades were average, his appearance unremarkable, and his relationships ordinary.
Aside from a close bond with the orphanage director, Adam seldom let his guard down with others. He had never tried his luck with the lottery, and his lack of success indicated his meager fortune...
As for being the protagonist? That was a privilege reserved for others; Adam had never harbored expectations of such a fate!
Thus, Adam had failed...
When the capsule dissolved in his stomach, he realized he had failed! The agony, the sensation that every cell in his body was being eroded, torn apart!
Adam was oblivious to how others reacted upon infection. All he knew was that his situation was dire.
It felt as if all his strength had been instantly drained; standing was impossible, and when he collapsed, he could not even protect himself. His body felt alien to him, apart from the indescribable agony...
In an instant, his skin turned pale, like that of a corpse, losing all trace of its former color.
But that was not the worst part. To his horror, Adam sensed an invasive force breaching his mind!
Words could not capture its nature; he merely felt an ominous presence encroaching upon his thoughts. It moved with alarming speed, and Adam feared that if he did not act soon, he would bid farewell to this world, losing himself entirely!
"I told you it was unlikely to succeed!" The voice of Virtual Color seemed to echo from afar, surreal yet tinged with urgency.
"Have I failed...?" Adam had braced himself for this outcome; after all, the odds were dismally low.
But Adam was filled with frustration. He had only just escaped from prison, journeying all this way! If he could only press on a little further, he would reach that destination! He would find those people!
Was he to stop here?
With a crash, the already dilapidated door finally succumbed to the zombies' assault. In this shoddy construction in a country rife with instability, this door had held up remarkably well!
Through blurred vision, Adam beheld countless zombies pouring in, yet he found himself powerless to act. Perhaps, even without the zombies' attack, he would soon join their ranks.
"D*mn it! I'll fight you bastards!" This was Lin Ao's desperate cry...
In that moment, Adam summoned the last vestiges of his strength, spreading his hand to reveal a syringe-like object. With determination, he plunged it into his neck...
- Writer
