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The catfish had vanished, leaving behind a corpse frozen into pieces as if butchering at a seafood market.

The rosary and staff bubbled and disappeared into the ground, while the lyrics the catfish wore seemed to turn to dust as if they had no place here. And the frozen corpse of the catfish melted away along with the ice.

It was as if there was not a solid body but merely a colorant.

“Uh, that’s disappearing, isn’t it?”

“Let it be.”

From another perspective, it was no different from evidence vanishing.

But the people didn’t seem to care.

Not the police, nor the shivering foolish four, nor the soldiers.

“Ah, kill confirmed.”

As soon as it was confirmed that the catfish was completely dead, the soldiers began to show themselves.

Soldiers in camouflaged ghillie suits, others plastered with protective panels and bulletproof plates, and those in military uniforms trudging along with submachine guns…

While their gear was different, they all radiated a unique elite atmosphere.

And amongst them stood the most noticeable one.

A man in a crisply ironed military uniform.

On the man’s uniform, a badge indicating the rank of lieutenant gleamed brightly.

“Good day. I am Lieutenant Seong Ban-seok.”

“Uh, good day. Nice to meet you.”

The lieutenant greeted the police, whose tension had relaxed after the battle.

However, oddly, he refrained from approaching them beyond a certain distance.

Moreover, he subtly signaled the soldiers to surround them.

“Huh? What’s going on…?”

The police were startled by the soldiers’ synchronized movements.

They then looked anxiously at the lieutenant’s face.

Receiving their gazes, the lieutenant smiled, seemingly to reassure them.

“Ah, rest assured. It’s nothing serious, just a procedure we must follow after such incidents.”

Saying this, he gestured for a sergeant behind him to come. The sergeant, who had been concealed, started to reveal himself, holding a clunky and large-looking machine.

It was as if a giant Geiger counter had taken that shape.

“Ah, police officers and citizens. Please hold your positions for a moment. We will conduct an inspection shortly. If nothing is wrong, we will lift the perimeter.”

At the lieutenant’s signal, the sergeant activated the machine.

With a rattling noise, the machine powered on, and the lamps on it flickered brightly. Then, a cold energy seemed to sweep through the space, and the needle began to dance, emitting bizarre sounds.

Crackle.

Sizzle.

Tiddik.

Tick.

Crackle.

People frowned at the unpleasant sound that felt like ripping apart the noise of a radio.

Beeep —

Beeep —

Beeep —

Crackle.

Tick.

SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1Zkx2T2k1Q3NRV01FcnpFYlpZTFZLdTJMMVVveWdRU09LQmhuS2dseGlDdA

Screech.

Yet, despite their grimaces, the sound showed no signs of improving.

Instead, the annoying sound was interspersed with warning beeps, distorting into a sound fit for a horror movie.

Upon hearing it, the lieutenant sighed deeply.

“Ah, I knew it would come to this.”

“Biological contamination? This?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

The lieutenant sighed, and the ambiguous tone of a sergeant nearby was not a good sign.

People began to feel an ominous sense.

“Hey, use what you brought.”

“Isn’t the area being disinfected with the purification artifact right now?”

“Hey, using it in times like this is FM. Do it.”

“Understood.”

And this unease was magnified by what the soldiers brought out.

Gas masks.

The soldiers began to don gas masks over their faces.

“Wait, what’s happening?”

“Ah—”

In the end, one of the police couldn’t contain his unease and questioned a soldier.

“Don’t worry. It’s nothing serious. We detected contamination with the machine. So, you will need to stay here for a bit.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Ah, rest assured. It seems to be minor contamination. However, we can only ascertain the level; we can’t detect specifics. Please stay here until the experts arrive.”

“Wait, I—”

“Thank you for your cooperation. You won’t need to feel overly anxious as we just need you to stay until the experts arrive.”

“Are you saying I’m contaminated? What kind of contamination are we talking about?”

“Ah— it seems like a biological contamination…but don’t worry. If it were severe, you wouldn’t be standing here like this, right? It’s likely at a level that won’t significantly interfere with life… No, let me rephrase that. It seems to be at a level that doesn’t hinder daily activities, so please wait for the experts to come and handle it.”

“Bio-logical contamination? So, the catfish is carrying a virus or germ?”

The faces of the police and the shivering four turned pale.

How could they not be uneasy at the thought of being infected by unknown germs?

However, the police suppressed their anxieties and maintained their ground.

After all, they knew it was best to wait for the ‘experts’ called by the soldiers in this situation.

But there were those who reacted differently from the police.

The foolish four who had barged in and nearly faced a disaster.

They looked as if they wanted to dash off to the hospital, faces filled with the desire to escape the perimeter as they furtively scanned their surroundings.

Seeing their potential for reckless behavior, one soldier sighed softly inside his gas mask and readied his shotgun.

Click.

He loaded non-lethal rounds meant for riot control into the shotgun as he watched the four.

Prepared to shoot them if need be.

But even as he readied himself, he thought it unlikely they would do anything foolish.

‘They can’t be so stupid as to act irrationally in this situation.’

But stupidity has no limits, and extreme foolishness can brutally surpass common sense.

A tiny trigger set off their idiotic action.

Cough.

One of the four let out a cough.

A dry cough from one of the men caused his face to turn pale the instant it escaped his lips.

Swish.

The three around him recoiled as if he was something filthy, and the man grew even more flustered, looking around as if trying to escape reality.

“Uh, no. That was just a cough!”

Even he didn’t believe his own nonsensical claim.

‘Biological contamination’ and a cough.

How could it possibly be just a neat little cough?

The man desperately tried to meet the eyes of others, pleading for some support amidst his pale expression. But the police merely glared at him as if to say, ‘That guy seems likely to act out,’ while the soldiers braced themselves to contain him if he approached the perimeter.

And the ones who had laughed and chatted with him moments ago averted their gazes as if thinking they might catch his illness.

“C-C’mon, no! No…!”

He insisted towards the people.

“I’m fine. I’m normal!”

Gurgle.

But his claims only sounded like excuses.

From his mouth came lies, while from his stomach came loud, thunderous noises.

It was the kind of sound one might hear from someone suffering severe indigestion.

Because of it, people avoided getting closer to him even more.

The rumbling from his belly was… a sound anyone would want to stay far from for various reasons.

So everyone shunned the man, and as a result, his anxiety peaked.

“*Huff, huff.*

Is this the right place?”

“Yeah. There are soldiers and police. This seems right.”

The much-anticipated ‘experts’ arrived.

All the experts were clad in medical protective gear, leaving no gaps for contamination.

Carrying measurement and transportation tools, they climbed up the trail, dripping with sweat, clearly fatigued from the significant weight of their gear.

Seeing the experts, the man seemed to have an idea and jumped up from his spot.

Then he dashed towards the experts unpacking at the perimeter.

“Damn it, hurry up with the medicine!”

His face was twisted from abdominal pain, and he was drenched in cold sweat.

No matter how you looked at it, he didn’t seem normal.

One of the tense police officers quickly drew a taser and aimed it at the man.

Zzap!

The man hit by the taser convulsed and collapsed to the ground.

Though it didn’t look all too comfortable…

What could they do?

Wasn’t it just his karma for acting foolishly?

“Sigh.”

“What a hassle this is…”

Thus, peace was restored at the expense of one foolish individual.

The man and his three companions conducted all the inspections diligently thanks to the ‘example,’ while the police also finished the inspections without trouble following the citizens.

However, the results of the inspections were not satisfactory for everyone.

“Ah. The test results are in. First, the police have no issues at all. But just in case, please put on medical protective gear and head to a major hospital for a detailed check-up.”

“Understood.”

“And for the citizens… uh, first, I will give you adult diapers, so please wear those, and then put on the medical protective gear. You will take an ambulance to the hospital with us.”

“Huh?”

It was a satisfactory result for the police, but not for the citizens.

The citizens stared blankly at the experts’ words.

Adult diapers.

Ambulance.

It was hard not to feel something like, ‘Something… something is definitely going wrong…’ just from the words alone.

“Ah, we found Shigella bacteria in your oral samples. It seems to be bacterial dysentery. It’s not serious, and aside from that person lying over there, it seems to be in a latent state for now, so it shouldn’t be a big issue, but… just to be safe, I’d appreciate it if you could wear the adult diapers. And if anyone experiences severe diarrhea during transport, please let us know right away, and we will provide oral fluids.”

 

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