Rainbow City Chapter 4

“Yes. Viruses also do not want to die, so they will mutate. Just like Major Kwak Soohwan and me.”

They were those who stood in the middle of evolution.

“I heard they were called Zombies back in the day.”

“The name of the West African voodoo god was Zombie. It also refers to a corpse brought back to life by people who practice black magic. We conveniently call them zombies, but the details are, of course, different.”

He took a spoon of the rice and wondered if it was worth it, and babbled without hesitation.

“It’s better than calling that thing Adam.”

“You’re welcome to call it whatever you like.”

“They say they have no thoughts, but surprisingly, they may have thoughts. They don’t attack each other, right?”

Kwak Soohwan put the chewy sausage in his mouth and chewed it.

“Wouldn’t it be because they perceived others as members of the same race?”

“People who are already infected with the virus are carriers hence there is no need to infect them so they do not attack them.”

“They are better than humans. Humans kill their own people without hesitation, right? Like how that old man was murdered in his lab.”

Seokhwa had come across many soldiers since he was at the research institute.

The soldiers assigned to the shelter were what were called elites in the military, and the more dramatically their bodies evolved, the slower their brains worked. Of course, that didn’t mean they were seriously lacking. Although they spoke in an elementary school-like tone and had poor empathy, they always did what their superiors asked them to do. They had no suspicion of any absurdity. Seok had not experienced anyone from the several soldiers he had met prod him with such questions.

“Major Kwak Soohwan…You’re more empathetic than I thought.”

“Oh, I’m kind of like that. So, Dr. Seok. I’ll let you have your fun, so please do me a favor.”

Kwak Soohwan shot a charming smile.

“I am prohibited from smoking and drinking currently. But if you want, Doctor, you can easily get both, right? Let’s ask for some alcohol and cigarettes in the name of Dr. Seok. Dr. Seok, you like stones, right? You couldn’t even bring a stone because you came up from Jeju Island in a hurry, right? I’ll fly those to you.”

He whispered his secrets.

There were more than one or two places where he had to make a fuss, but Seokhwa ignored them all to finish his meal.

“I don’t drink or smoke. I heard from other researchers from the brig…They said you entered the danger zone to get alcohol. It’s a red zone.”

Tsk, the researchers are talking too. Kwak Soohwan said it was okay and motioned for him to finish eating.

“I also heard that you have bad drinking habits.”

Unlike Seokhwa, who spoke calmly, Kwak Soohwan frowned subtly.

“Did you see it in person, Doctor?”

He asked as if it were absurd. Seokhwa did not answer, but only wetted his mouth with lukewarm water.

“How about you see it in person tonight? You can bring the alcohol.”

“Major Kwak Soohwan, do you know what the molecular structure of ethanol looks like?”

“How do I know when I’ve never looked at a microscope in my life? No matter how good my eyes are, I can’t see molecules. Dr. Seok, let’s eat up quickly.”

Maybe it was because he ate more than usual, but Seokhwa felt like the food had filled his esophagus, but he held it in.

“The ethanol molecular structure looks exactly like a dog.”

Seokhwa said, expressionlessly, that drinking alcohol makes you a dog. Kwak Soohwan laughed as if he was shocked and suddenly brought his face in front of Seokhwa.

“Woof!”

It was at the same time that Kwak Soohwan imitated the sound of a dog barking. With a thud, Seokhwa buried his face in his soup. Kwak Soohwan, who was startled, grabbed Seokhwa by the back of his hair. I thought he was going to black out, but all he did was lift his closed eyes with difficulty.

“I felt dizzy for a moment…”

Radish soup flowed down his round forehead and the bridge of his nose. He took slow breaths as if he didn’t have the strength to wipe it away. Only then did Kwak Soohwan try to let go of his hair.

“Wait…Can you hold it a little more?”

“What?”

He felt he was going to fall again.

Sure enough, his head hanging down again so he quickly put some pressure on his hand. Suddenly he became the hook for Seokhwa’s hair. There, a soldier with wide eyes looked at Kwak Soohwan’s face and made an expression that said, “It’s him, after all.”

He held Seokhwa’s hair and clicked his tongue, wondering how his words would be misinterpreted. It just gave Lieutenant Colonel Jang one more thing to make excuses for.

***

[…Preservation of humanity and new prosperity for humanity is our mission. Welcome to Rainbow City, the Green Zone, at the forefront.]

It was a broadcast that always came out at noon.

The peninsula’s current official name was Rainbow City. It was divided into a total of 7 zones, and the area called the green zone was the safest zone. As expected, the Red Zone, commonly known as the R Zone, was also the most dangerous place.

Seokhwa couldn’t understand Kwak Soohwan’s actions of entering the red zone where there was no shelter to get alcohol. A drunkard who didn’t know how precious his life was, that was all he could surmise.

<Oh Yangseok, 72 years old, was found dead at the Adam Virus Vaccine Research Center on the 34th floor. It is believed that he was standing with his back to the central pillar just before his death. A Beretta M92F caliber 9mm bullet pierced the heart, causing death on the spot.>

Seokhwa stood and looked down at the floor. This was the spot where Chief Researcher Oh Yangseok was found dead. The direction from which the bullet flew was right in front of that glass door.

The laboratory entrance was made of bulletproof glass, and only designated soldiers other than researchers could enter. He didn’t know what transpired that day, but on the day of the incident, all CCTV footage from the 34th floor was turned off.

Since the list of visitors that day was only researchers, the doctors in the lab were on the list of suspects, but only soldiers, and even high-ranking people, could possess the Beretta M92F type. Moreover, the time of his death was approximately 5 AM. Seokhwa couldn’t figure out why Oh Yangseok was in this lab at that time.

He was a good person and a doctor with a great sense of duty to save humanity. Seokhwa silently prayed for Dr. Oh Yangseok for a moment and then took a step back, thinking it was a mistake. He didn’t think it was worth standing on the spot where the body was found and saying a silent prayer.

“Antibodies are not being produced.”

Dr. Kim’s voice came from there. Dr. Kim, who was like a disciple of Oh Yangseok, had turned his chair in the direction of Seokhwa.

“Really?.”

Seokhwa, who was standing in the middle, walked to where his desk was.

The Adam virus was truly an aggressive antigen. The Adam virus had mutated for the 7th time, and the 6th vaccine had become useless. They tried to create a vaccine based on the 7th Adam virus culture, but no antibodies were produced.

“It’s not like the vaccine comes out all of a sudden, but they’re always pecking at us from up there.”

It wasn’t a day or two that the higher-ups were complaining about why they didn’t release a vaccine quickly.

“Dr. Seokhwa?”

“…Yes?”

“No, I was wondering if you were listening to me.”

“I am listening. Come to think of it, the people who showed an immune response in the first round were all from Jeju Island, right?”

“Oh, not all people from Jeju Island showed an immune response, but all of the people who showed an immune response were from Jeju Island or had visited Jeju Island.”

“After the second mutation, even that became useless.”

“Right.”

Since this also happened before they were born, it could only be confirmed through data left behind by previous researchers.

“But Dr. Seokhwa.”

“Yes.”

Seokhwa sat down at his computer desk as he answered. Creating antibodies was like a race against time. There were many cases in which antibodies were not produced even after hundreds or thousands of experiments were repeated. Nevertheless, researchers had to work diligently until their hypothesis succeeded.

“Well…about Major Kwak.”

Seokhwa looked up from looking at the 7th Adam virus vaccine research paper left by Oh Yangseok.

“What about Major Kwak Soohwan?”

“Well…”

Dr. Kim seemed a little hesitant, perhaps because it was difficult for him to speak easily. If Seokhwa had no intention of speaking further, there was no reason to inquire further, so he turned his attention to the researcher again.

He had worked with Dr. Seok before he left Seoul due to the death of his mother, but Dr. Kim still felt less friendly towards Seokhwa then and now. Still, his stamina was better than before, so he didn’t stick his face down on the keyboard. But again, it’d only been two days.

“Major Kwak is currently in charge of protecting Dr. Seokhwa…So please be careful.”

Dr. Kim came closer and whispered more privately.

“The person who shot Dr. Oh Yangseok may have been Major Kwak Soohwan.”

***

“Would you like to loosen up those ignorant arms?”

The doctor tapped Kwak Soohwan’s exposed forearm.

“What do you mean? I’m very relaxed right now.”

The doctor glanced at the monitor, checked the chart, and tilted his head.

“What, it hasn’t even been three months since you took the suppressant, you’re taking it again?”

“I know, but I have to.”

The effect of the inhibitor lasted for about 6 months. As Kwak Soohwan’s sex drive was superior to others, the duration of the drug’s effects was shorter than that of others.

“Is your morning erection gradually getting severe?”

“It’s severe all day and night.”

“Bruce Lee said that the bastard Soohwan tried to put his dick in Dr. Seok’s mouth.”

Please, not the doctor, right? He looked at him with a look on his face. Anyway, he had to know that she was talking nonsense.

“Just inject me, quick. I have to go to Dr. Seok.”

“I heard you grabbed him by the back of your hair and threw him into the soup?”

“The former is correct, but the latter is not.”

The doctor who rubbed my forearm with a disinfectant pad successfully administered an inhibitor injection this time. Kwak Soohwan was not chemically castrated and had no problem with erections, but it only reduced his sexual drive. It was also a mandatory injection that all soldiers from the Korean Military Academy had to take.

“You know, I feel really awful whenever I get the shot.”

It might not be possible, but he felt like he could feel the drug moving through my body. Kwak Soohwan, who had unbuttoned his uniform and exposed only one arm, turned his shoulder once and put his clothes back on.

“I guess it’s fortunate.”

“What?”

“This inhibitor. If taken regularly, there was a side effect of persistent erectile dysfunction. Dr. Seok was the one who eliminated those side effects, but you idiot, you’re trying to get your dick blown by such a grateful doctor.”