Trickster Hunter

Chapter 12 Infection

…

…

Sun Hang has been locked up in this special room for seven days—assuming they deliver meals three times a day.

This is a spacious room with mirrors on the floor, walls and ceiling. The only furniture in the room is a set of metal tables and chairs welded to the ground, a single bed that is also welded, and a flush toilet in the corner.

After Sun Hang watched the humanoid monster that fell from the sky tear up Bloody Mary with his hands, he was brought here.

Every once in a while, a corner of the ceiling will be opened, and the mechanical arm that sticks out from it will put the plate with food on the table, and then take away the tableware after Sun Hang finishes eating.

The daily "prison meal" is very rich, with four dishes and one soup as the standard, fish, meat, fresh vegetables, small desserts and fruits after the meal, and occasionally more luxurious foods such as steak and shark fin.

Sun Hang once loudly questioned why he was locked up here, but got no response... However, when he said he was thirsty, the mechanical arm immediately brought bottled purified water to him.

From a certain perspective, this kind of "prison life" with everything provided for him is actually pretty good, except for the damn light.

The light in this room is never turned off, even when sleeping.

The light hidden behind the mirror passes through the glass and refracts on the mirror several times, making the whole room brightly lit. Sun Hang can only fall asleep by burying his head in the pillow, but as long as he slightly turns his head, the light will immediately come in through the gap between his eyelids and project onto his retina.

The worst thing is that since there is no change of day and night in the room, Sun Hang's concept of time has become very vague. Many times his eyes are already full of bloodshot, but he still can't get up the slightest sleepiness.

Long-term disordered work and rest can easily make people fall into a state of neurasthenia, fatigue, tension, irritability... all kinds of negative emotions continue to deepen with the passage of time...

On the first day, Sun Hang was able to remain calm and tried to ask questions every once in a while, even if he didn't get any answers.

On the second day, he stopped asking questions and began to circle around the room over and over again.

On the third day, he smashed the plate, but the robotic arm quickly delivered a new meal and cleaned up the garbage on the floor.

On the fourth day, he tried to pull the chair up from the ground, but he failed.

On the fifth day, Sun Hang no longer had any extra movements. He just sat on the chair, his eyes staring straight at the table. Except for sleeping and excreting, he sat there all the time.

On the sixth day, he still sat on the chair, without a sound.

On the seventh day, when Sun Hang finished eating the twentieth meal delivered by the robotic arm, the wall he was facing finally changed.

The mirror turned into transparent glass, and three people, two men and one woman, were behind the glass, looking at him expressionlessly.

"Congratulations, Mr. Sun Hang." The woman among the three people clapped softly, and her voice was transmitted into the room through the glass, "You have successfully protected your human soul."

The woman's appearance was somewhat familiar to Sun Hang. She looked very similar to the civil servant who came to the hospital and asked him to sign the "indenture", but Sun Hang was sure that they were definitely not the same person.

"What do you mean?" Sun Hang asked.

"You are infected with the Weird Virus, but you have not lost your clear self-awareness, and there is no physical mutation." This time, the speaker was an old man sitting in an electric wheelchair, "Although your infection level is only 0.17%, this is still a very rare situation."

"I am infected with the Weird Virus? Then why don't you give me an injection?" Sun Hang narrowed his eyes.

The special medicine to inhibit "Weirdness" was developed a hundred years ago. It is precisely with this medicine that people can survive under the invasion of weird things.

"It's too late." The wheelchair old man sighed, "According to the test results, you were infected with the Weird Virus the last time you encountered a weird creature - that is, the time when you lost your memory. You have missed the window period for medication."

"So?" Sun Hang continued to ask.

"So, you have now become a special individual with the ability of a weird creature, but you still have the will of a human being." The wheelchair old man said, "I formally invite you to join us as a 'Weird Hunter'."

"Weird Hunter?" Sun Hang recalled the woman who fell from the sky, "Is that someone who specializes in hunting weird creatures?"

"Yes, the investigation bureaus in various cities actually serve the Weird Hunters. Investigators are responsible for collecting the whereabouts and clues of the weird creatures, and then passing this information to the hunters, who will then go out and eliminate the weird creatures that invade human territory." The wheelchair old man said, "Only the power from the weird creatures can fight against the weird creatures. This is ironic, but this is reality."

"What if I don't want to work for you?" Sun Hang asked.

"We won't force any infected person to become a hunter." The wheelchair old man continued, "But if everyone who gained power only wanted to be alone, humans would have disappeared from this land two hundred years ago. In addition, do you know what kind of strange virus you are infected with?"

"Which one?"

"The initiator of that attack was the strange thing with the serial number Bingjiu, 'Taotie'. To be precise, it was a clone of Taotie. The trick virus you are infected also comes from Taotie. As for what this will do to you You should have experienced this kind of impact firsthand.”

"So, my ability is related to 'eating'?" Sun Hang recalled the strong feeling of hunger, but that feeling of hunger seemed to only appear when facing strange things.

"The biggest characteristic of Taotie is that it can change its abilities by swallowing other monsters." The old man in the wheelchair said, "You need to hunt monsters regularly to satisfy your desires... Staying away from monsters can temporarily suppress this desire. But when the accumulated desire finally explodes, the situation will be completely out of control.”

"As long as you join us," the woman who spoke at the beginning said again, "even if you fail to hunt the monsters successfully, we will find a way to help you solve the problem of your 'appetite' outbreak."

"Let other hunters catch the weird things for me to eat?" Sun Hang tilted his head, "It sounds like I'm a waste who's just waiting to die."

"This is one of the ways." The woman said, "Besides that, we have ways to make you stronger so that you can gain the ability to hunt monsters alone."

"But the premise is that you have to pass the assessment." Another middle-aged man wearing a brown-gray training uniform with a murderous look on his eyebrows took over the conversation, "Only when you pass the assessment can you become a Legal' hunter."