Infection

Sun Hang had been confined to this special room for seven days—assuming the frequency of their meal deliveries was three times a day.

It was a spacious room with a floor, four walls, and a ceiling made entirely of mirrors. The only furniture inside was a metal table and chairs welded to the floor, a single bed also welded in place, and a flush toilet in the corner.

He had been brought here after watching, with his own eyes, a humanoid monster descend from the sky and tear apart Bloody Mary.

At regular intervals, a section of the ceiling would open, and a mechanical arm would extend to place a meal tray on the table. After Sun Hang finished eating, it would collect the dishes.

The "prison food" every day was quite lavish. Four dishes and one soup were standard, with fish, meat, and fresh vegetables. There were even small desserts and fruits after the meal, and occasionally more luxurious items like steak and shark fin would appear.

Sun Hang had loudly questioned why he was being held there, but received no response... However, when he said he was thirsty, the mechanical arm would immediately deliver a bottle of purified water to him.

From a certain perspective, this "prison life" of having everything provided was actually not bad, except for that damned light.

The light in this room never turned off, not even during sleep.

The light, hidden behind the mirrors, shone through the glass and reflected multiple times on the mirror surfaces, illuminating the entire room. Sun Hang could only manage to fall asleep by burying his head in the pillow, but the moment he turned his head slightly, the bright light would immediately seep through the gaps in his eyelids and project onto his retina.

What was worst of all was that, due to the lack of day and night cycles in the room, Sun Hang's concept of time had become extremely blurred. Many times, his eyes would be bloodshot, yet he couldn't muster any sleepiness.

Prolonged disruption of his sleep schedule could easily lead to a state of nervous exhaustion. Fatigue, tension, irritability... all sorts of negative emotions deepened with the passage of time...

On the first day, Sun Hang could still maintain his composure, trying to ask questions at regular intervals, even without receiving any answers.

On the second day, he stopped asking questions and began pacing back and forth in the room repeatedly.

On the third day, he smashed the meal tray, but the mechanical arm quickly delivered a new meal and cleaned up the debris on the floor.

On the fourth day, he tried to pull the chair up from the floor. He failed.

On the fifth day, Sun Hang ceased any unnecessary movements. He simply sat on the chair, staring directly at the tabletop. Apart from sleeping and relieving himself, he remained seated there the entire time.

On the sixth day, he was still sitting on the chair, silent.

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

The mirror turned into transparent glass, and two men and one woman stood behind it, watching him with expressionless faces.

"Congratulations, Mr. Sun Hang," the woman among the three gently clapped her hands. Her voice transmitted into the room through the glass. "You have successfully held onto your human soul."

Sun Hang found the woman's appearance somewhat familiar. She resembled the civil servant who had come to the hospital to have him sign the "contract of servitude," but Sun Hang was certain they were not the same person.

"What do you mean?" Sun Hang asked.

"You were infected with the Anomalization Virus, but you did not lose your clear self-awareness, nor did you experience any physical mutations," said an old man sitting in an electric wheelchair. "Although your infection level is only 0.17%, this is still an extremely rare situation."

"I was infected with the Anomalization Virus? Then why didn't you give me medication?" Sun Hang narrowed his eyes.

Antidotes to "Anomalization" had been developed a hundred years ago. It was thanks to these drugs that humanity could barely survive the onslaught of Anomalies.

"It's too late," the old man in the wheelchair sighed. "According to the test results, you were infected with the Anomalization Virus during your last encounter with an Anomaly—the time you lost your memory. You've already missed the window for medication."

"So?" Sun Hang continued to ask.

"So, you have now become a special individual possessing Anomaly abilities while maintaining your human will," the old man in the wheelchair said. "I am now officially inviting you to join us as an 'Anomaly Hunter'."

"Anomaly Hunter?" Sun Hang recalled the woman who had descended from the sky. "You mean people who specialize in hunting Anomalies?"

"Yes, the Investigation Bureaus in each city actually serve the Anomaly Hunters. Investigators are responsible for collecting information on Anomaly movements and clues, and then transmitting this intelligence to the Hunters. Hunters with suitable abilities are then dispatched to eliminate the Anomalies that invade human territory," the old man in the wheelchair explained. "Only the power from Anomalies can counter Anomalies. It's ironic, but that's reality."

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

"We don't force any infected individual to become a Hunter," the old man in the wheelchair continued. "But if every person who gains power only wants to look out for themselves, humanity would have disappeared from this land two hundred years ago. Besides, do you know which type of Anomalization Virus you were infected with?"

"Which type?"

"The instigator of that attack was Anomaly Serial Number Bing-9, the 'Taotie.' To be precise, it was a clone of the Taotie. The Anomalization Virus you were infected with also originates from the Taotie. As for what kind of impact it will have on you, you should have already experienced it firsthand."

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

"The Taotie's greatest characteristic is its ability to change its powers by devouring other Anomalies," the old man in the wheelchair said. "You need to hunt Anomalies regularly to satisfy your desires... Staying away from Anomalies can temporarily suppress this desire, but when the accumulated desire finally erupts, the situation will be completely out of control."

"As long as you join us," the woman who spoke first said again, "even if you can't successfully hunt Anomalies, we will find a way to help you resolve the 'appetite' outbreak."

"Have other Hunters catch Anomalies for me to eat?" Sun Hang tilted his head. "That sounds like I'm just a freeloader."

"That's one of the methods," the woman said. "In addition, we have ways to make you stronger, to grant you the ability to hunt Anomalies independently."

"But the prerequisite is that you must pass the assessment," another man, a middle-aged man wearing a brown-grey combat uniform with a fierce aura, interjected. "Only by passing the assessment can you become a 'legal' Hunter."