Becoming a Legend

Chapter 31: Becoming a Legend

When Anna woke, she was lying in a soft bed. The air was fresh, the blankets comfortable, and it seemed her body had been given a quick wash. Even the few scars she'd picked up on the road had been properly treated.

She reached out. Her gun was right beside the bed. A tempting sweetness drifted through the fresh air, accompanied by light footsteps approaching.

"You're awake."

She turned her head and saw Ethan lying obediently in a small bed nearby. An Asian girl who looked like a student entered the room carrying a tray and smiled warmly at them both.

The tray held meat porridge, a delicacy in the settlement that was only served at large gatherings. The girl placed it on the small table beside the bed. Along with the porridge, there were some exquisite side dishes and a cake.

"The professor said you passed out when you got startled because you were both tired and hungry. I gave you a little glucose earlier, but now that you're awake, it'd be better if you ate something."

The professor. Glucose.

Those old-fashioned words, rarely heard since the disaster began, filled Anna's lively heart with joy. She whispered her thanks and accepted the steaming bowl of meat porridge. Long-missed warmth and familiar flavors rolled from her tongue into her stomach, soothing her so much that she nearly burst into tears.

That skull she'd seen earlier... It must have been a trick of the mind. Yes, she was too tired and too hungry, so—

Her hand froze. The girl caught the bowl before it slipped from her grasp. A walking skeleton suddenly came in through the door. And in its eye sockets still burned a dark, ominous flame!

She instinctively reached for the gun beside her bed.

Several minutes later.

"...I see." Anna pressed a hand to her chest, still shaken, and tried to convince herself that it was all thanks to science. The girl who called herself "Ishikawa" had spent quite a while explaining everything to her. She told Anna that this was all the result of the professor's special research, and that she wasn't dreaming—she was wide awake and alive in the world.

"Are they some kind of... robots that look a lot like skeletons? Is that the only way to make sure they're strong enough to fight the Night Demons?"

She did her best to convince herself, then tried even harder to change the subject. She was certain the girl in front of her was perfectly normal, both physically and mentally. After a little small talk, she eagerly asked, "I came to find Mr. Robert Neville. Is he the leader of this shelter? And the professor... is Professor Si Mr. Robert?"

The girl simply shook her head, then nodded.

"Colonel Robert and Professor Si are both busy right now. They're at a critical stage. I can't take you to interrupt them just yet. Unless—"

The air suddenly fell silent.

An invisible pulse was forming and spreading through the world. It was like the sudden crackle of static in winter. Anna's body shivered, and a great surge of joy rose from the depths of her heart.

Something good had happened.

Something very good had happened for humanity as a whole, and for every individual.

The Skeleton Soldiers patrolling nearby suddenly seemed to lose all their menace. And Ethan, the child who'd come here with her, let out a very cheerful laugh.

"...It seems something has changed. Miss Anna, and little Ethan, you can come with me to see the professor and the colonel now."

The girl who called herself Ishikawa seemed to have heard something, and then smiled brightly. She gave them both a small nod before leading the way. The two survivors, one grown and one small, exchanged a glance and hurried after her.

Onward, ever onward.

The shelter was much larger than Anna had expected.

There were signs of expansion everywhere on the outskirts. But the moment she entered the research area, the sight before her made her heart pound!

What had she just seen?

She'd seen Night Demons... Night Demons locked in cages, whose mutated features were disappearing in patches. Their skin was turning white again, their eyes were no longer bloodthirsty, and even their fallen hair showed signs of growing back!

The Night Demons were turning back into humans.

The farther in they went, the more human the Night Demons became. By the time they passed through the outer area and reached the inner one, the test subjects in the cages looked barely different from ordinary people. Some even seemed quite intelligent. As the women passed, they opened their mouths and made soft, animal-like sounds that seemed almost affectionate.

They're working on a cure.

The professor and the colonel have found a cure for the KV Virus!

Anna quickened her pace. She was usually so caring and attentive to others, but now she didn't want to spare even the slightest bit of attention for the Night Demons, who already looked so much like humans. She held Ethan's hand tightly, moving so fast she was almost running. Just as she was about to urge Ishikawa to hurry up, the space ahead suddenly lit up.

She saw the two men, both wearing white lab coats. But what caught her attention even more was the person strapped to the hospital bed, who looked exactly like an ordinary person... No, she was an ordinary person. She looked around in confusion and unease, making vague sounds.

"Ah... ah... ba-ba..."

The man in the heavy clothes beneath his lab coat looked down at the person on the bed.

"Genetic sequencing is complete. All chromosomes have returned to normal. Every foreign genetic fragment has been identified and removed. At the genetic level, this is now a human being through and through."

"The cerebral cortex has undergone significant reconstruction. All memories from when she was human and from when she was a Night Demon have been completely removed from her mind. She's now a healthy young adult with no education. With a little guidance, she'll be able to live like an ordinary human again."

"...You did it, Colonel Robert. You found a cure for the KV Virus. Now we can infect the creatures carrying the KV Virus once more, so that human traits can overwrite the pathological changes caused by the disease. Congratulations, Robert. You've become humanity's savior."

"It wasn't me. It was us." The other man nodded, letting out a sigh of satisfaction and wonder. "Infection with the KV Virus is irreversible... Without your help, Professor, I might never have discovered the truth. But irreversible doesn't mean unchangeable... Professor, we didn't save humanity. We recreated it."

"We saved human civilization," the professor corrected him. "By erasing humanity's grief and the Night Demons' sins, we've given human civilization enough bodies to live on again. Now all that's left is to increase their numbers."

This time, the colonel accepted the praise.

"You're right, Professor... At the very least, we saved human civilization."

Their voices reached Anna's ears. She gazed dreamily at the newborn lying on the hospital bed. The woman was fair-skinned and strong, and a vague voice echoed endlessly in Anna's heart.

She's one of my people.

She's a treasure.

Joy filled Anna from head to toe. Though she didn't even know the woman's name, she couldn't help wanting to go over and embrace her.

Then she heard Colonel Robert greet her and speak to her.

--[Side Mission Complete—Help Colonel Robert Neville develop a cure for the KV Virus. Reward: 1 B-rank side-story reward and 5,000 points.]

The Main God's announcement rang out.

The side mission Si Ming had triggered finally paid out, just as he'd expected, before the fifteen-day time limit ran out.

He glanced at Major Robert, who was chatting happily with Anna and, unusually, seemed at a loss for what to say. Then he pulled the data storage device from the console and placed a vial of the original compound, tied with a gift ribbon, in the space inside his Dimensional Ring.

This was his reward, the gift he'd been given. The Main God had guaranteed that Compound Six was reliable. He'd told Robert long ago that he would take a vial of the finished compound with him as a souvenir.

Perhaps it really was only a souvenir.

But Si Ming remembered that more than ten years later, in a superhero comedy series called The Boys, its creators had openly admitted that Compound Five, the substance that created so many superheroes, was directly inspired by Compound Six, the one Colonel Robert had developed in I Am Legend.

There might be some mysterious connection between the two—or there might not. Perhaps it was just a simple reference. But it couldn't be ruled out that the drug might have some special effect on Reincarnators.

After all, this is World Two, perfectly suited for laying the foundations of a new team.

Lost in thought, he returned to the shelter's resting room. Shizuka Ishikawa was waiting there. After spending half a month together, he'd more or less come to accept her.

He could tolerate betrayal from newcomers, but not their incompetence.

But if a newcomer proved loyal and obedient, then a little lack of ability wasn't very important.

"Ishikawa." He nodded to the girl. "Get ready. We have one last thing to do."

It was already the final day, but there was still plenty of time before it ended. They could use it to take care of all their remaining objectives.

"I'm ready, Professor." The girl bowed to him, as gentle and obedient as ever. "The colonel's car is ready, and we've mapped out our route. We can leave whenever you're ready."

"Good." Si Ming let out a quiet breath, then hesitated briefly.

"And... once the mission is over, call me Captain, Ishikawa."