Fog City region, Westminster City.
"I am in a city that never stops devouring people. Here, the haze of despair sears my throat and fouls my eyes, while those terrifying viruses continue to claim more innocent lives without the slightest pause."
Valente Bernard wrote this sentence in his black notebook. The people who had died of the epidemic outside Fog City had left an indelible impression on him, and the desperate howls of patients covered in spots had jolted him awake many times.
Scratch, scratch, scratch-
Valente's pen-wielding hand kept moving across the notebook.
"What exactly is the source of the disease? This plague was not caused by sanitation or water problems. People outside always say the epidemic first spread from Florence to the Fog City region, but the Fog City region is on Broteria Island. The English Channel separates us from mainland Youyang. If the epidemic really is so virulent, why are the neighboring regions of Stockholm and Oslo unaffected?"
"I have always had an absurd thought: could this plague be man-made?"
"If so, who possesses enough power to infect all of Youyang? And what is its purpose?"
Knock, knock, knock-
Just as Valente continued writing in his notebook.
Valente frowned and stopped his furiously writing right hand. A familiar voice called from outside the room.
"Valente, the reception is about to begin. Ms. Sawyer Demi will be there too."
Valente did not like Callaway's familiar tone outside the door. He barely knew the man. No, in truth, he did not have many friends in Fog City at all. He was a student who had come from Sicily to study in Fog City.
Other people found Valente extremely dull. His field of study was too dry and specialized. Although he enjoyed reading, his books were far too abstruse. Those