Su Jin woke up to a splitting hangover, with a pounding headache.
He glanced at the window; the sun was already high in the sky. It was noon.
Taking in his surroundings, he realized he had passed out and someone had moved him to the spare bedroom.
Fu Qingdai sat on a small stool beside the bed, resting her chin on her hands as she quietly studied him.
The moment he stirred, she immediately sat up straight.
Su Jin propped himself up on one elbow, shooting her a sideways glance. "Why aren't you training? What are you doing here?"
Her face instantly fell. "I just finished... I came to check on you. Brother, did something major happen? Did you poison those two people yesterday with chocolate?"
Su Jin took a slow breath and nodded. "Yes, there is a problem. But I can handle it. Not a word of this to your parents."
"I didn't. If you tell me to keep my mouth shut, I wouldn't dare say a thing," Fu Qingdai hesitated. "But what exactly happened? Can't you tell me?"
"You're too young. I'm afraid you might let it slip, so drop it."
He rubbed his face, feeling a sliver of his energy return. "But remember this: we aren't going to sit in this building waiting to die. Sooner or later, we have to move. When we do, never trust a stranger. If someone in our group gets injured, stay on high alert."
"If anyone makes you feel uncomfortable or gives off a weird vibe... just kill them."
With that, Su Jin reached for the nightstand, picked up the Silver Gun, and offered it to her.
"Take this gun to protect yourself."
"Then what will you use?" Fu Qingdai didn't reach for it, staring at him instead.
"I've got superpowers now, and I'm practically immune to the infection. I don't need the gun as much," Su Jin said with practiced patience. "Besides, I have a spare. I'll find more guns later."
He tossed the Silver Gun into her lap, pushed the window open, and pointed at the sky. "Fire one shot into the sky. Get a feel for the recoil."
Fu Qingdai gripped the pistol in both hands, aimed out the window, and squeezed the trigger.
"Nngh!"
"Shoot. What are you waiting for?"
"I'm trying! The trigger won't budge!"
"Squeeze harder!"
"I am! Is it rusted shut?" Her face flushed a deep crimson, her trigger finger turning pale from the strain.
Su Jin frowned, took the gun and pointed it out the window.
Bang!
The gunshot cracked through the air without a hitch.
Staring thoughtfully at the gun, Su Jin scanned the room.
He found his bag beside the bed.
He usually carried it, and everyone knew not to touch it. Sun Ya must have put it there after Su Jin passed out.
Su Jin opened the bag, held it out to Fu Qingdai, and commanded, "Reach in. Tell me what you feel."
"What do you mean?" she asked, though she obediently slid her hand inside.
She rummaged around for a few seconds before pulling her empty hand out, looking at him with utter confusion.
"It's totally empty."
"Ah..."
Su Jin let out a long, exhausted sigh.
It seemed the "office supplies" provided by his company were strictly bound to him. No one else seemed able to use them.
He could understand why only he could use the spatial bag, but a weapon that couldn't be handed off to a teammate was inconvenient.
Sure, it generated its own ammunition, but the reload took time. If they just had a steady supply of bullets, an ordinary gun would be more useful.
This limited how he could use the weapons he had. Damn that company.
He took a chocolate bar from the bag, and handed it to her. "You can't use the equipment from my home world. I'll find you a weapon later. For now, keep practicing with the bow."
"Keep this chocolate on you. If anyone ever threatens you, find a way to make them eat it. Whatever you do, don't eat it yourself. And watch over your parents."
Fu Qingdai examined the wrapper, slipped it into her pocket, and nodded seriously. "Got it, Brother."
"Alright, go pour me a glass of water."
She gave a crisp nod and stood up from the stool.
The second she turned around, her legs gave out, and she dropped to her knees.
She tried to rise, but dropped to her knees again.
She looked back at Su Jin in embarrassment, then used the wardrobe to pull herself up, her face burning red.
"Alright, go rest your legs. Forget the water," Su Jin snorted, amused.
"No! I'll get it!"
She insisted. Trembling like a newborn deer, she held the wall as she walked, inching her way out of the bedroom.
...
A short while later, Su Jin hauled himself out of bed and stood by the living room window.
The window stood open, sunlight falling across his muscular body.
As he basked in the light, the residual exhaustion and the pounding hangover rapidly evaporated from his system.
He clenched his fists, feeling his strength. His mood lifted with it.
"Xiao Li," Sun Ya's voice echoed from the hallway.
Su Jin turned to face him.
Sun Ya offered a faint smile. "You haven't forgotten our little chat from yesterday, have you?"
"I wouldn't dare."
"Good. Come downstairs. Old Wei and I have some new findings to discuss with you."
...
Down in the crude fifth-floor laboratory, the three men sat down.
Su Jin stared at the cage in mild surprise. Inside, Mouse Number Three had its mouth split open halfway down its body, gnawing at the wire cage. "What happened to it?"
"We prodded it with some skewers. It realized it had been discovered and stopped hiding, and has been trying to attack us ever since," Wei De replied with a grimace.
"Let's talk about what we found." Sun Ya clapped his hands to draw their attention.
"Old Wei and I worked through the night. We made a few discoveries."
"Factoring in your field reports from yesterday, these hidden mutants are quite different from what we imagined."
Su Jin listened closely.
Sun Ya continued: "Broadly speaking, infected creatures fall into two groups. One is zombies; the other is the Disguised Infected. But they are not on the same side. The disguised variants are not infectious, and zombies attack them."
"Oh?" Su Jin's eyes lit up.
"Don't celebrate just yet," Sun Ya cautioned, pressing his hands flat against the table. "Zombies attack them because zombies instinctively attack living things. However, the Disguised Infected have no interest in attacking zombies. They only fight back when attacked. They retain their usual habits but feel a strong urge to attack uninfected creatures."
Su Jin sighed, his brief spark of optimism dying out. "Does the mutation make creatures smarter? Because Mouse Number Three hid itself well."
"It's a strong possibility," Sun Ya nodded.
"I disagree," Wei De interjected. "Mice are naturally clever. It sensed we were a threat and hid—that is normal for a mouse. But the moment we looked away, it completely failed to suppress its bloodlust and devoured another mouse. That impulsivity implies its actual intelligence hasn't increased at all."
"How intelligent a Disguised Infected is probably depends on how intelligent it was before infection."
"Furthermore, based on our limited sample size, there may be three kinds of change. First, the person becomes violent but is otherwise physically ordinary."
"Second, the creature gains unusual powers, much like yourself, while retaining a perfectly normal exterior."
"Third, the body itself changes. Take No. 3 here. If you strip away the fur, the underlying anatomy has mutated into something visibly different."
As he spoke, the mouse opened its bloodied mouth almost halfway down its body and violently rammed its face against the iron bars. Soft thuds.
Sun Ya glanced at the frantic creature. "Old Wei and I came to a consensus last night. We can be fairly sure of one thing. Regardless of how 'smart' these Disguised Infected appear to be, they have lost one ability that ordinary humans possess."
"What ability?" Su Jin asked.
Both old men looked up, locking eyes with him.
"Delayed gratification."