Chapter 1768: Curse Breakout!
Chapter 1768: Curse Breakout!
Inside the isolated hospital, panic spread like wildfire as doctors, nurses, and rescue personnel frantically searched every corridor for the Head doctor and Laman.
Confusion gripped everyone. Their disappearance had been so sudden that no one could make sense of it, and no matter which floor they searched or which security-locked room they opened, there wasn’t a single trace of either of them.
“Where are they?”
“We’ve already checked the observation ward. It’s completely empty.”
“Search the control room immediately! Check the surveillance feed!”
Medical staff rushed through the sterile hallways; Their hurried footsteps echoed through the unnaturally silent corridors as they desperately searched for any clue to the pair’s whereabouts.
Then…
Thuck!
A sharp metallic click shattered the footsteps.
One of the ICU isolation chambers slowly unlocked its reinforced door with a mechanical hiss.
The entire group instinctively stopped.
Every pair of eyes slowly turned toward the chamber.
The thick door slid open… revealing several Cursed Humans standing perfectly still inside.
Molten lava continuously dripped from the cracks spreading across their charred flesh, splashing onto the floor with faint sizzling sounds. Their hollow eyes locked onto the people outside without blinking, while heat waves distorted the air around their grotesque bodies.
For one unbearable moment…
Time itself seemed to stop.
No one breathed.
No one moved.
Then…
KYYYRRRRRR!!!
An ear-piercing screech exploded through the hallway.
The Cursed Humans lunged forward all at once.
“NOOO!!”
“RUN!! EVERYONE RUN!!”
Pure instinct took over.
Doctors dropped their tablets. Rescue personnel abandoned their equipment. Everyone turned and sprinted down the corridor, their terrified screams echoing throughout the hospital.
Only for… The emergency doors slammed shut!
BOOM!
Red warning lights instantly flooded the hallway.
[Emergency Lockdown Activated]
They rushed toward the security gate and repeatedly slammed their access cards against the scanner.
Beep.
[Access Denied!]
Again.
Beep.
[Access Denied!]
Again.
Beep.
[Access Denied!]
“Why isn’t it opening?!”
“Come on! Override the lockdown! Open, damn it!”
Hands shook violently as they swiped their access cards over and over, desperation replacing reason.
Beep.
[Access Denied!]
Behind them…
The Cursed Humans didn’t rush.
Instead…
They walked.
Slowly.
Almost leisurely~
Their molten footsteps left glowing footprints across the metallic floor as though they were savoring every second of the chase. Their twisted expressions looked almost amused, as if silently mocking the trapped survivors.
Run… Scream… Beg.
There was nowhere left to go.
Several people collapsed in panic while others desperately grabbed nearby medical equipment, oxygen cylinders, metal chairs, anything they could lift, and hurled them toward the approaching monsters.
CLANG!
The objects smashed directly into the creatures…
Only for burning lava to splash outward.
“ARRGHH!! IT BURNS!! IT BURNS!!”
The molten liquid instantly ate through protective biohazard suits, melting synthetic fibers into flesh. Skin blistered within seconds, and agonizing screams echoed throughout the corridor as victims collapsed onto the floor, writhing in unbearable pain.
The remaining survivors backed away with trembling legs.
Some cried.
Some prayed.
Some simply stood frozen, unable to accept the nightmare unfolding before their eyes.
And soon…
The only sounds left inside the hallway were screams.
“ARRGHHHH!!”
“N-No… NOOOO!!”
“I-I’M SORRY!! PLEASE!!”
Their cries blended with countless others erupting from every floor of the hospital. It was as though the entire building had descended into hell at the exact same moment.
Sporadic gunfire erupted somewhere above, followed by explosions, alarms, and the sickening sounds of flesh being torn apart.
Outside…
The medical tent near the hospital entrance gradually fell silent.
Researchers working tirelessly on the cure slowly raised their heads.
They exchanged uneasy glances.
Something… Was terribly wrong.
One of them immediately activated the internal communication network.
“Central Hospital, respond.”
Nothing.
He tried another frequency.
“ICU Wing, respond immediately.”
Silence.
Only static hissed through the speaker.
Fear slowly spread across every face.
Without wasting another second, they informed the soldiers stationed outside.
One officer cautiously approached the reinforced entrance.
“Wait…”
A researcher grabbed his arm.
“We don’t know what’s happening in there. If something has gone wrong, opening that door could expose everyone outside.”
The warning hung heavily in the air.
Then…
BANG!
BANG!!
The reinforced steel door shook violently.
“OPEN THE DOOR!! DAMN IT!! PLEASE, OPEN IT!!”
The desperate screams from the other side shattered everyone’s composure.
The soldiers exchanged uncertain looks.
However, before they could think, the locking mechanism disengaged itself.
Hiss…
The reinforced door slowly slid open.
Thud!
A black-suited security officer stumbled into view, clutching a gun.
Everyone released a breath of relief.
One of the researchers stepped forward.
“What happened inside?”
The officer looked up.
A broken smile slowly appeared on his face.
It wasn’t relief.
It was the hollow smile of someone who had already died inside.
He staggered forward.
One step.
Then another.
Drip…
Drip…
Something thick splashed onto the ground.
Everyone’s gaze slowly lowered.
Molten lava?
Their expressions froze.
Especially those standing behind him.
His back… was gone.
Everything below his shoulder blades had been burned away, exposing a glowing spine suspended within a body that should never have remained standing. Rivers of molten lava flowed between exposed bones while burnt organs pulsed beneath a translucent layer of superheated flesh.
He was still alive.
Only because something inside him refused to let him die.
His trembling lips parted.
“C-CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!!”
The officer suddenly screamed with every ounce of strength he had left.
But…
It was already too late.
KYYYRRRRRR!!!
Dozens…
Then hundreds…
Of Cursed Humans poured out from the hospital like an unstoppable tidal wave.
The quarantine tent was overrun within seconds. Portable laboratories were crushed beneath molten feet. Autonomous medical drones exploded in showers of sparks. Holographic monitors shattered, scattering fractured blue light across the area as terrified researchers were dragged into the swarm.
“FIRE!! FIRE!! DON’T LET THEM BREAK THROUGH!!”
The soldiers immediately unleashed a relentless barrage.
Yet…
The endless tide refused to stop.
One monster fell.
Three more took its place.
Ten collapsed.
Twenty climbed over their burning corpses.
The wall of bullets accomplished only one thing.
… It delayed the inevitable.
Within a matter of seconds, the soldiers’ defensive line completely collapsed.
The Cursed Humans flooded through the shattered quarantine zone like a broken dam, pouring into the streets in endless numbers. Their inhuman screeches echoed between the towering skyscrapers, bouncing off glass buildings and metallic structures until the entire district sounded like it was screaming alongside them.
But…
Was that the end?
No.
That was merely the beginning.
Across every district of Delta City, the countless suitcases that had been secretly planted suddenly activated at exactly the same moment.
Click…
Click…
Click…
Thousands of electronic locks disengaged simultaneously.
One after another, the lids slowly lifted by themselves.
A thick cloud of yellow-orange vapour poured from inside every suitcase, carrying an unbearable wave of heat that distorted the surrounding air.
Resting neatly inside each case…
Were ten perfectly aligned capsules.
Their transparent shells glowed with a pulsating orange light, while streams of molten liquid slowly circulated inside them like boiling oil!
Unlike what RIN had predicted…
Not every suitcase had remained hidden.
Several had already been discovered by maintenance crews, civilians, or police officers responding to reports of suspicious abandoned luggage.
One particular suitcase had already been surrounded by officers.
The moment its locks disengaged on their own…
Every officer instinctively took several steps backwards.
“Everyone move back!”
Nearby pedestrians hesitated before slowly retreating, though many remained nearby with curiosity overcoming caution.
Some raised their rings to record.
Others whispered among themselves.
“What is that?”
“Military equipment?”
“Maybe another government experiment?”
Nothing happened.
For nearly five long seconds…
Nothing.
The lead officer slowly approached.
His heartbeat echoed inside his ears.
He cautiously knelt beside the open suitcase.
Inside…
Ten strange capsules rested in perfect rows.
Their orange glow reflected across his eyes.
“…What the hell are these?”
Slowly…
He reached out.
The very instant his fingertips came within centimetres of the nearest capsule…
PUFFF!!
BOOM!!
PUFFF!!
BOOM!!
PUFFF!!
BOOM!!
Every capsule launched violently into the sky.
Like rockets.
Each one shot nearly five meters upward before exploding into countless glowing fragments.
Not only here.
Every planted suitcase throughout Delta City activated simultaneously.
It looked… Beautiful.
Workers heading toward corporate towers stopped walking.
Families eating breakfast near outdoor cafés looked upward.
Children pointed excitedly toward the sky.
Young couples smiled.
Even elderly citizens paused to admire the glowing yellow-orange bursts spreading across the city.
“What the…”
“Look!”
“Fireworks?”
“So pretty…”
They simply watched.
Entranced… Mesmerized.
Nobody noticed that the explosions weren’t releasing light.
They were releasing death.
Splash…
Splash…
Splash…
Millions of tiny droplets began falling from the sky.
They looked almost harmless.
Tiny glowing embers.
Like warm rain illuminated by sunset.
Some landed gently on hair.
Others touched shoulders.
Hands.
Faces.
Eyes.
Children laughed as they reached toward the glowing droplets.
Adults barely reacted after feeling something warm touch their skin.
Until…
The droplets moved.
The molten substance didn’t simply sit on the surface.
It crawled… Like something alive.
It spread across skin.
It searched.
Then…
It found a way inside.
The lava forced itself through pores.
It slipped beneath fingernails.
Entered open wounds.
Flowed through tear ducts.
Crawled into mouths during terrified screams.
It invaded the human body with horrifying purpose… attach to them like parasites!
“AAAAAAARRRGGHHHHHH!!”
The police officer collapsed instantly.
His entire body convulsed as every muscle violently locked.
The lava disappeared beneath his skin.
Orange lines immediately burst across his body.
They weren’t burns.
They looked like living veins.
They pulsed.
Expanded.
Moved.
Like something was crawling beneath his flesh.
“No…
GET IT OFF!!
GET IT OFF ME!!”
He desperately clawed at his own arms.
His fingernails peeled away chunks of burning flesh.
It didn’t matter.
The lava wasn’t outside anymore.
It was inside him.
His veins began glowing brighter.
His heartbeat became visible beneath his chest.
Every pulse forced another wave of molten orange throughout his body.
CRACK!!
His fingers suddenly bent backwards.
One by one.
Bones twisted beneath his skin.
His wrists snapped with sickening force before violently correcting themselves into unnatural positions.
“PLEASE!!
HELP ME!!
PLEASE!!”
His voice broke into wet gargles.
His throat bulged.
Something inside his neck moved.
His skin stretched outward as if another creature was trying to claw its way free from beneath his flesh.
Around him…
Thousands experienced the exact same nightmare.
Every street became a symphony of agony.
People clawed at their own faces.
Parents desperately tried wiping the glowing substance off their children, only for the lava to spread onto themselves.
Husbands held screaming wives.
Friends tried pulling each other away.
Doctors exiting nearby clinics rushed forward to help.
Seconds later…
They too began screaming.
The infection spread faster than panic itself.
Human bodies simply… stopped belonging to their owners.
Skin blackened before splitting open like overheated metal.
Molten lava flowed through every crack, replacing blood entirely.
Eyeballs slowly liquefied before bursting apart in showers of burning orange fluid.
A young mother desperately hugged her crying daughter against her chest.
“It’s okay… Mama’s here… Everything will be okay…”
She lied.
The lava had already spread across both of them.
The little girl’s tiny fingers suddenly dug into her mother’s arm hard enough to draw blood.
“M-Mama… It hurts…”
The child’s skin split apart.
Orange light poured from beneath it.
The mother’s eyes widened in horror.
“No… No… Not my baby…”
She tried to hold her tighter.
Instead…
Her own arms suddenly twisted with loud cracking sounds.
Her spine arched backwards.
Her ribs forced themselves outward beneath her skin.
Both mother and daughter screamed together.
Their voices slowly deepened.
Less human.
Until finally…
KYYYYYYYYRRRRRRRR!!!
Their screams became monstrous.
Their eyes burst apart.
Molten lava flooded the empty sockets.
The mother slowly lifted her head.
Her daughter’s tiny body crawled across her shoulders upside down, moving like a giant spider.
Both of them turned simultaneously.
A nearby man froze.
“…G-Goddess…”
He whispered.
Both monsters stared at him.
Completely still.
Then…
Their heads tilted together.
“KYYYYAAARRRRRRR!!!”
The Cursed Mother crossed nearly fifteen meters in a single leap.
Before the man could even raise his arms…
She bit straight through his neck.
The impact alone lifted him off the ground.
Blood sprayed across the street.
At the same time, the Cursed Child launched itself onto his chest.
Its tiny molten fingers dug through his ribs as glowing lava spread across his body like living roots searching for every vein.
He screamed.
The scream lasted only seconds.
His body convulsed.
His eyes rolled backwards.
Then…
Orange light slowly filled them.
<>
[UNKNOWN BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION DETECTED]
[POPULATION INFECTION RATE… ESCALATING]
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