96. Chapter 96: Only This Much Flesh and Blood Remains, Not Enough to Support Your Resurrection
Among the remnants, the spider monster's flesh and blood were still struggling. It seemed unwilling to die just like that, but the fact proved that its speed of adapting to the flame was far from being able to resist the damage caused by the flame. Ultimately, the only thing left was a mass of pitch-black carbonized substance.
The three of them quietly watched as the flame gradually extinguished.
Afterward, Xia Shang walked up to the pile of ash and picked up the remaining carbonized substance on the ground. The carbonized substance was only the size of a ping pong ball, its surface covered with tiny pores. It was very hard; Xia Shang had to use force to crush it.
"What a pity, only this much flesh and blood remains, not enough to support your resurrection," Xia Shang opened his palm. In the pile of crushed carbon in the center of his palm, a tiny fiber of flesh and blood could be seen twitching reflexively.
Although the spider monster couldn't be resurrected, its performance was enough to prove the astonishing potential of its ability.
"Let's go."
Xia Shang discarded the charcoal in his hand and followed the two towards the First Floor.
Based on his research over the past few days and its performance in the source material, the following conclusions can be drawn. First, the desire monster is insatiable. It's like a parasite, attaching itself inside the human body, and gradually growing stronger the more desire it consumes.
Second, a monster's ability is related to desire. The stronger the desire, the higher the growth potential of the ability. However, this doesn't mean the ability can grow infinitely.
Because after turning into a monster, the main body's consciousness enters the Mirror Space. In this space, the main body can satisfy all its desires, and the stronger the desire, the faster it is satisfied.
Once the desire is completely satisfied, the monster in reality will turn into a cocoon, from which a desireless new human will evolve.
Third, the desire monster will gradually develop an independent consciousness as the host resists over time. This time should be fifteen days. At this point, the mirror image understands that the host can no longer be controlled by it.
At this time, there are two choices before it: either coexist with the host and fuse into one, or fight to the death and completely occupy everything of the host. The final result of both choices is becoming a Special Infected.
In the former case, the desire monster will not disappear but will appear when the Infected uses their ability.
In the latter case, if successful, the desire monster will completely fuse with the host, indistinguishable from each other. Furthermore, after absorbing all the host's memory, the desire monster will regard itself as the host, not the desire image.
Therefore, it is impossible for the Infected to control desire. Desire is like a spring that doesn't deform; constantly suppressing it will only cause it to erupt at a critical point.
Of course, there is also the option of shattering desire like Xia Shang did, but due to the panel, Xia Shang cannot be sure if the Infected can still possess abilities after their desire is shattered.
Furthermore, besides Xia Shang, probably no one knows that desire can be shattered or is capable of shattering desire, so the above possibility doesn't exist.
The three walked down the stairs in silence, as if each of them had something hidden in their hearts. When they reached the fourth floor, they unexpectedly met Lee Eun-yu who had just come out of her Room.
"Are you guys also planning to go to the First Floor?" Lee Eun-yu in the Room had chosen to leave after hearing her brother Lee Eun-hyuk's broadcast.
"Yeah," Cha Hyun-soo nodded, but his gaze remained fixed on the wound that had already healed. Suddenly, the familiar feeling surged again. Cha Hyun-soo immediately covered his nosebleed, but this couldn't stop the blood from dripping between his fingers.
"You're an Infected, aren't you? That wound on your leg."
Pyeon Sang-wook said in a deep voice. In fact, he had already noticed the anomalous situation happening to Cha Hyun-soo, but he hadn't pointed it out.
Cha Hyun-soo turned to look at him. "I don't have much time left. I must do something during this period."
After speaking, he tightened his grip on the electric gun and prepared to turn and leave. But Pyeon Sang-wook held his shoulder. "You want to hunt monsters alone?"
"Why not? Didn't we just kill a monster? And I won't get injured," Cha Hyun-soo's tone became a little excited as he spoke, protecting others by killing monsters.
This seemed to have allowed Cha Hyun-soo to find his value.
Pyeon Sang-wook sensed that Cha Hyun-soo's condition was a bit off. This kind of eagerness to kill monsters could easily evolve into desire. So, without a word, he punched Cha Hyun-soo in the face. "Wake up. Don't let desire completely devour your inner self."
Cha Hyun-soo, hit by the punch, had a somewhat blank look in his eyes.
"Don't rush, your body is important. I'll help check it later," Xia Shang said with a smile, patting his shoulder.
It was the concern from these two that allowed Cha Hyun-soo's emotions to calm down. Coming back to his senses, he realized that he had indeed been acting strangely just now. "I'm sorry, my auditory hallucinations have been quite severe recently."
On the other side.
Jung Jae-heon and his companion successfully escorted Seo Yi-kyung to Uncle Han Du-sik's home. They didn't stay for too long, as they had promised Cha Hyun-soo to meet up with him immediately after dropping off Seo Yi-kyung.
At this time, An Seon-yeong was taking care of the weak Seo Yi-kyung. Seo Yi-kyung took out her mobile phone and looked at the photo of herself and her husband on it, recalling past memories in her mind.
Just as she was drinking porridge, she suddenly felt a wave of nausea and couldn't help but dry heave. The experienced An Seon-yeong noticed her anomalous situation. "Are you pregnant?"
"Pregnant?" Seo Yi-kyung touched her stomach. An Seon-yeong, standing beside her, had a face full of auntie smiles. She looked warmly at Seo Yi-kyung's abdomen: "It looks like there's a baby. I remember I have a pregnancy test in my Room. We'll know later if my guess is correct."
Soon, she retrieved the pregnancy test and handed it to Seo Yi-kyung.
Seo Yi-kyung looked at the pregnancy test in her hand, momentarily unable to recover from this significant news.
Meanwhile.
Xia Shang and the others had arrived at the First Floor.
As Cha Hyun-soo's nosebleed kept flowing, the Residents of the Apartment, seeing this, instinctively stepped back, wanting to stay away from Cha Hyun-soo. Seeing their panicked and even disgusted eyes, Cha Hyun-soo's auditory hallucinations appeared again.
"See their eyes? In their eyes, you're a monster. These people you want to protect don't care about anything you do. They just want you to die quickly, and preferably die far away," the blackening Cha Hyun-soo appeared beside him, saying with a smirk.
"Give up that childish idea in your heart. Think about it, how did those people you once helped ultimately repay you?"
His voice pulled Cha Hyun-soo into his memories. During his school days, he had tried to help a boy who was also suffering from School Bullying like him. As a result, the boy decisively betrayed him, causing him to suffer even more severe bullying from the School Bully...
These experiences floated before his eyes one by one, as if trying to drag him into the abyss.
Actually, the source material didn't explain this aspect very clearly (of course, the comic book wrote a little, but it doesn't fit well with the film and television adaptation). The above are all the Author's personal guesses and summaries. If there are any inaccuracies, please forgive or point them out.
(end of chapter)