Sun Ya extended the scalpel, gently prying the heart open.
Earlier, they had only examined the front, completely missing the sharp, horn-like protrusion jutting from the side of the organ.
As the tip of the blade peeled back the muscle, the object concealed behind the heart was instantly exposed to the harsh light.
A bright red, olive-shaped lump of flesh.
The two leaned in for a closer look. Su Jin's heart hammered against his ribs, his pupils pinning to dots. "Is this... a lymph node?"
"Not lymph." Sun Ya looked at Su Jin in shock. "There are lymphatic capillaries in myocardial tissue, but even severe pathology wouldn't cause a mutation like this, let alone in this exact position. This thing doesn't belong in a human body... Is your heart racing? Do you suddenly feel starving?"
"Yes." Su Jin nodded, a tremor running through his jaw as he met the old doctor's gaze. "You... you feel it too?"
"What the hell is this? The craving... it's getting stronger." Su Jin's features contorted.
Hunger!
The moment they laid eyes on the full fleshy orb, a primal, ravenous urge clawed at their insides. The thing radiated a magnetic pull, urging them to eat it!
Even sitting amidst a pile of rotting, foul-smelling viscera, the impulse was nearly impossible to fight.
Fortunately, both men possessed ironclad willpower, remaining in control of themselves.
Sun Ya drew a slow breath, his eyes locked onto the fleshy orb as he muttered to himself: "When a person is starving, the brain changes how they perceive taste. Viscera—high-calorie but rancid—becomes the body's top priority. Food that would normally turn our stomachs can seem delicious. The body wants the nutrients."
"Old Sun, what the hell are you muttering about? Are you losing it?!" Su Jin hurriedly grabbed the old doctor's shoulder and shook him.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Sun Ya shook his head slowly, deep in thought. "I'm just wondering... is this thing tempting us, or are our bodies instinctively craving it?"
"Makes sense. I feel like swallowing it would give me some kind of miraculous power."
"Would you drop the novel fantasies? You're a grown man, why are you acting like a child?!"
Sun Ya cut the lump of flesh free.
He set it on the table, preparing to slice it open.
Su Jin reached out to stop him. "Wait, let me do it... I'm wearing thicker gear. If this thing bursts with highly corrosive acid, we're screwed."
Sun Ya nodded, stepping back to yield the table to Su Jin.
"Cut it, but be careful."
The blade pressed against the lump.
Upon contact, the texture was completely wrong—it was like carving into a tough rubber ball.
It felt as if applying any more brute force would cause whatever was inside to violently gush out.
Su Jin adjusted his grip, angling the tip to pierce straight down.
It popped like thick pigskin... then he followed through with a downward diagonal slice.
A little tissue at the bottom kept the two halves attached.
The ravenous hunger surging in both their guts violently multiplied, simulating the gnawing agony of several days without food!
Jaw clenched, Su Jin slowly opened the fleshy orb with his hands.
Sun Ya's pupils dilated in response; what lay inside held both men's attention.
Logically, slicing the exterior should have cleaved the core right down the middle.
Instead, the membrane peeled back like the skin of a lychee.
Resting perfectly intact in the center was a perfectly clear sphere of liquid. Not a single scratch from the blade marred its surface. It was so transparent it was almost invisible to the naked eye.
Sun Ya studied it, forcefully suppressing his visceral unease, before glancing up at Su Jin. "It looks like a pocket of water... Your vision is different from most people's. Do you see anything special?"
"Water? To me, it's glowing. Iridescent. It looks beautiful, like something precious." Su Jin's nerves were pulled taut.
While he couldn't see the plain liquid Sun Ya described, the core of the fleshy orb shimmered with a prismatic halo that swirled endlessly to his eyes.
Unlike the gray mist, it was beautiful and gave off no ominous feeling.
"Dump it into this tray." Sun Ya tapped the sterile metal tray he had prepared on the table.
Su Jin nodded.
The moment he tipped his hands, everything went to hell!
The jelly-like water orb rolled onto his index finger, sliding down to the webbing of his thumb. The iridescent light inside passed through his glove and vanished.
The water orb broke apart between his thumb and forefinger, evaporating into nothingness.
"What just happened!?"
The sudden vanishing act made the hairs on the back of Sun Ya's neck stand on end.
A cold sweat broke out over Su Jin as he stared blankly at the doctor: "I think... I think I absorbed it..."
The second the words left his mouth, a violent surge of boiling heat rocketed straight to his skull. His ears rang with a deafening buzz, his vision went dark, and he slumped into unconsciousness. As he spiraled into the dark, he could faintly hear Sun Ya's frantic screaming.
"Xiao Li! Xiao Li!!"
....
"Is the Director going to wake up? The sun's already up."
"He's burning up with a fever. Keep your hands off him; it will be trouble if he turns into a zombie."
"From what I've seen, he doesn't seem to be turning... Look at his rapid eye movement. Zombies probably don't dream."
"He's waking up, he's awake! Fu Hu, have your gun ready!"
In the suffocating darkness, Su Jin dragged his eyelids open against the blurry, unfocused light.
He tried to stretch, only to find heavy ropes biting into his wrists and ankles.
It took another two agonizing minutes for the fog in his brain to clear. He shook his heavy head, his voice cracking like sandpaper: "What's the status..."
"He can still speak, he's okay!" Fu Qingdai's worried face lit up.
Sun Ya crouched down, using a small wooden stick to carefully poke Su Jin in the cheek. "Xiao Li... you still with us?"
"Water... get me some water, cough!"
Hearing this, Fu Qingdai scrambled to the kitchen for a glass. Just as she leaned in to help him drink, Sun Ya stopped her!
"Careful! Use a long spoon. Keep your distance."
"Heh... heheh..."
A collective chill swept through the room at the sound of Su Jin's dark, raspy laughter.
Sun Ya's face hardened: "What's so funny?!"
"An elder in the house is a treasure... Better to be careful."
"You little bastard! You still have the energy to crack jokes?! You nearly gave us all a collective heart attack!" Sun Ya cursed, snatching a long-handled spoon to carefully tip water into Su Jin's mouth. "Do you remember what went down?"
Gulping down the lukewarm water, Su Jin cleared his throat: "I remember my body absorbing that liquid orb. After that, I was trapped in a fever dream. I felt a current of air rushing around inside me."
Sun Ya jotted down the symptoms with his pen, asked him several more questions, peeled back Su Jin's eyelids to check his dilation, and finally allowed his shoulders to drop.
"You're lucid, seems like there's no problem. Should we cut you loose?"
Su Jin shook his head: "Not yet. Watch me a little longer. Something feels strange about my body... I feel completely weightless, like I could float right out of this chair."
"If you're lucid, the rest is a minor concern... Cut him loose, we'll keep watching him!" Sun Ya ordered decisively.
Ignoring Fu Hu's panicked objections, Fu Qingdai darted forward and quickly untied the ropes binding Su Jin.
"Brother, are you sure you're okay?" Fu Qingdai asked, hovering anxiously.
Su Jin gave her hand a reassuring pat and hauled himself to his feet beneath the room's terrified gaze.
The second he locked his knees, that bizarre floating sensation grew stronger.
Su Jin locked eyes with the far wall. An idea struck him.
"Nobody panic. Something strange is happening to my body. I need to try something!"
Then, he bolted straight at the wall, running up it in a few quick strides.
He twisted his torso, shifted his center of mass, and ran along the wall, his entire body pitched parallel to the living room floor!
He maintained the impossible sprint right up until the corner of the room, where—under the jaw-dropped stares of his crew—he fell to the floor with a thud.