Marina stood petrified in front of the kitchen, her eyes wide. ’When... when did he get infected by the plague?’

Nicholas knelt, his hands pressed onto the earth as he gasped for breath. A thick black fog leaked out from his ears, forming a dark cloud over his head.

"Katherine!" Marina quickly snapped back to her senses, covering the little girl’s nose and pinching hers. She moved backwards, keeping a safe distance from Nick.

"Don’t breathe it in. Go get me my phone now!" she ordered. The little girl looked at her with confusion mixed with fear. The reaction was expected, since this was her first time seeing someone who was infected by the plague.

"Go get me my phone!" Marina yelled, snapping the little girl out of her daze.

Katherine nodded, pinching and covering her nose, and quickly rushing to get the phone. Marina turned her gaze back to Nicholas, her eyes filled with worry. This was her second time witnessing an infected person in the awakening state; she could only hope the results would be different this time.

’Hot, it’s hot... My body, it’s burning—ah!’ Nicholas winced, clutching his head and letting out a pained groan.

Just when he thought the pain couldn’t get any worse, it did!

Ten times more than it was before.

Not just that, but his body... It felt as though his insides were burning.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He tried standing, but could barely feel his muscles.

’Was... I poisoned? What’s going on? Is it...?’ Nicholas’ thoughts stirred. ’Heat, headache... breathlessness.’

The description matched exactly with that of the plague that Nicholas had learnt about from the memories of the previous host.

Nicholas didn’t pay much attention to it, as he didn’t feel the need to. In the end, he just narrowed it down to avoiding anyone infected by the plague so he didn’t get infected. The only issue, though, was the fact that...

’...This fucker was already infected...’

Katherine returned quickly with the phone. Marina hastily dialled the first number that came to mind.

"What a peaceful day." A smile cut across the officer’s face as he leaned back into his chair, taking a sip of his coffee.

Ringggg!~

"Shit, I jinxed it!" He bit his lip, taking a deep breath and keeping a calm and practiced look. "Hello, this is the—"

"There’s... there’s an Awakening Infected! Detroit City, Flat 12!" Marina’s voice echoed through the phone, bridled with anxiety, fear, and worry.

The officer’s expression instantly shifted, hardening into a stoic expression.

"How dense is the fog?" He leaned forward, pressing hard on his terminal.

"It’s forming a cloud!"

’Shit!’

"Relax, ma’am, the agency will be there in a few minutes. In the meantime... evacuate the building. All the occupants should evacuate immediately. The agency will be there." He quickly turned to his terminal. "Code black! I repeat, code black! Detroit City, Flat 12!"

The plague had started a few decades back. At first, the emergence of a disease that caused well-trained pets to grow into mindless creatures didn’t attract much attention. But as these pets began to awaken supernatural abilities, the world panicked. Of course, by then it was already too late.

Soon, people were affected too. At first, they felt a surge of emotions and desires... but then their most powerful desires grew much more intense... almost consuming. That desire birthed abilities. However, during this process, there was the high possibility of becoming mindless creatures like the beasts, thus becoming an impure.

On the other hand, those who weren’t overwhelmed by their desires soon became the known heroes of the day.

While the idea of being a hero was fun, not many people would love to because of the risk involved. Nicholas would’ve never expected to find himself in such a strange situation at the moment.

Because the only thing that kept coming to his mind at this moment was...

’Boobs...’

Nicholas gritted his teeth. The pain from the headache was ebbing out but was soon replaced by a powerful desire to press boobs.

"Wh.. what the fuck’s going through my mind?" Nicholas thought as he sat on the cold floor of the kitchen, resting his back against the cupboard. "It should be the effect of the stupid plague... since when did my greatest desire become tits?"

Suddenly realizing something, Nicholas facepalmed. ’Oh, that’s right, it’s not my desires...’

How could he forget that he currently possessed the body of a professional gooner? Even in death, his lust was still so much. His mind was flooded with all the images of naked cute anime girls he’d gooned to.

Nicholas could feel the wood below his crotch rise. ’This guy... Do I have to still deal with you even after you’re dead?’

Nicholas didn’t know whether to cry or laugh with the situation he found himself in. Thankfully, no one was there at the time.

’That’s right, Marina left. She said the agency would be here to help in no time... But big sis has good boobs too, and her ass is... Get the fuck out of my mind, bastard!’ Nicholas let out an irritated chuckle.

"When will they be here?... This guy is becoming harder to deal with... I feel hot." He raised his head, looking down at his twitching crotch. ’Damn it.’ He ignored the little wood and shifted his gaze back up.

The dark fog had covered the entire kitchen, and it didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Nicholas was trying his best to get his mind away from the thoughts swirling in his mind, but wherever he turned, all he saw was the manifestation of girls in nice bunny suits. He didn’t have to wait long, though, as the blaring sounds of sirens filled the entire neighbourhood.

’Finally,’ he thought, an intense feeling of euphoria swelling in his chest.

The entire house was heavily guarded. Several police cars surrounded the house from all sides, and the officers stood right beside the vehicles, armed with automatic rifles.

Their eyes focused ahead with grim expressions on their faces. Their steady breaths could be heard clearly through the oxygen masks they had on, since inhaling the fog from an infected could also affect one. It was mandatory that they each had one.

Soon, a black Jaguar XJ6 roared to a stop in front of the area. Stepping out from the car was a lady wearing a long brown coat, with a simple black T-shirt and jeans. She snuffed out her cigarette.

’The fog is dense, his desire must be strong,’ she thought, looking at the building that had black fog leaking out from it. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Without a word, she casually strode past the caution tape and straight towards the chief officer.

"Hero agency, A-rank supervisor." She held her badge up, getting a nod of approval from the officer. "What’s the situation here?"

The chief officer quickly glanced at his watch. "It’s been 10 minutes since we arrived here, ma’am. The boy hasn’t shown any signs of completing his awakening... The fog is too much, so we can’t enter to confirm either... we don’t know if he succeeded or if he’s become an impure already."

’10 minutes? That’s a lot in most cases. That’s more than enough time to finish the awakening. If he awakened an ability, then the fog should’ve dispersed by now, shouldn’t it? With a fog this dense, he’ll probably awaken a powerful ability... but it also means he could most likely be an A-rank—no, S-ranked impure.’ Selena let out a long sigh.

"Who called? A relative, right?"

"It was his sister, she’s over there." The officer pointed towards Marina, who was in front of the caution tape, tears almost leaking from her eyes, clearly confused and worried about the outcome. The awakening didn’t usually take so long.

She felt a gentle squeeze around her palm. Her gaze shifted quickly to the little girl just beside her.

"Big sis, will brother be fine? What’s happening... so many officers around the house." Her innocent brown eyes welled up as she stared at her big sister, hoping to get a clear answer with all the confusion around her.

Marina forced a smile back at the little girl. The tears she had long since been holding back finally seeped out... They were all she had left; their parents had died after turning into impures. It was just the three siblings, looking out for each other, and now the same plague had returned to claim another.

"Big brother will be alright." Maria reassured her little sister, even though she wasn’t so sure herself.

From the short distance, Selena could hear everything, and she couldn’t help but feel saddened by the sight.

"I’ll be heading inside now. What room?"

"Room 12, ma’am."

"Contact the agency to bring any nearby heroes... I have a feeling something bad is about to happen," Selena said, her gaze fixed ahead. With a long, deep breath, she walked up the stairs into the apartment.

The fog curled around her as she took the first step in. "It reeks," Selena pinched her nose.

’This guy’s really going to give the agency a run for its money if he becomes a hero... but with how long this has gone on, I don’t think that’ll be the case....’

With a sharp turn, she finally arrived at the room number, walking inside calmly. ’The fog’s denser... He’s definitely here.’

She walked into the kitchen, seeing the figure with his back against the cupboard, tightly gritting his teeth.

’What?! He’s still awake?’ Her eyes widened with surprise. ’This guy’s been fighting back for so long?’.

She quickly bent down. "Are your emotions still unstable? How do you feel?" Selena asked.

Holding up his head in close proximity, she was still waiting for a reply when she suddenly felt a hand on her chest.

"Your boobs... they’re soft."