Shadow In Your Mind [ARC 1- 5]

Chapter 134 - Not everyone has the same degree of fear and durability

An extra chapter as a 'welcome gift' for a new patron of 'Sea Pearl', Nicky!

XG 134 - Not everyone has the same degree of fear and durability

Of course, some argued that only three subjects were not enough to form any reliable conclusion, so they sent three more volunteers to undergo a session with Woojin. All three of them have different activation percentages and symptoms, and many agreed that the activation percentage depends also on their mental state.

Not everyone has the same degree of fear and durability.

Among the testers, the one currently with the highest activation rate was eighty-one percent. It was very close to a hundred percent but the volunteer with eighty-one percent refused to undergo another session, too distraught with his own fear. He could not even bring himself to agree when he was allowed to have the next sessions at his own pace.

When others saw his state, their enthusiasm to undergo the natural awakening method dropped like a landslide.

The natural awakening method to activate their gene had its own benefits, but it also had its own risk. Not everyone needed the same amount of exposure to fully activate their gene, and they hypothesised that the stronger their possible ability, the longer the exposure they would need. Their only way to check a person's durability was their body signals. It was similar to cases where people assumed they could overwork with little sleep, only to die the next moment from their overconfidence in their own bodies.

Plus, the most worrying thing was Miu's ability had failed to see how long was it necessary for each person's exposure. There was no suitable tool to time a person's exposure, other than a timer, which was a risky thing to do. After all, it depends on a person's judgment on when to stop the timer, which could be stopped after an accident, not before.

In the end, it was Mina, with a fifty-six activation rate, who volunteered to undergo the second session after resting a day. She succeeded in reaching the hundred percent activation rate on the second try and proved that natural shots have no overdose risk.

"Congratulations on being the first!" Someone started clapping and others joined in.

"If you feel uncomfortable, quickly inform us," Chen YiWen said.

"Team leader, I was so absorbed in my fear and pain that there was no time for me to focus on my ideal ability," Mina explained apologetically, but no one blamed her. She was the first one that finished the entire process without harming her mind permanently and her colleague has nothing but admiration for her.

However, unlike the booster shot, the natural awakening does not allow self-customizing ability.

"I doubt you are able to customize your ability without an extra shot of genes. If you are genetically weak, then you will naturally grow up weak without extra supplements."

"My ability isn't weak," Mina grumbled. Although her ability was far from what she wished, it was still pretty cool to be able to walk past solid objects, even if it was only for two minutes.

"Didn't you always knock over something? I remember you even walked into the door yesterday?" Someone recalled, accompanied by laughter that had Mina sulk.

"Even your body knows what you need!"

"Hey, Mina, at least you will be safe from being bitten by zombies!" A fellow researcher said cheerfully, and many followed to cheer along.

Watching at the side, Chin Chun smiled at Wong Xue Guo. "I never thought you would have Woojin to be useful in such a manner."

Wong Xue Guo blinked and innocently asked, "Have I perhaps interrupted my elder brother's plans for Woojin?"

"I had a plan for him, but you did not interrupt anything important. You did a good job figuring out how to use his ability in a more useful way."

"May I know what are your original plans for him?" Wong Xue Guo asked curiously.

"His ability is suited for interrogating stubborn people that refuse to speak. Woojin could play the 'bad' cop while his teacher would play 'good' cop."

Wong Xue Guo was curious about what kind of people Chin Chun wanted Woojin to interrogate. Were they the suspected mastermind behind the apocalypse? "Even if Woojin is going to help us activate genes naturally, that does not mean he could not help elder brother as well."

"Xue Guo is right." Chin Chun softly chuckled. "If your name is not on the list, you would have inherited the gang."

Wong Xue Guo shook her head. "That is certainly not true."

She could not imagine her father making that decision, or even envision herself being a 'Lady boss'.

"That is Godfather's wish," Chin Chun revealed. "But after knowing your death date, Godfather and Godmother agreed that you do not need to involve yourself with the gang matters. They could protect you instead of having you learn to protect yourself because they will still be alive at that date. They want you to live happily and do whatever you want in your life without regrets."

In the deepest part of her heart, the little girl that had never raised her head for a long time slowly raised her tiny head.

Wong Xue Guo does not feel traumatized from old memories and thus could continue her natural 'shot' sessions. But the image of the indifferent Chen Yibo still made her uneasy about what else she would see in the next exposure and thus delayed the next meeting.

Anyway, no one pressured her, especially not Chen Yibo.

Perhaps the booster shot was much easier to handle, but it would ruin her body, so Chen Yibo did not ask her to consider that activation method. Even if she showed mild side effects from the natural awakening process, that does not mean she would be safe from the booster shot's side effects.

"What about you? Which one will you choose?" Wong Xue Guo asked as she ate her breakfast in the cafeteria with Chen Yibo. Normally, she would not speak during meal times, not even with her close friends, Nurul Hanani and Low Lin Ya. Low Lin Ya's chattering was enough to fill her silence.

But after frequently visiting the laboratory cafeteria and seeing how happy the others were eating while talking, she had the sudden impulse to join in the fun.

Besides, it was hard to resist not talking to Chen Yibo, like a schoolgirl attracted to her crush.

"I will try with natural awakening." Chen Yibo pointed at the peas on Wong Xue Guo's plate. "Do you want to eat it?"

With a shake of her head, he helped her finish them. It was not the first time she expressed her dislike towards peas and abandoned them at a corner of her plate even if the food was getting scarce now. Albeit knowing her distaste, Chen Yibo always asked her, with the thought that maybe she might want to eat it one day. If she still refused to eat it, he would then help her eat it.

Wong Xue Guo was feeling conflicted about whether to learn to be less picky in food, as recently, the food team collected a lot of pea cans and wanted to finish them off before the expiry date hits. Everyone gets the same food in a meal box style, not giving anyone any choice.

"My father was contacted by Uncle Charles last night. It's afternoon in Zinnia and they seem to be doing well. Did your parents call you?"

"My mother messaged me not to come over to Zinnia."

Suzie Yap's message straightforwardly said they were able to handle the problem in Zinnia, but their vagueness in giving a date of their return was rather in contrast to her confidence. Her mother was even vaguer than she does during her trip to Ballota Island.

Unable to get more info from her mother, Wong Xue Guo then slipped to Chin Chun's side to ask for more news from Zinnia country. It was also good that he had no intention of hiding anything from her and she was very happy with this God brother.