Chapter 11: Treating the Flu (3)

Bleep!

With a ring, Rosaline sent a message to Young-Joon.

[Rosaline searched for current methods you can use.]

[Recommends eradicating Influenza A by using the new flu virus.]

“What...”

Getting rid of the flu with the new influenza virus? The word “flu” literally meant “influenza”, meaning that the new flu virus was the same thing as the new influenza virus.

‘Eradicating the flu with the flu? What kind of pseudoscience is this? It’s like fighting fire with fire.’

Young-Joon was bewildered.

[There is a tendency for the seasonal flu virus strain to become wiped out when a new flu virus begins to circulate.]

An explanation popped up on the window.

[The new flu virus is highly contagious and can quickly infect the world’s population. And the new flu virus contains the gene of the existing flu virus.]

[The people infected with the new flu virus will also gain resistance to the existing flu virus. It will have the same effect as vaccinating the entire world at once.]

[If the entire world is infected with the new flu virus, the seasonal flu virus will not have a host to infect, therefore going extinct.]

“Holy crap...”

Well, Rosaline wasn’t wrong. In fact, there was some research that stated the past seasonal flu virus went extinct after something like the Spanish Flu went around and killed a million people.

Rosaline’s messages kept popping up.

[Rosaline recommends synthesizing a new flu virus based on a rhinovirus.]

‘Rhinovirus.’

They were just pathogens that caused the common cold. It was much less virulent compared to the flu virus.

[With this, you can create a pathogen that has the virulence of the common cold and the contagiousness of a new flu virus.]

Bleep!

[Make this into an aerosol and spray it in many populated areas around the world. All of humanity will gain resistance to the flu virus in six months, and the virus will die.]

Bleep!

With an alert, a window of options came up.

[Select to see how to create a new rhinovirus-based flu.]

[Select to see how to create it into aerosol form.]

[Select to see target locations to spread the virus.]

“This is completely insane!” Young-Joon screamed. “This isn’t spreading a cure, it’s spreading a disease! Are you crazy?!”

[The rhinovirus is just a normal cold virus. The new flu virus suggested above is not dangerous.]

A message popped up as if it had heard Young-Joon talking to himself.

“What? It can also answer me?”

[Rosaline is currently at Level 2. She is capable of simple conversations for options that consume more than 1 point of Fitness.]

“Uh...”

Young-Joon gulped.

“Whatever. I can’t do this. Even if it is a rhinovirus that has low virulence, people who are immunocompromised could die.”

[However, it is below the number of deaths caused by the flu in three years. It is past the breakeven point.]

“...”

‘Breaking even with human lives? What kind of thinking system does this lunatic have?’

[And since seasonal flus will disappear forever, it is the most useful and effective method considering the risk and cost. It is also the only method you can choose, Ryu Young-Joon.]

“Ah, enough! I can’t do that. That’s something a mad scientist would do.”

[Ryu Young-Joon. I have watched you create embryonic stem cells. It was unexpected that you would use Rosaline’s power on something so trivial.]

“What?”

[You are not a scientist of a pharmaceutical company, but a Player of Life. If you have a target you want to catch and you have a gun in your hand, I don’t understand why you are trying to catch it by hitting it with the buttstock when it’s much easier to aim and pull the trigger.]

“Then are you saying that there’s an easier way to make stem cells?”

[No. I am saying that there is no need.]

“Explain.”

[You do not have enough fitness. To analyze complicated life processes, Rosaline’s level...]

“Ugh, are you kidding me right now?”

[Rosaline can only provide data within the fitness level. Increase your level.]

[Ryu Young-Joon. The creation of life is a one-time event. Even if another scientist does what you did in the A-Gen Life Creation lab, Rosaline will not be created.]

“I know that.”

[You are the first Player of Life in humanity, but also the only one. I hope you take responsibility for your luck and use your powers wisely.]

“Even if you say that, I’m not doing something as crazy as spreading a cold. That's a bioterror, not vaccination.”

[Shutdown.]

The messages about the synthesis of the new flu virus were minimized.

“Shutdown? Hey?”

[...]

No answer.

“Damn it.”

Young-Joon sat on his bed and quietly stared at Rosaline’s status window.

[Rosaline Lv.2]

—Metastatic Status: Heart (2%), Liver (46%), Brain (7%), Kidney (13%), Spinal Cord (4%)

Synchronization: 4%

—Cell Fitness: 0.3

—Gene Expression Control: None

The gene expression control category had changed without Young-Joon noticing. Rosaline had said that the expression of CYP2E1 would continue for three days.

Young-Joon searched the internet for flu treatments while recovering Rosaline’s fitness. Other than Tamiflu, there were other new drugs like Janamivir and Flu-Free. It took Young-Joon about three hours for Young-Joon to investigate their properties, chemical structures, and usage.

[Cell Fitness: 0.9]

Rosaline’s fitness had reasonably recovered. Young-Joon opened the information about the flu from Rosaline’s status window.

1. Biological mechanism of flu infection. (Fitness consumption rate: 0.05/second)

2. Cure for Influenza A. (Fitness consumption: 0.9)

3. Strategy for eradicating Influenza A. (Complete)

Young-Joon was now able to open option three without any requirements. He pressed the second one this time.

A single cell in the human body had twenty thousand kinds of genes. Then how many kinds of genes would a flu virus have? Barely ten. Right now, the products of the ten genes from the virus were interacting in front of Young-Joon’s eyes, like a car. Young-Joon had to find the weakness in the huge, complicated machinery. A car could be stopped from accelerating by putting a small, heavy piece of metal on its brakes, and this was how new drugs were developed. He had to find a chemical substance that capitalized on a biological substance required for the flu virus.

Blink!

The molecular structure floated in front of Young-Joon’s eyes like a haze.

“Found it.”

Young-Joon quickly copied the shape onto his notebook.

It was similar to Tamiflu, but it had a benzene ring attached to it on the right side with a distinct motif. It was a drug that blocked the activation of a certain protein of the flu virus.

In a way, the flu virus market could be as large as the stem cell treatment market. Like Rosaline said, the flu was so contagious that the new flu could infect the entire world. And considering that the Spanish Flu killed over a million people, the fatality rate wasn’t low in patients with poor immunity.

Whether it was a new flu or a seasonal flu, it would be used widely in the medical field if it was a drug that could prevent the multiplication of a virus by administering it right after the infection.

Tamiflu was also very famous when it first came out, but Young-Joon had developed a drug similar to it with a few minutes of meditation.

‘The problem is that I have to test this drug.’

Rosaline’s status window gave him the right answer, but it was up to Young-Joon to prove to others that it was the right answer. He had decided to use A-Gen with the stem cells because he couldn’t do it alone.

But for this one, he was thinking of proving it through another company. He would monopolize the patent and then quickly sell it without going to clinical trials.

Young-Joon opened a new tab on his computer and searched for a company that would do his experiments for him.

—Reaction Chemistry

—Cell Bio

Reaction Chemistry was a company Young-Joon used often when he was in the Anticancer Drug Research Department. They manufactured chemicals through organic synthesis reactions. They were quite good; they had also succeeded in creating a substance that A-Gen’s Organic Synthesis Department had failed to make.

Cell Bio was a company that specialized in biological experiments. If a customer sent over a few potential drug candidates, they did cell and animal testing for them.

The problem was the money. He would need a lot of money to commission these kinds of experiments, and applying for a patent would also cost quite a bit of money. He thought that he would need at least ten million won to do it. But where would he get that kind of money?

‘Should I call the loan company for more money?’

Young-Joon already had some debt. He thought that he could take on some more debt since this was an investment that would have a high return.

He was lost in thought, then felt his stomach grumble.

“Let’s get some food first.”

It was already one o’clock in the afternoon, but he still hadn’t eaten lunch. He decided to go grab some food.

Click.

Just when he opened the door and was about to leave, Young-Joon saw a familiar face standing in front of the door.

“Huh?”

“Woah.”

It was a nice-looking man who was wearing a suit. He was Young-Joon’s friend whom he had known for twenty years.

“Park Joo-Hyuk?”

“I was just about to ring the doorbell.”

Park Joo-Hyuk pulled Young-Joon by the shoulder and hugged him tightly.

“What? Why did you come here without telling me?”

“It was a surprise visit that you’re supposed to be moved by.”

“Why are you here?”

“I was worried if my little Young-Joon was doing well, if you were eating well, and if your ugly face got better.”

“It’s been a while since we met, and you’re already spewing nonsense. Did your probation period at the Lawyer Association or something end well?”

“Of course. I am a real lawyer that can be appointed.”

“Lucky. If I punch Kim Hyun-Taek by accident at work or something, please defend me.”

“Is Kim Hyun-Taek your lab director?”

“Not anymore. I got punished and got transferred. I’m at another lab.”

“Because of you cursing at him?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it something that this righteous lawyer should step up for?”

“No. You don’t have to do anything. I’m going to crush him with my scientific career. But Joo-Hyuk... Do you have some cash?”

“Why? I don’t have any since I’m not working yet.”

“I need about ten million won.”

Park Joo-Hyuk’s jaw fell to the floor.

“Did... Did you get into some trouble after juggling your credit cards?”

Young-Joon’s family had been poor ever since he was young. His parents had retired, and they had two hundred million won in credit card debt. They did not have a car or a house.

Young-Joon also had school loans, credit card loans, and other debts. And Park Joo-Hyuk knew this because he was an old friend of his. However, Young-Joon never asked Park Joo-Hyuk for money once, even if he had to starve, so Park Joo-Hyuk was surprised when he asked for ten million won.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Young-Joon said.

“If it’s not anything like that, why do you need that much money? You didn’t get a loan from loan sharks or anything while I was busy during my probation period, right?”

“No.”

“Phew.”

“I went to the loan sharks before you went into your probation period.”

“Holy shit... How much?”

“Thirty million won.”

“Thirty million!” Park Joo-Hyuk said in shock. “You have debt other than your student loans? Debt? And you’re seriously talking about loan sharks? What did you use it for?”

“I had my mother’s debt as well as my father’s. I juggled around loans to pay those off, and that’s how I ended up like this. It is from loan sharks, but the interest rate isn’t that bad. Although my credit score is pretty low.”

“Shit...”

“But that’s not the reason why I’m asking you to lend me money. There’s somewhere else I want to use it.”

“You have somewhere else to use ten million won when you’re in debt for thirty million, idiot? You should pay off some of the principal if you have that kind of money!”

“I’m doing it to pay it off.”

“Are you going to go to a casino or something? Or pouring it all into stocks...”

“No.”

“No? I don’t think so.

Sigh

. Remember when you were playing Lineage in middle school, and you dropped a super expensive item or something? You bought twenty random boxes with your allowance to get it again, and what did you get?”[1]

“Hey, that was a long time ago!”

“You don’t think I know you? I’ll help you pay off your loan when I get paid after I get into a law firm, so don’t think about doing anything stupid and just save so we can pay it off.”

“Stop it. You gave some of the money you earned from working part-time and gave it to my father, right?”

“Hup...” Park Joo-Hyuk was flustered.

“You didn’t think I would know? My father told me a long time ago.”

“I kept telling him to not tell you... Well, even if it was

your

father, I’ve known him since I was a kid...”

“It’s enough that you used the little money you earned while scraping grills and studying for the bar to pay off your friend’s father’s debt. You don’t have to take on my debt, too... You’re not a charity worker. It’s fine.”

“Then, what are you going to do with thirty million won of debt?”

“I’m going to make a drug.”

“A drug?”

“Just watch. I’m going to be able to buy a building if this works out.”

Park Joo-Hyuk squinted and stared at him in doubt.

“One of the legal cases I read had a graduate student who was caught for producing and selling addictive drugs...”

“Seriously, it’s nothing like that! It’s a new and legal drug.”

“Are you serious?” Park Joon-Hyuk asked.

“Yeah,” Young-Joon replied.

“Making a new drug... At A-Gen? Are you leading it?”

“No, I’m not getting any help from A-Gen. I’m doing it on my own. I’m going to patent the drug and sell it.”

“Nope, not going to happen. Your company is going to take it because it’s an employee invention. You’ll get some compensation, though.”

“It doesn’t involve A-Gen.”

“Even if you don’t use their facilities, you can’t do it because it incorporates the knowledge and ideas you gained from A-Gen, dummy. If you do experiments about anticancer drugs at work, the drug you make outside of work is the company’s.”

“It’s not an anticancer drug. It’s for the flu.”

“The flu?”

Park Joo-Hyuk stared at him with squinted eyes.

Young-Joon explained, “Yeah. It doesn’t fit the conditions of employee inventions because it’s out of the scope of my work, right? Just because a microbial researcher improves a microscope, doesn’t mean it’s the company’s, right?”

“Ah, this damn scientist is giving me a headache. It’s not outside your scope of work, but your job. In this case, it falls under inventions anyways...”

“So is it mine or not?”

“I don’t know, man. It depends on your contract. But there is a case where the Supreme Court acknowledged an employee’s invention as their own when the company supported them and funded their patent. The law protects the individual’s right for inventions a lot, so I guess it can be defended.”

“Right? And I’m part of Lab One. They don’t even work with the flu there. I don’t know how it looks to an arts person like you, but a drug for the flu and cancer are very different.”

“Really? Then you’ll probably be fine. Just in case, did you go to any seminars about the flu or see any data on developing a drug for the flu at A-Gen?”

“Never.”

“Okay, then. But personally, I want to stop you. If A-Gen sues you, and even if you can win, an individual going up against a company like that...”

“Park Joo-Hyuk will defend me for free, right?”

“How did someone like you become my friend? Oh, but you have to do experiments and stuff like that, right? Can you do that yourself?” Park Joo-Hyuk asked.

“That’s why I need ten million won. To request for experiments to be done on my behalf.”

“I don’t know, man. You’re not doing weed or anything, right?”

“Stop talking nonsense. Let’s stop talking about this if you’re not going to lend me the money. Since you came all the way here, buy me something good before you go.”

“How did you manage to put a plot twist on a sentence so short? I thought you would tell me that you were going to treat me.”

“I have no money.”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Park Joo-Hyuk ruffled his hair, then nodded.

“Let’s go. Meals always come first. Let’s talk about it over lunch.”

1. Lineage was a popular MMORPG game in Korea that a lot of people played in the past. ?