Chapter 98: Cellicure (9)

The white liquid traveled into Lee Yoon-Ah’s thin arm; it was Cellicure and the chimeric immunotherapy treatment. The results of all the research Young-Joon and Song Ji-Hyun struggled to create were mixing into one and being administered. If they were right, the drug would cure her liver cancer and bone metastasis.

Lee Yoon-Ah just stared at the medical team calmly. No one could predict the results yet.

Song Ji-Hyun snuck a glance at Young-Joon. She too wasn’t in good condition as she buried herself in experiments for the past few weeks, but he looked worse. She was worried about him. Most of all, Young-Joon had special feelings towards this child because of his trauma. That bothered her all along.

“I’m going to step out for a moment.”

Young-Joon excused himself and left the room. He could not bear to watch her. He was so nauseous that he felt like he was going to vomit.

‘Is this really the best thing to do?’

He felt like an unknown sense of anxiety and frustration were engulfing his entire body. The chimeric immunotherapy and Cellicure were clearly reasonable treatment methods. It was the best plan at the moment, and the chances of success were clearly high no matter how many times Young-Joon ran a simulation with his knowledge.

However, it was not one hundred percent, and he couldn’t guarantee it as there were no clinical cases. As such, he told Kim Hyio-Jin that he didn’t know about the success rate.

‘I didn’t get it confirmed by Rosaline.’

Rosaline could predict the results of all molecular biological phenomena, but not him. All he had done was infer without Synchronization Mode, but only the problem solving abilities and knowledge that Rosaline had left him. He had convinced Kim Hyo-Jin under the judgment that the success rate was high from his calculation.

Ryu Sae-Yi’s death kept coming to mind. She had died at the hospital. Maybe Young-Joon should have discharged Lee Yoon-Ah. Maybe he should have given her some happy memories before she left.

Young-Joon expected the success rate of the treatment to be high, but an irrational anxiety weighed heavily on his heart: a feeling that it was going to fail, an unfounded sense of guilt, and a bad feeling.

“...” Young-Joon flopped down onto the emergency exit staircase. His hands were trembling.

“Doctor Ryu!”

Someone wrapped their arm around his shoulder from behind. It was Song Ji-Hyun.

“What are you doing here?”

“...”

Song Ji-Hyun looked at him with pity.

“The stairs are cold. Get up. Let’s go back inside.”

“What do you think the success rate of this treatment is, Doctor Song?” Young-Joon asked.

“You can’t calculate it because it’s a very unique case and we have no clinical data, right?” Song Ji-Hyun impersonated Young-Joon.

“I know. But... You have a feeling as the developer of a treatment.”

“I think one hundred percent,” she said firmly.

Young-Joon was a little surprised.

“For a scientist, aren’t the results of our research like our children? How can we not have faith in our own technology?” Song Ji-Hyun smiled. “Don’t worry, Doctor Ryu. The treatment we made is the best. You have cured the notorious pancreatic cancer before, right? This will be successful as well.”

“... But I keep thinking of my sister. To be honest, it bothers me. I thought maybe I was being stubborn because of my trauma. Maybe I should have given Yoon-Ah a chance to make memories like her guardian said. I’m just worried about that...”

“It’s different from your sister,” Song Ji-Hyun said.

“...”

“It’s not Ryu Sae-Yi, but Lee Yoon-Ah. Their names are different except for one syllable[1] They look different, too, right? Different genes as well. Did your sister have bone metastasis to the pelvis?”

“No, it metastasized to the lungs.”

“See? It’s a totally different clinical case. And most of all, you’re a different person than before. yYou were a university student back then, and now, you’re the world’s greatest scientist and the CEO of A-Bio. We can do it. We have Cellicure and chimeric immunotherapy.”

“... Alright. Thank you,” Young-Joon replied weakly.

* * *

Young-Joon’s amygdala was completely surrounded by Rosaline’s cells. She was controlling them right now and was in a kind of siege. This battle wasn’t going to end easily, as her mother cell was directly affected by the stimulation that occurred from the amygdala. She was able to control most biological processes, but there was nothing she could do about the shock to her mother cell. All of Rosaline’s cells had divided from a single mother cell, as the mother cell was the first organism that was created from Young-Joon’s blood, and it was the root of Rosaline’s existence.

‘The tissue of the trauma has fully taken over the mother cell.’

Rosaline realized that it was impossible to transfer her consciousness to the mother cell as it had gone into the trauma tissue of the amygdala.

The trauma tissue looked like a giant black hole; it absorbed all the energy and neurotransmitters from its surroundings and it did not expel anything. It was basically impossible to destroy this monster that was deep in the amygdala without damaging Young-Joon’s body. It was also difficult to take out the mother cell.

Rosaline gathered the accumulated fitness and set it off all at once.

[Promotion of AKAM1 expression by 80%]

[Promotion of KROII expression by 120%]

[LOX switching.]

[Promotion of epinephrine by 30%]

Splash!

Some of the lipids that were flowing in the vessels of the trauma tissue splashed out. Amines and neuropeptides were flowing out. Rosaline collected and absorbed some glutamic acid and drilled a hole in the trauma tissue.

[Promotion of perforin expression by 200%.]

‘Sorry, Ryu Young-Joon.’

This was like a perforator used to destroy harmful organisms such as bacteria that invaded Young-Joon’s body from the outside, but it bothered Rosaline that she was using it on his cells. However, even a powerful weapon like perforin only left a small injury on the trauma tissue; it wasn’t able to pierce it.

‘This doesn’t work?’

Her plan to rescue the mother cell kept failing. As the mother cell was captured there, Rosaline couldn't think of a good way even with her insight.

In this situation, there was only one answer.

‘I have to combine the mother cell with the trauma.’

It was better for the mother cell to engulf the trauma rather than being taken over by it. Cell fusion was when two different cells combined into one. It seemed like humans had done this kind of work before according to Young-Joon’s memories of the papers he had read before, but Rosaline could do it better.

[Activation of all GPCRs.]

[Major activation of membrane proteins.]

Rosaline controlled the genes that were involved in cell membrane formation and ruffled the mother cell’s membrane. It seemed like a part of the apoptosis mechanism, but it wasn’t.

Slrr...

The mother cell, which now had its membrane broken, began entering into the trauma tissue by endocytosis.

‘Hup!’

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Although Rosaline had no respiratory organs, she took a breath or surprise in her heart. The trauma, which had slowly merged, was coming into her consciousness. The first thing she felt was a huge sense of sadness.

“I can’t believe it!”

To Rosaline, this was a similar shock to discovering the New World. Perhaps this was the wonder that a person who was blind since birth and had never experienced vision before actually saw for the first time. She never knew that emotions and senses could be this intense. The depth and weight of them were incredible. It was also very intense as it was the emotion from long-term trauma.

‘Oh my...’

Rosaline felt the touch of Ryu Sae-Yi’s thin fingers from Young-Joon’s hand. It was a direct sense of touch that she had never experienced before. Additionally, there was also the smell of medicine in the hospital room, the smell of hydrangeas that Ryu Sae-Yi used to like, the taste of MSG in the

soondaeguk

[2] that he had at the restaurant in front of the hospital, and his guilt towards Ryu Sae-Yi. All his experiences were awakening each and every one of Rosaline’s cells. Her mother cell absorbed it like a sponge and acquired it. It was not a phenomenon that could be interpreted by theoretical explanations such as the transfer of signals.

‘... It’s euphoric.’

Rosaline didn’t have eyes, but she felt like crying. Was this what organisms who acted with fully functioning bodies felt? It was very impressive for Rosaline, a cellular organism who had only lived in the bubble called Young-Joon.

Like a rollercoaster, Young-Joon’s emotions soared up to the climax. With the moment when a flat line that was calm like an ocean was drawn onto Ryu Sae-Yi’s monitor, and the moment everyone burst into tears and the doctor announced the time of death, Rosaline’s consciousness slowly drifted away with a powerful, uncontrollable emotion that had reached its limit.

‘It’s not easy.’

The mother cell had succeeded in fusing with the trauma, but it was still too powerful. The mother cell had fallen into a state of suspended animation, like a cryogenically frozen human falling asleep with the hopes of being revived in the future.

‘I’ve never felt this kind of threat after being born into this world. This is what a treat to life feels like. My life might end here.’

Rosaline had thought the attack by the sloppy gangsters who had been influenced by Ji Kwang-Man was nothing, but this was different.

Now, her only hope was for Young-Joon to overcome this trauma.

‘...’

Rosaline, whose consciousness had drifted away, fell into a deep sleep. She could not feel anything.

But after two weeks had passed in real life, Rosaline, who was half-dead, was engulfed in a light so intense it could burn all of her cells at once. She could feel it; she could feel that major structural reforms were happening in Young-Joon’s amygdala.

* * *

“Ninety-two percent of the liver cancer tissue, and one hundred percent of the bone metastasized cancer cells have died,” Kim Chun-Jung reported. “We still have to administer more Celicure. But I believe it can be cured at this rate. We will have to monitor her for five years to see if it returns, but in my opinion... I think she will be able to be discharged sometime next week. The clinical trial was a success.”

Kim Chun-Jung choked up a little at the end. This clinical case was touching even for an old warhorse like her, who had spent forty years at Sunyoo Hospital as a professor. One couldn’t even imagine the depth of emotion the child’s mother was feeling.

“...”

Kim Hyo-Jin sat in her chair, unable to say anything. All she could do was bury her face in her hands with trembling shoulders.

Song Ji-Hyun, who was watching her, tapped the end of her nose with her finger as it was so touching. She glanced at Young-Joon. Unexpectedly, he didn’t cry or be amazed; he looked calm just like any other day.

“Thank you. Good work.” Young-Joon said briefly and got up.

As he looked like he was going to get up, Kim Hyo-Jin quickly got up and held onto him.

“Thank you so much, Doctor. Thank you...” said Kim Hyo-Jin, her face all messy from tears.

“It’s alright. I just did my job.”

Young-Joon forced a smile and opened the office door. He meant everything he said, and he didn’t want to be thanked, as the person who was saved might have not been Lee Yoon-Ah or Kim Hyo-Jin, but Young-Joon himself.

“...”

Young-Joon, who was walking outside, stumbled a little as his legs were giving out. Song Ji-Hyun quietly trailed behind him. With her hands behind her back, she cautiously followed him at a distance as it was difficult for her to call him for some reason.

Young-Joon went to the end of the hall and stepped out to the small balcony. He was holding onto the railing and looking down at the entire hospital.

“It’s over... It’s really over, Sae-Yi. Really. Now, no one your age will die of liver cancer,” Young-Joon mumbled quietly.

His head was clear; he felt like he had been born again.

“Doctor Ryu.”

Song Ji-Hyun quietly approached and stood beside him. The smell of shampoo wafted over to his side. She had recovered her original beauty as she started to shower, eat, and sleep regularly after the treatment began.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes, thanks to your concern.”

With a smile, Young-Joon turned to face Song Ji-Hyun. And...

“Huh?”

Young-Joon’s eyes widened.

“What is it?”

“Um...”

[Synchronization Mode: Analyze Song Ji-Hyun’s oxytocin, vasopressin, and dopamine expression levels. Fitness consumption rate: 0.7/second.]

A message window popped up.

—Have you been well?

Rosaline sent him a message.

—You succeeded. Congratulations. Thanks to you, I was also able to escape the trauma. I knew you were going to rescue me.

‘But what’s with the expression level of oxytocin or vasopressin and all that? You can analyze these things, too?’

—I think this incident has created new changes for me as well. I have grown.

[Now, Rosaline’s cell can survive for thirty minutes outside of Ryu Young-Joon’s body.]

[Rosaline’s Synchronization Mode has become more sophisticated. You can observe phenomena with a finer resolution, and you can see things that you were unable to before. Your fitness consumption has become more efficient.]

‘Things I couldn’t see before?’

—Like the ratio of Song Ji-Hyun’s hormones.

‘What use do I have for that?’

—Oxytocin, vasopressin, and dopamine are hormones that rise sharply when people feel love. Hehe.

‘...’

—And there is another new ability.

‘Another new ability?’

[Now, you can use Molecular Biology Simulation Mode through Rosaline.]

—What you can do in Simulation Mode depends on the fitness consumption. If you use less, you can set up virtual patients and run clinical trial simulations when you develop a new drug.

Rosaline said.

‘If I use a lot?’

—When an epidemic for a particular infectious disease occurs, you can track the global path of the spread and everything about the results, and you can calculate the number of possibilities. You are able to see biological phenomena from a global perspective.

‘Holy...’

—The perspective of someone who has succeeded in creating an organism like me should be special.

1. Yi and Lee are the same in Korean, but written differently in romanization. ?

2. Korean blood sausage soup ?