"What happened!? Your face is burning hot!!" Aki exclaimed, quickly touching her friend's forehead and confirming the high temperature.
"N-No... I am fine..." Maemura tried to deny her, but her condition was clearly visible.
"Is something wrong over there?" Orimura couldn't help but ask upon hearing the commotion, while the others looked at them with puzzled expressions.
"Sensei, I think Maemura is ill! She is really burning high with fever!" Aki quickly explained.
"Wha-!!" Their faces grew tense as they heard her words, the tension becoming apparent in the room.
"N-No! I-I am completely fine!! Nothing is wrong with me!!"
"Why are you denying it?" Aki couldn't help but become confused by her irrational behavior.
But she got even more confused especially after seeing the fearful expressions on the faces of the people in the lab.
So, she couldn't help but ask them, "W-What's wrong?"
Yoshida opened his mouth, and his words were trembling as his eyes gleamed with fear, "Fujiwara-san, g-get away from her."
"!!" Aki couldn't help but tremble a little as she soon connected the dots together.
From Maemura's abrupt high fever to the fearful faces of her schoolmates and her constant denial of being ill, Aki could tell that something was not normal.
"A-Aki-chan!! I-I am not a monster like those outside!! Look!! I am just fine!! It's just a normal fever!! D-Don't you trust me?!" Maemura suddenly grasped Aki's hand tightly as she quickly explained.
"M-Maemura-san" Aki spoke out while she took a step back in fear but her hand was still within Maemura's grasp.
"S-She is turning into them!!!"
"S-She is infected!!"
"AHH!! No!!!!"
"W-Why?!"
"I-I don't want to die!!!"
"P-Please!!"
The lab descended into chaos as the people, realizing that one of them was infected, frantically fled to one end of the room, away from her.
"I AM NOT A MONSTER!!!" Maemura shouted in hurry but nervousness and betrayal filled her face.
"If you're not, then let go of her first," Orimura demanded, her face betraying a sense of alertness as she tightly grasped a metallic rod.
Tears streamed down Maemura's face as she looked at Aki and pleaded, "Aki-chan, y-you believe me, right?"
Aki hesitated, torn between her friendship and the fear that had gripped her.
She wanted to reassure Maemura that everything was okay, that there was nothing wrong with her. However, the gravity of their situation made it impossible for her to speak.
"I-I..." Aki opened her mouth, but no words came out. Guilt and fear was all that was visible on her face as she tried her best yet couldn't agree with her.
"A-Aki-chan?" Seeing her not speaking in her stead, a look of disbelief came over Maemura's face.
"I-I am sorry. I--"
Suddenly, Yoshida's voice quivered, interrupting Aki, as he made the demand, his fear visible in the air. "W-Why are you hiding your left hand behind? I-If you are not infected then show us that you don't have any scratches or wounds!"
All eyes shifted to Maemura's hidden left hand, waiting for her response in nervousness.
"I--!!" While Maemura was still trying to convince them, a startling pain occurred in her stomach causing her to crouch down in pain.
As everyone looked at her, a chill ran down their spines. They watched her, uncertain about what was happening, though deep down, they all knew very well yet wanted to deny.
"A-Are you alright--?!" Aki asked, concern filling her voice, but she stopped abruptly as her eyes fell on something unusual.
Maemura's left hand, previously concealed, came in the plain sight as she clenched her stomach in pain.
Her left hand didn't seem to be in good condition, not with a deep blackened scratch from where black puss was oozing out.
Witnessing the scene, Aki took a step back in fear. She desperately wanted to deny the truth of what was happening to her friend, but the gruesome reality was hard to ignore.
Maemura, unable to respond, doubled over in pain, her stomach convulsing violently.
"Urg!!" Suddenly, black vomit, emitting a strong metallic stench, gushed out of her mouth in a continuous stream, a horrifying sight for all present.
But it wasn't over yet.
Immediately afterwards, her body convulsed uncontrollably, a sight that had become all too familiar to the terrified onlookers.
As they witnessed the horrifying transformation unfolding before their eyes, the truth became clear. Maemura was infected, and the transformation into a Zombie was already underway.
"Damn it!" With a sense of urgency, Orimura's face twisted in panic for a second, but she quickly composed herself and dashed toward Maemura with a rod in hand.
"Yoshida-kun! Help me!" She shouted.
"WHA-!? Ah, Shit!!!" Fear gripped Yoshida as he heard her request, but he also understood the necessity of the situation.
Seizing a wooden chair from the side, he swiftly joined her, albeit a little late.
"AAHH-!!!!" Orimura shouted aloud, trying to bolster her resolve to stop Maemura before she transformed into a Zombie. She swung her rod at Maemura's head, but then she stopped, or rather she couldn't move it.
"S-Sensei...?" Maemura looked at Orimura with tear-filled eyes and a face covered in blackened veins, her disbelief palpable.
'Why... can't I!?' Orimura's hand trembled as she halted the rod right before Maemura's head. Although she thought she would be able to do it, seeing Maemura's tearful face and the way she called out to her, her strength and resolve deserted her.
But it was a huge mistake on her part.
"Growl..." Within a split second of Orimura's pause, a terrifying transformation overtook Maemura. A monstrous growl escaped her lips as her once-black eyes turned a glaring red.
"Sensei, look out!!!" Yoshida's warning came from behind.
"!!!"
Because of a moment's hesitation, Maemura, now a Zombie, leapt toward Orimura with her bloodied jaws wide open.
"!!" But luckily, Aki was there. She swiftly pulled her sensei aside, evading those dangerous teeth.
"GROWLLLLL!!!!!!!" It was then, a terrifying, guttural growl unlike any other erupted from Maemura's mouth, which not just deafened their ears but also shook the windows.
In the very next second, the System's blue interface appeared in front of each of them.
[WARNING!]
[You have encountered a LEVEL 4 Mutant Zombie.]