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Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: The Fevered Child

It had been a week since the system bound itself to me, a week of silent waiting as I tried to process what it could mean. I hadn't heard from it since that night, and though I kept the sterile bandage close as a reminder, doubt began to creep in. Could it have been a dream?

But when Lora came rushing to my hut early one morning, that question became irrelevant. Her eyes were wide with panic, and she was nearly breathless.

"It's my sister's boy," she said. "He's burning with fever, and nothing we've tried is helping. You have to come—now."

Without hesitation, I gathered my satchel and followed her through the village. As we reached Lora's sister's home, I could hear the child's labored breathing from the doorway. Inside, he lay on a straw mat, his face flushed with fever, his breathing ragged and shallow.

I knelt beside him, taking his hand. The heat radiating from his skin was alarming, and the swelling around his throat told me all I needed to know.

"Strep throat," I muttered under my breath, dread settling in my stomach. I'd seen cases like this before, ones that could quickly turn deadly without antibiotics.

Lora's sister, a woman with eyes just as sharp as her own, hovered nearby. "Can you save him?"

I met her gaze, trying to remain steady. "I'll do everything I can."

But the truth was, I was helpless. Without antibiotics, his chances were slim, and I had no idea how I could create something so complex here.

Just as despair began to creep in, a familiar sensation washed over me, a strange tingling that filled my mind with clarity. In an instant, the world around me faded, and I found myself once again in the void, facing the glowing words of the system.

> "Quest Alert: Critical Condition Detected."

The system's words appeared one after another, each line carrying a strange sense of urgency.

> "Objective: Gather necessary ingredients to produce the first antibiotic, penicillin.

Reward: Portable equipment and formula for basic antibiotic production."

My heart skipped a beat. Penicillin—it was the simplest antibiotic to make, but I still needed the right ingredients, and time was running out. I took a deep breath, determined.

"What ingredients do I need?" I asked.

> "Objective Details: Gather moldy bread or fruit, prepare sterile environment, and begin extraction process."

As the words faded, I was jolted back into the present. The child's labored breathing brought me back to reality, and I quickly stood.

"I need time to gather supplies," I told Lora. "But I'll return as quickly as I can."

With that, I set off, my mind racing as I searched for the ingredients the system mentioned. My thoughts drifted back to my training, remembering how Fleming had discovered penicillin by accident on a piece of moldy bread. Here, in this world, I was the only one who understood its power.