In a white room, several nutrient-filled tubes housed childern inside, all in a deep slumber—except for one.
A single child was awake, observing his surroundings with a seriousness that seemed out of place for his age. His expression was more like an adult than a kid.
"Where have I reincarnated? Is this a hospital? No, it feels more like a laboratory than a hospital," the child thought to himself. Indeed, he wasn't a child— in soul, at least. He was a reincarnator.
"As someone who lived through the digital age, I'm confident this is some sort of human experiment. Maybe a super-soldier project? Immortality serum? Or even virus testing? There's even something that looks like a magic circle—that must be why I can breathe inside this tube. This has to be a modern fantasy world." The child continued to make assumptions as he surveyed the area, searching for information.
The room was approximately fifty square meters, with twenty children tubes—ten boys and ten girls. Surveillance cameras covered every corner without a single blind spot. Only one door led in and out, without a ventilation.
"Confirmed. This is definitely a laboratory. The tube looks a lot like the ones used in my previous life when the government tested zombie viruses on humans to develop a vaccine," he concluded.
As he was deep in thought, the door suddenly slid open. A group of seven people entered, all clad in white hazmat suits with a logo of a planet and a three-headed bird in the right chest. The reincarnated child immediately pretended to sleep.
Six of them carried gun like assault rifle, while the one, standing in the middle, held a briefcase. The group moved cautiously, with the armed individuals surrounding the one with the briefcase as they approached the nearest baby tube.
The briefcase holder stepped forward, opened the case, and revealed twenty vials filled with a mysterious black liquid. The person tinkered with the machine attached to the child tube, causing a compartment to open. One vial was placed inside, and the compartment closed seamlessly.
They repeated this process for each child tube, one by one. When they reached his tube, the reincarnator baby maintained his act of sleeping, only listening carefully to their actions and occasionally peeking through barely opened eyes. It was normal for the children to stir occasionally, so the guards weren't suspicious.
When the black liquid was inserted into his tube, he examined it closely.
"This has to be some kind of virus. It looks too similar to the zombie blood I've seen before,If it's a virus I don't need to worry because I'm immune to it." he thought.
"Subject 888 is done. Next," said the briefcase holder after completing the process.
"Proceed," replied one of the armed individuals on the right, who seemed to be the captain.
They continued injecting the black liquid into the remaining tubes until all twenty children had been processed.
"All done. We can proceed to the first protocol," said the captain.
"Yes, sir," the others responded in unison, except for the briefcase holder.
They all headed back toward the exit door, At the door they stopped and leaving the door open.
"You may begin," the captain said to the briefcase holder.
The person nodded and opened another compartment inside the briefcase, revealing a red button. Without hesitation, they pressed it.
Immediately, the clear liquid in the tubes began to fill with the black substance, starting from the bottom and spreading rapidly. Upon contact with the children skin, the black liquid seemed alive, seeping into their bodies.
The previously silent room was suddenly filled with piercing cries as the children woke, writhing in agony. The pain was so overwhelming that they couldn't even pass out; it felt as though it was tearing into their very souls.
The reincarnated child was no exception.
"This pain is worse than when I was turning into a zombie, but I can endure it," he thought, but he still crying to avoid suspicion.
"Hmm, none of the subjects died during the first protocol. That's promising," the briefcase holder remarked.
"Indeed. Likely because they're all children of Abyss refugees," replied the captain.
The briefcase holder nodded in agreement.
The reincarnated child couldn't hear their conversation clearly—he was too preoccupied with what was happening to his body.
"This liquid isn't a virus, but something similar. My immunity from my previous life isn't working, and this substance is trying to transform me," he thought grimly.
"If only my mental energy hadn't weakened during reincarnation, I could've used Teleportation to escape this place." But for now, all he could do was watch helplessly as the black liquid completed its transformation of his body.
When the substance had been fully absorbed, his body began emitting a gray fog that cover him entirely.