"Mushroom spores..."
After seeing the heap of mushrooms and fungal spores inside the chubby kid's stomach—
Eren quickly pushed through the crowd and rushed to the rows of medicine cabinets in the infirmary, searching for antifungal drugs.
Ketoconazole, Amphotericin B—he pulled out every antifungal medication that could suppress or kill fungal growth.
After picking out a few of the strongest and fastest-acting ones that could be used together without severe risk, Eren crushed the pills into powder using his thumb and forefinger, mixed them into a cup of saline solution he prepared himself, and forcefully poured it into the chubby kid, Doug.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"
Already in a foul mood, Charlie—the vice president of the student council—saw Eren pick up some strange drink and pour it into the mouth of a severely ill student lying on the bed. He immediately stormed forward, shouting in anger.
Today's dance had already turned into a disaster. The student council was in a tough spot. If someone ended up worse after being given unknown substances, things could spiral completely out of control—and as the person in charge, Charlie knew he'd be screwed.
At Central High, both students and teachers usually listened when Charlie, the vice president of the student council, spoke.
But Eren was different.
Just after Eren had finished pouring the medicated saline into Doug's stomach and was about to observe the internal reaction—
Charlie's angry shout hit his ears.
Eren looked up slightly, a trace of annoyance flashing in his eyes, and cast a silent glance at Charlie.
The moment Charlie, who had rushed over to accuse him, met Eren's profoundly deep gaze, an indescribable sense of terror surged through his heart.
He froze completely. That tall, lanky body even began to tremble slightly.
Eren ignored Charlie, who was completely paralyzed by that lingering spiritual pressure in his eyes.
His gaze pierced through Doug's belly once more.
Under Eren's spiritual vision, the mushroom spores that had been rampantly growing inside Doug's stomach and looked unnervingly aggressive, were now—under the assault of that potent medicated saline—as if being burned by acid. They withered, rotted, and turned into a pile of black sludge.
Bubbles even began to rise in Doug's intestines.
Meanwhile, the dim yellow spiritual aura representing Doug's gastric health suddenly flickered back to life, like a revitalized signal, glowing faintly once more.
Seeing that his makeshift "potion" was effective, Eren's eyes lit up.
Because of the "drastic changes" happening in his stomach, Doug's body reacted violently. He suddenly awoke from his semi-comatose state.
"You awake?"
Doug Wang, who had just opened his eyes and barely recognized Eren standing beside him, suddenly felt a wave of unbearable nausea surge from his stomach to his throat.
"Blaaaargh—!"
Almost immediately, a torrent of vomit filled with the stench of decay spewed out of Doug's mouth and blasted toward Eren.
Just as it looked like Eren was about to get splashed, he nimbly dodged to the side.
That dodge—unfortunately—exposed the frozen Charlie behind him, who had been standing stiff ever since that gaze from Eren.
Before Charlie could react, the wave of reeking vomit hit him full on.
Two seconds of stunned silence.
Then Charlie, now drenched in the reeking filth, finally snapped out of it with a blood-curdling scream.
"AAAAHHHHH—!"
Every eye in the infirmary turned toward the chaos.
...
Unbothered by the mess, Eren calmly mixed another cup of his medicated saline and handed it to Doug.
"Doug, if you don't want to die, drink this. Then vomit out the rest of that crap in your stomach."
"Uurrgh!!"
Still weak from the previous vomiting, Doug's face twisted in disgust the moment he saw the greenish fluid in Eren's hand. He couldn't help but gag and retch again.
Eren gently nudged a nearby trash can under Doug's chin with his foot, sparing the room from another mess.
After dry heaving for a while, Doug finally sat up, said nothing, and grabbed the cup. Pinching his nose shut, he forced the liquid down.
Even though he'd been semi-conscious earlier, he hadn't completely lost awareness.
In fact—
Maybe it was a near-death adrenaline surge or something—
He could clearly remember how the agonizing pain that nearly tore his stomach apart had disappeared only after drinking Eren's strange concoction.
So, even though the drink triggered a strong sense of disgust and repulsion, Doug grit his teeth and chugged every last drop.
Because he knew—it was the thing keeping him alive.
"What happened?"
Just then, Gwen, who had just finished helping Ms. Winnie calm another patient, approached Eren and quietly asked about what had just happened.
Eren didn't hide anything from Gwen. "I checked Doug earlier and found that they'd probably eaten some kind of unripe or mutated mushroom. The spores parasitized them, which is why they ended up like this…"
"Once I figured that out, I used some antifungal medicine, mixed with saline, and gave it to Doug."
As he said this, Eren pointed toward Doug, who was now clutching the trash can and vomiting hard. "And as you can see—the results are pretty obvious."
Following Eren's gesture—
Even though Doug looked pale from the vomiting, he was visibly better off than those other students lying around barely able to groan.
Especially the way his bloated belly was visibly shrinking.
Gwen immediately called over Ms. Winnie and told her everything Eren had discovered.
Ms. Winnie's eyes lit up after hearing Gwen's report.
She checked Doug again and, ignoring the overpowering stench, sifted through the vomit.
Sure enough, she found large chunks of undigested mushrooms and remnants of spores in the mess.
She immediately asked Eren about the types and proportions of medicine he had used.
After confirming that Eren's mixture was safe enough, Ms. Winnie quickly instructed the student council members and teachers in the infirmary to prepare similar mixtures.
Thankfully, Central High was well-equipped, with a huge stock of medicine in its infirmary.
Otherwise, most schools wouldn't have had enough supplies on hand to treat dozens of people at once.
As the mixtures were force-fed to the affected students—
Eren took Gwen by the hand and led her out of the infirmary.
A wise decision.
Because not long after they left—
A chorus of vomiting echoed inside.
In the blink of an eye—
The clean, orderly infirmary of Central High transformed into a foul-smelling hellscape.
The stench was worse than a dump.
Even many of the staff and volunteers inside began to gag from the odor.
Some were less lucky—
Like Charlie, who got sprayed earlier—
They too were blasted in the face by the students' explosive vomiting.
Even though the infirmary had become a nightmare of puke and stench, Ms. Winnie and Director Shelmer actually looked relieved.
"Ms. Winnie… their bloated stomachs… they seem to be going down…" Shelmer started to speak, but the putrid smell made him gag.
Ms. Winnie opened every window to ventilate the room, checked the patients again, and finally sighed with relief. "Once the mushroom remnants are vomited out, their symptoms are temporarily under control. Once the ambulances arrive and they're taken to the hospital for full gastric cleansing, there shouldn't be any more danger."
"We really have to thank that student from earlier. If he hadn't discovered the real cause and acted quickly…"
She trailed off, but Shelmer understood.
Wiping the cold sweat off his bald forehead, he sighed. "Yeah… if Eren hadn't stepped in, and this had turned into a full-blown disaster, my career would've been over."
That thought alone made Shelmer's impression of Eren skyrocket.
He even made a silent promise—when Eren applied to college, especially if it was a top school like MIT, he'd write the strongest recommendation letter possible.
As a seasoned education director at an elite school, Shelmer had a lot of connections.
He could definitely put in a good word.
Of course, he didn't plan to tell Eren this—lest it affect his focus during these last few months of school.
...
Just as Ms. Winnie and Shelmer were finally breathing easier—
A panicked male student stumbled into the infirmary.
Gasping and stammering, he cried out, "S-someone died! Rud… Rud is dead…"
Like a thunderclap, the news struck everyone into stunned silence.
Shelmer, who had just relaxed, almost collapsed under the weight of those words.
Ms. Winnie reacted quickly, rushing to the boy and asking, "What happened? How did Rud die? Where is he?!"
...
An hour later.
Police sirens screamed across Central High.
What should've been a joyful day was now completely overshadowed.
Especially when the students saw familiar faces being stretchered into ambulances—they were overcome with dread.
Groups of students who hadn't yet left the school gathered together in nervous discussion.
Before long—
Rumors of toxic mushrooms at the winter dance, and dozens poisoned, spread like wildfire throughout the school—and quickly beyond it.
Outside the school gates, where anxious parents had gathered due to the swarm of ambulances and police cars—
The moment they heard the rumor, they began crowding around the vehicles, craning their necks, desperate to make sure their children weren't among the victims.
But what they didn't know was—
Compared to one poor soul who thought he just had a stomachache, and went to the bathroom only to squat himself to death—
The students in those ambulances were actually the lucky ones.
...
Inside the gym restroom of Central High—
Several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in suits were busy taking photos of a corpse with its stomach burst open and mushrooms sprouting all over its body.
The body belonged to Rud—the student who had died in the incident.
After the photo documentation, a tired-looking Natasha gave orders for the hazmat team to pack the corpse.
Then she turned to George Stacy beside her and said, "Director Stacy, we're taking the body with us. You know what this means. It's likely similar to the other mushroom-covered corpses. There's a risk of a spore-based viral spread. We can't let this thing get out again. As for the rest…"
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My Patreon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][www.p@treon.com/zaelum]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]