Chapter 1481.1

Earth’s Awakened were largely divided into two groups. The first generation, who gained their powers through Neltarid’s Alf Online, was followed by the second generation, who had spontaneously awakened their powers.

The infectious Awakened disease spreading around the world primarily affected the second generation. However, since its incidence rate was low and its contagiousness was almost negligible, it had gone under the social radar for a while.

Yet, at some point, the incidence rate began to climb and make a noticeable upward curve. By the time several nations noticed the anomaly, the situation had already spiraled into a serious crisis. Once an S-rank Awakened attempting an overly ambitious dungeon clear died from itIt then became impossible to keep the disease under wraps .

“The truth is, there’s no way to treat it,” Davey informed. “Thus, the Awakened individuals who know about it have started avoiding gate entries altogether.”

In the modern age, the Awakened and gates had become an indispensable part of life on Earth, like a positive cycle. The connection to the beast lair helped stabilize Earth’s dimension, while humans also used the byproducts of the gates and the energy flowing from them in their daily lives.

“But Davey... Despite all that, didn’t you cure it quite easily?”

He nodded slowly without saying a word. Only after a while did he speak up to say, “Indeed. However, given Earth’s current situation, it’d certainly be a challenge for them to do the same.”

“Hmm?”

On the surface, it seemed like Earth had advanced significantly, while in reality, its study of mana wasn’t very developed. In fact, they had only reached their current point by embracing outside cultures like Tionis. Without those examples to draw from, they wouldn’t have even been able to properly classify mana, much less create anything from its byproducts.

“I will say... Earth still established the definition of mana sooner than expected,” Davey remarked.

The spreading disease effectively amounted to a side-effect of that rapid progress. When viewed on a macro level, the crisis only erupted because they lacked foundational knowledge yet desperately tried to force development nonetheless.

“Then... Can it be cured?”

“It’s actually quite simple,” he told them. “But just providing treatment won’t solve the underlying problem.”

In fact, he could cure it immediately around the globe. However, if the disease were to resurface later, that would leave them no choice but to ask him for help all over again.

From Tionis’s perspective, such a collaboration could bring enormous profits and concessions, but Davey would never allow people’s lives to be trivialized and commodified.

As Evangeline had told Davey, the mass outbreak of the Awakened disease in South Africa had caused a huge number of Awakened individuals to suffer severe seizures. If left unchecked, it would become one of the worst catastrophes in Earth’s history.

“What are you going to do?” Evangeline softly asked.

“This disease is like a fever that people who aren’t accustomed to mana develop when they suddenly acquire it. People in Tionis naturally possess a certain amount of mana or have evolved to adapt to an environment rich with mana, but the people here are different.”

However, since Earth wasn’t completely foreign to the alien force known as mana, there was a high chance that their dormant vestigial organs would reactivate.

“So what are you saying?”

He turned and asked, “Hyun-Ah, does the Sacred Group have a medical division?”

“Of course,” she quickly responded.

“Then let’s prepare a vaccination program. Since Earth has its own stance on things, I have no choice but to show them firsthand.”

If they were to administer an unidentified drug, people would immediately start rumors about them being used as test subjects. Therefore, they first needed to accept volunteers and treat them.

“The justification is solid. After all, it’s not even a major issue in Tionis.”

“They don’t even catch it in the first place,” Davey said. “There are almost no recorded cases in Tionis. It’s extremely rare, like Lou Gehrig’s disease.”[1]

However, there were worlds where the Awakened disease occurred quite frequently.

Of course, over time, it became a common and easily treatable disease in those places as well, but Earth was still in the early stages in that regard.

“Is there a separate treatment method?”

“The treatment I performed is especially rare. It’s impossible to treat it this way, even in Tionis.”

Presenting the brutal treatment method, that only Davey could perform, as an official cure would be foolish.

“Therefore, drug treatment is the way to go.” If medicine could treat the disease, there was no better option than administering it as a vaccine. “Since it’s not a virus, there won’t be a fever or anything like that after the injection.”

“Okay. But can you get the ingredients here on Earth?”

“Probably not. Well, at least not for now. I’ll bring them over from Tionis first. I’ll charge a small royalty for the formula, for good measure.”

Hyun-Ah’s eyes narrowed. “In the end, it’s always about money... What a bitter pill to swallow.”

“If I had my way, I would just hand over the seedlings. However, Heins needs funds right now.”

In reality, they had stumbled upon a massive opportunity. Heins desperately needed funds for Heins Academy, so the vaccine business would become an extremely important lifeline.

Of course, dealing with Gargantia and taking the massive fortune he had accumulated was able to solve some of their financial burdens, but it wasn’t a permanent solution.

One of them lamented, “It’s sad that we’re in a situation where human lives are weighed against money.”

The important thing was whether Earth would accept it.

“Then... What should I help with first?”

“I’ll have to show everyone the whole process. Several countries, including South Africa, are struggling with the disease, so I first plan to treat those places for free.” He gave a smirk. “I need to at least keep my conscience as a doctor.”

“I’ll get a plane ready,” Hyun-Ah declared. “What else do you need?”

“Since we’ll mainly be treating them with herbal medicine rather than just providing first aid, have them set up medical tents. I want to avoid any political complications.”

He planned to start it in a manner as close to a medical volunteer effort as possible.

* * *

News about the Saint of Tionis administering treatment spread rapidly across the internet.

It was reported that after first treating someone who had contracted the Awakened disease, he had personally traveled to South Africa to treat a large number of people affected by it.

However, the disease afflicting the Awakened in South Africa was known to have a low but real chance of being contagious. Many people were surprised that the Saint of Tionis would risk being exposed to it.

Naturally, for the current South African president, President Lipolasa, it was a huge relief. Despite the country’s size, they had relatively few Awakened individuals. With the disease spreading on such a massive scale, he must’ve felt like he was sitting on a ticking time bomb.

In that dire situation, he met the Saint of Tionis through the Sacred Group, an international corporation aligned with the World Federation.

Davey said he’d set up temporary medical facilities in South Africa and treat the seriously ill.

It was the kind of proposal that normally would’ve required careful consideration. However, the situation was so urgent that the president felt compelled to stabilize the crisis at all costs. He viewed the proposal favorably and quickly signed the agreement.

About a week passed. During that time, Davey began to quickly treat those who had contracted the Awakened disease at the medical facilities the Sacred Group had set up.

However, contrary to what the president had heard initially, Davey focused on medication treatment. He cited the fact that, although he could treat them directly, it wouldn’t be a solution to the fundamental problem.

There were many rumors among the public that he was performing human experiments on the afflicted. However, once about fifty people completed their first inoculation, everyone began to change their tune.

The Awakened disease presented various symptoms, but those with severe symptoms sometimes convulsed and coughed up bloody foam.

Of course, most patients who weren’t in critical condition only suffered from extreme fatigue and had difficulty controlling their mana. The symptoms were well known among those familiar with the disease.

The Awakened, genuinely terrified of coughing up bloody foam and having a seizure themselves, clung to the treatment like a drowning man trying to make it out of the water.

In just three days, they began to show immense improvement. The symptoms started to alleviate.

The fatigue gradually lifted, and mana control returned to normal. The sporadic dizziness and high fever disappeared, and they were completely back to their original states.

Only then did people realize how unbelievable the medicine Davey had administered was, giving extremely minimal side effects.

Originally, no medicine could be entirely free from side effects. Therefore, the medical community had worked through countless methods over time to drastically lower their likelihood.

There hadn’t been many cases where that was achieved in such a short time, a fact which caused many to worry. Yet, even after about a week, no one had any problems. From then on, the situation began to improve rapidly.

Even the most critical patients were finishing treatment, and the cure for the Awakened disease that had broken out in South Africa was effectively nearing completion.

They were soon able to lift the disease emergency status, and the President of South Africa personally expressed his gratitude to Davey for saving countless Awakened individuals.

Of course, as the treatment was short-term, future flare-ups were a possibility. Davey made the Sacred Group export the medicinal herbs from Tionis to help tackle the issue.

If he had ill intentions, he could’ve easily made plenty of profit off of the whole ordeal. After all, with his nation having been ravaged by the disease, the president understood the importance of the drug better than anyone.

Nonetheless, Davey promised to supply the medicinal ingredients at a reasonable price, and the two quickly signed a trade contract.

The Awakened disease was an illness that affected individuals exposed to mana from the gates. Furthermore, even though there was a small risk of transmission, the general consensus was that even non-Awakened individuals should get vaccinated as a precaution.

The nations that had been observing the situation began to mobilize one by one after seeing South Africa sign the contract. The Awakened disease had not been a major crisis until then, but most still agreed that it was a disease which fundamentally couldn’t be ignored.

Feeling the time was right, Davey decided to officially present a proposal to Earth. He met with the leaders of numerous nations, standing at the front and looking around without the slightest hint of tension.

A young man who looked barely in his twenties stood confidently before the world’s leaders as they focused all their attention on him. Ignoring the cameras filming him, he immediately got straight to the point. “I have no intention of beating around the bush, so let’s get straight to the point. I have confirmed that the Awakened disease is spreading in various parts of the world.”

He continued his short and concise explanation, brief enough that it gave the impression he wasn’t going to take any questions.

“The people of Earth are not accustomed to mana. Therefore, prolonged exposure to high-density mana often results in the outbreak of the Awakened disease. The treatment itself is not difficult. It’s possible to cure it directly, even without medicine. However, such a procedure is virtually impossible unless a high-level archmage performs it.”

A murmur arose among some of the rulers.

He continued, “But do not worry. Although the necessary ingredients aren’t available on Earth, a vaccine will be made using medicinal herbs imported from Tionis. A few injections will be administered to each individual to build up immunity. It won’t last forever, but there shouldn’t be any problems as long as people get vaccinated twice a year.”

Davey took a quiet breath and lowered his gaze. He quickly scanned the floor before he lifted his gaze again. “I will help. However, since Heins does not have the luxury of providing things for free, I will charge a minimum price. I plan to hand over the medicine’s manufacturing recipe to the Sacred Group.”

1. Known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Lou Gehrig’s disease is a motor neuron disease that causes nerve cells to stop working and die, ultimately leading to paralysis. Its incidence is approximately 4 to 6 in 100,000, though records can be spotty. It is, just as Davey says, extremely rare for someone to have it. There is still much to be learned about the disease, and as of yet, there is no known cure. ☜