The icy wind of late December felt like a thousand needles stabbing into Lin's skin. He was jogging down the sidewalk, his breath coming out in thick white clouds. To anyone watching, he looked insane; he wasn't wearing a sweater, a jacket, or even a beanie. He just had on a thin t-shirt.
He sprinted past an old man who was wrapped in a heavy wool coat and a thick scarf. The old man stopped in his tracks, pulling his collar up as he watched Lin disappear around the corner.
"That boy is absolutely crazy," the old man muttered, shivering just from the sight of him.
By the time Lin got back to the apartment, the adrenaline had wore off. He was curled up on the couch, buried under three thick blankets with a steaming cup of hot chocolate held tightly in his shaking hands. His nose was bright red, and a pile of used tissues was already growing on the coffee table.
Whack!
A rubber slipper connected with the back of his head.
"Ow! Mom!" Lin yelped, nearly spilling his drink.
"What is wrong with your brain?" his mother yelled, standing over him with her hand on her hip. "Jogging in the middle of winter with no clothes on? Do you want to go back to the hospital?"
"It's... it's on my Christmas wish list!" Lin sneezed loudly. "I'm trying to be... healthy!"
"You're an idiot!" she grumbled, though she went to the kitchen to fix him some ginger soup.
An hour later, Lin shuffled back to his room and locked the door. He dropped the blankets and stared as the system screen appeared. It showed his progress. He had finished the 20km run, but the categories for push-ups and sit-ups were still at zero.
Lin's face went pale. He fell to the floor in disbelief as a giant red timer appeared in the center of the screen.
[TIME REMAINING: 12 HOURS, 00 MINUTES]
Failure to complete will result in "Penalty Quest: Heart Failure."
"Twelve hours?" he whispered, looking at his trembling arms. "I can barely hold a spoon!"
A few blocks away, in a darkened apartment directly opposite Lin's complex, the tall detective, Yanda, was back on duty. This time, he wasn't with the man with the prosthetic hand. Instead, he was sitting with a man who had a messy, patchy beard and a bored expression.
Yanda was hunched over, peering through high-tech binoculars at Lin's window. Suddenly, the quiet room was filled with the sound of loud moans, heavy groans, and a strange, squishy noise.
"Oh yeah... you like what you see, daddy?" a woman's voice whispered from a phone speaker, followed by more intense moaning.
Yanda's eye twitched with pure irritation. He spun around, his face turning red. "What the hell are you watching?!" he yelled.
The man with the patchy beard groaned in frustration, pausing the video on his phone. "Why did you drag me here, Yanda? I could be having actual sex with this girl right now."
"How did you even meet her?" Yanda snapped, trying to focus back on the binoculars.
"Dating site, you ever heard of that?" the man said sarcastically. He stood up and snatched the binoculars out of Yanda's hands. He looked through them for a second, then sighed. "I see why Razor had tapped out. What's the deal with this kid anyway?"
"He survived a demon's attack," Yanda said with a serious tone.
The bearded man froze. His eyes went wide, and he lowered the binoculars. "A demon? Like... the real deal? That's huge. What are they saying back at base?"
"They've got his whole house wired for sound and heat signatures," Yanda explained. "But here's the weird part: he's not showing any signs of transformation."
"That's interesting," the man said, sitting back down. "A survivor who isn't dead or a carrier. I see why Bras is interested. But listen, I'm not gonna watch this dude exercise all day. Get a girlfriend, Yanda. Stop with the creepy stuff."
The man stood up, grabbed his coat, and headed for the door. "I've got a meeting with a beautiful damsel. Have fun watching the kid do sit-ups."
Back in his living room, Lin was trying to relax. He was watching a replay of a football game. Suddenly, the screen flickered, and the broadcast was interrupted by a "Breaking News" alert.
The news reporter looked stressed. "New cases of 'Mutilation Attacks' have been reported across the city. Victims are found with deep bite marks on various parts of their bodies. The authorities are struggling to contain the violence."
Lin felt a cold, tingling feeling wash over his body. It was the same feeling he had in the bathroom.
"The death toll has now reached 1000," the reporter continued.
Xai walked into the room, leaning against the doorframe with a dark look on her face. "It's been happening for a while," she said quietly. "Even back in the city where I live. They try to keep it quiet, but people are disappearing every night."
Lin grabbed the remote and clicked the TV off. "That's enough news for one day," he said.
Suddenly, there was a heavy, rhythmic knock on the front door. Lin stood up, his heart racing. He walked to the door and looked through the peephole.
Standing in the hallway was an elderly man with white hair in a suit. Behind him, standing perfectly still, were several large men in black suits. A black car with dark tinted windows was parked.
Lin opened the door slowly. The old man looked up and smiled. It was a kind smile, but his eyes were sharp and cold.
"Lin Jay," the old man said softly.
"It is a true pleasure to meet you. Merry Christmas."