Arknightcraft Modpack (Steve in Terra) (Minecraft x Arknight)

After picking Warfarin up like a misbehaving kitten and tossing her out of his room, Steven locked the door and flopped back onto his bed.

Sure, locking the door wouldn't actually stop anyone determined to break in, but at least it sent a clear message—he didn't want to be disturbed.

If anyone dared to interrupt his precious sleep again, Steven couldn't guarantee he'd stay as polite as before.

Thankfully, that unexpected disturbance didn't repeat itself.

By the time Steven woke up, the clock on the side read 6:00 AM.

He stretched, sat up, and did a quick wash-up routine.

It wasn't that he didn't want to sleep in—it was just that, as a Minecrafter, his body physically wouldn't let him stay in bed during the day.

Of course, he had solved that issue with mods.

What kind of miserable existence would he be leading if he couldn't even enjoy such a basic luxury?

After all, the whole point of installing mods was to enhance the player experience, wasn't it?

But that wasn't the reason he was up so early today.

No—he was awake because of the loud commotion outside.

And it had piqued his curiosity.

'My Fun Radar is going off—there's definitely something interesting happening nearby.'

Squinting his eyes, Steven opened his door—only to spot two familiar middle-aged men.

"Yo! Ace! Scout! Morning! What's all the noise about?"

He greeted the two elite operators, who had already returned to their usual composed selves.

Steven wasn't the least bit upset about their sudden disappearance the other day.

In fact, if he were in their shoes, he would've run too.

Their boss busted them for slacking off—what else were they supposed to do, just sit there and wait for judgment?

The only reason he stayed was because he wanted to see Kal'tsit scold Closure—otherwise, he would've dipped as well.

"You've got good hearing, Steve—did the noise wake you up? We were just about to come get you."

Ace took the lead in responding.

Meanwhile, Scout, who was keeping up his 'cool and silent' persona now that he wasn't drinking, simply nodded at Steven in greeting.

"I've always been healthy, you know. So what's going on? Anything fun to see?"

"Fun?"

Ace frowned slightly, clearly not understanding what Steven meant.

"I don't know what you mean by 'fun,' but yeah, there's been a bit of trouble. Looks like an Oripathy patient's condition is spiraling out of control. It's a common occurrence on Rhodes Island… but definitely nothing to be happy about."

As Ace spoke, his tone grew heavy.

Every Infected would eventually reach this stage—it was their fate.

And when an Infected lost control, they became a walking, unstable Originium bomb.

That was why Rhodes Island could never turn a blind eye to situations like this.

"Oh? That's a thing? I gotta go check it out."

Steven had seen Oripathy before—hell, he had even been infected once—but those so-called 'final stages' that Ace mentioned?

He was curious.

So, what? Did their bodies explode when they died?

Did that mean they were basically Creepers with a debuff?

Okay, sure, that was a bit of a morbid comparison, but that was pretty much the only way Steven could wrap his head around it.

And something that interesting?

There was no way in hell he was missing out.

Following behind the two elite operators, Steven quickly arrived at the chaotic epicenter of the situation.

Just as Steven had guessed, the source of the commotion was indeed one of the patient rooms he had seen before.

Even before reaching the door, he could already feel a bone-chilling cold seeping out from within. It was like stepping into an air-conditioned room cranked to sub-zero temperatures in the dead of winter.

Despite the number of Rhodes Island members gathered around, their presence did nothing to dispel the freezing air.

And the moment Steven actually saw the room—now coated in a thick layer of frost—he finally understood why.

'This isn't a patient room… this is just a massive industrial freezer.'

'What's going on here? Does Oripathy flare up with effects like this? That's pretty cool, honestly.'

Ace and the others, being elite operators, immediately started securing the area and shooing away onlookers.

Steven, however, quickly spotted Kal'tsit and Amiya approaching from a distance.

Walking up to them, he immediately asked, "This is nothing like what I had expected. Do Oripathy outbreaks come with elemental effects now?"

"No… this isn't an inherent symptom of Oripathy."

Kal'tsit's expression was grim.

"The child inside… she didn't want her final moments to bring harm to others. So she created this place—her own frozen coffin."

Even with all the deaths she had witnessed over the years, Kal'tsit still couldn't remain indifferent when it came to the loss of an operator she once worked alongside.

They had realized the problem too late.

The patient had always been a quiet, introverted girl—someone who preferred hiding away in corners, listening to music alone rather than socializing.

For someone like that, it was unlikely she would have spoken up about her condition even if she had felt unwell.

And Oripathy's outbreak patterns were unpredictable.

Now, the sheer concentration of Originium energy leaking from the room made it clear—her body's Originium infection had fully activated.

Most likely, once the pain became unbearable and she lost consciousness, her life would come to an end.

That poor child hadn't even managed to make a single friend at Rhodes Island, despite being with them for so long.

"So that means there's nothing for me to see?"

Steven scratched his head.

From what he gathered, the Infected girl had voluntarily frozen her entire room to prevent her own post-mortem explosion from affecting others.

No one could get in, and when she died, the explosion wouldn't spread either.

Honestly, Steven respected people like that—people who wouldn't burden others even in death.

Even if it was the end, they still chose to think of others first.

He wasn't sure he'd be able to do the same in her position.

"But aren't you guys supposed to be the experts on this stuff? You're just standing here watching? Shouldn't you be doing something?"

Steven turned to Kal'tsit, puzzled by her inaction.

Her sharp gaze, now tinged with anger, shot toward him the moment he finished speaking.

But instead of staring at him, wouldn't it be better if she was figuring out a way to save that girl?

After all, from her tone, that person wasn't dead yet—just close to it.

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