21st Century Necromancer

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"What happened? What’s going on? Rokuro, speak clearly," Chen Yu frowned at the sound of Kube Rokuro’s shouting on the phone, wondering what all the fuss was about.

What kind of big trouble could there be at a forensic identification center? Just as Chen Yu was thinking this, he heard Kube Rokuro say on the phone, "Brother Yu, do you remember the deceased with acute kidney damage I asked you about last time? The cause of death has been determined.

It’s been confirmed through identification that he died from acute kidney damage caused by an infection of the MARS coronavirus."

"MARS?" Hearing the name of the virus from Kube Rokuro, Chen Yu stood up from his chair in surprise, his voice suddenly rising, "Rokuro, are you certain? It’s not a misdiagnosis, is it? This isn’t something to joke about!"

Chen Yu’s surprised voice also drew the attention of other doctors in the office. The word MARS suddenly struck their nerves. Witnessing Chen Yu’s surprised expression, a group of doctors quickly gathered around, asking anxiously, "Where’s the MARS outbreak? It’s not in Tokyo, is it?"

"The deceased had visited Saudi Arabia before his death, and had symptoms of a minor cold after returning to his country.

However, his condition rapidly deteriorated due to an excessive immune response leading to acute renal failure, and might have also triggered pneumonia, ultimately resulting in his death." A commotion came through the phone, as if they felt that Kube Rokuro hadn’t explained the issue clearly, and a woman’s voice took over, stating, "Before his death, he had gone for a physical exam at Toyo Medical University Hospital.

Although the hospital’s check-up showed no problems, a second death has been confirmed, and considering there are many patients with low immunity at the hospital, we assess that the infection has... no, it has already spread."

"The infection has already spread? I understand. Thank you for notifying us promptly, I really appreciate it. If possible, could you please send over a formal notice?" Chen Yu thanked the person on the other end of the phone, as virus spread was certainly a serious matter, which was why he asked for a formal notice to be sent over, "Our fax number? Just a moment, let me check."

Chen Yu quickly looked to the doctors around him and asked, "What’s our fax number?"

The doctors around, having grasped the seriousness of the situation from Chen Yu’s earlier words, began frantically searching their desks upon hearing his request for the fax number, and soon one doctor handed Chen Yu a piece of paper. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Looking at the fax number printed on the paper, Chen Yu promptly relayed it to the other party and expressed his gratitude once more before hanging up the phone.

"Doctor Chen Yu, what’s going on? Did you just say MARS?" As soon as Chen Yu hung up the phone, the surrounding doctors eagerly asked him, with the mention of the MARS virus infection causing everyone to tense up.

"A patient was infected with MARS in Saudi Arabia, went for a check-up at Toyo Medical University Hospital after returning to the country, and subsequently died of the disease. A second death has been confirmed, so it has been determined that the infection has spread.

They will send over a formal notice, just wait a bit," Chen Yu explained to the concerned doctors around him before sitting down again.

Hearing this, all the doctors in the office lost interest in their work and gathered around the fax machine, waiting for the notice to come through.

The concern among the doctors was reasonable, as the MARS virus is indeed a very dangerous one.

The MERS virus is a novel coronavirus. MARS stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, named as such because most of the cases occurred in Saudi Arabia.

The MERS-CoV was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in September 2012. Initially, due to its similar clinical symptoms to SARS, it was named "SARS-like virus" and became the sixth known human coronavirus, as well as the third to be identified in the past decade.

Coronaviruses are expelled from the body through respiratory secretions, transmitted via saliva, sneezing, contact infections, and through airborne droplets, making them highly infectious viruses with a broad range of transmission pathways. Common clinical manifestations include fever with chills, cough, shortness of breath, and muscle aches.

Gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain are also fairly common.

The variant of the coronavirus that caused the SARS outbreak in China was highly infamous for its high contagiousness, pathogenicity, and mortality, instilling fear in the population during its global rampage from 2002 to 2003. The infectivity and mortality rate of the MARS virus far exceed the previously known SARS virus, with a death rate as high as 38.5%.

Understanding the dangerous nature of the MARS virus, all the doctors in the office were extremely tense upon learning that it might have spread. A serious nationwide epidemic could break out if the situation wasn’t handled properly.

In the midst of everyone’s anxious waiting, the fax finally came through.

The group of doctors crowded around the fax machine picked up the document and eagerly read it: "A man in his thirties, initially diagnosed with ischemic heart disease as the cause of death. Upon autopsy by the UDI Research Institute at the request of the family, death was confirmed to be due to MARS coronavirus infection.

A woman in her twenties suspected to have died due to respiratory distress caused by MARS coronavirus infection.

Upon investigation, the man in his thirties had been to Saudi Arabia on a business trip. The third day after returning to the country, he went for a physical exam at Toyo Medical University Hospital. The probability of virus transmission is extremely high, hence this notification."

"It really is the MARS virus! How irresponsible of that guy! Why didn’t he report it when he was going through customs?" one doctor, after reading the notice, expressed dissatisfaction with the deceased man A.

"He probably thought it was just a common cold and didn’t take it seriously. These kinds of things are common; who would have thought a simple fever and headache could be an infection by something as terrifying as the MARS virus?" another doctor seemed more understanding of the deceased, making an excuse for him.

Just as everyone was discussing, one doctor who had listened to the notice turned pale with fear and uttered in alarm, "I’ve just been to Toyo Medical University Hospital recently; I hope I haven’t been infected as well!"

This doctor’s words caused everyone to panic, immediately keeping their distance: "Really? Higashiyama, you’ve been to Toyo Medical University Hospital recently?"

"Don’t scare yourself. The hospital should be able to check for MARS virus infection, right? Go get tested first. I’ll notify Professor Kube," Chen Yu, seeing everyone’s frightened expressions, stopped the unnecessary panic and took the fax from one of the doctors, planning to inform Professor Kube of the news.

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