When I am reborn, I just want to be a top student

In Seoul, the December wind is as cold as a knife.

Zhang Weihua stood at the end of the emergency room corridor, his phone clenching so tightly it made a cracking sound.

The screen displays a gene sequencing report just sent by the CDC, revealing a completely new influenza variant strain whose antigenic epitopes do not match any known strains, rendering existing vaccines and antiviral drugs largely ineffective against it.

He read the report three times, then put it in his pocket and turned to walk into the overcrowded emergency room.

The extra beds in the corridor stretched from the nurses' station to the elevator entrance.

The family member accompanying the patient sat on a rented folding chair, dozing off with their head against the wall, holding a hot water bottle and a boxed meal they hadn't had time to eat.

The air was filled with disinfectant, sweat, and a faint, sour smell—the peculiar odor of flu patients.

"Director Zhang! Bed number three has a fever again! 42 degrees Celsius, and the fever reducer isn't working!" A nurse jogged over, her IV bag still hanging in her hand.

"Use physical cooling methods; if we don't have enough ice, we'll get some from the logistics department."

"The oxygen saturation of patient in bed 5 has dropped to 89. Put him on a ventilator and notify the ICU to prepare to receive him."

"The family of patient in bed seven is making a scene, saying they've been waiting for hours and still haven't received their medication..."

Zhang Weihua ripped off his N95 mask, revealing his purple nose and chapped lips.

His voice was hoarse, like a broken bellows, but it could be heard clearly throughout the entire corridor: "What's all the fuss about? No medicine means no medicine! Provide symptomatic support, maintain vital signs, wait for new drugs, wait for vaccines. Do you understand?"

The corridor fell silent for a moment.

Then all sorts of sounds came back: the ticking of the electrocardiogram monitor, the hissing of the oxygen mask, the suppressed cough of the patient, and the hushed sobs of the family members.

Zhang Weihua put his mask back on and walked to the next hospital bed.

The flu outbreak began in early December.

It started in an elementary school in Seoul, where more than a dozen children in one class developed a fever at the same time.

The CDC assumed it was a common seasonal flu and followed procedures to report, collect samples, and carry out disinfection.

But this time it's different. The virus spreads extremely quickly. One child infects a family, one family infects a building, and one building infects a community.

It took less than two weeks from the first confirmed case to the city's hospitals' fever clinics reaching capacity.

The intensive care unit was already short of beds, so temporary beds were added to the corridors, and the alarms of ventilators went off incessantly, like a never-ending downpour.

What's even more disheartening is that critically ill patients are dying one after another despite all efforts to save them.

The hearse parked at the back gate of the hospital, arriving quietly at three or four in the morning and leaving quietly.

Panic began to spread to every corner of the city.

Long lines formed outside pharmacies, and masks and fever reducers were snapped up. Supermarket shelves for disinfectant were emptied time and time again.

The streets of Seoul are empty, not because the authorities have banned people from going out, but because citizens have spontaneously decided not to leave their homes.

The entire city seemed to have been put on silent, with only the sirens of ambulances blaring from morning till night.

……

Tangdu, headquarters of Galaxy Technology.

Baili Xiu was urgently summoned to headquarters in the early hours of the morning.

When he pushed open the door to Wang Donglai's office, he found several people already sitting inside, including Zhang Yizu, Liao Qingfeng, Liang Song, and several heads of core business lines.

Everyone's face was solemn.

"The news has been confirmed."

Wang Donglai's voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the office could hear him clearly: "The new variant strain in Seoul has antigenic epitopes that highly match the high-risk sequences we previously predicted. There are currently no specific drugs, and vaccines are basically ineffective. The CDC's model predicts that if the spread is allowed to continue, the final number of infections will far exceed the current data."

Baili Xiu gasped.

The office was so quiet that you could hear the faint sound of the air conditioning vents.

"Boss, where is Wanwusheng?" Baili Xiu asked directly.

"The Phase III clinical trial data has all been completed. The conversion rate to severe illness was reduced by nearly 70% in the early treatment group, the average course of disease was significantly shortened, and the incidence of adverse events was extremely low. The production line is also ready, and the current inventory can meet the initial demand."

Baili Xiu's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's report to the drug regulatory department immediately and go through the special approval channel. It should be approved within one or two weeks."

Liang Song frowned. Having spent a long time as CEO of Galaxy Semiconductor, he was extremely sensitive to numbers: "Even the fastest special approval process takes a week. Add in production ramp-up and logistics, and it will take at least two weeks for the medicine to actually reach the patients. Two weeks is too costly at the current rate of spread."

"Therefore, we don't need to go through special approval."

Wang Donglai's voice was calm, but every word was like a nail driven into the hearts of everyone present: "Reveal the formula directly."

The air in the office seemed to freeze for a moment.

Baili Xiu thought he had misheard: "Boss, what did you say?"

"By making the formula public and disclosing the complete patents and manufacturing process of Wanwusheng, any pharmaceutical company with production capabilities can directly produce it after registering with the drug regulatory authorities. We are letting go of patent barriers to buy time."

"Boss, this won't do!"

Baili Xiu practically jumped up from the sofa, his voice rising several octaves with urgency: "We've poured so much effort into developing Wanwusheng, from target discovery to lead compound screening, from Phase I clinical trials to Phase III. The R&D investment alone is enormous. Changqing Liquid, Meiyan Water, and Lidan Shugan Tablets are all patented, so why should Wanwusheng be an exception?"

"Because Changqing Liquid treats hair loss, which can be waited for, but this flu cannot be waited for."

Bai Lixiu's voice was stuck in her throat.

He looked at Zhang Yizu as if asking for help, but Zhang Yizu didn't meet his gaze. He just leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table. His eyes held a calmness he was used to seeing, the focused expression Zhang Yizu had when calculating the best dissemination strategy.

"Boss, have you thought this through? Revealing the formula isn't just about money."

Zhang Yizu finally spoke, his voice steady: "It's a matter of control. Once the formula is made public, anyone can produce it. How can we guarantee the quality? How can we control the price? If someone produces shoddy products, or if someone hoards and speculates, we'll have to bear all the side effects."

"Therefore, we cannot simply disclose the formula."

Wang Donglai stood up, walked to the whiteboard on the side of the office, picked up a marker, and calmly said, “We need to do three things simultaneously. First, we will make the patents and formulas publicly available free of charge, opening them to all pharmaceutical companies through the unified filing platform of the drug regulatory authorities. Second, we will compile all the professional data, technical points, and key process nodes accumulated during our R&D process into a technical white paper, and release it along with the formulas, so that authorized companies can complete the conversion to production in the shortest possible time. Third, Galaxy Bio will lead a technical support team composed of our core engineers and technical backbones. All authorized production companies will carry out production under the guidance and supervision of our dispatched technical experts to ensure that the process is not deviated and the quality does not decline. We can't just give you the blueprints and not care about the construction; we need to build the foundation properly.”

He drew a minimalist diagram on the whiteboard: open formula, technical white paper, and technical support team. The three arrows all pointed to the same goal: rapid and high-quality production conversion.

Liang Song was the first to stand up: "We can transfer dozens of senior process engineers from the semiconductor sector. They are all skilled in precision manufacturing and can easily provide technical support to pharmaceutical companies."

Liao Qingfeng nodded in agreement: "We can directly use Xuanwu Battery's supplier management system. That supplier quality management process has been running for several years and is very mature. We'll set the standards, authorize whichever supplier's process is up to standard, and stop if it's not, without wasting a single day."

Baili Xiu stood there, looking at Liang Song, then at Liao Qingfeng, and then at the diagram that Wang Donglai had drawn on the whiteboard.

He breathed a long sigh of relief. He and Wang Donglai had just put on a show to see what others thought.

Fortunately, everyone's ideas were good and did not disappoint Wang Donglai's expectations.

Immediately, Baili Xiu's expression turned serious, and he said earnestly, "Boss, I will lead the technical support team. I personally oversaw the development of Wanwusheng in the laboratory, and I know exactly how every gram of raw material is purified."

Wang Dong looked at him, his lips twitching slightly, not in a smile, but in a deeper trust that only those who had fought side by side could understand.

"Baili, don't worry. After the Great Wall is built, there will be plenty of battles to fight. We've already tested the technology platform of Wanwusheng, and there will be a second Wanwusheng, a third Wanwusheng. This time, what we need is speed. Time waits for no one. The sooner we get the medicine to Seoul, the fewer tragedies we'll face." He walked back to his desk, his gaze sweeping over everyone present: "I know we're forgoing hundreds of billions in profits this time. But Galaxy Technology has never relied on squeezing profits to get to where it is today. We have Changqing Liquid, Xuanwu Batteries, and a lithography factory—each one a cash cow. What we lack isn't money, it's time. The sooner we distribute the medicine nationwide, the sooner this epidemic will end. This isn't business; it's saving lives. We need to calculate the costs, but some costs can't be calculated in monetary terms. Ladies and gentlemen, every extra day Seoul delays could mean the collapse of hundreds of families' breadwinners. What could be more worthwhile than what we have to save their lives?"

No one spoke anymore, but everyone's eyes had changed.

It was a light that had been ignited and had nowhere to go.

……

The next day, while the entire internet was discussing the Seoul flu.

Wang Donglai directly announced the news on various platforms.

On the morning of December 17, Galaxy Technology released an announcement on its official website. The entire text was only a few hundred words long, but every sentence was like a bomb dropped into a lake of panic.

The announcement stated that Galaxy Bio's broad-spectrum anti-respiratory infection drug "Wanwusheng" has completed clinical trials. Data shows that it has a significant inhibitory effect on the current novel influenza virus, especially in early and mid-stage infections, where it can effectively prevent the disease from progressing to severe illness.

More importantly, in the last paragraph, Galaxy Technology decided to disclose the complete patents and preparation formulas for Wanwusheng free of charge, and any pharmaceutical company with production capabilities can apply to the drug regulatory authorities for production authorization.

The news caused an uproar online.

"Publicly disclosed formula? Free authorization? Is this for real? This kind of medicine must be worth an astronomical price!"

"I checked Galaxy Bio's previous products: Changqing Liquid, Beauty Water, and Danshen Shugan Tablets. They were all high-priced drugs. Has it changed its nature this time?"

"Wait a minute, how long has it been since the flu started, and there's already a cure? The development cycle doesn't make sense, does it?"

"It seems to have been developed in advance; their announcement stated that it was a reserve drug for broad-spectrum respiratory infections."

"Developed ahead of schedule? How did he know there would be a flu? It's terrifying to think about."

"Stop with the conspiracy theories, upstairs. Is having superior technology a sin?"

That afternoon, the relevant authorities approved the clinical use of "Wanwusheng" in the fever clinics and respiratory departments of all level-two and above hospitals in Seoul.

The news didn't trend on social media, but it spread throughout the internal groups of all frontline doctors.

The document bears the official red seal of the relevant department, and the attachment contains complete clinical data and medication guidelines for Wanwusheng, with each item clearly written.

A small white pill, smaller than a fingernail, in aluminum-plastic packaging, a box of twenty-four pills.

The first batch of medicines was transported directly from Tangdu to various hospitals in Seoul via Xinghuo Express's refrigerated transport vehicles, and the entire process took less than twelve hours.

Seoul, Jinyintan Hospital.

As a designated hospital for treating severe influenza patients, the ICU is full of patients with white lung disease.

The hissing of the ventilator and the ticking of the monitor mingled together, and the corridor was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

Most of the patients admitted here had developed viral pneumonia, and their lung CT scans showed a completely white patch.

The doctors were wearing heavy protective suits, their goggles fogged up, and you had to shout to hear them.

At the end of the corridor, several nurses who had just finished their night shift sat on the ground leaning against the wall to rest, still wearing their protective suits.

Zhang Weihua was urgently transferred here to provide support a week ago.

He looked at the newly issued medication guidelines over and over again, and finally looked up at the director.

Are there any patients' families willing to try?

"Yes, the family of the patient in ICU bed three said they were willing."

"Then we'll follow the special medication procedure. We'll sign the informed consent form and monitor the patient throughout the process."

Wanwusheng is an oral medication, but for patients with intubation, it can only be crushed and injected through a gastric tube.

The entire process was silent and uneventful, without any dramatic rescue efforts or sudden alarms from the equipment.

The nurse crushed the pills, dissolved them in water, and slowly pushed them into the feeding tube before moving on to the next nursing procedure, as if it were just an ordinary task.

That evening, Zhang Weihua stayed on duty in the ICU.

At three in the morning, he was looking through other patients' medical records when a nurse suddenly ran over with an expression he had never seen before on her face—not panic, but disbelief.

"Director Zhang, the oxygen saturation of patient in bed three has increased from over 80% to 92%. The temperature has dropped from 39.7 degrees to 37.5 degrees."

Zhang Weihua put down the medical records and quickly walked into the ICU with several on-duty doctors.

On the monitor, the green curve symbolizing blood oxygen saturation was fluctuating steadily, with the number remaining stable at ninety-two.

The ventilator settings have been lowered, and the patient's breathing rate is gradually recovering.

The body temperature has come down, and the heart rate has stabilized.

It's not that he doesn't believe the data, but the changes are happening too fast. The patient who was struggling on the brink of death yesterday is now breathing steadily on his own.

This morning, the hospital's internal group chat exploded.

The first news came from the ICU: the blood oxygen level in bed three had risen, and the temperature in bed five had dropped.

Then there's the respiratory department, where medication significantly shortened the course of the disease and drastically reduced the rate of progression to severe illness.

At the fever clinic, patients who received early medication generally had their fever subside within a day and did not experience a recurrence of their condition.

On Zhang Weihua's phone, group messages were flooding the screen faster than the flu was spreading.

Every department is reporting data, and every message is followed by a long list of forwarded records.

He only sent four words in the group: "Continue to observe."

The message spread from the doctors' group to the family group, from the family group to the neighborhood group, and from the neighborhood group to the entire internet.

Douyin, Weibo, Toutiao—feedback from patients' families is everywhere.

The doubts persist, with comments still circulating that "the data sample size is not large enough," "security needs long-term verification," and "Galaxy Technology's marketing campaign is perfect."

But they soon discovered that their posts were being overwhelmed by a massive amount of real case feedback.

“My dad used Wanwusheng, and his high fever subsided in one day. He was discharged from the hospital in three days. This medicine really works.”

“My mother was critically ill and was put on a ventilator. After using it, her blood oxygen level kept rising, and she was just transferred out of the ICU today.”

"Our department admitted dozens of patients. All of them in the medication group have improved and there have been no deaths. Several patients in the control group have become critically ill today."

"Where are those experts who previously called this drug a rip-off? Come out and say something!"

"They're busy deleting their Weibo posts."

"The person who said it 'contrary to pharmacological common sense' shut down the comments overnight."

"The account that said 'Galaxy Technology is profiting from the national crisis' has been deleted." (End of Chapter)