The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 284

Five years later.

South District. Inside Bar 94, a trendy spot converted from an old factory warehouse.

Under the dim, amber lighting, a man sat at a high stool in the deepest corner of the bar. A barely touched glass of whiskey sat before him, the spherical ice cube mostly melted, bobbing gently in the amber liquid.

His equally amber eyes were fixed on a battered LCD television mounted on the wall.

The TV was broadcasting the news.

"—Today, DeepBlue Technologies held a press conference to announce that their proprietary cancer-fighting drug, Genesis-1, has officially received market approval."

"Reports state that Genesis-1 is the world's first genetic drug utilizing The Genesis Strain, a composite bacteriophage vector designed for targeted tumor therapy. Its primary mechanism allows artificially modified phages to specifically recognize receptors on tumor cells, anchoring themselves before penetrating the cell membrane to execute in-situ repair of mutated genes."

"Compared to traditional chemotherapy and immunosuppressants, Genesis-1 achieves zero off-target effects on healthy cells, with virtually no side effects. Industry experts are already calling it the next revolution in cancer treatment."

A murmur of conversation rippled from a nearby booth. A group of college students held their beers, staring up at the screen.

"Genesis-1? I thought the whole bacteriophage cancer treatment thing was originally pioneered by that doctor from Metropolitan General Hospital... What was his name again?"

"The Vitas Strain! I remember Garrison Foster won The Nobel Prize in Medicine for it. It was massive news back then!"

"Yeah, I heard that too. It was a massive scandal. Wonder why it all just blew over?"

"Who knows? Rumor has it he had some kind of mental breakdown a few years ago and went completely off the rails. No one's seen him since. Some say he went insane and left the country for treatment; others say he drank himself to death. Either way, he vanished."

"No way," a guy in round glasses clicked his tongue. "That's brutal. The man was a Nobel laureate, the pride of the medical world!"

"Hey, you never know," the curly-haired girl took a sip of her drink, her tone dripping with implication.

"I heard his family is insanely rich and powerful. Who knows how he actually got that Nobel Prize? Hell, his family probably bought his medical license for him. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened!"