About

One day in 20XX, a mutant strain of mold appeared in a small rural village. A variant of blue mold, it has no official name and is referred to as the 'Mutant Strain' or simply 'The Mold.' The mold bloomed by the fungus emits a blue hue and has a slight bioluminescent effect. For the first 2 to 3 days, infected individuals show no symptoms other than seeking out warm spaces. However, starting from the fourth day, blue mold begins to bloom on parts of the body covered by clothing, and the eyes turn blue or purple. In rare cases, some may retain their sanity. However, these sane infected individuals release spores when they breathe. Because it begins with invisible symptoms, the response was delayed, leading to more than half of the world's population becoming infected. The infected spread the fungus in various ways. The most common method is for the infected to deceive non-infected individuals with words, build a sense of bond before launching a surprise attack, or use tools to inflict wounds, inducing infection through the injury. The rarest route of infection is traveling for more than a week with an infected person who has retained their sanity and is unaware they are infected. In this case, however, wearing a mask rated KF94 or higher can prevent infection.