Dual System: Ascension of A Nameless Nobody

“Ngh…”

Blinking a few times, he finally came to–quickly jumping up before wincing in pain, holding his body.

I’m not…dead? He thought.

[Undying Proficiency: +1 | 3/20]

[New Skill(s) Acquired: Spirit Burst]

[Zombie Self-Sustain: +1 | 2/10]

“Don’t move so suddenly, Jeong-Hui!”

The familiar voice brought him back to his senses as he carefully blinked, looking to see three figures sitting around him now:

Xiaodan, who placed his hands on his shoulders to calm him; Yeong-Un, who was sitting against the wall with his wounds seemingly tended to, and–Eunji, who was currently using her healing magic on his beaten body.

“…Xiaodan? Eunji?” He said quietly.

“Yeah, it’s us! So, sit down!” Xiaodan told him.

He looked at them for a moment before slowly nodding and sitting back down. Through wiggling his fingers for some reason, he realized his hand was back, to his surprise.

“You’re a lucky one,” Xiaodan said.

“–” He looked down at his hand, continuing to wiggle his fingers and clench it a few times to test its capabilities.

Xiaodan raised one of his silver eyebrows, looking at him with his verdant eyes, “I found your hand in your pocket. Good thinking to keep it on you…otherwise, you’d be short a hand right now.”_.

He gulped, looking at Eunji who was quietly tending to the massive cut on his chest, which was already mostly closed.

“Thanks,” he told her quietly.

“You saved me, so…don’t mention it,” Eunji smiled sadly.

Yeong-Un stood up, huffing as kept his eyes on the ends of the dark hall, pacing back and forth as his attire was still left in tatters despite his wounds being recovered.

It was clear that through his silence and the way he angrily paced to and from, Yeong-Un was stricken by heavy emotions.

A moment was needed for his discombobulated mind to realize why, but he saw why when he looked past Xiaodan to see the corpse of Binna in the hell, which Sol was sitting near with his hand in his lap.

“This night…is the worst.”

He didn’t mean to audibly whisper it, but his thoughts were so attached to those words that they naturally came out.

Xiaodan looked at him and nodded a few times while Eunji simply reciprocated their meaning with the quiet sadness in her eyes, which were puffy and pink from obvious tears that had been shed sometime before this meeting.

“All done,” Eunji said, moving her hands away as the tranquil, verdant mana disappeared.

He looked down, seeing the massive slash on his chest recovered, though a long scar was left as he softly caressed it with his fingertips, “…”

“Sorry…This is the best I could do,” Eunji lowered her head.

As he sat there for a moment, Xiaodan softly elbowed him as he received a sharp glare from the new member of the group which quietly told him “Don’t just sit there!”, which he obliged by wearing a small smile as he left a pat on the girl’s head.

“Thanks, Eunji,” he said.

Eunji lifted her head with a slight blush, adjusting her round glasses before she nodded. Though not a moment later, tears strolled down her cheeks.

“Huh–?”

For a moment, he thought it was something he did, and Xiaodan seemed to think so as well before the hazel-haired girl finally spoke:

“I…I couldn’t save them…! Ho-Jun, Kwang-Jo, Junsu, B-Binna…I couldn’t bring them back–!” Eunji sobbed.

Those words took hold of Yeong-Un, who was several meters away but silently looked on once the name of his lost sister-like figure.

Yeong-Un slumped against the wall, holding his face against his hands as it was clear to the eyes of the vermilion-haired young man what he was doing.

“Eunji…that’s…” He began to say quietly.

“It’s true…All I’m useful for is healing, yet…!”

“Stop it,” he told her adamantly now.

“–” Eunji looked up at him, sniffling from the tears.

He raised his hand, which was once severed and now attached perfectly. A circular scar wrapped around his wrist, but he smiled as he clenched his reattached hand.

“Look at this. Without you, I’d be helpless. Yeong-Un, too. You saved both of us,” he told her.

Eunji looked on, “But…”

“The ones to blame for those we lost…are the ones responsible for this attack. If you’re even slightly guilty of not saving anybody, then I am, too. We all are,” he told her.

“–“

Eunji wiped her tears, nodding quietly.

He slowly stood himself up as Xiaodan did the same. It was a drear ambience that now filled the corridor, as the pain of loss was more potent than the injuries sustained thus far.

“Xiaodan, I hate to ask you this, but…” He quietly said.

The adryogynous young man shook his head lightly with a small smile, “It’s fine. I’m the only one who hasn’t been hurt, or…has really lost anything. So, don’t be afraid to ask me to help, Jeong-Hui.”

“Thanks,” he smiled, “…We should regroup with Dae-Seong and Ma-Ri. I have a feeling they’re still at top–they might be preoccupied with their own battle.”

“That’s more of a reason to go meet up with them, isn’t it?” Xiaodan smiled.

“Exactly, and…Baek-Hyeon is still up to something, I’m sure of it…” He said.

As the two started towards the stairwell, they found their efforts to move as just the two of them thwarted.

“–You guys…You should–”

“Be restin’? The hell if I’m sittin’ around now…” Yeong-Un said.

The sharp-toothed, blue-and-gold eyes adolescent said such with eyes reddened by shed tears, still holding his strong demeanor.

“…I’m not waiting around anymore. I want to do something,” Eunji said adamantly through her meek self.

Sol stood too, though he was still heavily dreary with a less than excited expression, “It’s better if we all move together, right?”

He couldn’t contest their choices as he simply nodded, “Right. Then let’s go.”

In a group of five, they all moved into the stairwell with the destination of the top floor in mind, seeking to find closure within the terrifying night.

However, the moment they stepped into the stairwell–

“Ma-Ri?” He said in surprise.

There she was, the vice leader of Gangcheori, already descending the staircase. But, by the exasperated look on her face, paired with the bleeding wound that stretched over her chest–it was clear that something already had happened.

“…Jeong-Hui?” Ma-Ri said quietly.

As she took a step, Ma-Ri faltered, clutching her chest as he blinked over to give her his shoulder, with Eunji rushing over.

“Are ya’ alright…?” Yeong-Un asked.

“I’m fine…” Ma-Ri said weakly.

–

“Against the wall,” Eunji advised.

When it came to getting the process of recovery done, Eunji took on a bossy role, ordering him to gently place the young woman against the wall as he nodded and did so.

Eunji wasted no time, adjusting her glasses and tightening her white gloves before casting a recovery spell on the tender wound that stretched across the blue-eyed woman’s chest.

“Damn, what could’ve done this to ya’?” Yeong-Un asked.

Though he said it was more abrasion than the others would’ve, it was a shared thought, as Ma-Ri was seen on a similar level to Dae-Seong in terms of capabilities in a fight.

Ma-Ri’s eyes wavered a bit before she parted her lips, “…Let’s go over what happened–everything.”

–

They all shared their experiences during the gruesome night, resulting in the cramped stairwell dimming over in a somber veil.

“The ol’ leader…No, say it ain’t so…” Yeong-Un clenched his teeth before kicking the wall, “–Damn it!!!”

The wall rumbled from the frustrated kick before the teary-eyed spellblade leaned his forehead against it.

“…I’m gonna kill all of them. Each of these fuckin’ player killers. All of them. After Binna…Now the ol’ leader, too…! Shit! Shit! Shit!” Yeong-Un scowled.

After holding in his grief throughout the battle against Dae-Mon, Yeong-Un let it loose as he slammed his knuckles against the wall repeatedly.

He ended up stopping Yeong-Un from going any further by placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder, just giving him a slight shake of his head. Yeong-Un didn’t even argue against this, only scrunching his angered expression up and balling his fists up.

“It ain’t fair. The whole damn world is playin’ against us…” Yeong-Un said quietly.

It was as if a foundation of hope had crumbled from beneath their feet. As bad as things may get, all members of the group had complete faith in the strength of Dae-Seong, but one thing they all knew well–life was fickle in the face of Armageddon.

“What do we do, then…?” Sol muttered, holding his head in his hands as he sat on the stairs.

After being healed, it was Ma-Ri who stood up, bringing all eyes on her with a single saying, “We’ll make it through this–that’s what Dae-Seong made sure of in his final moments. He left the leadership of Gangcheori to me, he entrusted it to me–so I’ll make sure we get through this.”

He looked at her, “…So, you’re in charge now, huh? My condolences.”

“What’s that mean?” Ma-Ri looked at him.

“It means you were left with the world’s largest mess to clean up,” he answered, “think you can handle it?”

Though his words were abrasive at best, he didn’t mean any harm in them–Ma-Ri understood that as well when looking at his tired, emerald eyes. The words he said were more meant to see if the newly-appointed leader was truly up for such a task.