Dual System: Ascension of A Nameless Nobody

[Jeong-Hui.]

"--"

[Don't listen to him. He's trying to bait you into going outside. Don't listen to him. That one isn't to be trusted–any deal he offers is as flimsy as straw.]

But…He thought.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he regained control of his breathing as he squeezed his grip around both of his daggers.

"C'mon. Aren't you his friend? What kind of person would just sit around and watch his friends die? You're the worst. Seriously–the worst of the worst," Pestilence berated him.

The words dug deep into him, but he ignored them as he suddenly pushed forward, swiping his daggers against the malnourished figure with [Dark Edge] activated.

"Ah…"

Pestilence breathed out, unflinching as he simply leaned back to avoid the visceral edge of the daggers.

"--"

"You really don't get it, do you? I was trying to be nice, you know. I really was. Yet, you attacked me? What do you humans say? 'Don't bite the hand that feeds'--something like that. No wonder you keep losing your friends–you can't make smart decisions, can you?" Pestilence continued to berate him with scathing words.

It seemed that the enigmatic, plague-personification had some sort of insight into him beyond just what he could see from their first meeting.

"Shut up, would you?..." He said quietly.

Pestilence grinned, "If you're going to ruin my fun, then I'll just…"

As the entity raised his hand, clenching his blistered fist, it caused Xiaodan to suddenly begin violently hacking up as a fountain of black liquid spewed out from his mouth.

"Argh…Gkk…!" Xiaodan choked.

"Xiaodan!" He called out before looking at Pestilence with his daggers held tightly, "--You bastard!"

He rushed towards the mysterious embodiment of the plague, using successive [Blink Steps] to encircle the figure before unleashing a fury of slashes towards him.

Pestilence laughed while evading the daggers with his unnaturally skinny body, dodging a strike aimed for his neck before retaliating by backhanding the vermilion-haired young man across the cheek.

"--!"

He winced, being flung back against the wall as the sharp, disrespectful counter had reddened his cheek and cut it, though it didn't amount to any real damage.

"The worst of the worst…I really love you, Jeong-Hui. Humans like you. You're so weak, so vile, so twisted, stupid, and pointless!" Pestilence chortled again, "Do you realize what you just did?! No wonder you keep losing everybody!"

"--" He held his cheek.

"Your friend is dying over there–yet, you prioritized your own anger and attacked me, rather than helping him! I don't have to tell you how twisted that is, is it?! How stupid can you be? You go on-and-on-and-on-and-on about wanting to 'be a better person' and 'not lose your humanity'--does that mean you lose all of your friends instead! Ha-ha!" Pestilence couldn't help but laugh right in his face, "Seriously, man, you're the best of the best!"

Again, he got up, launching a kick aimed for the head of the figure that continuously berated him, but his boot only met with a dispersing impact.

Before his eyes, as his boot met with Pestilence's head, the decrepit figure dissolved into a swarm of locusts, dispersing and leaving.

"...Keep on living like a cockroach, accursed good-for-nothing. Live and watch everybody around you die because of your own hubris. I'll watch as well. Ha-ha-ha…" The voice of Pestilence echoed, disembodied from the locusts he had turned into.

The mystical locusts left the room, leaving him there with his stinging cheek as he was left silent in utter confusion from the encounter with the entity responsible for the "Unending Plague."

"Xiaodan…!"

He rushed over to the silver-haired young man's side, who was continuously coughing up black liquid from their bowels as the same substance crept out from their eyes, nose, and seemingly every pore.

Do something, he told himself.

He could hardly think of any method in which to approach the unstable condition of his afflicted friend, tring to shake him awake again.

"Xiaodan!"

Do something. Don't let another person die on you. That guy was wrong, wasn't he? He thought.

After another moment, he looked down to find the sickly figure had stopped breathing altogether while laying on the floor in a pool of the abyssal blood.

"No…"

You're not…I'm not–no, he thought.

"No, no, no…"

Placing his hands on Xiaodan's chest, he pushed down, repeatedly pressing the young man's chest to try and artificially pump air into his lungs and reignite his heart again.

"Come on…! You're not done! Not like this…!" He yelled out desperately as tears hung at the rims of his eyes.

He continued pumping Xiaodan's chest before leaning down, breathing air into his mouth desperately.

"...Hhh…"

It was faint, but he heard it; lightly brushing against his own lips was a shallow exhale from the silver-haired figure.

"Xiaodan!" He called out with hope in his emerald eyes.

That one glimpse of light; such a small semblance of hope in the endless sea of dread around him, no matter how tiny, was enough for him as he continued pumping his chest.

This time, he tore open Xiaodan's verdant shirt, pushing against his bare chest fervently now.

"Come on…! You can hear me, right?! You need to fight, too!" He yelled.

Again, he brought his lips to Xiaodan's own, ignoring the bitter taste of the black blood and pushing his own breath of life into him.

"Hail to…"

The words that traveled from Xiaodan's lips were so quiet as if nothing more than the softest breeze of the wind, but he listened closely.

Xiaodan was still seemingly unconscious, or rather, seemed to be unable to move. He recognized the words he heard, though.

'Hail to'...wait, is this…? He thought.

"The mantra you used before with Eunji…! I see! Keep at it, Xiaodan!" He said.

Aiding his ill friend with another exchange of breaths, he pumped his chest with little restraint, making sure he wasn't cutting any corners.

Xiaodan breathed out the words quietly, "...Hail to the…jewel in the lotus…"

As the invocation finally managed to escape the lips of the near-death young man, an encirclement of clear, pure water manifested around the two.

"...You did it," he said in surprise, watching the water spin around them.

The azure, divine liquid enveloped Xiaodan, caressing his form before disappearing a minute later.

Again, there was silence as he watched anxiously.

Please…He thought.

"Pyuh…!" Xiaodan suddenly spat out blood that must've been caught in his lungs.

"Xiaodan!"

Finally, the eyes of the silver-haired, lithe young man opened, though they were dreary and half-dyed in the black substance, they were indeed open.

"...Jeong-Hui…" Xiaodan said weakly.

"Yeah, it's me…! I'm right here!" He said, grabbing and holding his hand.

Xiaodan struggled just to look to the side and up at him, "...I can't move. I…was only able to dispel the impurities within me…but…I can't heal the damage done to my body…"

"--" His words were caught in his throat.

"But…I'll live…thanks…to you," Xiaodan smiled a bit, "...though…I think you might've…broken some of my ribs just now…"

The words were faint and raspy, though that was understandable after what the young man had just faced and survived.

"...I didn't do anything. You had to save yourself in the end," he said with a relieved smile.

Xiaodan lightly shook his head, "...Idiot. Can't you just…accept it when you've done…something good?"

He smiled a bit, not responding as he remembered the encounter he just had with the embodiment of the plague.

…You weren't wrong. I've lost a lot of people I care about. But…I didn't kill them. If I was stronger, maybe they'd still be there, but…the past is the past. The future is later, and the present is now. And right now, I won, he thought.

Sitting there for a few minutes, he helped Xiaodan sit up against the wall before looking around the establishment for water to give to his sickly companion.

While leaving the storage room to check for a drink, he was reminded that he wasn't free yet–not even close.

The vermin were still swarming the glass, surrounding the building and constantly scratching at the windows with their vile, chattering teeth.

He managed to find a water bottle under a cabinet, returning and sitting beside Xiaodan as he helped him drink from the plastic bottle.

"...Thanks," Xiaodan said, gulping it down.

"Listen, I hate to be the one to say it, but…we're still not out of the mud, yet," he told him.

Xiaodan was silent, sitting beside him as they listened to the constant clawing at the walls from the endless rodents.

"I guessed as much…we're "snowed in", aren't we…?" Xiaodan asked.

He nodded, "Yeah…You weren't awake then, but we were with the group, fleeing from some enemies, but then…I got blown back while holding you–I didn't have very long to make a choice, so I brought us in here."

"I see," Xiaodan said.

Sitting there with the prospect of the endless vermin still harrowingly close, the two seemed out of options.

"...We were so close to the Tower," Xiaodan said quietly.

"We're going to make it," he replied calmly while looking towards the wall.

Xiaodan looked at him, still hard of breath and unable to move but his fingertips and head, "I sure wish I had that optimism, Jeong-Hui…"

"You should have more than me. You were on course straight to Hell, you know," he said.

"Heh…I guess you're right," Xiaodan chuckled weakly, leaning his head against the wall.

The entire time he sat there idly, hardly speaking, his mind was racing, thinking of each and every possible avenue of approach with the daunting, seemingly impossible task of escaping the surrounded diner.

"But, Jeong-Hui…Would it be so bad for things to end here?"