Dual System: Ascension of A Nameless Nobody

Chapter 180 Simply, Hell

"Maybe so, but…I guess this is just how I am," Xiaodan smiled with a hint of melancholy.

While the androgynous figure picked up the office, he went over and began picking up the scattered parchment as well.

"You don't have to help," Xiaodan told him.

"It's fine…What else am I going to do, anyway?" He smiled.

"True," Xiaodan smiled in return.

While they were keeping themselves busy with cleaning up the floor, Korain and Ma-Ri had headed down the floors to look for any resources still left in the building.

"I was hoping things would calm down during our last few days…" Sol sighed out, looking up.

"Well, tough shit," Yeong-Un responded quietly, sitting by the windows.

–

He eventually settled down, sitting by the stairwell as he kept his daggers drawn, for obvious reasons.

Over the course of the Final Culling and the uprising of Hell unto Earth, the air had grown thin and hot, smokey and ashen. It hardly felt suitable long term for humans anymore, besides the clear threat of man-eating, sadistic demons that marched through the streets.

Eventually, Ma-Ri and Korain returned, their steps being audible up the stairs as he looked up from his seated spot against the wall.

Korain was holding a large bag between his arm and his torso, "Look what we found."

"Huh?" He squinted.

Ma-Ri was holding a similar, colorful bag as well. Though he recognized them after squinting for a moment.

"Chips?"

"Yup," Korain nodded, "A whole lot of them. Some candy, too."

With the findings of food, the bags were tossed into the center of the office as everybody grabbed whatever they needed.

There were a variety of choices: corn-flavored chips, shrimp-flavored, crab-flavored, and a lot of thick-cut onion chips. As for candy, it was mostly chocolate, strawberry, and banana-flavored items.

He grabbed a bag of shrimp chips and a strawberry sweet bar, sitting beside Sol, who had grabbed only banana-flavored bars, and Xiaodan, who seemed to have grabbed one of each.

Sol unwrapped the bar, biting into it as a small smile placed itself across his lips past the solemn expression that had previously sat there.

"...This reminds me of before all of this–when I was a kid," Sol said, "I remember always begging my mom to get me these when we were at the store. I'd throw a fit about it until she finally did."

He laughed a bit, "That sounds just like you."

"Ouch," Sol playfully responded before looking at the silver-haired young man that was sitting to his right, "What about you?"

"Huh?" Xiaodan looked surprised to be called out.

"Do you have any fond memories from when you were a kid?" Sol asked.

He was interested in this, too. The androgynous, new member of the group was somebody that they hardly had the opportunity to converse with besides Amarageddon-driven exchanges.

"Mm…If we're talking about food, when I was a kid, my ma used to make these beef dumplings…usually, it was just for me," Xiaodan smiled while reminiscing, "I was like that, too–I'd throw a fit if she wasn't around to make them for me."

"Really?" He asked with a smile.

Xiaodan nodded, "My dad would try to make them, but…it wasn't the same. I'd cry and cry for ma until she made them."

"Sounds like you were a handful," Sol said.

"I was," Xiaodan nodded, "...I miss them. Ma…dad…"

"--"

It was a feeling that none of them were foreign to. Not a day went by that the sea of unending loss seemed to calm; the whirlpools of grief had each of them ensnared.

But, the difference between them and those that had fallen to such depths of despair was their capability to move on despite its harsh cling.

"My parents…they…" Sol struggled to place his words as he looked down, "When it all started, a Defect for them. I was frozen, but…my mom stood in front of me while my dad tried fighting it off."

While the hazel-haired young man tried to remain composed while telling this, tears were naturally said as he tightly gripped his spear.

"How could I ever forget that? I couldn't find it in myself to move–so they died just to protect a useless son like me," Sol said.

"Don't say that," Xiaodan told him.

"--" Sol remained quiet.

"Parents…have a certain way to them, you know? Even if you think you're good-for-nothing, you were their star," Xiaodan assured him.

Sol smiled a bit past his tears before looking at the red-haired adolescent, "...What about you?"

"Me?"

It wasn't something he was really prepared to discuss, but there wasn't any need for sensitivity when they all shared similar experiences, anyway.

"...To be honest, I don't know," he admitted.

"You don't?" Xiaodan asked.

He shook his head, "My dad was working abroad, and my mom was in a different city altogether. I…really don't know if they're alive or not."

It got quiet between the three of them amidst the dreary conversation they had, sharing tales of parental loss.

"Well, they could still be out there," Sol looked at him.

"Yeah, and you know, if you think negatively, bad things will happen, but think positively, and…" Xiaodan smiled, "...Good things will happen."

Though he could hardly feel that same optimism they tried to bestow unto him, he smiled a bit and nodded, "Yeah…I sure hope so."

A topic such as this was indeed a prickly one, but being able to openly share their experiences was a relieving thing in itself.

Plopping down directly beside him, the sharp-toothed man sat with his sheathed, dual blades jingling behind his back.

"Whatcha' talkin' bout?" Yeong-Un asked, biting into a candy bar.

"--"

"Err, nothing, really…" He smiled.

With that, the mood was unspokenly agreed upon to shift right then and there with the arrival of the eccentric, blue-haired young man.

–

Amidst their impromptu stay at the desolate office tower, the crimson horizon grew more dense, howling above them.

"...Do you hear that?" Sol asked, looking up towards the ceiling.

Yeong-Un nodded, "That's Hell right there."