Chapter 17: Shield and Dagger (5)

**SLAM**

A loud sound of a door being slammed shut echoed down the stairway. That sound was so loud that you would question if the door was really alright fortunately the door was made out of resilient material.

"Shhiiii!!!"

**Bang** **bang**

The sound and screams of something banging the closed door from the other side could be heard.

"Damn they're not letting up are they"

Whispered a man under his breath.

He was the one who closed the door shut and he was also keeping the door from opening from the overpowering force of the ghouls outside.

"Uncle are you okay?"

A little girl asked as she looked at the man this girl's name was So-yeong she was the little girl that Bak had saved on a Subway.

"I'm fine Uncle can handle this much"

The man named Bak gently replied back despite the blood dripping from between his shoulder and neck.

He was bitten by a Ghoul while climbing the stairs and protecting So-yeong. The ghouls bites where not normal, unlike the ghouls that Bak know of the ghouls of this world can turn you into a ghoul with just a bite or a scratch.

"Ugh!"

In truth the bite wound on Bak had been swelling and showing signs of infection but it never truly affected Bak.

[Poison Resisted!]

[Negative Status Resisted!]

[Poison Resisted!]

[Poison Resisted]

It was all thanks to a skill given to him by his own Grim Reaper.

*Compared to the other bites a bite from that crawling ghoul seems to be stronger and dangerous*

But despite the skill's nearly cheat like ability it was also struggling to keep up.

So-yeong watched over Bak's back drenched with sweat and blood as he blocked the door with his huge body.

Her eyes were shaking and she felt like she needed to do something but she knew she can't do anything to help.

She's just a child who hasn't even reached 10 years old So-yeong knew that fact all to well that's why she stood there trying not to be a hindrance as best as she could.

"Shiii!!!"

**Bang** **Slam**

**Bang** **Bang**

The constant banging and slamming continued for another 5 minutes and Bak kept his body pressed against the door to keep it close from all the impacts.

After a couple more minutes all of the banging and impacts suddenly stopped like a sudden wind just blew and erased everything.

"Are they gone?"

Bak who was still blocking the door listened closely.

There was no more screams nor Creaks not even footsteps or echoes the usual shrilling scream of ghouls that followed them suddenly went silent as if somebody just pressed the mute button.

*I can't here anything... That's weird*

[Poison Resisted!]

[Negative Status Resisted!]

[Poison Resisted...

*Huh? I can't hear the skill's voice anymore either*

All of a sudden the skill that kept reporting him about its constant successful resistance went silent too.

"____!?"

"——?——!"

*So-yeong?*

The little girl, So-yeong was somehow in-front of him although she was clearly saying something Bak couldn't hear any of it, he was currently faced down.

*Damn it what's happening?*

Bak moved his head up to look around, in-front of him was still the door and his hands keeping it shut when he looked to his right all he could see was a wall, when he looked to his left he could see a clear glass window and a glimpse of his wounded shoulder blood was spewing out of it like a leaking water from a bucket.

Seeing the amount of blood soaked on his shirt and on the floor Bak finally figured out the reason why h lost his hearing.

*Shit! I lost too much blood!*

Suddenly as if waiting for him to realize that fact his vision suddenly went wavy like it was distorted by an unrefined glass and at the same time Bak felt the dizziness kick his head.

"Ugh!"

He fell to his knees unable to withstand the dizziness assailing his head.

"Uncle!"

So-yeong called out to him maybe because it was a scream it reached Bak's fading hearing and responding to that seemingly desperate scream Bak looked at the little girl.

"Uncle! Are you alright w-what should I do!?"

Her eyes were filled with concern and panic even her voice was shaking tears were already flowing down her cheeks leaving behind a wet trail.

"little.. girl... I'm..fine... Uncle's just... lost some blood... I'll be fine.." Bak managed to say in-between his panted breaths.

He looked at So-yeong who was still crying again and saw that she looked like she wasn't believing him.

Bak smiled out of shame.

*She's a smart kid there's no way she believed me while I'm barely even able to speak right*

While Bak smiled at her So-yeong felt frustrated and scared at the same time.

*It's the same*

She looked at Bak the man who killed her father but also the man who saved her, took care of her and saved her, she would be lying if she said she didn't feel any kind of hatred towards Bak but that hatred was kept locked within her heart.

*Papa also looked the same*

She saw the image of her father's pale complexion and bloodied body overlap with Bak's face.

Indeed her father also looked the same when he suddenly vomited blood.

*Uncle's not fine*

She's a smart child after experiencing nearly the same situation twice there's no way she didn't know at this point.

She looked at the wounded shoulder of Bak, blood was still spewing out of it like a faucet.

Bak noticed her gaze shift to his wound he hurriedly covered it with his hands in an attempt of not showing it to the little girl.

But he knew she already saw it.

Bak smiled again this time in an attempt to ease the little girl, So-yeong.

"Uncle's fine... As.. long.. as I ..don't lose ..anymore blood..."

Although he tried to keep that fact hidden, because of his fuzzy mind due to blood loss he blurted the very thing he didn't want to say.

So-yeong obviously heard what Bak said there's no way she didn't the whole area has become quite ever since Bak fell to his knees even a whisper would be audible within a reasonable distance.

*As long as uncle doesn't lose anymore blood*

She looked at the wound again understanding those words and suddenly the gears within her brain started moving she looked for a way to stop the bleeding, her mind started simulating solutions and at the same time gathered informations.

The tears stopped falling from her eyes and her breathing steadied she was in a state of focus.

The amount of focus that So-yeong was able to muster would make adults hang their heads in disbelief.

It is said that the amount of focus that a child could hold was very short but So-yeong seems to go against that common belief.

As she focused she naturally fell silent and that silence was taken in a wrong way by Bak.

*Ah those eyes looks the same as a cold predator... Is she deciding to leave me?*

He felt sad and depressed as he thought of that possibility the gentle smile that he used in an attempt of easing So-yeong slowly faded and turned to a sad one.

He looked at So-yeong once again and suddenly she nodded as if finally deciding on something.

She turned around.

*Ah she's leaving me behind huh?*

So-yeong started running away her steps echoed and slowly faded on Bak's ears.

*...*

He felt miserable and sad and slowly his vision was painted black.

*I'm at my limit I lost too much blood*

Unfortunately the skill's that Bak currently have doesn't help him with his current predicament.

Bak fell slumped to the floor as he lost consciousness.

.

.

.

So-yeong was running but she wasn't running away and abandoning Bak it was quite the opposite.

*Just like a band-aid... Just like how papa would put a band-aid when I scratch myself*

She was looking for something that she could use to stop Bak's bleeding.

*Something...*

"Graa..."

Suddenly a ghoul walked out of a door and So-yeong stiffened in fear and surprise, luckily this ghoul wasn't one of the mutated.

Fortunately it didn't notice So-yeong's presence yet so it didn't start trudging to bite but So-yeong herself can't move and hide as her body was frozen in fear.

*I need to hide!*

She knew very well that she needed to move but her body refused to listen.

"Urgrr"

It was at that moment that she made eye contact with the ghoul.

The ghoul went from calmly ignorant too a crazy rabid frenzy charging right at So-yeong.

This sudden change of demeanor scared So-yeong even more but this time her body finally listened to her but it was already too late to hide she could only run at this point.

"Raargra!!!"

But instead of running away from the ghoul So-yeong ran charging towards the ghoul she was still scared the way she ran was a bit shakey and tears started forming in her eyes she was most definitely scared but that fear was overpowered by desperation.

*Yaaa!!*

She gritted her teeth and screamed in her mind

Her light shakey steps mixed with the echoes of the ghouls heavy steps.

The ghoul on the other hand could only see a food willingly charging towards it, it's mouth was now overflowing with saliva like a bucket overflowing with water as it ran faster, it didn't stop running as it raised its hand and grabbed at So-yeong head.

"?"

But suddenly the delicious looking food wasn't there anymore and the ghoul's view shifted to the floor.

Its body was falling and its head was the first to touch the ground.

**Shhhk** **Splat** **Crack**

It crashed its head hard on the floor and lay there unmoving.

As to how this happened So-yeong charged with all her might and when she was close enough to be reached she crouched and collided with the ghoul's legs tripping the ghoul in the process.

Of course it hurt as she charged with all her might and hit something solid like the ghoul's legs that's why she is agonizing on the floor right now.

*It hurts. It hurts. It hurts*

So-yeong wanted to scream and cry but held it in desperately, if there were more ghouls in this floor they would surely hear her.

Desperately enduring the pain So-yeong slowly stood up.

She looked at the now dead ghoul and recognized the clothes it was wearing.

*Is he a doctor?*

That's right this ghoul was wearing clothes that is highly distinguishable by anybody. The white toga that is commonly worn by doctors in hospitals.

Seeing the ghoul's attire So-yeong remembered something.

*That's right! If this is a hospital then there should be one of those!*

So-yeong hurriedly entered the room that the ghoul came from but was disappointed.

"This isn't it, its not here"

The room wasn't one that houses medical items like syringe, medicine's and most importantly the object that So-yeong hoped to find, a bandage.

In fact this wasn't even a ward or a patient's room it was an apartment room in fact this whole building which sported at the maximum of 12 floors was an apartment building.

Dissuaded by this discovery So-yeong planned to look at the next room when suddenly.

"Graa..."

She heard another moan from a ghoul from the hallway.

Her body immediately shook in fear and she quickly went inside the room she put her ear on the wall and listened carefully.

*There's more of them?*

If she hadn't heard that growl or moan she would've walked out of the room ignorant of the hiding danger.

Patiently So-yeong listened beyond the wall.

"Urgga"

Another growl but this time it was clearly closer than the first the So-yeong heard.

*Two*

She counted.

It was at this moment when something bizarre happened.

[...]

Something that shouldn't happen in this world, No to be exact it was a phenomena that isn't allowed to exist by both the system and Supervisor.

[°•.•°•.•°]

As So-yeong kept listening beyond the wall and the strange phenomena started moving within the world.

[Skill Acquired]

[Keen Hearing]

A mechanical voice suddenly spoke inside So-yeong's head.

"Yaa—!"

She screamed in surprise and quickly covered her mouth.

*Who was it!*

She quickly looked around to see if there was anyone around but just like before it was just her inside the room.

*What was it?*

Still wary of her surroundings she went back to listening on the wall but this time the sounds were mich more clearer and vivid like there was no wall around at all.

"Rrrg"

"Grrk.."

*..3..4..*

.

.

.

.

.

While So-yeong was counting the number of ghouls possibly in the floor something was also happening somewhere.

[In progress]

{Warning Suspicious Program Detected}

[Activating "———"]

{Warning...No Suspicious Program Detected}

[Injecting Data]

{Warning Unknown Data Detected}

[Data: 'block']

{Warni——————————————}

[Installing package]

{——————————————}

[Data Package: 'skills']

{——×∆°°____—~•`°}

[Data Package: 'titles']

{|•`rning system manipulation detected! Activate Emergency Protocol}

(Emergency Protocol Activated)

()Switching to Sub-system stopping all Main System Functions()

() Transferring All permissions To Sub-system ()

() Sub-system Activated ()

() Scanning Sub-system ()

() All Channels Stable()

() All Data's Stable()

() Programs Stable ()

() Connections Stable ()

() Circuits Stable ()

() Sub-system Performance Sufficient ()

() Preparing Deep Scan For Main System ()

() Preparation Complete ()

() Scanning Main System ()

() Channels Stable ()

() Unknown Data Detected ()

() Deleting Data: 'block' ()

() Delete Complete ()

() Deleting Data 'skills' ()

() Error Deletion Incomplete ()

() Retrying ()

() Error ()

() Retrying ()

() Error ()

....

.

.

.

.

.

*I'm scared*

So-yeong said in her mind as she slowly and silently moved along the hallway she was carrying a folded blanket.

The fact that there were actually more ghouls on the floor nearly drove So-yeong to stay at the room forever but the fact that the man who had saved her needs saving she managed to pull herself together.

*If I can't find a bandage... But I think this should do*

She looked down at the folded blanket on her arms when suddenly.

"UgraAa!"

A scream enough to peirce the ears echoed from behind but to So-yeong it was no less than a death bell.

She looked behind hoping that the scream was just her imagination but unfortunately reality strikes harsh.

"RaA!"

A ghoul covered with its own saliva was already running straight towards her like a frenzied dog.

The composure and courage that she just barely managed to piece together were completely destroyed again. Tears started forming on her eyes and her vision grew blurry and watery and she was overwhelmed with both terror and fear.

She ran spurred by fear the folded blanket was unwinded as she ran recklessly.

"!"

**Crash**

So-yeong crashed to the floor, the unwinded blanket had managed to snag at her foot while she ran resulting on her crashing on the floor.

*Ithurts! It hurts!*

So-yeong gritted her teeth trying to prevent her scream from escaping her mouth.

"Aaaaarrraaa!"

Another scream came from the ghoul this time it was much closer and clearly had a trace of excitement mixed with it of course this time with its scream other ghouls had also taken notice of the food for them and started running too.

So-yeong could only watch in terror as her body once again refused to move, tears were already streaming down like a river from her eyes and all the restraint that she held broke lose like broken dam.

[————!]

[——— —— — --- -- -!]

A muffled mechanical noise tried to relay something but it was unable to create words but nevertheless it carried its functions dutifully.

The scream and cries that So-yeong desperately held in finally escaped her mouth.

"Waaaaaa!"

[———]

So-yeong cried so loud and suddenly like a car that hit its brakes all of the ghouls stopped in place without moving like statues on a park.

So-yeong who didn't notice this strange reaction behind her cries kept crying and the fear and terror inside her grew stronger and bigger.

"Uwaaaa!!"

As if responding to her cries the muffled mechanical voice spoke again.

[———]

Nothing could be understood from its muffled voice but nevertheless the functions was there.

The ghoul that was near and closest to So-yeong the one that first ran and chased at her suddenly turned around facing the other ghouls behind it.

At the same time some ghouls also turned towards the nearest fellow ghoul.

"Ugraaa!!"

The ghoul near So-yeong suddenly charged towards the crowd of ghouls ahead once it reached the nearest ghoul it held its neck with its two hands and ripped its head off from its body.

**KshhhK** **Pkshh**

"GrrraAAA!"

After that every single ghoul attacked each other in a frenzy They all suddenly started jumping at each other, scratching, clawing, biting and slamming each other to the floor or wall. Some even willingly jumped out of the windows while others were thrown by other ghouls.

**Splat** **Pshk!** **Bam**

The sound of flesh tearing, slamming and screams of ghouls filled the whole floor, occasionally some sounds of broken glass echoed indicating that a ghoul jumped of the window can be heard.

It was utter carnage as each ghoul started ripping each other apart filling the floor and walls with blood and flesh as they kept on killing.

"Bwaaaaa!!"

The main perpetrator of this sudden situation was currently crying loudly, So-yeong, she didn't even notice the carnage in front of her as she lost control of herself unable to even recognize the situation she created.

[—]

A couple of minutes passed and So-yeong still hasn't stopped crying and the ghouls also didn't stop brutally ripped each other apart.

When there was no ghoul left except for one and that lone ghoul stood like a statue for a couple of seconds listening to So-yeong's crying when suddenly it started slamming its own head on the floor and on the wall until with the last slam its skull caved in and its brain forced into a mush, just like that the last remaining ghoul within the floor died.