章 12: Chapter:12
"WAAAAH!!"
"ARGH!!"
"YAAIKE!!"
"EEEEEP!"
"...!!"
They all screamed in fear.
"GROWLLL!!"
"GRROWWLL!"
Over 50 hounds were chasing behind them.
All of them had blood lust in their eyes.
"What hell happened!?" Bella yelled with eyes widened in fear.
"Chad stepped on the tail of a Plague Elf!"
"Plague Elf? Where did that come from!?" Leo yelled.
"Hah..! How the f*ck Am I supposed to know?! Heok...!" Han Ji yelled back.
"Good point he got there..." DRC added while pointing at Han Ji.
Being the fastest guy in the squad it wasn't much of a trouble for DRC.
But if you talk about the newbie, it was a little different case.
"Guys... can't we kill 'em off?" Han Ji asked.
"Nah! it might be too dangerous with these many! There's a chance one of us will end up getting infected! Hah.. heok..!" Leo replied.
"Why didn't you tell us when you saw the Plague Elf?!"Bella yelled.
"How was I supposed to talk with these guys around?!" He asked turning at her with a visible scowl on his face.
"Again a good point..." DRC added.
"Shut the f*ck up!" Bella snapped at him.
"Guys! calm down!"
Leo yelled.
"GROWLL!"
One of the Hound lunged at Han Ji, to the boy's bad luck it ended up grabbing his backpack with its claw.
"Argh!!" He exclaimed as the Hound pulled him from behind and he lost his balance and started to fall.
It felt as if the time was being slowed down, he could see everything around him move in slow motion.
He could feel his body descending closer to the ground and all the hounds getting closer to him, with every passing moment, which felt like hours.
'Oh..sh*t, I guess this is it, maybe the universe wants me to pay back with my life for failing to deal with a mere Plague elf...I am such a disappointment...'
***
"Disappointment!" A man with centre partitioned hair, blue glasses and a grey suit yelled in annoyance as a vein popped on his forehead.
"Mr Sung... you are a disappointment, we have gone through this chapter 4 times already this week and you still haven't memorized it!?"
"I-I am sorry sir..." A 12-year-old Han Ji said while staring at his toes.
This was his history class, his worst subject. One of the things he really sucked at was remembering dates, names, etc.
Maybe it was because of his father's genetics, a man who forgot to stay loyal to his wife.
"I am not looking for your apologies! I need results! Do you get it?" The teacher asked walking closer to his face.
Han Ji kept staring at his toes.
He wanted to say yes, but it felt as if his tongue has been sealed by someone or something.
The fear and terror of this so-called teacher were so immense they made one forget how to talk.
"Hey... I am asking you something..." the teacher asked coldly and poked his forehead.
"...yes..sir..."
"Huh!?" He asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Yes Sir!" he almost yelled.
The teacher looked at him and smiled softly.
The teacher was finally satisfied with his, 'Conversation' with his student.
It wasn't the first time he talked like this to Han Ji.
It was a thing that happened after every two days. He would yell at him for the slightest reason and ask him such obvious questions to him.
The teacher aggressively tapped his shoulder.
"Good boy..." he whispered.
"Ok! Class! Let's continue!"
'It always happens to me, I always end up with
trouble, sorrow, pain, My girlfriend left me, I was called a disappointment, and even my father never cared about me.'
"RAAHH!"
"GROOWWLL!!"
Two more hounds came near and lunged at him Now even if he left the bag trying to run away, he would still end up becoming a Hound chew toy.
Ba-dump, Ba-dump.
He could feel his own heart beating in that single moment.
'In the end, again I'll just be a disappointment and die like how a disappointment like me, should...I wish I had a chance to thank these guys for everything and apologise for not being able to pay the debt I owe to them and for getting them in trouble...'
He closed his eyes waiting for his demise but then...
Grab.
'huh?'
Han Ji felt a strong grip around his wrist. He opened his eyes in the frozen time he saw his body stop in the middle before it could hit the ground because Chad was holding him.
Without any effort, Chad pulled Han Ji back to his feet and started to drag him but the problem wasn't over yet the hound was still on his back.
But the problem wasn't anything that The 'All Stars' can't solve.
DRC stopped for a split second it was the moment when Han Ji was about to realise that the souls of the shoes were the only silent parts.
"Vida!!"
THUD!
he jumped and spin in mid-air and landed a hard kick on the creature's face and due to the spin, he landed on the ground beautifully like a butterfly back into his running position.
"Oonh..!" The creature cried like a dog.
"Aluvida." [A/N: Indian/Hindi word for Goodbye.]
But the other 2 hounds jumped at him too.
Han Ji who was looking at him panicked, he can't let one of his friends die in front of his eyes and especially not trying to save him.
He raised his hand towards DRC.
"Look ou--" But his sentence was cut off.
"Arri! Arri! Arri!"
PHISS! PHISS! PHISS!
He heard air-cracking sounds of silenced gunshots.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The lifeless bodies of Quiddities landed on the ground.
While running he looked behind and saw Bella, with her torso turned toward him, holding her trusty rifle, looking through the scope, aiming behind him.
Click-chick.
"Arrivederci..." [A/N: Italian for Goodbye]
He looked at her with an astonished look on his face.
'God d*mn! How the hell can she shoot that fast with a freaking semi-automatic rifle!?'
Even though it wasn't the first time when Han Ji witnessed her fearsome speed in bolting the riffle, he can't help but be surprised.
Chad pulled Han Ji's hand harder trying to advance further to avoid Hounds.
"Well done guys, our practice paid off," Leo exclaimed with a smile.
'Huh? Practice?'
***
"Even though Han Ji has improved, I'll still agree with you all and look at the probability of him getting in danger, so we have to take care of that too," Leo said while finishing his coffee.
"What are trying to say, dude?" DRC asked and continued to sip on his coffee.
"Well, what I am trying to say is let's just think about the situations he might get stuck in and think about how to save his a*s." Leo stood up from his chair and walked toward Chad.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Do you want us to perform 'mock drills' now?" Bella yelled.
"Precisely!"
"Aww!!"
"C'mon dude!"
They both whined.
***
"It's called GG, Boomer!" DRC replied.
"Faxx!" Bella exclaimed.
"Hehe, yeah about that..." Leo said while chuckling.
At this point, Han Ji was pretty confused,
just a moment ago these guys were in a heated panicked conversation and now, these guys just saved his a*s, killed three hounds and now having a conversation as if nothing had happened.
"Don't be surprised, Han Ji... Hah.... we have been in worse situations and survived."
"For real! If I had a nickel for every time, I saw an image of the grim reaper ready to reap my soul and still survived, I'd had 2 nickels... Hah..! which..may not be much but, It's weird it happened twice..! hah.." Bella said with a smile.
"Hehe.." Leo chuckled.
"Pfft.." It was DRC
"Haha.Hah.." Han Ji panted while laughing.
"Listen, Han Ji...till I, Leo am the leader of the squad will guarantee you all that, my resolves will always save you all..hah.."
"Dude..stop acting like an NPC and think of a plan!" DRC yelled.
"Hehe bold of you to think, I already haven't made one..." Leo said with a smirk that can be called the smile of a psychopath.
Han Ji didn't know much about this guy but from his experience of anime he knows, if you see a guy with that smile, talking about a plan...
He is not bluffing.
Leo looked left and right and then closed his eyes for a second and two.
Han Ji almost saw a faint aura of a purple colour around Leo.
Or maybe it was just a hallucination.
"DRC!" He yelled.
"Yo?"
"R3! L2! R2! R1! L3!L2!R1!" he yelled.
Han Ji was confused, he doesn't remember learning about any of these codes.
"A'ight! Hey Chad can I have that side piece?" he yelled turning at Chad who replied with a slight nod and handed him his pistol.
"See ya!"
Suddenly DRC stopped and turned around.
"Huh?" Han Ji exclaimed.
'What the hell is he doing?!'
Han Ji turned his head to look at him.
"Come here! Get a piece of me you literal sons of bi*tches!" he yelled.
PHISS! PHISS! PHISS! PHISS!
He shot countless shots at the creatures.
But they were not enough.
"What the hell is he trying to do there!!"
"Don't worry that's part of my plan.."He exclaimed.
"Huh? what plan?"
"He knows the plan, don't worry.."
"Why don't I know the plan?!"
"Don't have enough time to explain keep running!"
"What about DRC?"
"Hah..don't worry about that guy.. his legs are so strong, it almost feels like he was blessed by Hermes.." Leo said with a smirk feeling proud talking about his best pal.
"Yeah... There's a rumour he survived the infamous 'Run for your life."
"What?!"
He remembers reading about the infamous Stage.
['Run for your Life' a.k.a Stage!
SRH: 5 Stars
Safety Status: Negative
Security Status: Negative
Quiddity Count: Permeated.
The level resembles a huge hospital, with a siren going off constantly, you are chased by hundreds of Quiddities on this stage, as the name suggests you gotta run for your life, keep heading straight for 10 kilometres if you see an exit sign before that distance, don't try to go for it, they will always lead to a dead end and you'll die in the worst way possible.]
Han Ji remembers that one day he missed the school bus and had to run 2.4 kilometres and that day when he reached school, he almost passed out from exhaustion.
Han Ji gulped down his nervous saliva that hurt the back of his throat.
'If that guy really made it out off such a scary level...this should be a piece of cake for him..'
***
"GROOWWLL!!"
"GRAAAHH!"
"RRROWWL!!'"
The horde of hounds chased and growled.
"Heoh- ha.." DRC breathed softly with every step.
He looked at the approaching horde of Quiddities and then turned his head back.
'Well this brings memories doesn't it?'
The whole hallway turned reddish, pipes disappeared he could hear the alarm going off in his imagination.
Deathly screeches of God knows how many Quiddities still echoed in his ears.
He remembers still remembers how he was able to hear his non-stop loud thumping heartbeats, he was sweating like a pig and panting like a dog.
Still rethinking about that day makes the hair on his back stand.
He shook those thoughts away.
A moment like that might haunt you for your whole life but it gives you new confidence, too.
'After that day chases like this are nothing for me..'
He remembered the codes given to him by his leader.
'L2'
He passed a door on his left and after a while reached another door on his left.
He opened it and entered.
The small door served the purpose of slowing them down.
'Next will be...R2!'
He ran faster suddenly he saw something several arms were hanging from the roof.
'Ah, these...'
[Clumps are weird quiddities that are made out of numerous human limbs, they used to hunt like other Quiddities but, currently, due to some change in their behaviour the either stick with walls and roofs and wait for wanderers and catch them.]
DRC smirked and took one deep breath and started to run on his toes.
'Faster speed! and..'
He bent his back completely and slide down like a butter sliced would slide on a warm pan. Smooth.
Hands weren't even able to lay a finger on him.
He stood up and turned right.
'Too bad they don't eat other Quiddities thought as he heard approaching the sound of incoming Hounds.
'Ok.. remember next R1! L3!L2!R1!'
***
"Hah..ha... it's hot in here..." Han Ji muttered while tucking his jacket's huge neck.
The were currently in another narrow hallway, which was extremely hot and there was a big boiler-like rusty machine in front of him.
Leo was right now fiddling with the machine there was a room right in front of the machine in the doorway of the room Bella stood and she made a rectangle with her fingers and thumbs and kept looking at the pipes through the square of her fingers.
Chad stood next to a wall behind her,
Han Ji didn't know what was going on right now but he tried to make it look like he knew what they were doing.
Leo poured something into a tin can from a bottle that was in his backpack and placed it on a while that was present on the machine.
"All set..." he said and stood up then suddenly looked in the opposite direction of where they came from.
"...He should be here by anytime now."
Suddenly...
RUMBLE. RUMBLE.
"GROOWWLL!!"
"GRRAAHHH!!"
'As I expected...'
The same psychopathic smile formed on his lips.
"They are here! Everyone In the room! Bella be ready!" He yelled and started to rush to the
"Yes!" She yelled back with a smile and bolted her rifle.
"Heh..?" Han Ju exclaimed but he knew that he had no time tk be surprised so he ran toward the room too.
at the door stood The other three, Leo's one leg was in the room and half of his body was outside, Bella stood at the entrance with her rifle and Chad was behind the door holding the handle.
Suddenly on the other end of Hallway, they saw their departed teammate approaching them fast.
"Yo!" Leo waved at him with a smile.
"Hah. Yo!" he waved back followed by the intense sounds of growling.
"RRROWWL!!"
"Hurry!! Get in!" Leo yelled while motioning toward the room.
The Quiddities were getting closer, Leo's plan was 90 per cent complete rest was in DRC's hand if he missed even by a second the hounds will get them and they'll become Quiddity Chew toys.
The DRC was just 6 steps more away from the room but the issue was the Quiddities we're close to him.
'Oh sh*t, if he needs to inside, he'll have to slow down while turning or he might just slide forward and the plan will end with him becoming a sacrifice...' Leo thought as cold sweat trickled down his temple.
'I can't let that happen!'
"Bella I need yo--"
"Stop!" It was DRC.
"You don't have to worry about me.." it felt like the time itself froze so he could complete his sentence and then he completed his words with actions.
While running instead of slowing down he picked up the pace and then hopped at the wall like a graceful grasshopper and kicked it hard the impact launched him towards the open door.
His hand touched the ground and he did ride wards cartwheel into the room.
The time felt to have slowed down again as Leo stared at his best friend who again managed to surprise him.
But there is no time to be surprised.
"Bella! Chad! Now!"
He yelled at the top of his lungs, Bella who was waiting for this smirked with an evil chuckle
"hehe"
PHISS! PHISS!
Silent gunshots cracked the air and bullets travelled towards the pipes.
Now the Hounds were terrifically close.
Just one jump away from entering the room, there still was Chad behind the door.
With a small grunt, he banged the door sit with lightning speed, hitting the hound right in the face and he leaned against the door to seal it shut.
The bullets hit the pipes and reflected downwards and travelled through the can penetrating through it, making the liquid inside pour into the machine.
Han Ji stood in the room looking at all that in astonishment but his reaction didn't remain the same for too long.
BOOM!!!!
A loud explosion was heard followed by the painful cries of the Hounds.
Chad grunted against the pressure and managed to keep the door shut.
"Ha...hah..heok.." DRC breathed heavily.
"You ok buddy?" Leo asked with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Yeah...just need to catch my breath. Heok," he said panting and then turned to Chad.
"Yeah...And here.." he threw Chad's pistol back at him, who caught it with his left hand.
Han Ji who was no longer able to hold his curiosity asked.
"What just happened!?" he asked loudly as if he was almost frustrated by his curiosity.
"Oh yeah well, I turned the thing into a bomb through some chemistry.."Leo replied and took his shotgun off his shoulder and held it.
"What!? How"
"There is a thing called Cashew water, mix it at high temperature with Almond water... and BOOM.." Bella replied comically and then proceeded to add 2 bullets to her rifle's chamber.
Han Ji was speechless right now, he can't believe that this guy here can come up with such a perfect plan in no time.
And the teammates followed whatever he said without a second thought... was it their respect for their leader of just, sheer trust.
'Maybe it is both.'
Chad loaded a new mag in his pistol and then pulled out his machete.
"Hey don't just stand there Han Ji get your gun. ready the fight isn't over yet." Leo said while he stood in front of the door.
"Huh?"
"The blast wasn't strong enough to kill 'em all, half of them might still be badly wounded but alive," Bella added as she stood next to Leo.
Han Ji was actually happy that some of them were still alive now he can at least do something for the squad he was glad that, Leo brought him on the Raid and asked him to join the last fight.
He pulled out his revolver and stood next to Bella.
"Alright! Let's go or this beauty in my hand will get rusted if I don't use it," he said with a smirk.
Both of them chuckled
But soon stopped as Leo yelled.
"Let's Go!"
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