Life Howling - Chapter 13

<Survival Combat>


“Pant. Pant.”

I could see the student sitting on the ground, breathing rather hard. It really must be…draining for her to use that attack.

Must be different from mine.

I was blessed with the power of god. In a way it is mine to use freely, but at the same time I’m just borrowing the power that flows through me.

shhk

A zombie showed up as I was sorting my thoughts. It got behind her. I couldn’t see her face as it was hidden behind the zombie’s back. The zombie got closer to her. I could see that she was exhausted beyond belief to not even able to scream.

I’m not going to let her die like this!

paahk!

I ran towards the zombie and struck its skull. crack! With a loud noise, his skull split into two and bled grotesque, rotten blood. 

It fell to the ground without much resistance after that. 

I looked up to the girl. She, too, was looking right back at me, but in shock.

“Hey, are you alright?”

She nodded. She nodded with a blank look on her face. 

It means she’s alright, isn’t it?

I reached out my hand to the girl who was on the point of collapsing.

“Let’s get out of here before more of them find us.”

Shaking, she reaches for my hand. She’s totally exhausted. I wonder if I can heal her.

“Low-level injury heal.”

Pahht

A light shined, closing all the small wounds on her body. But, it wasn’t enough to restore her lost energy. 

So, this is only good for healing wounds. I guess it’s not meant to use for recovering lost strength…

“Try to get up.”

Grab.

I grabbed her hand and tried to help her get up, but it appeared like her legs were too weak to stand on. Seeing her like that, I threw her arm over my shoulder and walked her. 

Step by step, we walked forward with her arm on my shoulder. And, with each step, I continuously used Divine Power to flow through her body.

I had hopes that it would help her somehow, and if it didn’t… well.. at least I tried.

After walking for a bit, I stopped in order to remove my hockey gear. The bulky gear did get in the way of fighting with the zombies, but that wasn’t the real reason why I took it off. It was to make it easier for me to walk with her.

Steel body should keep me relatively safe even without this bulky gear.

I kept on walking, feeding Divine Power into her.

Kuahh!

“They’re behind us.”

As soon as a zombie appeared, I stepped forward and went at the zombie as if I was blinded by rage.

Puhk!

Like a watermelon getting cracked open, the zombie’s head was split in two. His head sparked with blue flame and emitted a black smoke. 

I can hear my points getting collected. I mean, this is what I’m supposed to do, aren’t I?

“Okay, let’s go.”

She nodded.

The student followed me without saying a single world. After walking a bit further, we arrived at my starting point. The stone chamber.

“It’s safe in there, so go on in.”

While she went inside without hesitation, I looked around for any possible dangers before following her in.

Inside the chamber was dim, but it wasn’t too dark thanks to the light coming from my helmet. 

I looked for a place to seat in the chamber. A long sigh came out as I sat down. She sat near me, but not too close.

She sat with her arms wrapped around her legs.

“what’s your name?”
“what about you, ahjusshi?”

ahjusshi? what? ahjusshi!

She glanced at me with a blank look. No, maybe, she’s just looking at the slightly-annoyed face that’s in front of her. Is he mad or something? or, is that just how he looks all the time?

Regardless, I knowing I couldn’t stay mad at her, I told her what she wanted to know.

“I’m not an ahjusshi. I’m only twenty four.”

Who would’ve thought that I’d hear something like that at this age.

“They say you’re an ahjusshi once you finish your military servce.”

She answered with her head resting on your knees, and her face… still blank.

Who the hell made up that stupid expression?

“Who said that! tell me! you know that’s wrong, right?” I got excited without realizing. I shouldn’t get so worked up.

“Whew… never mind. What am I going to get out of arguing with a kid. It’s Jung Yoon-Hwan. Happy?”

“Lee Hye-Won.” Lee Hye-Won… It’s a pretty name. But, can’t you do something about the way you’re sitting?

“Alright. Can I Just call you Hye-Won?” She nodded in that same very position.

“Do you know what’s going on?”

“You mean this fucked up situation?”

“yeah.”

She’s got a mouth on her. I wonder if all kids are like this these days.

“I’m not sure what’s going on. I’ve been dreaming some stuff lately, but…”

“Have you dreamt of a white room before?” With that question, the look in her face slightly changed. Staring at me with a suspicious look.

I knew everything then.

“That’s not a dream, and this isn’t one either.”

“How do you know that?”

“You can use fire, right?”

She nodded again to answer my question. This kid really doesn’t have an ounce of cuteness in her. Wait, is this supposed to be cute? Whatever. I never was the type to take interest in girls anyway.

“You see my helmet shining like this. It’s a skill. It’s called the Divine Power.”

“So?”

“I can use this in real life.” She had an empty look on her face this time.

“You haven’t used it before, have you? In real life, I mean?”

“No.”

“You can use it in real life. I was dead before I came back to life…”
“Ahjusshi…”
“It’s oppa.”

“So, you don’t get tired.”

“I told you, it’s Oppa.”

She didn’t react to what I said, and just kept on looking.

“Alright… you win. My skill, The Divine Power, isn’t something that drains my energy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your energy gets consumed every time you use your fire… but this Divine Power comes from external sources.”

A path that was created from the heart, and the Divine Power flows to me through it. Once enough of it is collected, I can use it to my will.

Simply put, my body is like a container and my heart is like the hose that fills it up.

That’s why it’s impossible for me to get tired. 

“that’s…bullshit…”