We are in each others arms, Ryung, Hana, and I. We all hug each other in a hope that Dracula would succeed. We all hug so that we don't go insane from fear. The vibrations grow heavier still. The crash of buildings reach even here and there are probably many thousands dying as we cower.
We stay hugging until the vibrations lower in intensity. We stay hugging until the vibrations stop entirely. And we stay hugging even once the Blightful Shadow enters the large, sterile room.
Dracula's shadowy figure takes form in front of me. Though, his form is now drastically different from before. His hair is slick with black ichor like blood, and looking at some of the gashes he has, I could tell it's his own. He 'stands' normally, but his legs and even hips are gone.
He finally speaks after fully forming, "Why, was there and Elder Dragon, leading that horde?"
I look at him, keeping my mouth shut.
Dracula growls, "I am in two parts right now, due to that Elder Dragon. He said his name was Ragnar, I thought they had all died, but that doesn't seem to be the case," he sighs out deeply, "It would look like you have a chance to pay back the debt. I'm going to be slumbering for the next five to ten years. In that time, you must, must, be able to kill a drake without sustaining any injuries. If you do that, then I shall drop the debt. If you don't, well, I'll just take your entire soul then."
With what he wanted to say, said, Dracula disappears. Like a shadow, he disappeared, leaving only light in the room. I'm left standing in the empty, sterile room before the Shadows come back. A black and inky darkness covers me and my siblings.
In this darkness all senses are stripped, leaving only thought. I don't know how long we are in this darkness, but eventually we are plopped down at our apartments parking lot. The sky was black with night, clouds overtop blocking any light of the stars.
I stop staring at the sky and try to accept reality, our apartment was gone. Nearly all buildings in this area were destroyed with a few minor exceptions. Corpses littered everywhere, the ground sticky with blood. Most were that of Beasts, but some unfortunate sods were killed. Brutally torn apart with their faces agape in terror. Rubble is splayed everywhere, in the streets, on the sidewalks, through some cars. It was like a war zone that had a magnitude seven earthquake on top of it.
Ryung grabs my left arm, digging his face into it., "What are we going to do, Choehabu oppa? This is our only home."
He started tearing up while saying that, and finally started to cry at the end. What are we going to do? This was next to the only place I can afford with my salary from Mr. Lee's store. Wait, is Mr. Lee alright? Is everyone alright?
I look around at the streets again and see people who weren't killed by Beasts, or at least, not the capital B. There were bodies of people who were trampled to death, bodies of those who died accidently, and even those who were killed without reason.
I finally respond to Ryung while getting on a knee and looking him in the eye, "Don't worry, we'll find a way, we always have. We just have to be strong, be disciplined, be bright. I'll set up us with someplace to live, so don't worry."
Hana then asks, looking at me and away from the carnage, "Where would you even look for someplace? There's nothing here that survived the Horde. We can only afford cheap housing."
Is there anyway we could make enough to move someplace closer to the center? There's honest living, but I don't have any qualifications for higher pay. I won't steal or kill or gang stuff. Then, what about the time I fought that Red-Skinn. I'm much better now, being able to... use(?) Gi.
I could probably fight something stronger and win. What are the Beast Classifications? I might be able to use that. If I were to pursue this path... how would I keep Ryung and Hana worry free as I nearly die in the arena multiple times?
I'm pulled from these thoughts as Ryung shakes me hand, "Hey, what are we going to do?"
I take a deep breath and sigh, "What if... what if I were to fight in the arena again?"
Immediately, Ryung and Hana object, talking over each other.
"No! I don't want to see you nearly die again! What if you actually fall!? What if you do die!? I don't want that! I don't want to lose my hyeung!"
"How could you say something so stupid, oppa? If you die, then no one will take care of us! No one will worry about us! No one will care if we live or die."
I gesture for them to calm down, "Hey, hey, hey, I'm not going to die any time soon. In fact, I'm thinking of living to eighty. Ain't nothing going to change that. What I want, is a good life for both myself, and you two. If I can do that by shedding some blood, sweat, and tears, then good. Trust me, if I were to fight that Red-Skinn from before, I wouldn't even get hurt fighting it. So don't worry, I'll live, I'll recover, I'll win."
My speech doesn't seem to entirely convince them, but they drop the subject. The real question comes from Hana, "How are you even going to get into one of those shows? They have a bunch of things you need to do beforehand. You getting on that one time was merely a fluke. You'd usually need years of experience to even think about joining."
"How do you know so much about this?"
She gives me a shocked look before realizing and saying, rather sadly, "Oh wait, you forgot. Um, I was super into those, types of shows, when I was younger. I wanted to be a part of it."
"Oh, that's really cool," Hana blushes at that, "How would I get those years of experience?"
Ryung interrupts, "You would need to enter the Hunter Corps!"
"HEY! I was going to say that!"
Ryung blows a raspberry at Hana.
I break up their 'fighting', "Hey, no fighting. You both gave me good information, I thank both of you. On another note, I have enough money that we probably get a lease on another apartment somewhere. Let's head further in to look."
Ryung and Hana give each other stink eyes before saying, "Sure!", and start running.
I laugh at their shenanigans and also start running. After three hours of looking, we finally find an apartment we can rent that's closer to the center, closer to safety.