Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

Ivan was disappointed that his Battle Lord's energy accumulation progress wasn't included in the same panel. Meanwhile, he had detected a subtle presence moving within a building on his left side. He couldn't precisely tell where the presence was heading. Suddenly, a seven-year-old boy burst onto the street. He was blond-haired, dressed in a vibrant red t-shirt and black shorts. The boy was behind Ivan. Neither Door-knob nor Jiggy detected the boy's presence.

Ivan turned to observe the presence that had so unexpectedly appeared on the street. The boy looked in the direction opposite to Ivan's position; no one was there. Ivan was trying to discern what had caused the boy to appear on the street. The boy didn't seem to be in a state of panic. The boy then turned towards Ivan's direction. Upon seeing Ivan, the boy ran swiftly towards him.

Ivan was ready to spring into action if it turned out that the boy was a zombie. But that proved unnecessary; the more he observed the child, it became clear that the boy was a normal human being. As the boy approached Ivan, he raised his left arm, revealing a fresh, bleeding bite mark. A faint trace of petrification was already spreading outwards from the bite's centre.

'Poor boy,' Ivan mused, staring pitifully at the child. He felt a pang of profound pity because the boy was about to be brutally murdered.

"Excuse me, sir. My mother killed a zombie but then she started acting crazy. Saliva dripped from her mouth like a baby and she bit my arm. Now she is chasing me. She looks very scary."

The boy's rushing footsteps drew Door-knob's and Jiggy's attention. They heard the boy's distressing complaint. Jiggy approached the boy with a deceptively warm smile.

"Hey kiddo, where is your mum?" The swordsman asked.

The boy laughed, amused by Jiggy's distinct French accent. "You talk like my classmate, Thomas."

"Thomas? I think I know Thomas. He is a very smart kid, isn't he?" Jiggy engaged the child, attempting to disarm any suspicion.

Ivan scoffed and walked away.

The boy shook his head. "Thomas isn't bright. He likes to sniff his fart."

"He does that?" Jiggy asked, genuinely shocked. He shook his head, feigning disappointment. "Thomas. I will talk to Thomas."

"Sir, can you help my mum?" The boy pressed, his voice filled with urgency.

"Certainly. I will take her to a physician that can help her."

Ivan suddenly felt the distinct presence of a zombie. To his perception, the presence had abruptly manifested in one of the buildings behind him. He turned around and saw a chubby zombie woman stagger out of the same building that the boy had exited from.

The child turned around and saw the zombie, instantly recognising his mother.

"Sir, that's my mom," the seven-year-old boy pointed to the zombie that staggered towards him.

In his vision, everything suddenly darkened. The young boy suddenly felt detached from the world. He felt his consciousness quickly slip away from his mind as his gaze rapidly fell to the ground. The blond seven-year-old was dead, brutally murdered by the rapier-wielding Jiggy. Jiggy's gaze faltered slightly, briefly unveiling the raw guilt and bitterness of murdering the poor, helpless boy.

"I'm sorry, little one, but there was no other way," Jiggy quietly muttered to the small corpse that lay on the ground beside him.

Door-Knob bit his lip, struggling to contain his emotion. Ivan appeared impassive due to his helmet masking his face. Underneath, he was appalled, wanting to revolt against the grim necessity. In mere seconds, there was a headless corpse of a zombie woman lying on the street. Jiggy darted into the building where the boy and the zombie had emerged from.

Ivan initially thought that Jiggy was going to conduct a thorough inspection of the building to snuff out any anomaly waiting to bloom. But the information his perception fed him said otherwise. Jiggy didn't move deep into the building; he stood close to the entrance.

Ivan realised what Jiggy was doing; he was grieving for the poor boy he had just murdered. Truly, he was sorry for the act, but it was the only way to keep the region safe.

"I hate this world. This is what he has to do whenever no one wants to step up and deal with the unfortunate human beings who are turned into monsters." Door-Knob gazed in the direction where Jiggy had disappeared.

Ivan silently gazed at Door-Knob. Door-knob laughed, understanding the unspoken question Ivan's gaze carried.

"I'm also a coward like you. I can't bring myself to kill people who I know were once human beings. I'm always holding out, hoping that there is a cure for this zombie infection. Unfortunately, this is a cruel world. The world is so cruel." Door-Knob sighed.

He walked towards the building where Jiggy was grieving. "We need to have a proper search and make sure there ain't no proper weird stuff about to kick off, innit?"

Ivan darted to a building close to him on the right, commencing the check as per Door-Knob's suggestion. The trio meticulously screened every corner in every building. They thoroughly inspected every person, sometimes making some individuals strip away some clothing to ensure that they weren't bitten.

People were aware that Zombies were infectious and could result in the victim becoming a zombie. As per circulating information, the remedy was not one hundred per cent foolproof. Hence, people were warned to quickly find help as soon as they were bitten or, at best, to avoid getting bitten altogether.

Sirens occasionally blared every thirty minutes, signifying that the Dungeon Break was still active. The trio of Door-Knob, Ivan, and Jiggy were once again on the street. They had spent three hours ensuring that everyone on this street was safe. It was almost 7:30 p.m. It was dark now, but emergency street lights—not the normal street lights—brightly illuminated the street. The emergency lights were more powerful in luminosity in comparison to normal street lights.

"The Dungeon vortex has not been found? I wonder why. There should be Transcendent-ranked adventurers around to help resolve this problem," Jiggy said.

"I wonder why too. I just hope that there aren't monsters that are as powerful as the Transcendent rank. If not, we could be cooked," Door-Knob expressed his thoughts.

Ivan remained silent.

"Excuse me, guys. Grr. I'm looking… grr… for my daughter. She is about eighteen years and beautiful. Did she happen to come this way? Grrr." a feminine voice said to the trio incoherently.