FSA 2

Yohan wanted to show his family, who had ignored him, that he had Awakened and become independent. So, he decided to risk danger and enter a Rift with a high probability of Awakening. Coincidentally, Park Seung-min knew people, so he got an introduction and hired a mercenary team. They were a team that ran ‘Awakening Parties’ for money.

In Yohan’s eyes, the Awakening Party seemed to have no major issues. They appeared to be decent, good people, and the Rift they entered wasn’t heavily Corrupted. The monsters were all weak ones. The problem arose when the ‘Abyss’ opened.

The Abyss opened on the evening of the second day after entry, while they were leisurely resting and eating. Yohan was the first among the group to spot the Abyss. He felt a strange chill and looked around, only to come face-to-face with ‘it’.

It looked like the lips of some colossal being, or more precisely, the gaps or wrinkles between those lips. However, it was entirely different from a Rift. Though it was far away, he instinctively knew what it was the moment he saw it. It was going to open soon. The instant he sensed this, Yohan shouted.

‘It’s the Abyss!’

Even the ‘Rifts’, considered a serious phenomenon threatening humanity worldwide, were nothing compared to the ‘Abyss’. While Rifts were dangerous, there was still a chance for civilians to survive somehow. But where the Abyss appeared, even those who were Awakened could not survive. Everything in the vicinity of an Abyss was rapidly erased in a short period. The only way to survive was to run, no matter what.

Even the famous and powerful Awakened, Lee Hyun-muk, and his team members couldn’t escape the Abyss and were officially listed as missing. Being missing in the Abyss was virtually equivalent to being dead.

‘W-what did you say!?’

Before someone’s scream could even finish, the Abyss began to open. The dark, wrinkle-like lines that had appeared on the ground instantly turned into a surface. And in an instant, it began to expand its area. Horrific shapes writhed and flickered beyond the dark expanse.

They threw down their dinner and started running. But the speed at which the Abyss’s area expanded was truly astonishing. Still, they felt like they could escape the Rift if they ran desperately, so they pushed themselves with all their might. Park Seung-min, looking back, shouted with a pale face.

‘Just throw one person in! We’ll all die if we keep this up! What if the expansion speed suddenly increases!’

At Park Seung-min’s words, Yohan’s eyes widened in surprise. The Abyss’s expansion wasn’t infinite. Instead, after consuming a certain amount, its expansion speed significantly slowed down, and it had a greater effect when it swallowed living beings rather than inanimate objects.

For example, a person.

Hearing Park Seung-min’s shout, the mercenaries’ gazes all shifted backward. They were directed towards Park Seung-min and Yang Yohan, who were civilians. Yohan felt a shiver run down his spine from their terrifying, intense stares. And at that moment, Park Seung-min pushed his friend with all his might. His best friend of ten years, whom he had known since middle school.

Caught off guard, Yang Yohan fell awkwardly. The shock and betrayal were greater than the pain of spraining his ankle severely. How could you do this to me? As Yohan looked at him with such a gaze, Park Seung-min was surprisingly smiling.

As if he felt joy in Yang Yohan’s death and disappearance.

The betrayal from his friend cut Yohan deeper than the mercenaries’ indifference or the team leader’s action to bind him and prevent him from escaping, the moment he fell. Tears welled up instantly, and he trembled, shouting. However, what came out of his mouth was not a plea for his life.

‘Are you even human, doing this!’

Naturally, the mercenaries ignored him, as it was the expected reaction from someone about to be thrown into the Abyss. Yohan struggled and yelled at the team leader, who was actively binding him.

‘Let go of me, damn it! Let go! Hey, you mushroom cap-looking bastard!’

‘Mushroom cap what?’

Kim Hyun-woo, the team leader, momentarily forgot his urgency at the curse he had never heard in his life. After quickly tying him up and turning away, he muttered, ‘Mushroom cap…’ and a moment later, his face turned bright red.

‘This bastard….’

He stopped after a few steps, clenched his fist, and turned back, but his team members held him back.

‘Hold it in! It’s better if he’s as intact as possible for the effect!’

‘Yeah, hurry up and go! It’s not your first time doing this. The Abyss is right in front of us!’

‘You son of a bitch, I’m enduring this because of the Abyss.’

Yohan was utterly dumbfounded. Endure what? Falling into the Abyss was practically death! Seeing the Abyss approaching his back, Yohan cried out in anguish towards Park Seung-min, who was already running far, far away.

‘Park Seung-min! I will definitely…!’

Before he could finish his words, Yohan was sucked into the Abyss. The moment it swallowed him, the blackened Abyss area vanished. Yohan felt an unpleasant pressure and rotation, like being sucked into a giant vacuum cleaner. He screamed, but even that sound faded away, muffled. Then, everything was thrown into darkness.

Crash! With a roar, debris flew everywhere. Fortunately, his bonds came undone during the process. Yohan trembled, covering his head, and curled himself up tightly. A moment that felt like an eternity, or perhaps an instant, passed. But his entire body continued to plummet endlessly into the pitch-black darkness.

Endlessly, endlessly…

“…Hah!”

Yohan woke up with a jolt from the sensation of falling. His body was drenched in cold sweat. He had been curled up tightly, but he finally regained his senses and rubbed his dry eyelids. The moment he opened his eyes with a deep sigh, Yohan screamed in terror.

“Aargh!”

Two bloodshot eyes were staring at him from extremely close up as he woke up. The instant Yohan shrieked, a large, firm hand covered his mouth, stifling him.

“Shhh….”

The intention to be quiet was clear, so Yohan choked back a sob and stopped screaming. He was already on the verge of tears from fear the moment he woke up. It was because he recalled his current reality. The monster stared at the tears Yohan shed as if seeing something novel and opened its mouth.

“If you make noise… monsters will come.”

Yohan’s eyes widened. Surprisingly, despite its appearance, its voice was very pleasant to hear. The tone was low and soft, caressing his ears. More than that, it sounded somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. Where could he have heard this voice?

No, the voice isn’t important. It’s a person….*

He thought he had fallen into the Abyss alone, but there was a living person! His deep despair lessened, and a ray of hope bloomed in his chest. A sense of relief that this was a place where people could somehow survive.

As Yohan seemed unlikely to make any more noise, the monster loosened its grip on his mouth, which had been clamped shut tightly. However, it didn’t completely remove its hand, instead gently stroking Yohan’s cheek. It narrowed its red eyes as if savoring the warm body temperature of a living person. Its disheveled white hair covered half its face, making it impossible to discern its expression.

“Thank you for saving me. I, I am Yang Yohan.”

Yohan stammered his thanks. The words came from a joyful desire and relief to exchange names with an intelligent being. And in response to Yohan’s thanks, the other party slowly tilted its head and mumbled.

“Tha-nk y-ou f-or sa-ving me….”

Yohan’s face turned pale. The way it slowly repeated his words showed it was far from a normal, ordinary person. He swallowed dryly, tense. Come to think of it, the reaction this person showed after tearing apart an Eyeball Monster with his bare hands was nothing short of that of a Madman. His joy at meeting a survivor vanished, and fear surged back.

“Tell me more.”

The Madman urged, painfully kneading Yohan’s frozen cheek.

“Hurry.”

“W-what, what should I tell you….”

A trembling voice barely crawled out of his throat. The person in front of him was someone who tore Eyeball Monsters apart with his bare hands. That meant Yohan could also be easily torn apart. As if urging him to continue, the Madman slapped his cheek. In reality, it was a light tap with his fingertips, but to Yohan, it felt like being slapped.

“Wh-when, did you, come, here? I, I just, no, I fell here two days ago, and was hiding, inside a building. Then, to find food…. I came, out, and an Eyeball Monster, …Huh? Huh?”

Yohan, who had been rambling anything to fulfill the Madman’s request, suddenly stopped and his mouth fell open. As he watched the Madman up close, a very familiar form emerged from his voice and face.

“Lee Hyun-muk…?!”

Yohan pointed at him without realizing it. This Madman’s appearance was that of a famous person, with wild white hair and shabby clothes, but undeniably familiar.

Lee Hyun-muk! He was Korea’s first Awakened and also a rare High-level Awakener, and the strongest Dealer acknowledged by everyone. He was even a hero praised by all for his good looks and character. How many people were heartbroken and saddened on the day he and his team members were swallowed by the Abyss during rescue operations and listed as missing? The memorial monument erected in his honor was still a place where many offered tributes.

He, who was believed to have died tragically, was right here. And in the form of a Madman before him. Yohan’s mouth hung open, unable to believe the fact.

“Mr. Lee Hyun-muk, you’re alive?!”

“Ah….”

The Madman made a vague sound, as if confirming. He narrowed his red eyes and stretched his lips wide, grinning.

“That’s right, I am Lee Hyun-muk. I was Lee Hyun-muk. …Ah, yes. I am Lee Hyun-muk.”