By Zephyria As if he had discovered something very interesting and intriguing, Yoon Seung-ryong stared and stared at Yohan.
“He’s only twenty-three. Wow, twenty-three. My memories from back then are so faint.”
Yoon Seung-ryong, who looked twenty-five, muttered with a smirk, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all. They were just endlessly dark and distant, unlike human eyes. Only when those eyes met Yohan’s did they barely hold a faint light. Yoon Seung-ryong, burying his face in the mattress near Yohan, spoke in a muffled voice.
“That thing, it seems like Yohan is aiming for it, doesn’t it?”
“It’s clear. The Ruined City Flood was too early as well. Anomalies started happening after Yohan fell here.”
Yoon Seung-ryong rested his head near Yohan’s side, remaining silent. Yohan mumbled something in his sleep, then shifted, placing his arm on Yoon Seung-ryong’s head without realizing it. Whether the other person used him as an armrest or not, Yoon Seung-ryong didn’t push him away; he remained still.
“I’ll truly do my best… but if, by any chance, things go wrong, if there seems to be no hope… please, kill me this time. Don’t cling to life by force.”
The voice that spoke was very slow. He was recalling a past moment. Lee Hyun-muk, who cruelly kept him alive even when he begged to be killed. The one who didn’t even listen when he said he’d rather die as a human than live as a monster.
“This time, please, I beg you… Oh, please. Really… I’m so good and happy right now, but I don’t have the strength to endure all that time again after experiencing this.”
“……”
“I’ll do absolutely anything the Team leader tells me to.”
Just as he had before falling into the Abyss, polite speech flowed out naturally. With such earnestness, Yoon Seung-ryong couldn’t even lift his head buried in the floor. The sanity he had regained after a long time was this happy, and this agonizingly painful.
After a long while, Lee Hyun-muk replied.
“…Alright.”
Yoon Seung-ryong, who finally let out a giggle and lifted his head, looked down at Yohan, who was sleeping with a clear, innocent face, unaware of anything. Looking at him, it was incredibly peaceful, to the point where he himself felt sleepy. Samgyeopsal was really delicious. Yoon Seung-ryong had few memories of when he was a Centipede Monster, but he couldn’t forget the taste of the food he ate after so many years.
Was the food I ate as a human this delicious too? He chewed and chewed, swallowing. Then, after a moment, as if suddenly remembering, he quietly apologized, “Sorry.” This time, there was no reply from Lee Hyun-muk.
〈3〉
Jungle
Unlike when they arrived at the Ruined City, it took more time to move to a different area this time. They walked and walked through the dark wasteland for over a week before they could finally cross into another zone. It was fortunate that Yoon Seung-ryong had the ability to store a large amount of food; otherwise, they would have had to travel arduously, starving.
“Jungle?”
Yohan muttered in astonishment, facing the tropical rainforest that began right where the wasteland ended. The black forest was not a forest compared to this. That was just a swamp with a bit of forest growing on its edge. Yoon Seung-ryong, who had been endlessly savoring a sweet jelly, tilting his head in confusion.
“Was this originally a jungle?”
Lee Hyun-muk gazed intently at the jungle, recalling something, and replied.
“No. It was originally a wasteland. Recently, a part of the dense forest fell here and seems to have rapidly expanded its territory.”
“Ah, damn it, it’s already a jungle-like mess, and it’s gotten bigger?”
Yoon Seung-ryong grumbled with a frown, making Yohan a bit uneasy. It was hard enough passing through the wasteland, so seeing his reaction, the jungle was bound to be even harder.
“Can’t we go somewhere else?”
“It’s difficult, I suppose. Hmm… Right, Yohan wouldn’t know. I’ll give you a rough idea of what the Abyss is like.”
Yoon Seung-ryong began drawing a map on the ground with the tip of his spear.
“The place you first fell was here, the Ruined City. And this is the swamp, this is the jungle.”
According to his map, the Ruined City, classified as the Korean zone, was located in the center. The swamp and jungle zones were situated side-by-side. He also roughly indicated other areas like the Russian zone, Japanese zone, Hong Kong zone, and so on.
“You get the general idea, right? We ran away from the Ruined City to the swamp, but the swamp wasn’t a great place to live either, was it? Strange blisters appeared. So now we’ve moved to the jungle… To get to another zone, we have to pass through the jungle. I’d prefer to go to the Japanese zone, though…”
Yoon Seung-ryong said this and glanced sideways. Lee Hyun-muk, who was looking into the jungle with his arms crossed, stated flatly.
“No, we’re going towards Russia.”
“Well, the Russian zone isn’t bad either.”
Instead of insisting, Yoon Seung-ryong shrugged and brushed the dirt off his spear. Before they officially entered the jungle, they decided to have a proper meal first. Because there was a possibility they wouldn’t be able to eat inside if they were unlucky.
“Me, me! Please, let me cook from now on! I’ll be in charge of cooking, okay?”
After tasting Lee Hyun-muk and Yang Yohan’s cooking a few times over the past few days, Yoon Seung-ryong earnestly pleaded, even kneeling. Lee Hyun-muk seemed indifferent whether his team member volunteered for cooking duty or not, but Yohan felt a bit guilty.
“But I feel too sorry if Hyung is always the one cooking.”
“If you feel sorry, you should feel sorry about your cooking skills. Don’t waste precious ingredients.”
Yoon Seung-ryong, speaking decisively, rummaged through his pockets and took out two cans of ham, seasoning, and pre-cooked rice. After Yohan’s purification, he lit the burner, sliced and stir-fried mushrooms and various vegetables gathered from the black forest, and after a while, a plausible Budae Jjigae was ready.
“…It looks delicious.”
Yohan, who had been watching Yoon Seung-ryong cook, swallowed hard. He quickly blew on a spoonful and took a bite, exclaiming with a deep, spicy flavor. Placing a piece of ham and mushroom on the freshly cooked rice and putting it in his mouth, he was simply happy. He understood perfectly why Yoon Seung-ryong had volunteered to cook.
“Please continue to take good care of the food from now on.”
After tasting Yoon Seung-ryong’s proper cooking, Yohan immediately abandoned his guilt and thought. Instead, he should focus more on purification. For dessert, they shared crisp apples, and he asked.
“Still, there must be a lot of food inside, right? There will be tropical fruits too?”
“Right, lots of fruits, lots of bugs, lots of plants…”
Yohan’s eyes twitched at the reply. Bugs… He disliked most monsters, but he especially hated insect-like monsters. Their original forms were disgusting, and their corrupted states were even more horrific. Sighing, he stared blankly into the jungle, and Lee Hyun-muk gave a brief briefing.
“We enter in 30 minutes. I’ll be at the back, Yohan in the middle, and Seung-ryong, you’ll be at the very front.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Yes! I’ll follow you well!”
Answering spiritedly, Yoon Seung-ryong patted his shoulder with a pleased look, as if watching a cute child. Then he earnestly warned.
“Always be careful not to get separated from us, Yohan. Of course, we’ll never leave you alone, but the inside is very complex, so be that much more cautious. If we do get separated, it’s very hard to find each other.”
“I’ll never get separated!”
Yohan replied resolutely. The thought of wandering alone in the jungle, separated from the two of them, was too terrifying. Like the black forest, unlike the Ruined City, there was almost nothing in this wild nature to use as a landmark to find one’s way. As Yohan’s face darkened, Lee Hyun-muk gently soothed him to ease his tension.
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll be watching from behind.”
“That’s right! With two of us, there’s no way we’ll get separated!”
Yoon Seung-ryong also boasted confidently, so Yohan relaxed a bit and smiled. After all, with two people who were among the best in Korea, what major trouble could there be?
After finishing dessert and taking an additional 30-minute break, the three entered the jungle in a single file. Despite the ample encouragement from the two before departure, Yohan was terrified shortly after entering. With his nerves on high alert, he whispered.
“There are so many presences, yet it’s so quiet.”
After his Awakening, Yohan’s heightened senses allowed him to detect the presence of monsters to some extent, unlike before. And now, his senses were picking up numerous presences. Despite the abundance of presences all around, chillingly, only the occasional sound of something slithering, or the sound of something heavy moving with thuds, could be heard.
“It’s a place where the weak get eaten if they make noise.”
Lee Hyun-muk replied as if it were nothing. He didn’t particularly lower his voice. He casually poked the bushes with his spear. That attitude actually lessened Yohan’s fear. He remembered that Lee Hyun-muk was strong enough that he didn’t need to move quietly.