By Zephyria Lee Hyun-muk’s good-natured smile and reply made Yohan’s face flush red. It couldn’t have been pleasant for him to be treated like a furry animal and petted all over by someone ten years younger. Yoon Seung-ryong added glumly,
“I’m so hurt, what kind of monster did you even see me as? You never once touched me.”
“Like… really gross-looking, pitch-black tentacles…”
Yoon Seung-ryong wore a strange expression, but Yohan, writhing in embarrassment, didn’t notice. Thinking back now, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t been suspicious. No matter how much purification was done, what kind of monsters would watch over your sleep, feed you, and carry you around?
“It felt so strange. Come to think of it, monsters wouldn’t be this kind.”
“And neither I nor the Team leader would have let you get captured in such a situation.”
“Right…”
Lee Hyun-muk and Yoon Seung-ryong were people who always kept their guard up, never taking their eyes off Yohan. Moreover, Lee Hyun-muk had been right beside him at the time. He wouldn’t have missed him even if he were just a stone’s throw away. Yohan sighed.
“Still, I think I’ve learned a trick. From now on, if a monster is kind, I should be suspicious.”
“Yohan, you shouldn’t follow them or anything, even if they’re kind. Don’t you think there are monsters in this Abyss that lure people in like that?”
“Ah…”
Yohan groaned at Lee Hyun-muk’s words. Thinking back, he had already fallen for the monster that mimicked a subway in the Ruined City. He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. Looking back now, it seemed this illusion didn’t just deceive the eyes but also clouded one’s reason. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cried and wailed so much…
Yoon Seung-ryong detached a piece of the fish’s chewy cheek meat and placed it in Yohan’s mouth, then put the meat from the other cheek into his own as he pondered.
“Yohan, you’re particularly weak to illusions. There’s no guarantee you won’t fall for it again, so we need a countermeasure.”
“True, there’s a limit to how much we can carry. You might even self-harm because of the illusions.”
Unaware of the silent conversation happening between Lee Hyun-muk and Yoon Seung-ryong through their gazes, Yohan sheepishly detached the food items skewered on Lee Hyun-muk’s and Yoon Seung-ryong’s spears. Thinking back now, how crazy must his actions have seemed, talking to weapons and trying to feed them?
“While I was under the illusion, they looked like small monsters and they talked. They seemed happy when I gave them food, saying it was decoration… I’m so embarrassed. I must have seemed really strange, right?”
As Yohan fidgeted awkwardly, Lee Hyun-muk and Yoon Seung-ryong had peculiar reactions. Yoon Seung-ryong looked down at his spear, stroking it as he joked.
“If they could talk, maybe they really were talking to you? They seem to have developed some self-awareness from living in the Abyss.”
“What?”
Yohan, who had only thought of it as an illusion and felt embarrassed, was surprised. Thinking it was a joke, he looked at Lee Hyun-muk, who nodded.
“They do get particularly warm in certain situations. Like after a fierce fight.”
“Ah, right. My weapon vibrates every time it gets dirty. Sometimes it sounds like it’s cursing. Maybe it’s because they’re made from the byproducts of monsters?”
Yohan looked at his weapons with a uneasy feeling. After some thought, he replaced the banana and snake meat that had been skewered with large flower petals. Yoon Seung-ryong chuckled at the sight.
“But where have we traveled to? How much further to the Russian sector?”
“About that…”
Lee Hyun-muk started to speak but then suddenly stood up. Yoon Seung-ryong reacted similarly, quickly packing away the fish he was grilling. Seeing them, Yohan also stood up and looked around. Lee Hyun-muk muttered expressionlessly.
“It’s the river.”
“Damn it.”
Yoon Seung-ryong cursed and ran, and Lee Hyun-muk, grabbing Yohan who hadn’t grasped the situation yet, scooped him up and started running. Only then did Yohan realize why the two were in such a hurry. He felt the same chilling sensation he had felt before. It spread like ink bleeding into red water, and soon something began to emerge. Yohan’s eyes widened.
The Flood, like the blisters he’d seen in the swamp, was flowing down the river and rolling out!
With a crunching sound, the Flood mass trembled, and branch-like limbs shot out from its body. Then, it began to chase the three of them rapidly. Lee Hyun-muk shouted.
“Don’t attack! Don’t even touch it!”
“I know!”
The two, who had previously attacked various monsters without regard for poison or bodily fluid, now didn’t even dare to look back, let alone attack. Yohan, watching the black masses chase them, cried out in fear, his body glowing.
“Is it normally like this?”
“No, I’ve never seen it before either!”
Yoon Seung-ryong, who had replied, swung his spear horizontally. Swish! Trees were instantly cut down.
As the logs fell, several Floods, charging blindly, crashed into them and burst. Pop! As the blisters popped, grotesque, distorted things swarmed out. Trees touched by the Flood twisted and split in an instant, becoming strange creatures crawling on the ground. One monster that collided with a blister wailed, then swelled and melted on the spot. Seeing that it was still alive, Yohan gagged.
“Ah, damn it, what do we do! They’re chasing us endlessly!”
Yoon Seung-ryong, continuously chopping down trees, shouted, sweating profusely. Then, he let out a sound like a sob, hiccup. Being chased by the Flood at close range was driving him to madness. His laughter was tinged with an unfathomable depth of fear. Impatient, Yohan sprayed purification thickly, close enough to touch Seung-ryong. Then, something occurred to him.
‘Maybe….’
In his hand were the pieces of banana and snake meat he had detached from the spear earlier. Clenching them in his palm, he pressed the dazzling light into them. He threw the snake meat piece to Yoon Seung-ryong, who caught it without looking and put it in his mouth. He then sighed, seeming a little better. Yohan paused before trying to feed the banana to Lee Hyun-muk.
If purification could cleanse corruption, what about the Flood, the source of corruption? Pondering, he held a piece of banana, which was glowing on its own from the sheer amount of purification he’d infused, and threw it. A Flood blister that had been chasing them closely was hit by the banana piece and suddenly shriveled up. Seeing it turn into a dry, watery stain, Yohan clenched his fist and shouted.
“It works!”
“What? What did you do?”
Yoon Seung-ryong, who had been trying his best not to look at the Floods and hadn’t grasped the situation, asked in confusion. Yohan exclaimed excitedly.
“I fed the Flood a banana!”
“What? Why waste such a good thing!”
“I can imbue my abilities into food!”
Yoon Seung-ryong seemed to realize it belatedly and exclaimed. He rummaged in his ‘pocket’ and pulled out some jerky, seemingly made from dried snake meat.
“Then do this for me! Hyung, I’m a bit, you know, in a hurry…”
As he spoke, a faint red glow appeared in his eyes. He handed over the jerky, packed with light, and looked at Lee Hyun-muk, only to meet his silent, dark gaze. Unlike Yoon Seung-ryong, there was no trace of fear. Perhaps he was still alright because he had been in direct contact with Yohan. Still, just in case, Yohan shoved the jerky into Lee Hyun-muk’s mouth and shouted.
“Something, something…! Do you have anything to throw?”
“Ah! I have trash!”
Swallowing the jerky quickly, Yoon Seung-ryong began pulling out various odds and ends from his pockets. Empty tin cans and the like tumbled out. He tore the metal cans apart with his bare hands, turning them into dozens of metal shards. Yohan quickly took them, intending to infuse them with purification, but Lee Hyun-muk took them instead, holding them in his hand, and said.
“Do it like this.”
Yohan hesitated, worried Lee Hyun-muk might get hurt, but the situation was urgent, so he poured all his strength into the light. The metal shards glowed white, as if ignited. They sparkled dazzlingly, like fragments of a supernova. Gripping them tightly, Lee Hyun-muk glanced back very briefly to confirm the Floods’ position and threw them.
Several metal shards, flying like shurikens, hit the Floods. Thwack! As the shards burrowed into their bodies, the Flood masses stopped. Then, with a crunching sound, they burst like balloons, becoming dry stains, or deflated and shriveled.
“We did it!”
The effect was clear, and Yohan’s relieved face hardened. The pursuing Floods began to gather one by one, coalescing into grotesque shapes. As they formed a single, larger mass, albeit more slowly, they continued to chase, no longer collapsing from the metal shards.
“Aargh!”
Just looking at them made his stomach churn and his eyes hurt, so Yohan squeezed his eyes shut. It was fortunate that their speed had slowed, and the distance between them gradually increased. But that didn’t last long.
As the disgusting, repulsive sight grew larger, Yoon Seung-ryong was the first to be affected. He stumbled and suddenly lay down on the spot in this critical situation. Then, he said with a grin.
“Too much trouble. I don’t want to move.”
“What?! Hyung Seung-ryong? Now is not the time!”
No matter how desperately Yohan called out, he paid no attention. Completely consumed by madness, he ignored the Floods and buried his head in the ground. Lee Hyun-muk grabbed Yoon Seung-ryong by the scruff of his neck and ran. Then, a long, serrated object shot out from Yoon Seung-ryong’s arm. Thwack! It dug into Lee Hyun-muk’s leg, pinning him to the ground and halting his movement.
“Just lie down. Let’s be comfortable together…”
His eyes, the whites turned black, grinned widely. Lee Hyun-muk staggered and stopped, unable to do anything else. He was also sweating profusely, unlike his usual self. It seemed he wasn’t just stopped by being stabbed in the thigh, but was struggling to suppress some kind of mad impulse that Yohan couldn’t even fathom.