FSA 60

According to Lee Hyun-mook, life in this place called the Reed Sea sector was utterly monotonous. It was no wonder, as all around were endless fields of grass and reeds. Except for the occasional monsters leaping out from hiding in the reed forest or birds flying by with unpleasant cries, it was exceedingly calm. The only advantage was that vegetable and fruit seeds brought from the Japanese sector, having become very resilient and potent due to the Corruption, grew well here too.

Joo Ho-young became quite busy here. Having once been surrounded by a Flood and faced difficulties in a Japanese city, his daily routine became venturing out on reconnaissance missions very far afield to prevent such an occurrence. Apart from him, there was little to do except for the occasional brief hunting trips to procure food. To pass the time, Yohan decided to hone his abilities.

“Ah! I got it! I got it!”

Yohan exclaimed, overjoyed as if he could leap. Lee Hyun-mook, who was sitting beside him and watching his training, chuckled.

“It’s well-formed and neat.”

What Yohan had just created was a small, round, flat cluster of light, about the size of his palm. After a week of concentration, he had finally managed to refine the Light Particles, which had previously just poured out like a watering can, into the desired shape. Yohan, smiling with pride, became serious again.

“Okay. Focus, focus….”

The softly glowing cluster of light moved according to Yohan’s intent. It awkwardly formed a crooked triangle, then slowly transformed, finally taking the shape of a long rod. Yohan threw the rod, which he had painstakingly created with all his might, breaking a sweat.

Whoosh…. The light rod, flying weakly, fell towards Yoon Seung-ryong, who was lying flat on the ground. Yoon Seung-ryong moved nimbly and caught it with his mouth just before it hit his chest.

“Waah.”

Yohan laughed sheepishly as he looked at Yoon Seung-ryong, who was emitting bright flashes from his mouth with a happy expression.

“If I train more, will I be able to hit flying birds too?”

“Of course, you can do it anytime.”

Lee Hyun-mook offered encouragement, but the rod Yohan threw again transformed into a crumpled paper airplane and fluttered away somewhere. A part of the reed field where the purification light had fallen turned green. A bird, suddenly returning to its original form and startled, flew away with a squawk.

“I’m good at spreading it thin, but not at clumping it together….”

“Abilities have different natures, after all.”

It was as Lee Hyun-mook said. Just as Yoon Seung-ryong’s poison had a tendency to spread far, Lee Hyun-mook’s lightning tended to strike unpredictably, and Joo Ho-young’s coldness had a tendency to condense, Yohan’s ability also possessed a different nature.

However, Yohan did not give up and tried clumping and throwing light again. His goal was to purify distant Corrupted entities with his ability. If he could do that, he could purify the three of them from a safe distance in urgent situations. His ultimate goal was to strengthen his ability and eventually restore Seo Yakrin from afar.

“I wonder where Seo Yakrin-ssi is right now?”

Yohan wondered, trying to make his purification power, which kept sparkling and trying to extend far in all directions, long and sharp like an arrow. Yoon Seung-ryong mumbled with his mouth full,

“Yeah. The old man is probably lying low. Is the Team leader a bit scary?”

Since Yoon Seung-ryong and Joo Ho-young often talked about how scary Lee Hyun-mook was, Yohan subtly glanced at him. Lee Hyun-mook looked completely unfazed.

‘Of course, he’s a bit scary when he’s a Madman, but not to the extent they talk about.’

Isn’t that a bit too much to say for a teammate…. But perhaps because he was thinking about something else for a moment, the tip of the purification rod, which was being compressed into an arrow shape, expanded with a ‘pang’ sound. It looked like an umbrella from any angle. Yoon Seung-ryong, who had been lying spread-eagled on the ground, burst into laughter.

“Ughaha! Yohan-ah, you’re really not cut out to be a Dealer.”

“It became an umbrella…. It would be great to use when it rains….”

The purification power emitted in the form of light had no physical substance. Therefore, even as an umbrella, it would be useless, as one would still get wet from the rain. As Yohan looked dejectedly at the umbrella-shaped cluster of light, Lee Hyun-mook casually extended his hand. Then, with skill, he took Yohan’s ‘umbrella’. Huh? Yohan, realizing something, opened his eyes wide. It separated from my hand?

“It’s a wonderful umbrella.”

Lee Hyun-mook smiled under the scattered light rays shaped like umbrella ribs, and Yohan was momentarily lost in thought. His white hair, catching the light, looked like silver thread. He awkwardly replied, trying to act nonchalant.

“Well, an umbrella isn’t bad either….”

Moreover, as if on cue, a capricious black Downpour began to pour down again shortly after. Yohan lazily cast the umbrella-shaped cluster of light over Yoon Seung-ryong, who had no intention of getting up from the ground.

The purified clear rain, passing through the ribs of the umbrella, fell upon the heads of the three of them. Seemingly pleased, Lee Hyun-mook closed his eyes tightly, holding the light umbrella. The raindrops, catching the light of the umbrella, painted a faint rainbow over Lee Hyun-mook’s wet hair. It was the most beautiful color he had seen since the Abyss.

‘The light umbrella is really nice….’

I should shield him with it every time it rains. Thinking this, Yohan stole glances at Lee Hyun-mook, who was getting wet, with a rather proud heart. When the rain stopped and Yoon Seung-ryong got up to prepare a meal, Joo Ho-young returned from his reconnaissance. Yohan, who had been purifying the ingredients, greeted Joo Ho-young warmly.

“Ho-young-ah, welcome back. Was everything alright?”

“Yeah. There were no signs of a Flood appearing or trying to surround the area.”

Yohan felt relieved at Joo Ho-young’s words. He had been so traumatized that the word Flood now struck fear into him.

“Why are you all so wet? Guess what I found!”

Joo Ho-young clutched something in his hand and held it up. Kiiiii…. In his hand was a cluster of strange, monstrous life forms, emitting an eerie sound and dripping toxic miasma. The smoke rising from the miasma was so potent that it stung his eyes even from a considerable distance. Wait a minute, my eyes sting? Could it be? Yohan covered his mouth.

“It’s… it’s a chili pepper!”

“What! A chili pepper?! Where! Where is it!”

Yoon Seung-ryong, who had been diligently preparing the meal, rushed over. As he knelt and watched, Yohan carefully purified one of the clusters. Then, splitting it open, he was moved. Although it looked like a long bell pepper, what lay on his palm was undeniably a spicy chili pepper.

“Ho-young, you rascal! You did great! Come here! Hyung will give you a kiss!”

Yoon Seung-ryong tried to hug Joo Ho-young tightly, but Joo Ho-young recoiled in disgust. After undergoing Yohan’s purification once, he sat down confidently and somewhat primly with his Game Console.

The taste of the food, seasoned with freshly ground chili peppers, was simply divine. Now, if he carried chili pepper seeds carefully, he would never have to lament the lack of chili powder again. Chili peppers and garlic seeds alone were enough to comfort the souls of Koreans fallen into the Abyss.

After such a spicy and happy meal, they were having an unknown tropical fruit for dessert when Lee Hyun-mook, who had been silently contemplating something, spoke.

“It’s been about a month since we came here. Yohan should be adapted to the climate by now, so let’s head down and take a look, shall we?”

Yohan, holding a piece of fruit meticulously peeled by Yoon Seung-ryong, looked bewildered. Since the surroundings were all plains, he couldn’t guess where ‘down’ was and asked.

“Down? Down where?”

Following Lee Hyun-mook’s instructions, they packed their important belongings and left their ancient tree dwelling. After walking for about three days across the endless fields, Lee Hyun-mook stopped.

“Seeing a herd of deer, we must be almost there.”

Although they were called deer, they were grotesquely deformed, barely recognizable as deer, as is common with the corrupted creatures of the Abyss. They were several times larger than normal deer, making them look like giraffes at first glance, but long, branch-like antlers protruded from their heads.

“Ugh….”

Yohan frowned deeply as he closely observed the herd of deer. On the antlers of some deer, other deer heads were perched. Surprisingly, the upside-down deer heads, entangled with their antlers, rolled their wide-open eyes back and forth. It was unclear whether they had survived after getting entangled and their heads detached during fights, or if they were heads that had regrown upside down from the antlers. Either way, it was horrifying and bizarre.

Lee Hyun-mook nodded, indicating they should follow. Yohan swallowed hard and walked closely behind him.

As if their diet hadn’t changed much despite the Corruption, the deer herd slowly moved, grazing on grass. With dozens of them in the herd, other monsters rarely attacked. It made sense, as they carried the bodies of dead monsters impaled on their antlers, not just deer heads. Yoon Seung-ryong, perhaps as tense as Yohan, said in a low voice with a stiff expression.

“Would deer meat taste good?”

…It seemed Yohan was the only one tense. The nonchalant attitude of the other three allowed Yohan to relax his overly stiff body a little.

After following the deer herd for some time, Yohan’s eyes widened.

The nearby reeds grew up to Yohan’s thighs, but for those massive deer, it was only about knee-high. Yet, for some reason, the bodies of the walking deer gradually lowered, until only their heads were visible. The heads hanging from their antlers rolled their eyes until the very last moment, as if trying to remain vigilant, and then even those disappeared into the reeds.

“Are they hiding?”

“No, they’ve moved to another place.”

To the bewildered Yohan, Lee Hyun-mook gestured, and Yoon Seung-ryong thrust out his spear, resembling a Green Dragon Crescent Blade. With just a few swings, the surrounding reeds and grass were cut away with a swish-swish, revealing dark red earth. However, where the deer had disappeared, reeds appeared instead of ground. This was because the ground was lower than where they were standing. Yoon Seung-ryong struck his spear into the ground and said.

“This is where the Reed Sea begins, you could say.”