By Zephyria After days of eating beef that Joo Ho-young had hunted from afar, even boiling the bones down to make broth, Yohan finally regained his strength.
‘But what was that…. Did I dream while I was sick?’
Fortunately, Yohan was lost in thought, meticulously cleaning the spear that Lee Chan-ha had kept for him. At that moment, the center of the Abyss collapsed, and Lee Hyun-muk swallowed all the team members, including Yohan. After that, it seemed he had remained inside Lee Hyun-muk until he woke up again near this brine lake.
No, it seemed so. Perhaps because it was so dark and empty, he cried, crawled, received Lee Hyun-muk’s memories from the Eternal Stone, and then, and then…. Yohan’s face turned pale, then red. It felt like a dream, yet not like a dream. As he recalled the strange memories, Yohan glanced at Lee Hyun-muk and met his gaze, his face flushing again.
“Are you still not feeling well?”
“I… I think I might be, a little….”
Yohan spoke in a voice barely above a whisper as Lee Hyun-muk kindly reached out to check his forehead for fever. He quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, what happened to the cave?”
“It completely collapsed. There’s no trace left of the entrance.”
Seo Yakrin, who visited the Eternal Stone Mountain daily to attempt communication, shrugged. Although he had expected it, he was disappointed. With Yohan’s condition almost recovered, the group began to prepare to leave.
“We need to start farming again soon.”
Yoon Seung-ryong said anxiously, having confirmed that their vegetable and fruit supplies were running low. It seemed that even with seeds toughened by contamination, farming was difficult, likely due to their proximity to the salt lake. Or rather, the recent circumstances made it difficult to sustain farming.
“Oh, so where do we go now? Do you want to go to the Reed Sea? I know that place like the back of my hand.”
“Are you crazy? Go back to that dark, desolate place? I still say the city district.”
Yoon Seung-ryong exclaimed in disgust. As sorry as he felt for Seo Yakrin, Yohan agreed with Yoon Seung-ryong. Certainly, for human habitation, dilapidated buildings were far better than the wilderness. Interjecting himself between the two growling men, Yohan said,
“Then shall we move quickly?”
Seo Yakrin then called out urgently, “Wait.”
“I’ll try to communicate one last time. This time, I’ll ask for recommendations for a safe place to live.”
“You’ve built enough rapport to get recommendations for a place to move?”
Joo Ho-young said with amusement. The group’s mood had also significantly recovered after resting for a few days. Still, the improved environment of the Abyss meant their physical and mental recovery was definitely faster than before.
Before moving, Yoon Seung-ryong gathered a large amount of clams. While roasting some of them to eat, they waited for Seo Yakrin, but it took quite a long time. Communication with the Eternal Stone was far from a casual conversation, so the group resigned themselves to it and were roasting giant shrimp when Seo Yakrin returned.
“I’ve got new information.”
“What information?”
Yoon Seung-ryong asked without much expectation, sprinkling salt on a giant shrimp that could easily be ten times the size of a large prawn’s cheek. Seo Yakrin picked up a freshly roasted, piping hot prawn. Without even peeling it, she shoveled it into her mouth, swallowed it after a few chews, and said,
“They say a new zone will appear soon. Do you know where it is?”
A new land? Yohan, who had been subtly purifying the shrimp, looked up in surprise at Seo Yakrin’s shrimp-swallowing gesture, reminiscent of a bird swallowing prey. Even Lee Hyun-muk, who had seemed uninterested, looked up, and Seo Yakrin said triumphantly,
“It’s near the Korean zone.”
“A new zone is already appearing? Is that even possible?”
“Isn’t it a trap?”
“It didn’t feel like a trap.”
The group huddled together, murmuring. Yohan, who was alternately receiving peeled shrimp from Yoon Seung-ryong and Lee Hyun-muk, tilted his head.
“It’s not already*, is it? Usually, the Abyss swallows areas every few months.”
It had been 10 years since the Abyss appeared, and the Earth had transformed into a shape that was festering and gnawed away. While areas covered by Rifts were a problem, those swallowed by the Abyss every few months, making complete restoration impossible, were also a problem. Many people had died, and just as many regions had been lost, making it a grave concern. It was a foregone conclusion that if more time passed, it would become a place where not even life, let alone humans, could survive.
In any case, it had been over a year since Yohan fell here. So, in his opinion, it was more than enough time for a new zone to appear. Hearing Yohan’s words, Joo Ho-young pursed his lips.
“Oh.”
Then Yoon Seung-ryong, still not finished with his shrimp, peeled another one and handed it to Yohan, saying,
“What I mean is, the Korean zone appearing is the ‘already’.”
“Ah. That’s true.”
Yohan nodded, acknowledging the point. The Abyss tended to devour areas indiscriminately, not just one spot. Since Yohan arrived with the Korean zone about a year ago, it would likely be several more years before a specific region disappeared again. The team members murmured again.
“Maybe it’s because they suffered a critical blow this time. They urgently need to consume new nutrients.”
“That sounds plausible. Then the Earth might become even more dangerous.”
“Who cares about the Earth! Let’s go quickly then!”
Joo Ho-young, biting his nails anxiously, jumped up from his seat and shouted.
“If we’re lucky… we might be able to get out!”
At those words, Yohan recalled the Abyss’s camouflage theory he had heard about before. It was said that land swallowed by the Abyss, if it swallowed something too much, would be spat out after a few days and reappear. Lee Chan-ha said with a wry smile to Joo Ho-young,
“That’s possible, but… let’s not get our hopes up too high. It probably won’t happen.”
“Well, that’s true, but….”
Joo Ho-young’s shoulders slumped. Never expect too much. Assume failure. Every time Yohan heard these phrases, which his teammates used like a common saying, he felt a pang of sadness and pity. They must have developed such habits after experiencing countless despair.
“Since it’s a new zone, we might be able to salvage a good amount of supplies.”
Yoon Seung-ryong was already fidgeting with excitement. Yohan, recalling the various items he had salvaged from the Korean zone, felt a surge of anticipation. He wanted to eat that chocolate bar he had then. If he was lucky, he might even find carbonated drinks like cola….
“That’s what they say, Team Leader. What do you think?”
Lee Chan-ha asked in a calm voice, having gathered everyone’s opinions. Lee Hyun-muk, who had been listening to the team’s chatter, nodded.
“There’s no reason not to go, and no reason to stay here longer, so let’s depart immediately.”
“But if it’s a Ruined City, it’ll take a really long time.”
Yohan said with a worried expression. They had traveled so far, passing through Ruined Cities, jungle zones, then Japan, the Reed Sea, and high mountains, to reach this salt lake zone. Thinking about drinking water, they would have to revisit the high mountain zone, and the thought of the mountain goat herds and the climb made it seem impossibly distant. Just then, Seo Yakrin’s head shot up.
“Let’s cross through the Black Mountain. Then we won’t have to go around. And how about flying continuously?”
Yohan recalled flying with Seo Yakrin’s psychokinesis as propulsion in the Reed Sea. He then looked at the Eternal Stone mountain range, which was called the Black Mountain but no longer deserved that name. The Eternal Stones, with their gentle, rainbow-pastel hues, shone brilliantly. Honestly, the idea of not having to walk endlessly, laboriously, was too tempting. Yohan asked with concern,
“But using psychokinesis for so long increases contamination levels, doesn’t it?”
“That’s even better! From then on, we can just fly using wings. I think I’ve got the hang of it after that big incident before.”
Is that so? If they flew, monster attacks would be avoided, and it would be like traveling by plane. Except for Yoon Seung-ryong’s visible displeasure, the rest of the team seemed to think it was fine. Even Lee Hyun-muk nodded and said,
“It seems like it would be good training for Yakrin.”
After finishing their meal, the group packed their belongings. However, packing didn’t take long as Yoon Seung-ryong simply gathered everything and put it into his ‘pouch’. After obtaining and preparing a giant tree, it was transformed into a raft large enough for several people to ride.
Seo Yakrin levitated the raft with psychokinesis. Then, they flew rapidly across the Black Mountain, and from above, the Eternal Stones sparkled even more beautifully. Recalling their similar flight through the Reed Sea, Yohan was filled with emotion.