By Zephyria 
The place I followed, as if entranced by that voice, was none other than the Abyss Returnee Celebration Ceremony. The other raiders also gave testimony almost identical to the woman’s.
“So they mistook the Corruption for an Awakening.”
“In a way, they did become stronger.”
Lee Hyun-muk nodded calmly. When one is Corrupted, the body and mind twist and distort. It was a process similar to how mutations occur due to radiation or chemicals. However, unlike the typical mutation process, it was infinitely unnatural and caused endless suffering to living beings. It also meant drifting further and further away from humanity.
In the end, even after receiving Yohan’s purification, Lee Hyun-muk, the others, and many of the Abyss’s creatures could not fully return to their previous selves….
‘Isn’t it more likely that they just became stronger from using their abilities relentlessly, as if their lives depended on it?’
Anyone who had continuously used their abilities for so many years would surpass Low-grade to Intermediate, and Intermediate to High-grade. Having struggled for hundreds of years among Monsters, it was natural that they had grown stronger.
“Hyung, are you alright?”
“Hm? Me?”
Lee Hyun-muk, lost in some deep thought, looked at Yohan’s concern with surprise.
“It’s because people are doing reckless things, calling it Re-awakening or whatever… It bothers you, doesn’t it.”
Yohan trailed off, looking at Lee Hyun-muk’s now white hair. If he were a good person, like his lover, he would surely be bothered by the fact that his Re-awakening remarks had caused so many innocent victims.
“Ah…”
Lee Hyun-muk let out an exclamation, as if he understood what Yohan was worried about. He then narrowed his eyes into a wide smile and said,
“Thank you for worrying about me, Yohan-ah.”
‘You truly see me as a person,’ words like the sound of a passing breeze followed. Yohan, who had somehow heard them, looked up and met Lee Hyun-muk’s dark eyes.
“Because I am a person… aren’t I?”
“…Yes.”
Lee Hyun-muk readily nodded, agreeing with Yohan’s words. A light flickered in his eyes, which had been dark just moments before.
“If I’m a person, I suppose I should care about things like this, indeed.”
With a heart greatly relieved by Lee Hyun-muk’s answer, Yohan walked along. It was then. Yoon Seung-ryong, who had been busy preparing food for everyone and was radiating a delicious aroma, came running. He looked like an excited Labrador Retriever.
“Let’s have a barbecue party! Hyung brought back a Kraken!”
“…What? You brought back what?”
Kraken? Yohan, who had been about to enthusiastically agree to a barbecue party, froze. Just then, a wriggling tentacle shot up above the Treatment and Custody Center building and then fell limply. Yohan doubted his own eyes.
Naturally, Rifts don’t only open on the ground. Rarely, they would open in places like fish farms, and the ocean was even more troublesome. Even Awakened individuals couldn’t hunt monsters roaming the vast sea.
When I hurried over, I saw an endlessly long, long, long… just long, silver snake coiled and stretched out. It was so long that its shape resembled a cephalopod, which explained why Yoon Seung-ryong had called it a Kraken. Seo Yakrin, who had beaten the monster with Psychokinesis, smiled faintly while wiping the sweat from her forehead.
“I caught the guy who was raiding a nearby fish farm. It’ll be delicious, right?”
“Uh…”
“Ah, this? It’s a snow crab! They were crawling all over the seabed, so I caught some while I was splitting the sea! Noona will boil it deliciously for you, Yohan-ah!”
Yoon Seung-ryong grumbled next to me, drooling, ‘She’s taking all the credit for boiling it when I’m the one doing it anyway.’ Yohan purified what the two had hunted without complaint. They had caught so much that it filled an entire fishing boat.
The monster, presumed to be a cutlassfish, was quietly cooked and eaten among the team members out of consideration. Even after purification, it was a bit much to feed to civilians with weak regenerative abilities and immunity. Instead, the abundant snow crabs caught were enough to be generously distributed to everyone at the Treatment and Custody Center. They decided to enjoy it together with everyone on the island, since they were having a barbecue anyway.
Meat was quickly procured from land. The snow crabs were boiled, soup was brewed, and meat was grilled and steamed, filling the air with delicious smells. The faces of the people who hesitantly emerged from the isolation ward gradually brightened. Although not fully purified yet, they were now only mildly Corrupted, and this too would soon be completely healed.
Joo Ho-young played music through the supply ship’s speakers. As the cheerful music flowed, people laughed, chatted, and ate deliciously. Some cried, but they were tears of relief, and others simply danced with joy. Everyone ate and drank happily and to their fill. Delicious food comforts the human heart. This was the greatest truth Yohan had felt in the Abyss.
After eating the delicious grilled salted cutlassfish and snow crabs, Yohan went up to the roof of the Treatment and Custody Center. He watched the beautiful coral-colored sunset. Before he knew it, Lee Hyun-muk had quietly joined him. Yohan leaned his head on his lover’s shoulder and hummed a song softly.
One day, suddenly, a star fell
Countless nights without light passed
Standing alone in a silent wilderness
Waiting for a long-held promise
One day, beyond the field of wildflowers
For my beloved, beautiful you to appear
For the sun to rise here someday
Waiting for a long-held promise….
Around the excited Yohan, a soft light shimmered, following his master’s mood. Unlike the Abyss where time stood still, the sun was setting, and pastel evening colors descended. The bonfire lit for the barbecue flickered. The moon and stars in the unpolluted night sky were beautiful. Lee Hyun-muk, unable to contain his affection for his savior, gently kissed him.
And so, for the first time in a long while since the Rift opened, everyone spent a night free from all worries, a night filled with happiness and joy, infinitely peaceful and gentle.
The next day, Yohan confirmed that the people’s Corruption had been almost purified. This was thanks to him mixing purification power into their drinks and water whenever he had the chance. However, since it was inconvenient in many ways to send them off the island immediately, they decided to let them stay on the island for a while longer.
There were some who were dissatisfied with not being able to leave right away, but since the promise was made to Lee Hyun-muk, everyone complied. Furthermore, thanks to the disappearance of untreatable Corruption, everyone was cooperative. With such a sense of accomplishment, as they were about to leave the island,
“Excuse me, just a moment…!”
One of the people came running breathlessly. Yohan, who had been standing idly, thinking they must have something to say to Lee Hyun-muk, was surprised when the woman approached him. The woman, her body covered in scratches, clasped Yohan’s hand tightly and repeatedly expressed her gratitude.
“Thank you. Thank you so much for letting me see my mother again… Thank you.”
Feeling strangely shy and embarrassed, Yohan’s face turned bright red. He parted his lips, smiled, and quickly replied,
“We will do our best to help you meet your families as soon as possible.”
“Yes! I can wait as long as needed!”
As Yohan boarded the boat, seeing the people off, he opened his hand. In his palm was a small sheep doll. It seemed the people at the Treatment and Custody Center had somehow obtained spare fabric and made it after seeing the sheep drawn on the Sun Guild’s uniform. Lee Hyun-muk, looking at the sheep doll with Yohan, smiled faintly.
“Yangyang is really cute.”
‘This means I’m really cute, right?’ Yohan no longer doubted, thinking it with confidence and certainty.
“By the way, I never even said I was a Purifier, so how did everyone know?”
“When they were Corrupted, they must have felt it desperately. Just like we did with you.”
‘Is that so?’ Yohan thought, and with the help of the skillful Seo Yakrin, he attached it to his bag. Two sheep keychains dangled. The other one was a sheep Lee Hyun-muk had given him in the Abyss. With two sheep, it was truly ‘Yangyang’ combined. Fondling the soft, fluffy sheep doll, Yohan thought.
‘…It’s about time to start now.’
Upon returning to the Sun Guild after leaving the island, they encountered some rather unexpected and surprising news. As soon as they landed on the mainland and their phones got reception, the Sun Guild members’ phones lit up. Yohan, checking the news, was startled.
“Park Seung-min has been kidnapped?”
“Kidnapped? Good riddance.”
Seo Yakrin replied with utter indifference. Just as they held a grudge against Go Jae-won, they naturally held a grudge against Yohan’s enemy. Yohan frowned and read the article more closely.
“It says it was done by some foreign tycoon… But it seems he was rescued a few days later.”
Without any concern or sympathy for Park Seung-min, Yohan tilted his head in pure bewilderment. The timing was strangely perfect.
It was the perfect timing for the Sun Guild to avoid public criticism for not cooperating with Park Seung-min’s rescue, precisely when the Sun Team was stuck on a remote island with no communication, caring for Severely Corrupted individuals….
Then, Yohan, glancing up inadvertently, noticed. Lee Chan-ha was smiling faintly with a meaningful expression. …No way? Chan-ha Hyung?