By Zephyria “When did you get here?!”
“I haven’t been here long.”
Lee Hyun-muk smiled and caught Yohan, who came running towards him. Even though Yohan, a High-level Awakener, lunged at him with a thud, he didn’t budge. Knowing full well that his opponent was much stronger than him, Yohan playfully nuzzled him and giggled. Lee Hyun-muk asked with a smile.
“You hunted a Rank 3 on the way?”
“Yes! But compared to the monsters from the Abyss, it was nothing.”
“Well, this is a peaceful place.”
No one would call the current world peaceful. However, to those who had lived in the Abyss, it seemed not just peaceful but even idyllic. This was because food that didn’t need purification was everywhere, and their contamination level didn’t rise just by breathing. As Yohan marveled at this, Lee Hyun-muk asked in a gentle voice.
“Everyone’s waiting, so shall we go to the guild first? What about lunch?”
“I ate breakfast at home. I am a bit hungry. But I want to see the guild first.”
Just like Awakened who had used their abilities, Yang Yosep and Yohan, who had purified the car’s interior, felt a slight hunger. However, he was more curious about the Sun Guild, where he would soon belong and operate.
The guild was less than a three-minute walk from the office building. As soon as the news spread that the Sun Guild would be established here, housing prices reportedly skyrocketed. This meant that Lee Hyun-muk and the other team members held considerable influence, which made Yohan feel a little pressured.
Even during that short walk, people’s gazes were intensely focused on them. Most were looking at Lee Hyun-muk, but some, curious about his companion, glanced at Yohan as well. Occasionally, people would call out to Lee Hyun-muk, congratulating him on his return or offering words of encouragement. Lee Hyun-muk responded with a smile to them before stopping in front of a building.
Before Yohan could even marvel at the scale of the rather large building, something else caught his eye. The guild’s logo, prominently displayed right above the main entrance of the guild building, featured a sheep with a halo behind its head. Yohan mumbled shyly.
“It’s a sheep…”
“Yep, it’s our Yangyang.”
Lee Hyun-muk said playfully. Yohan averted his gaze from the logo and followed Lee Hyun-muk into the building. Then, he quietly marveled.
The only guild he had visited until now was Yang Yosep’s guild, Neon. He knew Neon had cost a lot of money, but it couldn’t compare to this place.
He wasn’t just talking about the interior design. The attitude of the staff at the reception desk, the security guards, and the busy employees was perfectly in sync. Even when they saw Lee Hyun-muk, they simply offered a light nod of greeting, without any excessive fuss about seeing a celebrity. As he got into the elevator for the security area with Lee Hyun-muk, Yohan asked curiously.
“You’ve already recruited so quickly?”
“Most of them were poached from the Sunrise Guild.”
“Wow.”
Yohan exclaimed. It made sense that the staff’s attitude towards Lee Hyun-muk was so familiar. Thinking about it, it would have been more comfortable for Lee Hyun-muk to work with people he had collaborated with before. They were already proven talents, after all.
“Actually, we received many inquiries from Sunrise Guild members even before we posted the job opening. Quite a few people quit after we went missing, and a considerable number of guild members wanted to switch jobs. There was no reason for us to refuse, as it was a good thing for us.”
“But it must be quite bad for the Sunrise Guild, right?”
As Yohan spoke shrewdly, Lee Hyun-muk looked at him with a gaze that seemed both proud and deeply fond.
“That’s right. They must be having a tough time finding new people right about now.”
Naturally, Go Jae-won didn’t evoke any pity. Considering how horribly and terribly Lee Hyun-muk and the others had suffered in the Abyss, they felt like throwing Go Jae-won into the Abyss right then and there. However, like Yohan, Lee Chan-ha and the others seemed to want to savor this revenge slowly and leisurely.
The elevator stopped on the 15th floor. As soon as the doors opened, celebratory fireworks burst out with a bang! Lee Chan-ha, Seo Yakrin, Yoon Seung-ryong, and Joo Ho-young greeted Yohan warmly.
“Welcome to the Sun Guild, our Yohan!”
With cheers and heartfelt welcomes, Yohan beamed. Having spent a year together in the Abyss, day in and day out, these people now felt like family, and just seeing them brought him comfort and joy.
“Did everyone have a good week?”
As he asked, Yohan habitually sprinkled purification. Even though his contamination level no longer rose on its own, Lee Chan-ha, who had been inwardly restless and anxious, relaxed. The others subtly moved closer.
“I heard you visited Yohan’s house and had dinner too? How unfair, only the Team Leader…”
Seo Yakrin grumbled, glaring at Lee Hyun-muk. However, unlike in the Abyss, there was no sudden outburst of anger or suppressed irritation. It was clearly within the bounds of playful chiding. Yohan was touched even by this.
The team members’ negative reinforcement tended to grow stronger in proportion to the number of times they fell into a Flood. The weakest was Joo Ho-young, who had never fallen into a Flood; his condition ended with anxiety and an obsession with game consoles. Next was Seo Yakrin, who would get angry suddenly. Yoon Seung-ryong would lie down at random and do nothing, or eat endlessly. And the strongest among them was Lee Chan-ha, who, even after emerging from the Abyss, exhibited severe mysophobia and anxiety.
‘No, strictly speaking, Hyun-mook Hyung should have the strongest symptoms.’
Paradoxically, Lee Hyun-muk appeared the most stable among them.
But Yohan remembered. The time he was consumed by Lee Hyun-muk, how empty, hollow, and dark his inner self was… A deep, dark place that, in some ways, resembled the Abyss. Wasn’t this person simply hiding it well, pretending it didn’t exist? And weren’t the team members aware of this and pretending not to know? Yohan sometimes had such thoughts.
“Alright, alright, Yohan, come here. Hyung has something for you.”
Curious, Yohan followed Yoon Seung-ryong. After passing through several doors, they opened the largest one, revealing a long table that could seat at least twenty people and a white screen. It was clearly a conference room. Yoon Seung-ryong brought a gift box he had prepared earlier and placed it in front of Yohan. He opened it with anticipation to find neatly folded clothes inside.
“Ta-da! Our guild’s Rift Conquest Team uniform!”
“Wow!”
Yohan exclaimed with delight and took out the clothes. Like the clothes of other Awakened, they were a bright, near-white color to easily identify contamination. They had many pockets and belts to quickly access necessary tools. If one had to categorize the type of clothing, it was most similar to techwear. It was functional attire that pursued extreme survival and efficiency. And most importantly, there was the sheep logo on the back again. The logo was even made of a highly reflective material that glittered.
“This logo…”
“Should we make the logo bigger, Yohan-gun?”
“No! This is perfect!”
He answered quickly, embarrassed, but inwardly he was happy and pleased. He was happy to be among such great people, and to be considered an important and necessary person by them. As he quickly changed and looked in the mirror, the corners of his mouth naturally turned upwards.
“It suits you well! Our Yohan is the best!”
As Seo Yakrin praised him endlessly, Yohan’s chin naturally lifted. Joo Ho-young also cheered loudly. After doting on the youngest team member for a while, as if he were floating on clouds, everyone took their seats. Lee Chan-ha distributed handouts she had prepared.
“Today, we will discuss the establishment of the Association.”
The establishment of the Awakened Association. This was one of the hottest issues in Korea recently. Naturally, public opinion was not very favorable. It wasn’t just the government that was wary of the Awakened gaining a focal point and thus more influence. To ordinary people, individuals with superhuman powers were not exactly comforting beings.
“However, despite that, it would have been established eventually. Considering when the Rifts first appeared, its establishment is rather late compared to other countries.”
Lee Chan-ha explained patiently for Yohan. This was not a meeting, but rather part of his education to help Yohan adapt, now that he was officially joining the Sun Guild. To summarize the explanation, whether people opposed it or not, it wasn’t illegal, so they proceeded with the establishment and would push forward with Lee Hyun-muk’s favorable image. Yohan listened politely, then raised his hand and asked.
“But why did you bother creating the Awakened Association?”
“Good question, Yohan-gun. It is because, besides the Rift Management Agency, there is a need for an organization to regulate and unite the Awakened separately.”
The Rift Management Agency only focused on suppressing and crushing Awakened, making it an object of resentment, and thus failed to properly unite them. There had been attempts to establish something similar to the Awakened Association before, but they were thwarted due to various circumstances, and Lee Hyun-muk at the time had no intention of doing so. But now, things were different.