FSA 142

“Mealtime!”

Something shot out of the one-way food slot and struck Hanna’s body. The moment it touched her, the itching vanished, and Hanna stopped scratching in surprise. Naturally, she checked what had hit her. It was….

Mom’s stew! Rice! Side dishes! I wanted them so badly.

Gobbling it down, munch, munch. Gulp, gulp.

Mom, can I eat more? I just want a little more. I’ve starved for too long. I’ve been so hungry. I missed you so much….

“Then, mealtime again!”

Something shot forward and accurately tossed food into the food slot. Hanna devoured the delicious meal. It was a meal so delicious it seemed to shimmer with radiance, almost glowing.

Even after eating that, she still felt hungry. As she lingered near the food slot, something glowing shot out again. It was Mom’s delicious salad, soft tofu stew, fresh kimchi, anglerfish stew, tteokgalbi, and seaweed soup, all shining brightly.

After eating her fill, the itching was gone. Hanna yawned and fell into a comfortable sleep for the first time in a long while. When she woke up after such a long, deep sleep, she realized.

“Ah, ah…”

Her body wasn’t itchy at all. Her name came to her clearly. Her mother’s face, her name, her longed-for home.

Tears began to fall. Before, her body had been covered in grotesque, itchy protrusions from the Corruption, but now they had subsided. Her skin was still scarred, red, and bumpy from scratching, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t be happier that it didn’t itch. As Hanna stroked her body, she saw something.

“What is that…?”

A booklet lay near the bed, so she quickly picked it up and read it.

[This is a Treatment and Custody Center for the Severely Corrupted, established by the Sun Guild. The citizen is currently undergoing treatment. If you understand this message, please press the red button in the room three times.]

Hanna got up and looked around the room. However, there were red buttons everywhere. She slowly approached and pressed one at random three times. After a moment, a cheerful voice echoed.

“Mealtime!”

The voice faded quickly, as if passing by at an incredibly fast speed. Hanna slowly picked up what had rolled into the food slot. It was a hamburger, still warm and emitting a bright light…

‘…? Are hamburgers… normally glowing… food?’

Though she found it strange, being near this light made her feel comfortable and warm, and she quickly devoured the hamburger. After another deep sleep, Hanna woke up and found another booklet.

[This is a Treatment and Custody Center for the Severely Corrupted, established by the Sun Guild. The citizen is currently undergoing treatment. If you understand this message, please press the red button in the room twice.]

Rubbing her eyes, Hanna looked around. Unlike yesterday, there was only one red button. She went and pressed it twice, and something rolled out of the food slot. It was a small, different booklet. She opened it and read.

[This is a Treatment and Custody Center for the Severely Corrupted, established by the Sun Guild. The citizen is currently undergoing treatment. If you understand this message, please press the buttons the number of sheep drawn in the guide booklet.]

“Oh…”

Looking again, she saw several fluffy sheep drawn in the booklet. She carefully counted them and pressed the buttons. With a click, the door opened. Hanna stepped back hesitantly, then walked out slowly. She walked down the quiet corridor.

‘How long has it been since it was this quiet….’

The government quarantine facility had always been gloomy, smelly, noisy, and devoid of light. But here, sunlight streamed in through the windows in the corridor. Though it was dazzling, making her squint, she enjoyed the sun she hadn’t seen in a long time and walked as slowly as possible. At the end of the corridor, a sign was posted.

[Sun Guild Treatment and Custody Center for the Severely Corrupted: Follow the sheep to find the cafeteria. Please maintain order during meals.]

At a fork in the road, Hanna looked left and right, then spotted a sheep sticker on the wall and headed right. Her legs felt wobbly, but she gathered her strength and walked. At the end, she heard people talking. Hanna opened the closed door and her eyes widened.

People dressed in clean clothes were gathered in small groups, eating. Their faces and bodies had spots and small tumors, but strangely, as they ate their radiant meals, their symptoms gradually disappeared. Some looked like ordinary people.

Staring blankly, Hanna buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Then, other inmates, who had also been confined as Severely Corrupted for a long time like her, approached, placed their emaciated, twisted hands on her back, and comforted her.

The method Lee Hyun-mook proposed to Yohan was food. It was inspired by the time Yoon Seung-ryong was given jerky imbued with purification to temporarily ward off Corruption in the Abyss.

First, they had Yohan imbue simple, handheld food items with his purification power. Joo Ho-young, quick on his feet, was in charge of distribution, and Lee Chan-ha added illusions to make the food look delicious. The rest of the team stood by to handle any unexpected situations.

For example, subduing Corrupted individuals exhibiting extreme aggression, feeding food to those who wanted to eat but couldn’t, or protecting Yohan when he personally went to purify someone without a mouth.

They distributed countless food items. One meal wasn’t enough, so they gave them a second, then a third. For those who still needed it, they continued feeding them until they improved, and everyone regained their sanity. They were freed from pain and chaotic torment, able to adhere to rules and order. Watching the Corrupted, some even shedding tears of joy, Yohan’s eyes welled up.

“Everyone is doing so well…!”

Yohan clapped, his voice trembling. Although exhausted from purifying so many people, his heart was full and content. The Corruption wasn’t fully purified yet, so more meals were needed, but seeing their smiling faces filled Yohan with warmth.

“Speaking of which, I heard the attacker from the memorial ceremony has also awakened. Shall we go see them?”

“Yes!”

Yohan readily agreed to Lee Hyun-mook’s proposal. The place where the attacker was being held was the isolation ward of the Treatment and Custody Center. Yohan’s purification power could eliminate Corruption, but it couldn’t heal people. Awakened individuals could self-heal once the Corruption was gone and their regeneration returned, but civilians couldn’t. Therefore, someone else was stationed here.

“Hyung Soo-ho!”

Yohan called out happily to the other person. The Awakened individual with a friendly face greeted them with a smile. Lee Soo-ho, a former medic who had awakened as a mid-rank healer, had been scouted from the Sunrise Guild to the Sun Guild. His primary role at the guild was to treat low to mid-rank Awakened individuals with low regeneration. Yohan asked in a friendly tone,

“Have you eaten?”

“No, I was just about to.”

Seeing Lee Soo-ho’s body stained with bodily fluids and contaminants, Yohan quickly purified him. Expressing his gratitude, Lee Soo-ho said to Lee Hyun-mook,

“They’ve stabilized considerably. You can go in.”

“You’ve worked hard, Soo-ho.”

“Ah, I’m getting paid for this, aren’t I? Plus, the Guild Leader gave me a good bonus!”

Lee Soo-ho replied casually, but it couldn’t have been an easy decision to agree to treat only Corrupted individuals, risking exposure to their byproducts. Especially when Lee Hyun-mook had asked Lee Soo-ho to treat the Corrupted at the Treatment and Custody Center before Yohan’s abilities were fully revealed.

‘There are so many good people in the world.’

Thinking this, Yohan entered the isolation ward with Lee Hyun-mook. Inside the ward, unlike during the memorial ceremony attack, a woman who looked quite well was looking down at her blanket with a dejected expression. Upon seeing Lee Hyun-mook, surprise flashed across the woman’s face.

“Oh, it really is Lee Hyun-mook…?”

To reassure the woman, who hadn’t fully recovered from the aftereffects of Corruption, Lee Hyun-mook sat beside the bed with a trustworthy smile.

“Yes, I am Lee Hyun-mook. Nice to meet you. You probably haven’t been able to eat properly… Have you had a meal?”

“Ah, not yet…”

“If you have time, could I ask you a few questions?”

“O-of course! Ask me anything!”

With the appearance of Lee Hyun-mook, the national hero, the woman seemed to let go of her guardedness and anxiety. With just a few questions, she poured out everything that had happened. As Yohan emerged after the interrogation, his face was somewhat somber. Moving a short distance from the isolation ward, he sighed and said in a low voice,

“I didn’t expect the Re-awakening to come up here.”

The woman had joined a religious group recommended by a friend who had recently awakened. She wasn’t particularly religious, but the talk of being able to achieve Awakening and Re-awakening was appealing. Following her friend, she arrived at a church that felt a bit eerie and strange, but there seemed to be credible evidence and witnesses everywhere. At least, that’s what she thought at the time.

‘Come in, come in! I used to be ordinary too, but I awakened thanks to the cult leader!’

‘Welcome, I was a Low-rank Awakened and became a mid-rank!’

‘Here, try this Holy Communion (bread and wine consecrated to represent Jesus’s body and blood). You can awaken too!’

The woman ate the Holy Communion as instructed. It looked like ordinary bread and drink, but as soon as she ate it, she felt a surge of power. She could unleash abilities she never had before and tear monsters apart. However, it was strangely painful and distressing. In the midst of her mind oscillating between pleasure and pain, driving her mad, a voice whispered in her head.

‘The true Holy Communion, from the Purifier, will complete you….’