By Zephyria 
“How can you show up now? Shouldn’t you have handled things before they got this bad!”
Park Seung-min pressed, wondering if he even knew the gravity of the situation. But Minister Hwang Young-chul stared at him and merely nodded.
“Ah, well. The school violence incident will blow over quickly. I came to see you because I wanted to introduce someone.”
To want to introduce someone in such a serious situation, who could it be? Park Seung-min’s face contorted. His irritated expression soon froze.
“Hello. I am Jung Ha-jin, an intermediate purifier. I’ve recently signed a contract with the Rift Management Agency. It seems we’ll be seeing each other often.”
Curious eyes scanned Park Seung-min from head to toe, then a glint of confusion appeared in his gaze. Minister Hwang Young-chul keenly observed him tilting his head. Park Seung-min’s heart sank. In the meantime, an intermediate purifier had appeared. She even signed a contract with the Rift Management Agency…. Cold sweat broke out on his back, but he soon lifted his head proudly.
“Well, how often do we need to meet for you to come and introduce yourselves in person?”
As he retorted irritably, Hwang Young-chul chuckled and said, “Today, Jung Ha-jin purified three Severely Corrupted individuals. Isn’t that amazing? Three in one day…. She purified three yesterday as well.”
“So what? I purified Severely Corrupted individuals on my first day too.”
Park Seung-min replied irritably. On the first day he Awakened, he had shown the government that he could purify Severely Corrupted individuals. While he absolutely couldn’t do it now with his ability temporarily malfunctioning, he tried his best not to show it here.
After a brief greeting, Minister Hwang Young-chul sent Jung Ha-jin out and approached him. He asked in a condescending tone, “Are you sure you are a High-level Awakener?”
His heart sank. Park Seung-min glared back at Minister Hwang Young-chul like a wounded pride, but cold sweat ran down his back. His palms grew clammy. He was clearly a High-rank Purifier, so why did he feel like he had committed fraud?
“If Park Seung-min, you are not a High-rank Purifier….”
“I’m already annoyed to death with this incident, and if you keep treating me like this, I’ll defect abroad!”
Faced with his shameless defiance, without a hint of guilt, Hwang Young-chul, though suspicious, stepped back. He said with a calm smile, “Well, that’s fine. If you say you’re a High-rank Purifier, then you are. Anyway… I will handle this troublesome incident that occurred.”
Hwang Young-chul’s hand firmly gripped Park Seung-min’s shoulder. His greedy eyes scanned the purifier from head to toe.
“So, you just keep purifying well from now on.”
Hwang Young-chul left once his business was concluded. However, Park Seung-min stood there trembling for a long time. An overwhelming anxiety, like a seizure, washed over him. He felt like he wasn’t just experiencing a temporary ability malfunction, but that he had never been a High-level Awakener in the first place, driving him mad.
“No, no, no….”
I was the first to Awaken! I’m definitely a High-level Awakener! Park Seung-min still couldn’t forget the omnipotence he felt when he first Awakened. He had emitted such dazzling light, how could he not be a High-level Awakener? He even drove away that giant spider!
Even as he thought this, the unbearable Park Seung-min ran out of his house and headed to the guild. Ignoring all the guild members who greeted him respectfully, he stormed straight into the guild room.
“What are you doing all day! Hey, Go Jae-won! Snap out of it! If you’re the guild leader, do your job! Protect the guild members!”
Park Seung-min exploded, shouting at the top of his lungs. Go Jae-won, who had been slumped on the sofa, looked up. His gaze was gloomy and murky. Now that he looked closer, unlike last time, there were strange powders scattered around besides the liquor bottles. He had even done drugs in the meantime.
“Crazy bastard…”
Seeing him drinking all day and doing drugs, it seemed this guild had no hope left. Just as Park Seung-min was about to turn and leave, Go Jae-won slowly opened his mouth.
“Do you… know how to Re-awaken?”
“Re-awakening…?”
Park Seung-min stopped dead in his tracks and frowned. He knew nothing about Re-awakening other than Lee Hyun-mook’s story. Thinking that someone like Go Jae-won might know some substantial information, he turned back.
“They say Re-awakening makes you stronger…. Do you, too, want to try?”
Go Jae-won chuckled. Park Seung-min had also heard the vague rumors about Re-awakening. Weren’t they absurd rumors? He thought it was best to ignore them as the ramblings of a madman. Though his mind told him so, Park Seung-min, whose ears were unconsciously perked up due to his recent ability malfunction, asked, “What is this method?”
Public opinion is in turmoil daily due to Representative Lee Seong-ho’s murder-for-hire and the accusations of Park Seung-min’s school violence. While people were shocked and outraged, only Team Sun watched the news in the conference room, enjoying themselves. Their long-awaited revenge had finally begun in earnest.
“Lee Seong-ho is deeply connected with Hwang Young-chul. They were seniors and juniors at the same university. They were so close that they even introduced each other to contract killers. Hwang Young-chul must be frantic now, searching for those mercenaries. The fact that Lee Seong-ho’s video was leaked means his own video could be leaked too.”
Joo Ho-young, uncharacteristically focused on the news instead of gaming, explained. His eyes were bloodshot, likely from not blinking while watching the video. Naturally, they possessed videos of Hwang Young-chul, not just Lee Seong-ho. It wasn’t that Kim Hyun-woo had them; it was the result of piecing together clues from the video to find other contractors.
They all planned to slowly, one by one, hand over the videos to each victim and enjoy this revenge leisurely and at length. Another video was scheduled to be uploaded today.
“Oh, and regarding the traces of the Flood, Yohan. It seems to be related to the Re-awakening rumors as well.”
Lee Chan-ha, who had been watching the news with cold eyes, spoke in a gentle voice and displayed the results of the investigation into the traces of the Flood. It was a photo of a black hole, which upon closer inspection, was a sewer passage where a manhole cover had disappeared. Several people were crawling into it.
“I felt traces of the Flood inside here, and everyone who enters and exits here claims to have Re-awakened or Awakened. But as you can see, they are all just Corrupted.”
It was as Lee Chan-ha said. The people entering the sewer were severely contaminated, showing prominent Contamination Symptoms on their bodies. Seo Yakrin, frowning and staring intently at the photo, asked, “So, what was inside?”
Although Seo Yakrin asked the question, Lee Chan-ha apologized to Yohan with a polite and regretful demeanor.
“I’m sorry, Yohan. I couldn’t bring myself to go inside….”
“No! There’s no need to apologize! You did well, actually. If there was even a chance of a Flood inside, it would have been a disaster.”
Yohan, who had been listening intently, waved his hands in surprise. Even if it wasn’t a Flood, he understood why Lee Chan-ha couldn’t enter the sewer. Given his germophobia, he wouldn’t have wanted to enter such a dirty, messy, and foul-smelling place. Lee Chan-ha scrolled to the next photo.
“Instead, I found another meeting place for these individuals. They call it an Awakening research group.”
The next photo showed a seemingly ordinary commercial building. It was located in an area with high foot traffic, and many people were coming and going from the building.
“Interestingly, Go Jae-won has been seen entering and exiting this place. And just yesterday, Park Seung-min started accompanying him. I found out they are holding a large event there this evening.”
“Both of them were tempted by the talk of Re-awakening, I suppose?”
Yoon Seung-ryong sneered, smirking. Go Jae-won, who wanted to become stronger after being threatened with his life, and Park Seung-min, who was slowly starting to realize he might not be a High-rank Purifier. Furthermore, for the two of them, who were suffering from nightmares and auditory hallucinations day and night due to Lee Chan-ha’s illusions, the talk of Re-awakening must have sounded quite intriguing. Lee Hyun-mook said in a low, somber voice, “If there are traces of the Flood, I must go.”
It was more of a priority for them than the revenge they were so focused on. Even just the traces were enough to make them all uneasy, so they had to confirm it no matter what. Yohan quickly said, “I’ll go with you too! You never know. Even if this is outside the Abyss, it’s still a Flood.”
“I feel reassured if Yohan accompanies us.”
Lee Chan-ha’s face showed a hint of relief at Yohan’s willingness to join. The others felt the same. The Flood was a word that evoked strong trauma for them. Yohan couldn’t let his team members go alone out of worry. If a Flood were to appear on Earth, he would definitely have to protect these people.
“Then, while we’re at it, how about we take care of it today? Whatever that event is, we need to stop it.”
Everyone agreed with Seo Yakrin’s suggestion. They all didn’t want to leave such an unsettling element unattended for long.