By Zephyria “You must accompany us.”
A Special Unit operative from the Rift Management Agency, who had disembarked from the helicopter, spoke in a stern voice. Team Sun boarded the helicopter without a word. The sounds of the crowd roaring from below were already inaudible due to the helicopter’s noise. Everyone retreated, screaming against the strong wind.
Soon, the helicopter took off. I had ridden one before, but it was still a mode of transport I hadn’t grown accustomed to. Yohan cautiously gauged the situation before subtly creating a few Light Particles. He looked at Lee Hyun-muk, who gave a small nod as if granting permission. Excited, Yohan blurted out to the Special Unit operative,
“Shall I purify you?”
Perhaps it was the nature of the offer, or perhaps Yohan’s voice was too bright, but the operative seemed taken aback.
“Puri…fication, you say?”
In truth, the Special Suppression Unit operatives had been quite disappointed with the existence of Purifiers until recently. Park Seung-min, a High-rank Purifier, hadn’t even deigned to look at them, and their respected Captain Jeong Si-young was barely purified at all. But after an intermediate purifier appeared and his abilities were confirmed, their thoughts had changed. This was a natural and fundamental question.
‘Is Park Seung-min truly a High-rank Purifier? Or did he intentionally not purify Captain Jeong Si-young?’
It was a situation where either possibility was problematic, and then an incident like today occurred. In the citizen’s report video, Yang Yohan had displayed abilities far beyond those of an intermediate purifier. Therefore, they couldn’t be ignorant. They knew Yang Yohan was the true High-level Awakener. And that he had intentionally hidden his identity.
While the Special Suppression Unit operative hesitated, Yohan swiftly scattered his light. He had always wanted to do this whenever he saw Special Unit operatives with particularly high contamination levels, but now he didn’t have to hold back.
As Yohan’s light touched them, the operatives flinched and stiffened. It was brief, but soon their tense bodies gradually relaxed. The auditory hallucinations whispering in their ears, the visual hallucinations of ominous figures constantly appearing, the depression, lethargy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, pain, physical deformities… the symptoms, which had only worsened with rising contamination levels, began to disappear.
Their bodies felt lighter. The itching and pain, the mental anguish, vanished as if washed away. For a moment, forgetting their mission, the operatives touched their bare skin with trembling hands. It was the area that usually showed symptoms first when contamination rose. The operatives’ chests swelled as they confirmed their skin was normal. After a long silence, they offered Yang Yohan their sincere gratitude.
“…Thank you, Awakened Yang Yohan.”
“You’re welcome!”
Yohan beamed, feeling as refreshed as someone who had removed an irritating stain they had always wanted to erase. As someone who had occasionally served as Park Seung-min’s escort, the Special Suppression Unit operative couldn’t help but make a comparison in his mind. And he realized with profound certainty. Someone like Park Seung-min should not be a High-level Awakener.
The place where the helicopter arrived held Hwang Young-chul, his face flushed red like a boiled octopus. As soon as he disembarked, he rushed over and pointed at them as if he would grab them by the collar.
“How dare you! How dare you deceive me! Me!”
Yohan, caught off guard by this situation for the first time, froze in bewilderment. Lee Hyun-muk immediately stepped in front of Hwang Young-chul. Hwang Young-chul faltered. As Lee Hyun-muk approached with a smile, he flinched and retreated step by step.
“Everything was done under my orders, so if you have complaints, you should direct them at me. I don’t know why you’re bothering innocent people.”
By then, Yohan was hidden behind his teammates and couldn’t be seen. Hwang Young-chul, who had been trying to vent his anger on an easy target only to be blocked, trembled with fear and rage, then yelled at the Special Suppression Unit.
“What are you doing! Arrest all of them immediately! In this precarious time, they dared to deceive the nation! They embezzled vital resources!”
No matter how important purification abilities were, the attitude of referring to people as resources clearly showed how Awakened individuals were treated. Seo Yakrin covered Yohan’s ears and glared menacingly at Hwang Young-chul. Her gaze conveyed a desire to tear him apart on the spot.
Despite Hwang Young-chul’s furious outburst, the Special Suppression Unit operatives merely hesitated. It was natural. Asking them to snatch a Purifier from Team Sun was an absurdly impossible order. Hwang Young-chul had issued such an order partly because his vision was clouded by anger, and partly because he still considered them the former Sunrise Team. Lee Hyun-muk, completely ignoring Hwang Young-chul, looked at the Special Suppression Unit’s commander and said,
“If you have anything you wish to say, please do. That man will be dismissed soon anyway, so you don’t need to worry about him.”
“What, you insolent brat…! Did you just say that!”
Enraged by being completely ignored, Hwang Young-chul spat out curses and fumbled for his phone. It was at that moment, as he was about to make a call to take action.
“Ugh…!”
Surprisingly, one of the Special Suppression Unit operatives approached Hwang Young-chul from behind and knocked him unconscious. It was the commander. Without even glancing at Hwang Young-chul, who had collapsed on the floor, the commander knelt down.
“Awakened Lee Hyun-muk. And Awakened Yang Yohan. I know you must have negative feelings towards the Rift Management Agency and the Special Suppression Unit. But could you please purify Captain Jeong Si-young? Please…”
His plea was exceptionally earnest and desperate. It was a clear act of insubordination, but the other operatives also lost their will to fight and lowered their weapons. From this display, Yohan could clearly see that the Special Suppression Unit’s true superior, whom they respected and followed, was Jeong Si-young, not Hwang Young-chul.
“He is not someone who should be treated like a beast. He dedicated himself so much to this land, and this is how he is treated. I implore you.”
Lee Hyun-muk did not bat an eye at the commander’s plea. Instead, he turned to Yohan, who was under the impenetrable protection of his teammates, and said,
“Yohan, do as you wish. Captain Jeong Si-young is a very important asset to the government, so you might be able to receive a useful reward for this.”
At Lee Hyun-muk’s words, the commander flinched but did not look up. He desperately hoped for Captain Jeong Si-young’s contamination to improve, even if it meant this. Many of them owed their lives countless times to Jeong Si-young. Yohan, who was already restless, answered without hesitation.
“I’ll just do it! I’ve really wanted to purify him for a long time. Where is he now?”
“Ah! Thank you. This way… this way.”
Not wanting to miss this opportunity, the commander sprang to his feet and strode away. No one paid any attention to the disheveled Hwang Young-chul lying on the ground.
They headed to the Rift Management Agency’s Special Containment Headquarters, a place they had stayed before. The commander swiped his card to gain entry. The researchers, who were watching breaking news on their monitors, were startled to see Team Sun and Yang Yohan and jumped to their feet. However, they dared not speak to them.
The commander led them deeper than the area where Yohan had been contained. After passing through several steel doors, they boarded an elevator descending underground. Down, down… and after taking the elevator one more time, they finally reached Jeong Si-young’s containment area. Before opening the thick containment door, the commander turned to them and asked,
“The Captain overexerted himself in Busan, and his condition is now truly critical. You must be careful.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. We will protect him safely, no matter what.”
“Understood. I will open it.”
Knowing how powerful Lee Hyun-muk was, the commander pressed a pad to open the containment door. With a heavy mechanical hum, the containment door began to open. The triple-layered door revealed the government’s obsessive vigilance towards Jeong Si-young. As the containment door finally began to open, a foul stench wafted out.
Unlike Park Seung-min, no one here gagged at the stench. They were all people who had become thoroughly accustomed to the odor.
Yohan stared intently into the darkness beyond the door. Jeong Si-young lurked within the dimly lit containment room. He had his eyes closed, but soon a gleaming glint appeared. That glint was directed at Lee Hyun-muk.
“Wh-what.”
A sickening cracking sound was heard. The clinking of chains followed. Jeong Si-young’s glint moved slowly from top to bottom.
“A mo-nster… has… ap-peared?”
“Captain Jeong Si-young, this is Awakened Lee Hyun-muk. Don’t you recognize him?”
Despite the commander’s explanation, Jeong Si-young, having nearly lost his sanity, stared intently only at Lee Hyun-muk. Now, the ominous glint flowed from below to the side. Jeong Si-young. Korea’s second High-level Awakener. His ability was…
“Mo-nster… die.”
It was precognition.
His greatly swollen left arm flew towards Lee Hyun-muk. Jeong Si-young could instinctively perceive and grasp the situation a few seconds, or even minutes, into the future when facing a living being. That was why no one could ever defeat Jeong Si-young in a one-on-one fight. That was why the commander had been so worried.
Lee Hyun-muk instantly grabbed and twisted Jeong Si-young’s left arm. A clear bone-snapping sound echoed, but the opponent did not even let out a groan. This, too, had already been anticipated. A series of self-destructive attacks were about to follow but stopped short.
“…?!”
Whatever he saw, Jeong Si-young’s body froze. As if trapped in complete darkness, unable to see anything, he shook his head in confusion. Yohan, not knowing why, assumed it was a mental anomaly caused by contamination and did not miss the opportunity to begin purification.