By Zephyria KWAANG! Even though Lee Hyun-muk covered his ears, his whole body vibrated and hummed from the tremendous noise. A lightning strike of overwhelming power, enough to make one’s heart clench, struck the dead tree. Plunging down from the top, it pierced straight through the massive tree. Yohan could see the shape of the tree slowly splitting, frozen stiff, within Lee Hyun-muk’s eyes.
A dark red glint flickered in Lee Hyun-muk’s black eyes. A mad joy shimmered within them. It was only then, seeing that, that Yohan truly felt Lee Hyun-muk’s Corruption remained despite the massive purification from last time. The more strongly he unleashed his power, the more his Corruption reacted and rose. Fearing that the opponent might turn into a Madman again, Yohan reached out.
KWAANG! The moment lightning struck again, hands surrounded by a halo of light grasped his cheeks and ears simultaneously. Lee Hyun-muk flinched and turned his gaze. His straight eyebrows twitched. The light flowing from Yohan’s body like mist grew stronger.
The halo of light, sparkling like the Milky Way, seeped into Lee Hyun-muk’s eyes and ears. The gray ash scattering from the blackened, burnt tree dissolved as if melting only near them. The violently flashing lightning also subsided.
“I thought it might be noisy for you too, Lee Hyun-muk-ssi…”
Unable to bear the gaze that was watching him intently, Yohan mumbled an excuse and lowered his hands. He watched for any sign of anger, wondering if he had been rude, but Lee Hyun-muk’s eyes had become gentle. Relieved that he didn’t seem angry, Yohan lowered his hands.
“Thank you.”
Instead, he received thanks. Yohan’s lips curved slightly as he watched Lee Hyun-muk’s back as he went to retrieve his spear.
The dead tree monster was now unrecognizable from how strong the lightning strike had been. The strong fire that had ignited it also gave off a pungent smoke. Lee Hyun-muk casually walked into the midst of it and pulled out his heated spear. Yohan, with his sparkling hands, brushed the ash off Lee Hyun-muk’s clothes, sending him a curious look.
The spear, which he had only seen in photos and videos, was now in Lee Hyun-muk’s hand. It was long, heavy, and sharp. However, perhaps due to being neglected for a long time, it was stained with mottled black marks. Or rather, it seemed to have been.
‘Huh? There were definitely stains here just now.’
Did I purify them? As Yohan tilted his head, Lee Hyun-muk casually swung the spear.
“As expected, a weapon I’m used to is good. I got a good lightning rod.”
Lee Hyun-muk dismissed a weapon that other Awakened would covet as merely a good lightning rod. It was indeed an item often used for that purpose. Yohan, with a fluttering heart, asked Lee Hyun-muk.
“May I touch it once?”
Lee Hyun-muk generously handed over his weapon. When Yohan held it, it was incredibly heavy, and perhaps from being scorched by the lightning earlier, it felt warm, as if alive. While admiring it, Yohan, not daring to swing it, returned it to Lee Hyun-muk.
“It’s a true honor to be able to hold this spear…”
“An honor? This guy will like it too.”
Lee Hyun-muk replied with a voice tinged with laughter. But Yohan was sincere. If he had been in Korea, Lee Hyun-muk wouldn’t even have known of Yohan’s existence.
“If there’s one good thing about coming here, it’s meeting you, Lee Hyun-muk-ssi.”
Lee Hyun-muk remained silent after hearing Yohan’s words. As Yohan, feeling awkward, rubbed the back of his neck and looked around aimlessly, Lee Hyun-muk called his name tenderly.
“Yohan-ah.”
At the tenderness of his voice, Yohan’s heart leaped and then plummeted.
“You can’t imagine how glad I am to have met you in this dreadful place.”
Yohan forgot to breathe for a moment, overwhelmed by the heavy, deep emotion in the gaze directed at him. Lee Hyun-muk patted Yohan’s stiffened shoulder and said,
“Let’s go rest now.”
It’s fan adoration. Pure fan adoration.
Yohan, unable to sleep properly, woke up. He blankly thought about the person who was still just a stone’s throw away, replaying it in his mind, and then quietly tore at his hair. This is driving me crazy, really… In any case, this must be fan adoration.
Even as fellow High-level Awakeners now, Yohan felt there was a sky-and-earth difference between himself and Lee Hyun-muk. His purification ability was immense, but surely he and Lee Hyun-muk couldn’t be equals. Because it was Lee Hyun-muk, his benefactor, it was natural to feel such good feelings. Having reached a conclusion, Yohan got up.
The sheet he had just left looked as fresh as if it had just been washed. It seemed his abilities flowed even in his sleep, because when he woke up today, the dusty bed had become spotless. Yohan planned to switch beds with Lee Hyun-muk and clean that bed too. He felt like a living, breathing air purifier…
“Good morning?”
Yohan greeted as he opened the bedroom door. Lee Hyun-muk, who was cleaning his spear, replied.
“Yes, Yohan, you too?”
“Yes! I slept well!”
After answering energetically, Yohan began preparing breakfast. He was solely in charge of meals, and there was a valid reason for this. Since ingredients often went bad within a few days, Yohan had to personally stroke them once in a while to ensure an unappetizing meal.
Today’s menu was stir-fried pork in gochujang sauce and rice. After a delicious meal, they even indulged in a luxurious dessert of canned peaches to celebrate regaining the spear. As Lee Hyun-muk casually transferred his share of the peaches to Yohan’s bowl, he said,
“I’ve been thinking about what happened yesterday, and I really need to bring in another colleague.”
Yohan didn’t immediately understand his casual tone, as if he were going to buy something he needed. The piece of peach he had been holding in his mouth fell out belatedly. Yohan stammered, not even noticing it was dirty.
“Ah, no, wait a minute. How are you planning to find a colleague here? Given the frequency of Abyss appearances, statistically, new land and people won’t emerge for another two to three months… There’s no guarantee there will be anyone alive, and it would be difficult to find and rescue them in time.”
“Hmm…”
Lee Hyun-muk smiled sheepishly. At that moment, a thought flashed through Yohan’s mind.
“I’m asking just in case… are, are your team members alive here?”
“It seems that way. We… separated due to significant differences in opinion.”
“They’re alive?!”
Yohan was astonished as his unlikely assumption turned out to be true. Why hadn’t he asked about the team members who had gone missing with him until now? It was because he was convinced they were all dead. He hadn’t wanted to stir up painful wounds, so he never asked. But they were alive!
“It’s understandable that you’re surprised.”
“It’s more than surprise!”
While he was in shock, Lee Hyun-muk barely touched a piece of peach, then casually passed the rest to Yohan.
Yohan couldn’t understand it at all. He could understand why it wasn’t mentioned before he became Awakened. If even Lee Hyun-muk was so severely Corrupted, it was unlikely the other team members would be normal. They probably didn’t mention it because there was no hope. But it had already been a week since he became Awakened. Lee Hyun-muk’s team, the ‘Sunrise Team,’ was particularly famous for its good camaraderie, making it even more perplexing.
“Then you should find them quickly! Now I can purify team members too!”
“I don’t see the need to go through such trouble and take risks…”
Lee Hyun-muk replied with utter dryness. Yohan couldn’t believe such words were coming from someone so kind and gentle when speaking to his long-time teammates, and he doubted his ears.
“But looking at yesterday’s events, it’s clear you need someone to protect you during combat. As you know, due to the nature of my abilities, there’s a high chance of being hit by stray attacks when someone is nearby. I can make mistakes too. So, I can’t keep them too close, but I can’t keep them too far either, which is problematic.”
Yohan understood what Lee Hyun-muk meant. Lee Hyun-muk forming a team was an anomaly; typically, fire or lightning-based Awakeners worked alone. This was because the probability of harming allies was too high. There were several videos of even Lee Hyun-muk’s attacks hitting unintended targets, causing his teammates to scream and flee or sustain injuries. Of course, these were during rough and fierce battles, and even so, they didn’t inflict irreparable harm on his teammates.
For a moment, Yohan was speechless, then he calmly thought. Yes, there must be a reason why Lee Hyun-muk hadn’t suggested going to find his teammates. It would be rude to judge Lee Hyun-muk as heartless without knowing the full details.
‘He said they had significant differences in opinion.’
Differences in opinion could mean they had fought to a point of no return. If Yohan had fallen into the Abyss with Park Seung-min, they might have become enemies he couldn’t bear to look at. Moreover, weren’t they all in a severely Corrupted state? This place had too many potential sources of conflict. Organizing his thoughts, Yohan cautiously asked,
“So, which one of them are you going to bring?”
“There’s one guy nearby… The last time I saw him was about 30 years ago, so I don’t know what state he’s in now. He wasn’t very communicative even then.”
“What? 30 years ago?”
As Yohan’s eyes widened, Lee Hyun-muk blinked and smiled.
“Did I make too much of an old man’s joke?”
“Ah, ah! So, you mean about three months ago?”
It seemed to be a humorous joke, the kind where old men playfully inflate amounts, like turning a thousand won into ten million. Yohan laughed, surprised that Lee Hyun-muk told such jokes.
‘There were probably… six team members in total.’
The Sunrise Team consisted of Team leader Lee Hyun-muk, and by age, Go Jae-won, Lee Chan-ha, Seo Yakrin, Yoon Seung-ryong, and Joo Ho-young. Except for Go Jae-won, who had fortunately escaped, the remaining five were swept into the Abyss and disappeared, leading the Sunrise Team to be considered effectively disbanded.
“What kind of person is the one near here?”
“Yoon Seung-ryong. He’s lazy and has a big appetite.”