FSA 38

“Mmm…”

Yohan, slowly waking from his sleep, stirred in his warm, comfortable bed in a daze. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes. He quickly lifted his head and looked around, realizing he had slept soundly, even drooling. Yohan sheepishly wiped the corner of his mouth. He roughly felt the monster’s fur, damp from his drool, and wiped it with his sleeve.

Yesterday, he had slept in the embrace of the fur-tailed monster, but upon waking, another monster had settled nearby. Its tentacle tip touched his body, and it wasn’t as squishy as he’d expected. It felt moderately firm and warm.

Sensing the monsters’ gaze, Yohan cautiously sprinkled purification. It was a bribe, again, to prevent them from eating or attacking him. These monsters seemed heavily Corrupted. Even after purification, they showed no signs of returning to their original forms…

The two monsters enjoyed Yohan’s purification for a while. Then, the monster that had hunted bananas yesterday lumbered up and headed off somewhere again. When the monster returned after some time, something like a caterpillar was hanging from its shoulder. It was much longer than yesterday’s, making it even more disgusting.

Was it bananas again? Yohan, who had purified with such anticipation, turned pale. It wasn’t. It was a snake… Right. There are snakes in the jungle too… Anyway, as long as it wasn’t a caterpillar, Yohan was confident he could eat it.

To his surprise, the monster knew how to start a fire. It fumbled around for a bit, and then suddenly, a blaze erupted. The snake meat he ate for the first time tasted quite chewy and delicious, like chicken. After eating his fill, the fur-tailed monster wrapped itself around him. As he was lifted and carried, Yohan cautiously tried speaking to the smaller monsters.

“Hey, where are we going?”

He worried they might ignore him, but to his surprise, he received a proper answer.

[I don’t know either]

[Only these guys know]

“Then, can you go a little slower?”

[Even if we say so, it won’t work]

[It never has]

Since they were small, they were probably ignored by the larger ones. Feeling pity for the small monsters, Yohan fumbled and took out some food he had saved in his sleeve. Just in case, he had leftover food, a banana and snake meat, well-wrapped in leaves.

“Do you guys want something to eat too?”

Yohan offered the meat to the small monsters walking beside him. For some reason, however, they didn’t eat it. Instead, they stuck to his head or body and chattered.

[I got a banana decoration]

[Mine is a pretty cool decoration too]

They didn’t seem very hungry. But as he felt their gazes, he looked up to see the two large monsters staring at him. Perhaps he shouldn’t give them food, he thought, shrinking back. They then made similar movements, as if sighing. What was this? Monsters sighing…?

Yohan traveled like this for several days, carried by the fur-tailed monster. Even in his resignation, he kept looking back, searching for someone’s trace, and sighed sadly. The only fortunate thing was that these two monsters consistently provided him with a place to sleep and food. By now, he was sure they wouldn’t kill him. After traveling this far, they finally reached a river.

“A river…”

Yohan murmured blankly. A red river flowed gushingly across the jungle. It seemed there were Water Sources even in this Abyss. Occasionally, something huge and terrifying would leap out of the river. They were undoubtedly Corrupted creatures.

The monsters grumbled and conversed in low growls again, and this time, the tentacle monster picked Yohan up. Frozen by the unfamiliar embrace, the two fur-tailed monsters then trudged towards the river. Without hesitation, they plunged into the river with a splash. They seemed to be good swimmers.

Yohan, who had grown somewhat accustomed to the fur-tailed monster, felt scared and trembled at the unfamiliarity of the tentacle monster. The tentacle monster, which had been gazing at him, then shook him. Yohan, initially confused, realized belatedly. This monster was clearly rocking him back and forth, trying to soothe him.

…What is it? Is it trying to comfort me because I seem scared?

At this unexpected action, Yohan forgot his fear and tilted his head, puzzled. At that moment, the fur-tailed monster emerged from the river. Something like a deep-sea fish was skewered on its tail. Yohan tried to avoid making eye contact with its strangely human-like, unsettlingly vacant eyes, and purified the fish. After purification, it became a giant, nameless jungle fish.

Once Yohan purified it, the two monsters promptly prepared the fish. They sliced it into pieces with a swoosh*, threaded them onto branches. Soon after, they started a fire again and skillfully grilled the fish to a golden brown with their tails and tentacles. Yohan blankly accepted the grilled fish the monsters offered. It was moderately salty, oily, and delicious…

‘What is it? The fish is salty? As if it had been seasoned with salt or pepper…?’

As Yohan chewed the fish, his mouth gradually slowed. A thought had just flashed through his mind like a comet.

“Uh… Huh?”

Wait a minute, so… Could it be…?

“Ah?”

Yohan snapped his head up and looked back and forth between the fur-tailed monster and the tentacle monster. Both were staring intently at Yohan. Despite their strange appearances, their behavior was strangely familiar. The fur-tailed monster took Yohan’s grilled fish, then carefully flaked off the meat and returned it to him.

“Wait, just a second!”

Yohan, having gained understanding, sprang to his feet. He rubbed his eyes vigorously as a shower of sparkling light scattered around him. Staring intently at the two monsters with wide-open eyes, his mouth slowly parted. The forms of the fur-tailed monster and the tentacle monster, which had been as dark and vast as the Abyss, slowly contorted and changed.

And finally, they regained their original forms!

“Lee Hyun-muk-ssi! Seungryong Hyung!”

He cried out as if in a scream. They had been terrifying, bizarre monsters just moments ago, but looking again, they were the two people he had desperately missed. He couldn’t believe it. Yoon Seung-ryong, the tentacle monster who had been diligently sprinkling salt on the fish slices, exclaimed with great joy.

“Ah! Our Yohan-ssi, you’ve finally come to your senses!”

“Let’s sit down and finish eating, Yohan-ah.”

Lee Hyun-muk, who had been the fur-tailed monster, sat Yohan down, who was staggering from shock. Then, he put a piece of fish into his mouth. After receiving five pieces of fish in a daze, Yohan finally spoke, dumbfounded.

“Was… Was I seeing illusions…? Ever since that incident in the flower garden, all this time?”

“I’m sorry. It was my mistake. Seung-ryong and I are so used to such things that we didn’t think you’d lack resistance. Still, it’s fortunate you realized it yourself and purified it.”

Lee Hyun-muk apologized in a gentle voice and put another piece of salty, soft fish into Yohan’s mouth. Yoon Seung-ryong nodded and said,

“That’s right. If you hadn’t become self-aware, you could have been in that state for several more months. We were worried because it seemed you saw us as monsters.”

Only then did Yohan notice something. On Lee Hyun-muk’s and Yoon Seung-ryong’s spears were pieces of dried banana and snake meat. It was the food he had given to the small monsters a few days ago. So… they weren’t small monsters at all from the start.

“Ah…”

Yohan groaned in embarrassment, clutching his head. The shameful actions he had committed since the moment he was affected by the illusion flashed through his mind. Crying, vomiting, hitting, he had even tried to attack with a knife… It was fortunate that the knife broke without piercing the skin of a High-level Awakener. He scattered more light, feeling indignant.

“Why couldn’t that pollen be purified?”

“Purification is based on your perception.”

Yohan frowned, not immediately understanding Lee Hyun-muk’s words.

“Perception…?”

“Things that clearly cause harm, like Corruption, dirt, bacteria, or mold, are targets for purification, right? But for things that are ambiguous in your view, the judgment is slow.”

“But even if it’s a substance that shows me illusions?”

Yohan asked again, unable to understand Lee Hyun-muk’s explanation. Lee Hyun-muk cleared his throat and explained at Yohan’s eye level.

“Is soap a harmful substance to the skin?”

“No…?”

“But what if soap gets inside your body? Or what about a lethal dose of painkillers, or artificially injected hormones?”

“Ah…”

Only then did Yohan understand what Lee Hyun-muk was trying to say. The salt sprinkled on this fish was a suitable seasoning, but if eaten in excess, it could kill a person. For example, penicillin, famous as an antibiotic, is a secretion of mold, but it wouldn’t be purified if Yohan took it now. The same applied to steroid painkillers or hormones within the body. Yoon Seung-ryong said with a laugh,

“Your mind was a bit out of it, but your physical condition was good. Remember? The monkeys that entered that flower garden ran around happily and then died. Perhaps only the narcotic substance that caused happy illusions was filtered out. Well, I’m not a pharmacist, so I don’t know the exact mechanism.”

The conclusion was that Yohan, who had been seeing illusions due to a harmful substance that was good for the body but caused hallucinations, luckily became self-aware of something strange and purified it, returning to normal. Yohan placed his hand on the floor and collapsed. Another embarrassing memory had surfaced. Ugh! He screamed inwardly.

“I’m sorry! I was so rude and touched Lee Hyun-muk-ssi so much these past few days…!”

“Hmm, no. I quite liked it.”