By Zephyria “Then I’ll go first for now.”
Lee Hyun-muk, who gave the order, leaped inside, and as the distance grew, the chain connecting him to Yohan became taut. Immediately, the monsters that had paid them no attention until then began to roar and climb the spiral pit. Malice and hostility boiled over, swarming like ants. Each and every one of those ants was a colossal monster. Yohan’s heart pounded, but the others were only slightly tense, their faces unperturbed.
A tremendous lightning strike immediately fell upon the monsters. With a deafening roar, dozens of monsters turned to ash. However, this was a negligible loss compared to the total number of monsters, and soon, monsters that had multiplied, evolved, and divided over countless ages began to crawl up from the depths of the distant pit like vengeful spirits.
“Ho-young, cast your buff and move in.”
Lee Hyun-muk followed, striking down multiple lightning strikes as he gave instructions. Joo Ho-young immediately reached out and cast an enhancement buff. However, the target was not Lee Hyun-muk but Yohan.
In fact, not just now, but ever since meeting Joo Ho-young, the recipient of his buffs had always been Yohan. Already, Lee Hyun-muk and the other team members possessed overwhelming power, unmatched by any monster in the Abyss. Therefore, strategically and efficiently, they focused on empowering Yohan, the Purifier.
As Joo Ho-young’s power seeped in, Yohan’s purification power swelled as if it would overflow at any moment. When he imbued the weapon Seo Yakrin had made with his own power, the black and white Eternal Stone shone brilliantly. Yohan cast spheres of light over the rest of the party, and they plunged into the heart of the Abyss together. He immediately faltered in surprise.
‘The air is heavy…!’
No, it was more than just surprise; it was shocking. All sorts of malice, mental delusions, and melancholy, unbearable for a human, seeped into his lungs. For civilians, staying in a Rift for more than half a month would cause mild contamination. But here, even ten minutes, let alone an hour, felt like it would cause severe contamination.
“Yohan, are you alright?”
At Seo Yakrin’s question, Yohan took a deep breath and nodded. He, the Purifier, couldn’t back down from just this.
“Yes, I’m fine!”
Soon, Lee Hyun-muk and the other Dealers unleashed a fierce assault. Lightning strikes burned, toxic miasma dissolved, and powerful Psychokinesis crushed and pushed back monsters. Ice arrows rained down. Thanks to them, they carved a path through the monsters and advanced somewhat towards the direction of the core.
But that was all. Monsters swarmed in from all directions like a pack of dogs, endlessly, countless numbers of them. Joo Ho-young, standing beside him, began to pant.
It wasn’t that the party members’ abilities were already reaching their limit. The reason madness rapidly took hold the more they used their abilities was that, unlike on Earth, the energy they used allowed contamination to seep into their depleted bodies. And this core was filled with a stickier, more concentrated revulsion than anywhere else.
Yohan regained his composure and tried his best to send the strongest light possible to his companions. A warm, gentle light pushed back the sticky air and caressed his allies. Nevertheless, before they had even crossed half of the pit, Yoon Seung-ryong was the first to show abnormal symptoms.
“Hick, heek…”
Making a sound like air escaping, he soon burst into giggles. It was a typical contamination symptom. Yohan, creeped out, moved closer to Yoon Seung-ryong. When he placed his hand on his body, he felt a coldness like that of a dead person.
“Seung-ryong Hyung! Snap out of it!”
“Yeah, Yohan… Hyung is sane right now. Completely sane. I’ve never felt this good!”
Giggling, Yoon Seung-ryong scattered a thick cloud of toxic miasma. Then, monsters that had been approaching nearby melted away one after another. Pushing it aside and throwing it far away, Seo Yakrin smacked Yoon Seung-ryong’s head with a loud thwack. It was a level of violence that shocked Yohan.
“You bastard, if you don’t snap out of it, I’ll beat you to death!”
“You’re the one who wants to die, aren’t you? If you want it that badly, want to try dying here?”
“Bullshit, you worm who eats dirt, can you even kill me?”
Yoon Seung-ryong, who had been smirking, suddenly turned and glared at Seo Yakrin with a cold, murderous gaze. Seo Yakrin exuded killing intent as well, causing cold sweat to trickle down Yohan’s back as he watched. Joo Ho-young, also drenched in sweat, kept looking back, desperately wanting to escape.
Just as the thought crossed his mind that internal conflict could cause the situation to deteriorate instantly, Lee Hyun-muk, who had been at the forefront, stepped back and pulled Yohan into his embrace. Then, he commanded everyone in a firm voice.
“Retreat now!”
Fortunately, everyone still had enough reason left to obey the Team Leader’s orders. As Lee Hyun-muk, with Yohan, returned to the cave entrance of Black Mountain, everyone instinctively followed the light. As soon as they escaped the heart of the Abyss, the raging monsters subsided. The monsterous creatures, with vacant eyes like boiled fish, quietly swarmed and retreated back into the depths of the pit.
As soon as Yohan escaped the heart of the Abyss, he unfolded a Purification Field large enough to cover everyone. The light that filled the cave seeped into the bodies of the party members, who were breathing raggedly.
“Huk, heuk…”
Joo Ho-young, who had been sweating profusely from bottomless anxiety, finally regained his composure. Then, Seo Yakrin and Yoon Seung-ryong regained their senses. The red madness flickering in Lee Hyun-muk’s pupils slowly subsided. Thus, everyone calmed down for a long time, bathed in Yohan’s light, without speaking a word. A moment later, Yoon Seung-ryong sighed.
“The monsters are one thing, but the contamination progressing so quickly is the biggest problem… Yohan, don’t misunderstand. Hyung isn’t that kind of violent person.”
“Yohan, Noona too… I really did it because of the contamination earlier. You know, right?”
The two who had been verbally attacking each other like they wanted to kill and glaring with murderous intent now offered lengthy explanations to Yohan. In truth, they weren’t particularly good friends even on normal days, but Yohan nodded. For now, it was enough that they weren’t trying to kill each other…
“To advance while safely protecting Yohan-ssi, the current number of personnel seems insufficient.”
Joo Ho-young pointed out the problem. As he said, the severely worsening contamination severely limited the time they could spend in the core. While Yohan focused on purification, he was completely defenseless, and with monsters attacking from all sides, the party members couldn’t focus on clearing a path.
‘It would be good to have a tanker.’
Yohan thought without realizing it. If a tanker protected him, the rest of the party could fully concentrate on clearing the path. Then, they might be able to reach the core within the allotted time… And it seemed the team members were thinking the same thing, as their expressions were quite troubled. Naturally, Lee Chan-ha, the Vice-Captain who was the tanker for the Sunrise Team, came to mind.
‘But they said Lee Chan-ha is dead.’
She was the only one considered dead in this Abyss. Even after spending nearly a year with these people, she was rarely mentioned. It wasn’t simply out of sadness or longing, but because there seemed to be another reason, so Yohan had also tried his best to avoid mentioning her.
“The risk is too great to continue. This won’t work.”
Lee Hyun-muk reached a conclusion. The party members, who had suffered greatly in the heart of the Abyss earlier, all agreed. It was regrettable, but unavoidable, so Yohan inwardly accepted it. Getting seriously injured while fighting was one thing, but the worst-case scenario would be one of them succumbing to contamination, going mad, and escaping into the thousands, tens of thousands of monsters in that pit. It would be truly difficult to bring them back.
However, neither Lee Hyun-muk nor the other party members seemed particularly surprised by the failure, so Yohan asked, just in case.
“Did you all think it would fail?”
“Well… there are so many monsters. And it’s not just the monsters; the contamination level is too severe.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Lee Hyun-muk’s explanation. Only Yohan, failing to grasp the situation, had harbored expectations of success. Joo Ho-young, who looked the most dejected, let out a deep sigh, took out his game console, and muttered.
“There’s no angle to break through. If this were a game, it’s a raid where the attack party lacks the offensive power and resistance.”
Yohan became dejected. On the other hand, it was rare for them to expend so much energy, so they rested sufficiently in the cave. Everyone was quite disheartened, but Joo Ho-young seemed the most disappointed. He fiddled with his game console the entire time, not playing properly. The faint game BGM that leaked out sounded sad.
“Won’t this path be blocked soon?”
“One hundred percent. I heard the Flood is moving strategically, right? They won’t leave this place alone. Now is the optimal time to tackle it.”
Unlike when they were exchanging murderous intent, Yoon Seung-ryong and Seo Yakrin put their heads together and whispered. Lee Hyun-muk had been lost in deep thought for a while before opening his mouth.
“What if….”
“No!”
Before he could even properly say anything, Yoon Seung-ryong objected and shouted. While Yohan looked bewildered, Lee Hyun-muk gazed at him. Yoon Seung-ryong, who had vehemently objected to Seo Yakrin, now had a hardened expression.