By Zephyria Lee Hyun-muk, his eyes widening slightly at the unusual reaction, then laughed, “Haha,” and pulled Yohan into his embrace. Yohan, feeling as though he had emerged from a long nightmare, let out a long sigh and finally turned his gaze elsewhere.
It seemed Lee Hyun-muk was the only one who had remained sane amidst Lee Chan-ha’s illusion. Joo Ho-young, who had been creating ice castles all around that rivaled a famous animation, stood frozen in a daze. Seo Yakrin, dragging enormous wings that jutted out crookedly from her back, and Yoon Seung-ryong, who had been fighting while half-transformed into a bug, looked around. Seo Yakrin sighed and released the claws that had been gripping Yoon Seung-ryong. No, she pretended to release them and struck him with her wings.
“Aagh! That hurts, you old geezer!”
“Oh, my mistake.”
Yoon Seung-ryong glanced at Yohan and quickly, with effort, recomposed himself. Seo Yakrin also tucked her wings back in as if stuffing them away. Yohan wondered how such bulky appendages could be stored, but that wasn’t important now.
After confirming the three had broken free from the illusion, Yohan’s gaze shifted to the brine lake. Lee Chan-ha’s enormous face, beautiful to the point of being chilling, was glaring. His gaze was fixed on the Black Mountain that Yohan had just purified. Countless bubbles surged from the lake, in which half of his face was submerged.
Soon after, Yohan, shocked, muttered in astonishment.
“Wh-what is that….”
As the illusion vanished, her clean, white skin crumbled away. Her straight forehead flowed down, and her nose also caved in, dripping downwards. Only then did Yohan realize that this beautiful face had also been an illusion.
In place of the peeled-off illusion appeared a mass of black, viscous, bulging, and repulsive boils. What seemed to be fluid or pus dripped endlessly. With every guttural breath the giant Lee Chan-ha took, a terrible stench emanated. The foul odor wafting from the brine lake was the smell of Lee Chan-ha’s agony as she rotted alive. The person who claimed to have germophobia was in the most filthy and repulsive state imaginable….
▉▉▉▉▉….
▉▉▉…. ▉▉▉▉▉▉ ▉▉ ▉▉▉….
Unlike in the illusion, a repulsive mass of flesh, emitting indistinct monstrous roars that were impossible to decipher, slowly crawled out of the lake. Eyes, distorted and embedded between the flesh, were directed towards the Black Mountain. It dragged its enormous body, leaving a trail, and moved slowly towards the whitest, most beautiful light shining from the Abyss.
The three, having completely escaped the illusion and regained their senses, returned to Yohan. Joo Ho-young muttered bitterly.
“Chan-ha… you were like this. You weren’t this bad the last time I saw you.”
Yohan felt deep pity. He remembered Lee Chan-ha before she fell into the Abyss, when she was not just fine but handsome. How terrible must the pain have been, to lose her former self here and only worsen endlessly? It was understandable that she would go mad, faster and more severely than anyone else.
The giant mass of flesh, having crawled with great effort, stopped at the foot of the Black Mountain. Lee Chan-ha, her lumpy flesh stretching out to cover part of the Black Mountain, did not approach further. Seo Yakrin, watching Lee Chan-ha with a sigh, wondered.
“Why isn’t she coming any closer?”
“She’s probably afraid of defiling it.”
Joo Ho-young murmured understandingly. He also remembered hesitating to reach for the meticulously cleaned Game Console before Yohan’s purification, unable to dare touch it. It was unbelievable, too precious, and he felt he would defile it if he touched it. …And Yohan had helped him so he could touch it. Joo Ho-young’s gaze turned to Yohan.
Hoo, Yohan took another deep breath and poured more power into it. The range of the shining hemisphere expanded rapidly, covering a part of Lee Chan-ha that was precariously close.
▉▉▉▉▉…! ▉▉▉▉ ▉▉▉▉▉ ▉▉▉!
Lee Chan-ha let out a monstrous roar. The area touched by the light shriveled and then dried, hardening. Then, with a tak, tak sound, the outer surface flaked off. It seemed extremely painful, like when Yoon Seung-ryong had returned, but Lee Chan-ha did not retreat. Instead, she advanced further to compensate for the lost part, pushing her body into the brightly shining range of light.
‘Ho-young and Yakrin Noona didn’t hurt much during purification, but Seung-ryong Hyung and Chan-ha Vice Team Leader react differently…’
A realization struck Yohan. Perhaps it depended on the degree of influence from the Flood? Ho-young, who had quick feet and had never fallen, maintaining his human form. Seo Yakrin, who had fallen into the Flood once but gained wings afterward, likely never falling again. Even in their corrupted state, they spoke quite clearly.
In contrast, Yoon Seung-ryong and Lee Chan-ha, who couldn’t do so, must have been affected by the Flood far more deeply than the other two. Then, what about Lee Hyun-muk…? What was he? He should have been in more pain.
Yohan tore his gaze away from the crumbling Lee Chan-ha and looked at Lee Hyun-muk. Yohan could not properly guess anything about Lee Hyun-muk. Other than the fact that he cherished and valued Yohan greatly. All he could do was hope that the other’s pain would lessen compared to before.
As she entered Yohan’s purification range, Lee Chan-ha was gradually chipped away and crumbled. When the volume of her body, large enough to fill the brine lake, reduced by half, the words that had only sounded like monstrous roars became quite clear. She kept muttering, “It’s clean, I’m getting clean.”
Now, Lee Chan-ha no longer dripped with corrupted pus. Like clumps of dirt hardening under the sun, the boil-like growths had all dried up, fallen off, and crumbled.
As her volume reduced by half again, the festering, unhealed wounds began to close slowly. This was thanks to the regeneration returning after receiving Yohan’s purification. When she reduced by half once more, the lumpy flesh shrank and disappeared beneath her skin. And then half, and half again….
Finally, having pushed her entire body into the Purification Field, Lee Chan-ha was in the form of a completely clean person. When even the black bloody tears streaming from her eyes began to glow with clear light, Lee Chan-ha raised her head.
“Ah, aaah….”
Unable to speak properly, Lee Chan-ha frantically touched her body. She caressed her face and repeatedly ran her hands down her smooth, outstretched limbs. Tears continued to stream from her wide-open eyes. After checking her body several times like this, Lee Chan-ha, barely able to stand, leaned on Lee Hyun-muk and looked up at Yohan.
She stumbled as she walked up and fell over. Then, she crawled on all fours and arrived in front of Yohan as if collapsing. Burying her head to the ground, she muttered,
“Thank you, thank you….”
The others, seeing Lee Chan-ha, either stared blankly or glared at her due to past grievances; no one tried to stop her. Only Yohan, feeling extremely embarrassed by the naked man, the Vice Team Leader of the Sunrise Team no less, performing a full prostration of gratitude, turned his gaze away.
“Um, Seung-ryong Hyung. Could you get me some clothes?”
Yohan, who had requested clothes for Lee Chan-ha to wear, let out a shriek. In the moment he had looked away, Lee Chan-ha had kissed his foot…! Lee Hyun-muk laughed and, lifting the flustered Yohan, carried him elsewhere.
* * *
Just like in the Reed Sea, the Purification Field, once established, did not disappear for a long time. The group spent time in the area that had now become partly a white mountain. The Black Mountain was no longer a dangerous zone as it once was. In fact, it felt like a newly formed safe zone.
Lee Chan-ha, who had been offering continuous thanks, put on clothes and remained in a daze. Unlike the others, who regained their senses relatively quickly, she just kept staring blankly at the shining Eternal Stones, her clean hands, and her skin. After several days of remaining silent and vacant like an imbecile, Lee Chan-ha finally spoke.
“My name is Lee Chan-ha. Please call me comfortably.”
“Hello, my name is Yohan. As you know, I’ve awakened as a Purifier.”
Yohan greeted the last member of the Sunrise Team warmly. A faint smile appeared on Lee Chan-ha’s face, and he said with great politeness,
“Yes, thanks to you, Yohan-nim, I am able to present myself in this proper form. Thank you again deeply.”
“No, no…!”
Yohan barely managed to stop Lee Chan-ha from prostrating herself again to express her gratitude. It was truly overwhelming.
“Please call me Yohan! And please, drop the honorifics!”
After much pleading, she was finally able to change her address to Yohan-gun, but the honorifics remained unchanged. Her gaze towards Yohan was not just burdensome but utterly blind. The posture of kneeling and looking up was a given. Yohan couldn’t shake the feeling that the object of worship, which had once been the Flood, had now shifted to her.