FLIA 128

“This is for fixing a body part when it gets cut off.”

“…What?”

Yohan doubted his ears at the scary words he heard. Lee Hyunmook explained while pretending to wrap tape around his arm.

“If a mid-level awakener keeps this on for a few days, the part attaches back. A low-level awakener cannot attach it completely, but if they keep it fixed like this, they can keep the severed part alive until they reach a hospital for reattachment surgery. The adhesive is so strong that sometimes skin comes off, but that heals quickly. Of course, civilians must never use this medical item.”

“Wow…”

Yohan carefully pushed the tape back into the first aid bag and said wow again. He could accept that there were narcotic painkillers and stimulants in the emergency bag, but this was a little scary. He had never had a body part cut off. Now that he thought of it, he remembered not only Lee Hyunmook but also the mid-level awakeners on the team showing incredible regeneration in the abyss.

‘So the others have gone beyond the level of mid-level awakener too.’

He nodded in understanding, then he suddenly remembered something and he spoke.

“Right, the fruits my family sent, I want to give some to Seungryong-hyung too. I have been eating what he cooked every day, so it is to thank him.”

These past days Yoon Seungryong had busily cooked and brought food almost every day. Thanks to him it was delicious, but Yohan felt a little guilty. Both Lee Hyunmook and Yoon Seungryong told him not to worry, but how could he not.

“Shall we? He should still be at home before work.”

Lee Hyunmook agreed in a gentle voice. Yohan, knowing Seungryong’s appetite well, carried an armful of fruits and went downstairs. Ding dong, he pressed the doorbell, and a cold, indifferent voice answered.

-Who is it?

The voice was unfamiliar, so Yohan froze, then he quickly brightened his tone and gave his name.

“Seungryong-hyung, it is me, Yohan.”

-…Oh, Yohan?

He heard the sound of hurried, clumsy movements inside. Yohan tilted his head. Was the house messy? He did not mind if it was a little dirty. No matter how dirty, it could not be worse than their quarters in the abyss. But unlike Yohan, Lee Hyunmook noticed the suspicious movement and narrowed his eyes.

“Seungryong. Open up right now, while I am still asking nicely.”

His voice was endlessly soft. The noisy movements immediately stopped, then Yoon Seungryong slowly approached the front door and opened it slowly. He smiled brightly and asked.

“Yohan! Even the Team Leader! What brings you here?”

“I came to give you some fruits… but hyung, what about you? What happened?”

Yohan, holding a load of fruits, asked in surprise. Yoon Seungryong had dirt-like grime on his clothes and hands. And that was not all. A foul stench pierced Yohan’s nose, so he asked in a bewildered voice.

“Is something… rotting in the house…?”

“Probably… not?”

Yoon Seungryong gave a vague answer, looking guilty as he desperately avoided Lee Hyunmook’s gaze. Lee Hyunmook stared inside the house and asked again in a soft tone.

“Can we come in, Seungryong?”

“Yes…”

Yoon Seungryong reluctantly opened the door wider, took the fruits, and thanked Yohan. By then Yohan also noticed something suspicious. He really felt a strange wriggling presence from a room inside the house. A door smeared with filthy dirt was tightly shut. Lee Hyunmook dropped the gentle tone and gave a command.

“Open the door.”

When Yoon Seungryong opened the door with a guilty face, Yohan’s mouth fell open. Monster fruits and vegetables from the abyss were wriggling with their stems and leaves. Only then did Yohan realize that when they escaped the abyss, the fruit and vegetable seeds inside Yoon Seungryong’s subspace had been brought out intact. He shouted in shock.

“Seungryong-hyung! How can you grow those here?”

“Well, that is why… I was only going to grow them at home… Here, the contamination does not spread further, I put pet-cams on them, I set up barbed wire all around… Whenever I left the house, I always put them back in the subspace.”

He said these things had no legs so where could they possibly go, and he made excuse after excuse, but in the end Lee Hyunmook gave the order to put them back in the subspace and deliver them immediately to the guild laboratory. Yoon Seungryong sulkily stroked and hugged each of the fruit and vegetable seeds before putting them into the subspace. Yohan cleared out the stench that filled the house and received a few fruits that Yoon Seungryong had carefully raised.

Since Yoon Seungryong had caused trouble, Lee Hyunmook on that occasion carried out surprise inspections of the other teammates as well. In Lee Chanha’s place, which gleamed white and polished, there were dozens of containers of disinfectant. In Seo Yakrin’s place, there were piles of burst punching bags and hundreds of photos of Go Jaewon torn to shreds with creepy scribbles on them. In Ju Hoyoung’s place, there were dozens of boxes of instant noodles and energy drinks and a mountain of game consoles. Unlike Yoon Seungryong, the others received only light warnings and it ended there.

“Are you crazy?”

Seo Yakrin, who was going to work together with him after the surprise inspection, glared and smacked Yoon Seungryong on the back.

“Damn…”

Yoon Seungryong was about to grumble something but shut his mouth tight after glancing at Lee Hyunmook. Yohan decided to look up what vegetables could be grown with hydroponics at home. Or maybe he should find a field nearby.

Anyway, even if each of them was slightly obsessed with something, it was a relief that they all seemed to be doing well.

***

The inside of the vehicle was silent. The Little Lamb team members held the guild-issued weapons in their hands and stole glances at Lee Hyunmook and Seo Yakrin.

Today was the scheduled day of a rift exploration. The rookies, who had almost no experience with rift expeditions, were nervous but also looking forward to this day. The seniors who would guide their exploration were none other than Lee Hyunmook and Seo Yakrin. Since Lee Hyunmook and the others were figures of admiration, this was one of the guild’s tasks meant to strengthen belonging and loyalty to the guild.

This was something not only Little Lamb but also the Ani-Yang and other new teams would go through in the same way.

“Everyone, do not be too nervous. If you act according to what you were trained beforehand, there will be no danger at least for today.”

Seo Yakrin gave a reliable smile to the team members who were nervous like little chicks. She even sent another affectionate look toward Yohan, who was pretending not to notice.

“Yes, sunbae-nim!”

The Little Lamb team members answered with voices filled with determination. If they received a poor evaluation from today’s rift exploration, they could be demoted to provisional guild members or even expelled, so each one had a determined expression.

Seo Yakrin looked at them one by one, she thought that she had to raise these lambs well so they would keep working hard in the guild for a long time. Each time her gaze met theirs, the rookies swallowed dryly.

The van rattled along a rough road and then soon stopped. Yohan and the other rookies turned their eyes toward the dark-tinted window. There stood a massive concrete wall. It surrounded the rift zone completely. It was a barrier to stop other living things from entering the rift zone and turning into monsters.

Between the walls there was a large iron gate. Lee Hyunmook, who was driving, pulled out his awakener registration card from his chest and scanned it on the device, and the gate began to move. Originally, posting guards had been considered, but no one wanted to stay near the rift zone, so in the end it was controlled by machines. The van passed through, and immediately with a clank, thud… the gate closed. The rookies turned to look back without realizing it.

The van drove on the damaged roads and stopped right before entering the rift area. Seo Yakrin got out first and gestured, and the Little Lamb team followed. One of them was trembling so badly that his legs shook, so Yohan encouraged him.

“Do not worry too much. The seniors are here.”

“R-right? It will be fine…”

At Yohan’s words, the team member calmed himself, then looked in wonder at Yohan, who seemed hardly nervous at all. Right before their eyes was the rift area. It was polluted on all sides, a dangerous zone where monsters could appear at any moment, a place like a radiation zone where one could not stay long.

Yohan, a rookie but not a rookie, stared at the rift area and thought.

‘I cannot feel nervous even if I want to.’