FLIA 129

Yohan had always been timid, but after going through the Abyss once, rifts no longer looked frightening to him. Compared to the Abyss, with its sticky, heavy, unpleasant air, with no day or night, with sly and malicious monsters swarming everywhere, this place was livable enough. It was dim and reddish like it was filled with smog, but the sky was still visible and the sun still rose.

Seo Yakrin stood at the very front, and Lee Hyunmook at the very back, leading the nervous rookies forward. Since they were only at the entrance stage of the rift, there were almost no monster traces nearby. Even so, maybe because they were too nervous, the rookies failed to detect traces properly and flinched at small noises, looking around restlessly. Only Yohan turned his head here and there with this thought.

‘I want to spread a field once and purify this place…’

Something happened after about an hour of exploration. Just as they passed a street, the windows of the lower floors of an apartment shattered and a swarm of monsters jumped over their heads.

“Uwaah!”

Startled rookies screamed and swung their weapons in panic. But for some reason the monsters floated right above their heads, growling and thrashing their legs without reaching down. When the rookies finally regained their senses, they saw golden energy binding the monsters and fixing them in midair. It was Seo Yakrin’s ability.

“Children, stay calm. How should you respond at a time like this?”

The monsters’ forepaws were so close they almost brushed the rookies’ heads, and the rookies were terrified. One lost strength in his legs and collapsed on the spot. Finally, someone barely answered.

“Uh, uh… We… attack them…”

“No. First you dodge, or the tanker uses a defensive ability. Since your weapons are spears, you know you have to create distance, right? If you fight this close, you will get corrupted.”

The rookies, dazed, could not move even after hearing Seo Yakrin’s words. Seo Yakrin gestured.

“Fall back, I said.”

Only then did they stumble back. Yohan, who had only opened his eyes wide without panicking, also pretended to act like a rookie and retreated. One could not stand because his legs gave out, so Seo Yakrin moved him with telekinesis. Since it was not really dangerous, Lee Hyunmook did nothing and just watched. Only after they secured a safe distance did the Little Lamb team members finally start reacting.

“The smell…!”

“Ugh, disgusting…”

Like all monsters, this one gave off a foul stench. It looked like it had been a dog, but its body was much bigger, and its purple tongue, which seemed to be its main weapon, was so long it dragged on the ground. Its fur was patchy, its figure shabby, and it walked half-upright. It was grotesque no matter who saw it. Yohan, however, only stared at it blankly.

Compared to raiding the Abyss core, this was nothing. No, it was not even comparable. The Flood? That was not comparable either. If he had to think of a similar case, maybe the Red Heads in the abandoned hospital.

‘The Red Heads are harder to deal with… You have to watch out for its exploding head.’

But the appearance of this one was unsettling in another way. Monsters’ appearances were often shaped by lingering memories, which was why canines often resembled humans. Especially monsters that had once been someone’s pet dog. Somehow, their cries faintly resembled human speech, almost like they were saying “Let’s go for a walk.”

“I think the danger level is about 2. All right, then, let’s try fighting one each. Who wants to go first? Today everyone must kill at least one.”

Because the shock of the monsters falling over their heads had been so great, no one stepped forward. In the end, Yohan, who had been watching silently, raised his hand.

“I will go first.”

“Oh, good! Very brave.”

Seo Yakrin praised him and created a round ring-shaped barrier with golden energy. When Yohan entered, one monster was released from her telekinetic hold.

Instead of attacking immediately, Yohan held position. Drooling thick saliva that was highly likely to cause severe inflammation, the monster shook its head side to side, then lost patience and charged. Its speed was considerable, but…

‘Since it is rank 2, it is easy enough to dodge.’

The bone birds that suddenly appeared in the Reed Sea had been harder to avoid. Yohan twisted his body lightly, and the monster slammed its head into the telekinetic wall with a loud noise. The rookies watching from outside flinched.

Growling and barking like a rabid dog, spraying saliva everywhere, it charged again. This time it jumped at his throat instead of running straight. Yohan swung his spear, hitting the dog away and creating distance.

The monster, struck hard in the neck, howled and swung its sticky long tongue. As it tried to latch onto him, Yohan quickly sliced it off. The tongue severed, the monster lost reason, bared its teeth, and rushed in madly, and Yohan’s spear pierced its head.

Crunch! Blood spattered, and Yohan frowned. The writhing monster soon died. It was an almost instant kill, a decisive and accurate blow. He wanted to purify the blood splatter but held it in. Lee Hyunmook, who had been watching with a serious expression, smiled faintly and spoke.

“Do not forget to wipe off the blood right away if it splashes on you.”

“Ah, yes!”

Yohan, who had forgotten that detail because he was a purifier, quickly pulled out the wet wipes he carried and wiped away the blood. Corrupted items like that had to be left behind in the rift zone, so this was the first time in his life he was littering.

“Then next?”

After seeing Yohan deal with the monster quite easily, one of the Little Lamb team members found courage. But once he faced a monster one on one, he panicked and floundered again and again. Dodging was harder than he expected, and the pressure from a monster larger than himself was overwhelming.

“Uwaah! Aaah!”

The monster, which had been chasing him on two legs trying to bite his neck, suddenly dropped to four legs and lunged fiercely at his heels with bared teeth. The rookie screamed. He tripped on a rock and lost his balance, and the monster’s tongue aimed at his eye like a bullet. But just before it touched, the monster’s body froze stiff. Seo Yakrin’s telekinesis had bound it.

“Hah, hah…”

The rookie, who almost lost his eyesight, gasped for breath. He was so nervous that sweat poured from his whole body. Seo Yakrin clapped her hands and encouraged him.

“Come on, get up. Again! Hurry, stand up!”

The rookie, forcing strength into his trembling legs, stood and backed away from the monster thrashing and spraying saliva in the air. His face pale, he heard Lee Hyunmook speak in a calm tone.

“If you want to give up, you can. There will be chances later.”

“I-I will do it! I will try again!”

There might be chances later, but he did not want a poor evaluation. He had beaten fierce competition to enter the Taeyang Guild, so he could not give up now.

“Do not be too afraid. It is just one rank 2. If you keep your mind clear, you can fight it.”

Seo Yakrin’s words were true. Just one rank 2. Difficult, but a low-level awakener could still handle it. He was a mid-level awakener, so there was no way he could fail. Taking a breath and gathering courage, the rookie fought the monster again. After a tough struggle, he finally managed to kill it. When he came out from Seo Yakrin’s barrier, he was shocked to realize so much time had passed.

“Then next person.”

The next team member did not flounder as badly as the previous one. Maybe he had explored rifts and hunted before, since he was relatively calm, but if not for Seo Yakrin, the monster would have grazed him once or twice. Even so, he killed it quickly.

After everyone hunted a monster without a single person giving up, they moved to another place and took time for a meal. No one had much appetite, and their hands moved slowly with their utensils, but at Seo Yakrin’s insistence that meals must be eaten, they forced the food into their mouths.

“Yohan, how do you catch them so well?”

The team member who had taken the longest to kill a monster asked, dispirited. Yohan, the only one eating with good appetite, answered awkwardly.

“I already killed monsters a few times before. My hyung is an awakener.”

“So you are an experienced rookie.”

“No wonder. There was a reason even though you are low-level, you still passed.”

The words were a bit disdainful, but Yohan laughed it off. Then he thought, was this the ease of those who already had things? Am I someone hiding strength…?

But soon he thought of Lee Hyunmook and the other teammates’ abilities and felt humble. In monster hunting, he was not even 0.1 of Lee Hyunmook, not even 0.01 of Ju Hoyoung. It was natural, since Ju Hoyoung alone could crush dozens of much stronger monsters. At times like this, he regretted that as a high-level awakener he would not gain a support ability.

Besides, the Little Lamb team members now were only rookies. They were clumsy because they lacked experience, but the dealers and tankers, because of their job types, would in time surpass Yohan in hunting skill. While Yohan was thinking that, the teammates exchanged words.

“If we had come out here alone, we would have been in real trouble.”

“I might have gone blind.”

“I never thought they would make even supporters kill monsters.”

“Even as a support, you must kill at least a rank 2 on your own. This is the Taeyang Guild.”

The one who had struggled earlier was not a dealer or tanker, but a support. But it was not only the support who felt crushed by the harsh, frightening hunting environment. The rift itself weighed on their minds.

And then Seo Yakrin instantly killed several remaining monsters at once, which shocked them all. Even among mid-levels, the difference in level was like heaven and earth. This easy hunting was not only because Seo Yakrin’s ability had become enormously stronger after the Abyss. Even before she fell into the Abyss, she had been someone who could easily deal with monsters of this level.