FLIA 19

“This area’s just barely overlapping with part of the Korean zone.”

At Lee Hyunmook’s words, Yohan let out a belated sigh of realization.

“Now that I think about it, all the places that were ripped away from the world must’ve ended up here in the Abyss.”

Since the Rift Disaster, Earth had slowly been devoured by rifts and the Abyss, leaving fewer and fewer places livable. Rifts tended to open in areas with high human activity, often in cities, but occasionally included massive livestock farms or migratory bird habitats. It seemed the rifts had a preference for places where living creatures gathered in groups, which had even caused a decline in urban property values.

“If you head that way, you’ll find a Russian city zone. Over here, I think it used to be Italy. For now, though, we’re heading to find somewhere to stay for the next few days.”

“I hope we find it soon. Mr. Hyunmook’s been carrying me this whole time, but for some reason I’m still exhausted.”

Yohan trailed off mid-yawn, a little sheepish. He felt strangely drowsy, like he could fall asleep instantly if he just lay down.

“You get tired after using your ability.”

“Then are you tired too, Mr. Hyunmook? You fought that monster so hard earlier.”

“…Not really. Maybe it’s because I was purified, but it didn’t feel that bad.”

After walking and chatting for a couple more hours, they finally found a suitable place to stay: a modern-looking house with what appeared to be a livestock shed nearby.

“Looks like it was a pig farm. There’s still a faint smell of animals.”

Sniffing the air, Yohan was a little surprised. His senses definitely felt sharper since awakening. After inspecting the house carefully, Lee Hyunmook seemed to deem it safe and opened the door. Despite the thick dust on the floor from how long it had been abandoned, stepping inside with shoes still felt a little wrong.

The house looked like it had been left untouched for over a decade. Nothing was in good condition. The fridge had once leaked something viscous that had since dried into a crust, it was too scary to even try opening it. As Yohan wandered around, he spotted a framed photo on the wall and flinched.

“The pictures look really weird…”

The faces in the photo were distorted into shapes that looked more demonic than human. While looking for a room, Lee Hyunmook responded without even glancing at the photo.

“Inorganic matter isn’t as affected as organic, but it still gets corrupted.”

Only then did Yohan recall how strange the writing looked when they explored the ruined city. He’d thought the deformed letters were just in his head, but apparently not. Feeling uneasy, he carefully removed the photo and turned it face down.

“Oh, a mirror.”

Yohan, having learned from past bad experiences, checked the bathroom first. He found a mirror, cloudy and blotchy with grime. He scrubbed it clean with a half-rotten towel until it squeaked and tilted his head.

“My hair… is fluffy?”

He hadn’t had a chance to wash it since all the chaos began, and every time he touched it, it felt greasy and matted. But now it was soft and light, as if freshly washed and blow-dried. Puzzled, he kept patting his head, then looked down at his clothes.

“My clothes are clean too…”

Could it be that purification didn’t just heal corruption, but also cleaned off grime? If that was true, what a godsend! Yohan, who had been itching to wash, bounced out of the bathroom.

“Mr. Hyunmook! Look at my hair!”

Excited, he ran up to Lee Hyunmook, who was flipping a bed cover to use the clean side. He pushed his head forward. Lee Hyunmook stared quietly at his crown, then reached out and gently ruffled it.

Yohan jerked his head up in surprise.

“W-wait, I didn’t mean… for you to pet me…”

“You didn’t?”

Since Yohan’s awakening, Lee Hyunmook had started smiling more often, even faintly, and that kept making Yohan’s chest flutter in strange ways. He cleared his throat and shared his new discovery.

“I think the purification affected my hair too. Doesn’t it look freshly washed? No grease, all fluffy… And my clothes, clean, too! I couldn’t even wash up because we were low on water! You have no idea how gross I felt!”

He was so excited his words tumbled out in a rush. Lee Hyunmook listened silently, nodded, and gently pulled Yohan toward the bed.

“Take your shoes off.”

Obediently removing his sneakers, Yohan climbed onto the bed, then suddenly realized something. Wait. Am I… being treated like a kid right now?

But once he lay down, he finally realized just how tired he was. It made sense. For two days, he hadn’t slept properly because of the terrifying, rampaging Lee Hyunmook. Then he’d been chased, cried, had his arm broken, awakened, and used his ability…

“Get some rest for now.”

Lee Hyunmook’s soft voice came with a hand gently covering his eyes.

With just that, Yohan blinked a few times and fell asleep as if someone had flipped a switch.

***

After falling into the Abyss, Yohan finally got a deep, sweet sleep for the first time. He stretched with a soft grunt, the padding he’d used as a blanket crinkling beneath him.

Relishing the rare sense of peace, he lazed for a while longer before getting up. He used the attached bathroom and stepped into the living room, it was oddly quiet.

He hesitated, remembering how Lee Hyunmook always seemed to revert to madness after sleep, and opened the door cautiously.

Lee Hyunmook was by the living room window, looking outside.

As always, the dark red sky twisted in ominous shapes.

“Mr. Hyunmook…?”

Worried he might have gone mad again, Yohan called out tentatively.

Lee Hyunmook turned back.

“Did you sleep well?”

A perfectly normal response. Yohan’s face lit up.

“I slept great! What about you, Mr. Hyunmook?”

As he asked, he realized something strange, he had never once seen Lee Hyunmook sleep. Frowning with suspicion, Yohan asked,

“You did sleep, right?”

“A little, maybe?”

Even if he was a high-level awakener, wasn’t it dangerous to go without rest? While Yohan was still fretting, Lee Hyunmook nodded toward the door.

“If you’re well-rested, want to go find breakfast?”

Yohan swallowed nervously, then nodded resolutely.

That obviously meant: Let’s go hunt monsters and purify them to eat.

They were already burning through their precious, limited preserved food, so Yohan quickly threw on his coat and followed.

“I plan to scout the area while we’re at it.”

“Got it! I’ll stick close!”

Yohan answered brightly.

For some reason, Lee Hyunmook’s back looked especially dependable today.

Even if he turns into a madman again, I think I can bring him back, Yohan thought, stepping lightly.

Compared to the Ruined City, the area around the pig farm had few buildings, mostly overgrown roads, rice paddies, and an ominous black forest.

From within the forest, shadowy monsters occasionally stretched their heads to peer out at them before silently vanishing again.

Yohan clung even closer to Lee Hyunmook’s back.

“Hold up.”

Raising a hand, Lee Hyunmook signaled a stop, then stepped forward.

He raised one foot and slammed it down with a loud thud.

A monstrous shriek followed as something burst out of the ground, a creature that looked like a naked mole with massive tusks charged at them, but Lee Hyunmook flattened it with a single punch.

Yohan froze where he stood.

Just seeing a monster still made his heart race.

They always appeared like horror movie jump scares, suddenly and up close.

Lee Hyunmook nudged the body with his foot and tilted his head.

“Is this a pig or a mole?”

“I’ll try purifying it!”

Having always been just a burden, Yohan was excited to finally be helpful.

He crouched down, cautiously poked the monster with one fingertip, and grimaced at the sticky fluid.

He wiped it off on his clothes, glared at the corpse, and reached out.

The last time he’d used his ability, everything had happened so fast that he hadn’t understood a thing. This would be the first time using it properly.

Holding his breath, he focused and summoned the power inside him.

Like spring water, it flowed out through his fingers.

A soft glow spread and touched the monster’s body. Yohan’s eyes widened.

Where the light touched, the revolting slime and boils vanished.

“Wow, Whoa!”

I really did awaken! Yohan, whose cheeks were flushed with excitement, soon panicked. The energy, flowing like a lagging video, suddenly cut off. Sweating, he tried again, but he was too flustered to do it properly. After several failed tries, he looked up at Lee Hyunmook and asked sheepishly,

“…Have you ever eaten mole?”

He’d only purified the shoulder, so it was impossible to tell if it was a giant mole mutated by corruption, or a pig that adapted to underground life.

Lee Hyunmook chuckled and patted his shoulder.

“For a first try, that was pretty good.”

“Really…?”

“And you’re probably not fully recovered. You used a ton of power on me, of all people.”

As he spoke, Lee Hyunmook drew a knife and carved off a chunk of purified meat.

Yohan quickly stepped back to avoid the fresh blood and frowned.

Something in Lee Hyunmook’s tone made it sound like he was more corrupted than any monster.

Effortlessly cutting through bone, Lee Hyunmook examined the meat closely and sliced away anything even slightly tainted. Even so, they ended up with nearly 1.5 kilograms of edible meat. Back at the house, the smell of roasting meat made Yohan’s mouth water. When he finally tasted it, crispy on the outside, juicy inside, it was definitely pork. Already happy from awakening, Yohan now felt overwhelming joy.

“Sniff… it’s so good…”

“…You really do cry at everything. Even when it’s tasty?”

Yohan hadn’t expected to tear up while eating grilled pork. He just smiled sheepishly, sniffled, then carefully placed a perfectly cooked piece onto Lee Hyunmook’s plate. And so, with salty tears and grilled pork shoulder, they spent a blissfully happy day. The next day, they decided to explore a bit farther.