FLIA 34

“Hoo…”
After walking for a while, Yohan let out a sigh.
The Black Forest hadn’t exactly been a comfortable place to travel through either, but this jungle was truly beyond imagination. The thick, stifling air was one thing, but it was the overgrown, bizarre plants all around that made it unbearable.

Even now, Yoon Seungryong was clearing a path ahead with his weapon, but Yohan’s arms and legs were still breaking out in plant rashes. Thankfully, thanks to his purification ability and his regeneration abilities, he recovered quickly, but it still left a bad feeling.

They’d been walking through the prickling, itchy sensation for about half a day when—

“Oh, it’s a road?”
As Yoon Seungryong tapped his foot lightly, a hard sound echoed beneath it. Through the tangled roots of the plants, black concrete pavement became visible.

When Lee Hyunmook tore off a nearby vine, a purple plant that had been covering the building scurried away like a startled snake. An exotic-style building was soon revealed.

“Looks like at least two zones got merged here. The city zone must’ve appeared first, then the jungle zone appeared nearby and ended up covering it.”

At Yoon Seungryong’s explanation, Yohan curiously looked around. As they continued along the road that peeked out here and there, more buildings overtaken by plants and trees came into view.

Standing in the middle of what must’ve once been a bustling intersection, Yohan gazed at the modern-style buildings now overtaken by strange, writhing plants. It left him with a strange feeling.

“We’re resting here tonight.”
At Lee Hyunmook’s announcement, Yohan relaxed his shoulders in relief. After spending half a day walking through a jungle full of stinging, sticky plants, he was completely exhausted.

The three of them began searching for a building suitable for shelter. Hoping to find something usable to purify, Yohan looked inside one but was disappointed.

“Did it rot because of the plants? These buildings look like they’ve been here for centuries.”

Even in the Ruined City, older zones had little usable salvage, but this place was worse. The furniture was so decayed it crumbled at a touch, and all the metal objects were rusted.

He finally found something that might’ve once been a grocery store, but all it had were rusted cans. Skeptically, he purified one and opened it, only to find it barely a quarter full.

“Must’ve been really badly corrupted or decayed…”

Yohan clicked his tongue, staring at the thick, porridge-like contents. Normally, once something was purified, anything harmful to humans would turn into harmless powder or disappear. That’s why the inside of the can was nearly empty.

While Yohan was sighing, Yoon Seungryong peeked over.
“Let’s see… doesn’t taste that bad?”

Boldly dipping in a finger, Yoon Seungryong licked it and smacked his lips. Yohan, mustering his courage, tasted it too.

“It tastes like corn porridge…!”

It would’ve been a waste to throw it away, so they scraped together the remaining cans and decided to have them for that day’s meal.

Meanwhile, Lee Hyunmook had found a building that could serve as a shelter.

“We’ll stay here tonight.”

He electrocuted the plants covering the building, burning them away as he spoke. Compared to the others, the building was in relatively good shape, with no crumbling walls.

Lee Hyunmook went in first and fried the monsters with lightning, then Yohan purified the place. After that, Yoon Seungryong set up a mattress and tent, making it into a surprisingly livable space.

Their meal consisted of rusted canned food, corn porridge, some kind of fish porridge, and fruit porridge.

After eating, Yohan wandered the building. Though the exotic architecture was now faded and worn, the place had once been adorned with mysterious paintings. After a close look, Yohan tilted his head.

“I think this is an Asian building. Maybe… Indian?”

“Ooh… I’ve never been to India.”

Yoon Seungryong, who had flopped down the moment the shelter was set up, mumbled from the ground.

Thanks to Yohan’s purification, he was feeling much better, but now and then he’d suddenly become lethargic and sluggish. He looked like he wasn’t planning to move unless something major happened.

While Yohan unwrapped a chocolate bar and stuck it into his mouth and scattered purification energy over him like watering a wilted plant, Lee Hyunmook returned from scouting the area.

“Doesn’t seem like there’s anything too dangerous nearby.”

“Thanks for your hard work! Come here. I’ll purify you.”

Lee Hyunmook slowly walked over and sat down nearby. As he did, the flailing Yoon Seungryong suddenly quieted down. Yohan handed Lee Hyunmook a chocolate bar and began to purify him as well.

He wanted to prevent either of them from turning into lunatics in the middle of the jungle at all costs. Just imagining it was a headache.

As Yohan began the purification, calm settled over their faces. The sharp alertness in their eyes eased, their gazes softening.

After a long session, Yohan started to feel tired and yawned. Lee Hyunmook gently tapped his hand.

“That’s enough. Good job.”

Hehe… Yohan smiled silently, proud of himself. Thanks to the care he put into the purification, the two of them now looked as clean and fresh as if they’d just had a bath.

That night, Lee Hyunmook was on night watch. Yohan had insisted on taking a turn before, but the two older men always brushed him off, saying he could do it next time.

Eventually, his turn for watch kept getting pushed back indefinitely.
They even reasoned that he should get full rest and recover his powers more efficiently, and it had started to sound pretty convincing to Yohan too.

So now he tried to sleep as deeply as possible. Used to sleeping between the two, Yohan wriggled into the center of the mattress. He glanced at Lee Hyunmook, sitting against the wall with his spear in hand, then let himself drift off to sleep. And thus, their first day in the jungle passed without incident.

***

If there was one thing most difficult to get used to in the Abyss, it was the lack of day and night.

Even after waking up, the absence of light made it hard to feel truly refreshed.

Rubbing his eyes, Yohan looked back and forth at the two sitting closely on either side of him.

“Do you guys even sleep…?”

Aside from once in the ruined city, he had never seen them sleep.

Yoon Seungryong waved a hand lazily.
“It’s fine, we don’t sleep. We won’t die or anything.”

Insomnia was one of the main symptoms of corruption, but for these two, it seemed even more severe.

Yohan got up slowly and began sprinkling purification energy again, charged up overnight.

He looked around. The building, which had felt gloomy and grimy just yesterday, now had a warm, calm atmosphere.

Even the mattress that had been laid out in the open looked freshly bought, with no foul smell.

The light pouring through the cracks in the broken wall looked almost like sunlight.

Still a bit groggy, Yohan looked around and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I don’t know why, but I feel like my ability is getting stronger.”

“It’s not just a feeling. It probably is. Abilities grow the more you use them. Not all mid-levels are the same, right?”

Yoon Seungryong was right.
It wasn’t common, but there had been cases where low-level awakeners surpassed mid-levels through training.

There were interviews and even research papers confirming that ability users could grow stronger with use.

Lee Hyunmook nodded in agreement.
“You awakened not long ago, so you’ve got a lot of potential for growth. You’re still in the early stages.”

Yoon Seungryong looked at Yohan like he was a much younger brother and smiled warmly.

He patted Yohan’s head absentmindedly, but Lee Hyunmook said quietly,

“Stop touching him. He’ll wear out.”

“Our Yohan can’t wear away and disappear, that would be a disaster.”

Even as he said that, Yoon Seungryong kept messing up Yohan’s hair until it stuck out in all directions, only withdrawing his hand when Lee Hyunmook gave him a pointed stare.

Still, the atmosphere among the group was cheerful, and Yohan felt happy.

That lasted, until they stepped outside.

“Haah, this already sucks…”

Yoon Seungryong’s tone was harsh, but Yohan silently agreed.

After spending time in a freshly purified building, stepping outside into the polluted environment made it feel twice as unpleasant.

Even the mud sticking to their shoes felt unnaturally sticky.

No, sometimes it really did move like a lump of mud crawling around, so maybe it wasn’t just a feeling…

Looking back longingly at the building where they had stayed for half a day, Yohan trudged after Yoon Seungryong.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to settle down in a big building someday? We could fix it up, plant fruit trees in the yard, grow crops, dig a well…”

Just imagining it made him feel happy.

As he smiled at the blissful thought and looked at Lee Hyunmook, the man was, surprisingly, smiling brightly.

“Sure. If there’s something you want to do, go for it.”

His endlessly generous answer made Yohan embarrassed. He scratched his cheek and looked away.

This was bad. The more time passed, the more he liked Lee Hyunmook.

…But really, how could anyone not like someone like him? He was the strongest awakener in Korea. So handsome. So cool. And so kind.