FLIA 100

“What? The government… why? Why would they do that?”

Yohan couldn’t understand it at all. In this day and age, awakeners were valuable assets. Even in Korea’s past, thanks to two high-level awakeners, the country was considered relatively safe. On top of that, the Sunrise Team had made huge contributions to society. He couldn’t understand why anyone would do something like this.

“I don’t think they were aiming to make the entire Sunrise Team disappear. It was an attack targeting me, and unfortunately, everyone else got caught up in it…”

Lee Chanha’s voice was calm but his eyes blazed with hatred and a thirst for revenge that couldn’t be hidden. He paused, closed his eyes for a moment, then continued.

“Just a day before we went missing in the Abyss, Go Jaewon summoned me, saying there was a rescue request from a rift.”

At the time, Lee Hyunmook and the other members were away for separate missions and duties. Chanha had left for the rift without suspicion, trusting Go Jaewon. His defensive abilities were best suited for protecting people during rescue missions.

But when he arrived, the person he was supposed to rescue was nowhere to be found. The moment he got there, he was suddenly attacked by unidentified awakener. He fought back, but by the time he regained his senses, he had already fallen into the Abyss. What happened during the time he lost consciousness was explained by Ju Hoyoung.

“When I finished early and came back, Chanha-hyung had already left. So I went to help him. But he couldn’t recognize me and attacked. From the way he acted and spoke, it was clear he was hallucinating. I couldn’t subdue him alone, so I kept running and calling for help.”

Had things gone just a little differently, Lee Chanha could’ve been seen as a dangerously corrupted individual and either quarantined or even killed. In hindsight, it seemed likely that had been the intent. If Ju Hoyoung hadn’t returned early, that’s probably what would’ve happened.

When the rest of the team arrived, summoned by the call, everyone except Go Jaewon rushed in. Ju Hoyoung was already badly injured. As they tried to protect him and restrain Lee Chanha, the Abyss suddenly opened. In the end, the entire Sunrise Team vanished into the Abyss while trying to save the two.

“But when we came back, our dear Jaewon-hyung had the nerve to lie through his teeth, huh? He said we were a team full of discord and that the team had fallen into the Abyss due to internal conflict? Then he becomes the guild leader and practically sells our guild to the Rift Management Bureau. Oh, and last year, he even got an award as an exemplary awakener.”

Yoon Seungryong chuckled as if he was telling a funny story. Everything pointed to Go Jaewon being the traitor, and Yohan found himself speechless. Lee Chanha smiled coldly.

“I guess he wanted to get rid of me and take the deputy team leader position. And someone up high probably wanted to put the brakes on a team that was doing too well.”

They all hated Go Jaewon, but Chanha’s hate was the most intense. It must have been guilt that his teammates suffered hellish pain because of him. Even if the fault lay solely with the traitor.

“So if I had revealed I could purify corruption, then by now…”

When Yohan, who had an ominous thought trailed off, him. Lee Hyunmook nodded in agreement.

“They would’ve done whatever it took to keep you. Even if they had to forcefully detain you. Sure, we could fight back if it came to that, but living peacefully in Korea after that wouldn’t have been easy. Not for you, and not for your family either.”

Yohan swallowed dryly. He loved Korea, and his family living there was precious to him. Lee Hyunmook continued.

“And the government’s holding onto those corrupted an awakeners in quarantine. They’d make excellent hostages.”

“Also perfect for media attacks. I can already see the headlines. ‘Purifier Yang Yohan turns his back on the corrupted!’ Then they’d say a single guild shouldn’t monopolize a purifier for the sake of national interest. They’d dig into your past, and your family’s too… If public opinion turns against you and they send you to the government’s quarantine center, what do you think will happen? Our Yohan would cry his eyes out every day. Not that we’d let it come to that, of course. But why take the hard road if we don’t have to?”

As he spoke, Yoon Seungryong tore open a snack and popped it into his mouth. Yohan swallowed again and replied in a disappointed voice.

“Then I guess I can’t awaken any other purifiers for the time being.”

“Yeah. But only for the time being.”

When Lee Hyunmook said that, Yohan felt regretful but could only accept it. Faces of people like Jeong Siyoung or those from the Special Unit, suffering from corruption, flashed through his mind, but he pushed the thought aside. Lee Chanha spoke to the dejected Yohan in a coaxing tone.

“And Yohan-gun, you need to take revenge too.”

“Revenge?”

Only then did Yohan remember his own circumstances. He murmured blankly. Revenge… Just like how the Sunrise Team had been betrayed by Go Jaewon and fallen into the Abyss, Yohan had also been thrown into it because of his friend Park Seungmin and the other mercenaries. After spending so long together in the Abyss, everyone here already knew Yohan’s past.

“I looked into that friend, Park Seungmin. Do you want to hear how he’s doing?”

No one knew how Chanha had investigated anything while stuck in the same quarantine, but that didn’t matter. When Yohan nodded, Chanha said,

“He told your family that you went missing while looting supplies in the rift and were attacked by monsters. Then, he asked fellow mercenaries to help with the search and even swindled hundreds of millions of won from them. Isn’t that shameless and unscrupulous?”

“What… did you say?”

Yohan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then came burning rage. It wasn’t enough that he’d sacrificed Yohan to escape the Abyss, but now he’d lied and scammed his family? That wasn’t something a human could do.

“Chanha.”

Lee Hyunmook frowned and called out, reprimanding the devilish whisper in Chanha’s voice. Lee Chanha just shrugged.

“He had to find out sooner or later.”

Lee Hyunmook glared at him, and Chanha quietly looked down. Yohan, after a brief silence, finally admitted what he felt.

“You’re right. I… I wanted revenge. Ever since I fell into the Abyss, I’ve never once forgotten.”

Compared to what the others had gone through, his experience was nothing. But even so, Yohan’s one year in the Abyss had been hard and painful. The environment was brutal, but the thought that he might never return home again was the worst. In that endless dark, with no day or night, he had thought the same thing, over and over again, countless times before sleeping.

Was the Abyss really expanding so fast that he had to be thrown in as a sacrifice?

No matter how he looked at it, they could’ve all escaped together. And in that moment when Park Seungmin shoved him, he saw that twisted joy and malice in his eyes.

Even if he could go back in time, even if Park Seungmin didn’t push him, Yohan would’ve jumped in anyway to save these people. But that didn’t change the fact that those vicious, despicable eyes of the traitor still haunted him…He could never forgive him.

He’d known Park Seungmin for a long time. There had been moments when Seungmin showed his selfish nature, unable to fully hide it. But he had always treated Yohan kindly, and that was enough for Yohan to believe in their friendship. Only now did he realize it had all been a lie.

“Alright. Then shall we make a toast for everyone’s successful revenge?”

Seo Yakrin cheerfully opened a beer bottle and shouted. Everyone poured their drink of choice into their cups and looked at Lee Hyunmook, the leader. He chuckled bitterly for a moment, and then spoke in a firm voice.

“To successful revenge.”

“To successful revenge!”

Clink! Their drinks splashed and clinked together in a toast. Yohan drank his cola greedily and thought, “How should I take revenge on Park Seungmin?” Of course, the mercenaries who were involved would be included too. But for now, he set that thought aside. Coming back to Korea and sharing a meal with everyone was just too joyful to ruin.

“It feels like I’m dreaming…”

Ju Hoyoung murmured. He was fiddling with the game console he had brought back from the Abyss. It was in good condition for something from that place. Yohan purified the console, wiping it clean of any residue, then smiled and said,

“Good thing it’s not a dream, right?”

At Yohan’s question, Ju Hoyoung looked up from the console. For the first time since escaping, his eyes welled with tears as he replied, “Yes”

“I’m really glad it’s not a dream.”