FLIA 114

Park Seungmin laughed loudly, finding it very amusing.

“But I don’t know how many times the treatment has to be done. Ah! Right, you know Samyeong Pharmaceutical Company. How about I settle this by taking some shares? I’ve always wanted to be a major shareholder of a company. There’s never been a time like now when medicine is so precious! Let me use the drugs for free just once too!”

His despicable attitude made even the Special Unit member standing guard frown. Yang Yohan let Park Seungmin amuse himself all he wanted, then calmly answered.

“Paying that much for just one treatment of corruption is too expensive. Forget it.”

“…What?”

Park Seungmin’s laughter suddenly stopped at the unexpected reply. He immediately scowled. It should have been fun if the other person got angry and begged, but only then did he realize that from the beginning, Yang Yohan had not shown the slightest desperation, he had stayed calm all along. So calm it was almost suspicious.

“You’re not the only one who can handle purification.”

Yohan spoke as he looked at the purification power overflowing in Park Seungmin’s body, thanks to the excess he had poured into him. Because it exceeded the vessel’s capacity, the purification power was slowly leaking out. For now it must have felt like he was brimming with strength…. Park Seungmin scoffed at Yohan’s words.

“Hey, those Eternal Stones, those pebble-like things? I saw it myself. They said the Taeyang Guild gave a few to the government in exchange for taking away the corrupted. With that they could only treat mild cases. Severe ones were barely treated at all.”

“Maybe so. But it seems better than being treated by you. Judging from your attitude, I don’t even know if you would really do the treatment.”

As he spoke, Yohan rose from his seat and stared at Park Seungmin. Kim Yejoo and Yang Hwapyung, had been restless and anxiousby his side, their gazes also darkened also, they heard Yohan’s words and seemed to find them reasonable. Park Seungmin’s gaze grew hostile as he saw the change in their expressions.

“It’s too late at night, so I’d like you to leave now. And from next time, can you at least contact me beforehand if you’re going to visit? You don’t seem to realize it, but what you did today was extremely rude.”

“You, fuck….”

Park Seungmin’s face twisted, he had come with high expectations but didn’t find as much fun as he wanted. Why was the other acting like this in front of him, whose purification power was incomparably superior to Eternal Stones? Ah, he understood. It was because of pride. Believing in that petty Eternal Stone…. He tried hard to think so, but he still felt oddly anxious.

“You’re making a mistake right now, you know? This isn’t the time to cling to pride. You should be glad I’m even meeting you now.”

“What good does it do me to meet someone like you?”

The anxiety he felt was forgotten at those following words. Dumbfounded, Park Seungmin opened his mouth wide. Instead of trembling and begging a purifier like him for mercy, Yang Yohan was glaring straight into his eyes and defying him. And even went so far as to say:

“Can you really handle all this fame?”

“What, fame?”

Fame for becoming a high-level awakener? Fame? Park Seungmin was speechless, his mouth hanging open.

“I’m giving you this advice for your sake. From now on live humbly and kindly. Don’t treat the people protecting you like servants. You’ll definitely regret it later.”

At those words, the joy and exhilaration he had felt until just moments ago plummeted to the floor. Thinking back, he had also missed a good part of the broadcast he had so eagerly awaited because he was talking with Yang Yohan. Park Seungmin, overcome with rage, clenched his fists and trembled. His pride bruised, he stomped toward the front door Yohan had opened, then turned to glare at him.

“You don’t even know your own place. You don’t even know who you’re dealing with. I won’t leave you alone. I’ll make you regret today. I came as a friend to help you, and you… you bastard…!”

“Strange, Seungmin-ah.”

As Park Seungmin began hurling curses at him, Yohan cut him off in a very gentle and calm voice.

“I don’t know why you’re acting like you’ve become my enemy. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

Park Seungmin froze at those words. Yohan met his incredulous gaze and smiled brightly.

“Goodbye. And don’t ever come again.”

He closed the door in his face for the last time. Yohan felt it was a waste that he had once considered such a person a friend. Park Seungmun, belatedly enraged, shouted vicious curses and kicked the front door. After a while, they heard the sounds of people moving away and then a car starting. Watching Park Seungmin leave through the terrace window, Yohan suddenly thought of his parents and turned his head.

“I’m sorry. But I can explain everything to you.”

“…No.”

Yang Hwapyeong, who looked more sorrowful than before, dropped onto the sofa. He rubbed his face, he seemed to have aged several years in an instant.

“You’re right. Judging from his face, it didn’t look like he came here with good intentions. I doubt he would do it well even if he treated Yosep.”

“…Yeah. Thinking about it, other purifiers will start awakening soon, and like you said, there are Eternal Stones too, so it might be better to ask them instead.”

Kim Yejoo gulped down water as she spoke, perhaps because of thirst or because she was upset. Then she unconsciously sighed.

“It’s a disgrace to the nation for someone like that to be a high-level awakener.”

Yohan felt guilty, thinking his parents had suffered an insult they never should have had to go through because of him. He approached the two, who were lost in thought, and spoke in a gentle voice.

“I told you earlier that I had something to say. I’ll show you now. It’s good news.”

“Ah, ah. Right. You did say that earlier? Then, what good news does our son want to tell us?”

Kim Yejoo, who was patting her chest, feeling suffocated, forced a smile and asked. There was a glimmer of expectation in her eyes, as if she was hoping it was about the Eternal Stones that could cure corruption.. Yohan silently headed back to the liquor storage.

He pressed the code that Kim Yejoo had entered earlier. He realized again that ever since awakening, his memory had improved greatly. Yohan stepped once more into the foul-smelling place. As he approached Yang Yosep, Yang Hwapyeong tried to stop him.

“Yohan-ah! Don’t go too close. It could be dangerous.”

Yohan saw in front of him traces of meals faithfully prepared by his parents for their dangerous son every single day. Yohan looked down at Yang Yosep, who lay motionless like the dead. Seeing the bowls filled with food that had hardly been eaten, he spoke.

“It’s okay. It’s not dangerous at all. I’ve awakened too.”

Maybe Yosep had deliberately avoided eating. To weaken himself as much as possible, so he wouldn’t end up hurting his family.

“But Yohan, you’re…”

Yang Hwapyeong was about to tell him that compared to his older brother, he was only a low-level awakener and should step back. At that moment, the room suddenly grew bright. It wasn’t that a light had been turned on. A soft radiance was shining from Yohan’s body. The same glow that Park Seungmin had shown, no, even brighter. Kim Yejoo covered her mouth in disbelief, and Yang Hwapyeong, who had tried to stop Yohan, gaped.

“…Oh my God.”

As the light filled the room, the stench disappeared in an instant. To Yohan, who had seen scenes dozens, hundreds of times more terrible and grotesque in the Abyss, this degree of corruption was nothing. Compared to the Abyss, it even felt closer to cleanliness.

The two held their breath as they watched their son kneel calmly and extend his hand toward Yang Yosep. The scattering fragments of light reached over Yosep’s head. Purification seeped into his body. As it flowed down from his head and swept through his whole body, the foul, dirty, and disgusting things vanished without a trace.

“Oh my God, Oh my God.”

Yang Hwapyeong gasped with his mouth wide open, and Kim Yejoo simply collapsed where she stood. They saw their son, who was so severely corrupted, becoming clean again, the tentacles that had writhed and rooted into the floor wither and crumble into dust, and tears streamed down their faces.

“Idiot. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble. I wasn’t even there anyway….”

Yohan muttered bitterly as he saw the gaping wound on Yang Yosep’s back slowly close, his regenerative power restored after complete purification. If he had just waited, he would have returned in only half a month…. Touched by his brother, he wiped away the little tears that had welled up.

Yohan watched the gaping wound on Yang Yosep’s back, now completely purified and his regenerative powers restored, slowly begin to heal, muttering bitterly. “If you had just waited, I would have returned in just two weeks…” He felt strangely moved by his brother, and wiped away the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

As the corruption vanished and the wounds began to heal, Yosep’s face grew peaceful. His rough breathing quieted. He seemed to fall into deep sleep, so instead of waking him, Yohan lifted him into his arms. In the past, he wouldn’t have been able to carry him so easily, but with strength comparable to a mid-level dealer, lifting one person felt light.

‘I have to be stronger than hyung. Please, please….’

Thinking that, Yohan carried Yosep out of the room. Kim Yejoo and Yang Hwapyeong, stunned, followed behind. Yohan entered Yosep’s room and laid him on the bed. He thought about changing his clothes, but that felt too much, so he just pulled a blanket over him. Yang Hwapyeong and Kim Yejoo checked over and over, lifting the blanket to see that there were no more wounds, no signs of corruption left.

“How, how…. I see! Could it be earlier… when that guy came, you awakened too…!”

Forgetting that Yohan had already said at the hospital that he awakened as a low-level physical enhancement type, Yang Hwapyeong stammered. Only then did Yohan, feeling proud and confident, speak honestly with a slightly boastful look.

“I actually awakened as a purifier in the Abyss.”