FLIA 121

They arrived at Anseong IC in an instant. The wrecked cars scattered around were all empty. The stench peculiar to monsters came from all directions, but the exact location was not clear. Since there was no support-type awakener with detection ability, Yang Yosep clicked his tongue. Yohan, who was scanning the area, hesitated and pointed in one direction.

“Maybe it’s that way.”

“That way? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I think I’m right.”

In the Abyss, the corruption level was high everywhere so he had not noticed, but here Yohan could sense corrupted creatures. It seemed to follow the principle that while it was hard to find a black dot on black paper, it was easy to find one on white paper.

When they ran toward the direction Yohan pointed, monsters were surrounded a house. Their snouts were strangely sharp and bent flexibly like tentacles, and though their fur was stiff, they still looked like moles.

‘Monsters in the Abyss are definitely more disgusting. At least with these you can guess what their original form was.’

As they got closer, they heard the sound of someone crying quietly inside the house. Civilians had not managed to escape. Though the creatures seemed to have no eyes at all, somehow their noses turned toward Yang Yosep and Yang Yohan. Their bodies followed next, and the way they moved was strange and fast.

“Damn it!”

Yang Yosep clicked his tongue and quickly changed his position. There was a reason the Rift Management Bureau had given the names vanguard and rear guard. Dealers and tanks always had to stay in front, and healers and supporters had to remain in the rear. Yohan was obviously a rear guard.

But before Yang Yosep could rush forward to block the moles, Yohan’s actions were faster. He had already picked up a stone and quickly threw it, hitting one mole monster in the eye, then moved to its blind side. He calmly drove a spear into its neck and killed it. Yang Yosep was momentarily shocked by how skillfully he responded, but soon pulled himself together.

He rushed forward, cutting across, and in an instant took down two of them. The mole monsters could not even make a sound as they were chopped into pieces and died.

Yang Yosep’s ability was a kind of sharpness. In terms of fantasy novels, it could be called similar to sword aura. The weapon in his hand became extremely sharp, able to cut through almost anything with ease. Depending on the monster’s traits it sometimes had no effect, but against simple animal-type monsters like these, he could handle up to rank 7 danger level alone.

While he killed three, Yohan killed another one. For creatures of that size, they were surprisingly easy to deal with. Since Yohan thought so too, Yang Yosep was equally surprised. Swinging the long, wide-bladed spear to fling off corrupted fluid, he looked at his younger brother with a strange gaze.

“…Not bad.”

It was a look that was really rare to get from his brother, so Yohan raised his chin slightly with pride.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of things like this. In the Abyss, in the mountain zone, there’s a pretty terrifying gorge.”

On the two-month journey to the Salt Lake, it had been a hard but also… tasty place. Yohan had learned in the Abyss that mutton could be so delicious. The monster sheep that lived in the gorge had sharp, sticky, thornbush-like fur all over their bodies. Under Lee Hyunmook’s orders, Yohan had to challenge them over and over until he could face the strong and fast sheep alone, and later he was able to handle even three at once.

‘Seungryong-hyung had really hated leaving the high mountain zone.’

Up until right before they left, they had fought countless sheep. Even those aggressive sheep ended up running away with tails tucked and disappeared from sight. Yohan’s eyes drifted to the dead mole without thinking. Watching Yang Yosep poke it with his spear tip to check for a possible eternity stone, Yohan muttered.

“Would mole meat taste good too?”

“Why would you… eat this kind of thing.”

Yang Yosep muttered in disgust at the awful thought, then realized something. In the Abyss, the only food available was exactly those kinds of monsters. Without even noticing how his brother was looking at him, Yohan had swallowed his saliva unconsciously, then came back to his senses. After living in the Abyss for a year, everything alive looked like food.

They shouted to the civilians trapped inside the house that it was safe to come out. But even after hearing that, the civilians only hesitated. It was a natural reaction, since among monsters there were malicious ones that mimicked human speech to reassure their prey. Only after the two went inside and the family confirmed with their own eyes that the monsters were really dealt with did they shed tears of relief.

“Hic, thank you, thank you so much… I really thought I was going to die.”

“Come this way. We’ll escort you to the rest stop.”

Yang Yosep smoothly began leading the civilians toward the rest stop. Yohan followed behind with pride swelling inside him. Even after dropping off the civilians, they did not leave immediately and instead waited at the rest stop to guard against another possible monster attack.

The soldiers dispatched from the Rift Management Bureau arrived only after a whole hour. By then the matter was already settled, so the citizens’ gazes were not kind. But it was not as if these soldiers had been slacking off. Their clothes and shoes were stained with monster fluids. It was clear they had been fighting other monsters just moments ago.

‘There really aren’t enough manpower or funds to protect everyone in time…’

Watching Yang Yosep report the monster’s location to the soldiers, Yohan felt sorry for the whole situation. These soldiers had higher corruption levels than ordinary citizens, even if only mild, which showed how much harsher their lives were. It was a world where everyone had to live with hardship.

Soon the stopped cars began moving again. Even so, it took time before they could properly pick up speed, so Yohan sent a text to Lee Hyunmook saying he would be a little late. The stench from the mole monsters still clung to him, making him restless. Yohan glanced around and purified the inside of the car.

“Ha. Purification really is good.”

It was Yang Yosep’s first time receiving purification in his right mind, and his face relaxed. The stench vanished instantly, along with all traces of the foul, radioactive-like fluids that had dirtied them. At his brother’s amazement, Yohan puffed himself up. He felt good. No, in fact, he felt really, really good…

Before long, they had nearly reached the Taeyang Guild. Remembering something he had forgotten because of the mole monsters, Yohan dug through his bag. While the car was stopped at a light, he took something out and handed it to Yang Yosep.

“Hyung, take this.”

“This is…”

Yang Yosep’s eyes widened. Of course they did, because what his younger brother handed him was an Eternally Stone. There were even two of them, faintly glowing with Yohan’s purification power.

“Use it in emergencies. But the effect is weak, so be as careful as possible in fights. If you use them all, bring them back to me. I’ll recharge them. They should last two or three months at least.”

“Hey, something this precious… You should give them to our parents.”

“I already set some aside for Mom and Dad, so don’t worry and use them. You’ll need them more. If it’s urgent, holding it in your mouth works even better.”

Yang Yosep stared at the unusually bright stones, then carefully placed them in the glove box. In times like these, the item was as valuable as the rarest jewel in the world.

“Alright, I’ll make good use of them.”

“Then give me some pocket money.”

Yohan thrust out his hand, boldly demanding pocket money.

“You’re going to be earning more than me soon.”

Grumbling, Yang Yosep still handed over all the cash in his wallet once they arrived at the Taeyang Guild headquarters. Like other successful awakeners, he always carried large amounts of cash in case the internet went down and cards stopped working. Giving it all away must have been his way of thinking about his younger brother, who had to pretend to be a low-level awakener for now. Seeing Lee Hyunmook and others, Yohan figured they would never let him spend his own money anyway, but for now he accepted it quickly.

The building he had stayed in with Lee Hyunmook before had belonged to Sunrise. So he could not stay there forever, and they had bought another building, remodeled it into a guild headquarters, and the work had just finished.

This time, like before, his place was on the top floor. Entering the door lock code Lee Hyunmook had given him, Yohan was amazed. In that short time, the interior had been decorated beautifully. After helping Yohan move his belongings, Yang Yosep closed the car trunk and spoke.

“Don’t bother coming home if you can avoid it. Instead, I’ll bring our parents here sometimes. I probably won’t have time to go home either.”

“Uh…”

“What do you mean “uh.” Haven’t you seen how things are in Sunrise Guild? You won’t have time to go home either, idiot.”

Scolding his younger brother, Yang Yosep got into the car. He rolled the window down, stared at his brother, and waved his hand.

“I’m going.”

“…Yeah, bye.”

Watching the car drive away, Yohan rubbed his arm and grumbled.

“Why’s he being so good to me. It’s awkward.”

Even so, feeling happy, Yohan skipped along, but then suddenly stopped in surprise. Lee Hyunmook was leaning against a parking lot pillar, waiting. Yohan ran toward him, delighted, if he had a tail it would be wagging.