FLIA 122

“When did you get here?”

“I haven’t been here long.”

Lee Hyunmook smiled as he caught Yohan who was running at him. Even though an high-level awakener like Yohan ran into him hard enough to make a loud noise, he did not budge at all. Yohan knew that the other was much stronger than him, so he pressed against him and laughed. Lee Hyunmook smiled and asked.

“On the way here, you hunted a grade 3?”

“Yes! But compared to the monsters in the Abyss, it was really nothing.”

“Of course. This place is peaceful.”

No one these days would call the world peaceful. But to people who had come back from the Abyss, this place looked not only endlessly peaceful but also good to live in. Food that did not need purification was everywhere, and even just breathing did not raise corruption levels. Yohan thought about it again when Lee Hyunmook asked in a kind voice.

“Everyone is waiting, so should we go to the guild first? Did you eat?”

“I had breakfast at home before I left. I am a little hungry though. But I want to see the guild first.”

Like other awakeners who had used their powers, Yohan, who had purified Yang Yosep and the inside of the car, also felt a little hungry. But he was more curious about the Taeyang Guild, where he would belong from now on.

The guild was less than a three-minute walk from the office building. They said as soon as word spread that the Taeyang Guild would be based here, house prices had shot up. That showed how valuable Lee Hyunmook and the other team members’ names were, and Yohan felt a little burdened by it.

Even while walking that short distance, people’s attention were focused on them. Most stared at Lee Hyunmook, but some also glanced at Yohan, curious who the companion was. Sometimes people shouted congratulations on returning or words of support to Lee Hyunmook. He answered them with a smile and soon stopped in front of a building.

Before Yohan could admire the large scale of the building, something else caught his eye first. Right above the main entrance of the guild building, the guild’s logo was displayed, a sheep with a halo behind its head. Yohan muttered shyly.

“It’s a sheep….”

“Yeah, it’s our Yangyang.”

Lee Hyunmook said playfully. Yohan deliberately avoided looking at the logo and followed Lee Hyunmook’s lead inside.

The only guild he had ever visited until now was Yang Yosep’s guild, Neon. He knew Neon had also spent a lot of money, but even so, it could not compare with this place.

It was not just about the interior. The receptionist, the guards, and the busy staff moving around all carried themselves properly. Even when they saw Lee Hyunmook, they only greeted with a light nod as if they were used to seeing him, not with noisy excitement at seeing a celebrity. When Yohan stepped onto the security-zone elevator with Lee Hyunmook, he asked curiously.

“Did you already hire people this fast?”

“Most of them were taken from the Sunrise Guild.”

“Ah.”

Yohan was impressed. No wonder the staff’s attitude toward Lee Hyunmook seemed so familiar. If he thought about it, from Lee Hyunmook’s side too, it would be more comfortable to work with people he had already collaborated with. Their skills were already proven.

“In fact, even before we posted a hiring notice, many Sunrise guild members had contacted us. Quite a few quit after we went missing, and many others wanted to transfer. For us, that was good, so there was no reason to refuse.”

“But that must be really bad for the Sunrise Guild, right?”

When Yohan spoke smartly, Lee Hyunmook looked at him with an expression that seemed proud or very affectionate.

“That’s right. By now they must be struggling to recruit new people.”

Of course, he did not feel the least bit sorry for Go Jaewon. Thinking about how horrific and terrible the things Lee Hyunmook and the others had gone through in the Abyss were, he wanted to throw Go Jaewon into the Abyss right away. But like Yohan, the others including Lee Chanha seemed to want to enjoy this revenge slowly.

The elevator stopped on the 15th floor. As soon as the doors opened, bang! fireworks went off. Lee Chanha, Seo Yakrin, Yoon Seungryong, and Ju Hoyoung welcomed Yohan warmly.

“Welcome, Yohan, to the Taeyang Guild!”

Yohan, who received the cheers and the sincere welcome, smiled brightly. After spending an entire year in the Abyss stuck together all day, these people felt like family now, and just seeing them already made him feel comfortable and happy.

“Did you all spend the week well?”

As he asked that, Yohan sprinkled purification out of habit. Even though corruption no longer rose just by staying still, Lee Chanha’s anxious and restless face became relaxed. The others also quietly moved closer.

“You went to see Yohan’s house and even had dinner there? Team Leader hogged him all by himself….”

Seo Yakrin grumbled and glared at Lee Hyunmook. But unlike in the Abyss, there was no sudden fiery anger or suppressed irritation. It stayed only at the level of playful scolding. Even that moved Yohan.

The more times they fell into the Flood, the stronger the negative enhancement of the team members became. The weakest case was Ju Hoyoung, who had never fallen into the Flood, so it ended only with anxiety and obsession with video games. Next was Seo Yakrin, who often exploded in anger. Yoon Seungryong lay down at every chance and refused to do anything or ate endlessly. The strongest of them all was Lee Chanha, who even after coming out of the Abyss still showed strong compulsive cleanliness and anxiety.

‘No, strictly speaking, the one with the strongest symptoms should be Hyunmook-hyung.’

Paradoxically, Lee Hyunmook looked the most normal of them.

But Yohan remembered. That time when he was swallowed by Lee Hyunmook, how empty, hollow, and dark his inside had been. In some ways, that deep and dark place resembled the Abyss. Wasn’t this person just hiding it well, pretending it was not there? And didn’t the team members know it too, deliberately pretending not to? Yohan sometimes thought so.

“Come on, Yohan, come here. Hyung has something to give you.”

Curious, Yohan followed where Yoon Seungryong led him. Passing several doors, they opened the largest one, and inside was a long table that could seat twenty people and a white screen. No matter how you looked at it, it was a conference room. Yoon Seungryong brought out a gift box he had prepared in advance and set it in front of Yohan. When he opened it with anticipation, inside were neatly folded clothes.

“Tada! Our guild rift raid team uniform!”

“Wow!”

Yohan brightened and pulled out the clothes. Like other awakened clothing, it was in a bright color close to white so contamination could be noticed easily, and it had many pockets and belts so tools could be pulled out right away. If you had to classify it, it was most similar to techwear. It was functional clothing that pursued survival and efficiency to the extreme. And above all, there was the sheep logo on the back. The logo was even made of material that reflected light brightly.

“This logo….”

“Should we make the logo bigger, Yohan-gun?”

“No! It’s perfect just like this!”

He answered quickly out of embarrassment, but in truth he felt glad and happy. He was glad to be among such great people, and glad that they saw him as someone important and necessary. When he quickly changed into the clothes and looked in the mirror, the corners of his lips rose on their own.

“It looks great on you! Our Yohan is the best!”

When Seo Yakrin praised him without end, Yohan lifted his chin naturally. Ju Hoyoung also cheered noisily. After they fussed over the youngest of the team until he felt like he was floating on clouds, everyone took their seats. Lee Chanha handed out the printed materials he had prepared.

“Today we will talk about the establishment of the Association.”

The establishment of the Awakener Association. This was one of the hottest issues in Korea recently. Of course, public opinion was not very favorable. It was not only the government that was wary of awakened people gaining a central point and stronger influence. To ordinary people, awakeners with superhuman powers were not exactly comfortable beings.

“But even so, it would have been created someday. Considering the timing when rifts appeared, compared to other countries, its establishment is rather late.”

Lee Chanha explained step by step for Yohan. This was not a meeting but part of education to help Yohan adapt now that he had formally joined the Taeyang Guild. To summarize the explanation, whether opposed or not, it was not illegal, so they had gone ahead with establishment, and they planned to push forward with Lee Hyunmook’s favorable image. Yohan listened politely, then raised his hand and asked.

“But why did they have to create the Awakener Association?”

“That’s a good question, Yohan-gun. It is because besides the Rift Management Bureau, there needed to be an institution to regulate and bring together awakeners.”

The Rift Management Bureau only subdued and pressed down awakeners, so it became an object of resentment and in fact failed to bring them together. There had been attempts before to establish something like an Awakener Association, but for various reasons they had failed, and at that time Lee Hyunmook had no intention of it. But now it was different.