FLIA 145

Yohan, right after he treated the people on the island, released the energy that had been waiting inside his body. The formless energy spread far like a fish in water. Now he understood why awakeners compared this to a river current. He was the spring, and when the water from this spring pooled inside someone with a proper vessel, that person became an awakener.

Not long after that, just two days ago, a low-level purifier awakened. The government immediately signed a contract and pushed him into the Sunrise Guild.

Yohan was delighted as he imagined Park Seungmin’s reaction to that low-level purifier. A man who should have become a dealer or a tanker was forced into a purifier, so among the low-level ones he would be the weakest, a petty stream weaker than a brook.

After the low-level purifier appeared, requests to the Taeyang Guild’s treatment ward slowed. People now placed more expectation on purifiers who would keep awakening in the future than on the limited stock of eternal stones. The purpose of the ward anyway was to remove excuses for attacking the guild and Yohan, so no one in the Taeyang Team cared much.

“Yohan, you seem in a good mood today?”

A member of the Little Lamb team spoke to Yohan. Since he had healed all the severely corrupted patients, he had been in a good mood and he smiled often.

“Do I? Maybe because purifiers are starting to awaken these days.”

“Ah, right! Before, once corrupted there was no hope, but now life might feel worth living again.”

As soon as they heard the word purifier, the members’ faces brightened. With rifts and corruption threatening mankind’s survival so severely now, the news of even a low-level purifier was cause for joy. Especially the awakeners who fought monsters welcomed it. No matter how much money they earned, corruption was the biggest headache. Whether they hunted monsters or not, the problem remained.

“I hope our guild gets a purifier soon.”

“Look at this stain on my hand. It’s from monster fluid last time, and it won’t disappear.”

“If our guild signs with a purifier, will the welfare cover our families too? At least they could give us discounts on the cost….”

Yohan wanted to tell them that the Taeyang Guild already had a purifier, but he held back. He had wanted to announce it as soon as he left the ward, but the members stopped him.

‘There’s a mysterious group targeting purifiers, Yohan. Let Park Seungmin be the target for now.’

Yohan accepted their words but grew restless. After he had purified the heavily corrupted patients on the island once, he felt it even more strongly. But soon. Very soon….

The Little Lamb team talked about purifiers for a long time. Since they had just returned from a rift exploration yesterday, they were given generous rest. Government policy recommended several days’ rest after such expeditions because of corruption. Of course, few guilds honored that. Everywhere lacked awakeners.

After writing the report for the exploration, with nothing else to do, the team received early leave. They all cheered and went home or met friends or lovers. Yohan killed time alone in the lounge, then stood up.

He greeted the guard in the guild lobby warmly, then put on earphones and played music. He played a playlist where he had saved songs he heard on the island. He headed toward the guild building as he hummed a song.

A fog spread under Yohan’s feet. At that moment, when he noticed it on the ground and his eyes widened, a figure rushed in and grabbed him.

“Mmph, ugh!”

“…Stay quiet! Before I kill you!”

The voice muffled Yohan when he tried to shout while struggling. The voice felt familiar. Several men surrounded him and dragged him to a deserted place. It was the underground parking lot of a high-end apartment once inhabited but now abandoned because it stood near a rift zone.

“Well, look at this lucky bastard. Thrown into the Abyss, and you come back?”

Yohan brushed dust from his clothes and slowly looked around at the mercenaries who jeered. The men who had once told him to trust them during the awakening party were gone, and only punks remained. Yohan, who staring at them, turned toward the mercenary team leader Kim Hyunwoo.

“A shiitake mushroom cap, huh?”

“You bastard… so you really do remember….”

Kim Hyunwoo frowned, then he raised his brows. Something was wrong. By now Yohan should not even be able to stand properly but be crawling on the ground. He looked at his men.

“You did use the numbing poison, right? He looks too fine.”

“We definitely used it! You saw it yourself.”

“What’s with this bastard? They said he’s only low-level physical strength enhancement. Does he have a support ability hidden?”

Kim Hyunwoo, suspicious and wary, soon lost interest. He felt no threatening aura from the other.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. You’re dead here today anyway.”

He drew his weapon, then paused. The man who should have been begging for life with tears instead looked calm. Yohan dropped the bag from his shoulder to the floor and asked,

“You people, you feel no guilt at all, do you?”

“What? Guilt?”

Kim Hyunwoo was curious what nonsense that was, he listened, then started laughing. He looked at his men, and they too roared.

“What’s he talking about?”

“Guilt, he says. Moron.”

“Yeah. I figured as much.”

Yohan murmure. Kim Hyunwoo saw he was still mouthing so cockily even in this situation, he swung his fist first at his mouth. He had no intent to kill him here. They hadn’t approached simply to erase evidence. Their plan was to first ruin that pretty face, then slowly savor things until he begged for his life and promised anything.

Thwack! A loud impact rang out. But the groan that followed, “Ugh,” came not from Yohan’s mouth but his own.

“Uh, ugh, wh-what….”

Kim Hyunwoo staggered back in confusion. Pain spread through the center of his face. The shock he hadn’t anticipated left his nose briefly numb, then he felt a dull ache, and blood ran down. Yohan’s face was unscathed. It was unbelievable, he hadn’t only dodged but also counterattacked.

“You bastard!”

Humiliated before his team, Kim Hyunwoo shouted and rushed at him again. This time he tried a feint. He pretended a punch but drove his knee at Yohan’s side. Or so he thought. What followed was a suffocating blow to his solar plexus. A groan forced itself from his lips.

“Ugh…! Wh-what, what the hell!”

Only after three successive hits did Kim Hyunwoo realize this opponent was no mere low-level dealer. He fell back and shouted.

“Hey, spread the poison!”

A teammate moved quickly and released the toxin fog. Like a living thing, the fog spread on the ground and wrapped Yohan’s feet, then seeped into his body. But Yohan didn’t even flinch, and he pummeled Kim Hyunwoo again. His fists hit his face, chest, and stomach. The punches were awkward, he had never hit a man properly before.

‘A mid-level dealer…?’

As the blows continued raining down on him, Kim Hyunwoo realized the force matched that of a mid-level dealer. If that were true, the story changed. They never would have attempted such recklessness. He hastily raised a shield. Boom! Yohan’s fist slammed the barrier, and he frowned and stepped back.

“You bastards, what are you doing?! Attack already!”

Kim Hyunwoo screamed and turned, but froze. No wonder the silence from his men had felt odd. Every one of them stood stiff and unmoving. Ice shards pinned their feet to the floor, and golden telekinesis bound their bodies and mouths.

“Mmhh, mmhh…!”

The team tried desperately to shout. Kim Hyunwoo swallowed dry with his shield around him. He saw the ice and telekinesis, and understood.

“So you’re the ones who picked on my baby?”

“S-Seo Yakrin….”

Hair floating in zero gravity, Seo Yakrin descended slowly from the air. Then she softly patted Yohan’s back, whose breath became ragged because of rage. Kim Hyunwoo gasped and screamed.

“I-I swear…! I saw it myself this afternoon, you all went to Gyeongju for the rift expedition!”

They had not done this thoughtlessly. The Taeyang Team backing the low-level physical dealer Yohan was supposed to be far away today on a rift expedition. They had even watched that very morning as the team left in a van. Someone was still tracking them live at this very moment.

So how could those who had clearly gone down to Gyeongju now be here before his eyes?