FLIA 146

“What are you talking about? When did we ever go to Gyeongju. Did you see ghosts?”

Yoon Seungryong appeared from the dark with a chuckle. Kim Hyunwoo panted raggedly and furtively looked around. A moment later, Lee Chanha and Ju Hoyoung appeared as well.

‘It was a trap! Yang Yohan went home alone on purpose!’

Flash! A dark spark burst, and his shield shattered. Kim Hyunwoo screamed. A terrifying current had struck down and broken his shield. When he realized even Lee Hyunmook was here, he dropped to his knees.

“Spare me!”

He felt a peril he had never once experienced in his life. Even if Lee Hyunmook was another matter, the oppressive force of those he thought were only mid-level awakeners equal to himself made him cling to the ground.

“I lost my head to money for a moment and did this…! Please, forgive me just once! If you send me to prison, I will go without a word!”

Kim Hyunwoo wailed falsely and prostrated himself. He knew well how kind the Taeyang Team was. No Korean couldn’t know. They had once given mercy even to the man who left malicious comments endlessly, and to the man who threw eggs and stones and tried to scam them.

In this society, if an awakener with power chose to bury someone, he could do it whenever he pleased, but making sure they faced a trial was the mercy of an awakener. While crying, Kim Hyunwoo cautiously lifted his head to study their faces, then hastily pressed it down again.

‘Wha-what is this?’

His heart hammered with dread. All five glared at him with contempt as if he were an insect. Their indifferent eyes didn’t look human at all. Only Yang Yohan, who sought vengeance, had eyes that seemed human. He felt doomed this time, so his body trembled, and Seo Yakrin crushed his head beneath her foot.

“Don’t worry. We won’t kill you. We are still quite righteous, right? You only need to let our youngest vent a little. Understood?”

Even though it was only a light stomp, Kim Hyunwoo screamed as if his head would explode. But he felt some relief when she said that he couldn’t die.

“If our youngest wins, we will call it even. All right?”

“Ugh, y-you promise that?”

“Yes, I promise.”

After that halfhearted answer, Seo Yakrin lifted her foot. Kim Hyunwoo staggered to his feet. With a strand of hope, he stood before Yang Yohan who glared at him with ferocity.

‘I must not use a shield, obviously.’

Feeling the mood, he threw away the weapon that shook in his hand. Even if they promised to treat it as nothing if he lost, he must not inflict a grave wound.

‘Fuck it, I will just take a beating.’

From the punches earlier, the boy did not even know how to hit properly. Even if he was a mid-level dealer or tanker, maybe there was a chance to win. But Kim Hyunwoo soon changed his mind.

“Khuk…!”

It hurt. It hurt intensely. With each hit, his flesh seemed to split and his bones seemed to break, and the agony was unbearable. Unable to endure the constant beating, Kim Hyunwoo finally lashed out, but though his foe did not know how to throw a punch well, he dodged expertly. He had the strength of a mid-level dealer, but with speed and reflexes that surpassed that. Kim Hyunwoo felt something disturbingly strange, but he had no mind to dwell on it now.

“Aagh, w-wait, ugh…! Please, stop…!”

Unable to withstand the pain, Kim Hyunwoo even vomited. Yohan hesitated but didn’t stop his fists burning with resentment. He remembered the day he had been cast into the Abyss with no recourse. He remembered the grief when he thought he would never see his family again, and the days he lived in fear when he thought he would never escape that dreadful place.

Kim Hyunwoo curled on the floor in filth. His face twisted, streaked with tears and blood from his nose, and when he nearly lost consciousness, Yohan finally stopped with ragged breath. His hands throbbed. Yohan exhaled a long breath and wiped his tears with his sleeve.

“A mid-level tanker’s endurance is quite sturdy.”

Lee Hyunmook, who had been watching Yohan beat Kim Hyunwoo, stepped closer. He put an arm around Yohan’s shoulders tenderly and asked.

“Already done with the beating?”

“Yes… I still can’t beat someone to death.”

“My good little Yangyang.” When his lover kissed his forehead, Yohan’s mood lifted. He had beaten him for revenge, yet beating someone to death was not as pleasant as he thought. But the stifling resentment had eased. Yohan sniffled and looked back at the others.

The teammates who had watched their much younger youngest pummel Kim Hyunwoo with fond eyes, like chicks pecking a bug, quickly put on serious expressions. Unaware of that, Yohan spoke gravely.

“But this man, I’m sure it wasn’t the first time he threw people into the Abyss. If you release him back to society, he will do it again.”

His organs and bones were unharmed, only his skin was battered and yet Yohan thought the revenge was over. Why was our boy so gentle? His regeneration was strong since he was mid-level too. With that meaning, Yoon Seungryong ruffled Yohan’s hair and spoke.

“Fine, I understand. Our deputy leader has always handled things like this well. Yohan, you shouldn’t worry anymore, just go home and sleep with your feet stretched out.”

Kim Hyunwoo, who had been feigning unconsciousness on the floor, sweated as if he was caught under a downpour. His instincts told him that Yang Yohan was his lifeline. He tried to stood up and beg him not to go, but strangely his body wouldn’t move. No scream came either. A faint golden aura pressed down his tongue and his body.

“Hyung put samgyetang in the fridge. You only need to heat it, so make sure to eat, all right? The sticky rice turned out really good.”

“Yes! I will eat it well!”

Yoon Seungryong exhorted Yohan. Kim Hyunwoo watched with desperate eyes as Lee Hyunmook walked away with Yang Yohan. The moment their figures vanished completely, cruel retribution began.

“Aaaargh!”

Seo Yakrin stomped his leg using a little strength, but it snapped. When his body and mouth were freed again, Kim Hyunwoo crawled on the floor and screamed.

“Help me! Aaagh! Somebody help me!”

Yoon Seungryong kicked him across the floor, and when Kim Hyunwoo spat blood, he burst into mocking laughter.

“Ah, this is funny. Didn’t you deliberately bring Yohan to such a deserted place? Do you think anyone will come to save you?”

He frantically created shields, and dozens shattered in turn. Each time, his body broke along with them. A stench of urine spread. One of his teammates, fixed in place as if nailed down by force since earlier, had wet himself under the brutal violence. Lee Chanha grimaced and stepped back. Ju Hoyoung put away his game console and watched with interest.

“Ugh, ugh… Please… I will do anything, just spare my life… ugh….”

Sensing mortal peril, Kim Hyunwoo wept and begged. Yohan’s words that a mid-level tanker’s endurance was high proved true. Each time his bones broke, they knit slowly, and each time they broke again, the agony grew worse. Yoon Seungryong stomped on the broken bones as if he wanted to grind them to powder and demanded.

“Hand over the bodycam footage.”

They finally demanded something, and even that gave him relief.

“Y-yes, I will give it. I will. Please… stop…”

Overwhelmed by pain, Kim Hyunwoo spilled everything about where the footage was stored and how to find it. Quick-footed Ju Hoyoung ran off and returned. Until the videos were checked one by one on the laptop, Kim Hyunwoo and his teammates stayed bound to the spot, unable to move. After reviewing everything, Lee Chanha nodded. As the four stared straight at him, Kim Hyunwoo and his teammates sensed their ominous fate.

“I-I gave it all!”

His bones were nearly mended, Kim Hyunwoo cried desperately as he crawled on the floor.

“Ah, yes, that is right. Then… I will even tell you who ordered us to kidnap Yang Yohan!”

“We already know that.”

Ju Hoyoung answered indifferently. The culprit was too obvious to press further. He glanced at his watch and grinned.

“A promise is a promise… so I will give you three minutes from now.”

“No, please…”

Realizing his enemies had no thought of mercy, Kim Hyunwoo’s face turned pale. Regardless, Ju Hoyoung spoke cheerfully.

“Run as hard as you can. Now, staaart!”

Kim Hyunwoo and his teammates jumped up and fled frantically. They rushed out of the ghastly underground garage and ran toward the city. As they ran, turning their heads back again and again, one teammate turned his eyes ahead and shrieked.

“Ha! Got you!”

“Aaagh!”

Crack! Ju Hoyoung suddenly appeared ahead and snapped his neck. As one teammate died instantly, Kim Hyunwoo froze with terror. These awakeners had no intention of letting them live…!

They sprinted with every ounce of desperation. Yet Ju Hoyoung kept appearing ahead without warning. At every path toward the city, Ju Hoyoung appeared ghostlike with a bluish grin and snapped one teammate’s neck after another. Laughter echoed from every direction.

At last, Kim Hyunwoo too was seized by Ju Hoyoung. Hr screamed until the instant the icy hands broke his neck.

Crack!

His neck snapped. Death has come…!