FLIA 176

“Hey, give me something.”

As Yoon Seungryong stepped outside, Seo Yakrin, who was sitting by the campfire with Ju Hoyoung, nudged him in the side. Yoon Seungryong grumbled as he offered her pieces of jerky. He even slipped a piece into the mouth of Ju Hoyoung, who was completely engrossed in his game. The three of them passed the time tearing off and nibbling on the jerky.

The lamb that had lost its fear after being purified ambled over, and when he offered some jerky to it, it ate it.

“So you’re an omnivore?”

Just as Yoon Seungryong finished eating the jerky and was tearing moss to eat, Yohan woke up. He rubbed his eyes, came out, yawned, and stretched out fully. Lee Hyunmook came out with him, his face looking shiny and glossy.

“Good morning, everyone!”

After greeting them vigorously, Yohan ran straight to the lamb. The lamb was delighted to see him. It bleated and rubbed its head against him while circling around. It even eagerly ate the reeds it had ignored earlier.

Just then, everyone looked up at a sudden loud commotion. A flock of migratory birds was passing across the sky.

“Another three months have passed.”

Yoon Seungryong muttered. About exactly three months and nine days, that flock of migratory birds would always fly across the sky. They were like calendars, discovered during the early days of falling into the Abyss when his watch broke down shortly after. Those things always flew through the sky and never came down to the ground.

“Wait a minute. Let’s catch a few and eat them for breakfast.”

Seo Yakrin immediately unfolded her wings and flapped them. Feathers mixed with wind blasted toward Yoon Seungryong, he spat out the stray feathers and frowned.

“What if their flight pattern gets messed up because of that?”

“Then the team leader will just tell us the time again.”

After giving a half-hearted reply, Seo Yakrin took flight. She was right. Lee Hyunmook was akin to a living clock. This was because his ‘heartbeat’ always stayed perfectly constant. Moreover, the fact that he counted it every day was also monstrous. If it were him, Yoon Seungryong wouldn’t have bothered to count the painful time that was slipping away.

A moment later, Seo Yakrin landed, covered in blood and clutching giant, bladder-sac-like birds with wings attached to their feet.

It was a pain to watch Yohan purify her while worrying if she was hurt again.

Maybe I should grow wings too. Though they’d probably just be bug wings.

“Is this a goose?”

“Isn’t it a duck?”

After purification, the birds looked strange. They weren’t sure if it was a goose or a duck, but after preparing and grilling it, the taste was incredible. It was savory, and there was a certain pleasure in chewing it bone and all. After finishing the meal, Yoon Seungryong licked his lips. It was a pity that he wouldn’t be able to eat this delicious meat again for three months.

After breakfast, they started working on securing drinking water again. By now, even Yohan had become accustomed to the task of snapping insects’ tails. After that, he dealt with the sheep. After training, he would return to play with the lamb, eat, sleep, wake up. He repeated this cycle for fifteen days.

Finally, Yohan succeeded in killing all three sheep. In a place where wool was flying everywhere, Yohan purified the three sheep he had killed and came running. It seemed like Yang Yohan had started to resemble the sheep a bit after fighting them so long, he suddenly rammed into Lee Hyunmook and tightly hugged him before shouting.

“I did it! I finally did it!”

The team leader smiled as he effortlessly absorbed the charge from the high-level purifier without taking a single hit. He patted Yohan with a very affectionate gaze.

“Well done, Yohan-ah. You did it faster than expected.”

“Really?!”

Seo Yakrin and Ju Hoyoung, not to be outdone, showered him with praise. Amidst comments ranging from him being naturally gifted to them saying they thought it would take another month, Yoon Seungryong clapped loudly and ran alone to the sheep. He quickly hoisted the three back and drained the blood first.

Lamb meat!

Although it was his first time butchering a sheep, he had a rough knack for it, so it wasn’t too difficult. He quickly separated the lean meat. Even though Yohan had purified it, it definitely had a slightly gamey smell compared to other meats. However, he wasn’t worried. He had some herbs and spices that he had gathered here and there during their journey. Perhaps because he handled poisons, he had an uncanny ability to identify ingredients that were inedible to humans.

He carefully seasoned the lamb with all his effort and skewered the pieces one by one. Throughout the process, not only Yohan but also Seo Yakrin and Ju Hoyoung waited patiently with drooling mouths. Yoon Seungryong held out a mountain of lamb skewers to Seo Yakrin and ordered.

“Try grilling it over the fire while turning it slowly.”

Seo Yakrin used telekinesis to hold the lamb skewers. She effortlessly levitated them above the bonfire and turned them around. Moving dozens of lamb skewers one by one was an ability that required precise control. However, no one here was surprised by this, and only the clueless Yohan, who had only recently awakened, watched with sparkling eyes.

Fat dripped down from the perfectly grilled lamb skewers. The smoky-flavored skewer was handed to Yohan first. He blew on it to cool it down and put it in his mouth. His eyes flew open. To put it crudely, it was fucking delicious.

“Wow, that’s crazy!”

A long silence followed Seo Yakrin’s remark. Everyone remained silent for quite some time, completely absorbed in tearing into the tender, fatty lamb. Three massive sheep had been slaughtered, yet every last bit vanished. As always, Yohan was the first to give up, so Yoon Seungryong handed him a grilled pineapple skewer for dessert. Just as everyone was feeling pleasantly full and gazing at the campfire, Seo Yakrin suddenly stood up.

“Hey youngest, do you want to see fireworks?”

“Fireworks?”

Yang Yohan had been nibbling on the grilled pineapple because he was too full, but his eyes lit up.

Seo Yakrin raised her index finger and shot golden telekinesis into the sky. The golden ball of telekinesis soared high into the air and scattered in all directions. The sight was roughly similar to fireworks.

“Ah, me too, me too!”

Not to be outdone, Ju Hoyoung shot a chunk of ice into the air.

Amidst the scattering of tiny ice crystals, golden fake fireworks adorned the sky here and there. Yohan’s eyes sparkled as he looked up at it. With everyone full, a happy and relaxed atmosphere filled the air.

Perhaps because today’s training was grueling, Yohan yawned several times while staring at the fire and fell asleep earlier than usual. Even though the Abyss was without day or night, Yohan was functioning well according to a 24-hour cycle. Thanks to him, the group was also felt like they were experiencing day and night.

“Hey, sorry. But it was really delicious.”

After eating his fill of lamb meat, Yoon Seungryong went to the lamb and apologized, feeling just a tiny bit guilty. Regardless of whether he had eaten its own kind or not, the lamb simply looked up with its still gentle and innocent eyes and bleated.

“You little brat… You eat your fill too.”

He took out the jerky and fruit he had stockpiled and mixed them with reeds to feed the lamb.

“Once it finishes this, what am I going to feed it next?”

He was watching the lamb eat, lost in thought, when Yoon Seungryong turned around because something felt strangely eerie and jumped in surprise. Before he knew it, Lee Hyunmook had approached him from behind and was looking down at the lamb.

“Whoa, I was so startled! You scared me, Team Leader…!”

Even though Yoon Seungryong grumbled, Lee Hyunmook just stared at the lamb in silence. While Yohan and the other team members had taken turns doting on the lamb, Lee Hyunmook was the only one who showed almost no interest. Feeling somewhat uneasy, Yoon Seungryong tensed up.

Lee Hyunmook reached out his hand to the head of the lamb that was vigorously chewing on a reed. The lamb blinked its eyes.

“Yes, you’re a good one.”

Contrary to Yoon Seungryong’s worries, Lee Hyunmook only stroked it gently. Then, he watched until the lamb finished eating. At one moment, the lamb’s shadow rippled and instantly swallowed its body. There was not a single bleating sound. With a slightly pale face, Yoon Seungryong muttered while avoiding the team leader’s gaze, which was impossible to read.

“Yohan will wake up and look for it…”

“It won’t live here for long. It can’t return to the group, and it’s not really suitable for us to take it around. It would be a problem if Yohan got too attached to it.”

Lee Hyunmook was right. Unless they had settled down somewhere, the Abyss was far too barren a place to leisurely wander around with a pet. Even though he knew what the intention was behind swallowing the lamb, Yoon Seungryong got goosebumps and quietly distanced himself from the team leader. Regardless, Lee Hyunmook spoke indifferently.

“I plan to release it at a ranch later when we get out of the Abyss. Make sure you give Yohan a good excuse.”

Lee Hyunmook returned silently to the shelter where Yohan slept. Yoon Seungryong, who had been staring at the reed scraps, let out a belated sigh. He found the reeds that the lamb had dropped while eating and picked them up. As he put them into his pocket, he looked up at the sky.

“When we leave the Abyss later….”

He imagined the lamb grazing leisurely in a pasture full of lush, real grass. It did not come to mind clearly. Having been in the Abyss for so long, neither the place he used to live, nor the house he once had, nor the guild that was more familiar than home.

Will they really ever be able to get out of the Abyss?

Someday…

For the first time in a long while, Yoon Seungryong harbored hope.