FLIA 76

Before they could take a closer look, the paper airplane made of light crumpled in a monster’s hand and vanished. Fortunately, Yohan wasn’t the only one who saw it, Lee Hyunmook had seen it too. With glowing red eyes, he stared into the darkness for a long time, as if it were as clear as day.

“Yeah, Yohan-ah. I saw it too. Maybe this place… might be the very heart of the Abyss.”

“The heart… of the Abyss?”

Ju Hoyoung flinched in shock and looked again beyond the gap. He stared into the pitch-black pit, teeming with uncountable monsters, and murmured.

“But for that, there’s barely any Flood visible.”

“Maybe it’s because there’s already so much to be digested.”

Yoon Seungryong replied, his face unusually serious. If that was true, it explained why the Black Mountain had swallowed up the approaching monsters and dumped them all here. Even as he spoke, more monsters occasionally appeared high above the Abyss’s center and plummeted into that horrific chasm.

Luckily, the monsters only writhed within and didn’t try to climb out. Even though the pit spiraled upward in a way that would allow them to crawl out if they tried, the creatures merely dissolved now and then in the repulsive, reeking fluid that oozed from the core and made no attempt to escape. It was like watching flies or maggots enchanted by the sweet scent of a carnivorous plant’s digestive secretions. The group backed away a little to discuss.

“If this really is the heart of the Abyss, then what the hell is that disgusting thing?”

“Some kind of energy source sustaining the Abyss?”

“Then… what happens if we destroy it?”

Lee Hyunmook, who had been quietly listening to his teammates, muttered in a calm tone.

“Escape… or death.”

A heavy silence followed. Escape, or death. A brutal choice between two extremes.

“Die fast, die slow… or maybe nothing changes at all. Either way, we won’t know unless we try.”

Yohan, still staring across the void with both fists clenched, swallowed dryly. After a long moment of thought, Seo Yakrin tried once again to communicate with the Black Mountain. Meanwhile, from beyond, came the squelching, bubbling sound of something alive. After a long attempt, Seo Yakrin’s face twisted in frustration.

“It won’t talk. All I got was the same answer: destroy it.”

Unable to shake her irritation, she slammed her fists against the passage walls. Just then, while everyone else watched in silence, Yohan, who had been silently fixated on the depths of the pit, spoke.

“Let’s destroy it.”

The repulsion and fear he’d always felt toward the Flood had begun transforming into fierce anger. He now knew he wasn’t just some prey endlessly pursued by the Flood. In fact, he felt like the tide was turning. If he encountered the Flood again after more time, he wouldn’t have to flee helplessly anymore. In a rare moment of certainty, he declared,

“Next time, this passage could be completely filled with the Flood. Or blocked off by something else. Then the opportunity will be gone, won’t it?”

Yohan’s eyes briefly flashed with white light in the darkness.

“This might be a trap, or we might just be getting used. But one thing is clear… that thing is producing the Flood.”

He trailed off mid-sentence. Everyone had been staring silently at him the whole time. Yoon Seungryong suddenly reached out and ruffled Yohan’s hair with a big grin.

“Ohh, is that what you were thinking?”

“Our youngest wants to do something bold, huh?”

Not to be outdone, Seo Yakrin also started ruffling his hair relentlessly. Yohan’s face turned red as a beet. His bold declaration seemed like a distant memory now.

“But I’m not the youngest… Hoyoung is.”

Pressed flat by all the attention, Yohan added in a small voice. He began to shrink back, regretful for having voiced his opinion in front of the Sunrise Team. Thankfully, no one scolded him.

“Yohan-ah has a point. And yeah, we’re probably being used, but it doesn’t feel like a trap. More like… a shared enemy. Like, ‘I broke the layer of rock you couldn’t break, so now you destroy that thing.’”

Seo Yakrin tilted her head, speaking with uncertainty. Nothing was certain. Lee Hyunmook looked around at his team and asked,

“Then let’s go around. One by one, what do you want to do?”

As if waiting for this, Ju Hoyoung raised his hand first.

“Me! If we could just get rid of the Flood, life here would be so much easier.”

Yoon Seungryong and Seo Yakrin followed.

“I agree with Hoyoung. Without the Flood, we wouldn’t have ended up in this mess.”

“I don’t care what happens, as long as we can screw over those bastards.”

After listening to everyone, Lee Hyunmook sent an encouraging glance to the tense Yohan, then spoke quietly.

“We don’t know what’ll happen when we attack that thing. It could bring the worst-case scenario. Things could get even worse than now.”

“But it could also be the best-case scenario. What if that’s the key to escaping this place?”

Ju Hoyoung spoke in a desperate voice. Everyone’s expressions changed. If they could get out of here. If destroying that damn core opened up an exit, if they could all be sucked out and return to Earth, it would be a miracle worth risking everything for.

“We’ve been stuck here for so long. Isn’t this the first real clue we’ve gotten? Isn’t it, Team Leader?”

Hoyoung even used formal speech, clinging to Lee Hyunmook with pleading eyes. After hearing everyone out, Hyunmook finally nodded.

“Alright. Let’s try it. Hoyoung.”

“Okay! I’ll give it everything I’ve got!”

With an excited voice, Hoyoung stepped forward and moved to the front. He approached the edge of the pit and nocked one of his pre-made ice arrows onto his bowstring. For once, the eyes that always looked bored outside of games now burned with focus. Lee Hyunmook gave his next order.

“Attack a monster first, then go for the core.”

“Got it.”

After taking a deep breath, Hoyoung pulled the bowstring taut. Despite the darkness, he didn’t hesitate in aiming into the pit. A sharp whistle cut through the air. One monster was struck and collapsed with a thud, but otherwise, there was no reaction.

“Second attack incoming.”

Hoyoung murmured and aimed again, this time at the core glimpsed between the writhing monsters. Ping! The arrow flew straight at it, but crack! the ice arrow shattered without leaving a scratch.

“Step aside. Let me try.”

Seo Yakrin wrapped a golden mist around a dagger, using telekinesis to launch it at similar speed. It struck the core but bounced back, undamaged. Yakrin clicked her tongue. Even Lee Hyunmook’s thunderous lightning couldn’t scratch it. Finally, he spoke slowly.

“Maybe it’s time to try… something else.”

The group quickly backed away. Yoon Seungryong even grabbed Yohan by the collar to pull him to safety. Remembering how Hyunmook had transformed during the Flood at the Reed Sea, Yohan also swallowed hard.

A faint vibration spread from Hyunmook’s feet. His shadow lengthened, unnaturally, clearly visible even in the pitch-dark center of the Abyss. The elongated shadow touched the core, then wrapped around it. A few monsters vanished into the shadow.

But that was all. Hyunmook retrieved the shadow and sighed softly. His words came strangely slow.

“My attack… doesn’t seem to have any effect.”

Yohan quietly approached and grasped Hyunmook’s hand tightly. He had seen the red light flash in his eyes.

“Then how about we try imbuing Hoyoung-ah’s arrows or Yakrin-noona’s daggers with my power?”

“Great! Here you go.”

Hoyoung quickly handed over an ice arrow. Yohan placed his hand on it and channeled some of the abundant light inside him. Just that, and the arrow shone as if it were made of light.

“Third attack, here we go!”

Hoyoung cheerfully announced as he nocked the light-infused arrow. Ping! A streak of light shot across the darkness and struck the core. This time, the result was completely different.

The moment Yohan’s light hit it, the surface began to crumble slightly, and the core pulsed violently. Monsters suddenly went berserk, shrieking and flailing. As if protecting something precious, they swarmed toward the core, clinging to it.

They layered themselves over and over again. No matter how many were killed, more took their place.

“If only Yohan’s attacks work on that thing… then we’ll have to go inside.”

The air grew taut with tension. Lee Hyunmook looked at the group’s determined faces and nodded.