Lee Hyunmook gave a gentle smile and answered with an easygoing tone, which only made Yohan’s face burn hotter. He was a good ten years younger, and yet he’d been treating Hyunmook like so kind of big fur animal, petting him all over. There was no way that could have been pleasant. Yoon Seungryong, looking sullen, added a complaint.
“And here I am, feeling left out—you didn’t lay a finger on once. Guess I must’ve looked that bad to you.”
“You were this pitch-black, disgusting-looking tangle of tentacles....”
Seungryong’s expression twisted faintly, but Yohan, writhing in embarrassnt, didn’t notice. Looking back now, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t suspected anything. Even with Purification, where in the world would you find monsters that tucked you in, fed you, and carried you around?
“No wonder it felt so strange. Thinking about it, there’s no way monsters would be that nice.”
“And you know neither I nor the team leader would let you just get dragged off in a situation like that.”
“True....”
Hyunmook and Seungryong were the kind of people who never took their eyes off him, always on edge for his sake. And Hyunmook had been right there beside him at the ti—there was no way he could have missed anything. Yohan sighed.
“Well, I think I’ve learned sothing. From now on, if a monster’s acting nice, I’ll at least be suspicious about it.”
“Yohan, even if a monster’s nice, don’t follow it. You really think the Abyss doesn’t have monsters that lure you in like that?”
“...Ah.”
At Hyunmook’s words, Yohan groaned. Co to think of it, he’d already fallen for that once—back in the ruined city, he’d let himself get lured in by a monster pretending to be a subway train. He scratched his neck sheepishly. Now that he thought about it, maybe the hallucination hadn’t just fooled his eyes—it had dulled his judgnt too. Otherwise, why else would he have cried, flailed, and carried on like that?
Seungryong pulled off a plump cheek of fish and popped one piece into Yohan’s mouth, the other into his own, thinking aloud.
“Yohan’s got a real weakness for hallucinations. There’s no guarantee he won’t get hit by one again, so we’d better co up with a counterasure.”
“Yeah. And carrying you around only works for so long. You could end up hurting yourself in a fit.”
While Hyunmook and Seungryong exchanged a silent look, Yohan—oblivious—reached up and pulled the food he’d stuck on their spears earlier. Now that he thought about it, trying to feed and talk to their weapons must have looked completely insane.
“While I was hallucinating, they looked like small monsters that could talk. When I gave them food, they were happy, saying they’d gotten new decorations.... Ugh, that’s so embarrassing. I must’ve looked ridiculous, right?”
Yohan winced, but Hyunmook and Seungryong’s reactions were... strange. Seungryong glanced down at his spear, stroked it, and made a joke.
“If they ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) said sothing, maybe they really did. I think our weapons have gotten a bit of self-awareness from being in the Abyss this long.”
“Huh?”
Yohan, who had been assuming it was all in his head, blinked in surprise. Thinking it was just a joke, he looked to Hyunmook—who nodded.
“There are certain tis they heat up unusually—like right after a good fight.”
“Oh, yeah. Mine vibrates whenever it gets dirty. Sotis I think it’s swearing at . Maybe because they’re made from monster byproducts?”
Feeling uneasy, Yohan eyed their weapons, then took the banana and snake at pieces he’d stuck on them and replaced them with large flower petals instead. Seungryong chuckled at the sight.
“So, how far have we traveled? How much longer until we reach the Russian sector?”
“About that...”
Hyunmook started to answer but suddenly shot to his feet. Seungryong reacted the sa way, shoving the roasting fish into his storage. Seeing them, Yohan scrambled up, looking around. Hyunmook murmured flatly—
“By the river.”
“Oh, shit.”
Seungryong cursed and bolted, while Hyunmook scooped up the still-confused Yohan and sprinted. Yohan quickly realized why—they’d felt this chill before. The crimson water of the river began to blacken, like ink spilling through it, and then sothing started to rise. Yohan’s eyes widened.
From the current rolled a bubbling, swelling mass just like the flooding blight they’d seen in the swamp before.
With a wet, cracking sound, branch-like limbs sprouted from its body, and it began chasing them fast. Hyunmook shouted—
“Don’t attack it! Don’t even touch it!”
“I know!”
These two had never hesitated to attack monsters before, no matter how toxic or foul their fluids, but now they didn’t so much as glance back. Watching the black masses swarm after them, Yohan’s fear flared, his body flashing with light.
“Is it supposed to do that?!”
“No! First ti I’ve seen it!”
Seungryong swung his spear crosswise. Slash! Trees toppled instantly.
The blind, rushing masses collided with the fallen logs—so burst apart on impact, spraying a mass of warped, grotesque things. A tree touched by the blight twisted, split, and turned into sothing horrid that crawled along the ground. One monster that touched a bubble howled, swelled grotesquely, then lted. Seeing it still move after, Yohan gagged and clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Shit, what do we do?! They just keep coming!”
Sweating as he hacked down more trees, Seungryong let out a laugh that cracked into a sob. The madness was creeping in—underneath the laughter was a deep, hidden fear. Yohan, anxious, sent a heavy burst of Purification toward him... and then had an idea.
‘Maybe...’
He still had the banana and snake at pieces he’d taken from their spears earlier. Clutching them, he cramd as much blinding light into them as he could. Tossing the snake at to Seungryong, he watched him catch it without looking, then pop it into his mouth. The man exhaled in relief. Yohan turned to throw the banana to Hyunmook—then stopped.
If he could Purify contamination, what about the blight itself? He shoved more Purification into the banana until it glowed, then hurled it at one of the bubbles right on their tail. It struck—the blight shriveled instantly, collapsing into a dark wet stain. Yohan’s fist pumped.
“It works!”
“What? What did you do?”
Seungryong, too focused on not looking back, glanced at him in confusion. Yohan shouted, thrilled—
“I fed it a banana!”
“What?! That’s a waste!”
“I can infuse food with my ability!”
Realization dawned on Seungryong, and he fished out so dried snake jerky from his storage.
“Then do this for ! I’m... kind of desperate right now...”
His eyes had that slick red sheen. Yohan poured Purification into the jerky and handed it over, glancing at Hyunmook—whose black eyes stayed calm, showing no fear. Probably because of the direct contact with Yohan, he seed fine for now. Still, Yohan shoved jerky into his mouth, too.
“Isn’t there—anything—we can throw?!”
“Oh! I’ve got trash!”
Seungryong gulped the jerky and pulled a handful of scraps from his clothes—empty tin cans and the like. He shredded them bare-handed into dozens of sharp tal shards. Hyunmook took them from Yohan before he could start Purifying them himself.
“Do it like this.”
Yohan hesitated, worried about hurting him, but the urgency won out—he poured every bit of light he had into the shards. They flared white-hot, glittering like fragnts of a supernova. Hyunmook gripped them, glanced back once—just enough to gauge distance—and threw.
The makeshift shuriken struck the blight with a wet thunk. The pieces sank in; the mass shuddered, then burst apart or collapsed like a deflating balloon.
“That’s it!”
Yohan’s joy froze. The surviving blight lumps sward together, boiling into a single, massive, revolting shape. Now, even the glowing shards barely slowed it down.
“Ahhh!”
It was so hideous it made Yohan’s vision swim, but at least its speed dropped enough for them to gain ground—until it didn’t.
The first to falter was Seungryong. Staggering, he suddenly flopped to the ground right there, grinning lazily.
“Too much trouble. Not moving.”
“What?! Hyung, this is no ti—!”
No response. The madness had him fully, and he buried his face in the dirt, ignoring the blight. Hyunmook grabbed his collar and hauled him up—but then Seungryong’s arm sprouted a long, toothed blade. Thunk! He drove it into Hyunmook’s thigh, pinning himself to the ground and yanking them both to a stop.
“Just lie down. Let’s be comfortable together...”
The whites of his eyes had gone pitch-black, his grin unnervingly wide. Hyunmook stumbled, not just from the stab—sweat poured down his face, and Yohan could tell he was suppressing so terrible, alien urge he couldn’t even guess at.
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