Park Seungmin laughed uproariously, clearly entertained.
“But who knows how many treatments it will take? Ah! Right, what about Samyeong Pharmaceutical Company? How about you just give me some shares? I have always wanted to be a major shareholder! There has never been a time when medicine was more precious than now! Let me use some for free, too!”
Even the Special Suppression Division officer standing guard frowned at his vile words. Yang Yohan let Seungmin have his fun, then answered calmly,
“The price you put on curing one case of contamination is too high. Forget it.”
“...What?”
Seungmin’s laughter stopped at once, his face twisting. He had expected begging and desperation, not this. Only then did he realize that Yohan had shown not the slightest hint of urgency since the beginning—just steady calm. Too calm, suspiciously so.
“You are not the only means of curing contamination.”
Yohan watched the overflowing purifying power sloshing inside Seungmin’s body, a gift he had poured in himself. It exceeded Seungmin’s vessel, spilling slowly outward. For now, it must have felt like endless strength.... Hearing that, Seungmin sneered.
“Ha, that Eternal Stone? Those rocks? I saw it myself. The Sun Guild handed a few over to the government in exchange for contaminated patients. They could only cure mild cases. Severe ones hardly responded at all.”
“Maybe so. But it still seems more reliable than letting you do it. From your attitude, who knows if you would actually heal someone.”
Speaking evenly, Yohan rose to his feet, staring down at Seungmin. Kim Yeju and Yang Hwapyeong, who had been restless, now also hardened their eyes. Seeing that change, Seungmin’s gaze grew vicious.
“It is late. I would like you to leave now. And next time, call ahead before barging in. You probably do not realize how extremely rude this was.”
“You little fuck....”
Seungmin’s face twisted with rage. He had come expecting joy and humiliation, but got none of it. In front of him, infinitely more powerful than some measly Eternal Stone, why was Yohan acting like this? Ah, it must be pride. He was clinging to his pride. Yes, that had to be it... and yet, unease prickled.
“You are making a mistake, you know? This is no time for pride. You should be grateful I am even willing to meet you now.”
“And what good is it for me to meet the likes of you?”
Those words erased the unease, leaving only shock. Seungmin’s jaw dropped. Instead of trembling and begging for mercy from the Purifier, Yohan stared him straight in the eye, defiant. And Yohan continued,
“Can you even handle the fame that comes with this?”
“What—fame?”
Fame? For a high-tier Awakener like him? Seungmin gaped, lost for words.
“Take this as advice. From now on, live humbly. Be kind. Do not treat the people protecting you like servants. You will regret it someday.”
The words smashed apart his earlier elation. He realized he had even missed much of the broadcast he had so long anticipated. Seething with rage, Seungmin clenched his fists, shaking. Humiliated, he stomped toward the door, glaring at Yohan as he left.
“You do not even know your place. I will not let this go. I will make you regret tonight. Fucking bastard—I came as a friend, and this is how you repay me?!”
“How strange, Seungmin.”
Yohan interrupted softly, his tone calm and gentle.
“Why do you act like I am your enemy? Should it not be the other way around?”
For a moment, Seungmin froze. Meeting Yohan’s eyes, full of certainty, he saw him smile brightly.
“Goodbye. Do not ever come back.”
Yohan shut the door in his face. He regretted every moment he had once considered Seungmin a friend. Outside, Seungmin erupted in curses, kicking the door until it rattled. After a while, the presences receded, and a car started. Watching from the terrace window, Yohan finally turned back to his parents.
“I am sorry. But I can explain everything.”
“...No.”
Yang Hwapyeong slumped heavily onto the sofa, looking years older in an instant. Rubbing his face, he muttered,
“You were right. He did not come with good intentions. Even if he agreed to heal Yosep, how well could we expect it to go?”
“...Yes. Thinking about it, soon there will be other Purifiers Awakening. And we still have the Eternal Stone. Asking them would be better.”
Kim Yeju gulped down water, either parched or burned with frustration. She sighed.
“A man like that, becoming a high-tier Awakener. It is a disgrace to the country.”
Feeling guilty that his parents had endured such humiliation because of him, Yohan approached and spoke gently,
“I told you earlier I had something to show you. Something happy.”
“Oh... yes, you did. What good news does our son have for us?”
Trying to smile, Kim Yeju looked at him with eyes full of expectation—surely he was about to mention the Eternal Stone. Without a word, Yohan headed back to the wine cellar.
He punched in the code Kim Yeju had used earlier. Realizing again how much his memory had sharpened since Awakening, he stepped once more into the foul stench. Moving close to Yosep, Yang Hwapyeong tried to stop him.
“Yohan! Do not get too close. It could be dangerous.”
But the evidence of their daily care was clear in the untouched meals at his side. Yohan looked down at Yosep, unmoving as if dead, and said,
“It is fine. There is no danger. I am an Awakener too.”
Maybe Yosep had deliberately refused food, trying to weaken himself so he would not harm his family.
“But Yohan, you—”
Before Hwapyeong could finish telling him to step back, the room suddenly lit up. Not from lamps—the light came from Yohan’s body. A glow brighter than the one Seungmin had shown. Kim Yeju gasped, covering her mouth in shock. Hwapyeong’s jaw dropped.
“...Good heavens.”
The light filled the room, sweeping away the stench at once. After the countless horrors of the Abyss, this contamination was nothing—cleaner, even, by comparison.
Holding their breath, the parents watched as their son knelt calmly, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) reaching out to Yosep. Light scattered from his fingertips as they touched his brother’s head. Purifying power seeped inside, flowing downward, washing his body. The filth, corruption, and grotesque growths vanished completely.
“Oh... oh, heavens.”
Yang Hwapyeong gasped, while Kim Yeju collapsed onto the floor, trembling. Before their eyes, the monstrous contamination dried up, crumbled to dust, and disappeared. Tears streamed down their faces as their son’s body was restored.
“You fool. You should not have gone so far. I was not even there....”
Yohan muttered bitterly as the gaping wound across Yosep’s back began to close, his regenerative power returning with the purification. If only they had waited—he would have come back in just fifteen days.... Moved, he wiped away the small tears that slipped out.
As the contamination disappeared and his wounds healed, Yosep’s face eased. His ragged breaths steadied into calm sleep. Rather than wake him, Yohan lifted him in his arms. Once, he could never have done so easily. But now, with strength comparable to a mid-tier dealer, one man’s weight was light.
‘Please, let me be stronger than my brother. Please, please....’
Thinking that, Yohan carried Yosep upstairs, his stunned parents following in a daze. He laid Yosep on his bed and pulled a blanket over him. He considered changing his clothes but decided that would be too much; a blanket would suffice. His parents repeatedly checked his body, finding no wound, no sign of contamination.
“How... how.... Then it must be! Just now... you Awakened too, didn’t you?”
Forgetting that Yohan had already claimed to be a low-tier strength-type Awakener, Hwapyeong stammered in disbelief. Feeling proud and confident, Yohan admitted with a slightly smug smile,
“Actually, I Awakened as a Purifier inside the Abyss.”
