“Gasp—Joo Hoyoung?”
At the mention of another Sunrise team member, Yohan clenched his fists in excitement. Joo Hoyoung was the youngest member of the team and their only Support—meaning he was in a role that Yohan could relate to on many levels. Yoon Seungryong rubbed his chin.
“But... do you think Hoyoung’s still alive? He’s a Support, so he can’t take many hits.”
“He’s fast. He should still be alive. At least ten... no, eleven months ago he was. And he’s not the type to die so easily.”
“Oh, then he’s probably still alive.”
Listening to the two speak so casually about whether a teammate was alive gave Yohan a strange, uncomfortable pang. But instead of adding to the conversation, he forced himself to speak brightly.
“I’d like to go meet Joo Hoyoung. Ah! And I wouldn’t be the youngest anymore.”
“...Oh. Right. Not being the youngest... that’d be nice.”
Seungryong’s reaction came half a beat late, as if suppressing a laugh, but Yohan just tilted his head once and let it go.
“Hoyoung’s... what, four years younger than you?”
“Huh? No, just two years younger!”
“Ah, right. He was twenty-one.”
Seungryong nodded as though dredging up an old memory. Having been in the Abyss for so long and heavily contaminated, some of his memories seemed to have warped. Yohan decided not to think too much of it.
“Anyway, his ability’s pretty useful. If needed, you could carry him and run, or if someone loses it, he could restrain them. That’s why it’d be good to bring him along.”
So that was why they wanted him... Yohan, who had once attacked Hyunmook while under hallucinations, felt a little embarrassed. Hyunmook, still looking thoughtful, slowly rubbed his jaw. His hesitation was unlike the ease with which he had agreed to bring Seungryong along. Seungryong crossed his arms and pressed him.
“What’s wrong? What’s the problem?”
“Hoyoung’s... fast.”
Yohan nodded automatically. As a Support, Hoyoung had always been known for his speed—it was a necessity for someone with low durability compared to a damage dealer or tank. At Hyunmook’s words, Seungryong shrugged dismissively.
“Fast or not, he’s not faster than you, boss.”
“The last time I tried to catch him... I failed.”
“...Huh? Really? You actually failed?”
Now even Seungryong’s face took on a troubled look. Yohan also understood why Hyunmook was reluctant. No matter how strong their attacks were, it meant nothing if the target never got hit. After a bit more thought, Hyunmook made his decision.
“Alright. Let’s go to the Japanese sector.”
* * *
They traveled for about another week before finally escaping the wretched jungle. The only advantages of the jungle had been the giant bananas and the abundance of sweet pineapples, papayas, and dragon fruit. Even so, Seungryong stuffed as many of the longer-lasting fruits as possible into his pack and lamented,
“We’ll have to meet Hoyoung before these go bad so we can freeze them.”
He was treating Hoyoung like nothing more than a walking freezer—or maybe a convenient trap. Still, Seungryong was right: Hoyoung’s ice-element ability was extremely versatile.
“I can see the city!”
Yohan’s voice was bright with excitement. Beyond the jungle, the outline of the city shimmered in the distance. After having endured swamps and jungles, he now fully appreciated the comfort °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° and easy food supply of modern urban areas. No matter how contaminated, concrete floors and walls were useful.
And after the rift crisis, it had become standard for households to stockpile emergency food. It meant that if they looted around, they’d find plenty of canned goods. The thought of meeting Hoyoung in this city made Yohan both excited and... oddly uneasy.
“Um, can I ask you something?”
Both men turned to look at him, their eyes warm and inviting. Yohan hesitated before speaking.
“Since you said Joo Hoyoung is here... I was wondering what happened to the other two members. If that’s too rude, you don’t have to answer.”
With more teammates supposedly joining them, Yohan was naturally curious about the others’ fates. He tacked on the reassurance just in case, but fortunately, neither man seemed angry or offended. They didn’t even look sad.
“It’s not rude! Old man—no, Yakrin’s doing fine somewhere over that way. And Chanha-hyung...”
At the mention of Lee Chanha, the Sunrise team’s vice-captain, Yohan listened even more intently.
“He’s dead.”
Hyunmook’s answer was blunt. Seungryong’s eyebrows rose—apparently, he hadn’t known.
“He’s dead?”
“Yeah.”
After a moment of silent scrutiny, Seungryong shrugged.
“Ah... I see. Dead, huh!”
His cheerful tone carried not a shred of grief, even for a dead vice-captain. Either the Abyss had hardened them to such losses, or contamination had dulled their emotions.
Yohan regretted asking. He decided he wouldn’t bring up other team members again unless absolutely necessary.
“Come to think of it, I’ve got a question too, Yohan. What’s Go Jaewon doing these days?”
Yohan hesitated. Though Seungryong’s face was smiling as usual, it didn’t feel like a smile.
Go Jaewon was the only member of Sunrise who hadn’t gone missing in the Abyss—older than Seungryong by a few years. He’d been friendly with everyone, and in the documentary footage, Seungryong had often called him “Jaewon-hyung” with genuine warmth. But now, there was a strange undertone of hostility in his voice.
...Had Go Jaewon betrayed them? Yohan remembered the suspicions cast on him after the team’s disappearance. Swallowing hard, he replied as evenly as he could,
“I heard... he’s formed a new Sunrise team and is still active.”
“Ohhh, really? A new Sunrise team. Glad to hear he’s doing well. Yeah... real glad!”
Seungryong grinned sharply. Yohan smiled back awkwardly, regretting again that he’d brought up a teammate. Yet he also felt a deep sense of kinship—these men, too, had been betrayed and cast into hell by someone they’d trusted.
Half a day later, they entered the Japanese sector. Though still a city, it felt different, perhaps because it was another country. To Yohan’s eye, it looked twenty or thirty years older than the ruined cities they’d seen before.
“Oh... Japanese.”
Spotting unfamiliar characters on a sign, Yohan marveled. Even without knowing their meaning, they gave off a foreboding, unpleasant feeling—probably corrupted by contamination into something ominous.
“In the jungle, you could hardly make out the letters at all, but here they’re still intact. Looks like a city abandoned for about thirty years.”
He peered through the glass of a restaurant display. Once-delicious food models and a beckoning cat statue had turned ashen gray. Not just the color—the shape and atmosphere were warped and threatening. The whole place felt like exploring a city long after human civilization had ended.
Had people fallen into the Abyss here too, once?
“If you’re not an Awakener, it’d be hard to survive in a place like this, right?”
“Of course. Without the boss, the rest of us would’ve died ages ago.”
Seungryong chuckled and pushed open a door. After casually killing a monster clinging to the ceiling, he came back with bottles of sauce and several cans.
After a couple hours of exploring, they chose a small building as their shelter. It was close to the road, with an accessible rooftop for easy escape—good tactical positioning. While Seungryong went inside to clear out any lurking monsters, Yohan and Hyunmook waited outside. Yohan glanced at him, then spoke carefully.
“Um... back in the jungle...”
Taking a deep breath, Yohan continued,
“I’m sorry for... kissing you without permission. I thought of it like artificial respiration, really—no ulterior motive.”
“I see.”
Hyunmook’s voice was calm, showing no reaction. Yohan felt a strange pang of disappointment—until he added,
“But I wouldn’t mind if there was an ulterior motive.”
Heat flared in Yohan’s cheeks. He looked away from Hyunmook, staring instead at the building where Seungryong’s monster-fighting noises clattered inside.
“...When you put it like that, it sounds weird.”
“What do you mean by weird?”
Faced with that endlessly gentle gaze, Yohan swallowed hard. Then, with a burst of courage, he blurted,
“Like... it sounds as if you’re saying it’s okay for me to have feelings for you.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he shrank back and rushed to explain,
“But that’s... um... it’d be kind of awkward, right? Since I’m a Purifier, you’d feel obliged to accept... and even if I did have feelings, it’d be more like... fan feelings! Not that I’m trying to do anything—it’s just, I worried you might have been uncomfortable about last time!”
“Yohan.”
“Yes!”
His voice came out extra sharp with nervous energy. Hyunmook smiled. As Yohan stared, momentarily spellbound by that handsome face, Hyunmook spoke.
“Fan feelings? That’s a little disappointing.”
“...Huh?”
