However, before they could take a closer look, the paper airplane made of light crumpled in the hand of some monster and went out. Fortunately, Yohan was not the only one who saw it—Lee Hyunmook did as well. With eyes that seemed to flash with red light, he stared into the darkness for a long while as if it were all visible to him.
“Yes, Yohan. I saw it too. Maybe this place... might be the very heart of the Abyss.”
“The heart of the Abyss?”
Joo Hoyoung flinched in shock and once more gazed into the distance. After staring for a long time at the pitch-black pit swarming with countless monsters, he muttered,
“But if that’s the case, I hardly see any Bumram.”
“Maybe it’s because there’s so much here for it to digest,” Yoon Seungryong answered, for once without a smile.
If that really was the case, Yohan could understand why the Black Mountain had swallowed the approaching monsters and dumped them into this place. Even as they spoke, more monsters occasionally appeared high above the center of the Abyss and fell screaming into that ghastly chasm.
Luckily, the monsters only writhed inside and did not attempt to climb toward them. The pit was spiraled so that they could have crawled up in circles if they wished, but instead their bodies occasionally dissolved in the foul outflow of Bumram seeping from the revolting core, never truly trying to escape. They were like flies or maggots drawn to the sweet stench of digestive fluid secreted by a carnivorous plant. The party withdrew a little distance and discussed.
“If this is the center of the Abyss, then what the hell is that grotesque lump?”
“Maybe it’s like the power source sustaining the Abyss?”
“Then... what happens if we destroy it?”
Lee Hyunmook, who until now had been quietly listening to his teammates, murmured in a calm tone.
“Escape, or... death.”
A heavy silence fell. Escape, or death. An absolute choice of extremes.
“To die quickly, or to die slowly. Or maybe nothing at all will change. Whatever the case, we’ll only know the result if we try.”
Yohan, who had been clenching his fists and staring past the hole, swallowed dryly. Deep in thought, Seo Yakrin once more attempted to communicate with the Black Mountain. While he did, noises of wet, bubbling, seething life echoed from beyond. After a long attempt, Seo Yakrin’s face twisted in anger.
“It doesn’t understand words. The only answer is to destroy it.”
Then, as if unable to vent his frustration, he slammed his fists against the corridor walls. While the others fell into silence, staring at the abyss ahead, Yohan, who had been gazing down into its unfathomable depths, muttered,
“Destroy it.”
The terrible disgust and fear he had always felt whenever he encountered Bumram had gradually transformed into fierce rage. Yohan now knew he was no longer just a helpless prey chased by it. No—he even felt as if the situation were reversing. If he met Bumram again later, perhaps he would not have to flee so powerlessly. In a rare, firm voice, he declared,
“Next time this entire passage might be filled with Bumram. Or blocked off by something else. Then we’ll have lost our chance, won’t we?”
In the darkness, Yohan’s eyes flashed momentarily with pale light.
“This might be a trap. Maybe we’re only being used. But one thing is clear—that thing is creating Bumram....”
His words trailed off. Everyone had been staring at him in silence the whole time. Suddenly Yoon Seungryong stretched out a hand and tousled Yohan’s hair roughly, grinning.
“Oh, you really thought that?”
“Our youngest wants to do it, is that it?”
Seo Yakrin, standing nearby, refused to be outdone and ruffled him as well. Yohan’s face flushed red as if he had never been the one to speak so boldly.
“But... I’m not the youngest. Hoyoung is.”
Flattened between their hands, Yohan added in a small voice. He regretted speaking his opinion to the Sunrise Team at all, shrinking back in embarrassment. Fortunately, no one scolded him.
“Yohan’s got a point. And it does feel like we’re being used, but it doesn’t really feel like a trap. More like... a common enemy? Like saying: ‘I’ve broken through the bedrock you couldn’t destroy—so now you break that.’”
Seo Yakrin tilted his head, explaining with an uncertain look. Nothing was certain. Lee Hyunmook looked around at each team member and asked,
“Then each of you, tell me what you want to do.”
As if waiting for the chance, Joo Hoyoung raised his hand first.
“Me! If Bumram disappeared from the Abyss, life would be so much easier.”
Next Yoon Seungryong and Seo Yakrin gave their answers.
“I agree with Hoyoung. If not for Bumram, we never would have ended up like this.”
“If I can shove it down those bastards’ throats, I don’t care what happens.”
After hearing their opinions, Lee Hyunmook sent Yohan a gentle look, almost reassuring him, and then spoke calmly.
“When we attack that thing, we don’t know what will happen. It could bring about the worst. Things might get even worse than they are now.”
“But it could also bring about the best, couldn’t it? If that thing is the way out of here?”
Joo Hoyoung’s voice was desperate. At his words, everyone’s eyes changed. To leave this place. If, the moment that cursed core was broken, a miracle occurred and an exit opened, dragging everything back to Earth—that was the happy vision flashing in their minds. It was worth staking their lives on.
“We’ve been stuck here for so unbearably long. Isn’t this the first clue we’ve ever had? Isn’t it, Captain?”
Hoyoung even spoke in formal speech, looking at Lee Hyunmook with pleading eyes. After hearing them all, Lee Hyunmook sank into thought and finally nodded.
“Good. Then let’s give it a try. Hoyoung.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
In an excited voice, Joo Hoyoung hurried forward to the front. He approached the pit’s edge and set an ice arrow on his bowstring. His eyes, always dull with boredom outside of games, burned with intensity for the first time. Lee Hyunmook gave the next order.
“First attack the monsters, then the core.”
“Got it.”
After taking a deep breath, Joo Hoyoung pulled the bowstring taut. Though the chasm ahead was so dark, he aimed without hesitation. A moment later the arrow sliced through the air with a sharp whistle. With a thud, a monster fell, but there was no further reaction.
“Second attack—launching.”
Muttering, Hoyoung nocked another arrow. This time he aimed at the glimpses of the core between the writhing monsters. Ping! The arrow shot forth like lightning and struck the core. But crack! The ice arrow shattered, leaving no damage behind.
“Move aside. Let me try.”
Seo Yakrin cloaked a dagger in golden mist and launched it with telekinesis. Flying almost as fast as an arrow, the dagger struck the core, only to rebound without leaving the slightest scratch. Seo Yakrin clicked his tongue.
Even Lee Hyunmook’s lightning thundered against the core without leaving a mark. Slowly, he spoke.
“Then maybe it’s time to try... another ability.”
At that, the others immediately retreated. Yoon Seungryong even grabbed Yohan by the scruff to drag him further back. Remembering Hyunmook’s transformation when Bumram attacked the Reed Sea, Yohan swallowed nervously.
The shadow at Hyunmook’s feet quivered faintly, then lengthened. Even within the pitch-black depths of the Abyss, it was visible, unnaturally dark. The impossibly long shadow touched the core—and wrapped around it. A few monsters were suddenly swallowed up by the darkness.
But that was all. As Hyunmook drew back the shadow, he let out a small sigh. His words came strangely slow.
“My attack... seems to have no effect....”
Yohan, who had crept closer, grasped his hand firmly. He had seen the red gleam flare in Hyunmook’s eyes.
“Then what if we imbued Hoyoung’s arrows, or Yakrin-noona’s daggers, with my ability instead?”
“Good! Here, take this.”
Hoyoung quickly handed him another ice arrow. Yohan placed his hand on it and poured some of the abundant light overflowing inside him into the shaft. That alone made the arrow blaze like pure radiance.
“Third attack, here we gooo.”
Speaking with forced cheer, Joo Hoyoung nocked the arrow infused with Yohan’s power. Ping! A true bolt of light shot across the darkness toward the core.
This time, when it struck the target, the result was completely different.
The surface cracked and crumbled, and the core throbbed violently. At once, the monsters shrieked and went berserk. As if desperate to protect something precious, they swarmed and clung to the core, wrapping it again and again. No matter how many were slain, there was no end to them.
“If Yohan’s attacks are the only ones that work on that core... then we’ll have no choice but to go inside.”
At those words, the air grew taut with tension. Lee Hyunmook looked at each of their resolute faces one by one—and nodded.
