FLIA 152

“What am I supposed to do if they come looking for me now? Shouldn’t you have handled this before things got this bad?!”

Park Seungmin pressed him, wondering if the minister even grasped the gravity of the situation. But Minister Hwang Yeongcheol just stared at him and gave a nod.

“Ah, well. The school violence scandal will blow over soon enough. I came to see you because I want to introduce someone.”

In such a serious situation, he wants to introduce someone? Who could it be? Park Seungmin’s face twisted in disgust. His irritated expression froze instantly.

“Hello. I’m Jeong Hajin, a mid-level purifier. I’ve just signed a contract with the Rift Management Bureau. I expect we’ll be seeing each other often from now on.”

A curious gaze swept over Park Seungmin, followed by a look of puzzlement. Minister Hwang Yeongcheol keenly observed him tilting his head. Park Seungmin felt his heart sink. Meanwhile, the mid-level purifier stepped forward. He’d even signed a contract with the Rift Management Bureau … Cold sweat beaded on his back, but he quickly lifted his head with dignity.

“Well, how often do we plan to meet that you came personally to introduce him?”

His irritated retort drew a hearty laugh from Hwang Yeongcheol.

“Purifier Jeong Hajin healed three severely corrupted individuals today. Isn’t that remarkable? Purifying three in a single day… He even purified three yesterday.”

“So what? I purified a severely corrupted individual on my very first day too.”

Park Seungmin retorted irritably. On the day he awakened, he had deliberately [visit our site]purified a severely corrupted individual to show off to the government. Now that his abilities had temporarily, very temporarily, faltered, he knew he couldn’t do it if asked. But he tried hard not to show it here.

After a brief greeting, Minister Hwang Yeongcheol, who had sent Jeong Hajin outside, approached closely. He asked in a high-handed tone.

“You really are a high-level awakener, right?”

His heart sank. Park Seungmin glared at Minister Hwang Yeongcheol like he had wounded his pride, but cold sweat trickled down his back. His palms grew damp. He was undoubtedly a high-level purifier, so why did he feel like he was cheating?

“If you, Park Seungmin, are not a high-level purifier…”

“I’m already fed up to the brim with this mess! If you keep treating me like this, I’ll seek asylum abroad!”

Hwang Yeongcheol stepped back, his suspicion piqued by Park Seungmin’s brazen, unapologetic defiance. The man smiled calmly as he replied.

“Fine, whatever. If you say you’re a high-level purifier, then you must be. Anyway… I’ll handle this troublesome business myself.”

Hwang Yeongcheol’s hand gripped Park Seungmin’s shoulder firmly. His greedy eyes scanned the purifier up and down.

“So just stick to doing your purifying job properly from now on.”

Hwang Yeongcheol departed shortly after concluding his business. But Park Seungmin remained frozen in place, trembling violently. An overwhelming anxiety washed over him. It felt like he wasn’t just temporarily overpowered, it felt like he’d never been a high-level awakener to begin with. He felt like he was going mad.

“No, no, no…”

I was the first to awaken! I was definitely a high-level awakener! Park Seungmin still hadn’t forgotten that feeling of omnipotence from his first awakening. He had radiated such dazzling light, there was no way he wasn’t a high-level awakener. He had even driven off that enormous spider!

Even as he thought this, Park Seungmin couldn’t bear it any longer. He stormed out of his house and headed straight for the guild. Ignoring all the guild members who bowed respectfully to him, he barged into the guild hall.

“What the hell have you been doing all day?! Hey, Go Jaewon! Snap out of it! You’re the guild leader, do your job! Protect the guild members!”

Park Seungmin exploded, bellowing at the top of his lungs. Go Jaewon, slumped on the sofa, lifted his head. His gaze was dark and murky, unreadable. Now he noticed something different from last time, besides empty bottles, strange powder was scattered about. He’d even resorted to drugs.

“You fucking lunatic…”

Not content with drinking all day, now he was doing drugs too. This guild was beyond hope. Just as Park Seungmin turned to leave, Go Jaewon slowly opened his mouth.

“You… know how to reawaken?”

“Reawaken…?”

Park Seungmin halted abruptly, his brow furrowing. The only reawakening he knew of was Lee Hyunmook’s story. He wondered if someone like Go Jaewon might have more substantial information, so he turned back.

“They say reawakening makes you stronger… Are you thinking of trying it too?”

Go Jaewon chuckled softly. Park Seungmin had heard the rumors about reawakening too. They were [stolen content]ridiculous rumors, weren’t they? It was best to dismiss them as the ramblings of a madman. Though his mind told him that, lately, his own abilities had surpassed his expectations, and he found himself unconsciously intrigued. Park Seungmin asked,

“What method is that?”

***

Public opinion was in an uproar over the consecutive days of news: State Councilor Lee Sungho’s murder contract and Park Seungmin’s school bullying incident being exposed. While people were shocked and outraged, only the Taeyang Team watched the news in their conference room with glee. Their long-simmering revenge had finally begun in earnest.

“Lee Sungho and Hwang Yeongcheol have deep ties. They’re seniors and juniors from the same university. They’re such close friends they’d even introduce each other to contract killers. By now, Hwang Yeongcheol must be frantic searching for those mercenaries. The leak of Lee Sungho’s video means his own footage could surface anytime.”

Ju Hoyoung, unusually focused on the news rather than gaming, explained. His eyes were bloodshot, likely from staring unblinkingly at the footage. Naturally, they possessed not only Lee Sungho’s video but also Hwang Yeongcheol’s. It wasn’t what Kim Hyunwoo had held. It was the result of piecing together clues from the footage to track down another contractor.

They all planned to leisurely hand over each video to its respective victim, intending to savor this revenge slowly and thoroughly. Another video was scheduled to be uploaded today.

“Oh, and regarding the traces of the Flood. They were indeed connected to the rumors about the reawakened ones.”

Lee Chanha, who had been watching the news with cold eyes, spoke in a gentle voice as he displayed the results of the Flood trace investigation. It was a photograph of a dark hole. Upon closer inspection, it revealed a sewer passage where the manhole cover had vanished. Several people were crawling inside.

“Traces of the Flood were detected within this area. Every single person entering or exiting here claimed to have either reawakened or awakened. But as you can see, they’re all just corrupted individuals.”

Lee Chanha was right. Those entering the sewer were severely contaminated, with physical symptoms clearly visible. Seo Yakrin, who had been frowning and staring intently at the photo, asked,

“So, what was inside?”

Though Seo Yakrin asked the question, Lee Chanha apologized to Yohan with a respectful and apologetic tone.

“I’m sorry, Yohan-gun. I couldn’t bring myself to go in…”

“No! You have nothing to apologize for! You did the right thing. If the Flood was inside, it would have been disastrous.”

Yohan, who had been listening attentively, flinched and waved his hands. Even without the Flood, he understood why Lee Chanha hadn’t entered the sewer. Given his OCD , he likely wouldn’t have wanted to enter such a filthy, messy, and foul-smelling place. Lee Chanha flipped the photo again.

“Instead, I discovered another gathering place for these people. They call it the ‘Awakening Research Group’.”

The next photo showed an ordinary-looking commercial building. Located in a high-traffic area, many people were coming and going.

“I spotted Go Jaewon frequenting this place. Starting yesterday, Park Seungmin has been accompanying him. Upon investigation, it turns out they’re holding a major event here tonight.”

“Guess both of them found the reawakening talk tempting?”

Yoon Seungryong smirked sarcastically. Go Jaewon, driven by the threat to his life from them, yearned to grow stronger. Park Seungmin, gradually realizing he wasn’t a high-level purifier. And both, tormented day and night by nightmares and auditory hallucinations due to Lee Chanha’s illusions, would surely find the talk of reawakening quite intriguing. Lee Hyunmook spoke in a low voice.

“If it’s a trace of the Flood, we absolutely must go.”

The Flood took precedence over even the vengeance they were so fixated on. The mere unauthorized copy mention of its traces was enough to unsettle them all, making verification imperative no matter what. Yohan quickly interjected.

“I’m definitely coming too! You never know. Even if we’re outside the Abyss, it’s the Flood we’re talking about.”

“Having you accompany us would be a great relief.”

A look of relief flitted across Lee Chanha’s face at Yohan’s offer to join them. The others felt the same. The word “flood” triggered deep trauma within them. Yohan, too, felt uneasy and couldn’t bear to send the team alone. If the Flood were to appear on Earth, he had to protect these people.

“Since we’re on the topic, why not handle it today? I don’t know what that event is, but it seems like something we should stop.”

Everyone agreed with Seo Yakrin’s suggestion. None of them wanted to leave this source of unease unchecked for long.