Free Web NovelHow could anyone possibly search for someone who had fallen into the Abyss? If they said he had disappeared inside a rift, then his family would hold onto hope and keep paying to fund searches, if only to find a corpse. Park Seungmin felt no pang of conscience—better for Yang Yohan’s parents to believe he had gone missing in a rift than to know he had fallen into the Abyss.
The money he extorted, he spent partly on little luxuries, and the rest he invested. As usual, his investments failed completely, but he did not feel much regret. Or so he thought. Then, when he was about to squeeze more money out of them, unbelievably, Yang Yohan returned from the Abyss.
From the moment he learned of Yohan’s return, Park Seungmin’s insides twisted with unbearable jealousy.
So this was what they called natural-born luck? That bastard fell into the Abyss, yet came back alive after having a fine time with Lee Hyunmook and the Sunrise team. On top of that, he had Awakened! Even if it was only a low-tier, thanks to those cozy connections he got parachuted straight into the mighty Sun Guild, where he was now loafing around and drawing a huge salary. The very image of that smug face made Seungmin’s guts boil.
“Ah, fuck! If he’d come back just a little later, I could’ve squeezed more money out of them!”
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, hammering his fists into the bed. He didn’t dare slam the wall, though—next door lived a low-tier Awakener. Even a near-trash Awakener was still far stronger than a civilian. He couldn’t risk provoking him.
“That bastard... he really doesn’t remember anything, right?”
There were doubtful parts, but he shook his head. If Yohan had remembered, he would have already reported him to the police. He would have told everyone, posting it online to expose Seungmin to the entire world.
When he recalled how pathetic he must have looked—Yohan acting pitiful yet not even being able to fight back—Seungmin fumed again.
“What if he didn’t hit his head, what if he’s actually contaminated? Should I file a report? The more I think about it, the more fucked up it feels.”
He wanted to crush Yohan underfoot, but now Yohan had the solid backing of Lee Hyunmook, so he couldn’t pull anything. Seungmin searched for a cigarette, spat out another curse when he realized he was out of both cigarettes and booze, and shook his legs in frustration while staring at his overdrawn bank balance. Finally, he pulled on some clothes and went out. At least he could scrape enough together to buy cigarettes.
On his way back from the convenience store with a carton under his arm, he cursed his lot—how humiliating that he would soon have to crawl back to Yohan to mooch again. Just as he lit a cigarette, he heard a harsh clattering sound.
“What... the hell?”
Chills ran down his back. As he glanced around, his eyes caught a red glow. A bulb? He frowned, then realized the truth. That wasn’t a red bulb. Deep in the dark of the alley, a pair of gigantic spider eyes glowed red.
“U-uwaaaaah!”
Seungmin screamed and bolted. What the hell was the Rift Management Agency doing, letting monsters run loose from rifts? An innocent citizen was about to die! He even dropped the cigarettes he had just bought, running with all his strength. But when he glanced back, his face drained pale.
With a crunching twist of its contorted body, the monster spider crawled out of the alley. Krrrk! It shrieked and slammed its legs into the ground, racing toward him at terrifying speed.
“Help! Somebody help! It’s a monster! Please, someone help me!”
His throat tore with the screams, but it was dawn—no one was around. In fact, the neighbors who heard quickly shut their windows tight. No one came to help. Exhausted, Seungmin collapsed onto the ground.
The monster spider spewed filthy venom and raised its spiked legs to crush him.
“Aaaghhh!”
He shielded his face with his arms and screamed in despair. At that instant, a blinding light burst forth. Kyaaaaah! Startled, the spider recoiled, then panicked and scuttled away.
Seungmin cracked open his tightly shut eyes. His whole body was glowing with a brilliant light.
“Wh-what... what the hell is this?” fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
A rush of omnipotence surged through him, overflowing with strength and vitality. His face lit up with glee as he stared dumbfounded at the radiant light spilling from his body.
“I... I Awakened! I really Awakened!”
So it was true—people Awakened at the brink of death. He had never expected to feel it himself. Fearing the spider might come back, he ran off in a panic, cursing in his heart all the neighbors who had ignored his cries. He wished every last one of them would get devoured by monsters.
He reached a nearby shelter, gasping for breath. Then he summoned that power again. Light flared from his palms. What kind of ability was this? Not an attacker, disappointingly. Not a tank either. More like support, maybe healing. As he tested it here and there, he saw the shelter wall where the light touched become clean.
“Huh?”
He touched another wall—everywhere his hand glowed, the grime vanished. Could it be...? With a trembling hand, he touched the venom-stained edge of his clothes. Slowly, the filth faded away until it disappeared entirely.
“Ha... haha. Holy shit. Shit, shit, shit!”
A nearby homeless man stared at him. Seungmin clenched his fist.
‘Fuck! Finally, my luck is turning!’
He remembered how people had gone wild when Lee Hyunmook revealed the Eternal Stone’s ability to remove contamination. He himself had nearly died of jealousy at how Yang Yohan, with his precious connection, could have his contamination erased whenever he wanted.
He had planned to swallow his pride and cling to Yohan again, but now he didn’t need him at all. On second thought, this was far better than being a dealer or a tank. With this, he could rake in a fortune without ever risking his life inside rifts.
“Wait a second... there’s never been an Awakener who could remove contamination, right?”
Then... I must be a high-tier Awakener!
His brain flooded with dopamine. He recalled that dazzling burst of light and that intoxicating sense of omnipotence when he faced the spider. He had read countless Awakener testimonies, but none had described feeling godlike when they Awakened.
No one had ever had the power to remove contamination! That ability brought wealth and fame. Why would anyone hide it? He had to be a high-tier Awakener. He was. Certain of it, Park Seungmin trembled with ecstasy and burst out laughing.
He shadowboxed the air, shouting at the top of his lungs. The homeless men shook their heads and left the shelter—better to avoid a crazy Awakener. They had seen something flash in his hand, so he was clearly an Awakener, but a mad one was ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) nothing but trouble.
Uncaring, Seungmin bellowed:
“Yeah, this is it! Life’s all about the big score! Who the hell cares about Yang Yohan!”
No more bowing and scraping before Yohan. In fact, he imagined the reverse—Yohan groveling before him. The thought made him euphoric. Grinning, he called the Awakener Center.
“Yes, I’d like to report a high-tier Awakening. ...Yes, that’s right. ...I told you, it’s true! You can come check yourselves, can’t you? And I was just attacked by a monster, so I can’t leave the shelter. Could you come pick me up? Please, as quickly as possible.”
But two people were already watching his arrogant display. Lee Chanha and Yang Yohan.
They hadn’t even bothered to hide, standing quite close, yet Park Seungmin noticed nothing. Yohan, once his friend and now his betrayer, drew near. With Chanha’s illusion clouding his senses, Seungmin leaned toward the empty air.
“Yang Yohan, that bastard, just wait and see.”
“I hope you’ll be as happy as possible.”
“Unlucky son of a bitch. I’ll make sure to torment you forever.”
“That way, when you lose everything, it’ll hurt as much as you were happy.”
Even whispered right in his ear, Seungmin heard nothing. He only fumed about Yohan in his heart, giggling stupidly as he dreamed of his glorious future.
