Free Web NovelContamination was said to reduce regenerative ability—but still, he was a high-tier Awakener. He wouldn’t die from just any wound.
Yohan thought maybe it would be better to run from the insane Hyunmook, but his heart refused to follow that thought.
Instead, it was the deep sympathy and gratitude he felt for Hyunmook that moved him forward.
He wasn’t crying because he was scared—he cried for Hyunmook. That was how Yohan finally reached him.
“Hrrk... hhhrrrk...”
Then he froze.
It felt as if all the blood in his body had drained away—an icy terror washed over him.
“Gghrrk... guh...”
Up close, Hyunmook’s state was beyond words—utterly horrifying.
From his gaping mouth came the gurgle of bloodied foam.
He had survived despite losing nearly half his body.
Hyunmook turned toward Yohan with cold, empty eyes.
Even in madness, Hyunmook had still spoken—but now, there wasn’t a trace of reason left in his gaze.
“M-My arm... Hhhrk... my arm’s... gone...”
Though he trembled in sheer, mind-numbing terror, Yohan still scrambled to retrieve the severed arm.
He pressed it against the torn stump, trying to reattach it—
but maybe the wounds were too severe, or the contamination had worsened. There was no sign of regeneration.
“Why... why isn’t it healing...”
Maybe Hyunmook’s body, already pushed to its limits by contamination, had finally broken down.
Still crying uncontrollably, Yohan desperately tried to reattach the limb and tend to the torn abdomen—
then flinched.
While Hyunmook had been battling that massive monster, no other threats had appeared.
But now—other monsters were slowly creeping out into the open.
Yohan’s hands moved faster.
If things kept going like this... both Hyunmook and he would die.
Shaking violently as he searched for an answer, Yohan’s eyes suddenly filled with determination.
He jumped to his feet and ran to where he had discarded his backpack earlier.
He tore ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) through it, found a scalpel, and rushed back.
He didn’t even think about sterilizing the blade.
“Please... please...”
Muttering, Yohan clenched his teeth and raised one arm.
It was the same arm that had been throbbing in unbearable pain ever since Hyunmook threw him aside earlier.
He placed the swollen limb across his knees—
then drove the scalpel down in one motion.
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“Ngghk...”
Maybe the pain in his broken bone dulled the sensation—because even stabbing his own palm didn’t hurt that much.
But when he turned to Hyunmook to offer blood—Hyunmook’s gaze was already starting to dim.
Panicking, Yohan reached for his mouth—but though the blood pooled inside, he didn’t swallow.
His lower face became a mess of blood from Yohan’s desperate attempts to feed him.
Hopelessness clouded Yohan’s expression.
And then—
The monsters, drawn by the scent of blood, began to charge.
“No!”
Yohan screamed and instinctively wrapped himself around Hyunmook.
He was unawakened. He knew he couldn’t protect him. He knew he’d just be chewed apart—
but his body moved before he could stop it.
And just as the monster in the lead lunged at them—
There was a blinding explosion of light.
From Yohan’s wide-open mouth and eyes—rays of light streamed outward.
The energy that had been slowly seeping out of him since falling into the Abyss—
finally burst free.
It was a radiant, pure white light—
something that should never exist in this world.
Yohan instinctively knew something was happening to him.
Still holding Hyunmook tightly, he poured out all of this unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar, energy.
Because of that, he didn’t even notice—
That the body in his arms had begun to regenerate.
That the red gleam in Hyunmook’s eyes was beginning to fade.
Breath returned.
The once-severed arm rose and gently wrapped around Yohan.
“...Yohan.”
“Hrkk... hhrrk...”
“Yohan. It’s okay now.”
Only then, recognizing his name, did Yohan lift his head.
His vision was too soaked with tears to see clearly—
so he shut his eyes tight, then opened them again.
Finally, he could see Hyunmook properly.
Still smeared with Yohan’s blood, Hyunmook pulled himself upright.
Yohan, overwhelmed with relief, couldn’t speak—he just cried.
Behind him, faint rings of light shimmered like a halo.
'Maybe... I thought I saw sunlight around here.'
'Sunlight? I was there the whole time. It was dark for two days straight.'
Hyunmook stared in a daze—entranced by the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
And then he realized—
Why he had mistaken it for sunlight when Yohan fell.
Why Yohan felt so different from everyone else who had landed here.
“...The sun I saw... it was you.”
Even with traces of red light still lingering in his eyes—
Hyunmook came to full awareness.
For the first time since falling into the Abyss, his mind was crystal clear.
He gathered the glowing boy into his arms, holding tight as Yohan sobbed.
<2>
The Swamp
Yohan had never cried like that before in his life.
And never had he felt such terrible fear.
He was afraid of the monsters.
Afraid Hyunmook might die...
“I-I really... really thought you were d-dead... hic... it wasn’t healing, and... ugh...”
Even though he now knew Hyunmook was fine, Yohan kept checking him over and over.
Tears still filled his eyes, and his voice trembled like a baby goat.
“There, there.”
Hyunmook gently nodded along, lifting Yohan’s injured arm with care.
He peeled off the padded jacket to examine it.
When he rolled up the sleeve, the forearm was badly bruised and swollen.
He touched it softly—just enough to send a faint current through the skin to assess the injury without Yohan noticing. Then he clicked his tongue.
“Sorry. Looks like I broke your arm when I threw you earlier.”
“I-it’s okay... I lived because of you...”
“Hmm, right. Then let me apologize one more time.”
CRACK!
Yohan’s scream came half a beat late.
As the pain of bone realignment shot through him, he wailed loudly.
Hyunmook calmly reassured him while making a splint from a nearby branch and some bandages.
Once Yohan was bundled up again, Hyunmook explained:
“You only just Awakened. Your regeneration isn’t stable yet.
If I’d left it alone, the bone could’ve healed crooked.”
“Sniff... A-Awakening...” freeweɓnøvel.com
Even while his face turned red from crying, a faint smile curled at Yohan’s lips.
Only then did he recall what had just happened—
the dazzling, radiant light.
He’d always envied his brother Yang Yosep for Awakening.
Even if it was the Abyss, the fact that he’d Awakened made him truly happy.
Excited without realizing it, Yohan looked down at his own hand.
“Ah!”
He gasped.
Trying to recall that earlier feeling, he summoned strength from within—
and a faint glow flickered above his palm.
Hyunmook, watching him quietly, saw that Yohan’s eyes—which always sparkled to begin with—now sparkled even more under the glow.
His tear-soaked eyes looked swollen—like they held a whole galaxy.
“Then I must be a light-attribute dealer!”
Since the monsters stopped attacking once he emitted light, Yohan assumed he must be a dealer.
He must have defeated them, after all.
But Hyunmook shook his head.
“No.”
Yohan frowned in disappointment and stared at the floating light.
Compared to Hyunmook’s overwhelmingly powerful energy, his own light felt... gentle.
Peaceful. Not very destructive at all.
“...No? I thought I was a DPS... Then... support?”
Officially, the Rift Management Bureau classified Awakeners into front-liners and rear-guards.
But most people preferred the everyday terms:
Dealer, Tank, Healer, Support.
There were more specific subtypes, but the basics were:
attack, defense, healing, and support.
And Hyunmook—he was unmistakably a dealer.
He wielded lightning, the hardest element to control—yet rarely harmed allies.
His control was on another level.
Yohan had always wanted to be like Hyunmook or his brother Yosep—a dealer.
But apparently, he wasn’t.
Hyunmook also shook his head at the suggestion of Support.
He furrowed his brows and seemed to think deeply for a moment—
then finally spoke.
“If I had to categorize you... probably Healer.”
“Healer?!”
Healers were those whose powers boosted other Awakeners’ regeneration.
Since Hyunmook had recovered so fully, it made sense.
Yohan nodded—then tilted his head.
“But... I beat all the monsters just now. Healers don’t have attack power.”
“You don’t. Not in that way.”
Hyunmook smiled gently and spoke in a soft voice, as Yohan continued to frown.
“You’re a high-tier Awakener.
Your power is probably... purification.”
“High-tier Awakener with purification... huh?”
Yohan repeated the words without thinking—
then blinked, stunned.
“M-Me? A high-tier Awakener?”
Awakeners were generally split into three classes:
High-tier, mid-tier, and low-tier.
It wasn’t an official system—but a classification Awakeners themselves used and felt instinctively.
More precisely, the tiers were like a river’s flow:
Upper stream, middle stream, lower stream.
High-tier Awakeners were the source—
their emergence would cause the flow to ripple outward,
mid-tier Awakeners appearing around them,
and low-tier Awakeners appearing in the outer edges.
Because of this, high-tier Awakeners were exceedingly rare—
only a few dozen worldwide.
And now—
Lee Hyunmook was telling Yohan...
that he was one of them.
