Free Web Novel* * *
To gather ingredients, the two returned to their shelter. On the way back, Yohan stopped by a rice field he had taken note of earlier. As always, the self-aware plants and the ones that looked lethally toxic were writhing vigorously.
Thanks to the confidence gained from purifying that apple, Yohan shouted,
“There might be some edible greens here! If we’re going to lure Yoon Seungryong, we might as well do it properly, right?”
“Alright, then stay here for a moment.”
Lee Hyunmook, stopping Yohan just as he was about to rush in, drove his spear deep into the ground. Twisting it around a few times, he skillfully hooked tangled stems and roots together like drying fish and flung them out onto the road.
Yohan tried to identify the seeds by sight, but they were all far too grotesque to tell what they had originally been. So he moved from one plot to another, purifying them one by one. The resulting harvest was as follows:
An onion the size of a human head, a cucumber as thick as a forearm, a grotesquely long pepper, lettuce and perilla leaves big enough to use as fans, dozens of round cucumbers growing from a single vine, and a green onion that looked at least 10 meters long...
After a long search, Yohan dropped to ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ his knees in elation and shouted,
“I found ittt!”
In his hands was a bulb of garlic. Though it had vine-like limbs and was the size of a watermelon, it was undeniably garlic.
On the way back to their shelter, Yohan’s arms were full of greens, while Hyunmook carried a freshly hunted pig on his back.
“Shouldn’t we taste test it to make sure it’s good enough for Yoon Seungryong?”
Yohan looked at Hyunmook with an expression so desperate it seemed like he’d cry if the answer was no. Hyunmook didn’t reply—he simply began slicing the blood-drained pork.
Yohan found a grill plate at a house and set it up on a butane burner he’d taken from the grocery store. He placed a thick, fatty piece of meat—maybe pork belly, maybe pork jowl, who knew?—on the pan, and it sizzled to a golden brown.
He laid a spoonful of white rice onto a leaf of lettuce, added two pieces of grilled pork, a garlic clove dipped in ssamjang, wrapped it up, and held it out to Hyunmook.
“You eat first!”
“Thanks, Yohan.”
Now, whenever Hyunmook gently called his name—“Yohan”—a strange tickle would creep up beneath Yohan’s sternum. Hyunmook took the wrap into his mouth and chewed slowly, savoring it. For once, there was a rare glint in his usually dim eyes.
“After only chewing through monster meat for so long, this really feels like luxury...”
“Now that you’ve got me, you’re only eating good stuff from now on!”
With that energetic declaration, Yohan quickly made himself a wrap and stuffed it into his mouth. His purification ability was so effective that there wasn’t a single trace of gaminess. It was tastier than anything you could find in a butcher shop.
Even in a place teeming with monsters like the Abyss, the harmony of ssamjang, garlic, pork belly, and fresh greens was perfect.
“It’s so good...”
For a while, the two focused entirely on their luxurious meal, hardly exchanging a word. As they happily ate dinner, Yohan began to feel an overwhelming pity for Yoon Seungryong. He must have spent the last three months in that dark cave drinking disgusting swamp water and maybe even eating monsters... Yohan wanted to give him something this delicious too.
After two full days of rest to completely recover, Yohan got to work grilling pork belly the next morning. He cooked enough to fill five large trays, then looked at Hyunmook as if to ask, “Is this enough?”
But Hyunmook shook his head.
“Let’s just grill the whole pig and take it with us.”
“Whoa, that much?!”
“Seungryong’s stomach’s probably pretty big by now... Honestly, even that might not be enough.”
Thinking of Yoon Seungryong’s formerly well-built physique, Yohan tilted his head. Was he really such a big eater? Well, most Awakeners did eat a lot...
So, they spent the whole day roasting a giant pig, then stopped by a market to restock ssamjang and sauces before heading back toward the swamp.
Having been there once already, the second trip wasn’t nearly as difficult. In fact, it wasn’t just his imagination—it was easier. As he looked around carefully, Yohan noticed something.
“Doesn’t it seem like the water level in the swamp has gone down a bit?”
A closer look at nearby rocks and trees confirmed it. The swamp had clearly receded.
“Probably all got sucked into the cave. I did punch a hole in it, after all.”
“Oh...! That’s why it’s so much easier to move now.”
And maybe because the water level was lower, they saw fewer monsters on the way. Eventually, the two returned to the cave and began by chopping down nearby trees. They carefully arranged the wood and quickly built a platform to keep the food off the swampy ground, then lit the burner again.
As the fresh pork from their latest hunt sizzled on the grill, the mouthwatering aroma spread quickly.
While Yohan grilled the meat, Hyunmook neatly stacked the massive pile of pre-cooked pork on the platform. Then he mixed in chopped garlic, ssamjang, and greens like he was making feed for a beast rather than a meal for a person.
“Hyunmook, want a bite of ssam?”
“Sure, why not?”
And so, the two snacked on wraps while grilling for another hour. Yohan glanced nervously toward the cave in the distance. Yoon Seungryong still hadn’t shown any sign of movement.
“Do you think the smell’s reaching the cave?”
“Seungryong’s always had a keen sense of smell. And it was one of his favorite foods—there’s no way he’s ignoring this.”
That’s when it happened.
From deep inside the cave came a chilling howl, and Yohan froze. His head creaked as he turned to look.
“Was that...?”
“It’s definitely a reaction. But I guess it’s not enough to draw him out yet. Want to give him a little taste?”
Standing, Hyunmook wrapped several ssam and walked over to the cave’s edge—right where the massive hole had been torn into it. He tossed one wrap down into the depths, then popped another into his mouth and chewed. Every ten minutes, he tossed in another.
Yohan watched with a strange mix of concern and wastefulness. Would it even reach Yoon Seungryong?
After several rounds of what seemed like pointless ssam-tossing, a sharp scream echoed up from deep within the cave. Yohan, mid-grill, stood up in alarm.
“There we go. You want it, huh? Then come crawl up here. Go on.”
Murmuring dryly, Hyunmook dumped the rest of the ssam down the hole. He then signaled to Yohan, who quickly shut off the burner and grabbed the butane canister, backing away in a rush.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaah...! A hideous wail rang out again and again, shaking the ground. Yohan’s face slowly drained of color as he sensed something huge and heavy crawling upward. It’s a person coming out... so why does it sound like that?
Crash! Kwoooong...!
The cave partially collapsed, and the swamp’s water level dropped even further. Finally, Yoon Seungryong emerged from his long isolation—and Yohan realized he had been very, very wrong.
His head lifted, slowly, upward.
“Yu... Yoon...” frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
He couldn’t even form words.
Even Hyunmook, whose contamination was severe, still looked human. So Yohan had assumed Yoon Seungryong would be in a similarly deranged state. Maybe Hyunmook had just lasted longer because he was a high-rank... or maybe Seungryong’s contamination was far worse.
What crawled out of that cave was... a giant, grotesque centipede. Its armor was black and moss-covered, gleaming wetly under the dim light. Its legs were far too long, even for a centipede, and Yohan felt like he might faint.
He tried to find something vaguely human in the creature—and he did. A humanoid upper body was fused to its head, but it had black skin, and the face—what was on the face—
That’s supposed to be Yoon Seungryong? That’s not a person... That’s a monster. How can a human be this contaminated?
Bile rose in Yohan’s throat, but he held it down.
The moment it emerged, the centipede-monster—Yoon Seungryong—charged straight toward the source of the scent. When it reached the pile of pork on the platform, it didn’t eat it right away. Instead, its humanoid torso swayed slowly, and its long forelimbs reached out, gently fumbling through the mix of ssamjang, garlic, and greens.
Acid dripped steadily from the gaping fangs in its mouth.
A few seconds later, Yoon Seungryong lunged with wild excitement. He grabbed fistfuls of food and stuffed them into his mouth. He didn’t even register the presence of Hyunmook or Yohan nearby. Watching him devour the food so desperately, Yohan’s disgust and horror slowly melted into deep pity.
Hyunmook didn’t attack. He just watched silently as Yoon Seungryong devoured everything. The mountain of pork they had spent all day grilling vanished in mere minutes. Looking mournful, Yoon Seungryong began licking the wooden platform. Then he even started gnawing on it.
Just as he began biting the wood, Hyunmook finally spoke.
“Seungryong-ah. It’s been a while.”
