Free Web Novel<7>
The Returnees
“—Everyone, did you enjoy your holiday? On this Monday morning, marking the start of a new week, there was news of a Grade-7 monster sighting in Gwangjin District.... ...Awakeners dispatched by the Government’s Rift Management Agency have... successfully neutralized the creature and cleared the contamination.... The total number of victims is thirty-two....”
The sound of the news broadcast woke Yohan. He had dozed off watching TV, slipping into a sweet nap he hadn’t known in what felt like forever. He slowly looked around. Sunlight streamed warmly through the window, brightening the bed. Not a single object in the room was worn or damaged—everything was spotless. No grotesque screams like wailing ghosts, no sinister presences lurking nearby. Just quiet.
As he stared blankly out the window, he heard someone call to him.
“Yang Yohan, it’s time for your examination.”
Turning his head, he saw the now-familiar inspector standing beyond the glass door. Rising politely, Yohan greeted him. The inspector, clad in protective gear, asked in a curt, professional voice,
“Yang Yohan, do you have any rashes, itching, or sensory paralysis?”
“No.”
“Any auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, ominous premonitions, depression, lethargy, or recurring nightmares?”
“No, none.”
After answering each question, his temperature was checked. Then the double-sealed isolation doors opened. Two mid-tier Awakeners followed behind the inspector. As Yohan walked along, something written on the wall caught his eye.
[Rift Management Agency – Special Safety Complex]
He might have passed it by, but Yohan’s face suddenly lit up. He had spotted a familiar figure. The man sipping a drink grinned broadly and waved.
“Yohan! How have you been?”
“Seungryong-hyung!”
Yohan smiled back at Yoon Seungryong—then the memory of that day, the moment they escaped the Abyss, resurfaced.
* * *
Shortly after they had all escaped the Abyss, multiple helicopters circled overhead. Yohan had been moved nearly to tears, simply seeing a properly functioning machine—something other than his old handheld console. Then, Hyunmook called out, “Yohan.”
“Soon the Rift Management Agency will be here. For now, don’t tell them you’re a Purifier.”
“But... they’ll definitely test us. I won’t be able to hide that I Awakened.”
Yohan couldn’t understand why he should hide it. But following Lee Hyunmook’s advice had never once led to disaster, so even as confusion clouded him, he asked back. He had never gone through something like this before, but it was easy enough to guess the government would barrage them with tests. And once that happened, the fact that he had Awakened would certainly come out.
The physical difference between an Awakener and a non-Awakener was too stark to conceal. Strength, stamina, regeneration—all were extraordinary. The simplest way to check was to wound someone and watch how fast they healed.
“I’m not telling you to hide that you Awakened. Just... for the time being, say you’re a low-tier physical strength Awakener. And claim you’ve got high regenerative support ability, like Chanha. Keep your energy suppressed. Can you do that?”
That... seemed doable. Luckily, he had just exhausted himself pouring every drop of power into purifying the city zone, so his aura was completely drained. And since he was a Purifier, his physical strength wasn’t that impressive anyway. Besides, with current technology, they could only detect Awakening itself—not its type.
“Yes, I can do that!”
No sooner had he answered than silhouettes descended from the helicopters above, landing with heavy thuds, no parachutes or ropes. All of them were Awakeners, belonging to the Rift Management Agency’s Special Suppression Division for Contaminated Entities.
Well-trained, the Suppression Division soldiers aimed their guns, keeping maximum distance. From head to toe, they were armored against contamination. Even to an Awakener, firearms were dangerous—especially when bullets were reforged with Eternal Stones and imbued with abilities. But # Nоvеlight # among them, Yohan alone seemed tense. Hyunmook pulled him behind his back protectively. As tension thickened, the unit leader reported through radio,
“First Special Suppression Unit on-site. Suspected contaminated citizens secured. Believed to be Lee Hyunmook, missing three years, plus four others. One unidentified individual.”
“Three years ago?”
Yohan whispered without thinking. He had entered the Abyss just after the third-year memorial service for Hyunmook’s disappearance. He had then spent one whole year inside. That should mean four years had passed in the outside world. Something was wrong. Swallowing dryly, he dared not ask aloud, given the guns trained on them. The leader asked,
“Are you the Awakener Lee Hyunmook, missing three years ago?”
They feared he might be a shapeshifting monster, or heavily contaminated. It made sense—monsters emerging from rifts were never to be underestimated.
“Answer.”
Their killing intent was palpable; even a twitch could trigger a storm of bullets. Heat shimmered faintly around the soldiers. They stared hard at Hyunmook’s hair, streaked white. Relaxing his body, Hyunmook moved slowly, carefully, so as not to provoke them.
“Captain Jung Siyoung. Long time.”
It really was her! Yohan’s eyes widened. He had noticed one figure with an unusually powerful presence and wondered if she might be a high-tier Awakener. Jung Siyoung had once worked at the Disease Control Agency, and was Korea’s second high-tier Awakener—after Hyunmook himself.
“Still troubled by that arm you injured in Andong? No—of course you are. You were contaminated.”
His words clearly rattled her. Years ago, a Grade-9 monster had appeared near Andong, and Hyunmook and Jung Siyoung had formed a joint strike team. Now, she quickly scanned him up and down. His tone, his demeanor, no visible symptoms of contamination. Loosening her guard slightly, she asked,
“...Is it really you, Lee Hyunmook?”
“Yes. I just returned from the Abyss.”
“...Am I dreaming?”
She muttered in disbelief, though her gun remained steady. Not a single person had ever returned from the Abyss before. Then, one of the unit members, listening to radio chatter, spoke.
“Captain, press helicopters are approaching. Orders?”
Jung Siyoung hesitated. If Hyunmook was contaminated, a terrible disaster could erupt. And he was a high-tier Awakener. She was about to respond when Hyunmook tugged Yohan close to his back. Overhead, a news helicopter approached noisily, broadcasting its familiar logo.
“Damn bastards!”
Jung Siyoung snapped, signaling one subordinate. As Yohan instinctively pressed his face into Hyunmook’s back, a soldier raised a loudspeaker.
“Helicopter! You’ve been ordered to keep clear! Turn back now or we will open fire!”
Only after warning shots did the helicopter retreat, humming angrily. Gritting her teeth, Jung Siyoung realized the media had already captured Hyunmook and the others’ faces—except Yohan’s.
“You’ll need to wear these.”
What she tossed were handcuffs used on contaminated Awakeners, forged of Eternal Stone, designed to suppress abilities. The government purchased Eternal Stones to make such restraints, as one of its main duties was the capture and imprisonment of corrupted Awakeners.
Though Yohan flinched, Hyunmook put them on without resistance. The others followed suit. Yohan doubted such cuffs could hold people as strong as them. Jung Siyoung turned a strange look on him.
“And you are...?”
“This one’s just a low-tier Awakener. No real threat. Isn’t that right, Yohan?”
“Y-yes! That’s right...” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Normally, Awakeners gauged each other instinctively. Yohan’s heart pounded, afraid she’d sense what he really was. But perhaps because he was a healer-type supporter—or simply trembling so hard with nerves—Jung Siyoung gave the faintest nod. Her eyes skimmed over him with a dismissive sort of judgment.
“Even so, you’ll wear this.”
This time she handed him a metal bracelet instead of cuffs. As it clamped onto his wrist, his strength drained, but not unbearably. Once everyone was restrained, she nodded.
“Let’s go. We’ll question you in a safe place.”
“Very well.”
Even though they were cooperating, the Suppression Division kept their guard high, treating them as though walking beside wild beasts. Distracted by their vigilance, Yohan stumbled, bumping his forehead into Hyunmook’s back. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat. At that moment, Jung Siyoung glanced back, hesitated, then spoke.
“If you truly are Lee Hyunmook...”
She paused, then continued.
“...Then welcome back. Truly. You’ve all endured so much.”
Hyunmook smiled in response. And despite the cuffs on their wrists, everyone’s spirits lifted. Yohan’s too. Just being out of that hellish Abyss was enough to make him feel like he could breathe again. No—it really was different. The air was light, fresh. Like shedding heavy sandbags and stepping out of filthy water at last.
Yohan looked around again. The city he had purified now gleamed under sunlight. It seemed to have reappeared exactly where the Abyss had swallowed it. Though cracked, half-collapsed, and scarred, it carried a solemn majesty, like ancient ruins. His energy lingered there. Jung Siyoung must have felt it too, because she murmured,
“Strange. My arm aches less today.”
Awakeners who battled rifts all bore contamination. Either they lived on enduring it, or it rose too high and they were imprisoned. Yohan could sense the taint in her, especially in her left arm—its movements stiff, its form unnatural.
‘I want to purify her....’
The instinct of the Purifier screamed at him to cleanse her immediately. But he held it back. Hyunmook had told him to keep it secret. Apologizing in silence, he resolved to remember—he would purify her one day, when the time was right.
