The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 111
In the midst of the forest on Odaesan in Hongcheon, Gangwon-do, a dark brown wooden door appeared under the shade of a tree. The door opened slowly with a creepy creak, reflecting the hesitant feelings of the person opening it.
Soon, a young man wearing a black baseball cap and jacket walked out. His face was almost completely obscured beneath the cap, which was because he wore a mask.
His worn-out sneakers stepped on the overgrown grass. After surveying the area and confirming there was no one around, the young man squatted down in front of the door. He spoke in a strangely altered voice.
“Thank you for opening the door. Thanks to you, I got here quickly.”
“Th-thank you…”
Romantic Opener, Choi Go-yo, responded in a dying voice. He was lying face down on the floor of a small room where Cha Eui-jae was staying, with his cheek pressed against the floor. The space was too cramped for an adult male, forcing him to curl up like a frog, presenting a pitiful sight.
Cha Eui-jae looked at him with pity.
“Should I move you to a more spacious place?”
“A more spacious place… where?”
After a moment of thought, Cha Eui-jae asked cautiously.
“The floor of the store isn’t ideal… How about we put some tables together and lay you on top of them?”
“No…”
“…”
“Just drag me over to the grass, please…”
“Are you sure it’s okay to stay here? We’re in the middle of the mountains.”
“I… I think I’ll be fine? Seo Min-gi-ssi will pick me up… probably.”
His answer wasn’t convincing. Cha Eui-jae looked at Choi Go-yo doubtfully, then lifted him up and laid him down under the tree’s shade. Choi Go-yo feebly waved his hand. It seemed to be his best attempt at a gesture of thanks.
“Take care… When you go home…”
“When I go home?”
“…Ugh.”
He couldn’t finish his sentence and dropped his head with a pitiful last breath. Though he looked like he was dead, a moment later, the sound of his breathing could be heard.
Cha Eui-jae squatted nearby, observing the unconscious Romantic Opener. After a while, a low voice emerged from Cha Eui-jae’s shadow.
“Oh, you’ve arrived. I’m sorry for the delay. Just a moment, please…”
The voice was familiar. Seo Min-gi crawled out from the edge of Cha Eui-jae’s shadow. He looked at the snoring Romantic Opener with satisfaction and said,
“You’ve done well according to the instructions in the attachment. Excellent.”
Cha Eui-jae had opened the attachment Seo Min-gi sent, which not only contained the address and map of the Prometheus branch but also detailed directions to this location. In summary, it said:
[Contact the Romantic Opener and tell him to come quickly.]
[Tell him to open the door.]
[I’ll handle the rest.]
‘Manuals are great…’
Cha Eui-jae thought that was why Lee Sa-young trusted Seo Min-gi with everything. The plan he proposed was incredibly fast and convenient. Cha Eui-jae looked at Seo Min-gi with admiration. Somehow, today, his sunglasses looked even more reliable.
Seo Min-gi brushed off the grass from his suit.
“Now, before we proceed, let’s take a moment to review and explain some points. I’ll briefly go over the information and precautions you should know.”
With a snap of his fingers, something black began to wriggle and gather on the ground. It was a shadow.
The shadow shifted and formed a rectangle, and Seo Min-gi drew lines on it with a stick. Soon, the shadow transformed into a shape resembling the map from the attachment.
“Prometheus has branches everywhere. The information about this branch was provided by Jung Bin. After exploring it, I found it’s quite large.”
Squatting, Cha Eui-jae muttered,
“Didn’t the government and guilds say they were cracking down on Prometheus? How can it be this big?”
“Hmm, there’s a sad story behind that. To summarize, it’s because of you.”
Cha Eui-jae, suddenly blamed, looked at the shadow with a perplexed expression. How much effort had he put into quietly living among hunters!
“What did I do? Didn’t I just quietly run a soup restaurant?”
The self-proclaimed soup restaurant part-timer, who had been through events like the magic stone incident, the Incheon port battle with hunters, attending the Artisan Exhibition, and taking down the S+ rank dungeon master, tried to plead his innocence. Fortunately, Seo Min-gi shrugged his shoulders.
“I might have summarized it too briefly. It’s not that you did anything wrong. I’m not blaming you. To put it simply, the flow of events is like this. Now, like this.”
Seo Min-gi drew a circle and divided it into three parts. Soon, the circle filled with shadows.
“Last time, I explained, right? The pursuit of Prometheus was a collaborative effort between the government, Pado Guild, and Seowon Guild. But then.”
He pinched a piece of the shadow and moved it aside, leaving two pieces.
“Since J appeared in the rankings, the Awakened Management Bureau decided that tracking J was more important and withdrew from the Prometheus case. Most of their manpower was redirected to find J.”
Cha Eui-jae, who had been forcibly resurrected and dragged into the ranker channel against his will, remained silent. Who would have known that being resurrected and forced into the ranker channel would have such a significant butterfly effect? He knew they’d look for him, but he didn’t realize they’d search so aggressively.
The stick poked the remaining two pieces. One piece turned into the shape of a small person, mimicking the act of moving goods.
“If it were just the government, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But the Pado Guild also focused their manpower on tracking and disrupting. Since the most aggressive pursuers of Prometheus were the Pado Guild, the opportunity was missed.”
A strange word was inserted into the explanation. Cha Eui-jae, who had been quietly listening, raised his head abruptly.
“Disrupting? …You mean the Pado Guild was looking for me too?”
“Oh, that was supposed to be confidential.”
Seo Min-gi, having made a slip of the tongue, didn’t seem too flustered.
“But well… since it’s a concluded matter, I guess it’s okay to tell you. The Pado Guild was also diligently searching for you. They even carried out disruption operations to prevent the Awakened Management Bureau from finding you.”
“…Why?”
Why was the Pado Guild looking for J? And it seemed they were doing it independently, not in collaboration with the Awakened Management Bureau. Wasn’t Pado formed after J entered the rift?
As if understanding Cha Eui-jae’s doubts, Seo Min-gi responded nonchalantly,
“Well, as usual, it’s the Guild Leader’s orders. What else? We don’t know the exact reason either.”
“…”
“When they say jump, we jump. Anyway…”
Countless questions about Lee Sa-young arose. However, Seo Min-gi’s businesslike demeanor cut through his thoughts.
“To explore the interior, you’ll need a certified key card. Most areas require authentication to enter. Security is quite tight.”
The seriousness of his tone brought Cha Eui-jae back to his senses. A key card. Researchers must each have one. Cha Eui-jae rubbed his chin and asked,
“Are the access levels different for each rank?”
“Oh, that’s a very good question. Yes, you need at least a senior researcher’s key card to access the core of the branch.”
“Good…”
Cha Eui-jae muttered as he took in the shadow map.
“So, we go in, beat up anyone who looks like a researcher, and take their cards? One by one…”
“…”
Despite giving the correct answer, there was no response. When Cha Eui-jae looked up, Seo Min-gi was staring at him with a face like Munch’s “The Scream.” The shock on his face was so evident that Cha Eui-jae uncharacteristically read the room.
“…Is that not it?”
“…Absolutely not.”
Seo Min-gi muttered gloomily, taking something from his pocket and handing it over. It was a plastic card with a few bloodstains. The card featured a photo of a man with glasses. Cha Eui-jae accepted the card with both hands respectfully. Seo Min-gi’s sunglasses gleamed.
“Trust me more! Do you think I wouldn’t have prepared such things? I’m Seo Min-gi! A specialist in stealth and infiltration, and ranked 36th in South Korea!”
“Oh, yes, yes. Thank you very much.”
The number one hunter in South Korea bowed to the 36th. Still slightly agitated, Seo Min-gi exhaled deeply and ran a hand through his hair.
“Putting that aside… Let’s clarify your objective. What exactly are you looking for or confirming in this place?”
“…”
“Having a clear goal will save time.”
Cha Eui-jae fiddled with the key card and then answered.
“First, I want to check the list of test subjects and find out what experiments are being conducted here.”
“The list of test subjects likely won’t contain the person you’re looking for.”
“I know. But if I start from here and work my way up…”
The surrounding air stirred. A sharp energy swirled around, shaking the area. Seo Min-gi involuntarily stepped back. The branches of the trees shook violently.
Cha Eui-jae pocketed the key card and continued.
“I might find some clue.”
“…”
“A very small clue. That’s all I need.”
“…Alright. In that case.”
Seo Min-gi pointed deeper into the forest.
“If you walk straight down this path, you’ll find the entrance. I cleared away some of the trees covering it… Just go straight in.”
When Cha Eui-jae nodded, Seo Min-gi twisted his lips and looked somewhat embarrassed.
“…The inside might be a bit of a mess.”
***
Beep. As Cha Eui-jae held the key card to the scanner, the closed door opened. Squelch, squelch. His worn-out sneakers stepped into puddles. A fishy and sweet scent seeped through the gaps of his mask. The dark and spacious area was eerily quiet. Cha Eui-jae looked around and sighed deeply.
“You said it might be a mess…”
Feeling along the wall, he pressed a button, and the spacious area was suddenly illuminated. What came into view was…
“This is beyond just a mess.”
The laboratory was covered in blood, with corpses lying on the floor, bleeding dark red from every orifice.
