The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 138
“Follow me.”
With those brief words, he turned and began walking away.
“Wait, hold on a second!”
Yoon Ga-eul hurriedly moved her feet to follow him, forgetting any suspicions that he might be a bad person and the throbbing pain in her legs. She was simply relieved to have encountered someone. Through the grayish-black cloak, she could see worn-out boots, with ashes scattered around. Footprints were left in the ash as they walked.
Oddly enough, the more she tried to keep up with the footprints, the further the distance grew. Huff, huff… Her breaths became labored, and a sweet taste filled her mouth. The cloak that had been fluttering just ahead of her was now far in the distance. Is he fast, or am I just slow?
‘Is he using some kind of teleportation? He’s really fast…’
Yoon Ga-eul sniffled, trying to steady her breathing. Then, the footsteps that had been gradually distancing themselves suddenly stopped.
“…”
He was standing far ahead, quietly watching her. Yoon Ga-eul, feeling guilty, mumbled to herself.
“S-sorry… My legs hurt.”
“…”
The black-cloaked figure didn’t respond but instead tossed something to her. It was an old leather pouch. Yoon Ga-eul, who barely caught it, fumbled to open it. Inside, she found all sorts of potions, and they looked exceptionally valuable at first glance!
Is he telling me to drink this? Yoon Ga-eul hesitantly pulled out a red potion and glanced at him. He responded,
“We have to keep going.”
Does he have a condition where he’ll die if he speaks too much? Fortunately, he waited patiently as Yoon Ga-eul drank the potion and slowly caught up to him. As she approached, a sweet scent mixed with the bitter smell of ash filled the air. The sweetness was so intense that it felt like sugar had been heavily dissolved somewhere.
‘What is that?’
She sniffed the air, but the sweet scent quickly disappeared. Did I smell it wrong? Yoon Ga-eul rubbed the tip of her nose. Meanwhile, the cloaked figure had started walking again. Yoon Ga-eul followed him, swinging the leather pouch. Though he seemed suspicious, she was now convinced that he wasn’t a bad person, and she began to talk.
“Where are we going?”
“…”
“Um… Are there no monsters around here?”
“…”
“How much further do we have to go?”
It seemed miraculous that she’d heard him speak at all earlier. She threw out several questions, but no answers came back. She felt like a fool talking to a wall. Yoon Ga-eul grumbled to herself and glanced at the cloak. After they resumed walking, the distance between them never grew too large.
The surroundings began to change. The street, lined with the remnants of collapsed buildings, gave way to relatively flat ground. Was this once a road? Before long, they came upon a dilapidated structure with only its frame and a few walls left standing. Calling it a building seemed a bit of an overstatement.
The cloaked figure entered first. Yoon Ga-eul followed, glancing around as she did. He spoke briefly.
“Rest.”
“Huh? Oh, okay…”
Yoon Ga-eul slowly sat down on the floor. Finally, she felt like she could breathe. As she lightly tapped her legs, she looked up at the man. He was leaning against the wall. She abruptly asked,
“Um… Why are you helping me?”
“…”
Of course, she hadn’t expected an answer. Yoon Ga-eul mumbled to herself again, lowering her head, when suddenly—
“Because you called him.”
“Huh?”
Yoon Ga-eul snapped her head up. His sharp, dry jaw was pointed directly at her. “Because you called him.” Who? There was only one person Yoon Ga-eul had called.
J.
‘No way.’
A chill ran down her spine. Cold sweat trickled down. Yoon Ga-eul cautiously clenched her fists. Should she warn him not to come? But how could she with this man right here? And if J doesn’t come, then in this world where the apocalypse has arrived, I’ll be all alone…
Something white slithered up from between the cracks in the floor, wrapping around her legs. It looked and felt just like what had coiled around her neck right before she was dragged here. Gasping, Yoon Ga-eul held her breath.
A cold voice pierced the top of her head.
“Stop.”
“…Ugh, ah.”
“Don’t think.”
“…Ugh.”
“Don’t think about anything.”
‘How am I supposed to do that?’
Yoon Ga-eul squeezed her eyes shut. If someone tells you not to think about an elephant, of course you’re going to think about an elephant! The white tendrils had already climbed up her arms. Haah… She heard a long sigh.
“Hey.”
Yoon Ga-eul cautiously opened her eyes. She couldn’t see clearly through the white tendrils coiled around her, but she could tell that he was squatting right in front of her in a relaxed posture. Just as she inhaled sharply, he reached out and roughly pulled back his hood. Black hair tumbled out.
“I’m…”
“…”
“All I can do is watch. Watch the inevitable end that will come. From here.”
“…”
“But the reason I helped you…”
Through the long hair that covered his eyes, she caught a glimpse of sharp, faintly violet eyes.
“…is because he would want it that way.”
Even though they seemed to burn white-hot, those eyes reflected nothing.
Yoon Ga-eul’s eyes widened. The fleeting glimpse of his eyes felt strangely familiar. Where had she seen them before? The gloomy glint in his eyes quickly faded from view. If she could just see a little more, maybe she could remember.
Suddenly, something black appeared in her vision. There was a faint glint of silver— then darkness enveloped her sight.
‘At least let me finish talking!’
Her consciousness slowly faded, and her eyes closed. The white tendrils that had bound her body began to loosen and unravel. The tension in her body melted away. A low voice rumbled.
“Tell him this; everything will flow to where it’s meant to go… so he shouldn’t worry too much.”
Yoon Ga-eul struggled to stay conscious as she asked,
“Why… don’t you… tell him… yourself?”
“…What a stupid question.”
He scoffed.
“The reason is…”
There was the sound of him rising, and a rustling noise filled the air. His low laugh echoed.
“If I were to meet him…”
***
“…And when I woke up, I was here. I think the coat belongs to that man.”
“Do you know what he said at the end?”
“No… I only heard up to that point, I didn’t catch the rest. I’m sorry.”
Yoon Ga-eul let out a deep sigh, her hands fidgeting with her skirt, revealing her anxiety. She glanced at Cha Eui-jae, then looked at Lee Sa-young standing behind him before lowering her head again.
Cha Eui-jae was troubled by what he heard as well. The owner of the black leather coat, the violet eyes that remained even though they had burned white, and the unmistakable rudeness in his brief words. Cha Eui-jae covered his mouth with his fist, frowning.
‘…Fuck, isn’t that Lee Sa-young?’
This place was a world that had met its end. And Cha Eui-jae had “seen” the Lee Sa-young of this ruined world. In Yoon Ga-eul’s fragment, where Lee Sa-young was buried in darkness, unmoved even when Honeybee and Bae Won-woo came looking for him.
“…”
The black-cloaked figure had said he was here to witness the end that would come. Cha Eui-jae absentmindedly touched the coat spread out on the floor. The worn leather was soft, lacking its former stiffness. The sweet scent lingered in the air.
‘The third chance.’
If the world they lived in was the third chance, it meant that two apocalypses had already occurred, and time had been turned back twice. Even though they didn’t remember it. But Cha Eui-jae had glimpsed the other two worlds.
According to what Hong Ye-seong showed him in the Memorial Dungeon, Cha Eui-jae had turned back time. Lee Sa-young had died, and with no way to prevent the impending apocalypse, he decided to rewind time— for the second chance.
In the world Yoon Ga-eul showed him, Cha Eui-jae had died first. Lee Sa-young had lost him and became a wreck. So who had turned back time in this world?
To turn back time, a “pivot” was needed.
In the world where Cha Eui-jae had died, who became the pivot?
“…”
Cha Eui-jae suddenly looked up. A puzzled voice came from behind him.
“Hyung?”
Cha Eui-jae clenched his fist.
‘It must have been Lee Sa-young, damn it…’
Cha Eui-jae knew his own power. He didn’t know exactly what it meant to become the “pivot,” but he knew it was something even he couldn’t stop with ordinary resolve. And considering the strictness of the system, there’s no way he could have used such an item twice! Cold sweat formed on his clenched palm.
‘If Lee Sa-young turned back time…’
Why was Lee Sa-young, who had become the pivot, still wandering around the ruined world like a ghost?
‘Is it a side effect? Was his power insufficient? Or is there some other issue? Or is that just how it is?’
It would be great if he could look at that watch and read the description. Then all these speculations would be confirmed. Cha Eui-jae wiped his palm on his pants instead of the apron, then his mouth fell open.
The apron and the battered ladle that had been dragged along with Lee Sa-young when he was pulled in— where should they be? The hangover soup restaurant. Park Ha-eun and Grandmother. The first place he went after escaping the West Sea rift.
The hangover soup restaurant.
Grandmother didn’t kick out the battered Cha Eui-jae; she served him a warm bowl of soup. But Cha Eui-jae had nothing to repay her kindness with. All he had was an empty potion bottle and his body. In a desperate attempt to give her something, he rummaged through his belongings…
“Ah.”
He took off the silver watch that he didn’t even know he was wearing and handed it over.
The same watch that the time-rewound Cha Eui-jae showed to Hong Ye-seong!
Cha Eui-jae’s mouth hung open as he suddenly screamed and jumped to his feet.
“Aaaaah!”
“Hyung?”
“J?”
“Holy shit!”
Lee Sa-young and Yoon Ga-eul looked at him with puzzled expressions. But there was no time to care about their stares. His heart was pounding. Cha Eui-jae was frantic.
“We– we have to go. Right now.”
“Go where?”
The key to all these problems lay at the hangover soup restaurant.
“The hangover soup restaurant!”
It’s been there for a long, long time!
