The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 144
Bzzz… The phone on the white table vibrated. A hand with a callus on the first joint of its index finger set down a teacup next to the phone. Steam rose in gentle swirls.
“Even serving me tea, how kind of you.”
“It’s noisy outside. Is it okay to ignore it?”
The man in the white coat slightly lowered the blinds covering the window with his finger to peek outside. White ash was falling. A firm but wrinkled hand grasped the teacup.
“It must be a call for support. For some reason, that snake remains coiled and refuses to move.”
“Still, you should go if you don’t want to raise any suspicions.”
“If you know that, then let’s wrap this up quickly. Ivan.”
“S-sure.”
The man called Ivan turned around. Though he was hunched over in his white coat, he was quite large. Beneath his messily tousled brown hair, his glasses gleamed.
“Song Jo-heon-ssi, you’ve been a great help to our research, and I’m always grateful for that.”
“I’ve also received a lot of help from you.”
“Yes, so… in honor of today, I’d like to share with you our true purpose.”
“We, Prometheus and the Prophets, have always… awaited the coming apocalypse. We’ve seen it in our dreams. The scene of the world covered in white ash.”
Ivan turned to gaze at the screen covering one side of the wall. On the screen, a whale floated above the city. Ivan’s eyes gleamed with ecstasy as he followed the whale’s trajectory. His trembling voice muttered,
“Finally, finally the time of the apocalypse has arrived.”
‘What nonsense.’
As if the time had really come. Song Jo-heon swallowed his sneer and nodded with a kindly smile, pretending to agree. Ivan continued talking without pause.
“The last apocalypse couldn’t be stopped by the pure power of the Awakened. It was because we lacked strength.”
‘Delusions of grandeur.’
“The problem was with the unfair selection process of the System. We need to develop the ability to free ourselves from the System’s grasp…”
‘Inferiority complex.’
He was saying this in front of someone chosen by the System. But Song Jo-heon, still feigning graciousness, agreed with him. Ivan’s pale eyes sparkled.
“…We are going to save humanity.”
‘A desire for self-justification.’
Here comes the hero. His forced smile was beginning to ache. Song Jo-heon rubbed the rim of his teacup with the tip of his finger. The calloused scholar’s hand slid a transparent pouch next to the teacup.
“And we are…”
Inside the pouch was a white powder.
“…on the same side.”
A deep smile creased the corners of the wrinkled mouth. The firm hand took the pouch away. Soon, the powder dissolved completely in the lukewarm tea, leaving no trace.
“Of course, Professor.”
He had no interest in the delusions of these psychopaths. After all, he was a first-generation Awakened chosen by the System. But he was definitely interested in the drugs they provided.
The whale, floating serenely in the air, let out a roar. Ivan turned sharply to the screen, his face filled with alarm, and zoomed in with the remote control. A black figure had appeared on the white whale.
In that figure’s hand was…
A giant spear.
The black figure raised the spear high. Song Jo-heon frowned and downed the tea. The veins on his temples and the back of his neck bulged before quickly subsiding. He muttered softly,
“The great hero… always knows how to steal the most critical moments.”
The teacup clattered as it was carelessly set down on the table. Soon, the screen turned bright blue. Song Jo-heon closed his eyes, displeasure evident on his face.
Tap…
***
Tap, tap, tap— busy footsteps scurried around. Reports and requests for support poured continuously through the earpiece. Ever since the black hole turned into a white hole, it had been a struggle to stabilize the situation, and just as things were beginning to calm down, the sudden appearance of a giant whale sent everything back to square one. No, it had actually made things worse. Jung Bin pressed his fingers to his temples and asked,
“Still no response from the Samra Guild?”
“No, no reply yet.”
“What’s the situation with the Seowon Guild?”
“Guild Leader Nam Woo-jin is doing his best, but it seems they’ve reached their limit on how many people they can accommodate.”
“Do you know how many buildings that thing destroyed?”
A sharp voice cut through the stream of reports. Blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail swayed. It was Honeybee. When Jung Bin greeted her with a nod, she expertly wiped the blood off her rapier. Jung Bin shrugged.
“According to the reports, around twenty buildings so far. And the number’s still growing.”
“Make that one more. It just smashed an outdoor billboard. It was showing my face!”
“I’ll add it to the damage report.”
“…Where is Lee Sa-young, and what is he doing?”
“Not sure. I don’t have any information on that.”
“Unbelievable. If the first-ranked isn’t going to show up, at least the second-ranked should be trying harder. These rankers are getting soft.”
“Are you struggling?”
Honeybee closed her mouth tightly. Then she looked up at the sky. Jung Bin also lifted his head. The street they were on was shrouded in the shadow of the whale, making it dark even though it was daytime. Honeybee muttered,
“…This feels strange.”
“What does?”
“Ever since that black hole turned into this… I keep having these strange thoughts. Damn it, it’s just making me overthink.”
Honeybee bit her lip hard and then suddenly glared at Jung Bin.
“Don’t die on me.”
“Excuse me? What’s this all of a sudden?”
“Just saying!”
With that sharp retort, Honeybee suddenly disappeared from view. Before long, she was running so far away that she was just a yellow dot in the distance. Did she really come all this way just to say that? Jung Bin scratched his cheek, then looked back up at the sky. At the whale filling the heavens.
If only J were here.
Jung Bin shook his head, trying to dismiss the thought. He couldn’t expect help from someone who went to rescue Yoon Ga-eul at his request. It was shameless, beyond unreasonable. But…
“…”
He couldn’t help but think of him in moments like this. Perhaps, in every crisis, he would always think of him. Jung Bin had lived in the same era as him, knew his goodness, and his strength well.
Maybe that’s why he tried so hard to erase those thoughts. He was sick of living off someone else’s sacrifice.
And then it happened.
Bwooo—
A colossal roar echoed out. The shadow that had covered the street shook violently. The air currents shifted. Instinctively, Jung Bin looked up. The whale, which had been swimming leisurely in the sky, was now thrashing about. It looked as if it were in pain. Jung Bin unconsciously muttered,
“…No way.”
Boom—
A burst of blue light erupted from the whale’s body. Immediately after, a fierce storm swirled around the whale. Jung Bin covered his face with his arm, barely managing to stay on his feet. When the storm, mixed with ash, finally subsided, he cautiously lifted his head.
A pillar of bright blue light had pierced through the whale’s body, connecting the sky and the earth.
“Ah…”
Floating in the air, skewered by the pillar of light, the whale burst apart like fireworks, scattering into white ash. It was as if blue light particles were raining down. It was a breathtakingly beautiful and awe-inspiring sight, capable of captivating anyone. There was only one person in this world who could have done such a thing. Jung Bin swallowed his overwhelming emotions.
Someone whispered,
“J is back…”
His name spread like a wave.
***
A week had passed since the black hole had transformed into a white hole. The white hole hadn’t reverted back to black, and although white ash still occasionally fell on cloudy days, the frequency had noticeably decreased. Nonetheless, people made sure to have a broom handy to sweep away the ash.
Some called it the “Second Day of the Rift,” but the damage wasn’t severe enough to compare to the original Day of the Rift, so that nickname quietly faded away. There was significant property damage, but the loss of life was minimal. Moreover, people’s attention was focused elsewhere.
—In our next story: Hunter J, ranked number one in South Korea and presumed dead, reappeared after eight years, only to vanish once again…
The nation’s hero, whom everyone believed to be dead. J, who had appeared in the rankings but was never actually seen by anyone, had returned at a critical moment to save the country once again before disappearing. It was the perfect story to calm people’s anxieties. Every day, the news showed a photo of J wearing his mask, along with his hunter name.
Questions about what the white hole was or why this situation had suddenly occurred remained unanswered. News about an increase in people visiting psychiatrists, claiming to suffer from memories that weren’t their own, also failed to attract much attention and quickly disappeared.
And from that day on, the door to the hangover soup restaurant remained firmly shut.
“Still closed today, huh?”
A chilly wind brushed through his hair. Team Leader Han, hands buried in his coat pockets, muttered to himself. Beside him, Honeybee, arms crossed in her leather jacket, furrowed her delicate brow. Her hand tightly gripped her arm.
“Do you think it’s because of what happened last time?”
“If it were, the name would be on the casualty list. I’ve gone through the entire list, but it’s not there.”
“…”
Team Leader Han took out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth, though he didn’t light it. Honeybee sniffled.
“How can someone just disappear without a trace?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“When he took his grandmother to the hospital, he posted a notice explaining why the restaurant was closed. But now, nothing— just a locked door.”
“…”
Team Leader Han, listening to what could have been either complaints or laments, pulled out his phone to check it.
“Got a call. I have to go. Are you staying?”
Honeybee’s leather boots kicked the ground.
“…I’ll stay a bit longer.”
“Don’t stay too long.”
With a sympathetic smile, Team Leader Han turned and walked away. Honeybee stared at the red “hangover soup” sign, tracing the letters with her eyes before pouting slightly.
***
The only light in the room, where thick blackout curtains blocked out every ray of light, came from the dim, amber glow of a bedside lamp. The shadow of a man sitting still on a chair against the wall was cast on the floor. The man was…
“…”
Cha Eui-jae.
He was sitting with his legs crossed on the makeshift chair beside the bed, still wearing the clothes he had on when he left the house. His gaze never wavered from the person lying on the bed. Cha Eui-jae reached out and gently tidied the messy black hair. Lee Sa-young lay on the bed as if in a deep sleep.
He hadn’t woken up in a week.
When Cha Eui-jae found Lee Sa-young collapsed after killing the whale, he couldn’t remember clearly what state of mind he was in or exactly what he had done. By the time he came to his senses, his entire body was bound by shadows, and all he could see was the limp and crumpled form of Seo Min-gi in the wreck.
Cha Eui-jae muttered softly.
“So, this is how you must have felt… when I didn’t come back.”
“…”
“Did you want to teach me a lesson in empathy?”
“…”
There was no response. In fact, it was better this way than hearing from Lee Sa-young.
“Since you waited for me…”
Cha Eui-jae gently took Lee Sa-young’s hand, clasping it with both of his and pressing it to his forehead as if in prayer. His eyes, hidden behind his eyelids, slowly opened. His ocean-blue eyes gleamed.
“Now it’s my turn to wait for you.”
Was this what you felt, too?
It feels like my heart is being torn apart, and I want to destroy everything.
“Sleep well.”
The words were full of sorrow. After brushing the messy hair aside, Cha Eui-jae pressed a kiss to the exposed forehead of the person who had denied him.
The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low, Part 1 End.
