The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 193
“Ugh, what is this?”
“Unbelievable… really.”
Lee Sa-young’s muttering could be heard within the narrowing field of view. Cha Eui-jae frowned and glared at Kkokko. The blinding light that had been flashing so noisily soon faded. Kkokko was still curled up, using Lee Sa-young’s hand as a nest, its tiny eyes tightly shut. Cha Eui-jae crossed his arms.
“Did anything even happen?”
“…”
“Let’s just go find Yoon Ga-eul. Leave this thing behind.”
“Bawk!”
Kkokko raised both wings and squawked loudly. A strange intelligence glimmered in its tiny eyes. But what greeted it was two pairs of cold, indifferent stares. Kkokko cautiously folded its wings and began chirping with its beak. Urgent whispers flowed out of its cute little face.
“Friend, don’t call me! I just came to say that.”
“Why?”
“Because the owner of this place is that guy, of course. This is trespassing, you know.”
“So this isn’t a dream, but a separate space?”
“Exactly. A place like that Memorial Dungeon you visited before… Ah! Okay, I get it. I get it already.”
Crackle! Sparks flew from Kkokko’s round, smooth body. It jumped up in place, its beak moving faster.
“This is bad. I need to go. Anyway, such a temper!”
“Hey, at least give us a hint before you go!”
Kkokko, no, Hong Ye-seong, swung its smooth head as if in disbelief.
“What are you talking about, friend? You have to find the weak spot yourself!”
“Me?”
“Of course! You’re the most important player here. Me? I’m just a… well, a chicken about to get kicked out. Ah, sorry, I’m going, I’m going! Geez, I’m leaving!”
SQUAWK!— With a long squawk, another flash of light and gust of wind burst forth. This time, the light disappeared even faster than before. Cha Eui-jae frowned as he fixed his disheveled hair. Lee Sa-young gently placed the now curled-up Kkokko onto the soft bed and closed his eyes.
“So…”
“…”
“It was completely useless, wasn’t it?”
“…Not completely. I am the most important player, after all.”
“Ugh… isn’t that something anyone could figure out without being told?”
Lee Sa-young irritably ran a hand through his hair, his black strands tangling between his fingers.
“This is a space created by Lee Sa-young. Of course, you’re important.”
“But I don’t have a role—”
“No.”
Lee Sa-young cut him off firmly. Just then, a soft snore came from the sprawled-out Hong Ye-seong. Lee Sa-young, who was about to continue speaking, let out a short sigh. For some reason, he suddenly seemed unusually sensitive. What was making him so tense?
Lee Sa-young pointed to the door.
“Let’s go. Just leave this as is.”
***
Lee Sa-young stepped out of the suite and began walking ahead in silence. Cha Eui-jae followed behind him with his hands in his pockets. The people on the street instinctively avoided Lee Sa-young, allowing Cha Eui-jae to walk without bumping into anyone.
Silence stretched between them. Cha Eui-jae didn’t try to initiate conversation. It didn’t seem like Lee Sa-young was in the mood.
‘What’s bothering him?’
He reflected on everything that had happened since they arrived, but nothing really stood out as a problem. Sure, Lee Sa-young’s mood was as easily tangled and knotted as a thin necklace chain, but…
“…”
This time, it was impossible to tell what was going on. Why was he suddenly being so silent? Cha Eui-jae stared at the fluttering black coat in front of him. Then, the footsteps ahead stopped. An all-too-familiar presence appeared before them.
“Lee Sa-young-ssi? What brings you here?”
Jung Bin approached, brushing his hands off. But something about him looked different. His clean-cut hairstyle with a 2:8 part was slick, and his face was unnervingly smooth. The Jung Bin Cha Eui-jae knew was always a kind man with a gentle but firm demeanor, constantly wearing a warm smile. Cha Eui-jae muttered without realizing it.
“…Doesn’t look like him.”
“…”
“Why does this version of Jung Bin look so… slimy?”
“Who knows…”
Lee Sa-young muttered in disbelief. The slick-looking Jung Bin chattered on.
“It’s convenient that you’re here. I had something to contact you about…”
“…”
“…”
The two exchanged glances. From what they could deduce, this was ‘Lee Sa-young’s’ space, likely reconstructed from his memories and senses. Even the flavorless food had been a clue to that. But human memory isn’t perfect.
Especially when it comes to recreating people, personal feelings and biases inevitably slip in. That’s how Jung Bin ended up being reconstructed in this slimy form.
Cha Eui-jae muttered again.
“…Did you two not get along? Seems like there was a lot of bad blood.”
“…”
“His appearance is… pretty distorted.”
“I didn’t think of him that way.”
“Of course you didn’t…”
Responding mechanically, Lee Sa-young muttered while half-listening to Jung Bin’s words.
“In this world, I must not have been kidnapped and experimented on.”
“…”
“So naturally, I wouldn’t have spent time with Jung Bin or Bae Won-woo. If I had to guess, he must have annoyed me by interfering in everything. He’d probably be busy here with his government work, too.”
“That sounds like…”
“Let’s go. If we stay and listen any longer, it’ll just get more annoying.”
“Lee Sa-young-ssi?”
Ignoring the slimy Jung Bin’s words, Lee Sa-young started walking again. Flustered, Jung Bin was left behind. As they walked, an empty clearing appeared. The desolate open space was completely devoid of people. Lee Sa-young stopped in the middle of it.
Suddenly, Cha Eui-jae had a question. After seeing these distorted versions of people through Lee Sa-young’s perspective, he couldn’t help but wonder: what did he look like through Lee Sa-young’s eyes?
This was a space created from Lee Sa-young’s thoughts. In this world, the people didn’t know about the apocalypse, and they didn’t know about J. No one knew about J. Cha Eui-jae lived in the same house as Lee Sa-young. It was a home just for the two of them.
A utopia that existed only because Cha Eui-jae was there— a perfect world ‘Lee Sa-young’ longed for.
“…”
Suddenly, a bright realization struck. This place was a utopia. It wasn’t reality. ‘Lee Sa-young’ had lost Cha Eui-jae and had wandered alone for a long, long time. Perhaps by now, he was more accustomed to a world without Cha Eui-jae. After all, utopia and reality are different things.
What’s the purpose of someone without a role?
“…”
Maybe…
Could it be that the real ‘Lee Sa-young’s’ world could only appear if Cha Eui-jae wasn’t here?
‘…That seems likely.’
Cha Eui-jae reached into his inventory. The spear and Basilisk’s Fang each occupied a slot. The spear would be inconvenient to use. And wasn’t this a space created by the original owner of the Basilisk’s Fang?
Grabbing the handle of the Basilisk’s Fang and pulling it out, it began to wriggle like a fish in water.
It was time for something cruel.
When he turned his head, Lee Sa-young was watching him with an unreadable expression. And in that brief moment their eyes met, Cha Eui-jae instinctively understood.
Lee Sa-young had known all along. He knew the weak point of ‘Lee Sa-young.’
He also knew what needed to be sacrificed to uncover that hidden weakness, and how it had to be done. He must have realized that Cha Eui-jae would eventually figure it out. Cha Eui-jae rested the Basilisk’s Fang on his shoulder and looked at Lee Sa-young.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“Ah…”
A cold smile appeared on Lee Sa-young’s pale face.
“How could I not?”
“…”
“After all, he’s still me.”
Lee Sa-young closed his mouth tightly. In truth, Cha Eui-jae didn’t want to do this either. But sometimes, there are things in life you have to do, even if you don’t want to. Especially when you’re the only one who can do them.
“Lee Sa-young.”
“…”
“Do you trust me?”
A long silence followed. Lee Sa-young opened and closed his lips several times, hesitating.
How much time passed? After what felt like an eternity, his pale face slowly, very slowly, nodded up and down. Cha Eui-jae grinned.
“Thank you.”
Without hesitation, he raised the Basilisk’s Fang high. And then—
Squelch—
He drove it into his own chest.
Bright red blood dripped down. The hand gripping the handle became soaked with it.
It didn’t hurt. As his body lost strength and began to collapse forward, a strong hand caught him. Cha Eui-jae rested his forehead against a broad shoulder and caught his breath. A large hand gently patted his back in a soothing gesture. A faint voice murmured.
“See…”
“…”
“I told you this place feels… off, didn’t I?”
Right, that’s what you said.
That guy’s a real freak…
Suddenly, Cha Eui-jae became curious. What kind of expression was Lee Sa-young making right now? It was a pure, but therefore more cruel, curiosity. With great effort, he raised his gaze and saw a sharp jawline. Lifting his head a little more, Lee Sa-young lowered his face to meet his eyes.
And—
“…”
Ah.
Cha Eui-jae slightly opened his mouth. But no sound came out. The face he had seen slowly faded into darkness. Yet even as his vision blurred, his thoughts remained clear.
He could vaguely feel a hand stroking the back of his head. It was gentle. Which made it all the more terrifying. Cha Eui-jae struggled to swallow the blood rising in his throat. His mouth filled with blood, but fortunately or unfortunately, he couldn’t taste it.
Still, Cha Eui-jae thought.
‘Wow, this is really…’
He thought again.
‘I’m really fucked…’
Yeah, this is really bad.
No, you said it was okay. You nodded, saying it was fine…
And then his breath stopped. White wind began to howl.
