The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 208
“Hoho, you certainly have a discerning eye.”
“I was born with it.”
Tension sparked between Ms. Park and Lee Sa-young. Cha Eui-jae’s smile also faded— not that he ever really smiled in the first place. He shot a glance at Seo Min-gi. What’s with him? Seo Min-gi, somehow understanding, mouthed back the answer.
‘He’s always like that.’
At the same time, Lee Sa-young shrugged.
“This is troubling… Park-ssi.”
“Oh my… What do you mean?”
“You can’t run a business like this.”
Lee Sa-young sighed deeply and dropped the piece of leather he had been fiddling with as if he had touched something he shouldn’t have. He dusted off his hands dramatically. Cha Eui-jae’s eyes widened. What’s with that gangster-like tone? To him, the ultimate traditionalist, this scene felt way too provocative. Even though Ms. Park appeared older than Lee Sa-young, was he acting so cocky just because of her ranking?
Noticing the tension, Seo Min-gi quickly grabbed Cha Eui-jae’s twitching shoulders and swiftly folded his hand down before he could start pointing fingers. Meanwhile, Lee Sa-young kept talking without pause. He crossed his arms, sighing in disappointment.
“The quality of the materials… isn’t it a bit too ordinary? I bet our guild’s storage has plenty of this.”
“…”
His voice came out smoothly from behind the gas mask.
“Then there’s no reason for me to come all the way to see Park-ssi… I came here looking for something special.”
Wasn’t it just because this was the only place with an available time slot? Cha Eui-jae glanced at Seo Min-gi. Seo Min-gi gave a blank nod, though Cha Eui-jae couldn’t quite tell what it meant. Lee Sa-young tapped the filter of his gas mask and mumbled to himself.
“Maybe I should reconsider this deal.”
“…No!”
Ms. Park, who had been keeping her head down, suddenly lifted it with fierce determination in her eyes. She seemed to have been provoked.
“Why are you making that decision so soon? I haven’t even shown you a tenth of what I’ve got.”
“Really?”
Lee Sa-young grinned.
“Then bring it all out… I’ll pay whatever it’s worth.”
“Can you handle what you’re saying?”
Lee Sa-young smirked, lifting his chin slightly.
“Why would I say something I can’t handle?”
“…Ha, alright. Just sit tight and watch!”
Ms. Park straightened her coat and vanished down the narrow hallway. Now the spacious workshop was left empty with just the remaining people. Seo Min-gi, who had been holding back, finally released Cha Eui-jae’s shoulders and hands. Lee Sa-young picked up a fang the size of his face, clicking his tongue.
“Tsk… What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Why? Isn’t it cool?”
“…This? Cool? Are you serious?”
Lee Sa-young looked at Cha Eui-jae like he had just heard something absurd. Cha Eui-jae blinked. Isn’t a fang cool? It’s primal… Seo Min-gi muttered seriously in a low voice.
“This is bad. The customer’s aesthetic sense… it’s totally old-school hunter style.”
Lee Sa-young leaned on the desk, lowering his head, his voice filled with clear frustration.
“Ha… this is the worst. How can his taste be exactly like Jung Bin’s?”
“You’re dissing me now, right? It feels like you’re lumping me in with Jung Bin for an insult.”
“Pardon? Not at all. I was praising the classic taste of J and our civil servant’s sense of aesthetics.”
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
Lee Sa-young pretended not to hear, turning his head away. These people… I can’t hold back any longer. Cha Eui-jae finally started pointing his finger at them, something he hadn’t done earlier.
“Hey! Back in my day, you had to wear whatever came out of the dungeon! Even if it was some ragged balloon-looking outfit, if it had good performance, you wore it! No time to be picky about aesthetics! Your life was on the line. You kids are spoiled!”
“Sure, sure, got it, grandpa.”
“Grandpa? Graaandpaa? You’re only four years younger than me, punk!”
“Sure, if you say so…”
Seo Min-gi stepped in between them to mediate.
“Alright, alright, let’s stop here. J, how about showing us your superior eye for materials and picking something out yourself?”
Seo Min-gi gently nudged Cha Eui-jae’s back. Cha Eui-jae retorted.
“Pick what?”
“Well, as you said, if the shell doesn’t matter as long as the performance is good, then you should have a much better eye for materials than us.”
“…”
“Why not give it a try? Park-ssi’s storage is said to have some interesting stuff.”
Damn. Well, it wasn’t like he could cause a scene in someone else’s shop. Cha Eui-jae glared at Lee Sa-young, who was busy rummaging through the materials on the table, and then headed toward the shelves.
The shelves, which reached up to the ceiling, were filled with boxes, fabrics, leather, bones, teeth, claws, and magic stones, all arranged without any real order. At first glance, it looked like a chaotic mess of junk thrown together. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over him. Where had he seen such a cluttered shelf before?
‘Wait?’
Wasn’t Hong Ye-seong’s workshop in the first world exactly like this?
Cha Eui-jae quickly scanned the area. Was Ms. Park always this disorganized with her belongings? He turned to Seo Min-gi, who was trailing behind him.
“Park-ssi… has she always been this bad at organizing?”
“Hm? No. Her other storerooms are well-organized. It seems to be just this workshop that’s like this.”
“…”
“I figured it might be because she needs to grab materials quickly here. Or perhaps she has her own system.”
Is it just a coincidence?
Cha Eui-jae pulled out a half-open box and examined the contents. Small odds and ends, covered in dust, rolled around inside. Just as he was about to lose interest and put it back, something shiny caught his eye.
“…”
Cha Eui-jae quickly brushed the junk aside. In the corner of the box was a…
‘A shard?’
He picked it up. It seemed like a broken fragment of something, maybe a bead. The smooth surface had several fine cracks, and the sharp edges looked like they could cut if handled carelessly. Cha Eui-jae held the shard up to the light. The white shard glimmered under the ceiling lights. Though it was something he’d never seen before, it didn’t feel unfamiliar. A strange déjà vu.
While Cha Eui-jae stared at the shard, Seo Min-gi approached and asked.
“What’s that?”
“Not sure.”
Just then, the sound of something being dragged grew closer, along with the presence of someone approaching. Ms. Park was pushing a cart overflowing with materials. She parked it next to the desk, wiped an imaginary bead of sweat, and, noticing what Cha Eui-jae was holding, looked surprised.
“Oh? That’s…”
“Do you know what this is?”
“It must’ve been here for a long time. I bought this shop from someone else, and it was one of the materials left from the previous owner.”
“The previous owner?”
“Hmm… Oh dear? I can’t quite remember… but they were a bit of an oddball.”
Ms. Park tried to recall but soon shook her head.
“How strange… Anyway, it was one of the leftover items. I was going to throw it out since it looked like a broken fragment, but it disappeared one day. So that’s where it ended up.”
Cha Eui-jae examined the shard. The glossy white surface seemed to shimmer with a wave-like glow, which flickered and vanished. Each time he saw that light, his heart pounded. Was it anxiety? Restlessness? Nervousness? He couldn’t tell.
While busily transferring materials from the cart to the desk, Ms. Park smiled and said,
“Looks like it caught your eye?”
“…”
Lee Sa-young glanced at Cha Eui-jae, shrugged, and continued inspecting the new materials with a sharp eye. Ms. Park addressed Cha Eui-jae.
“Hoho, you can have it if you’d like~ I was going to toss it anyway. It’s not much, but consider it a gift for a new customer.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
She winked. Cha Eui-jae clenched the shard tightly in his hand before placing it into his inventory. The sound of objects clinking against the shard echoed clearly.
***
‘…And after that, things really got out of hand.’
Thinking about it again made him feel a bit down. Among the materials that Ms. Park brought out the second time, it seemed like there were quite a few that caught Lee Sa-young’s interest. Lee Sa-young and Ms. Park had a long discussion, comparing all sorts of materials against a mannequin.
Why did they have to make such a fuss over a single outfit? Couldn’t they just take the measurements and be done with it? Cha Eui-jae had to stay by Seo Min-gi’s side until their discussion was over. More precisely, he didn’t have any room to step in. That place was a separate world, only accessible to people who had a keen interest in fashion.
“You’re here, J.”
While Cha Eui-jae was lost in his gloomy thoughts, Jung Bin greeted him first. Snapping back to reality, Cha Eui-jae gave a small bow in response.
“Hello.”
“Was it hard getting here?”
“No, I just had to rip the scroll. But the conference hall…”
“Haha, it’s just Hong Ye-seong-ssi’s taste.”
Jung Bin smiled awkwardly. He pointed to the empty seats on both sides of Ham Seok-jeong.
“Your seats are over there.”
“She’s really going all out to show off.”
Lee Sa-young muttered in an irritated tone. Cha Eui-jae shrugged and motioned for Lee Sa-young to take his seat.
