The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 212
The moment the gaping mouth closed, a wet squelch resounded, and bright red blood splattered at his feet. Crunch, crunch… The noise of bones being ground into pieces was deafening. Slowly, the white dust began to settle.
What had fallen from the sky looked like a massive snake, or maybe a sea cucumber. Its limbs twitched, disturbingly short in proportion to its lamp-post-like long body. It raised its head to the sky, as if trying to swallow the last piece whole, while its blue eyes quickly scanned it. However, even with the eyes of a tracker, there was nothing particularly unusual to detect. Or rather…
“It’s disturbingly lacking in presence.”
Cha Eui-jae looked down at Kkokko, crouched on the ground.
“Hey, do you know what that thing is? I’ve never seen one like it.”
“…”
“…Kkokko?”
“Bawk?”
The small bead-like eyes blinked. The smooth head tilted to the side. It was Kkokko! It was enough to drive him crazy. Cha Eui-jae squatted down, grabbed Kkokko, and shook him.
“Hey! Where the hell did you go, all of a sudden?!”
“Bawk?”
“Hah, you always run off when things get important, despite all your ‘I’ll watch over you’ talk!”
Kkokko, however, just stared at him with its usual innocent eyes. While Hong Ye-seong might have been at fault, Kkokko was innocent. In the end, Cha Eui-jae placed Kkokko on top of his head. Then, gripping his spear, he glared at the monster.
Charging recklessly at a monster you’ve never seen before was pure madness. What if it reflected attacks, or exploded upon death? That would be a huge problem. Moreover, this was the worst possible scenario to confront the monster. There were countless civilians nearby, and there was no way to evacuate them.
“…”
Minimizing civilian casualties was paramount.
Cha Eui-jae picked up a fist-sized piece of concrete from the ground and threw it toward an area without people. Thud! The piece hit the wall, rolled a couple of times, and stopped. A beat later, the monster turned its head toward the noise. Blood dripped from its lopsided mouth. Its head tilted slightly, as if confused. Its eyes were invisible.
‘It’s slow. It has no eyes. At least it responds to sound.’
The monster quickly lost interest in the concrete. The large Adam’s apple below its mouth bobbed once. At the same time…
“…It’s growing?”
Its body had gotten slightly larger. Its blood-soaked tongue licked around its lips. If it grows every time it eats a human, that’s going to be a real headache. Who knows how big it could get?
The monster sniffed the air, slowly crawling along. Ssssh, ssssh… Blood trails stretched out behind it wherever it went. Its massive mouth opened wide toward the Prometheus civilians. At the same moment, Cha Eui-jae sprang into action.
‘It’s instinctively heading toward where there are more humans.’
Just as the giant teeth were about to snatch up the humans,
Wham— Thud!
Cha Eui-jae’s foot slammed into its mouth. The sensation of its teeth shattering against his foot was vivid. Broken teeth scattered. Cha Eui-jae somersaulted backward and landed lightly. Kkokko, who had fluttered into the air, settled back onto Cha Eui-jae’s head. The monster, now toppled over, thrashed around, its short limbs flailing.
Kkieeeee… A screech echoed through the street. Cha Eui-jae brushed the blood off his pants. The monster, after wailing for a long time, started to wriggle and crawl again, heading once more toward the humans. Cha Eui-jae readjusted his grip on his spear.
‘It doesn’t attack the one who hurt it… it’s focused on its original prey.’
It would have been better if the monster had shown killing intent toward Cha Eui-jae. That way, he could lure it to an empty area. But instead of retaliating against its attacker, it was opening its jaws toward its intended meal. That must be its instinct— to eat more humans.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
This won’t be the end of it.
‘What?’
More will show up, from now on.
“…”
Cha Eui-jae didn’t hesitate.
Squelch—
His massive spear pierced through the monster’s head, skewering it from its mouth downward. Bright red blood sprayed out. At the same moment…
“…Huff, huff…”
A small gasp escaped.
“Ah, ahhh! AHHHH!”
Someone screamed and collapsed, scrambling backward. It was a human, standing just a step away from the monster. His white lab coat was soaked red, making it impossible to tell its original color. He was probably a member of Prometheus. One by one, others began waking up, their screams echoing from different directions. Cha Eui-jae pulled his spear out. Squish, blood splattered everywhere. Both the spear and the hand gripping it were drenched in crimson.
He could feel people’s eyes on him. Somewhere, there was the sound of sobbing. Was there anyone around to help evacuate the people? Cha Eui-jae looked up. From somewhere, another wailing sound could be heard. There was no time to hesitate!
Cha Eui-jae quickly gestured toward the people.
“You all know where the designated shelters are, right? Go to the shelter, now!”
“Cock-a-doodle-doo—!”
Kkokko crowed loudly and dashed off toward the shelter. The dazed people slowly began to follow, one by one. Cha Eui-jae jumped down from the monster and grabbed the collar of a man in a red-stained coat, who was crawling on all fours. The man let out a gasp. Cha Eui-jae yanked the coat and leaned down.
“Hey.”
The man nodded frantically, his throat gulping.
“S-save me! Please, save me! I don’t want to die!”
“I won’t kill you. Just answer my questions. Quickly.”
“Anything! Ask me anything, just please, let me live! I want to live! Don’t take me away! Let me return to my family, please!”
The man was trembling, begging desperately with his hands clasped together. His tear-streaked face was drenched in blood. He didn’t dare look at Cha Eui-jae, his eyes darting toward the empty space beside Cha Eui-jae’s mask. Cha Eui-jae frowned.
‘Return to your family?’
That sounded like something a kidnapped person would say. Cha Eui-jae loosened his grip on the coat a little.
“Were you originally with Prometheus?”
“Pro… No? I-I wasn’t, no! I wasn’t. No, no.”
“Then what? Were you kidnapped?”
“Huh? I, I don’t… I don’t know. I can’t remember. Who am I? Who, who, who…”
The man’s eyes went dull, his lips trembling uncontrollably. Damn it. Were they brainwashed or something? Cha Eui-jae grabbed his collar tighter. The man let out a choking sound as he was pulled closer. Cha Eui-jae shouted urgently.
“Family, you said you had a family. Think of them!”
“Fa…family…”
A string of drool dribbled from the man’s mouth. His eyes were already glassy. The fear and terror that had once consumed him had disappeared. Damn it. Cha Eui-jae shook the man.
“Just answer me this. Did you know this would happen if you did this?!”
“Uh, uh…”
Cha Eui-jae brought his face closer and snarled.
“Damn it, did you know the world would end like this?!”
“…World? End? Has the world ended?”
At the word “End,” the man’s eyes rolled back in his head before snapping back into place. His eyes were now filled with a strange light. The man groped at Cha Eui-jae’s hand, despite the blood soaking them. His grin stretched unnaturally wide.
“Yes, the Prophet said… when the end comes… we will receive great grace… all of us.”
“…”
“It’s here, it’s here. We succeeded. We succeeded…”
The man’s body trembled, and he was laughing.
“Kuh, kuhuh, kuhuhuhuh! Hahaha…”
The man leaned back, laughing hysterically. But the laughter soon stopped. He bowed his head, then whipped it up to glare at Cha Eui-jae. His bloodshot eyes locked onto the black mask.
“You!”
“…”
“A fugitive who fled from the end, the enemy of the world!”
Crack, the sound of his nails snapping rang out. And then.
Thud.
The hand gripping Cha Eui-jae’s slackened and fell. He had desperately scratched at Cha Eui-jae, but left no mark. The man’s head bent at an unnatural angle. Cha Eui-jae released his grip on the coat. Thud, the man’s body hit the ground.
“…”
Nothing reflected in the lifeless eyes.
Cha Eui-jae quietly stared down at the man. He tore off a clean piece of the blood-stained coat and dusted it off. Then, he gently draped it over the man’s face. The half-opened eyes disappeared under the white cloth.
“…”
Cha Eui-jae straightened up and looked to the sky. White things were falling from the White Hole everywhere. Thud, thud, thud… Heavy objects were crashing down all over.
I need to move.
But his feet wouldn’t move.
Then.
“…”
Bzzz, his phone vibrated. Cha Eui-jae struggled to pull out his phone and check the message.
[Where are you?]
It was a message from Lee Sa-young.
