The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 222
A blinding white light painfully pierced his eyes. Cha Eui-jae grimaced. The room he was tied up in was a narrow white room. It was as small as a back room in a hangover soup restaurant. The man fastened the chains firmly to the wall, then grabbed a fistful of Cha Eui-jae’s hair, yanking him. Cha Eui-jae tried not to strain his neck and let himself be dragged quietly.
‘The nerve of these bastards…’
If I escape, I’ll grab your head first. Did his irritation show on his face? The man tapped Cha Eui-jae’s cheek lightly with the back of his hand.
“Look at that face… Behave yourself, you punk. Got it?”
‘Screw you.’
“If you don’t want to see your sister in a messed-up state, you better behave.”
They’re holding Yoon Ga-eul as a hostage to control Cha Eui-jae, and holding Cha Eui-jae to control Yoon Ga-eul. A cost-effective method of blackmail. That’s something to learn from. Cha Eui-jae nodded obediently. The man jabbed a gun into his side and then left the room. The door was to the left. He couldn’t see outside through the metal bars in front of him; he didn’t know what they’d done to block the view. The man’s voice could be heard.
“Don’t touch the guy in that room until we get further instructions.”
“…Wasn’t it…?”
“No, leave him for now. That’s the order from hyung-nim.”
“Ah, understood…”
Good. No need to go smashing everything as soon as they walk in.
It seems they intend to keep him alive for now, probably as a bargaining chip to control and manipulate Yoon Ga-eul. Cha Eui-jae fiddled with the collar around his neck and sat down. Lucky for him, he was tall. If he were any shorter, the chains would’ve made it impossible to sit.
‘Seems pretty spacious.’
Yoon Ga-eul was likely headed to the center of this place. That’s where the VIPs tend to be. What will they talk about when they meet? The end of the world? Cha Eui-jae snorted. There’s no way Prometheus knows more than Yoon Ga-eul. They probably dragged her off to extract information about the apocalypse…
Why are they so obsessed with stopping the apocalypse with human power?
It’s too organized to simply be because they hate awakened ones.
‘Too systematic.’
At that moment, he heard movement near the bars again. Cha Eui-jae lowered his head and closed his eyes.
“A new test subject? This one looks pretty intact. Are you sure he’s been drugged?”
Two people. From the sound of their rustling coats, they were probably researchers from outside. Cha Eui-jae kept his eyes closed and focused on their conversation. He heard the faint sound of paper being flipped.
“Let’s see… Have you scanned his face?”
“Not yet.”
“That should’ve been done first.”
“We can do it now. He doesn’t seem like a high-ranking one anyway.”
“How can you tell?”
“Never seen his face before. Probably some lowlife scraping by on the streets.”
“Think the scanner will work with his eyes closed?”
“No idea. Let’s try it.”
Click. The sound of a camera shutter.
‘Of course.’
From inside the bars, he couldn’t see out, but from outside, they could see in. One of them spoke in a mocking tone.
“Got it, got it. See? Just a D-grade.”
“Name Cha Eui-jae, D-grade… Huh, nothing special. I thought he might be something since they dragged him in personally. Can we use him as a test subject?”
“No. We’ve been told not to touch him.”
“Does he have any special abilities? There’s nothing unusual in his data.”
“No. But those are the orders from above.”
“Too bad. We’re running low on subjects.”
Cha Eui-jae twitched his fingers. These people could identify his name and grade just from his face. And not only that— he was only a common D-grade awakened. There’s only one way that could be possible.
‘The Awakened Management Bureau’s database…’
“Is he drugged?”
“We’ve given him some, but probably a small dose.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to completely incapacitate him? Just in case.”
“He doesn’t seem too aggressive, so let’s leave him for now. We don’t want to screw this up and look like fools.”
“Man, I was hoping we’d get to experiment on this one.”
Their voices faded as they walked away. Cha Eui-jae slowly opened his eyes. The Awakened Management Bureau’s database is strictly managed as a national secret. Every awakened person is considered part of the country’s assets. Even A Small Miracle Seo Min-gi had to separate Jung Bin before they could manipulate the database.
But these people were able to get information on hunters just from a single photo. Even down to Cha Eui-jae’s basic info.
Cha Eui-jae leaned his head against the hard wall.
‘Come to think of it, no matter how drugged I was…’
It’s nearly impossible for civilians to abduct an awakened person so easily. Especially if the awakened one’s powers are out of control due to the drugs. There must’ve been an accomplice. And that accomplice…
‘A fellow awakened.’
A chill ran down his spine. There’s a traitor among the awakened, selling out their own kind. And considering they can freely access the Bureau’s database…
‘…It’s someone connected to the Awakened Management Bureau?’
Cha Eui-jae groaned, rubbing his face with both hands. He had come to uncover Prometheus’s base and its purpose, but it seemed like he’d stumbled upon something even deeper.
‘No, this might actually be good.’
Thud, thud, thud… Cha Eui-jae kept knocking the back of his head against the wall. Maybe it’s because he’s been thinking too much, but his head started throbbing painfully.
He closed his eyes. Even with them closed, the light was so bright it shone through his eyelids. Would the lights ever turn off? Or would they just leave them on like this? He stared blankly at the bright ceiling. The light hurt his eyes. The lack of darkness was more of a problem than he expected. He wouldn’t be able to sleep properly.
Humans— and all living things, really— need sleep. Without proper rest, the brain slowly deteriorates. Mental strength crumbles. Little by little. That’s what was most agonizing about the West Sea rift.
In the ruined world, night never came.
Trapped in an endless white night, constantly on guard for monsters that could appear at any moment. Using the keen senses of an awakened. Yeah, the West Sea rift was the perfect environment for going insane. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had a deep sleep. All they did— all Cha Eui-jae did— was endure. Stubbornly.
As time passed, people became more irritable. Even the comrades who used to laugh eventually lost their smiles. Small arguments turned into big physical fights, and eventually, blood was shed…
Damn it. Cha Eui-jae bit his tongue hard. Thinking about the West Sea rift while stuck in this small, bright room was the worst. Think about something else, anything else.
Suddenly, a question flashed in his mind.
‘Was Lee Sa-young trapped in a place like this too?’
He opened his eyes wide and looked around. A small, white room, with blinding white lights, and a silence so deep that he could hear every breath and heartbeat. Was Lee Sa-young stuck alone in a place like this? Foolish Lee Sa-young, who chose the worst path. All because he was waiting for Cha Eui-jae.
Cha Eui-jae clenched and unclenched his fists. His calloused hands had turned pale. The scars that criss-crossed his palms lingered in his vision like afterimages.
“…”
Damn it.
Cha Eui-jae buried his face in his hands.
Right now, at this very moment.
He missed Lee Sa-young so much.
***
“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself to the people you’ll be living with?”
A cold hand gave his back a push. Lee Sa-young stumbled, unable to keep his balance, and only barely managed to steady himself with his crutches. He glared to his side, but with his blurry vision, he could only make out light and dark shapes. Guessing from the pale figure, he assumed it was Ga-young. She widened her eyes as if confused, then curled her lips into a smirk.
“Oh, sorry, sorry. It’s still hard for you to walk, isn’t it? I must have been a bit inconsiderate.”
“…”
“This here, hmm, let’s just call you Number 4, okay? Since you can’t say your own name. Is that fine?”
“…”
“Number 4 here is a very precious person who managed to survive even after being poisoned by a monster! Let’s all work hard to help Number 4 get better, okay?”
A round of applause broke out. It was loud. Too loud. He wanted to cover his ears. He already missed the quiet hospital room. The cold hand rested on his shoulder. A shiver ran down the back of his neck. Disgusting. He could hear the scurrying sound of many legs moving busily. Probably a spider…
“First, let me show you to your room. You’ll be staying there from now on.”
Ga-young continued guiding him without care. The long, white hallway stretched endlessly. Lee Sa-young’s breathing grew labored. He soon had to stop, gasping for breath, leaning on his crutches to support himself. Ga-young didn’t express concern. She didn’t even come closer. She just waited for him, standing far away.
“Hurry up.”
Damn it.
Grinding his teeth, Lee Sa-young forced himself to move again. He was breathing harshly, each breath more labored than the last. The taste of blood filled his mouth. His sweaty, unkempt bangs stuck to his forehead. By the time he finally reached Ga-young, the door creaked open. With a voice full of laughter, Ga-young whispered,
“Good job. This is where you’ll be staying.”
“…”
The room was all white. Even with Lee Sa-young’s terrible vision, he could clearly see how utterly white it was. The floor, the walls, the ceiling— everything was pale and lifeless. The cold, spider-like hand shoved him again. With a crash, Lee Sa-young fell into the room along with his crutches. He painfully lifted his head. Click.
The door closed.
