The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 225
Seo Min-gi tilted his head and corrected himself.
“That wasn’t in line with the National Institute of Korean Language’s vocabulary
. I apologize. Let’s say ‘He’s extremely furious’ instead.”
Lee Sa-young was pissed? Cha Eui-jae rolled his eyes.
‘Well, yeah… sure.’
It was a daily occurrence at this point, so it didn’t even surprise him anymore. If Jung Bin got angry, or Hong Ye-seong finally came to his senses, maybe that would feel serious. Cha Eui-jae shrugged indifferently. In fact, he even felt a little relieved.
‘Well, at least he’s coherent enough to get mad.’
But honestly, who would’ve wanted to leave anyone behind? I was the only one who could move, so of course I had to do something. Once he confirmed that Lee Sa-young was safe, his thoughts started to wander.
‘That guy is always annoyed. And whenever I say something, he acts like he’s sick and throws a tantrum.’
The pity, worry, and longing he’d felt disappeared cleanly, replaced with resentment. Cha Eui-jae crouched down in front of Seo Min-gi.
“What’s he up to now?”
“He returned to the guild. According to Hunter Jung Bin, he was the last one to regain consciousness. And apparently, he wasn’t in the best shape when he woke up.”
Damn. Cha Eui-jae’s face twisted strangely. See, just when I try to resent him, I feel sorry again. Lee Sa-young would always be like that— resentful, pitiful, missed, forever remaining a painful thorn in Cha Eui-jae’s side. Seo Min-gi pushed his sunglasses up.
“Don’t worry, he’s completely fine now. He’ll probably move once he gets the situation report.”
Did he get into another scuffle with someone else? I thought things had been settled. Cha Eui-jae groaned, rubbing his forehead. Now that he thought about it.
‘I disappeared all of a sudden.’
Lee Sa-young, who couldn’t last even a week without coming to find him, who only looked relaxed when beside Cha Eui-jae. Cha Eui-jae stared at Seo Min-gi’s impassive sunglasses and asked,
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Worried? About who?”
“Me. I disappeared without warning.”
“Huh? Why would I worry about you?”
Seo Min-gi, as if to prove a point, grabbed Cha Eui-jae’s arms with both hands, then let go.
“You’re perfectly fine.”
I shouldn’t have asked. Cha Eui-jae made a sour face and asked,
“How’s the outside situation? Are monsters still showing up?”
“Monsters are still appearing here and there, but compared to earlier, it’s more or less under control. Hunters are going around dealing with them.”
“What about that big-mouthed monster?”
“Yeah. It eats everything in sight, whether it’s people or building debris.”
“…”
A monster with a huge gaping mouth that tore people apart. Has he ever seen anything like that before? The more he thought about it, the more a strange sense of déjà vu crept in. Cha Eui-jae rubbed his chin. But Seo Min-gi seemed to interpret his silence differently.
“I told you already. The Guild Leader is starting to catch on.”
Seo Min-gi pulled out his phone from the shadows and turned the screen toward Cha Eui-jae. What he showed was a group chat in a messenger app, with dozens of people in it. The name of the chat room was…
[Chat Room to Share News About the Hangover Soup Restaurant Part-timer]
‘Shit.’
The chat was flooded with congratulatory emojis, crying emojis, and shocked emojis. Seo Min-gi scrolled up to show him a specific message.
[!!Breaking News!! Part-timer from the hangover soup restaurant spotted in Seoul. Appeared just as they did three months ago. Looks very healthy.]
“Hunter Yang Hye-jin spread the word after spotting you.”
***
A moment ago, on the main street.
“Life really isn’t easy, huh.”
Seo Min-gi, a specialist in infiltration and information manipulation, sat perched on a broken pavement block. With a serious expression, he took a sip from the straw of his tumbler. Government workers in fluorescent vests glanced at him with curious looks as they passed by.
Drinking coffee helped him clear his mind a bit. Yeah, running away wouldn’t solve anything. He had to face it head-on, even if it meant bearing the full wrath of his boss.
“Really… not easy.”
He never imagined that managing the relationship between two superiors would become part of his job. Seo Min-gi sighed and pressed the call button on his phone. The person on the other end picked up almost immediately. A cold voice spoke.
—Speak.
“Yes, Guild Leader. According to Hunter Yang Hye-jin…”
Seo Min-gi gulped.
“He… infiltrated Prometheus’ tent. Voluntarily. On his own. Posing as a regular civilian.”
—…What?
The voice on the other end grew noticeably colder. Seo Min-gi quickly switched to AI-voice mode, mentally detaching from the situation to deliver the information as flatly as possible.
“He said he doesn’t look anything like a hunter, so he’d be fine. And he hasn’t come out since.”
—…And Yang Hye-jin just let him do that?
“At the time, she thought there was no way anyone would think he was a hunter, and that if things went wrong, the Rift Management Bureau could storm in.”
—You let someone who can’t lie for their life infiltrate a tent?
“…”
—For crying out loud, these idiots…
If his second boss had heard this, he would’ve said something like, “The most clueless guy insulting all hunters? What a joke.” Ignoring the murmured cursing, Seo Min-gi continued.
“I also infiltrated for a bit, but I couldn’t find him. He seems to have moved to another location.”
—Where?
“I’m going to check that now. I’ll trace his shadow.”
—…
Lee Sa-young fell silent, likely trying to contain his irritation. Seo Min-gi shook his tumbler, the ice clinking loudly inside as it asserted its presence.
Where could J, who infiltrated the tent, have disappeared to? Was he discovered and dragged away somewhere? Or did he quickly get what he needed and escape?
The latter seemed unlikely. There were too few reports from witnesses for that to be the case. Cha Eui-jae had the tendency to underestimate his own presence and influence, never bothering to hide himself. Seo Min-gi took off his sunglasses and blew dust off the lenses.
“Could he have been caught and kidnapped?”
—…J?
The previously silent Lee Sa-young scoffed.
—He probably let it happen.
His voice sank coldly.
—And that’s what makes it even more infuriating.
Seo Min-gi quickly agreed.
***
Seo Min-gi craned his neck and glanced around. His eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at the iron bars.
“…I figured you might’ve been dragged off somewhere or moved to a remote location… but I didn’t expect you to be here at the headquarters.”
“Sa-young will be even angrier if he finds out, won’t he?”
“Is that even a question?”
Of course, he would be. Cha Eui-jae scratched his head. Seo Min-gi, who had been resting his chin in thought, murmured.
“But we can’t miss out on such a sweet opportunity, can we? We might as well clean this place out while we’re at it. Isn’t that why you let yourself get captured?”
“…”
Well, that hadn’t really been Cha Eui-jae’s plan. He just intended to rescue Yoon Ga-eul and leave. But before Cha Eui-jae could object, it seemed like Seo Min-gi had already devised a complete plan.
Based on their three months of working together, Cha Eui-jae knew that once Seo Min-gi set a plan in motion, you couldn’t criticize or disrupt it. The moment something derailed, Seo Min-gi would malfunction. Cha Eui-jae looked down at his shadow with a reluctant expression.
‘What a hassle…’
“Don’t worry. With me, the infiltration specialist, here, what could go wrong? Infiltration should always be done quietly and discreetly…”
Seo Min-gi rambled on, giving a confident thumbs-up, clearly ready to launch into a lengthy speech about infiltration. Seizing the moment, Cha Eui-jae handed him a tablet.
“If you’re going to hide in the shadows, could you take a look at the contents of this tablet? It belonged to a researcher here, but it’s all numbers and technical terms, so I can’t make sense of it.”
“Oh, of course. This much is nothing…”
Seo Min-gi quickly skimmed the tablet.
“…It might take a while, though.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“But don’t worry. I’ll have it done in no time…”
Muttering to himself, he slowly melted into the shadows. Just as only the top of Seo Min-gi’s head remained visible, Cha Eui-jae added a final note.
“By the way, we need to rescue someone before we leave.”
“Huh?”
“Yoon Ga-eul, a student, was captured and brought here with us. So while you’re gathering intel, you also need to find her and take her with us.”
“Whaaat? Wait a minute! You never mentioned that!”
“Yeah, I’m mentioning it now.”
“Wait, in that case, the plan… I mean, this changes everything—”
“Shh.”
Cha Eui-jae stomped on the shadow. Seo Min-gi’s murmuring stopped immediately. Someone appeared at the end of the hallway. A soldier with a gun and a tactical vest. He also noticed Cha Eui-jae and froze. The man shouted.
“Hey! What are you doing there?”
In the previous episode, when Seo Min-gi says “he’s seriously pissed off”, he says it in a vulgar way that is not in line with the vocabulary of the National Institute of Korean Language (which encourages the use of more formal and standard Korean expressions, especially in public contexts or formal). On that note, I added “fucking” to the last sentence of the previous episode.
