The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 227
Clink, clink… A gloved hand wandered aimlessly over the neatly arranged surgical tools. Soon, it stopped on the sharp scalpel. The man hunched over, letting out a small sigh.
‘Ah…’
Cha Eui-jae looked up. The man he had just seen was unmistakably…
‘Song Jo-heon…’
It was Song Jo-heon. The first hunter he encountered upon his return after leaping over eight years. A figure from the same era, the one who made him realize he had returned to his original world. Cha Eui-jae vividly remembered Song Jo-heon on that old brown TV screen, the man who once exuded confidence, sharp as a tiger.
“…”
He wanted to believe it wasn’t true. Song Jo-heon had been an ambitious man, but Cha Eui-jae had thought they were on the same path. They had endured hardships together. He had believed he wasn’t a bad person.
Crunch… The edge of the metal bookshelf he gripped buckled under his hand. Cha Eui-jae quickly let go.
“…”
Eight years ago, Song Jo-heon’s body didn’t look like that. There were the expected small scars, but not the ragged stitch marks, as if his body had been patched together like an old cloth. Cha Eui-jae asked in a low voice.
“Do you know when those scars on Song Jo-heon’s body appeared?”
“Hm, no. Embarrassing to admit, but I just found out now that he even had scars like those.”
Seo Min-gi silently emerged from the shadows, standing up with a bounce and dusting off his black suit. His face looked a bit downcast.
“He was always impeccably dressed, from the top of his head to the tips of his shoes. It was even quite a topic in men’s magazines. He never wore short sleeves, even in the sweltering summer heat. According to the Guild Leader, it was some kind of power move to show off his authority… that was most people’s guess.”
“Since when?”
“I don’t remember exactly… but it was probably after he became an S-grade.”
After J was trapped in the West Sea rift, Song Jo-heon became an S-grade awakened.
“I never imagined he was hiding something like that beneath his suit. I can now understand why he was almost obsessively never seen bare-skinned.”
Seo Min-gi opened a cabinet and pulled out a white coat, throwing it over his suit. He pushed his sunglasses up his nose with a quick swipe.
“Anyway, things aren’t looking good. You saw it, right? The way he lay down so familiarly.”
“He even has the ‘usual’ doctor. Which means he must have been here often.”
He seemed too familiar with Prometheus’ hidden base, undressing and waiting as if it were routine, recognizing strange faces with sharp eyes, his body bearing those patchwork scars from head to toe, and his rank ascending from A-grade to S-grade. Every piece of evidence pointed in one direction. A chill ran down Cha Eui-jae’s spine.
‘Has he been experimented on?’
Most likely, by his own will, of his own accord.
A harsh, impatient cough interrupted his thoughts, a clear signal to hurry. Seo Min-gi lowered his sunglasses slightly, inspecting the medicine bottles and tools while whispering.
“If the public servant were here, he would have arrested him as a criminal right away. But we don’t have that authority, so we need to extract information. Song Jo-heon has a surprisingly good public image, you know.”
“In what way?”
“He was the first A-grade to become an S-grade. You wouldn’t know, but it was a pretty big deal. To the civilians, he represented hope, filling the gap left by J, and to the hunters, he showed that our grades could rise too.”
An awakened’s grade was a label that followed them forever. When Cha Eui-jae worked at the hangover soup restaurant, he’d overhear the complaints of lower-ranked hunters. People only remembered the exceptional hunters, while the low-ranked ones were stuck doing all the dirty, tedious work, ridiculed for being hunters in name only.
Even if Cha Eui-jae tried to understand, there was a realm he could never truly grasp.
“…”
Seo Min-gi opened the drawers deftly as he continued.
“That’s also why the Samra Guild grew its power so quickly. Not only was it Korea’s first official guild, but it was led by a man who had actually changed his grade. Everyone wanted to know how he did it, how he broke through his own limits…”
“…”
“Did you know, J?”
Seo Min-gi peered at J’s face, his expression sly.
“Among the missing hunters… quite a few belong to guilds under Samra.”
“…”
“It was dismissed as poor management of the subsidiary guilds, but… seeing this, I’m starting to think otherwise.”
Cha Eui-jae glanced at the drawer beside the door. On the stainless steel tray lay a syringe and a small vial the size of a fingertip. He held the small bottle up to the bright fluorescent light. The clear, colorless liquid shimmered. What kind of drug could it be? Something to enhance the body of an awakened?
The coughing sound came again. Cha Eui-jae turned to Seo Min-gi. He was flipping through a stack of papers, meeting Cha Eui-jae’s gaze.
“By now, I’m sure you’ve guessed, haven’t you? So what will you do?”
“…”
“I’ll follow your lead, whatever you decide.”
“I…”
Cha Eui-jae placed the vial down. His dark eyes gleamed coldly.
“I want to ask him first.”
“…”
“What on earth was he thinking when he did this?”
Cha Eui-jae pulled out a mask and put it on. His face, hardened with cold determination, disappeared behind the black mask. He yanked the door open. Song Jo-heon lay there, eyes closed on the bed. Cha Eui-jae strode over purposefully. Sensing the dangerous aura, Song Jo-heon’s eyes snapped open. He moved to sit up, but Cha Eui-jae was faster.
Thud! A firm hand clamped around his throat, veins bulging. Song Jo-heon gasped, the breath caught in his throat. Cha Eui-jae squeezed harder, bearing down with his weight. Song Jo-heon stumbled back, unable to withstand the force. His hand, veins bulging, tried to pry Cha Eui-jae’s grip from his throat, but it was like a shackle that wouldn’t budge.
Cha Eui-jae shoved his neck with all his strength. Bang! Song Jo-heon slammed into the cabinet. The neatly arranged bottles shattered on the ground.
“What… who are you…!”
His eyes, burning with fury, reflected the smooth black mask. Song Jo-heon’s eyes widened in horror.
“You… why are you here…!”
Cha Eui-jae grabbed Song Jo-heon’s shoulders, squeezing tightly. His blunt fingers dug into the man’s shoulders, contorting his face in pain. A voice, devoid of emotion, rumbled through the distorted mask.
“That’s my line.”
“Grrr…!”
The black mask gazed down at the hair streaked with gray. At the edge of that modulated voice, a hint of emotion slipped through.
“What on earth have you done…?”
Disappointment that couldn’t be hidden.
***
It’s not a pleasant thing to see the landscape of a ruined world every time you fall asleep. The end that will eventually come. The destruction. Horrific scenes of people dying, being trampled. While she could share the scenery, she couldn’t convey the emotions. Yoon Ga-eul felt powerless and despaired every night. Of course, Ham Seok-jeong and Jung Bin listened to her words attentively, but that was all.
There was an unbridgeable gap between a seasoned awakened one who had gone through countless battles and a newly awakened one without any combat abilities. They trusted her words and took them seriously.
But they couldn’t empathize with her fear.
Too weak to be called a hunter, yet too special to be considered an ordinary person. She was a fragile existence teetering between being an awakened one and an ordinary person, knowing the impending doom but powerless to change anything with her own strength. So, she always depended on someone else and always despaired. That was Yoon Ga-eul.
And that’s why Yoon Ga-eul was always lonely.
“…”
The small room felt suffocating. Yoon Ga-eul bit her lip. The man beyond the speaker had ended his words with a final remark that they needed her strength, then fell silent. He was waiting for her answer. But…
Her vision kept blurring. Holding back the rising tears, Yoon Ga-eul harshly rubbed her eyes. She tried to think of her friends. She thought of J.
“I’m J, remember?”
The face that grinned mischievously, even in a mess.
“Trust me.”
Thinking of J’s face calmed her turbulent heart a little. Yoon Ga-eul clenched her fist and took a deep breath. Yes, J is still here. With me, and if it’s J, they’ll find a way to solve this.
‘…But.’
…But is that really okay?
Am I just running away by leaving everything to J?
In the end, am I not able to do anything on my own, just burdening J with everything and then being content…?
It was a tiny crack. Her trust in J was firm, but her deep distrust in herself remained, allowing doubt to slip through the crack. A gentle male voice slid into that doubt.
“You’re truly remarkable.”
“Enduring that fear, all alone, as a young student. It’s truly remarkable.”
“This isn’t your fault. And…”
“You are not alone, Ga-eul.”
Yoon Ga-eul blankly looked up at the ceiling. A single flickering light bulb blinked intermittently. At that moment, the man’s voice echoed from the speaker.
“Yoon Ga-eul.”
‘…’
“You are someone who can change things. With your own power.”
The small light went out.
