The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 233
His legs trembled. The hand holding the gun shook. Ever since he witnessed that black wave dissolve a human without leaving a trace, constantly. He swallowed hard. Cold sweat trickled down from beneath the black mask that covered his mouth and neck. Countless gun barrels were all aimed at one person.
Lee Sa-young.
He wasn’t wearing the usual bulletproof vest, nor was he armed with an array of weapons or ornaments. He simply stood there in a long black coat. No sign of being intimidated. As if guns were of no threat at all. Standing there with his left hand in his coat pocket, he looked rather bored. His pale, expressionless face was horrifyingly beautiful, but he had just dissolved four or five people without a trace. Not even a bone fragment could be found. Horrific.
‘…As expected, he’s not even human.’
The man gritted his teeth. Of course, these Awakeneds were all the same, revolting. Monsters disguised in human skin, treating human lives as if they were nothing but flies…
“…”
Lee Sa-young glanced at his hand, as if inspecting his nails, then blew lightly on his fingers. At the same moment, the gun barrels clicked and sprung upward. He briefly widened his eyes, then narrowed them like a snake. His plump lips moved slightly.
“Report?”
“…”
“I asked you. Did you report it to your higher-ups?”
No one answered. Lee Sa-young let out a sigh, loud enough for all to hear.
“So… they ordered you to shut your mouths, huh?”
“…”
“Well… I guess I have no choice then…”
A cracking sound came from his black fingers as his bones snapped. Lee Sa-young extended his black hand forward. A chill ran down the man’s back. His breathing became ragged. He had seen with his own eyes what would happen the moment that hand moved. His finger trembled on the trigger. The face beyond his spread fingers was emotionless.
“I must not have killed enough of you.”
A bitter smell lingered in the air. Just as Lee Sa-young was about to clench his fist, the man squeezed his eyes shut. Damn it! Facing death, courage surged within him. Yes, the monster standing in front of him was no more than a beast in human guise. Without hesitation, the man,
Bang—
pulled the trigger.
Wasn’t it said that the first shot is always the hardest? As soon as the first gunshot rang out, the sound of gunfire erupted from all directions. Damn it, damn it, damn it! The man kept pulling the trigger, again and again. Bang, bang, bang… His whole body trembled. He couldn’t tell if it was from the recoil or the fear. Click, click, soon enough, no matter how hard he pulled the trigger, there was no recoil. The surroundings had already fallen into silence. His ragged breathing gradually calmed. Only then did the man cautiously open his eyes.
Lee Sa-young was still standing there. On top of a black puddle. His hand, half-clenched into a fist, lingered in the air, and his pale face tilted slightly. He flicked something shiny with his thumb and forefinger.
It was a flattened bullet.
“Is it ignorance or just a desperate last struggle…”
“…”
“Well… either way, it doesn’t really matter.”
Lee Sa-young slightly parted his lips. A glimpse of a black tongue appeared inside. As if he were eating candy, he placed the flattened bullet on his black tongue. The deformed bullet began to melt from the point where it touched his tongue. It looked like something out of this world. Everyone stood there in stunned silence, watching the scene unfold. Eventually, the bullet melted completely and disappeared, and Lee Sa-young wiped his lips with his thumb.
“…A price must be paid.”
Thud. A terrible pressure crushed the man’s body. He let out a choking gasp and bent over. His legs trembled uncontrollably. He couldn’t even dare to look ahead. The gun slipped from his hand. Small screams erupted here and there. A stream of black liquid flowed towards him, like a snake. If that liquid touched him, he would end up just like his comrades. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn’t move…
At that moment.
“Hey, what are you doing here!”
A distorted voice pierced his ears sharply. The moment he heard that voice, his head turned on its own. A black-haired man in a white coat was running towards them from inside the building. His face was hidden behind a plain black mask. Though his attire was different from usual, he recognized him immediately. It was J.
In an instant, the suffocating pressure disappeared. The man gasped and collapsed to the ground. He looked up at Lee Sa-young, staring blankly. That expressionless face was slowly beginning to smile. A hint of red crept into his pale skin. Lee Sa-young hid both hands behind his back. A small sigh reached his ears, as if relieved.
…Relieved? That monster?
Unfortunately, his thoughts didn’t continue further. The man rolled his eyes and fainted. Thud, a puff of dust rose. The last thing he saw was,
a single trail of black liquid left behind as a warning.
***
“What is this… situation?”
Cha Eui-jae looked around with a somewhat dazed expression. The ground was covered in sand and gravel, and seeing the cargo truck parked in the distance, he figured this must be the place where he had been dragged and dumped. From various places, he could hear the sounds of bodies collapsing with a thud, thud. Lee Sa-young was standing in the middle of the fallen soldiers. With his hands clasped behind his back, he smiled brightly.
“You’re late.”
“Hey, is that really what you should be saying right now?”
Cha Eui-jae barely swallowed the rising frustration. All the fallen soldiers had guns. Considering how many gunshots he’d heard on the way here…
‘Is he hurt?’
CHa Eui-jae quickly scanned Lee Sa-young from head to toe. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any visible injuries. He still had that annoyingly flawless, disgustingly beautiful face. Lee Sa-young ran a hand through his hair as if showing off.
“Mm, your gaze is intense…”
Cha Eui-jae glanced at the people standing beside him. Seo Min-gi looked nonchalant, as if expecting this outcome, while Ivan was still catching his breath, looking completely out of it. Understandable, considering they’d run all the way here from the deep lab. For a normal person, it was only natural to be out of breath.
Cha Eui-jae strode towards Lee Sa-young.
“How the hell did you get here?”
“Do you have any idea how accurate location tracking is these days?”
“You tracked my location?”
“Hm? No. I already told you, that’s just your over-inflated ego…”
Lee Sa-young gestured with his chin toward Seo Min-gi. Seo Min-gi dramatically lifted a lock of hair to reveal an in-ear device. A tiny light blinked from the in-ear piece.
“For safety reasons, I wear a tracking device. I seem to have forgotten to mention that.”
You forgot to mention something that was important all this time? Cha Eui-jae glared at him. Seo Min-gi turned his head away, pretending not to notice. Lee Sa-young crossed his arms as if demanding attention. A sickly sweet scent wafted from him.
“So… J, what exactly were you doing here?”
The way he said “J” felt oddly uncomfortable. Cha Eui-jae tried to ignore it, but he kept inspecting Lee Sa-young’s face and body. His complexion was a bit pale, but there didn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong.
“A student named Ga-eul was kidnapped, so I came along. I needed to find out where their base was.”
“That Ga-eul kid… she seems to get kidnapped every day… So, where is she?”
“Just as I was about to find out, I heard about you causing a mess, you idiot!”
“How is that my fault… Isn’t it your fault for showing up here without any notice?”
“Hold on, hold on. I’ll step in before this turns into a never-ending argument.”
Seo Min-gi inserted himself between Lee Sa-young and Cha Eui-jae. Then, he shot a glance at Ivan, who was still bent over, catching his breath.
“Guild Leader, that person over there seems to be the decision-maker of Prometheus. He made us an offer.”
“An offer?”
“He suggested cooperation. To prevent the apocalypse. He asked J to inform the director.”
“Cooperation?”
“Yes. Though frankly, it doesn’t seem like there’s much value in cooperating. We could probably just deal with him here without telling the director—”
“No, agree to it.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t they make the offer first?”
“…Guild Leader, are you out of your mind—”
“Hold on!”
Cha Eui-jae quickly covered Seo Min-gi’s mouth. He struggled like a loyal servant trying to offer advice, but it wasn’t enough to overpower Cha Eui-jae’s strong grip. Cha Eui-jae even blocked his nose, thinking he was saving his life.
A faint hint of exasperation flickered in Lee Sa-young’s violet eyes. He watched Cha Eui-jae with slightly narrowed eyes.
“You two seem close?”
“Close? I’m saving him.”
“Looks more like you’re killing him with your bare hands. Anyway.”
Lee Sa-young calmly spoke, his hands still in his coat pockets.
“I don’t remember much from when I was experimented on, you know…”
“…”
“Did I ever mention that? I can’t recall. Anyway, I’m only left with resentment. Even though I don’t remember it.”
It was the first time Lee Sa-young had brought up his past experiences with the experiments. Cha Eui-jae stayed quiet, waiting. He felt that if he said something wrong, Lee Sa-young might never bring it up again. Lee Sa-young twirled a lock of his hair with his black fingers.
“I just figured it wasn’t worth remembering, since it wasn’t a good memory… Jung Bin and Bae Won-woo both said it wasn’t worth forcing myself to recall either.”
Cha Eui-jae felt the same way. He replied bluntly, without thinking much.
“What good would come from remembering it? Isn’t it better to just forget?”
“Hmm…”
Lee Sa-young covered his mouth with his hand and laughed. His eyes narrowed like a snake’s.
“Revenge is sweeter when you know why you’re doing it, don’t you think?”
