The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 234
“Revenge is sweeter when you know why you’re doing it, don’t you think?”
His tone was calm, as if asking about something trivial. Completely unbothered. A small question suddenly bubbled up inside Cha Eui-jae. Was he serious? Cha Eui-jae carefully observed Lee Sa-young’s face. There wasn’t a trace of a smile in his narrowed, pale eyes. Besides…
“I’m only left with resentment. Even though I don’t remember it.”
Even without the memories, the lingering bitterness meant that the pain and emotions were deeply imprinted on his body. That rage-filled emotion.
‘There’s no way he’s okay.’
A past you can’t remember becomes a heavy lump in your chest. There’s no way to resolve it. Because it’s already in the past. All you can do is carry that weight with you as you move forward. Lee Sa-young couldn’t possibly be okay. Cha Eui-jae had told himself countless times that he was fine, but he hadn’t been fine at all.
Thud. His chest felt like it was being crushed. Talking. Yes, they needed to talk. Cha Eui-jae reached out and grabbed Lee Sa-young’s arm.
“You…”
But Lee Sa-young had already pulled out his phone with the same hand that had been covering his mouth. Instead of looking at Cha Eui-jae, he smiled sweetly at Ivan, who was nervously biting his nails.
“I can make the call, right? To the director. J’s phone is busted, you see…”
“…”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
With his black finger, he firmly pressed the call button.
***
A moment ago, in the Awakened Management Bureau.
“Yes, yes… Understood. Yes. We’ll add that to the report. Yes.”
Click. A firm hand set down the receiver. Ham Seok-jeong furrowed her brow slightly and covered her eyes with her hand. The hunter beside her, who had been holding a phone, blocked the receiver with his hand and spoke worriedly.
“How about taking a break, Director…?”
“…”
Ham Seok-jeong slowly nodded and, using her cane, stood up from her seat. Her knees ached more than usual today. She limped her way down the hall, avoiding people rushing by, and arrived at the director’s office, a place where few people passed by. She leaned her temple against the cold concrete wall and let out a short sigh.
As soon as the frequency of mysterious monster appearances decreased, and the crisis was somewhat under control with the cooperation of Mackerel and private guilds, calls flooded in from various places. Most of them were from higher-ups. As expected, she handled them adeptly. Except for one person.
A slick voice echoed in her ears.
—Let’s leave out the word “apocalypse” in the announcement, okay? Just say something like… the gate ran wild? Or maybe that it’s similar to the West Sea rift incident. You get me, right?
Nonsense.
—…Haa, Director Ham, Director Ham.
A voice clicking its tongue in disapproval.
—The more people know about it, the faster it accelerates. That so-called apocalypse or whatever. For now, it’s better to control the information, right? Anyway, Director Ham has enough on her plate already. Leave the media to us. Everyone should focus on what they’re good at, that’s all I’m saying. I’m just trying to help, you know.
Bullshit.
—If you stir up anxiety prematurely, the damage will only be worse. You need to know when to cover up the information appropriately.
“So, what will you announce?”
—Haha, why even ask? Just say the gate ran wild, but thankfully we managed to contain it! And say that J saved the day again! Tell people not to worry. What other name carries that kind of weight?
“…”
Ah…
These stupid, ignorant fools!
The sound of her fingers digging into the wall echoed. Ham Seok-jeong tried to catch her breath, but her breathing remained labored. Listening to these know-nothings speak like they were lecturing her made her blood boil.
They’ve never even set foot on the field, and they’re not even Awakeners! What do they know? These people couldn’t even win against their own fingers but dare to flap their mouths. And J? Do they think J is some kind of universal key that solves everything? Her eyes gradually widened in fury. At the same time, her inner thoughts grew more extreme.
‘Maybe it’s time to clean house…’
“…Director?”
“…”
Ham Seok-jeong slowly turned her head. Jung Bin had appeared without her noticing and was looking at her with a slightly uneasy expression. He was just three steps away. Ham Seok-jeong rolled her eyes upward, then let out a deep breath and released her grip from the wall. Bits of crumbled concrete fell to the floor. Jung Bin handed her a handkerchief. She acknowledged him with a glance and wiped her hands clean. Then, elegantly sweeping her hair back, she asked,
“When did you get here?”
“I just arrived. Hong Ye-seong-ssi kept complaining that the conference room was boring, so… I brought him to the office. On the way, it seemed like the monsters were mostly under control…”
“Yeah. For some reason, the number of creatures suddenly decreased. We’re in the cleanup phase now. Good timing.”
“If you’re okay with it, I could take over the command from here…”
Seeing dirt clinging to his usually pristine black suit, it was clear his journey hadn’t been easy. Plus, he had to deal with that troublesome jerk. Ham Seok-jeong patted Jung Bin on the shoulder.
“I’m fine. For now.”
“…”
“Actually… no, I’d appreciate it if you could take command for a bit. I need to go argue with the higher-ups for a while.”
“Of course, anytime.”
Their attitude had been too unpleasant to just let it slide. This isn’t the end of the apocalypse. It would be better to knock them down a peg now, to prevent them from interfering later.
“Well then…”
At that moment, her phone rang. Probably another call from one of the higher-ups. Annoyed, Ham Seok-jeong answered without even checking the caller ID.
“Yes… This is Director Ham Seok-jeong of the Awakened Management Bureau.”
—Why so formal all of a sudden?
Ham Seok-jeong narrowed her eyes. A lazy voice with a casual, disrespectful tone. It was unmistakably Lee Sa-young.
“Did passing out make you even ruder? What do you want?”
—Oh, it’s nothing serious.
Another voice, someone else’s, faintly echoed in the background. Eventually, a modulated voice came through clearly.
—Director, this is J. I’m at Prometheus’ headquarters right now.
“…What? Wait, what did you say?”
Ham Seok-jeong hurriedly adjusted her grip on the phone. Prometheus’ headquarters. They had been searching for it all this time but had only failed. Jung Bin, having overheard, looked shocked. The modulated voice continued.
—There’s a guy here named Ivan. He says since our goal is the same, to stop the apocalypse, it might be worth it for Prometheus and the Awakened Management Bureau to collaborate. He asked me to relay the message to you.
“…”
—Well, I’m just the messenger. Feel free to reject it if you want.
The sound of knuckles cracking came through the phone. A clear threat that, if needed, they could destroy the base. Ham Seok-jeong quickly began to weigh her options.
Now that the apocalypse had become a reality, the Awakened Management Bureau’s top priority was dealing with it. They needed to save as many people as possible.
This meant, regrettably, that there was no time or manpower to focus on individual Awakeners disappearing anymore.
Images of the guild leaders she’d seen in the conference room flashed through her mind. And the faces of the missing hunters she’d only known through paperwork. Who knew how many of them were still alive? They could all be dead by now.
The first duty of an Awakener is to protect civilians. But who, then, protects the Awakeners? When Awakeners went missing, the widespread assumption was that they’d died somewhere in a dungeon. Even if they were kidnapped or enslaved, people shrugged it off as their own weakness and even mocked them for it. At least those in guilds had people looking for them…
Perhaps it was better to cooperate with them and find out the whereabouts of the missing hunters. Ham Seok-jeong lifted her head. Jung Bin looked at her with a worried expression.
“J.”
—Yes, Director.
“If I were to agree to work with them…”
Jung Bin’s face darkened. Ham Seok-jeong closed her eyes.
“…Would you be disappointed?”
—No.
“…”
—I trust you, Director.
Ham Seok-jeong let out a short sigh.
“Whether we cooperate or not, we need to meet with them first. Since they seem willing to connect with us, let’s arrange a meeting as soon as possible.”
—Understood.
Click. The call ended without further words. Ham Seok-jeong handed her phone to Jung Bin.
“Track the location of that call.”
“Yes.”
Jung Bin replied briefly, but he didn’t move. He stood still, his face showing concern. He fiddled with the phone for a moment before carefully asking,
“…Are you really going to join forces with them, Director?”
“I don’t know yet. We’ll have to meet them and see.”
“The guild leaders you met earlier will be fiercely opposed.”
“That… is something I’ll have to bear.”
Ham Seok-jeong glanced at the wall, where her fingers had dug into it. She muttered to herself,
“If I have to shake hands with my enemy to save more lives… then I will.”
