The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 250
“What the…?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll go down first.”
The instructor quickly disappeared down the stairs. Cha Eui-jae picked up the small frame and looked at the photo again. They looked so much like real brothers. Just then, Park Ha-eun, who had been running around the dojang, peeked her head in.
“Uncle, what’s wrong?”
“Ah… just play for a little longer. Uncle’s going to talk with the instructor for a bit.”
“Okay!”
The faint voices were growing louder. Cha Eui-jae put the frame back in its place and followed the instructor downstairs. He stopped halfway down and looked over the railing. A crowd of people had gathered at the entrance of the building. They were of all ages and genders, but they all wore white clothes, with some holding placards.
[Awakened Ones Can’t Be Trusted!]
[Let’s Overcome This Crisis With Our Strength!]
“…”
Wearing white clothes by itself wasn’t a problem, but the slogans on the placards and their chants demanding the Awakened leave were concerning.
‘Are they from Prometheus?’
Cha Eui-jae frowned, examining the crowd. To his surprise, he recognized some familiar faces. There were a few shop owners and locals he’d seen around when he was working at the hangover soup restaurant. They were ordinary civilians, not Awakened. A middle-aged man, who looked respectable, spoke up casually.
“So, Instructor Bae, have you thought about it?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Oh, come on. You remember what I mentioned last time, don’t you? I said it’d be good if you joined our group.”
“As I recall, I already declined back then.”
“Come now, there’s no need to refuse so quickly.”
“Did you come here with everyone just because I turned you down?”
“‘Came with everyone’? We just happened to stop by. We thought it’d be good if you joined, that’s all.”
The instructor shook his head firmly.
“The children are scared. Please avoid coming together like this.”
“Scared? We’re residents here too. We’re neighbors.”
A few others murmured in agreement. The instructor looked troubled, and Cha Eui-jae found it strange as well. These weren’t the type of people he remembered as unreasonable. The instructor took a deep breath, then spoke in a low voice.
“If this continues, I’ll have no choice but to call the police.”
“The police? For what?”
“For obstruction of business. You’re blocking the pathway children use.”
“Hah… fine, let’s see what happens then! Ahem…”
The middle-aged man coughed lightly, and others began coughing as well. It seemed the standoff would drag on unless someone intervened. It was time for him to step in. Though he hadn’t acted in a while, he still had experience. Cha Eui-jae covered his nose and, in a loud voice, shouted from the stairs.
“Instructor~! Min-ji fell down~!”
“…?”
The instructor looked up in surprise, meeting Cha Eui-jae’s gaze over the railing. With a deadpan expression, Cha Eui-jae kept his nose covered and shouted again.
“Oh no~ She’s bleeding from her knee~! Min-ji’s crying!”
“…I’ll go check on her.”
“Cough…”
The middle-aged man gave the instructor a disgruntled look before turning away. The people blocking the entrance gradually dispersed, leaving as quickly as a receding tide. Their chants of “Awakened, go away” and the sound of their coughs slowly faded into the distance. The instructor climbed back up to where Cha Eui-jae was and gave him a polite bow.
“Thank you. That ended a bit sooner thanks to you.”
“Do people like that come often?”
“Hmm, yes… they’ve been coming more frequently.”
“Are they from some kind of suspicious organization… or something like that?”
“As far as I know, no. Most of them are local residents… although the one who approached me with the invitation is someone I hadn’t seen around here before.”
“And what is that group exactly?”
“They say it’s just a social club, but… I declined. It felt suspicious, and… I don’t particularly enjoy socializing with others.”
The instructor gestured for Cha Eui-jae to head back up. The two of them climbed the stairs together. Cha Eui-jae thought hard. What those people were advocating was similar to Prometheus’s stance. If Prometheus, which had gained popularity with recent events, had settled in here, and if that middle-aged man was riling up the crowd…
“…”
“Still, I’m trying my best to keep the kids safe. It may be hard to believe, but…”
Cha Eui-jae looked up. The instructor was gazing warmly at the dojang entrance, where children were clustered together. Park Ha-eun, who had been pressing her face to the door, ran over to them. Cha Eui-jae squatted down to meet her eyes.
“Ha-eun, do you want to come here?”
“Yes!”
“That’s her answer.”
Cha Eui-jae grinned at the instructor. After staring at the smile in a daze, the instructor also nodded with a smile.
“Understood.”
“But.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Are you really not Shield Guy’s brother?”
“…”
The instructor turned his head away, pretending not to hear.
***
“That kind of thing happens.”
Click, click, the sound of keyboard typing echoed loudly. The transparent screens surrounding the room were constantly changing to different videos. The room was dimly lit, with only a bluish glow filling the air. Cha Eui-jae had just come to the fish market right after Park Ha-eun finished registering. He wanted to ask about what had just happened. Of course, he couldn’t reveal his true identity, so he had to add a bit of a spin, making it seem like he’d just seen it in passing.
The younger Mackerel shrugged his shoulders as he peeled open a candy wrapper while sitting beside him.
“There are a lot of guys like that these days. How did you manage to spot one?”
“Are there really that many?”
“Yeah, didn’t I say the fish market has been busy? Everyone’s busy digging up information on that. We even had to pull out the Damas.”
The younger Mackerel popped a round candy into his mouth.
“As you suspected, Prometheus communities have sprung up all over the place. They dig right into places where there’s unease, offering comfort to people who’ve lost family members or been injured… kind of like a religious charity group, if you know what I mean?”
“It’s blasphemous.”
“It is. But for people who have nowhere to lean on and are filled with anxiety, it’s a sweet refuge. Humans crave attention, after all. No one can live completely alone.”
“…”
“Anyway~ that’s why the Awakened Management Bureau couldn’t move hastily either. You were told not to act too, right?”
“Yeah.”
“More people have become aware of awakeners mutating, even if it’s because of drugs. Distrust has grown, too. So, the thought is, don’t make any rash moves in a situation like this.”
Mackerel shrugged as he ruffled his older brother’s hair. The older Mackerel hunched his neck slightly.
“S-Stop bothering me…”
“Well, it’s boring when all you do is stare at the monitor and ignore me.”
“By the way, what happened to the Hunters who were held there? Did you include it in the terms?”
“Oh, so you didn’t hear, hyung-nim? Yeah, they were transferred to the Awakened Management Bureau. They were then moved to the Seowon Guild right away, though.”
“…”
“They’re working on an antidote now.”
“And their condition?”
“Some of them have already started mutating, so it’s not looking easy.”
“…”
“Well, as a free service, let me tell you this…”
Mackerel tossed something his way. Cha Eui-jae caught it skillfully— a can of red ginseng candy, which had a bitter aroma.
“They’ll be targeting you. Constantly.”
“Me? Why?”
“Don’t try to understand the thoughts of madmen. I just mean be careful. Don’t get involved if you don’t have to. Not that you’re the type to stay out of it.”
“…”
“Service ends here! Oh, and about the extra fee for making me play chauffeur? When are you paying that?”
“I’ll bring it next time. I’ll pay with magic stones, right?”
“Correct~”
Mackerel made an exaggerated bow. Just then, the older Mackerel, who had been quietly typing on his keyboard, spoke up.
“…Is there a cold going around?”
“A cold? No, why?”
“…”
Behind his black-rimmed glasses, his indigo-colored eyes narrowed. With a click, the screen showed images of merchants inside the fish market. Scattered across different locations, the merchants were all coughing softly. The coughing sounded strangely familiar. The younger Mackerel moved closer to the screen.
“All coughing together at the same time? What, did they all go to some secret after-hours party?”
“That… that’s unlikely. It could just be a simple cold, but…”
The crowd that had gathered in front of the Taekwondo dojang. They had also been coughing as they left. He hadn’t thought it was anything significant, so he’d forgotten about it. Cha Eui-jae quietly spoke.
“…The people at that meeting I saw earlier… they were coughing too.”
“…”
Silence fell. The younger Mackerel’s usually relaxed, smiling face stiffened slightly. He pulled out his phone and seemed to be contacting someone. The older Mackerel subtly spoke to him.
“J…”
“Yeah, tell me.”
“I-I think it would be best to be cautious… I may be overreacting, but there’s always a ‘what if’.”
“…”
Cha Eui-jae remained silent. Just then, his phone rang. It was the work phone that Seo Min-gi had set up for him. The caller was “Shield Guy”, Bae Won-woo. Cha Eui-jae pressed the call button, and a loud voice burst out immediately.
—J, J! Can you come right away?
“What? All of a sudden? Where to?”
—There’s something off with Sa-young’s condition! Please, hurry to Incheon!
His grip on the phone loosened. The sound of people coughing from beyond the screen grew sharper.
