The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 259
He saw it clearly— a giant pair of wings spread wide in a blinding light. The emaciated limbs. It was the same monster he had pierced through again and again in the West Sea rift, the one he had killed countless times.
Thump, thump, thump— his heart raced. Cold sweat trickled down his hands and the back of his neck. He felt as if his feet were rooted to the ground, unable to move. He was coming to a realization he wished he didn’t have to face, one he was recognizing faster than anyone else could. He thought he knew the most about this monster, but perhaps he truly knew nothing at all.
As Cha Eui-jae tried to take a step forward, a strong hand pulled him back. Lee Sa-young shook his head with a hardened expression.
Beyond the monster’s wings, hair streaked with black and gold was fluttering. Honeybee was staring blankly up at the monster.
“You…”
A pale face devoid of expression stared back at her. There was no trace of the shy, uncertain smile or the familiar face she used to know. Slowly, a small mouth opened. And then,
“AAAAAH!”
A scream erupted.
The air trembled. Honeybee instinctively drew her rapier and pointed it forward. But she couldn’t move easily. Just moments ago, that monster had been her companion. A thought surfaced through her muddled mind.
Maybe there’s a way to bring them back.
‘Isn’t there some way?’
The wind from its flapping wings felt sharp enough to tear her skin. That emaciated body, drooping limbs, expressionless face— it was no longer human. It was just a monster.
‘…That can’t be.’
Honeybee gave a bitter smile. All she felt from the monster before her was hostility. She couldn’t afford to hesitate because of baseless hope. With trembling hands, she gripped her rapier, spreading her legs to take a stance she had practiced thousands, no, tens of thousands of times. En garde.
The monster spread its arms wide. Sharp claws came rushing toward her.
Screeeeeech!
Honeybee, Yoo Chae-hyun, had never wanted to be a hunter.
When others dreamed of awakening, when they wished to become hunters, she scoffed at the idea. Because she had a dream of her own.
“Congratulations on making the youth national team!”
She wanted to be the best at fencing. She wanted to keep fencing. Fencing was her whole life. She shone more brightly than anyone else in the quiet arena. She had the confidence that she could stand at the peak.
But just as she was about to become world-ranked number one for youth, the system chose her. Everyone felt sorry for her.
“Awakened individuals cannot be athletes.”
It was a matter of fairness. She understood logically; the difference in power between ordinary athletes and the awakened was immense. But her heart wouldn’t calm down easily. Everything she had built, everything she had lived for, turned to dust. In that way, Yoo Chae-hyun lost her life once.
To the one who reached out to her in her wandering…
“I’m Mok Tae-oh.”
“I don’t intend to join any guild.”
“I know. I heard you turned down all the other guild offers.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I wanted to meet you.”
“Why?”
“You seem like someone who dislikes being awakened.”
“…”
“So do I… That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”
Mok Tae-oh was a strange one. He was notorious for his foul temper as a fire-awakened, yet he was quiet, and it was amusing to see a bear-like man move so cautiously. Well, Yoo Chae-hyun was no different. They both despised their awakened selves. They understood each other. She thought that if it was with him, joining somewhere wouldn’t be so bad. Starting from the bottom might even be fun.
And so, she became Honeybee.
Honeybee took a slow breath, her mind settling down. A ripple spread over her calm thoughts.
And then,
Thunk—
Just before the monster’s claws could rip her head apart, her rapier pierced deeply into its heart. White blood trickled down, drop by drop. She withdrew her blade and struck near the heart again, quickly stabbing over and over. Thunk, thunk, thunk— as the sharp blade pierced its thin body, the monster let out a wretched scream.
Before long, the monster’s limbs trembled and then went limp. Only then did she fully withdraw her rapier. White blood dripped from the tip of her blade. Honeybee, looking down at the monster sprawled over broken machinery, muttered,
“Did I… see it right?”
“…”
“A person…”
She swallowed the rest of her words and knelt in front of the monster. She reached out and gently touched its pale, white arm, as if handling something precious. Finally, she bowed her head.
Cha Eui-jae watched her quietly. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.
Were all the monsters he had killed in the West Sea rift actually people?
Then, a large hand covered his mask, and a low voice whispered.
“Don’t think about it.”
“…”
“I told you. You think too much…”
Cha Eui-jae started to say something, then closed his mouth. There are times when running away is necessary. But this wasn’t one of those times.
“No… It’s fine.”
He needed to know what he had been ignorant of. Carefully, Cha Eui-jae removed Lee Sa-young’s hand from his mask and approached Honeybee. She looked up, sensing his presence.
Her eyes were red, but there were no tears.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and said,
“The body isn’t disappearing.”
“…Right. Usually, it turns to ash and vanishes. The ones I dealt with didn’t bleed either.”
White blood was pooling around the monster with its heart pierced. Honeybee stood up and dusted off her knees.
“The monsters I fought were like that too. Maybe they were mutated creatures from a long time ago.”
“…”
“But this one… It died right after mutating.”
The monsters in the West Sea rift would turn to white ash the moment they were pierced. Were they humans from a ruined world? Had Cha Eui-jae survived by killing people from a fallen world?
Loneliness. Put venomous insects into a sealed jar together. Trapped, the insects will attack and devour one another to survive. And the last one remaining…
Cha Eui-jae.
Honeybee sheathed her rapier and slung the monster’s limp body over her shoulder. A faint smile appeared on her thin face.
“At least we managed to capture the monster, right? Mission accomplished.”
“…”
“Let’s go. I really want to rest…”
Honeybee started walking ahead with heavy steps. Cha Eui-jae watched her silently for a moment, then blurted out,
“It’s okay to cry.”
“…”
She paused, her unsteady steps coming to a halt. Honeybee didn’t turn back. Instead, she replied curtly,
“Who said I was crying?”
“…”
Carrying the weight of those she had killed, Honeybee continued moving forward. Cha Eui-jae maintained a deliberate distance as he followed. Lee Sa-young walked beside him. Still, he could hear the sound of her quiet sobbing.
***
Crunch, crunch. Honeybee’s footsteps came to a halt as she walked across the ash. She frowned and looked around.
“We should be seeing it by now…”
“The castle?”
“Yeah. It’s weird… why isn’t it showing up?”
Cha Eui-jae also began to look around. They had heard that in HB Guild’s eroded dungeon, a path would lead directly to the castle. By that logic, the castle should be visible by now. But there was only the desolate wasteland they had been seeing all along— no sign of the castle, not even a single structure. Lee Sa-young crossed his arms.
“Are you sure we’re not lost?”
“Do you really think I’m that bad with directions? I remembered the route and kept track the whole way here.”
“Then why can’t we see it?”
“That’s exactly what’s weird!”
Cha Eui-jae quietly scanned the surroundings with a Tracker’s Eye. Apart from them, there didn’t seem to be any other life forms or any distinct structures in sight— just the ash-covered wasteland.
“…”
Could they have gotten lost? Or perhaps…
Cha Eui-jae quietly asked,
“Is it possible for an eroded dungeon to expand in real time? Like, for the erosion to spread?”
“…”
Honeybee and Lee Sa-young looked at each other. Honeybee spoke up first.
“There haven’t been any reports of that on our side. How about yours?”
“…We haven’t had any reports either, but it’s worth considering. The fact that two eroded dungeons connected in the first place is already unprecedented.”
“Right… wait, so if the dungeon is expanding as we walk, is that why we’re not seeing the castle?”
Honeybee’s sharp voice echoed across the wasteland. They stared at each other in realization. Honeybee shouted.
“So we’re trapped in the dungeon now!”
“Hm… but who knows? Maybe if we run faster than the expansion, we can escape…”
“Do you even hear yourself?!”
Honeybee tried to kick Lee Sa-young’s shins, but Lee Sa-young nimbly dodged, stepping back just in time. Honeybee, missing her target, lunged forward again. Watching the two of them chase each other, Cha Eui-jae rubbed his forehead.
With this team…
I’ll have to stay sharp.
Little did they know, they were all thinking the same thing.
