The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 291
At the Seowon Guild, the scent of old books and disinfectant lingered as always. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant smell. Cha Eui-jae walked forward, conscious of the hand resting on his shoulder. Lee Sa-young was sticking to his side as if worried he might collapse at any moment.
‘…’
Of course, this wasn’t welcome either. Every time he felt the presence beside him, he couldn’t hide the cold sweat beading on his skin or the tension in his body. But neither Cha Eui-jae nor Lee Sa-young said anything about it.
An hour ago, as soon as Cha Eui-jae had taken the phone, Yoon Ga-eul had shouted urgently.
—I’m sorry, but please come to the Seowon Guild right away! It’s really urgent!
And then the call had cut off. Lee Sa-young had looked thoroughly displeased, but he hadn’t stopped Cha Eui-jae from meeting Yoon Ga-eul. Not that he could have. They needed to gather any information they could in this situation.
‘Besides…’
There wasn’t much time left before Cha Eui-jae’s death. He followed Lee Sa-young’s lead without resistance. Click. The sound of a door opening. A wave of warmth spilled out, accompanied by the faint scent of green tea. A reception room?
“Ah, J! You’re here!”
Yoon Ga-eul’s voice rang out. Cha Eui-jae instinctively checked his mask before replying.
“Yes. You’re student Ga-eul, right?”
“That’s right! You’re the J I met before, aren’t you? Oh, but your hand… You’re injured?”
Cha Eui-jae ran his fingers over his bandaged hand, feeling the rough texture.
“Oh, this… yeah, kind of.”
“Oh no, uh, is it serious? Do you have a potion or anything?”
“I’m fine. It’ll heal soon anyway. And in a world like this, I’d rather not waste a potion.”
Yoon Ga-eul hesitated, trailing off with a worried expression, but Cha Eui-jae simply shook his head.
There was no way he could say he got injured while wiping Lee Sa-young’s tears.
Lee Sa-young had said nothing when he disinfected the wound and carefully wrapped it with bandages. Cha Eui-jae hadn’t asked why he was doing this instead of just using a potion. He had simply let him tend to his hand, imagining Lee Sa-young’s expression as he did.
Yoon Ga-eul let out a small sigh of relief.
“I’m glad… I was so shocked when I woke up. This place felt too real.”
“You didn’t just dream yourself here?”
“I did, but… normally, I just watch, like a movie. This is the first time I’ve actually moved around with my own will.”
A faint whooshing sound suggested that Yoon Ga-eul was waving her arms around. Cha Eui-jae checked the red numbers in the darkness. 21 hours. The time left until his death. A predetermined end. Less than a day remained.
“…”
He didn’t want to die. But his death had already been decided. There was no escaping it. Cha Eui-jae lifted his head.
“Student Ga-eul.”
“Yes, J?”
“Do you remember the first time we met?”
“The first time? Ah… yeah! You mean when I came looking for you in the hangover soup restaurant?”
“Right. And do you remember what you showed me back then?”
“Huh? …Oh.”
Yoon Ga-eul’s voice grew heavy. The fragments of a destroyed world she had revealed. How ‘Yoon Ga-eul’ had searched through the ruins, hoping to find some trace of her friends and neighbors— only to come face to face with a monster. How J had stood in front of her, telling her to run. And how, later, Lee Sa-young had been nothing more than a recluse, shut away in his room.
Cha Eui-jae forced himself to ignore the stifling pressure beside him and spoke.
“That time is coming soon.”
“Huh? But, I mean, I…”
“It’s okay.”
Cha Eui-jae ignored the trembling in his body. He didn’t know if it was because of Lee Sa-young or because of his fear of death. No, he didn’t want to know. He pressed on.
“Just do as you remember. Got it?”
“…”
“This world was reconstructed from the memories of the destroyed one. So just… follow the script.”
“But if I do that, J, you’ll…”
“It’s fine.”
Cha Eui-jae smiled.
“That’ll be the end of my role in this world. I might even be the first one to go back.”
“…”
“Understood, student Ga-eul?”
After a long pause, Yoon Ga-eul answered in a quiet voice.
“…Yes, I understand.”
What kind of feeling was it? To know that the person beside you would die and that you had to run away regardless. Hick. A soft sob broke the silence, followed by the sound of someone sniffling and rubbing their face roughly.
At that moment, there was a movement behind him.
“…What the hell? I heard someone crying in the lounge, and it turns out it was you guys. What the hell did you say to make a kid cry? Was it you again, Lee Sa-young?”
A blunt voice— Nam Woo-jin. The arm wrapped around Cha Eui-jae’s shoulder flinched slightly.
“Don’t jump to conclusions… I didn’t even open my mouth.”
“There’s no way J made her cry.”
“Why not? You never know.”
“…Huh?”
“N-No! It’s not like that. Neither of them did anything wrong.”
Yoon Ga-eul hurriedly interjected. Nam Woo-jin clicked his tongue in disapproval before snapping,
“Whatever. If you’re done talking, clear out of the lounge. We need to use it as a patient ward.”
“Has the number of patients increased that much?”
“It’s for those showing mutation symptoms. If we keep them with the regular patients… they wouldn’t even be able to run if something went wrong. They’d all be dead in an instant.”
“…”
The grip on Cha Eui-jae’s shoulder tightened. Probably without even realizing it. Cha Eui-jae jabbed Lee Sa-young’s side with his elbow, hoping to give him a hint to ease up. But instead of giving way, it felt like hitting solid steel.
‘Damn it!’
A sharp pain shot through his elbow, and his eyes welled up slightly. Was it bruised already? Cha Eui-jae rubbed at it furiously. A chuckle rang out beside him. Nam Woo-jin scoffed.
“Are you doing a comedy act? And what’s up with your hand?”
“Oh, that’s…”
“I wrapped it up for him… He said he wanted to fight with his fists this time. Like a boxer.”
Before Cha Eui-jae could explain, Lee Sa-young casually responded.
“Tsk… If you’re human, at least use a weapon. Unless you’re saving your spear for a barbecue.”
“Haha… Yeah, I get it.”
“Anyway, if you’re done talking, get out. Our guild members are waiting!”
Nam Woo-jin barked. Lee Sa-young tapped Cha Eui-jae on the shoulder, signaling him to leave. Just as Cha Eui-jae turned to go, something dropped from the air with a soft thud.
“Huh? What’s this? A book?”
Nam Woo-jin bent down and picked it up. Flip, flip. The sound of pages turning.
“What the—? It’s completely blank. A notebook? Who does this belong to?”
Cha Eui-jae scanned the air around him. He had checked before— it was definitely empty when he put it in his inventory. But somehow, it had slipped out on its own.
As if it was meant to.
Without thinking, Cha Eui-jae spoke.
“It’s a notebook.”
“J, is this yours?”
“I’ll give it to you, doctor. I think you’ll have more use for it than me.”
“Giving something you found on the floor as a gift? Your gift-giving sense is terrible.”
There was a trace of laughter in his voice. Nam Woo-jin reached out and patted Cha Eui-jae’s shoulder.
“Well, I suppose I’d be better at keeping a journal than you. I’ll take it.”
“Guild Leader! We’ve prepared all the medical supplies and bedding!”
“Alright. Bring them in and clear out the tables and sofas…”
Nam Woo-jin began discussing arrangements with the librarians outside. Cha Eui-jae glanced back briefly. The sound of sniffles had stopped.
***
“Hopeless.”
A crumpled ball of paper rolled across the floor before coming to a stop.
Seowon Guild, Nam Woo-jin’s tiny room was a complete mess. Scraps of crumpled paper, remnants of shattered mugs, a whiteboard scribbled with illegible writing, and Nam Woo-jin himself, half-slumped in a chair with his hair a tangled mess. His glasses sat crooked on his nose as he stared blankly at the ceiling.
“No answers. No damn answers.”
On the small monitor atop his desk, a mutated monster flailed its limbs violently. Even after administering the newly developed vaccine. Could they really revert a mutated monster to its original state? Could they prevent the mutations from happening? Turning a monster back into a human— was that even possible to begin with?
“Hah…”
Nam Woo-jin removed his glasses and roughly rubbed his face. It felt like hitting a dead end. No matter what he did, he couldn’t move forward. No matter where he looked, there was no way out. The research group he worked with, Prometheus, was less of a help and more of a competitor. Though, it seemed like they had hit a wall as well.
“…Shit!!”
He shot up from his chair and kicked his desk. Thud! Books and papers tumbled to the floor in a heap. The room, already a disaster, became even more chaotic. Standing in the middle of it all, Nam Woo-jin clutched his head and let out a deep sigh.
Then, something caught his eye.
Among the scattered papers lay an old book.
The very book that the Awakened Management Bureau had tried to decipher— without success. Not a single character had been translated.
“Like hell this is useful.”
Nam Woo-jin grabbed the book roughly and flipped open the cover.
In that instant, a brilliant white light burst forth from its pages.
The strange, unreadable characters began to shift—
[…J gave me the notebook. Who the hell gives someone a gift they found on the floor? That guy never fails to amaze me.]
[Well, since it’s a gift, I might as well write something down.]
[Anything could be useful.]
And turned into words he could understand.
Even more unsettling—
It was written in his own handwriting.
