The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 296
After being left alone once more, Cha Eui-jae found himself constantly thinking about the person who had suddenly appeared— every day, every hour. Whenever loneliness crashed over him like a relentless tide, he endured by recalling that voice, the feel of the coat draped over him, and the conversations they had shared. A promise with a faceless stranger became a shackle. A shackle that kept Cha Eui-jae from dying.
How powerful a thing a promise was.
Time passed— so much that he lost track of how long. He had been counting the number of bones around him when, all of a sudden, bright white system windows flooded his vision.
[Verifying survivor…]
[1 identified.]
[Entity Cha Eui-jae has conquered solitude.]
[Congratulations! Executing return of Entity Cha Eui-jae.]
[Error! Possesses data inconsistent with current era.]
[Risk of catastrophic system failure if left unattended… 99%.]
[Risk of premature apocalypse if left unattended… 99%.]
[Executing memory wipe protocol.]
Before he could react, a brilliant white light engulfed him. It felt as though his entire body was being pulled into something. He squeezed his eyes shut.
And then, Cha Eui-jae opened his eyes.
Instead of the bloodied white ruins, a pitch-black sky filled his vision. A downpour of cold rain soaked him to the bone, washing away the white ash and dried blood clinging to his body.
What… happened?
He blinked dazedly for a while, and slowly, the twisted sensations in his body began to realign.
In the distance, voices chattered over loud music— songs he didn’t recognize. The air was thick with the stale stench of old grease and rotting food, an overwhelming mix of putrid odors that made his stomach churn. He had never smelled anything so foul. Beneath him, something soft and crinkling shifted against his weight.
“Where… Ugh…”
Maybe it was the stench, but nausea surged up his throat. Cha Eui-jae hastily removed his mask and vomited. Uwek— nothing but clear liquid dripped from his lips. His throat burned. Damn it. He coughed, clutching his sore throat, and looked down at what he had been lying on. Faint letters beneath his arm came into focus.
[Standard Waste Bag]
Oh. Trash.
Apparently, he had been lying on a pile of garbage. He needed to get up, but his body refused to move. Every inch of him ached as if he’d been shattered. Cold raindrops pattered against his skin, and the wind brushed against his cheek. It had been so long since he had felt anything like this. What happened? Cha Eui-jae struggled to piece together his memories.
The white ruins crumbling into dust. The endless waves of unfamiliar monsters. Right— he remembered fighting the basilisk at the end, plunging his sword into its skull. And then…
‘…What else?’
He had forgotten something. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember. All that remained was an unshakable sense of unease.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze to the darkened sky. A massive black hole loomed overhead, swallowing the deep blue sky. Once, it had been a harbinger of the world’s end, but now, it was such a fixture in the sky that life without it seemed unimaginable.
The Black Hole.
One never saw the Black Hole from inside a rift. Which meant— he was back in reality.
Cha Eui-jae suppressed another cough and listened carefully. Countless noises reached his ears. Not just his own breath, but laughter between strangers, the sound of tires splashing through wet roads—
Unfamiliar, yet nostalgic sounds.
How long did he lie there, listening? As his mind cleared and he grasped the situation, another sensation crept in— a primal, undeniable urge.
Guuuuuu… His stomach growled. Cha Eui-jae pressed a hand against his hollowed-out abdomen. A ravenous hunger clawed at his insides, crushing him under its weight. He grit his teeth. He had never been so hungry that he felt like throwing up. It was starvation so profound it nearly drove him to tears.
Weakly, he mumbled,
“…Hungry.”
His body screamed a command: Eat. Survive. Now.
With trembling arms, Cha Eui-jae pushed himself up, using the scattered trash around him for support. The unbearable hunger dulled the pain in his body. Step by unsteady step, he staggered forward, his dirty hands bracing against the wall for support. Behind him, streaks of blood and rain mixed with white ash. But even those traces were soon washed away.
Rattle.
A sliding door creaked open—
Darkness swallowed him whole.
***
…Gasp. Cha Eui-jae suddenly inhaled, as if waking up from a deep sleep. What? Where? His eyes darted around in an instant. A dim, flickering orange light wavered in the distance. Cha Eui-jae pressed his fingertips against the ground. Through the soft vines, he felt the rough texture of a concrete floor. He was lying flat on his stomach. He reached for his face— his mask was still on properly.
“…”
He only moved his eyes to survey his surroundings. It was a long, arched passageway, filled with white ash and white vines covering the walls and floor under the orange glow. Was this still the Memorial Dungeon? Cautiously, Cha Eui-jae pushed himself up to sit. The vine-covered passage felt strangely familiar.
‘Where have I seen this before?’
Cha Eui-jae tilted his head with a grimace but couldn’t find a clear answer. There were too many memories flooding his mind all at once. Damn it. He exhaled sharply and leaned his back against the wall. In the brief silence, he needed to sort out the memories that had returned to him. The memories he had forgotten.
The first thing that came to mind was—
‘Were the monsters I killed actually people from a ruined world?’
And the monsters I ate— were they once human? His fingertips curled slightly. He recalled Mackerel’s mocking tone, saying that monsters weren’t all that bad to eat. The sight of his comrades dissecting monster flesh flickered through his mind. If humans who mutated into monsters were eaten— what would happen?
‘…Would the mutation start? Or would it accelerate?’
He thought of the muscular hunter whose life he had ended with his own hands. The village where Mackerel had stayed. There had been barely any signs of life there. Where had all the villagers gone?
‘…’
When he had jumped into the sea to save Mackerel, he had sensed countless presences underwater. Not just Mackerel’s brother, but many other figures, both large and small. The starving will eat anything. And Mackerel was a hunter. They must have started eating the monsters of the sea instead of the fish they could no longer catch.
‘And then they mutated.’
They must have returned— to the sea.
Lowering his head, strands of ash-gray hair entered his vision. Cha Eui-jae ran his fingers through the tips. No matter how many times he dyed it, it always returned to this grayish hue. His past comrades, deep within the West Sea rift, had turned whiter the more monster flesh they consumed. Whitening, a symptom of mutation. His own whitening, back in the ruined world.
‘…’
Cha Eui-jae rested the back of his head against the wall. A small, bitter chuckle escaped.
‘One disaster after another…’
At that moment, footsteps echoed. A soft hum accompanied the approaching steps. Cha Eui-jae opened his eyes and turned toward the source of the sound. A large shadow flickered against the wall under the orange light.
“…Hmm?”
The shadow halted. Cha Eui-jae clenched and unclenched his fists. Fortunately, he still had strength in them. The shadow tilted its head.
“Oh… hoh? Ahaha…”
A few exclamations escaped. Then, a familiar voice hummed.
“What a big catch. Good thing I stuck around here instead of wandering elsewhere~”
Step. As soon as the figure’s shoe pressed against the white vines—
SSHHHRRK—!
The previously still vines writhed to life, lunging toward the presence. Yet, the intruder crushed them underfoot without hesitation, pushing forward. The young man squatted down before Cha Eui-jae. Messy, pale blue hair swayed.
“Huh, why are you still fine? I thought you’d be completely tangled up by now. Do the vines recognize strong people?”
The man pulled out a cigarette from a pack, then— perhaps as an afterthought— extended the pack toward Cha Eui-jae.
“Want one?”
“…”
“Oh, right. You can’t smoke with that mask on, huh? Oh well. Just take it for the vibe~ Consider it a gift.”
Before the man could react, Cha Eui-jae snatched the entire cigarette pack out of his hand. The man’s grin drooped.
“Ah, didn’t expect you to take the whole thing.”
The dim light flickered. White ash piled up, vines creeping over the passage. It was just like the wasteland. Cha Eui-jae tore a vine off the wall he was leaning against. Beneath it, red bricks peeked through. It looked familiar.
“This place…”
“Jongno 3-ga Underground Dungeon. Though it’s a bit different from when you first entered~”
Click. A tiny flame sparked from the lighter. The man took a slow drag from his cigarette before exhaling a cloud of smoke. Through the rising haze, he extended his hand.
“Nice to see you again~”
Gyu-Gyu, Ban Gyu-min, smirked. Cha Eui-jae didn’t respond to the greeting. Instead, his gaze scanned their surroundings. No other presence. Just Gyu-Gyu and himself.
…Then what about Lee Sa-young? What about Honeybee? Cha Eui-jae voiced his thoughts.
“Where is Lee Sa-young? And Honeybee?”
“Oh? Didn’t expect you to ask that first.”
Gyu-Gyu tossed his lighter into the air and caught it. His crooked grin remained.
“That’s actually what I should be asking you~ For now.”
“…”
“Why did J return alone? Where did Lee Sa-young, Honeybee, and the other guy go? How about you answer that first~? I need something to report, after all.”
Thump. His heart dropped.
Cha Eui-jae swiftly turned around. At the end of the underground passage in Jongno 3-ga, there should have been a dungeon entrance. Right where he had been leaning. But where the entrance to the dungeon had once been—
“…What?”
There was nothing but a dark wall.
