The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 298
For a brief moment, the only redeeming function of the Memorial Dungeon dawned on them. Then, Ham Seok-jeong took the laptop from Jung Bin and skimmed through the contents he had compiled. She tapped the armrest of her chair.
“Judging by the records, it seems the way the world ends is similar in both worlds. The whitening phenomenon is also quite similar to the mutations happening here and the erosion effects of the eroded dungeon. The only thing that bothers me is that our world hasn’t experienced a monster wave yet. Could the sequence have changed?”
“We cannot rule out the possibility.”
“Extract data from locations showing wave precursors. Also, compile records of previous occurrences.”
“Understood.”
Their serious discussion was overshadowed by another voice— the voice of Hong Ye-seong, immortalized in black-and-white film, speaking from within his workshop.
—I told you, right? The watch erases the previous world and creates a new one. But because the watch is incomplete, this time, the previous world wasn’t completely erased. That’s why the ruined world continues to affect the present one.
—Didn’t you ever find it strange? The West Sea rift kept growing, swallowing up hunters, until you entered it. Have any other hunters gone in since you? Probably not. You were the last.
—The ruined world found you, the original anchor. The current anchor’s sacrifice wasn’t enough, so it sought out the person to pay the rest of the price.
Cha Eui-jae trembled as if struck by lightning.
The endless flood of monsters. Battles that never ceased, no matter how many he fought. No matter how many he slaughtered, they kept coming, endlessly…
‘No way.’
What if those monsters were actually the ones meant to flood into this world through the monster wave?
Then it would make sense why the mutation phase began before the monster wave, and why Hong Ye-seong had said what he did. Cha Eui-jae had paid the missing price at the West Sea rift. He had slaughtered every survivor, every monster from the ruined world.
Was that fortunate, or was it the worst possible outcome? He couldn’t tell. Cha Eui-jae anxiously rubbed his hands together before slowly raising one and cutting into Jung Bin and Ham Seok-jeong’s conversation.
“…Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have something to say?”
“…I, um… I don’t think we need to worry about the monster wave.”
“Why not?”
“Do you know something?”
All eyes were on him. The attention was suffocating. Especially if he had unknowingly saved the world. Cha Eui-jae hesitantly replied.
“…I think I already dealt with it.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
A heavy silence filled the room. Thud. Roll… The die that Gyu-Gyu had casually tossed into the air fell weakly to the ground, rolling away. Then, a sharp clapping sound tore through the silence. Clap clap clap. Clap clap clap. Clapclapclapclapclapclapclap. Finishing with an exact 3-3-7 rhythm, Gyu-Gyu shouted,
“The great J could save the world even in his sleep! Amazing!”
Cha Eui-jae had always been quicker with his fists than his words.
Which is why—
Thwack!
“J-nim!!”
“What, why’d you hit me? I was being serious!”
“Shut up!”
His flying kick reached Gyu-Gyu before his words did.
Crash!
The sofa toppled over, the table flipped, and tea spilled mid-air. Amidst the chaos, Ham Seok-jeong sipped her coffee gracefully and called out to Jung Bin.
“Team Leader Jung.”
“Violence is not the answer! We can resolve this through— Yes, Director?”
“Put J’s repair fees on his tab.”
“…Understood.”
***
The commotion finally settled only after Jung Bin and Matthew physically separated Gyu-Gyu and Cha Eui-jae. Even as Gyu-Gyu was being dragged away by the two of them, he continued to clap enthusiastically.
Left alone in the now-messy director’s office were only Cha Eui-jae and Ham Seok-jeong. She remained seated elegantly, sipping her coffee, while Cha Eui-jae nervously glanced at her and quietly set the overturned furniture back in place. When he sat back down on the sofa, one side of it sank— one of the legs must have broken.
Ham Seok-jeong smiled slightly.
“So, do you feel a little better now?”
“…Yes.”
“Then that’s enough. Any injuries?”
“None.”
“The injuries from the rift?”
“No.”
“Your mind?”
“I’m fine.”
“That means you’re not fine.”
“I’m fine.”
“Do you think I can’t tell just because you’re wearing a mask? Your heartbeat is irregular. A young man like you wouldn’t have arrhythmia, would you?”
That’s what made high-ranking Hunters so troublesome. There was nothing you could properly hide from them. Cha Eui-jae pressed a hand against his chest. Ham Seok-jeong turned her attention back to her laptop.
“Stop by the Bureau’s medical team before you go. They’ll prescribe you a stabilizer for Awakened individuals. The doctor’s too busy to see you, though.”
“Because of the vaccine development?”
“Yes. Thanks to some notebook, they say the development has sped up significantly.”
Notebook. Cha Eui-jae’s eyes widened. He had given Nam Woo-jin from the Memorial Dungeon an empty notebook. If that notebook was connected to this world’s notebook… Cold sweat formed on his palms. Ham Seok-jeong, still looking at her laptop, smirked.
“Seems like you’ve got a hunch.”
“…”
“That’s a good thing. Use your youth and health to keep moving.”
“…Yes.”
“Go on, then. If you tell them I sent you, they’ll at least take a quick look at you, no matter how busy they are. And don’t run into Gyu-Gyu and start another fight.”
Cha Eui-jae nodded and stood up. Just as he reached for the door handle, a detached voice stopped him.
“Now that I think about it…”
“Yes?”
“Was Hye-kyung alive over there?”
Cha Eui-jae’s grip on the doorknob tightened.
“…No.”
“I see.”
A quiet, breathy laugh followed. The voice remained indifferent, as if they hadn’t expected anything to begin with.
“So even memories aren’t all that useful.”
“…”
“I’m joking.”
Cha Eui-jae ran his fingers over the cold doorknob and murmured,
“You and my aunt… You both died stopping the monster wave. Together.”
“I see.”
Ham Seok-jeong let out a short, scoffing laugh. It was bitter.
“The version of me over there was better than I am.”
“…Director.”
“That was a joke, too.”
“I know it wasn’t.”
“If you know, just pretend you don’t. Don’t go making an old woman feel awkward.”
Cha Eui-jae turned his head slightly. Ham Seok-jeong was staring into the air. Her empty gaze held something distant. Then, as if speaking to herself, she whispered,
“Sometimes I wonder… What if I hadn’t thought about the country? What if I hadn’t made the choices I did? What if, instead of all that, I had kept her close… for my own selfish reasons?”
“…”
A small laugh trembled from her shoulders.
“Hah. It makes for a decent way to pass the time. Even if it’s a completely useless thought now.”
Her shaking shoulders stilled. The expression on her face held years of waiting and time itself. Strangely enough, for the first time, Cha Eui-jae felt like he fully understood her heart.
Ham Seok-jeong murmured,
“Kid.”
“Yes, Director.”
“Don’t be like me.”
“…”
“Don’t give up on anything.”
“…”
“Don’t throw your life away, don’t give up on what you want, and live greedily. Without regrets.”
Her vacant gaze finally landed on Cha Eui-jae. In her hollow eyes, his reflection appeared. Then, she smiled warmly.
“You, at least, deserve to be a little selfish, don’t you?”
***
Seowon Guild.
Contrary to what Ham Seok-jeong had said, even though he mentioned that the Director had sent him, Nam Woo-jin did not show even a single strand of his hair. Apparently, he was too busy to even eat or sleep. Instead, Cha Eui-jae was guided to his laboratory. The boy who led him gave a small bow.
“If you wait, he will come.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know either. If you’re tired, you can sleep on the cot.”
In short, he was told to wait indefinitely. Still, the doctor’s lab was a decent place to kill time. There were all sorts of papers, books, monitors, and drugs scattered everywhere. Cha Eui-jae wandered around the lab, curiously peering at everything. Before long, he found an old notebook carefully placed on a desk. Cha Eui-jae grinned.
‘Leaving something this valuable just lying around?’
Jackpot. This meant he didn’t even need to meet Nam Woo-jin— he could just check the notebook and leave. Cha Eui-jae opened the first page. The letters that had been twisted by magic and unreadable were now overwritten in Hangul.
[…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.]
‘Is this right after I gave it to him?’
Cha Eui-jae flipped the page.
[There are too many patients. Not enough hospital beds. Need to open the underground facilities.]
[Extracting Mackerel’s blood to test a new medicine.]
[Combination…]
From that point on, the pages were filled with a mess of letters and numbers, completely undecipherable. Without hesitation, Cha Eui-jae kept flipping through. To be honest, Nam Woo-jin had terrible handwriting. Maybe it was because he was a doctor, or maybe he just scribbled naturally, but Cha Eui-jae had to painstakingly read each letter one by one. Well, the doctor himself seemed to have no problem reading it, but—
‘I can’t make sense of it at all.’
Reading this notebook wasn’t so much reading as it was decoding. Cha Eui-jae carefully burned each line into his memory. Before long, he reached the end.
[J is dead.]
[There will be no funeral. Announcing his death would only cause despair.]
[Lee Sa-young will be in charge of the body. Gave him a preservation stone.]
And beyond this point— this was the future Cha Eui-jae didn’t know. Cha Eui-jae turned the page. The contents were still filled with illegible formulas, but there were also weak, feeble words scribbled in between.
[The new medicine isn’t working.]
[We’re short on manpower.]
[J’s absence is too big.]
[The whitening process is accelerating.]
[Even awakened ones are suffering injuries.]
[Need to think of a new vaccine.]
This seemed to be the last page. There was nothing else written in Nam Woo-jin’s handwriting after this. So, at least for now, no one had died yet. That was a relief, but…
‘There’s nothing useful here.’
Cha Eui-jae clicked his tongue and started flipping through the pages quickly. And then—
“…Huh?”
He found something.
At the very bottom of the last page of the notebook, something was written.
[You said this notebook is the one you left behind.]
[By any chance,]
[Are you watching?]
Unlike Nam Woo-jin’s messy scrawl, these were neat and upright letters.
