The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 309
“Ugh… hng, ugh…”
The sobbing wouldn’t stop. Cha Eui-jae leaned his forehead against the glass chamber, gasping for breath as he cried. He couldn’t even cry out loud, nor release his emotions by striking anything. He clenched his teeth to hold back the sound. Breathing felt difficult. The taste of metallic blood filled his mouth.
A whirlwind of thoughts spun in his head.
Because I wasn’t there.
Because I was late.
Because I told him to wait.
There was no reason Lee Sa-young had to endure this pain. That kid, he just…
‘…should have been happy.’
He should’ve lived a life without knowing such pain or darkness— just happy. He should’ve ignored that promise, that meaningless, uncertain promise, and just…
Then, something stirred inside the chamber. Cha Eui-jae lifted his head in a hurry. Perhaps it had only passed out briefly; the thing inside had started writhing again. Cha Eui-jae scanned the machine next to the screen. He spotted a red button, worn from frequent use.
‘…There must be a reason it’s used so often.’
He pressed it firmly. Wuuuung… A pipe connected to the bottom of the chamber began to vibrate as the violet toxin was slowly drained. It worked. Cha Eui-jae let out a small sigh of relief. Through the sticky, clinging residue on the glass, the figure inside became clearer. It weakly scratched at the glass, as if desperately trying to communicate something to the person outside.
“…”
Cha Eui-jae didn’t turn away, keeping his gaze fixed on the figure. The mangled body, the grotesquely twisted flesh and melted skin, the pitiful writhing.
A new liquid began to fill the chamber, this time a clear sky-blue. It stopped when it reached halfway. It seemed to be a recovery fluid for treatment; the damaged flesh began to slowly heal in its presence.
It coughed, convulsing violently. Blood mixed with remnants of the violet toxin splattered out. After a few more coughs, it collapsed again, limp. Thankfully, its chest still rose and fell faintly.
So this was the cycle. Over and over, endlessly.
Until they reached their desired outcome.
Cha Eui-jae felt nauseous. He could picture Lee Sa-young in its place— a boy with no unscathed skin, gasping for air inside the chamber, eyes wide with fear as the fluid filled from the floor up. Struggling desperately to live…
“Urgh…”
Cha Eui-jae swallowed the bile rising in his throat. He lifted the edge of the mask under his white cloak and roughly wiped his damp face. His shoulders trembled. He couldn’t stop crying.
You say you want to overcome the apocalypse with human strength?
And what about the people sacrificed for that?
The ones who suffer…
It’s just selfish ambition. No one should be treated like this. This must never happen again. Cha Eui-jae quietly watched the thing trapped in the chamber. Surely, it had once been human too.
Could he release it?
His hand moved faster than his thoughts. He knocked lightly on the glass. The thing, half-submerged in the healing fluid, turned toward the sound. Its vision hadn’t recovered yet, its eyes gazing into nothing. Cha Eui-jae quietly asked,
“Can you understand what I’m saying?”
“…”
The thing didn’t react at first, as if thinking, then slowly nodded. Cha Eui-jae looked at the scarred and ruined skin. Even under the boy’s bandages, it had been this bad. Every time he changed them, the boy would flinch— perhaps from pain, or shame…
“Do you want to get out of here?”
“…”
“Do you want to escape?”
It didn’t answer. Cha Eui-jae pressed again.
“I can let you out. I can take you to the Doctor. He might be able to heal you.”
It turned its head away. Why? Why endure all this and still choose to stay? Cha Eui-jae asked accusingly,
“…Why stay? Is it because you’re afraid of retaliation?”
“…”
It slowly turned back again. Its ruined lips parted. A painfully hoarse voice came out.
“…To get stronger…”
“…”
“I have to protect…”
“…”
“…The child… Don’t worry… You can go.”
“But…”
“Time’s up… No cameras now…”
As if it had finished speaking, it closed its eyes. Its posture was resolute, as if it wouldn’t budge even if dragged away. Cha Eui-jae stepped back. Just as it had said— there was no more time to hesitate. He walked to the door, then turned for one last look at the dark lab.
If someone had asked Lee Sa-young, when he was trapped in here.
Would he have run away?
Or stayed behind?
‘…’
As soon as he got out through the iron door, a bright smile spread across the boy’s face, still clinging to the bars. Cha Eui-jae fought back the nausea in his stomach. The solid and dense iron bars bent easily, even without much force. He nodded.
“…Come on. Let’s go.”
“Whoa, you’re seriously strong…”
The boy glanced around cautiously as he slipped through the bars. After putting the bars back in place, Cha Eui-jae threw the white cloth he had used over the boy’s head. The boy flailed.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“We can’t get caught. Keep it on.”
Cha Eui-jae hoisted the boy onto his shoulder and started to run. The bustling noise of people grew louder. It seemed the worship session was about to end. The scheduled time to meet Gyu-Gyu had arrived. Cha Eui-jae burst through the back door he had been instructed to use and ran out. As he leapt over the stone wall blocking the path, a black van was already waiting. The front passenger window rolled down.
Gyu-Gyu, lounging with one arm on the steering wheel, raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? And what’s this~? A surprise gift for me, maybe?”
“A person.”
“Wow, never been gifted a person before. I’m touched.”
“They built a prison underground. Locking up mutated people. They lure in people saying it’s for prayer, claiming they’ll heal them, but they’re just using them for experiments.”
“Yeah, I knew that… Wait, don’t tell me… did you just take one of them?”
“Yeah.”
Gyu-Gyu gave a short laugh and clapped slowly.
“Wow~ I don’t know where you get your guts, but that’s insane~ No thoughts about what happens if you get caught, huh?”
“Cut the sarcasm and open the door.”
“Hold on, J. What was today’s infiltration for again? Mapping the interior and assessing the vibe, right?”
“I know.”
“Oh, do you? If you bring out a test subject like this, even the dumbest guys will realize someone snuck in, don’t you think~?”
“Then should I just put him back?”
“Didn’t realize you had such a knack for turning people into trash. Hey kid, what’s your name?”
Dangling from Cha Eui-jae’s shoulder, the boy replied,
“…K-Kang Seon-yul.”
“So, how’d you end up there~?”
“U-Um, my mom said there was a place that could cure mutations, and we went together…”
“Mhm, and then?”
“They said I’d be healed if I prayed… So I did… But then they said I’d been chosen and took me somewhere weird… Uh…”
The boy’s body trembled as he sniffled. Gyu-Gyu tapped the steering wheel with his index finger, then opened the back of the van.
“So they said you were chosen, huh~? And you got treated too? You remember all of it?”
Sniffling, Kang Seon-yul nodded. Cha Eui-jae sat him down in the back seat and pulled off the white cloth. The boy’s mutated, pale skin was exposed. Gyu-Gyu inspected him carefully and let out a crooked smile.
“Well, we could hand him over to the civil servant guy~ Looks like his memory’s clear enough. Hmm, clean-up’s gonna be a hassle though?”
Cha Eui-jae climbed into the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt.
“Don’t worry about that.”
“If you’ve got a plan, mind sharing it?”
“I don’t.”
“Then?”
Cha Eui-jae slammed the car door shut. His emotionless black mask reflected in the window.
“No need to explain anything… if we erase it all.”
A cold, murderous aura began to radiate from him. Gyu-Gyu, still leaning over the wheel, gave a crooked grin.
“Ah… so you wanna just flip the whole thing right now? For real?”
Cha Eui-jae quickly reined in his bloodlust. He rested his temple against the window and closed his eyes.
“…I was joking.”
“Yikes, what kind of joke comes with a death glare?”
“…It’ll be okay. Probably.”
The words spoken by the thing trapped in the glass chamber. They didn’t seem like a lie.
Cha Eui-jae decided to trust them.
***
The dark laboratory was now brightly lit, unlike before. Ga-young, dressed in a hazmat suit, stood in front of a glass chamber, busily typing something into a screen. Just then, hurried footsteps approached.
“Ga-young-ssi! One of the test subjects is missing!”
“What? What did you say? How the hell did you manage that…?”
Ga-young lifted her head in irritation. Then, with a puzzled look, she tilted it slightly.
“…Huh? But what went missing?”
“Subject No. 47, the kid who came in most recently. Looks like he escaped on his own, judging by the bent bars…”
“Oh… What was it again? Wait, I think I remember…”
Ga-young furrowed her brow, then widened her eyes.
“Got it! The one we experimented on most recently, right? The one whose leg reverted to normal. Seriously, was that kid that strong? Did you check the CCTV?”
“W-Well, the cameras don’t work during top-level experiments, so…”
“Right… Tsk, tsk tsk. See, I told them to increase the power supply ages ago… Gotta file another request.”
Ga-young folded her arms and thought for a moment. Then she asked the figure standing tall behind the screen.
“Hey, you didn’t see anything? Didn’t sense anyone coming?”
The thing that had been standing still finally spoke.
“Ate… it…”
“What? Ate it?”
“Ran… away…”
“Ohhh, that’s what you meant? Geez, you scared me.”
Ga-young scoffed and waved a hand at the flustered researcher.
“That’s what happened. Go on.”
“B-But… the boy’s mother filed a request for visitation. What should we do?”
“Make something up~ Our precious Prophet can smooth it over with a single word.”
“…”
“You did good too~ From now on, if anyone tries to run, just melt them or swallow them, okay?”
The thing silently stared at the top of Ga-young’s head as she focused on the screen. Its mangled fingertips twitched faintly, but did not move further.
