The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 311
This bastard. Cha Eui-jae struggled to pry Lee Sa-young’s hand off his neck, but strangely, he couldn’t summon any strength.
Lee Sa-young stared intently at Cha Eui-jae’s face, then reached out with his other hand. With a click, his large hand removed the mask.
Thud… The recently repaired mask fell powerlessly to the floor. Cha Eui-jae glared at Lee Sa-young with wide eyes. Fine, now that he’s seen my face, maybe he’ll stop acting like such a jerk.
‘You’re dead.’
Forget calming him down, he needed re-education from the ground up.
But.
Lee Sa-young showed no change in expression or demeanor even after seeing Cha Eui-jae’s face. Instead, the grip around his neck tightened, to the point that it became unbearable. If he’d been an ordinary person, his neck would’ve snapped already. Cha Eui-jae groaned and clenched his teeth.
‘This little…!’
He forced his eyes open to look at the man in front of him. Even while choking him mercilessly, Lee Sa-young examined Cha Eui-jae’s face thoroughly with his gloomy violet eyes. Finally, he looked down and let out a small sigh.
“What was I expecting…”
It was a lonely, self-mocking voice. Cha Eui-jae stopped struggling. A creeping sense of unease crawled up the back of his neck. Lee Sa-young’s demeanor right now, it was as if…
‘He doesn’t recognize me…?’
This was an unexpected twist. Could the entrance have led to another world? He wanted to say something, but all that came out were choking noises as Lee Sa-young’s grip remained tight. His breath was slowly running out.
A languid voice echoed.
“How annoying… You’re not even an illusion. You’re actually alive. That’s worse.”
“Kuh, ugh…”
“No way someone like you… should be wearing that mask.”
Crack. His grip tightened. The violet eyes gleamed ominously.
“It makes me want to kill you…”
‘He’s actually trying to kill me!’
After everything he’d been through to come back here, he couldn’t just die in this guy’s hands. Cha Eui-jae summoned what strength he could to pry Lee Sa-young’s hand off and gave a few shaky kicks with his legs. Just then—
“Lee Sa-young! What the hell are you doing?!”
A sharp, ringing voice cut through the air. The grip on his neck loosened just slightly. Cha Eui-jae didn’t miss the chance, he struck Lee Sa-young’s wrist hard. Without time to brace himself, he collapsed, his feet and knees hitting the floor.
He crouched, clutching his aching neck, coughing violently. He gasped desperately for air, only to gag in response. He scratched at the ground, tears nearly streaming. Cough, cough… Amid the rough coughing, the sharp voice lashed out again.
“You… wow, were you really trying to choke a guy to death? Are you insane?”
“…”
“You’re out of your mind again. Don’t you see what you’re doing? Hey!”
“…Get lost.”
“Unbelievable! Hey, don’t walk away! Stay right there!”
The hem of a black coat fluttered as it moved away. The sweet scent followed it, then faded. Cha Eui-jae wheezed as he tried to collect himself. Someone approached the spot Lee Sa-young had left. A gentle yet firm hand touched his shoulder.
“Hey, are you okay?”
It was a familiar voice. Cha Eui-jae lifted his head with effort. Honeybee was looking at him with concern in her eyes. He stared at her blankly, then nodded.
“…Yeah, I’m okay… cough, cough.”
But he couldn’t even finish the sentence before another fit of coughing broke out. Honeybee patted his back and clicked her tongue.
“Sorry. He’s been… not himself lately. Can you lift your head for a second? I want to check your neck… Oh my! That’s going to bruise badly.”
“…”
“I’d heal you, but I’m out of spare potions… Think the doctor’s around? He’s been busy these days.”
Cha Eui-jae rubbed his sore neck. A sudden thought struck him. Even if Honeybee didn’t recognize the face behind the J mask, she would recognize the guy working part-time at the soup shop. He touched his face. It was bare.
‘Why isn’t she recognizing me?’
“Ga-eul-ah! Come here a sec!”
“Yes? Coming!”
Cha Eui-jae looked up. A girl with glasses and loose hair, Yoon Ga-eul, was running over. Judging by her adult appearance, he must’ve returned to the right place. Yoon Ga-eul had a small bag on her waist. Honeybee gestured toward Cha Eui-jae.
“This guy, Lee Sa-young was choking him. Do you have any potions left?”
“Huh? Uh, just a sec…”
Yoon Ga-eul fumbled through her bag. She soon pulled out a roll of bandages, looking apologetic.
“Sorry, I used up the potions earlier… I only have bandages.”
“Then just wrap them up. He clearly looks like someone who’s been strangled.”
“Okay… Just a moment!”
Yoon Ga-eul came closer with the bandages. Cha Eui-jae stared blankly at her. She knew the face of Cha Eui-jae. She also knew he was J. And yet, she was treating him like a complete stranger.
‘What is going on?’
Her careful hands touched his neck. The coarse bandage wrapped around it. Cha Eui-jae grabbed the hand that was fastening it.
“Uh, hey. student Ga-eul?”
“…Yes? Uh, well. I’m not a student anymore, actually…”
Yoon Ga-eul rolled her eyes awkwardly, looking uncomfortable.
“Why? Are you in pain?”
“No, it’s not that… but… don’t you know who I am?”
“…Huh? I don’t think so.”
Yoon Ga-eul answered, visibly flustered. She didn’t seem to be lying. Even Yoon Ga-eul didn’t recognize him? Cha Eui-jae opened and closed his mouth, lost for words. Then Honeybee waved a hand in front of his face, glaring.
“Hey, stop trying to flirt with the kid.”
“No, it’s not flirting…!”
It was enough to drive him crazy with frustration. Cha Eui-jae was so overwhelmed he couldn’t even speak, just flailing his hands and arms in the air. Yoon Ga-eul laughed awkwardly.
“You’re a Hunter, right? Maybe we crossed paths at the Seowon Guild…? I’m sorry, I must’ve forgotten.”
“Yeah, probably a Hunter. If you survived Lee Sa-young choking you, you must be. What were you even doing here? This area’s restricted, it’s a wasteland undergoing whitening.”
“…”
A sense of déjà vu hit him. What the hell is going on? Cha Eui-jae glared into the air and called up the system.
In that instant, a pure white window appeared.
[Entity ‘Cha Eui-jae’ has cleared this dungeon.]
[Since the entity died in this dungeon, a perception distortion effect has been applied to prevent confusion.]
Who gave you the right?
[The entity agreed to this.]
Ah. Cha Eui-jae rolled his eyes. Was that what all those annoying pop-ups were before he entered? He’d waved them away out of irritation. He glared at the system window.
Shouldn’t you at least ask twice?
[As a dungeon clear bonus, equipment and inventory from the time of entry have been retained.]
‘I don’t need that!’
Cha Eui-jae glanced around and spotted a small puddle of water. He crawled over on all fours and looked into the surface. His face was still his own. He tilted his head from side to side, thinking. Perception distortion, it said. So to others, his face must look completely different.
‘If even Lee Sa-young didn’t recognize me…’
Then the distortion must be pretty extreme. Cha Eui-jae touched his now-clean face and let out a deep sigh. Behind him, he heard whispering voices.
“Did he lose it from the shock…? Ga-eul-ah, be careful. You never know.”
“Yes, unnie.”
I can hear you, you know.
Cha Eui-jae slowly got to his feet. Even if his face had changed, couldn’t he just explain who he was? If he gave proof, they’d believe him. And since his face was distorted, there was no risk of Honeybee recognizing him either. After confirming Lee Sa-young standing a bit off to the side, arms crossed, Cha Eui-jae spoke in a serious tone.
“I’m J.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
A terrible silence fell. The two women didn’t even look surprised or amused, they just stared blankly at Cha Eui-jae. Lee Sa-young didn’t even glance his way. What the hell? Cha Eui-jae tried again.
“I said, I’m J. I came back in from the outside.”
Honeybee frowned and tilted her head. She whispered into Yoon Ga-eul’s ear.
“…Um, what language is that? Russian? Stuttgart… bishon-bashon… wasn’t it something like that?”
“I’m not sure… I’ve never heard it before.”
“I seriously can’t understand a single word. You know that thing where something’s so suspicious that it stops being suspicious?”
“Yeah… Maybe it’s a dungeon clear hint?”
“Excuse me, you were speaking Korean just fine a minute ago. Speak Korean.”
Suddenly, Cha Eui-jae realized.
Wait, don’t tell me the distortion affects speech too?
“Lee Sa-young! Did you understand me?”
“…Not interested.”
It does distort speech!
Trying to grasp the situation, he tried over and over to communicate. He finally concluded that only when he talked about things related to the dungeon, his words would become weirdly garbled. I’m J, I came back for you, let’s get out of here, the system’s gone insane and did this to me— no matter how much he tried to convey his sincerity, they just looked at him with pity. Honeybee whispered again to Yoon Ga-eul.
“I think he’s got some kind of brain damage mixing up his languages.”
That’s not it!
Nothing was going right. What now? Cha Eui-jae drooped his shoulders and picked up a mask lying on the ground. The moment Honeybee saw the smooth, like a polished go stone, black mask, her expression hardened. She stepped toward him quickly. After checking Lee Sa-young’s reaction, she leaned in and asked quietly,
“That mask… is it yours?”
“Yes.”
“Ah… No wonder his eyes went crazy.”
Honeybee groaned and tousled her hair in frustration. Then she slung an arm over Cha Eui-jae’s shoulder and pulled him closer, lowering her voice.
“Listen. Don’t wear that mask in front of him. I don’t know if he’s a fan or a fanatic or what. Got it? And now that I look closer, your outfit… Tsk, you’ll need a change of clothes too.”
“But—”
“Just do what I say. Unless you want your neck wrung again.”
“…”
Cha Eui-jae rubbed his still-sore neck. Lee Sa-young had looked like he meant to kill him back there… Honeybee grumbled,
“He gets like that any time J is involved…”
Then, a chilling presence approached. A strong arm wrapped around Cha Eui-jae’s neck again, pulling tight.
“Having fun? Chatting it up with strangers?”
“Wait, why are you taking him again?”
“Isn’t it obvious? He’s suspicious. Found lying in a wasteland, not mutated, not even injured…”
The arm tightened, squeezing the breath out of him again. Damn it. He really would strangle him to death. Cha Eui-jae frowned and looked up. Their eyes met. His violet eyes were razor-sharp, cold like a curtain of ice. The warmth and kindness that used to be directed at him were nowhere to be found.
His soft lips parted slightly.
“Let’s just kill him here and go.”
