The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 314
Amid the crackling noise, a scream slipped through, and Honeybee’s face turned pale. Cha Eui-jae shot up from his seat. With a loud crash, the chair he had been sitting on toppled over, but no one paid it any mind. He approached the door and grabbed Honeybee’s arm.
“You’re going there, right? Take me with you!”
“What…?”
Honeybee’s eyes widened in surprise, but only for a moment. She nodded firmly and threw an arm around Cha Eui-jae’s neck, pulling him close.
“You all heard that, right? I’m taking him with me.”
“Uh? But he’s still under detention…!”
“Someone’s about to die, and that’s what you’re worried about? He’s fine. I’ll take responsibility! Let’s go! Move, or do you want me to hit you with my radio?”
“H-Hitting a civil servant is obstruction of official duties!”
“That’s why I’m keeping my distance! If the Director complains, just say I threatened you!”
Waving her radio threateningly, Honeybee forced a path through the blocking hunters. Cha Eui-jae allowed himself to be dragged along, unsure if he was being buddy-hugged or headlocked. He was technically the one under detention, but somehow, it felt more like he had become a hostage in a hostage situation.
“Uwaaah!”
“P-please be careful!”
As he was dragged along, Cha Eui-jae thought; This person…
‘A professional at making threats?’
With impressive skill, Honeybee broke through the hallway packed with hunters and headed for the emergency stairs. From her threatening posture to her swift judgment in finding the fastest exit, it wasn’t her first time doing this, Cha Eui-jae could tell. He let out a small, admiring sigh.
‘I’ll have to ask her about it later.’
Maybe he could learn something from her. Thud. The emergency stairwell door slammed shut behind them. Bracing her body against the rattling door, Honeybee released Cha Eui-jae’s neck from her arm. She gave him a suspicious once-over, from head to toe.
“I know it’s a little late to ask after dragging you all the way here, but… Are you seriously in your right mind?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
Cha Eui-jae massaged his sore neck.
“I know Jung Bin-ssi died in the Memorial Dungeon. That’s why you’re in such a hurry, right?”
Honeybee’s mouth fell open slightly.
“How do you know that? You weren’t even there.”
“I got the information from a notebook Nam Woo-jin-ssi kept inside the Memorial Dungeon. Uh, it’s a long story. Let’s just head up first!”
Jung Bin must’ve exhausted himself trying to stop Cha Eui-jae. He didn’t know how many monsters there were or how strong they were, but he couldn’t leave Jung Bin to face them alone. Growing anxious, Cha Eui-jae muttered,
“I asked Gyu-Gyu-ssi for help, but…”
“You asked Gyu-Gyu?”
Thump, thump, thump, Honeybee was now taking the stairs two steps at a time and asked seriously,
“Did you pay him?”
“Pay him? No, I just asked verbally.”
“Ah, just a verbal agreement?”
Without another word, Honeybee picked up the pace. Now she was clearing three steps at once. Cha Eui-jae hurried to keep up and asked,
“Is there a problem?”
“There’s a lot of problems. That’s the problem.”
Honeybee replied, annoyed.
“That bastard’s attitude totally changes before and after payment. He’s crazy about money.”
…Really? He had seemed pretty friendly, though. But it felt awkward to ask further, seeing how much Honeybee was shuddering in disgust. Cha Eui-jae glanced at the glowing green emergency lights showing the floor numbers. 14F. From beyond the emergency exit, a monster’s growl echoed.
Cha Eui-jae and Honeybee met each other’s gaze. And then—
They kicked the door at the same time.
BAM—!!
The emergency door crumpled where their feet struck it and flew off its hinges. For a moment, the world seemed to move in slow motion. The twisted metal door flying through the air, the white monster getting smacked by the door, the monster stumbling and crashing into the wall. Bang! Leaving a deep dent.
“Mmm~ What’s this property damage? Very bold of you.”
A sly voice spoke. The owner of the voice, Gyu-Gyu, stood nonchalantly in the middle of the hallway, hands stuffed into his coat pockets. He turned toward the two and shrugged.
“A declaration of war against the Awakened Management Bureau, maybe?”
“What the heck? Where’s Jung Bin? Why are you alone?”
“Where else? He’s resting behind me.”
Gyu-Gyu turned his body to show them. Jung Bin was standing behind a translucent wall, pounding on it silently. It looked almost like he was miming. Honeybee grimaced.
“Hey, you’ve trapped him in there! Whose ability did you steal this time?”
“Steal? There’s a nice word called ‘renting,’ you know~”
Tossing and catching dice in the air, Gyu-Gyu smirked.
“I couldn’t just throw someone who got beaten up into another fight, right? His cheeks were all swollen, like he just had his wisdom teeth taken out.”
“…”
The unintentional culprit responsible for Jung Bin’s swollen cheeks, Cha Eui-jae, quietly averted his eyes. Gyu-Gyu scratched his cheek and gestured.
“Anyway, come here. We need to deal with that guy first.”
Honeybee and Cha Eui-jae cautiously moved behind Gyu-Gyu. Honeybee craned her neck forward and asked,
“Is that the mutant?”
“Yep. Apparently one of Team Leader Jung’s team members. Suddenly mutated without warning, totally caught us off guard~”
And then it happened.
Crack. Broken wall fragments crumbled to the floor, raising a cloud of dust. The monster buried in the wall stirred and stood up. Solid legs, arms ending in sharp blades, a bulky torso, and—
A mouth full of jagged teeth and a head covered in white fur. From between the fur, stark white eyes darted about. Finally, those eyes locked onto Cha Eui-jae.
Their gazes met.
IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!
“…Kgh!”
A sharp sensation struck through his entire body. It hurt. That feeling and that word filled his mind completely. His vision spun, and a splitting headache followed. Cha Eui-jae clutched his head. A small groan leaked through his clenched teeth. A firm hand grabbed his swaying body.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong all of a sudden? Are you hurt?”
“Oh, right, wasp girl, didn’t you say you barely subdued an out-of-control J with three against one?”
“Shut up!”
“I’m asking because I’m worried~ …Is J really in his right mind? He doesn’t look so good.”
“I checked he was fine before bringing him!”
“I hope that’s true. I really don’t feel like fighting today. I already rolled today’s dice…”
Their voices blurred together as if he were underwater. Cha Eui-jae tried biting his tongue as hard as he could, but it was useless. Human voices faded even further, while the monster’s voice grew clearer.
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
Where’s the team leader?
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
I have to report.
It hurts…
The monster’s voice, honestly, wasn’t that different from a human’s. Even in his transformed body, he was still searching for his team leader, Jung Bin. The monster staggered to its feet and looked around. Then, it spotted Jung Bin standing behind Gyu-Gyu.
Found him. Found him.
Found the team leader.
Need to report. Need to report.
“Ugh…!”
Screech— The monster started dragging its blade-like arm across the floor, advancing. Clutching his throbbing head, Cha Eui-jae shouted.
“Gyu-Gyu-ssi, stop the monster from reaching Jung Bin-ssi!”
“Oh~ something like that? Easy.”
Gyu-Gyu flicked his index and middle fingers upward. Instantly, a transparent wall rose up, blocking the monster’s path. Thud! The monster slammed into it headfirst. Then—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It started ramming its head against the wall over and over. The entire corridor shook with each impact. The ceiling lights flickered ominously. Supporting Cha Eui-jae, Honeybee asked anxiously.
“How sturdy is this wall? Is it okay to just leave it like this?”
“Hmm~… to be honest.”
THUD!
Cracks began to spider across the transparent wall. Gyu-Gyu smiled brightly.
“I don’t know~!”
Crash! The wall shattered into pieces. Honeybee screamed from the bottom of her heart.
“You idiot!”
Gyu-Gyu stepped back a bit and flicked his fingers again. A new wall sprang up instantly. But now that the monster had broken through once, it didn’t hesitate. Thud! Thud! Thud! It smashed into the wall even harder than before. Gyu-Gyu grumbled.
“What do you want me to do~? It’s the first time I’ve actually used it in a real situation. I never had a chance to study it properly.”
Clutching his pounding head, Cha Eui-jae forced out a question.
“What… kind of ability is this anyway? Are you messing with us?”
“Messing around? I wouldn’t joke in a life-or-death situation.”
Honeybee let out a deep sigh.
“Gyu-Gyu’s ability… he can steal other people’s powers. Multiple ones at that.”
“Call it a ‘rental’~”
“Anyway!”
Cha Eui-jae frowned. Up to that point, it sounded like…
“…isn’t that an amazing ability? Seems really powerful.”
“Yeah. The problem is…”
Something rolled out of Gyu-Gyu’s field jacket pocket. Honeybee sighed and picked it up. It was a small ceramic die.
“He has to roll the die and can only use the one power that comes up.”
“…”
“There’s no guarantee he’ll get the ability he actually needs. It’s completely random.”
What kind of absurd scam ability is that? For a moment, Cha Eui-jae forgot the pain and stared back and forth between the die and Gyu-Gyu’s back. Meanwhile, the second wall also shattered into pieces. The three of them stepped back again. As Gyu-Gyu swiftly raised a third wall, he joked.
“I guess I forgot to pray lately, so I ended up with a power I’ve never seen before.”
“So, are you just going to keep retreating like this? We’ll end up trapped between the walls.”
“Huh? Of course we’re going to kill it~”
Gyu-Gyu turned back to wink at them.
“Not me though, you two will!”
