The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 319
The Seowon Guild was much more crowded than the last time he visited… in a bad way.
“Patient transport coming through! Please make way!”
Cha Eui-jae quickly stepped aside. Clatter. A stretcher carrying a patient rolled past him. He caught a glimpse of the patient’s face. It had turned completely white. Was that a sign of mutation? Cha Eui-jae stared after the people who had passed by before continuing to walk.
Passing tightly packed bookshelves, he made his way to the center of the hall where a boy in a white coat was busily giving orders. Upon spotting Cha Eui-jae, the boy shooed away everyone nearby and quickly approached him.
“You’re here? The master has been waiting. This way, please.”
Cha Eui-jae followed the boy across the library. The boy ascended a staircase leading to an upper floor. Unlike the chaotic lower level, it was quiet here. Judging from the rows of doors and nameplates lining the hallway, it appeared to be a ward floor. After passing several doors, the boy stopped in front of one.
[A Small ***************]
‘…Is there any point in censoring that?’
Cha Eui-jae stared at the nameplate with a sour expression. Anyone could guess who it was just by looking at the length and the beginning of the name.
“Please wait inside. The master will be with you shortly.”
The boy quietly opened the door to the room.
“A guest has arrived, patient.”
“Ohhh~”
It was a private hospital room. A man with black hair, propped up against the bed’s headboard, waved his hand lazily.
“It feels like it’s been a while. How have you been?”
A Small Miracle Seo Min-gi was sitting comfortably, munching on a banana. Despite being in a hospital gown, he hadn’t taken off his sunglasses, which was oddly amusing. Still, seeing him looking relatively okay put Cha Eui-jae at ease. Though he still looked a bit pale. Cha Eui-jae approached him and asked,
“You’re better now?”
“Yes, the wounds have all healed. I’ll be discharged in a few more days. They say I’ll have scars, but well, they won’t be visible under clothes anyway.”
Seo Min-gi pulled on the collar of his hospital gown, revealing his torso wrapped in bandages. Cha Eui-jae let out a small sigh of relief.
“If I knew I was visiting a patient, I’d have brought a gift.”
“Oh, no worries. The Pado Guild members already brought plenty of fruits and drinks. If you’re thirsty, feel free to grab a drink from the fridge.”
“I’m good.”
As Seo Min-gi tidied up the banana peel, he asked,
“By the way, customer, I hear you’ve been quite busy while I was laid up.”
“I didn’t do that much…”
“Don’t try to fool me. I heard you were dragged into an interrogation room in chains. Also that you dealt with a mutant in the Bureau. And that Gyu-Gyu was apparently no help at all.”
Damn it, how is a guy in a hospital room getting intel so fast? Seo Min-gi seemed to know every move Cha Eui-jae had made. Cha Eui-jae asked suspiciously,
“Were you tailing me?”
“Heavens no. Though my little shadow friend might’ve been keeping an eye on you.”
From Cha Eui-jae’s shadow, a tiny finger-sized person popped out. The miniature figure mimed tipping a hat, then smoothly moonwalked under the bed. Damn it, when did he stick that thing on me?
“You can’t just plant spies on someone without their consent, you know?”
“Guild Leader’s orders. I had no choice. I was told to never leave customer alone.”
“…”
That idiot. Cha Eui-jae clenched his fist, nails digging sharply into his palm. Seo Min-gi put the banana peel down and began peeling a small tangerine. He shaped the tangerine peel into a bird and asked casually,
“I picked up a lot of information while stuck here. Would you like to hear some?”
His dark eyes sparkled behind his sunglasses. He looked like he’d collapse from disappointment if Cha Eui-jae said no. So Cha Eui-jae slowly nodded. Well, if it helps the patient recover…
“…Sure.”
“Then let’s begin. The number of mutants is steadily increasing. If we charted it, the graph would trend upward. The Seowon Guild’s been getting busier as a result. No one knows the exact cause of the mutations, but most think it’s the ash falling from the sky. Some say it’s the constant appearance of monsters instead.”
That seemed plausible. The White Hole in the sky was a portal connected to a destroyed world, after all. Cha Eui-jae nodded and asked,
“How’s the whitening going?”
“According to the deputy guildmaster, several areas near the invasive dungeons have turned white. The affected zones are expanding, so they’ve all been designated restricted areas.”
“…”
“The fish market got lucky. If it weren’t for you, customer, it would’ve been whitened ages ago.”
“Did Mackerel find a new place?”
“No clue. Since there’s been no contact, I’d guess he’s still looking. It’s not easy finding a safe and spacious place away from the whitening.”
Seo Min-gi went on to provide more detailed updates. The whitening was occurring worldwide. In one country, half the land had turned into a wasteland because of it. Nam Woo-jin was continuing his research based on his notes, but a perfect vaccine hadn’t been developed yet.
“In the meantime, Prometheus is pulling ahead. They’re claiming their vaccine is nearly complete and have begun advertising it. You can see their ads on TV and YouTube. They even have a YouTube channel. Thanks to that, more people are visiting and praying at Prometheus.”
Seo Min-gi held out his phone. The screen showed a YouTube video with a white background and bold red text.
[Check for mutation symptoms! Self-diagnose mutations!]
[Is someone around you mutating? You must watch this video!]
[Recovered from a mutation? Interview with someone who came back!]
“…Each of these videos has at least a million views?”
“They probably hired bots. Or people are actually watching them.”
“Isn’t the government shutting down the channel? Isn’t this misinformation?”
“In this world, you can do anything if you’ve got money. And this kind of thing used to be Mackerel’s specialty, but since Mackerel closed up shop…”
Clatter! The door opened, and a sharp voice cut in.
“The mutation symptoms have changed. Before, it resembled the flu with an incubation period. Now, there’s no incubation, people mutate immediately, or it starts with some part of the body turning white. That means it’s progressing faster than before.”
It was Nam Woo-jin, wearing a crumpled white coat. He shuffled in wearing crocs, yawning wide, and shoved his hands into his coat pockets.
“Thanks for coming, even though you’re probably busy. We’ve run into a bit of a problem.”
“I heard something about your notebook. What’s the issue?”
“Hah, how do I put this… actually, never mind.”
Nam Woo-jin scratched his white hair awkwardly, then pulled a notebook from inside his coat and handed it over.
“It’s easier if you just see for yourself… I don’t know what you did, but I’d appreciate it if you could undo it.”
“…Huh?”
What did I do? Cha Eui-jae opened the notebook with a puzzled expression. He already knew everything up to Jung Bin’s death, so he started reading from there. A few pages were filled with formulas and terms he couldn’t understand, so he skimmed over them.
[Honeybee is acting strange. Recently, they’ve become irritable. Used to be lethargic, that was the problem…]
[Yoon Ga-eul suddenly became calm. What happened?]
[Looks like we need to start checking on hunters’ mental health.]
[Need to investigate whether changes in personality or temperament are early signs of mutation…]
This must be right after Honeybee and Yoon Ga-eul escaped. Cha Eui-jae read more carefully. The entries continued with updates on experiments and various memos. The handwriting gradually grew fainter, shakier.
“…”
He pictured Nam Woo-jin, skin and bones, from that time. Maybe it was approaching again. Cha Eui-jae bit the inside of his lip and turned the page.
Then—
[It’s you, isn’t it?]
Huge, pitch-black letters slammed into his eyes. Scrawled forcefully across two full pages, the words overwhelmed all his senses. Cha Eui-jae slowly lifted his creaking head to look at Nam Woo-jin. Nam Woo-jin was rubbing his temples, looking as if he’d expected this.
“…”
“So… you see now why I called you?”
Lee Sa-young, that…
“Of all places, why the hell did he write that on such a crucial page? Because of that bastard, I can’t read any of the experiment notes written there… And the last person to visit him from your world was J, meaning you.”
“…”
“So what the hell happened? Did Lee Sa-young finally snap? Did you punch him or something? Or… did I bully Lee Sa-young in your world? Is this his way of getting revenge?”
“Guild Leader was never exactly sane to begin with.”
“Yeah, I know that! But this is different!”
That lunatic!
