The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 71
Even Lee Sa-young uses the waiting room, so why don’t you?
Jung Bin, who skillfully attacked both their consciences and Lee Sa-young with a single sentence, waited for an answer with a pleasant smile. Honeybee, who had been watching him nervously, let go of Gyu-Gyu’s collar and tried to back away.
“Uh, I was in the waiting room, but I just came out for a coffee. I was planning to go back as soon as I got my coffee. But this guy started picking a fight first.”
“Oh, I see.”
“You can ask the part-timer here.”
It was an excuse based on the assumption that Jung Bin was lenient towards cooperative people. Jung Bin, who had been squinting slightly at Honeybee, nodded in agreement.
“Do we need to ask? I trust you, Honeybee.”
Honeybee, having successfully escaped, smiled brightly.
“Then can I go now? Matthew is waiting for me.”
“Of course. See you at the auction.”
“…Damn, you’re lucky because of Jung Bin.”
Honeybee made a threatening gesture of slicing his throat towards Gyu-Gyu before heading to the counter. Gyu-Gyu joked with a smiling face.
“Oh, how scary.”
“Ban Gyu-min.”
“Ah… something even more scary.”
Gyu-Gyu smiled weakly and stirred his sikhye with a limp paper straw. Jung Bin, staring down at the top of Gyu-Gyu’s head, slowly began to speak.
“Although the Director has lifted the entry ban…”
“You’re telling me not to cause trouble?”
“I’m glad you understand.”
“Of course. Most foreign hunters will participate in this Artisan Exhibition by phone. No reason for any trouble.”
Gyu-Gyu, babbling unnecessary words, dropped his head onto the table. He looked up at Jung Bin. Jung Bin, who had been smiling kindly, was now staring coldly at Gyu-Gyu. Ban Gyu-min raised the corners of his mouth.
“I won’t hesitate to use any means to catch J.”
“…”
“If any problem arises, you’ll understand, right? It’s an order from Director Ham Seok-jeong.”
“You laid the groundwork poorly. J won’t come to the Artisan Exhibition.”
Jung Bin replied coldly. But Gyu-Gyu was firm.
“He will come.”
“…How are you so sure?”
Still in his collapsed position, Gyu-Gyu raised his right hand and pointed to the sky with his index finger.
“I prayed really hard.”
“…”
“My prayers are quite effective, you know. My dad’s a pastor.”
He grinned.
***
11 AM. The hall where the main auction was held was surprisingly simple for a place where wealthy hunters gathered. Except for a large poster of Hong Ye-seong giving a thumbs-up behind the podium, there were no special decorations. It seemed like they didn’t decorate it on purpose, anticipating it might be destroyed.
To the right of the podium was the phone auction area, and the center and left were all spaces for ticket holders. Apparently, the organizers were so burned by the previous Artisan Exhibition that they divided the waiting rooms and even installed partitions in the main hall so hunters couldn’t see each other.
‘They’re really treating us like hamsters.’
Though it was merely a cover-up, it was good news for Cha Eui-jae. If Bae Won-woo had acknowledged Lee Sa-young, it would have been a headache. He was grateful to the super hamster who caused the chaos, whoever it was.
Inside the partition, which only allowed a view of the podium, was a two-person sofa and a table. Though spacious enough for two people to sit comfortably, Cha Eui-jae stood behind the sofa as it wasn’t appropriate for an assistant to sit beside their boss. Lee Sa-young, sitting with crossed legs, muttered quietly without turning around.
“Why don’t you sit next to me?”
“I’m comfortable here.”
“The auction will take a while. A few hours.”
“I’m fine.”
“Ah…”
Lee Sa-young, resting his chin on his hand, let out a short laugh.
“You were sleeping so deeply that I thought you might be exhausted. But I guess that’s not the case.”
“…”
“If your legs get tired, let me know. I’ll let you lie down.”
‘Damn.’
Cha Eui-jae grimaced. Lee Sa-young had been nagging him since he took a short nap in the waiting room. He himself had told him not to go anywhere and just sleep. But before he could retort, the auction began.
The auctioneer on the podium struck the gavel.
“Thank you, hunters, for attending. Now, let’s start the Artisan Exhibition! The first item is an S-grade accessory, in the form of earrings. It has flame resistance, ice resistance, and mental strength increase options.”
Hong Ye-seong, sitting in a plush chair on one side of the podium, had his arms crossed and was dozing off. When the bodyguard behind him whispered something in his ear, he finally came to his senses and took out the item from his inventory. It was a pair of earrings with red gemstones.
Hong Ye-seong opened his sleepy eyes. Golden patterns appeared over his pupils.
Without turning around, Lee Sa-young whispered.
“Hong Ye-seong is the only S-grade artisan in the world… It’s not surprising he has the best stuff, even if it’s favored by the system.”
“…”
“Those are the Eyes of Appraisal.”
When Hong Ye-seong brushed the earrings with his fingers, blue star-like characters appeared on the red gemstone. The same characters seen on the ticket.
[Yìxīng]
The hunter who received the earrings carefully placed them on the table. Hong Ye-seong, losing interest, closed his eyes and started dozing again. The auctioneer raised his voice.
“With the artisan’s engraving confirmed, let’s start the first auction. The starting price is 1 billion!”
Cha Eui-jae stared at Lee Sa-young’s figure, who showed no intention of raising the paddle.
“3 billion is bid. It will now increase by 500 million. 3.5 billion!”
As items were gradually auctioned off and some time passed, Lee Sa-young still hadn’t raised the paddle once. Whether there were no items he liked or he was waiting for something was unclear.
The auctioneer, who had been silent for a while, smiled mysteriously. His previously lively and firm voice lowered subtly.
“I’m sure everyone here knows about Hong Ye-seong’s traits.”
Deadline Finisher. A strange trait where work efficiency and speed increase as the deadline approaches. The people in the back started moving busily.
“Until now, the best equipment Hong Ye-seong made was S-grade, but…”
What he pulled out from his inventory was…
“Introducing the first S+ grade weapon made by human hands since the Day of the Rift!”
A giant spear.
One that is very similar to the one J used.
Cha Eui-jae’s fingertips trembled slightly. It seemed Lee Sa-young glanced back briefly, but Cha Eui-jae couldn’t take his eyes off the giant spear and Hong Ye-seong, who was hugging it.
After examining the weapon he made, Hong Ye-seong looked up and scanned the floor below with his appraisal eyes. It seemed like their eyes met for a moment because…
“Auction canceled!”
He suddenly threw the spear, stood up, snatched the auctioneer’s gavel, and shouted. As the precious first S+ grade weapon rolled off the podium, people screamed. Ignoring them, Hong Ye-seong raised his voice.
“We’ll restart in two hours! Wait in the waiting room! Take this!”
Then he took some powder out of his pocket and scattered it. The hall was quickly engulfed in thick black smoke, making it impossible to see ahead. The murmurs of the people also seemed swallowed by the smoke.
“…”
Only after being trapped in the silence did Cha Eui-jae come to his senses. He looked around but saw nothing but darkness. Anxiety crept up his neck. Where was Lee Sa-young? He needed to join him since he had the ticket to the waiting room…
At that moment.
“Bawk.”
A strange sound came from the floor. Amid the black smoke where nothing could be seen, there stood something white and smooth… like a dumb-looking bird.
‘What is this?’
As if answering Cha Eui-jae’s thoughts, the bird spread its porcelain wings and crowed loudly.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
‘Crazy, it’s a chicken?’
Before he knew it, he and the chicken had escaped the black smoke and were standing in front of a high stone wall gate. Beyond the wall, a tiled roof towered. It wasn’t Jeonju Hanok Village or a folk village, so what was with the tiled house? As he looked around in a daze, Cha Eui-jae nudged the silly bird.
“Hey, what are you? Where is this?”
“Bawk.”
The chicken, as if answering, pecked at the gate with its blunt beak. The gate opened wide, revealing a wide yard with grass and a grand tiled house. In one corner of the yard was a large kiln.
And on the main veranda of the tiled house visible straight through the gate, Hong Ye-seong was lying on his side, propping his head up with his arm, sucking on something flat and thin. Upon closer inspection, it was a ginseng stick. Their eyes met. Hong Ye-seong quickly sat up and tapped the spot beside him.
“You’re here! Come here. Good job, Kkokko.”
Despite having just caused a commotion by swinging the auction gavel like a madman, scattering powder to create smoke, and kidnapping someone with a dumb-looking porcelain chicken, the atmosphere was light.
This guy… is no ordinary lunatic.
‘He’s not just a little crazy.’
As Cha Eui-jae cautiously walked up and stood in front of him, Hong Ye-seong tapped the spot beside him again.
“Here, sit next to me.”
“I’m fine. I’ll stand.”
“Quick, sit down.”
The ceramic chicken waddled over, dragging a blue cushion. It then jumped off the porch and began pecking at Cha Eui-jae’s ankle with its blunt beak. Cha Eui-jae, afraid the chicken’s beak might break, sat down on the cushion. The wind chime at the end of the eaves rang with a clear sound.
Hong Ye-seong, sitting with one knee raised, spoke lightly.
“Sorry for bringing you here like this. But I’m in a bit of a hurry!”
“Isn’t this kidnapping?”
“Hey, I’ll send you back soon. Kidnapping sounds so harsh.”
Hong Ye-seong laughed heartily as he threw the empty red ginseng stick wrapper behind him.
“What should I call you? Should I just call you secretary? We’ve met before, right?”
“We have, briefly in the restroom…”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re Lee Sa-young’s secretary, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Just call me Secretary Kim.”
“Okay, Secretary Kim.”
Hong Ye-seong waved his hand nonchalantly, as if the name wasn’t important.
“So, here’s the thing. No one can enter here without my permission, so you can say anything comfortably. This is my precious house, which I made with care. Just relax. Okay? Relax.”
“…”
It was chilling. Something about this setup seems fishy. Nam Woo-jin also lured him into a secluded forest under the pretense of a walk before dropping a bombshell. As Cha Eui-jae was mentally calculating the distance to the gate for a potential escape, he was startled by Hong Ye-seong suddenly thrusting his face forward.
Cha Eui-jae instinctively recoiled. Intricate golden patterns appeared over Hong Ye-seong’s clear, almost crazy eyes. The patterns seemed to grow and shrink, with unreadable characters appearing and disappearing repeatedly.
The sensation was like a knife scraping his skin, sending chills down his spine. Cha Eui-jae gritted his teeth and was about to grab Hong Ye-seong by the neck when Hong Ye-seong, without blinking, said,
“It’s in your inventory, isn’t it?”
“…”
“The thing I made.”
