The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 89 coming back
(11)
Boom!
A fist wrapped in black chains struck the center of a rock. The massive boulder silently crumbled from the point of impact. Jung Bin retracted his fist. Around him, a pile of stones with hollowed centers had amassed into a small hill. He unwrapped the chains and discreetly wiped away his sweat before turning around.
“Are you both uninjured?”
“Yes. Are you alright, sir?”
Yoon Ga-eul, who had been crouching behind the collapsed wall, peeked out her upper body. Next to her, a thumbs-up and a white wing appeared in quick succession. Jung Bin forced a smile as he approached them.
“I’m fine. Ga-eul, how’s your dizziness?”
“Oh… resting helped a lot. Thank you for your concern.”
Yoon Ga-eul awkwardly replied, rubbing the back of her neck. Even at a glance, her complexion looked much better than when she was gagging. Jung Bin felt a sense of relief as he checked on them. Only after confirming their safety did he let out a small sigh. The situation was quite dire.
Unsettling events kept coming one after another. It was almost laughable how chaotic things had become. Jung Bin had braced himself for the mess that was the Artisan Exhibition, and he had prepared for it. The fainting of Lee Sa-young and the urgent dungeon exploration request from Nam Woo-jin were unexpected, but he managed to handle them somehow.
However, even Jung Bin couldn’t have foreseen the news of Hong Ye-seong’s escape. The urgent call came right after he had given all his instructions in preparation for a long absence, just before entering the underground dungeon at Jongno 3-ga. Holding his loudly ringing phone, he glanced at Lee Sa-young, who raised an eyebrow before leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and closing his eyes. Jung Bin answered the call, and then…
—I’m sorry, Team Leader. Hong Ye-seong has escaped…
He was faced with an unwelcome reality. Ah, such a shock can make your vision spin! Jung Bin learned this new fact for the first time in 30 years. Listening to the sorrowful voice of the hunter in charge of security, he thought for the first time in a long while…
‘I want to run away…’
Such thoughts crossed his mind, despite having nowhere to run but deeper into the dungeon.
Hearing the tearful report, Lee Sa-young, who had been waiting with his eyes closed, finally spoke up in irritation.
“Do you have fire on your feet? Why are you pacing around so noisily…”
“Lee Sa-young-ssi…”
Sensing something strange in Jung Bin’s voice, Lee Sa-young opened one eye slightly. Seeing Jung Bin’s lost expression, he opened both eyes wide. It was the first time Jung Bin saw such a surprised look from her. Thanks to Hong Ye-seong, he was having all sorts of new experiences.
Fortunately, Lee Sa-young proved his worth as a capable Guild Leader by delegating the task. If A Small Miracle Seo Min-gi had not gone out to track him down, they would still be searching for Hong Ye-seong, let alone exploring the dungeon. Although finding Hong Ye-seong was important…
‘I need to find the key to the apocalypse.’
A few months ago, Yoon Ga-eul predicted the coming of the apocalypse. When and how it would come was unknown. It was a hard story to believe, especially as the world was gradually settling into a stable period after past chaos. Upon hearing the story for the first time, the director of the Awakened Management Bureau, Ham Seok-jeong, dismissed it as post-awakening aftereffects and assigned a person to Yoon Ga-eul.
However, eroded dungeons began to appear one by one, backing up Yoon Ga-eul’s claims, and the activities of Prometheus, which had been quiet since Lee Sa-young’s awakening, suddenly became active.
The first erosion occurred in a dungeon owned by a guild in Incheon. A dungeon originally inhabited by blue slimes turned completely white with ash. It was eerily similar to the landscape described in the story.
After confirming the existence of the first eroded dungeon, Ham Seok-jeong immediately changed her mind and revealed the existence of the apocalypse to a very few hunters. Only up to the top 10. It was a decision made to prevent the panic that apocalyptic theories would cause.
Since that day, combat rankers have been taking turns investigating eroded dungeons. Originally, it should have been Gyu-Gyu or Honeybee’s turn, but Nam Woo-jin urgently sent Lee Sa-young and Jung Bin in, and then the dungeon suddenly restructured.
The first appearance of an S+ grade dungeon, the sudden appearance of Hong Ye-seong and Yoon Ga-eul. Jung Bin recalled the blazing white eyes.
‘Did he foresee this situation and send us in…’
“…Sir?”
It was a small voice that interrupted his long thoughts. Jung Bin snapped back to reality and looked for the owner of the voice. Yoon Ga-eul, rubbing her mouth, asked.
“Are you really alright?”
Jung Bin clasped his hands behind his back and smiled.
“Yes, of course. It seems we will have some peace for a while. Have you eaten?”
“Uh, no.”
Jung Bin retrieved a small backpack from his inventory and handed it to Yoon Ga-eul. It was a makeshift supply kit containing preserved food and water.
“I recommend eating now if you feel even a little hungry. We don’t know when we’ll have another chance.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t eat too much; just enough to stave off the hunger.”
“Okay.”
Yoon Ga-eul bowed her head as she took the backpack. Seeing her hesitate, Jung Bin deliberately sat on a flat piece of debris, unwrapped an energy bar, and took a bite. Only then did Yoon Ga-eul open her backpack and take out a bag of jerky.
After finishing his energy bar, Jung Bin neatly folded the wrapper and began to speak.
“Feel free to eat while listening. Now that we have a moment of peace, let’s sort out the situation. Lee Sa-young and I were investigating the erosion dungeon, but just as Lee Sa-young mentioned someone entering the dungeon, it restructured… and then we met you two. I don’t know why you two are here.”
Jung Bin emphasized the words “you two” and “why.” Yoon Ga-eul, looking like she might choke, just tore at her jerky. Jung Bin, still smiling warmly, glanced at her companion. Only the edge of a navy hiking hat was sticking out.
“Now, Hong Ye-seong-ssi?”
“…Ahem.”
The hiking hat began to sink slowly. But there was no way he could suddenly run away. No matter how reckless Hong Ye-seong was, he wouldn’t do something as crazy as acting alone in an S+ grade dungeon. Having made this judgment, Jung Bin continued speaking undeterred.
“The person who disappeared suddenly, turning the Bureau upside down, is now in an erosion dungeon. I want to hear the whole story from the beginning to the end about why you two are here together.”
“…”
“There’s no use invoking the right to remain silent here.”
The chicken perched on the hat tilted its head, and Yoon Ga-eul continued chewing on her thinly torn jerky with a gloomy face. Hong Ye-seong still only showed the top of his head. None of them seemed ready to provide a proper explanation. Jung Bin sighed deeply as he folded the wrapper into a paper crane.
“We’ve investigated several erosion dungeons so far, but this is the first time a dungeon has restructured and its grade has increased. The phenomenon of dungeon restructuring itself is a first…”
Boom… The ground rumbled from afar. Such a massive vibration likely came from the dungeon master. To clear the dungeon, they had to kill it.
“My abilities are specialized for combat against humans, so they are of little use against monsters. Until now, I’ve fought using my grade and stats, but there are limits.”
Jung Bin sighed shortly.
“To be honest, I can’t be sure I can protect you all while dealing with the dungeon master. That’s why a clear explanation of the situation is crucial.”
“I’ll explain it!”
It was at that moment, as Yoon Ga-eul raised her hand, having stuffed jerky into Hong Ye-seong’s mouth to silence him. A giant shadow loomed over them. All three of them and the chicken looked up simultaneously. A colossal…
“…Hand?”
A palm.
It was so enormous that even a slight upward movement of the palm tore through the still air. Where did such a massive thing suddenly appear from? Jung Bin hurriedly wrapped his chains around his arm and shouted.
“Ye-seong, the shield!”
“Got it!”
Soon,
Boom!!
A massive shockwave shook the surroundings.
***
A little earlier.
‘How much time has passed?’
Cha Eui-jae, breaking a golem’s arm with his pole, glanced at Lee Sa-young. Lee Sa-young was smashing the golems with his water power. He likely judged that breaking them was faster than dissolving the stone with his poison.
Before they could decide whether to regroup with Jung Bin or take down the dungeon master, monsters rushed at them relentlessly. Cha Eui-jae quickly noticed something strange. As time passed, the forms of the monsters attacking them were changing.
Right after the restructuring, they saw the white, gaunt monsters familiar from the West Sea rift. After killing all of them, the surrounding debris rolled together and now formed complete stone golems. The golems roamed around slowly. Cha Eui-jae gripped his pole tighter.
‘Is it a mistake that occurred during restructuring? Or…’
The dungeon had suddenly reconfigured in response to Cha Eui-jae’s title, so the monsters that first appeared were undoubtedly related to him. After dealing with all those monsters, only then did the familiar golems start to appear. Generally, the monsters within a dungeon are related to its master. Given the continuous appearance of small golems, it was highly likely that the dungeon master was also a golem.
Cha Eui-jae speared a rolling golem with his pole, contemplating. There were five super hamsters in the dungeon in total, two of which were bombs. One bomb was beside him, so that was fine, but Hong Ye-seong was the problem. The chaos from the Artisan Exhibition flashed through his mind, and Cha Eui-jae’s expression turned grave.
Lee Sa-young could be reasoned with and calmed down, but Hong Ye-seong was impossible once fixated on something. They just had to helplessly accept the calamity that was Hong Ye-seong. The conclusion was clear without further thought.
“Instead of randomly fighting here, we should join up with Jung Bin. Let’s go.”
“What were you thinking so deeply about?”
Lee Sa-young scoffed, having caught his whispered decision.
“What makes you so brave…? Ignoring my words entirely, I see?”
“I listened to you and made a rational judgment.”
“Oh, rational. I like that.”
Lee Sa-young covered his mouth and laughed quietly. However, his eyes, unlike his raised lips, showed no trace of humor and remained fierce.
“First, how about taking off that hoodie before you talk? You don’t seriously think it’s fine just because you don’t have an apron, do you? That would be too simple-minded…”
“Here we go again.”
Since they met again in the ruins, Lee Sa-young had strangely been more amicable. This was no illusion. Pretending to be hurt, feigning pain, and even clapping when Cha Eui-jae delivered a spinning kick to a monster, saying, “Wow, that’s impressive. Did you learn Taekwondo?” Normally, he’d sarcastically remark about hiding abilities, but that seemed to have an expiration date too.
‘What on earth does he want?’
Cha Eui-jae kicked a golem with a grimace, shattering it into pieces.
“What’s bothering you now?”
“Nothing… I’m just curious.”
Lee Sa-young stopped in his tracks. When Cha Eui-jae turned to look at him, Lee Sa-young tilted his head as if he had been waiting for this.
“You act as if you have to take responsibility for everything and solve all problems by yourself.”
“…”
“Isn’t it about time you realized how useless that kind of thinking is?”
