The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low - Chap 97
The phenomenon of restructuring in the eroded Dungeon and the upgrade in the grade of the West Sea Rift. As if it had been waiting for Cha Eui-jae to enter, everything changed the moment he stepped in.
Cha Eui-jae swallowed his breath. In truth, he knew. He couldn’t help but instinctively realize that he was entangled in all these problems.
Cha Eui-jae, removing his hand from the table, asked quietly.
“Can I check the data on the Jongno 3-ga underground dungeon? Or perhaps re-enter it myself?”
“Oh, entering is out of the question. The Guild Leader will strongly oppose it. But reviewing the data is fine. In fact, that’s one of the reasons for my visit today. Just a moment.”
Seo Min-gi pulled out a thin file from his inventory and handed it over.
“This is the investigation report on the restructured Jongno 3-ga underground dungeon. It was personally investigated by Vice-Guild Leader Bae Won-woo, so you can trust it. Take your time reading it.”
Cha Eui-jae quickly skimmed through the file. The dungeon, which was a lucrative spot for potion ingredients before the erosion, had shown abnormal erosion phenomena starting a month ago. The restructured dungeon was a ruin covered in white ash, and when the ash was cleared, broken Korean signboards could be seen…
Cha Eui-jae bit his lip. Korean signboards were also visible in the West Sea Rift and in Yoon Ga-eul’s fragments. The puzzle pieces of information were slowly coming together. Seo Min-gi clapped his hands and stood up from the table.
“Then, I’ll inform you as soon as any additional information comes in.”
“…Yes. Could you also provide information on other eroded dungeons?”
“Of course. You can ask me to do anything. Espionage, information gathering, and manipulation are my specialties.”
Seo Min-gi confidently declared himself an expert in illegal manipulation, but Cha Eui-jae, having benefited from his skills before, couldn’t doubt his abilities. The problem was that he seemed to be missing a screw somewhere.
“I’ve delivered everything for today… I’ll take my leave now. Here, take my business card. If you need anything, contact me.”
Politely handing over his business card with both hands, Cha Eui-jae also accepted it with both hands and read it. Pado Guild Battle Support Team 1, A Small Miracle Seo Min-gi. Seo Min-gi, standing at the door with his hands clasped behind his back, spoke solemnly.
“Feel free to contact us anytime. Our support team is always on standby to back you up.”
Upon reflection, this was the third Pado Guild business card Cha Eui-jae had seen. One from the warning sent to Lee Sa-young, one from the top operator Romance Opener Choi Go-yo, and now Seo Min-gi’s.
Fiddling with Seo Min-gi’s business card, Cha Eui-jae slipped it into his apron pocket. Seo Min-gi waved his hands goodbye and turned to push the door.
At that moment, Cha Eui-jae spoke.
“By the way… if you’re an information investigation specialist, can you find people too?”
“People?”
“Yes. They might be dead now.”
“Oh, you’re putting me to work right away. You know how to make use of people.”
Seo Min-gi, who was about to open the door, closed it again and turned around. He pushed up his sunglasses and pulled out a familiar tablet from his inventory, blocking the door.
“If you have clear information and instructions, it’s possible. But if they died on the Day of the Rift, it might be difficult. The whole society was paralyzed back then… there are still unidentified deceased people.”
“They didn’t die on the Day of the Rift.”
Touching his mouth and reminiscing, Cha Eui-jae added slowly.
“They might have died about three years after the Day of the Rift, or maybe later. In any case, they died after the West Sea Rift.”
Seo Min-gi’s hand paused at the mention of the West Sea Rift. Scratching his temple with his tablet pen, he asked.
“Are you certain they are dead? Did you confirm it yourself?”
“No, I didn’t. But… they are probably dead.”
“Hmm…”
Seo Min-gi looked up at Cha Eui-jae from under his bowed head, his black eyes scrutinizing Cha Eui-jae’s face as he muttered.
“But judging by your words, it’s not certain. Let’s consider them missing.”
He scribbled something on his tablet and asked.
“What about their name, age, appearance? Please provide basic personal information and physical characteristics.”
He waited with his pen poised, but Cha Eui-jae found himself at a rare loss for words. After hesitating for a while, he finally managed to give a clumsy answer.
“I don’t know their name or face. They are somewhat younger than me.”
“Hmm. So you don’t know their exact age either?”
“…No.”
Frowning as if deep in thought, Seo Min-gi muttered.
“This might be impolite, but… what do you know about this person?”
“…”
“I’m not blaming you; I’m asking to get more detailed information. Did they live in a particular area, graduate from a specific school? Anything that could start the investigation, no matter how small. Anything.”
Cha Eui-jae, deep in thought with his arms crossed, finally spoke in a low, resonant voice.
“I saved a child from the Mangwon Rift…”
“…”
“They were the sole survivor of that Rift.”
“…”
“Their entire body was damaged from being covered in poison, and they inhaled poison, damaging their vocal cords. The only functional sense was their hearing, but they couldn’t move their body, making proper communication impossible. All identifying information was dissolved in the poison swamp. So…”
The long-buried memory slowly resurfaced. Cha Eui-jae quietly lowered his eyes. Something surged within him, but he swallowed it down.
***
A tall young man in a black combat suit stood with his arms crossed in front of a glass wall. Beyond the glass was a stark white room.
On the operating table lay a boy so disfigured that his original form was unrecognizable. One might think he was a corpse, but J knew he was barely breathing. Numerous machines connected to him sustained his thin thread of life.
At that moment, the door of the intensive care unit opened, and a surgeon, wiping sweat, came out. J spoke softly.
“Doctor.”
His voice was curiously altered, making it impossible to discern his gender or age from the voice alone. His tall height and solid build suggested he was an adult male. The doctor who approached him responded.
“You’ve been waiting.”
The black mask glanced at the doctor.
“Can you save him?”
The doctor swallowed hard.
“J, to be very honest… I can’t guarantee it.”
“…”
“As you know, wounds inflicted by monsters are difficult to treat with modern medical technology. Simple external injuries can be treated by combining modern medicine and potions, but…”
The doctor’s eyes turned to the boy.
“In a state where he’s so severely poisoned, it’s a miracle he’s still alive. Without the antidote you’ve been continuously administering, he would’ve died long ago.”
J silently turned his gaze back to the scene beyond the glass.
That evening, an absorption rift appeared in the middle of Mangwon-dong. The sudden rift swallowed up people and buildings indiscriminately, turning a 3km radius around it into ruins.
J headed straight to the Mangwon rift from the dungeon in Chungju and came out with something in his arms after a whole day. Hunters on standby approached, but J stepped back, signaling them not to come closer.
What J held was a small lump wrapped tightly in a blanket.
A familiar hunter approached.
“It’s a poison rift, is it safe for you, J? And that…”
J responded urgently, out of character.
“It will soon disappear.”
“Pardon? Then the other survivors…”
J’s gaze fell on the small bundle in his arms. He murmured.
“Only this child. No other survivors.”
With that, he disappeared with the child in his arms. Moments later, the entrance to the rift was filled with charred corpses.
J tapped his mask’s mouth and spoke.
“If there’s poison.”
“Yes?”
“If the poison the child was covered in exists. Can it be used to make an antidote?”
The doctor pondered, biting his lip. Analyzing the serum of a poisoned animal to create an antidote was common. Recently, several potion makers had emerged among the awakened ones, so gathering them for research might make it possible. But…
“It would be possible, but… I’m unsure if the child can hold out until then. And whether we can collect enough poison…”
“Let’s try.”
J turned to leave. The doctor, taken aback, grabbed him.
“Pardon? What do you mean…”
“I’ll collect it. I know what monster’s poison it is.”
“…”
“Money, time, manpower, it doesn’t matter. Just proceed.”
“…Understood.”
“Until then, treat him with the common antidote I provide.”
He walked out of the suffocating space. Soon, he was in the hospital hallway. People’s eyes followed his straight back. Expectation, admiration, reverence, fear. The wristwatch on his arm rang noisily with a call. J put on his earpiece and pressed the answer button.
“This is J.”
—Ah, got through. One moment.
A gentle female voice was heard. It was Ham Seok-jeong, Director of the Awakened Management Bureau.
—A rift appeared in Mokpo. It’s a grade 4 rift, can you handle it? There are no hunters nearby capable of dealing with a grade 4 rift.
“Yes, sure. Am I going in alone?”
—It seems so. Jung Bin is involved in a suppression operation.
“Understood. Please prepare for immediate transport.”
—Alright, I’ll have a helicopter prepared at headquarters.
Ham Seok-jeong also seemed very busy, as the call ended quickly.
J swiftly moved out of the hospital. The world, still bearing the scars of the Day of the Rift, was eerily quiet. The laughter of children, their playful shouts, and the everyday conversations of people had long vanished.
In that silence, a voice, damaged and raspy from poison, echoed in J’s ears.
“Save… me…”
J stopped walking.
Within the rift, where everything had melted away into a horrifying mess from the poison, J searched for the faintest trace of life. Hoping that it wouldn’t disappear before he arrived, that it would hold on just a bit longer.
And finally, between the collapsed buildings, after tearing down an outer wall, he found a dying boy who had been embraced by two people melted by the poison. Despite his blurred and melted eyes, the boy managed to look at J. His small lips moved.
“Please save me.”
That sight reminded J of himself at 17, also desperately seeking help…
J had no choice but to grasp the boy’s hand.
For he alone understood the weight and responsibility held in that hand.
