The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low Chapter 20

‘Why is my ear so itchy.’

Standing in front of the gas stove boiling hangover soup, Wijae rubbed his ear roughly with an uneasy feeling.

At lunch today, for some reason, the Pado Guild members led by Bae Wonwoo and Lee Sayoung hadn’t come, so the hangover soup restaurant was bustling as before. Bright smiles had returned to the Hunters’ faces for the first time in a while. Wijae too was having a relatively peaceful day, having forgotten the painful failure of Tomato Market. However…

“Did you see the post on Hunter-net yesterday?”

Starting with a young Hunter whispering quietly, the inside of the shop grew murmurous.

“Yeah, there was a crazy bastard who posted an A+ grade magic stone for eighty million on Tomato Market, right? The guilds went nuts.”

The word “crazy bastard” struck Wijae’s ear hard.

‘Crazy bastard, huh.’

Wijae made an uncomfortable expression, but another Hunter, with no way of knowing that, skillfully separated the meat from the bone and replied.

“Isn’t it a fishing post? He might have posted a photo ripped from the internet.”

“Hey, Hong Yeseong even put up a bounty saying he’d make a weapon for free for whoever finds that magic stone.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Look at Hong Yeseong’s Inhart.”

“Oh my, fuck. It’s real. Hey, we have to find it no matter what.”

The hand holding the tongs to slightly move the ttukbaegi’s position paused. Even he, who had been living while tuning out the Hunter world recently, knew the three characters of Hong Yeseong’s name and the fact that he was an S-rank craftsman from overhearing. Most of the Hunters who came to the hangover soup restaurant wanted to buy Hong Yeseong’s equipment.

But that Hong Yeseong put up a bounty? …Why?

Before Wijae could even sort out his confused mind, the Hunters’ conversation continued.

“Ah damn, I should have bought that. Just buying it at eighty million and reselling it would be a profit of billions, seriously?”

“I installed Tomato Market the moment I saw that post.”

“Me too.”

“I really wish EZ would post just one more listing.”

“But apparently that person deleted the post and withdrew.”

“Are you messing with people? Giving and taking away, seriously. Tell them to re-sign up right now.”

“I’m going to Noryangjin Fish Market today to put in a request with Mackerel.”

“Do you think Mackerel can find it?”

“If he can’t find it, he should give up his spot as Korea’s top information broker.”

[Trait Poker Face (B) is activated.]

Now it had reached the point where the trait activated on its own on behalf of his overloaded brain. Wijae sprinkled a handful of green onion into the furiously boiling ttukbaegi with a calm face. But inside his head was still spinning. That magic stone… was worth billions?

‘Back in the day, we played gonggi with magic stones because they were useless!’

Of course, that was something only J could do, but Cha Wijae didn’t need to know that.

“But who really is the person who posted that?”

“Looking at the price they listed it at, isn’t it just an ordinary person who picked up a magic stone on the street?”

“Fuck, if you could pick up an A+ grade magic stone on the street, I’d quit being a Hunter and walk 100,000 steps a day.”

“Agreed.”

My magic stone… was higher grade than I thought? Wijae, eavesdropping on the Hunters’ conversation, realized one fact he had been overlooking.

That J’s possessions were precious things that ordinary Hunters couldn’t even dream of seeing.

Eight years. In that time—just two years short of a complete transformation—the world underwent another upheaval different from the Day of the Rift. One of the greatly changed things was the value of magic stones, which was almost like trash turning into gold. Back then, the uses of magic stones could be summed up in exactly two.

First, collectors’ items for the rich.

Second, spoils of war for Hunters.

In the past, magic stones were truly things only those who bought them bought, but now good magic stones were priceless.

The biggest reason was the research results showing that, unlike conventional energy sources like coal and oil, magic stones could extract energy efficiently without environmental destruction. F-rank magic stones that would have been tossed aside inside gates back in the day now cost at least a hundred thousand won each.

Actually, even during his days as J, Wijae had never personally traded dungeon byproducts. Since he was hiding his identity, all trades of items from dungeons were handled by his aunt, and since there was no Hunter Market or craftsmen back then, buying equipment with money itself was rare.

With such a history, there was no way he’d properly know magic stone market prices.

The government paid Hunters monetary compensation each time they entered Rifts and dungeons, but J didn’t make any particular transactions with the money he received. Occasionally he’d buy potions, but that was less for his own use and more to use on survivors who needed emergency treatment inside the Rift.

And today, these traces of his had become a giant snowball rolling fiercely toward Wijae.

‘Just because I posted one item wrong, the rumor spreads this much?’

Wijae was genuinely dumbfounded. He sincerely wished everyone would stop now for the sake of his quiet life, but the Hunter community was stickier than he thought, news traveled very fast, and it moved very organically. And the hangover soup restaurant was also a very good space for collecting and spreading information.

“Tomato Market….”

“How much….”

“Magic stone….”

“The hangover soup is fucking delicious….”

“In this neighborhood….”

“Just what kind of crazy bastard….”

“A power-hiding Hunter….”

“Make the hangover soup restaurant a Michelin….”

The rumors about the unidentified magic stone were still ongoing. Though some unrelated things were mixed in here and there.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Uncle, your face looks weird.”

“My face? Why?”

“Kind of… like this.”

Haeun pushed her own chin up with both hands. Was she saying his chin had gotten sharper? Wijae rubbed his jawbone for no reason and smiled.

“I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I’m fine.”

“You never sleep anyway, Uncle.”

“That’s why I’m saying it’s the same as usual. I’m just a little tired. What do you need to prepare for tomorrow, Haeun?”

“Tomorrow’s supplies… cardboard and clay.”

“Must have an art class.”

“Yeah, I’m going to make pottery with clay too. Like Hong Yeseong.”

Fuck. At the sudden appearance of those three characters, Wijae nearly bit his tongue for a moment.

After hearing that Hong Yeseong had put a bounty on the magic stone, Wijae had installed Inhartgram for the first time and followed Hong Yeseong’s account. He figured it would be easier to deal with things if he at least knew what this crazy bastard—a different kind of crazy from Lee Sayoung—was doing.

Hong Yeseong didn’t usually post often, but since the magic stone incident, he had been posting at least once a day without fail. And today, along with a photo of a single egg sitting alone in a nest in a chicken coop, he had written this.

xxYeahsungH A golden round magic stone… #DailyLife #Communication #Egg #MagicStone #IMissYou #ILongForYou #IWaitForYou

Likes 532k

Honeybeezx Shouldn’t this bastard be sent to counseling? I think he’s been hit by some kind of mental contamination skill jungVin80 SEOWON_GUILD

Wijae strongly agreed with Honeybee’s opinion. In his eyes too, Hong Yeseong looked like someone not in his right mind. These days, he couldn’t figure out how Hunters’ brain structures were made.

Wijae placed an apple carved into a rabbit shape in front of Haeun, then gathered two bundles of green onion and a cutting board and sat at the next table. Wijae, who felt guilty about not being able to visit the grandmother recently because the shop was busy, subtly asked Haeun.

“How’s Grandma’s leg?”

“Hmm, she limps.”

“I see…. I should take her to the hospital sometime.”

“Does Grandma need surgery?”

“That’s something we’ll have to ask the doctor.”

“…I hope she doesn’t need surgery.”

Haeun propped her chin and groaned, ugh. Wijae also felt like groaning, but he chopped green onions instead.

∞ ∞ ∞

Even after the Tomato magic stone incident had somewhat wrapped up, the hangover soup restaurant was abuzz with magic stone talk for a while. Just when it seemed to be settling down, Hong Yeseong threw firewood into the Inhart fire, and threw, and threw again.

The influence of the only S-rank craftsman was very powerful. If Lee Sayoung caused a typhoon at the hangover soup restaurant, Hong Yeseong was causing an earthquake all the way from Jirisan to this place. And the aftershocks of that earthquake spread far…

And ended up summoning another S-rank to the hangover soup restaurant.

“The atmosphere here is nice.”

A somewhat familiar voice. A tone also heard in the public service advertisement that aired after today’s morning drama.

Wijae deliberately turned his head more slowly than usual. It was close to instinctive reality avoidance. But reality avoidance only sent Wijae’s mind somewhere else for about three seconds and brought it back—it couldn’t make the neat man standing at the door disappear entirely.

A tall height, wheat-colored hair, slightly drooping eye corners, a clean suit and a civil servant ID hanging from his neck. The man always wearing a gentle smile was indeed ‘that’ Jeongbin, who had swept through South Korea’s public service advertisements.

Why is that person… here?

For a moment, Wijae even doubted whether he himself had reported Lee Sayoung to the Awakened Management Agency. When Jeongbin’s eyes met Wijae’s, he politely bowed his head.

“Hello.”

“…Welcome. Are you alone?”

It’s okay. Jeongbin doesn’t know Cha Wijae. He’s someone who only knows J wearing a mask. Wijae comforted himself and rose from his seat.

[Trait Poker Face (B) is activated.]

“Yes, I’m alone.”

“Please sit here. You can look at the menu on the wall and order.”

Jeongbin obediently sat in the seat Wijae indicated and looked at the menu board on the wall. Only then did the Hunters sitting nearby begin to murmur.

“Fuck….”

“I-it’s Jeongbin.”

“Who did something to get arrested? Which one is it? Hurry up and turn yourself in.”

“Ah, I’m not here on official business today. I came to eat dinner. I was on a business trip nearby.”

Jeongbin waved his hand with a gentle laugh. But the Hunters who had suddenly ended up sitting near him were already burying their heads in their ttukbaegi pots and gulping down their hangover soup like water.

Somehow familiar behaviors. Even outside the sliding door, a presence peeking into the shop could be felt. At this point, Wijae could clearly see the future. Soon a Jeongbin ZONE would form here, following the Lee Sayoung ZONE.

In other words, today’s business was also over.

Not satisfied with guild-affiliated Hunters, now a civil servant Hunter was obstructing business—where should I report this? Wijae felt like grabbing someone and pouring out his grievances, wondering why these trials kept finding their way to the once-peaceful hangover soup restaurant.

“…”

But before he even had time to feel wronged, a second uninvited guest was rushing into the shop one after another.

Footsteps so quiet you could barely hear them if you focused. A presence suppressed, yet a flame-like energy felt by Wijae. A black shape gradually approaching the shop.

All the circumstances pointed to just one person.