The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low Chapter 25

The frontrunner of the concept hunter era. The advertising model for CyC, a hunter-exclusive hair dye made from dungeon byproducts, and the Republic of Korea’s 5th-ranked hunter, Honeybee. She was flaunting her glossy bleached blonde hair in an old-fashioned hangover soup restaurant, fully devoted to fan service.

As Wijae, possessed by the persona of a civilian who had met a star hunter, responded with heartfelt enthusiasm, the other hunters who had been watching the scene also found themselves clapping along with him.

Honeybee dropped her menacing aura and bowed her head politely.

“Oh, you were my fan. I’m so sorry. I must have startled you by barging in suddenly, right?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“No, really. I’m truly sorry. I momentarily lost control of my temper….”

Though she faced Wijae, laughing heartily with an elegant smile clearly on her face, the hunters’ spooning was gradually speeding up. Amidst the clattering noise, a familiar voice squeezed through.

“Who the hell parked a motorcycle like this. Oof.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to the newly arrived figure. Bae Wonwoo was blinking, having lifted Honeybee’s motorcycle above his head. Honeybee was shocked.

“Crazy, put that down right now!”

“Honeybee? What are you doing here?”

“Put my baby down first, then talk.”

“This is your prized horse? If you’re going to park, do it properly. How can you block the door?”

Bae Wonwoo grumbled and gently set the motorcycle down to the side. Honeybee, who had been rubbing her brow and sighing in relief, snapped her head up.

“Hey, Shield Guy. Did you come alone? Where’s Lee Sayoung?”

Bae Wonwoo, who had become a ‘man among men, guy among guys’ due to an unfortunate hunter name choice, shuddered.

“Ah, I told you not to call me by my hunter name. Please, just use my real name.”

“Where’s Lee Sayoung? Didn’t he come with you?”

“Huh? Sayoung? I don’t know. Why are you looking for him?”

Bae Wonwoo asked with a bewildered expression. Instead of answering, Honeybee quickly scanned the surroundings. Since it wasn’t common to directly witness conversations among top-10 hunters, the other hunters had perked up their ears, eavesdropping. But when Honeybee cast a sharp glare around, they began to discreetly look away.

Just then, a thunderous growl echoed through the shop. Bae Wonwoo rubbed his stomach and muttered pitifully.

“I’m curious about your story too, but can we order first and then talk?”

“…Ha, fine. I should cool down a bit first too.”

Honeybee fanned herself. Just then, two hunters who had been inhaling their hangover soup threw 30,000 won on the counter and bolted out breathlessly. Bae Wonwoo deftly grabbed the dishcloth on the counter and waved it at Wijae.

“I’ll clean up and sit down. One hangover soup with lots of cheongyang peppers. Honeybee, what do you want?”

“What do they have here?”

“Hangover soup.”

“…Is that all?”

“Yeah. But it’s good.”

Bae Wonwoo flashed a healthy smile and gave a thumbs up. Honeybee rubbed her brow and shook her head, then replied as if resigned.

“Then I’ll have hangover soup too.”

“Great.”

Bae Wonwoo drew a V-sign toward Wijae. Wijae also made an OK sign with his hand and then put kimchi and radish kimchi into empty bowls. After diligently setting out spoons and even bringing water himself, Bae Wonwoo clapped his hands together.

“Now talk. Why are you looking for Sayoung? What did he do this time?”

Honeybee surveyed the surroundings once more, then gestured for Bae Wonwoo to come closer. He bent his head low and leaned in his ear. Honeybee cupped her hands and whispered.

“You know about that magic stone that appeared on Tomato Market, right?”

Of course, Wijae heard everything. Again with the magic stone. Every single person who came talked about magic stones—he was starting to get neurotic. Wijae lit the burner under the earthenware bowls. Bae Wonwoo also whispered back in a low voice.

“Yeah. I know.”

“I really, really need that magic stone, you know?”

“Huh? That much?”

“If I get that, Hong Yeseong will make a weapon for me. I desperately need an S-rank weapon.”

“Ah… right. Your old weapon broke, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. And besides, the system rankings are about to update soon. After I get Hong Yeseong the magic stone, commission my exclusive S-rank weapon, and beat Gyugyu at the ranking update. It’s a perfectly laid-out plan.”

Gyugyu was the ranker just above her. She too had visited this hangover soup restaurant with ambitions no different from anyone else’s. Wijae resolved that someday, when he met Hong Yeseong in person, he would definitely punch him once. For reference, Hong Yeseong had been posting one daily update about longing for a magic stone with in-hearts even these days.

Bae Wonwoo nodded with a skeptical look.

“Well, that part I can understand. But why are you looking for Lee Sayoung?”

“Because that crazy bastard blocked every possible angle where information could come out!”

Bang! Honeybee slammed her fist down. Fortunately, just before her hand struck the table, Bae Wonwoo nimbly extended his palm to catch the fist instead. Wijae, who had flinched at the bang and looked outside, confirmed that Bae Wonwoo had saved the table. Bae Wonwoo gave Wijae a thumbs up.

‘Holy shit, these days even tanks protect property.’

Wijae added one more bone with plenty of meat to Bae Wonwoo’s earthenware bowl.

Honeybee huffed and fumed, cooling her anger before asking.

“Did the table break?”

“No, I blocked it well.”

“Thanks. Anyway, up until a few days ago, information was circulating quietly, right?”

After that, Honeybee’s rambling words could be summarized as follows:

EZ, who had suddenly posted a magic stone on Tomato Market and then deleted it and bolted. If it had ended there, it would have been a mere incident, but when the best craftsman Hong Yeseong put up a commission request for equipment crafting as a bounty, things blew up into a mountain of trouble.

A commission request for Hong Yeseong’s equipment crafting! That’s a non-commercial item that can’t be bought even for tens of billions of won.

Hunters hoping for a windfall gathered like ants and began tracking EZ, and Honeybee, who had recently lost her precious weapon, also joined the pursuit anonymously, eyeing the commission request. They formed a tracking team, shared information, and pooled their efforts with great enthusiasm.

Honeybee tore at her golden hair.

“We enlarged and corrected that magic stone photo to see if anything was reflected, sent it for analysis to identify the phone model, cross-referenced the newspaper in the background to find out which one it was—we were tearing that single photo apart on a nano scale and tracking it through every possible route.”

‘…That far?’

Wijae, who had been listening quietly, broke into a cold sweat without realizing it. It was the first time he had found the dazzling advancement of technology so terrifying. And the hunters’ obsession was also frightening. Bae Wonwoo also looked somewhat fed up.

“…That far?”

He said exactly what Wijae had been thinking. Honeybee let out a cry of anguish and flopped onto the table. This time too, before her head could strike the table, Bae Wonwoo quickly reached out and caught her head. Not to protect her head, but to protect the table.

Wijae decided to give Bae Wonwoo a complimentary bowl of rice.

“But! A few days ago, all that talk suddenly died out completely. It wasn’t like they all went into a dungeon together! One by one, the tracking team went quiet too. So I asked around—if anything had happened lately.”

“Yeah.”

“Want to know what they said? They told me they were pulling out of this whole affair. Those people who had been so passionate!”

“Oh dear.”

“So I pressed them hard, asking what happened. And finally, what they let slip was that the Pado Guild’s legal team had contacted them. Told them to back off from tracking EZ.”

“What? Our guild?”

It seemed to be the first Bae Wonwoo had heard of it. Honeybee ran her fingers through her hair and muttered gloomily.

“I kept probing, but they only said that much and no more. Whether they were silenced or what…. But you wouldn’t do something like that, right? So that leaves only Lee Sayoung.”

“That… is true, but.”

“Lee Sayoung barely meets anyone anyway…. So I couldn’t even ask him.”

Wijae wanted to extract more information from their conversation, but if he waited any longer, the hangover soup broth would all boil away. Wijae loaded two steaming earthenware bowls, two complimentary rice bowls, kimchi and radish kimchi, and minced cheongyang peppers onto a tray and went out.

Just then, Honeybee had her head down, and Bae Wonwoo was staring blankly into space.

“No, what on earth does EZ have to do with our guild?”

At Bae Wonwoo’s dazed muttering, Wijae answered inwardly. It’s not about the guild—it’s more about Lee Sayoung…. To prevent Bae Wonwoo’s thoughts from going any further, Wijae quickly set down the hangover soup.

“Hangover soup is served.”

“Ah! Thank you. …Huh? We didn’t order rice bowls.”

Bae Wonwoo looked at Wijae with the same dazed expression. Wijae tucked the tray under his arm and replied casually.

“It’s on the house.”

Amazement, gratitude, and such things welled up in his dazed face. Honeybee, who had been buried in her head and groaning, also quickly lifted her gaze. Wijae coolly turned and returned to the kitchen.

After serving the soup, only low murmurs could be heard now. Getting information and restoring peace with one small complimentary service. How easy. Wijae finished the pile of dishes and also handled Bae Wonwoo and Honeybee’s additional orders skillfully.

A moment later, Bae Wonwoo waved at the counter.

“Part-timer! Check please!”

“Coming. That’ll be 9,000 won.”

After finishing the payment and returning the card, Honeybee abruptly extended something rolled up.

“What… is this?”

“Unroll it.”

Wijae carefully unfurled the paper to avoid creasing it. It was a poster of Honeybee. A signed poster with a large autograph in one corner. For her fans, it would be the ultimate merchandise. However, Wijae’s expression shifted subtly for a moment.

‘Why is she giving me this?’

And where on earth did she suddenly get this poster? She definitely didn’t have it when she made that grand, flashy entrance. She cleared her throat, looking rather pleased.

“I saw earlier that everyone had signed things on the wall, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“It’s a gift. Put mine up too.”

Wijae almost stared at Honeybee with a reluctant expression, but realizing he wasn’t currently using his poker face, he had no choice but to smile broadly.