The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low Chapter 29

What kind of reaction would people normally have upon hearing that someone who died eight years ago was actually alive? People were still divided in their opinions about J’s life and death.

Title: [Anonymous] If J is alive

Shouldn’t we send a rescue team to the West Sea Rift?

He might be alive but unable to move.

Like if his legs were severed…

Comments (99+)

—Are there really no other survivors?

　└I compared the names on the memorial monument with the rankings, and only J’s name appeared new. Looks like only J survived.

—Do you know what the inside of the Rift is like to send a rescue team? Don’t you know how many hunters died there?

　└So we should just leave a person abandoned inside the Rift?

　└Ha.. So these bastards are going in to save him lol. Humanity is at rock bottom, really.

　└Wait, don’t you remember when the West Sea Rift was expanding like crazy? If that thing opens again, the country could really be ruined.

　└Is it the same as back then? The difference in power is enormous lololol. This isn’t the era where the whole nation’s lives depended on J alone.

　└Does it make sense to throw all that power into saving just one J??

—Yeah~ Besides, you can’t even open a closed Rift in the first place. Gg.

Naturally, people didn’t believe it at first. Even among hunters, the majority opinion was that it was just a temporary error and would soon be fixed. However, Channel 1, where J’s presence had been directly confirmed, waited with bated breath for an official announcement from the Awakened Management Agency.

—Yeah, bullshit~

—Sigh, why would you lie about something like this

—Even if there’s an error, what kind of error is this lol

—Even the system glitches sometimes

:

:

—Why aren’t they fixing the error?

—Could it be…?

It didn’t take long for a hesitant question mark to appear after people’s “Could it be…” A few days passed, and the rankings remained unchanged. People grew flustered.

Soon, all sorts of media outlets began spreading groundless rumors, and as those rumors became accepted as fact, the Awakened Management Agency hurriedly stepped in to manage the confusion. The press conference was at 3 PM, so Wijae put up a break-time sign and was able to watch it alone in quiet.

When the time came, a woman appeared on screen—neat short hair, immaculate suit, holding a cane. Apart from her poor complexion, she looked much like Wijae remembered her. It was Ham Seokjeong, the director of the Awakened Management Agency, who had refrained from public activities due to health reasons.

After a brief greeting, she spoke firmly.

“This ranking is not a system error.”

She paused to catch her breath and continued.

“It is not a duplicate hunter name either. Someone else did not take J’s name. …It’s hard to believe, but according to our internal investigation, J is currently alive.”

The murmur and flash of cameras grew more intense. Reporters raised their hands one after another.

“How can you be so certain?”

Are there no other survivors besides J?

Eight years ago, the Awakened Management Agency confirmed the deaths of the hunters who entered the West Sea Rift—why has that suddenly changed?

If J is alive, where is he now?

Despite the barrage of questions, Ham Seokjeong’s expression remained unchanged. She raised her palm briefly to call for attention and answered in a calm voice.

“We are planning to form an investigation team for a clearer assessment. We would appreciate your patience.”

Ham Seokjeong and the Awakened Management Agency hunters bowed.

Looking at Ham Seokjeong’s face, Wijae realized anew that eight years had passed. In J’s memories, she had been young and passionate, and she hadn’t walked with a cane or limped. When had she injured her leg?

And she…

‘How can she be so certain?’

Today’s press conference from the Awakened Management Agency contradicted what they themselves had announced in the past. Given the intense scrutiny, they wouldn’t have made such an announcement based solely on the fact that J had entered Channel 1.

Ham Seokjeong was that kind of person. Cautious and unshakeable—she moved only when there was irrefutable evidence and a clear justification. Wijae stared at Ham Seokjeong, still bowing her head, for a long while before turning off the TV.

After the Awakened Management Agency’s press conference, talk of J was everywhere in the Republic of Korea. The previous special 「110-Minute Debate」 was nothing in comparison.

Daily breaking news and broadcasts were all about the West Sea Rift and J, and opinions were sharply divided on whether he should be rescued.

‘They fight over everything, really.’

Whenever someone asked Wijae what he thought about J’s resurrection and rescue, he deflected with his civilian meta—which had practically become a passive skill by now—saying things like “Haha, I don’t really know much about it.”

But all his desperate attempts to flee from this topic ultimately failed, and the reason was…

「The world is shocked by J’s amazing abilities, Japan is outraged, and Americans are going crazy wanting to see J!」

J had even conquered YouTube’s trending videos.

∞ ∞ ∞

The conversation topics among the regular hunters at the hangover soup restaurant changed every time, but the hot topic these days was, of course, ‘J.’

Hunters ignored the tables and slurped their hangover soup while debating everything from J’s survival to the state of the Rift. Since all the debate participants were active hunters, a wide range of opinions emerged.

“Isn’t it a system error? That seems the most likely.”

“But the Administration Bureau said no at the press conference. They said J is alive.”

“So how can they be so sure? Did they have a direct conversation with the system or something?”

“I don’t know. But seeing Ham Seokjeong hold a press conference herself, it seems like they’re pretty certain.”

“Anyway, there’s something shady about them too.”

“How can you say that, Mister… while sitting right in front of Jeongbin’s signature?”

“Holy shit, when did this signature get put up?”

The most common but least credible theory was the system error theory.

The rankings refresh once a year, but deceased hunters are typically removed from the list immediately upon death.

When communication is lost inside a Rift, the presence or absence of a name on the rankings is used to confirm life or death, so its accuracy was considered guaranteed. Thus, people would doubt the system but soon set that thought aside.

Just then, a new hunter with flashy knife skills chopping peppers offered an opinion.

“Or maybe he died and was resurrected recently?”

“Is there an item that resurrects the dead?”

“The world is like this, so there might be one.”

“Maybe some healer brought him back…”

“Even Nam Woojin can’t resurrect the dead.”

“Or maybe J had the one and only resurrection item in the world, and the cooldown was eight years.”

“That actually sounds plausible.”

‘What’s plausible about that.’

The post-death resurrection theory that made Wijae’s blood boil every time he heard it.

Logically, it was all nonsense that should have been dismissed, but J’s return was the very embodiment of confusion. Naturally, not only at the hangover soup restaurant but also on HunterNet’s anonymous boards, various hypotheses emerged….

—I’d rather believe the theory that a necromancer brought him back lololol

　└Who’s a famous necromancer? Find out quickly

　└Necromancers are strictly forbidden from resurrecting humans, so they absolutely won’t do it ㅠㅠ

The theory of J’s illegal resurrection by a necromancer, or—

—Actually, he spent 8 years fighting in another dimension and just returned, for real. Returned warrior J.

　└You seem to have read way too much portal fantasy…

　└Dude; don’t you know that after the Day of the Rift, portal fantasy became non-fiction?

Absurd stories like the returnee theory were overflowing, but of course, no one got the right answer. The premise itself was flawed from the start. J had never died.

And those debating the ‘how’ eventually realized that unless J spoke up himself, no answer would come, so they moved on to another stage.

J is alive. Then where?

J was last seen at the West Sea Rift. He clearly hadn’t escaped from there, and people had believed that J closed the Rift and died inside it. But what they had believed for eight years might not have been the truth.

∞ ∞ ∞

In the dead of night, when everyone was asleep.

Wijae suddenly opened his eyes. In the silence where even the sound of breathing was inaudible, he lay still and held his breath. The tiny room he lay in was completely quiet, but instinctively, he could tell.

‘There’s an intruder outside this room.’

There was no way a customer would come at this hour. No matter how much they craved hangover soup, they wouldn’t break through the locked door to get in.

The only things he could use as weapons were in the kitchen; all he had was a sturdy body. As slowly and quietly as possible, Wijae raised his upper body and clenched and unclenched his hands a couple of times. Fortunately, he was skilled at fighting bare-handed.

‘I don’t know which bastard it is…’

He felt like tearing off their limbs, but the aftermath would be a hassle. Just breaking a few bones would be enough to extract information and then report them.

Eliminating his presence, Wijae opened the door to his tiny room and stepped barefoot onto the floor. After emerging past the wall of stacked boxes, the familiar hall came into view. In the dim shop, where the streetlight faintly shone through the glass, the gas mask was sitting there.