The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low Chapter 5

Black hair and a white scarf. The one and only mask that couldn’t be unrecognizable even if one tried.

‘Isn’t this a portrait rights infringement?’

This was clearly a character drawn to look like Hunter J, Cha Wijae himself. Should this be called portrait rights infringement, or mask copyright infringement? Isn’t this too much, using me freely like this when I’m supposedly dead?

Actually, J hadn’t only appeared in this book. Whether everyone thought it was fine to use him since J was dead, or whether it was because he was convenient to insert when explaining the era after the Day of the Rift, J was a figure who frequently appeared in all kinds of media, second only to Jeongbin.

When he appeared on broadcasts and such, he hadn’t really thought much about it, but seeing himself printed in something like this felt oddly uncomfortable. Maybe he should have set up a foundation with royalties as a commemoration of his S-rank awakening. The unsettled Wijae smacked his lips and gestured to Haeun to head to the checkout counter.

“That’ll be thirty thousand won.”

‘That’s the price of two bowls of hangover soup.’

Wijae, who had calmly taken cash from his wallet and paid, left the bookstore holding a book in one hand and Haeun’s hand in the other.

After the Day of the Rift, prices had skyrocketed. The hangover soup sold at the grandmother’s old shop used to be seven thousand won, but due to rising ingredient costs, the price had gone up to fifteen thousand won, and even that was very cheap compared to nearby prices. Maybe that’s why hunters flocked here so much… Rich bastards.

“Uncle.”

“Yes?”

At the sudden call, Wijae’s thoughts stopped. Haeun pointed with her finger at Wijae’s other hand.

“I’ll carry the book.”

A single book wasn’t something a child couldn’t carry, so he willingly held it out. Haeun let go of her uncle’s hand she had been holding and cradled the book carefully in both arms. She seemed excited from buying something she wanted.

“Where are we going now?”

“Where do you mean, going? I’m taking you home, then I’m going to the shop to prepare for the evening business.”

“Hmph. Boring.”

When he answered without a moment’s hesitation, Haeun pouted her lips. She seemed to want to go to the shop together, but Wijae shrugged as if there was nothing he could do.

“I can’t in the evening because there’s a lot to prepare. I’ll buy you ice cream, so go eat it with Grandmother.”

“…Okay.”

He lightly patted the round back of her head as she reluctantly nodded, and they walked side by side. Regardless of this and that, Haeun, who stuck close to him as they walked, was somehow cute, so Wijae placed his hand on her small shoulder.

∞ ∞ ∞

Cha Wijae, a hangover soup restaurant part-timer rather than Hunter J, had to boil a bowl of hangover soup for hunters again today. The daily routine of the hangover soup restaurant was as follows.

6 AM, open the shop. Then hunters who had been drinking through the 5th round all night come to the hangover soup restaurant for the 6th round, or hunters soaked in overtime work, limp and sagging, cling to the door like barnacles before hurriedly entering and taking seats. The customers at this time were mostly literally zombies. Even their orders were like,

“Uwaae.”

“Yes. Two hangover soups.”

They would say things like this… Wijae even thought he should make zombie simultaneous interpretation his third job.

Once the zombies who finished their meals crawled out unsteadily, more or less normal customers come after that. Most were people coming for breakfast before work, and though they each carried their own exhaustion, these were still relatively decent.

And lunchtime, from 11:30 to 2. The time when the shop’s turnover was best. The customers who came at this time were, of course, nine out of ten hunters, who rushed in like the tide and slipped out like the ebb.

At this time, there were occasionally hunters who, upon receiving an emergency call, would jump up mid-meal and dash out. Whenever that happened, the surrounding hunters would all gaze at their retreating backs with sorrow in unison. The tragic hunter who had to leave behind a rabbit-like hangover soup might be themselves tomorrow…

Once the storm-like lunchtime ended, Wijae would hang the sign saying “Ingredient Preparation Time” on the door like clockwork. Break time was essential for doing business with hunters who had big appetites. During this time, he would go pick up Haeun from school, or finish the piled-up dishes, prepare ingredients, and get ready for the evening business.

Lastly, evening time from 5 to 10. Lunchtime is hectic too, but actually the hangover soup restaurant runs much busier in the evening. Nothing was greatly different from the earlier time slots, but dealing with hunters whining for just one more bottle of soju was not ordinarily annoying.

Watching them hide empty bottles to drink even one more bottle made sighs come naturally. How were their repertoires all so identical—their methods amounted to nothing but putting them in their inventory. They wouldn’t even feel drunk unless it was alcohol exclusively for awakened individuals, so what was the psychology behind deliberately ordering soju? Wijae couldn’t understand it at all.

“Phew…”

And now, 10:20 PM. After chasing out the last customer who was dawdling and refusing to leave by swinging a stainless steel ladle, the shop returned to being a quiet old establishment as if it had never been bustling. Wijae, who had been clearing tables, straightened his back for a moment and let out a long sigh. He had lived today diligently again…

After finishing wiping tables, sweeping the floor, and doing the dishes, he brought the whole garlic basket from the corner of the kitchen and sat down at the table right next to the counter. Since he mainly stayed in the single room that doubled as a storage room attached to the hangover soup restaurant, closing and opening preparations naturally became his responsibility.

Rustle, rustle. Wijae, skillfully peeling garlic, suddenly thought.

‘Living like this isn’t bad either.’

No need to be dragged around by calls from the management agency, no need to wrestle with monsters, just sitting still peeling garlic. There was no luxury like this. Maybe this is the life I’ve been hoping for…

Wijae, who had been living a relatively peaceful daily life like this, had a recent worry: the grandmother’s leg health. Her mobility had noticeably worsened over the past month, so these days Wijae was handling most of the shop work. They should go to the hospital for an examination, but what if she needs surgery?

Wijae let out a heavy sigh. The hangover soup restaurant business was so busy that even taking a single day off wasn’t easy, and preparing surgery costs was an even bigger problem. J may have lived abundantly without money worries, but Cha Wijae is not.

He furrowed his brow and peeled garlic skins while lost in thought.

‘If it really comes down to it, I’ll secretly run dungeons… and sell something.’

Dungeon byproducts mostly fetched decent prices, so it might help with the surgery costs. Just as Wijae was pondering in his head where and how to get through, Ring—unusually, the counter phone rang at this hour. Wijae put the receiver to his ear and continued peeling garlic.

“Yes, this is the hangover soup restaurant.”

Sometimes calls came asking if delivery was possible to the shop, so as always, he intended to answer that they were closed now and that they didn’t do delivery anyway, then hang up. But the unexpected voice that followed made Wijae’s fingers pause.

—What’s going on, Wijae…

“Grandmother?”

It was the grandmother. The end of her voice was trembling slightly, and the atmosphere was unusual. Wijae held his breath and waited for the next words. After a moment, the grandmother’s voice flowed through the receiver.

—Haeun has disappeared.

“What? Haeun is missing?”

Wijae was flustered and quickly adjusted his grip on the receiver. The grandmother continued urgently, as if finding it hard to calm down.

—Haeun went somewhere and isn’t here, what do I do. I don’t know when she went out without me or anyone noticing. The world is so scary these days, and she went out alone…

Wijae glanced at the clock. 10:20 PM. It was too late for an elementary school lower-grade child to be wandering alone. A bad thought of “surely not” suddenly popped into his head too, but he deliberately erased it.

“I’ll contact the police first. And I’ll go out and search too, so please rest for now. Nothing bad will happen.”

Wijae deliberately spoke brightly after putting down the knife and garlic. The grandmother asked worriedly.

—Oh dear, child… Are you sure it’s really okay?

“I’m telling you it’s fine. Don’t worry too much.”

—Be careful. Haeun, that girl, probably couldn’t have gone far, right? Wijae, you also don’t stay out too late and hurry back, be careful. Understood?

“Yes. I’ll contact you in a bit.”

After hanging up, the image of Haeun happy from buying the book came to mind. Wijae’s face as he prepared to go out was stiff, unlike his voice from earlier. Saying nothing bad would happen was also to reassure himself.

Wijae, who had grabbed a mask and put it on, strode out the door and outside the shop. Then he locked the door and hung a red “Business Closed” sign. The night air was quite cold.