The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low Chapter 8

“Even twins born a minute apart distinguish between older and younger!”

As Wijae, flushed with heat, huffed and snapped, a docile answer came from the gas mask.

“Yes, I understand. Hyung.”

Hyung? At the address that suddenly shortened their relation, Cha Wijae looked up at the gas mask with a dumbfounded expression.

“Hyung, all of a sudden?”

“If you don’t like it, will you tell me your name?”

“No.”

“Or should I call you Apron?”

“Not that either.”

“Hmm, how about Ladle?”

“You just melted my ladle a moment ago.”

When he answered no to every question, the gas mask spoke in a sulky voice that clearly wouldn’t fly.

“Won’t tell me your name. If you don’t like Apron or Ladle either, the only thing left is hyung.”

“No, just don’t call me anything.”

“I’ll call you hyung, then?”

“I said don’t.”

“Yes, hyung.”

The gas mask, pretending not to see Cha Wijae’s exasperated expression, smoothly settled the address like a snake slithering over a wall. Wijae’s plan to end the conversation had completely failed. A gut feeling told him that if he kept responding, he’d get swept up in this bastard’s pace.

He could fight back, but Wijae had many things to do. He had to find Haeun and finish preparing for the morning service before sunrise.

If the business went under today because of you, would you take responsibility? he thought about asking, but judging by this bastard’s look, it was clear that even if he didn’t smash the cutting board, that would be a blessing—let alone trim scallions. There was no way the gas mask would trim scallions, mince garlic, boil broth, drain meat of blood, and simmer it. The mask made his face hard to see, but still.

“Let’s stop dragging this out by nitpicking words. I’ve played along up to here.”

“I never did anything like that.”

“Your two questions are already over.”

“One was a lie, and you didn’t answer the other.”

“I told you I wasn’t lying. Just because you don’t believe me, why blame me? Besides, you never set a condition that I had to answer your questions. You did.”

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, nitpicking for nitpicking. Wijae decided to act as childishly as his opponent’s level. If the gas mask showed any sign of being flustered or baffled, he planned to go find Haeun right away.

But the gas mask was looking at Wijae as if this situation was more fun than anything. Just as he was about to bark back with “What are you looking at,” a phone vibrated. It was the gas mask’s phone. Keeping his gaze fixed on Wijae, he slowly answered.

“Hello.”

“…”

“…Ah, really? Come over here.”

“…”

The gas mask laughed, not hiding his good mood.

“Mhm, then I’ll send the guardian over there.”

“…”
“Keep them there. Don’t make the kid cry….”

After hanging up, the gas mask paused for a moment before speaking.

“They say they found hyung’s niece.”

“Where?”

“At the playground next to the church near here.”

It was close to the alley they were in now. If this bastard’s presence had been just a little less overwhelming, he could have taken Haeun without wasting time running into him like this. The gas mask continued.

“They said to bring her here… but the kid says she wants to stay there. Since the guardian is here, they can’t exactly force her to come….”

Right? The gas mask shrugged.

“Go ahead. Our people will be nearby.”

“Okay.”

Wijae had already half-turned his body toward the playground next to the church from the moment the gas mask mentioned it. Interrupting someone was rude, so he had only held back until he could move. Like a well-trained companion dog, he waited faithfully and turned around the moment the words ended.

Oh, right. After a few steps, Wijae glanced back at the gas mask.

“…Thanks.”

After offering the thanks he had almost forgotten, as he hurriedly tried to move on, the gas mask lightly caught him.

“Hyung.”

“What.”

“Lee Sayoung.”

“Who’s that?”

“My name.”

The eyes behind the gas mask narrowed.

“See you next time.”

No, let’s not see each other again. Thanks for finding Haeun, but I don’t want to run into a madman like you again. Wijae did not return the greeting and quickened his pace. As he reached the end of the alley, he glanced back, wondering if that bastard was following him.

Lee Sayoung was standing exactly where he had been. Not moving an inch.

“…”

And somehow, that sight stuck in Wijae’s mind.

∞ ∞ ∞

Lee Sayoung stood there until the young man’s back had completely disappeared. After waiting a little longer, when his presence had faded entirely, he finally moved.

The place he headed to was in front of the motionless corpse still sprawled on the ground. Without hesitation, Sayoung grabbed the hair of the corpse, whose body was covered in protruding spines, and lifted it up.

“Lately, the frequency of appearances has been increasing….”

Tssss… The hair began to burn from the point of contact, and the flesh started melting black. Before long, the corpse had vanished without a trace, leaving only a small black puddle in its place.

A black cat lightly leaped onto the narrow alley wall behind Sayoung. From the cat’s shadow, as it licked its front paw with its tongue, a round head popped out—a man wearing sunglasses.

“Guild Master.”

“Hm.”

Even at the sudden presence of someone appearing, Lee Sayoung did not flinch. As he bent down and ran his hand over the puddle, the black puddle—the last trace of the corpse—vanished cleanly, leaving only a shallow indentation. The man who had emerged from the shadow hugged the cat and spoke.

“Reporting in. The guardian just arrived at the playground and joined the child. I confirmed that the child hugged her happily, calling her uncle.”

“Any other notable details?”

“None. Just in case, shall I follow them?”

“Follow. Check where they go and report back immediately.”

“Understood.”

The man gently scratched the soft fur of the black cat with his hand and bowed his head to Sayoung.

“And a message from the Vice Guild Master. He asks if a meeting at 11 AM the day after tomorrow regarding the dungeon bidding matter would be fine.”

Sayoung nodded in acknowledgment.

“Yes, I’ll convey that.”

“Seo Mingi.”

After the business was concluded, Mingi, who had set the cat down on the ground, was about to slip back into the cat’s shadow when he paused and poked his head out.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Let’s find someone.”

“Please speak.”

“Dig through the Awakened database and compile a report on males aged 25 or older, around 180 cm tall, with an Awakened rank of B-class or above. Exclude anyone with a weird-looking face.”

“Huh? The Awakened database?”

Mingi pointed at himself with his thumb.

“Me?”

“Why, can’t you do it?”

The Awakened database. A database storing information on all Awakened individuals in the Republic of Korea, implemented in accordance with the Special Act on Awakened Persons that had been in effect for several years. Though directly managed by the Awakened Management Agency, its very existence was treated as a state secret, and most civilians were unaware of the database’s existence; its security was extremely thorough.

And he was asking him to break into that? Seo Mingi, Hunter name Ittybitty Miracle Mingicle, answered with a bewildered face.

“If you give me some time, I can crack it, but….”

“Then crack it.”

Sayoung’s attitude was as if it were no big deal. Just thinking about hacking into that heavily secured place made Mingi secretly shed tears over his own bleak future. Company life really wasn’t easy….

Mingicle nodded with drooping shoulders. But his tyrannical boss Sayoung did not stop giving orders.

“And that elementary schooler you just found—did you get her name?”

“Park Haeun, Saetbyeol Elementary School, Grade 2, Class 2.”

“Check her family relations.”

The instructions were getting more and more obscure. Asking too many questions might get him chewed out, but Mingicle decided to bravely ask anyway.

“Why the family relations…?”

“…”

Lee Sayoung slowly pulled on his black leather gloves and answered casually.

“I’ve taken a bit of an interest in the person called her uncle.”

∞ ∞ ∞

Grandmother and Haeun’s house was the first floor of an old residential building. After barely bringing Haeun home—who had been protesting to play more at the playground—and confirming that Grandmother was scolding her stubborn granddaughter, Wijae finally felt relieved. As he caught his breath, Grandmother handed him some barley tea and asked.

“Wijae, are you going to stay the night tonight?”

“Ah, no. I need to get back to the shop and prepare for tomorrow’s service.”

“The business—is it okay? I should come out and help too….”

“Yes. It’s fine, Grandmother. You know I’m strong. I can manage on my own. How have your legs been lately?”

“Legs? They’re almost all better.”

A lie. Wijae silently watched Grandmother’s back as she walked toward her sleeping granddaughter. You can pretend to be fine all you want, but unconsciously shifting your weight off a leg that hurts is something you cannot hide.

In the living room, Grandmother stroked the head of Haeun, who had fallen asleep under a blanket, and sighed.

“That girl of mine makes my heart pound over and over again. Why on earth would she crawl outside at night? She doesn’t know how dangerous the world is….”

“When she wakes up tomorrow, I’ll talk to her properly, so please don’t scold her too much.”

With a chuckle, Wijae set down his cup and casually turned his gaze to glance outside the window. Something had felt off for a while now. When he had headed to the playground to pick up Haeun, he had sensed no particular presence, so it seemed he had picked up a tail on the way home.

‘That bastard must have sent them.’

It figured he had let him go so easily. Wijae rose from his seat with a still-smiling face.

“Get some rest, Grandmother.”

“You’re leaving now?”

“Yes. But may I borrow the window for a moment?”

“What for?”

“Just something I need to do. I’ll call tomorrow to check in.”

Holding his shoes in both hands, Wijae headed toward the window on the opposite side of the front door.

<Silent Footsteps!>

Using a skill to conceal his presence, Wijae crouched low and slipped outside. After quietly closing the window, he roughly shoved on the shoes he had brought out and listened to the surroundings.

Two men watching the front door, two waiting in the alleyway. Since there was no unusual movement… it seemed his escape this way had gone unnoticed.

‘I could beat them all senseless, but… the cleanup would be a hassle.’

The fact that they had tailed him immediately suggested they were part of an organized group. There was no need to stir up trouble and make enemies of Lee Sayoung and his group.

‘Just… knock them out enough to lose consciousness.’

Wijae rubbed the back of his neck and let out a tired sigh. Every Hunter has a duty to protect civilians. So if those bastards had any sense at all, they probably wouldn’t touch Grandmother or Haeun.

But in extreme situations, laws and rules mean nothing, and beneath the worst lies an even worse. That was why Wijae always moved assuming the worst. This time was no different.

‘I need to warn them.’

After stretching to loosen his wrists, he vanished in an instant.