The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 140

“…Hyung?”

Sayoung stood frozen, as if nailed to the spot. His mind went blank, and he couldn’t breathe. Uijae was crouched on the ground, staring at the bones scattered across the ground.

“That can’t be…”

His voice was weak, empty, as if his spirit had left him. It was a voice Sayoung had never heard before—so different, he almost couldn’t believe it was Uijae speaking.

After a moment, Uijae staggered to his feet, his palms and knees covered in white smudges from the ash. His expression remained blank, but tears kept streaming down his face.

Uijae was crying.

His trembling voice cut through the silence.

“Wait a second, if all this is bone…”

Yun Gaeul walked toward a small mound, brushing off the ash to reveal what looked like ribs. She gasped softly. Her anxious gaze landed on Uijae.

“Here… Could this all be…”

“……”

Sayoung glanced back at Uijae’s retreating form. He was stumbling, heading toward something, but the way he moved was eerily familiar.

The ground here was uneven, with small hills rising all around. If, as Gaeul had suggested, all of it was made of bones… and if Uijae was acting like he recognized this place… then this world, which resembled the West Sea Rift… could this be tied to the sole survivor of the Rift?

Cha Uijae.

Sayoung gestured urgently at Gaeul.

“Follow me!”

“Huh? Oh, okay!”

Sayoung took off running, chasing after Uijae’s rapidly shrinking figure. He couldn’t let Uijae be left alone. Something inside him screamed that it would be dangerous to let him go any further on his own. As the distance closed, a mounting sense of dread surged within Sayoung. When Uijae came into view, standing at the base of the largest hill they had seen yet, Sayoung found himself instinctively stopping.

The hill was unlike anything else around—it was wrapped in long, twisting bones. At the very top, a massive skull loomed, its jaw wide open.

Uijae was staring up at the hill, his face pale and expressionless, tears still flowing. He murmured quietly.

“I… I was too late.”

“No, you weren’t.”

Sayoung instinctively denied it. But Uijae wasn’t listening.

“No… There were already so many bones here…”

His muttering continued, barely audible.

“I killed the basilisk, but when I tried to gather the bodies of my comrades… they were all mixed in with the monsters. I couldn’t find them all. The bodies were too torn apart.”

Sayoung had seen it before too. Bones scattered across the ground, soaked in red blood, a chaotic mixture of monsters and humans, all jumbled together. And in the middle of it all, someone sitting hunched over, muttering to himself, drenched in blood, with a few human limbs scattered around him.

Cha Uijae.

…Me?

Sayoung frowned and clutched his head. It felt like his skull was splitting open. The image of a bone-filled sea, covered in white ash, flickered before his eyes, overlapping with the memory of a blood-drenched battlefield.

He had never seen this before.

But he had seen it.

Sayoung hunched over, holding his head, feeling like he was going to be sick.

“Ugh…”

“Are you okay?”

Meanwhile, Uijae had taken another step forward. His ash-covered hand pressed against the base of the hill, wiping away a patch of ash to reveal what lay underneath.

It was all bones.

“They were all mixed together… I couldn’t tell them apart.”

“J! Hold on a second…”

“I… I tried to do something, but in the end… I couldn’t save anyone.”

Uijae knelt before the hill, his trembling hands brushing more ash away to reveal a jumble of human and non-human bones. Clear tears fell onto the bones below. His voice, small and broken, slipped out from his hunched figure.

“I was too late… and now… they’re all like this…”

No, that’s not true.

“All of them…”

That’s not true!

“It’s all my fault…”

“Cha Uijae!”

His name rang in Uijae’s ears like a clap of thunder. He snapped his head up and looked at the person who had called him. Sayoung, gripping his head, was glaring at him with eyes glowing fiercely with a violet light. In the sea of white around them, they were the only color.

“Don’t say something so stupid.”

“What?”

Sayoung motioned toward Gaeul, who was standing off to the side, looking anxious.

“Yun Gaeul. Go search for anything unusual. This seems like the place where the West Sea Rift connects.”

“Oh… okay! I’ll call out if I find anything.”

Gaeul nodded, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again, the golden glow returning. She glanced back at Uijae one last time before running off. Her eyes were resolute, as if she believed everything would be alright.

The light tap of her footsteps quickly faded into the distance. Uijae stared blankly at Sayoung. Without hesitation, Sayoung knelt down in front of Uijae, his large hands gently cupping his face and ears. The cries that had echoed in Uijae’s mind melted under the warmth of Sayoung’s touch. Sayoung’s lips moved silently.

Stop thinking.

“But…”

You did your best, Hyung.

“The people… they’re all…”

Look at me, Cha Uijae.

Their eyes met. Uijae’s reflection was clear in Sayoung’s violet eyes. A thumb stained with ash gently wiped away the tears from his eyes. They were wet. It was only then that Uijae realized—he had been crying. Sayoung’s face drew closer, his soft hair brushing against Uijae’s forehead. Their foreheads touched gently, the warmth of Sayoung’s skin spreading through him. Sayoung’s lips moved softly.

You’re here.

The only person who can tell you that you saved someone is the person standing right in front of you.

It’s going to be okay.

Uijae swallowed the sob rising in his throat. As their foreheads separated, a soothing wave of warmth washed over him. This was what he had longed for. Uijae wrapped his arms around Sayoung’s neck and buried his face in his shoulder. A small cry escaped his lips.

Sayoung’s large hand gently stroked his back.

Sniffling, Uijae blinked his swollen eyes. As he did, a hand reached out and gently covered his face. Uijae mumbled softly.

“I’m alright now.”

“Are you?”

“I mean it. I’ve calmed down.”

“And you think I’m doing this just because I want to?”

“……”

Uijae fell silent. A soft chuckle tickled his ear. Just then, the sound of footsteps returned, along with Gaeul’s disappointed voice.

“I’m sorry. I looked everywhere, but I couldn’t find anything. It’s all just…”

Her words trailed off, but Uijae knew what she meant. It was all just ash and bones. Gaeul coughed lightly, and Uijae noticed that her neck was slick with cold sweat, her complexion pale. He asked gently.

“Gaeul, are you feeling alright? Are you sick?”

“Oh, no… I just feel a little nauseous. But I can handle it.”

Yun Gaeul didn’t have much time. She had been the first one brought here, wandering alone for who knows how long, and her soul had been separated from her body for the longest.

“……”

“…We need to get out of here quickly.”

“But…”

Gaeul stared at the ground, her words trailing off. Sayoung, sitting beside her, asked Uijae.

“Hyung, do you remember the last thing you killed here?”

“The last thing I killed?”

“Even if this place is connected to the ruined world, it’s still technically a rift. At that moment, it would have followed the system’s rules. That means there should be a master of the rift. To escape, we’ll need the rift stone, and to get it, we’ll have to kill the rift master.”

The closed rift would open. Uijae removed the hand covering his eyes and responded.

“Oh, that…”

He glanced up at the hill. Even though a long time had passed and only the bones remained, the massive skeleton wrapped around the hill was unmistakable.

It was the basilisk.

Sayoung narrowed his eyes as they both looked up at it. Uijae answered briefly.

“I drove a sword into its head.”

“Did you? Well, then we’ll just have to do it again.”

“What? But it’s already dead.”

“Well, we’ve got to try something. We need to get out of here. What kind of sword was it? Any old sword?”

“No… I still have it.”

Uijae pulled the Basilisk’s Fang out from deep in his inventory. The black sword wriggled in his grasp like a freshly caught fish.

---

[The ‘Basilisk’s Fang’ wants to have a chat!]

[Fang’s thoughts: How dare you neglect me for so long! You’ll be cursed!]

[Fang’s thoughts: Do you even know how long it’s been since you last used me?!]

[Fang’s thoughts: Not only did you neglect me, you left other weapons in my place!]

[The ‘Basilisk’s Fang’ looks a little lonely.]

---

Even swords could feel lonely, apparently. And it was

 true—it had been a long time since Uijae had last drawn the Fang. The last time might have been during the Artisan Exhibition. He had even used a spear to fight the golem instead.

‘Should I feel guilty?’

With a slightly awkward expression, Uijae handed the sword to Sayoung. The Fang twitched in his hand again.

---

[Fang’s thoughts: You’re handing me over to someone else right after pulling me out! You’ll be cursed!]

[Fang’s thoughts: …Huh?]

---

The movement in Uijae’s hand stopped abruptly.

---

[Fang’s thoughts: Master?]

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TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars for the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!