The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 157

Cha Uijae was at a loss for words as he stared at the confident smile frozen on Hong Yeseong's face. The two had made a promise in a past he couldn't remember.

“To save the world.”

Uijae clenched and unclenched his fists. Was it really okay to forget such an important promise? Had he wronged Hong Yeseong by forgetting something so significant?

Just then, Hong Yeseong spoke up abruptly.

—Hey, hey, don’t take it too seriously. That promise was more for me, anyway. You didn’t even want to make it, but I practically forced you into it.

Uijae’s eyes widened.

“What?”

—Yeah... I don’t know if the current you remembers, but my interests change quickly. I can’t stay focused on anything for long. I get bored easily, and if something feels like work, I don’t want to do it. I just want to have fun.

A mischievous glint flickered in the emotion eye.

—But saving the world? That’s different.

“……”

—I’ve seen you save the world multiple times, you know?

“……”

—It looked so damn cool. So this time, I thought I’d tag along when you saved the world again.

Hong Yeseong’s voice was tinged with excitement.

—So, did I help? I mean, who else could give you high-level deductions and information like I do?

In the faded, black-and-white photo, Hong Yeseong’s smile remained, as if he had been smiling the whole time. Uijae barely managed to get a single word out through the lump in his throat.

"Thank you."

—……

"You've been... trapped here, keeping your promise."

If anyone understood loneliness, it was Uijae. He knew just how precious the warmth of another person could be.

The Cha Uijae from the first world hadn’t been lonely. Even after losing Lee Sayoung, he could still make the decision to save the world because Hong Yeseong had been there with him, standing strong. That’s probably why he chose to turn back time to get Lee Sayoung back, instead of going insane.

But how many people had looked at Hong Yeseong after he locked himself in this photo? Maybe Uijae was the first. After all, the Cha Uijae from the previous world had died early on. Uijae finally spoke.

“I…”

—Ah, enough of that. Let’s drop the heavy talk. Lee Sayoung’s condition is more important, right? …Hmm?

The light in the emotion eye shifted. Hong Yeseong muttered.

—Looks like Lee Sayoung is waking up. He’s always quick to catch on.

“He’s awake? Wait a minute.”

—Oh, this is bad. You’ve probably got your face planted on the table right now.

“What? Hey, you—"

—Time to go!

Before Uijae could finish his sentence, he felt someone grab his head and pull him up. Swallowing curses down his throat, Uijae was dragged back.

When he snapped out of it, Uijae gasped as if surfacing from underwater. He instinctively held his breath.

Violet eyes were staring right at him.

Uijae quickly straightened up. He must have passed out on the table. Outside, the blue evening sky was giving way to the approaching sunset.

Quite some time must have passed. Uijae rolled his eyes sideways. Lee Sayoung, who had tilted his head and was watching him, didn’t move his gaze. His eyes were sharp, as if he was ready to devour Uijae. Tentatively, Uijae called out to him.

“…Lee Sayoung? You’re awake?”

“…Ha.”

A short laugh escaped from Sayoung. Then, he smiled brightly, his eyes curving in a cheerful expression. His face seemed to glow, making Uijae look away involuntarily. Sayoung asked in a soft, gentle voice.

“You must’ve been really tired, huh?”

“No… well…”

“Yeah, I get it… you must’ve been exhausted. I understand.”

Uijae, who had been awkwardly avoiding Sayoung’s gaze, accidentally caught sight of the phone in Sayoung’s hand.

?J redefines the top ranking.?

?J’s shocking moves—what’s on his mind??

?Hero J, how did he return from the West Sea Rift??

The headlines of numerous articles about ‘J’ were displayed on the portal site Sayoung had apparently searched. A cold chill ran down Uijae’s back from his neck to his waist.

‘Ah, damn it.’

“You’ve been working hard. You’ve been doing a lot of important work… right?”

Sayoung, who had been squatting, sat down fully and placed his hands on the floor. Then, he suddenly leaned forward, his face close to Uijae's. Uijae instinctively leaned back and replied.

“Well, you passed out all of a sudden.”

“I did pass out.”

“And the situation in the world isn’t exactly looking good.”

“Of course not.”

“When the second-ranked Hunter goes missing, people are bound to talk…”

“Mm-hmm. So you stepped up?”

“No, well, I know those monsters better than anyone else.”

“Ah…”

Sayoung let out a long sigh and ran his hand roughly through his hair.

“So you were so tired that you ended up passing out here, without even lying down?”

“I didn’t pass out because I was tired.”

“Your sense of duty is admirable…”

It was unfair. But what could Uijae say? That he had just been having a private conversation with another world’s version of Hong Yeseong, who was currently inhabiting a chicken’s body? He couldn’t exactly tell Sayoung that, especially not right after he had woken up.

Uijae shot a glance at Kkokko, as if asking for help. But Kkokko had already turned around, showing him its back, sitting there like an old man who refused to look at anyone.

‘That little…’

Uijae glared at it, and any feelings of gratitude he had evaporated. In the end, he decided to use his usual go-to move.

Uijae reached out and pulled Sayoung into a hug, wrapping his arms around his neck. Contrary to his previous sharp demeanor, Sayoung allowed himself to be pulled in without resistance. Uijae, now holding him awkwardly, asked hesitantly.

“Is your body... okay?”

“……”

“I was worried since you were crying so much earlier.”

“I wasn’t crying.”

“Hey, that’s actually why I came here. To ask you about what’s happening inside you…”

“I know.”

Sayoung interrupted curtly, but he wrapped his arms around Uijae’s waist, sighing softly as he rested his head against Uijae’s neck.

“Meanwhile, Hong Yeseong was the one passed out next to me.”

Of course, the words that came out of his mouth didn’t match his gentle actions. Uijae, mechanically stroking Sayoung’s head, threw Hong Yeseong under the bus.

“He fell asleep while we were talking. Maybe he drank too much yesterday.”

“…Really? Did you hear anything useful?”

“Not yet.”

As they talked like that, who knows how long they stayed in the embrace. Eventually, Uijae felt vibrations against his back. It was Sayoung’s phone. Sayoung let go of Uijae’s waist and checked the screen, his expression darkening.

“…I’ll be right back. I need to take this.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Sayoung disappeared toward the back of the small house. Even if Uijae strained his ears, he couldn’t hear the conversation. Had Sayoung left the barrier? Uijae lightly kicked the cushion where Kkokko sat.

“Hey, traitor.”

“Traitor? You should be calling me your loyal friend, ensuring you two get some alone time.”

“Shut up. Tell me more about Lee Sayoung.”

“To explain more, we need to go back to that space. It’s a delicate topic that I can’t discuss here.”

The situation was getting worse. Uijae dreaded what Sayoung’s reaction would be if he found him passed out on the table again. He mulled over his options, lowering his voice and covering his mouth as he whispered.

“By the way, do you know anything about Prometheus? Anything at all?”

Kkokko, who had turned its head slightly, also covered its beak with its wing and responded.

“I don’t.”

It was an unexpected answer. After all that grandiose talk, now Kkokko claimed ignorance? Uijae’s suspicions grew, and he glared at the bird once more.

“How can you not know? You acted like you knew everything!”

“Well, in my world, they didn’t leave much of a trace. That fancy name? I’ve only seen it in *Greek and Roman Myths* comics.”

Uijae stared at Kkokko with skepticism, but the bird, seemingly picking up on his doubt, hit Uijae’s arm with its wing.

“I’m serious! I only learned about them from watching over you in this world.”

“What about the drug that mutates Awakeners?”

“Like I said, it didn’t exist. This world is particularly harsh.”

“……”

Their eyes met. Prometheus, the organization that hadn’t existed in previous worlds, had emerged only in this one. Uijae muttered.

“Could that be a side effect too?”

“Probably.”

“Damn it, what kind of side effect makes people lose their minds like that?”

“I don’t know either. You’ll have to figure that out yourself. Now, how about some more scorched rice?”

Uijae quietly handed over another piece of scorched rice.

“

Hey. One more question.”

Kkokko, pecking at the rice, looked up curiously.

“What is it?”

It was still strange to hear Hong Yeseong’s voice coming from such a cute bird. After seeing Hong Yeseong trapped in that photo earlier, the disconnect felt even more pronounced. Uijae absentmindedly broke his own piece of scorched rice as he asked.

“Were you always… Kkokko? Were all those clucking sounds really coming from you?”

Kkokko dropped the piece of rice it was holding in its beak. Its small, beady eyes widened in shock.

“Are you seriously asking that?”

“Hurry up and answer. I feel like I need to look back on my past.”

“My friend… what do you take me for?”

Kkokko, clearly offended, tilted its head. Uijae, watching it, felt a surge of frustration. Why was such a ridiculous creature connected to Hong Yeseong? Kkokko flapped its wings.

“I only borrowed Kkokko’s body for a short while. It was easy because it was something Hong Yeseong created. But I don’t have a fetish for this or anything.”

“Then why didn’t you come here in your real body? Wouldn’t that have been easier?”

“There’s a complicated reason for that…”

As it mumbled, Kkokko waddled over to the sleeping Hong Yeseong, who lay on the cushion, smacking his lips in his sleep. Watching this, Uijae couldn’t help but wonder what it felt like to look at oneself from someone else’s perspective like this.

“He seems a little off, right? Like he’s missing a few screws.”

“*Cough!*”

Uijae, startled by this sudden self-reflection session, covered his mouth and coughed violently. But Kkokko continued talking as if nothing had happened.

“But it can’t be helped. His soul is split, so there’s not enough of it to go around. That’s why he seems like something’s missing.”

“What? But Lee Sayoung is… wait.”

Uijae suddenly snapped his head up. He couldn’t sense Lee Sayoung’s presence.

No, more accurately...

“What’s wrong?” Kkokko asked.

Uijae quickly grabbed Kkokko by the beak. The bird flapped its wings in protest but then went still as it caught on to the atmosphere.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t sense Sayoung’s presence—it was that Sayoung had hidden it. Uijae’s eyes glowed blue, and at that moment, Lee Sayoung revealed himself, stepping out from where he had been hiding. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Oh… I thought it was my fault.”

“……”

“While I was asleep, I wondered if you’d gotten so lonely that you developed a habit of talking to chickens…”

“……”

“So…”

Lee Sayoung silently strode toward Uijae and bent down slightly, locking eyes with him. His violet eyes gleamed dangerously.

“Who’s that guy, then?”