The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 191

Uijae waved his hand in front of Nam Woojin's face and realized his hand had passed through him. He stepped back slowly, an uneasy feeling gnawing at him. *I need to figure out what’s going on here.*

He tested the ground beneath his feet, remembering that he had been able to touch Sayoung earlier. It seemed like he could still interact with some objects. He called out to Sayoung, "Hey, let me test something real quick."

“What now?” Sayoung snapped, his voice louder than usual. Nam Woojin tilted his head in confusion, clearly unable to hear Uijae. Sayoung shot Uijae a warning look, telling him not to make any rash moves. Uijae raised his hands in surrender and pointed to the nearby bookshelves.

“I just want to see if I can touch things here. I’ll stay where you can see me.”

Sayoung sighed and turned his gaze away, allowing Uijae to go ahead. Uijae pulled out one of the books. To his relief, he could touch it. But when he flipped it open, the pages were completely blank.

“...Nothing,” Uijae muttered under his breath. He pulled out another book and flipped through it—still blank. After a few more tries, he was surrounded by a pile of empty books. *It’s like a stationery shop filled with blank notebooks,* he thought.

Carrying a few of the blank books, Uijae returned to Sayoung and Nam Woojin, who were in the middle of a conversation.

"...There’s far too much information about the system to cover it all in one night," Nam Woojin said. "You need to narrow down the scope."

“I want everything related to the apocalypse,” Sayoung replied firmly.

“Apocalypse? What are you talking about?” Nam Woojin’s puzzled expression seemed genuine.

Uijae watched him closely. *He’s not lying. He really doesn’t know.* Nam Woojin’s confusion only deepened as he twirled a strand of his white hair and let out a small laugh.

“Oh, I see… Have you been reading some doomsday theories? It’s all just made-up nonsense.”

Sayoung narrowed his eyes, but Nam Woojin continued, shaking his head. “People are so easily swayed by rumors. Don’t let yourself be influenced by those ridiculous ideas.”

Uijae raised an eyebrow and held up one of the blank books, flipping it open to show Sayoung. “All the books here are empty. Is that normal?”

Sayoung shook his head slightly, indicating that the books weren’t supposed to be like that. Turning his attention back to Nam Woojin, Sayoung asked, “Do you know someone named J?”

“J?” Nam Woojin blinked, his expression blank. Uijae held his breath, waiting for the response. He noticed a flicker in Nam Woojin’s pale eyes, a hint of something... but it quickly disappeared.

“What’s that? I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

The heavy sigh that followed echoed in Uijae’s ears as the scene shifted abruptly. Uijae found himself sitting at a terrace table of a burger joint, staring out through the restaurant window at Sayoung ordering at the counter. The sight of Sayoung’s towering figure in his dark coat ordering food felt oddly amusing to Uijae.

*J? Who’s that?* Uijae had replayed Nam Woojin’s response in his mind several times. As soon as Nam Woojin claimed he didn’t know J, Sayoung had grabbed Uijae’s arm and muttered, *There’s no point in staying.*

That’s how they ended up wandering aimlessly through the city, without any clear destination. After some time, Sayoung had simply declared, *I’m hungry.*

Now, sitting in a burger place, Uijae took off his mask. *No one can see me anyway,* he thought, feeling a strange mixture of unease and relief. The cool breeze brushed his face, but the sensation felt foreign, as if he were disconnected from reality.

“Decided to take the mask off, huh?” Sayoung’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. He had just sat down and placed a tray of food on the table. Sayoung pushed a cup of cola toward Uijae.

“You’re the only one who can see me,” Uijae replied, resting his chin on his hand.

“True enough.”

Sayoung tossed a fry into his mouth, chewing as he leaned back in his seat, mirroring Uijae’s posture. “You’re handling this pretty well, though.”

“Hmm?”

“Being invisible to everyone, and... no one recognizing you at all.”

Uijae shrugged in response. Sayoung’s brow furrowed slightly as he stared at him. “Doesn’t it make you anxious?”

“Maybe a little,” Uijae admitted, looking at Sayoung. If he had been completely alone in this strange, apocalyptic memory, the isolation might have overwhelmed him. But with Sayoung by his side, it didn’t feel as daunting.

As Uijae sipped the cola, he froze, his eyes widening. *What the…?*

He slammed the cup down onto the table, though he held back enough force not to shatter it. He shook the cup, watching the black liquid inside swirl around. The ice clinked softly, and the fizz of carbonation popped in the air. But something was very wrong.

“Is this soda water?” Uijae asked in disbelief.

Sayoung blinked. “It’s cola.”

Uijae took another sip, this time forcing himself to focus. No sweetness, just bubbles that stung his mouth and throat. He pressed a hand to his eyes, trying to deny what he had just experienced. *This…*

“There’s no flavor…”

Sayoung chuckled as he offered a fry. “Taste this.”

“...Why?”

“Since I can’t taste anything, you’ll need to tell me if something’s off.”

Uijae stared at the fry, hesitating. *It looks normal…* He finally closed his eyes and opened his mouth, biting into it. The texture was fine—crispy on the outside and soft on the inside—but there was no flavor. No salt, no oil, nothing.

“It’s tasteless,” Uijae muttered, his mood sinking.

Sayoung laughed, clearly amused by Uijae’s dismay. “Really?”

“No, I mean literally tasteless. It has no flavor at all. I’m chewing nothing.”

Grudgingly, Uijae grabbed another fry, repeating the unpleasant experience. He grimaced at the blandness, then spoke through clenched teeth, “This is so weird…”

Sayoung smirked, watching Uijae suffer through the flavorless food. “Well, at least now you get a sense of what I deal with every day.”

Suddenly, a thought struck Uijae. *Wait… Sayoung said he couldn’t taste anything… So, does that mean…?*

“Is this what it’s like for you all the time?” Uijae asked, glancing up at Sayoung, who casually munched on a fry. *No wonder he never cared about food.*

“Pretty much,” Sayoung replied, nonchalant as ever.

Feeling a surge of sympathy, Uijae stared at the table in silence. Sayoung continued, “So, you can’t taste anything either, huh?”

“Yeah…”

“Then it’s obvious, isn’t it? This whole place was reconstructed based on the memories of the other Sayoung.”

“The one who couldn’t taste food?” Uijae asked.

Sayoung nodded, poking his burger with a toothpick. “The books were all blank because he didn’t remember what was in them. And the food has no flavor because he never experienced it himself.”

“And what about the apocalypse? Why didn’t he know anything about that?”

“Well… maybe he imagined a world where the apocalypse never happened. His own version of a utopia.”

The breeze blew again, ruffling Sayoung’s hair and exposing his pale forehead. Uijae couldn’t help but ask, “Fine, but then why don’t I have a role? Why can’t anyone see me?”

Sayoung paused, his jaw clenching as if he was biting back something. “I told you… it’s because this is his ideal world.”

He sighed heavily, his voice tinged with frustration. “And in that ideal world, no one would know you existed.”

“...”

“Except for me.”