The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 194

White wind roared around them.

The once-peaceful city began to crumble from its edges. The world that had once been full of color slowly lost its hue. Buildings collapsed, asphalt buckled and cracked, and the very air quivered with an ominous tension. The world was falling apart—all because of the death of one person.

In the midst of this collapsing world, Sayoung gently cradled the body he held in his arms. The lifeless form swayed helplessly with his movements. He wanted to pull the sword from Uijae's chest, but he didn't want to cause any more pain—even though this wasn't the real world.

Sayoung sat down, carefully resting Uijae's body in his lap. Uijae's head fell limply onto his shoulder, and Sayoung’s hands were stained red with blood. The sticky sensation felt unpleasant.

"…"

Sayoung leaned his cheek against Uijae's gray hair as white ash began to fall. He muttered quietly to someone who could no longer hear him.

"Do you know what’s really annoying?"

"…"

"Why did you do this? What were you thinking...?"

As the ideal world Sayoung had carefully created crumbled, the real world started to emerge. The once towering skyscrapers were reduced to mere ruins, the pristine roads covered in dirt and white ash. No intact buildings remained—only desolation. The barren wind blew, but it soon stopped, leaving a perfect silence.

How had Lee Sayoung survived, alone in this ruined world? A world without Cha Uijae. He must have endlessly replayed and clung to the memory of a world where the apocalypse never came—a world where Uijae didn’t have to die, where Uijae didn’t need to save the world. A peaceful world where no one knew who Cha Uijae was. He had relived that world for so long that it had become more vivid to him than reality itself.

He had dared to dream of the “what if.”

"Understanding everything...”

But Sayoung knew it was arrogance. He knew Cha Uijae was the type to break free from any chains and move forward, no matter what. Uijae was someone who would shine no matter how much he was hidden away. Sayoung closed his eyes and muttered softly.

"It feels wrong."

Yet, he still wished Uijae could have stayed by his side.

Sayoung whispered into the void.

“Hurry back, Hyung.”

“...”

“This place...”

“...”

“...is lonely.”

Once again, the white wind blew. The air trembled, and hidden beneath the layers of white ash, something began to reveal itself.

---

*Flap...*

A low voice echoed in the emptiness.

J.

The number one, undefeated hero who saved the country, a legend who saved countless lives... People attached all kinds of grand titles to the figure behind the black mask, but J always hated hearing them. He would complain about how people obsessed over fancy-sounding labels that meant nothing to him.

...

J was someone who helped others without asking for anything in return. He liked saving people. After every major battle, he would collapse in exhaustion, but as soon as someone needed him, he never hesitated to throw himself back into action. With him, everything seemed like it would be alright.

Cha Uijae was that kind of person—a beacon of hope.

...

*Flap...* The sound of pages turning could be heard.

...

Once, he had risked everything to save the life of a boy who was a complete stranger to him. He’d obtained a deadly poison, administered the antidote, and stayed by his side until the boy recovered. One day, *I* awakened—but Cha Uijae wasn’t there.

Unable to control my newfound powers, I melted all my favorite belongings, even the machines attached to my body. Black poison flooded the hospital room, and I locked myself in the bathroom.

When Cha Uijae finally heard the news, he came rushing over, saying he came straight from a dungeon. I refused to open the door. I didn’t want him to see me like that. But Cha Uijae kicked the door down with one blow and, without hesitation, grabbed my hand. Even though my corrosive touch melted his skin, he didn’t flinch. The melted flesh was searing hot.

...

After that, *I* lived with Cha Uijae.

We were always together.

Until the day he died.

...

It took a while for the page to turn again.

...

Cha Uijae had never been healthy.

He said he had been like that ever since his awakening. Even when a video of him slaying a giant monster went viral, he collapsed soon after. His aunt had to take care of him. Cha Uijae used to laugh awkwardly, saying he was perfectly healthy before his awakening.

Sometimes, he would tell me stories about playing soccer during lunch at his now-demolished middle school. He claimed he was quite the star striker, winning every bet, and how everyone always wanted to be on his team. He said eating ice cream after a game was the best thing ever. Every time I heard those stories, I tried to picture a young, healthy Cha Uijae running across the field.

...But I couldn’t quite imagine it.

The Cha Uijae I knew was brave, but his body was always fragile.

Every time he used his powers, he would collapse. Only a handful of people knew about this. He kept his illness hidden, afraid it would cause more panic. He would shut himself in a dark room, and because he was so elusive, people thought nothing of it when he disappeared for days at a time. They thought it was just another quirk of their hero. They didn’t know he was dying.

Was it the backlash of his power? No one could say for sure. Even Nam Woojin and the top healer Hunters from abroad couldn’t figure it out.

Nam Woojin dedicated himself to researching it but found nothing. In the end, even he gave up. He said there seemed to be a power at work we couldn’t comprehend. That was all he could say.

No one knew why, but Cha Uijae was slowly dying. The intervals between his bouts of pain became shorter. Even using half of his power left him weak. Sometimes, he coughed up blood. When I noticed his absence late at night and went to look for him, I often found him clutching the sink, vomiting blood. Dark red blood. Even after cleaning it up, the image of that red blood never left my mind.

The most frustrating part was that Cha Uijae had accepted his death. At some point, he began saying it all the time. "This is just how it is, so don’t worry too much... Don’t get hurt over it."

Who said you could decide that?

I gathered all the information I could, worked with Nam Woojin, and recruited more people—both before and after the apocalypse.

Cha Uijae always shone so brightly, but that light was unstable. It was like a candle burning its last bit of life before going out. That’s how he shone.

I didn’t want him to shine like that. I wanted him to live a long life with a steady, gentle glow.

...

The apocalypse came.

The battles increased. The endless monsters wore him down. His condition worsened day by day. No matter how much I tried to fill the gap, I couldn’t make up for his absence on the battlefield. People had become too dependent. J would save us again.

J could do it.

J would fix everything.

The world around me flashed red.

Nonsense.

Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense...

...

Silence fell. The sound of a page turning broke it.

Cha Uijae lived up to everyone's expectations.

And then he died.

Leaving me behind.

...

Are you satisfied?

The sound of pages turning stopped. The world froze. The white wind began to blow again. Slowly, the darkness faded, revealing a white wasteland. Uijae started walking. *Crunch, crunch.* The ash that had piled up like snow crunched under his feet.

Dust kicked up from the ruins of the collapsed buildings. It felt as though something was pushing him from behind, guiding him somewhere. Uijae walked down the path, endlessly.

How long had he been walking?

"..."

He heard someone’s breathing. The ragged, animalistic sound of it. Uijae concealed his presence and approached quietly. In the white world, there was something black. A worn, leather coat, dirtied with dust and white ash, and scuffed black boots. Messy black hair. It was a familiar sight.

He was holding someone in his arms. A pair of limp legs hung beneath the coat. Uijae, without realizing, lowered his gaze. The boots on the figure were the same as his own.

"..."

He took a deep breath and surveyed the scene.

And then...

He looked at Lee Sayoung’s face.

‘It’s exactly the same.’

It was identical.

The face he had faintly seen just before he closed his eyes.