The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 251

Uijae listened carefully to the sound coming from the other end of the phone. Faint groans of pain could be heard. Was it Sa-young's voice? Uijae gritted his teeth hard. He roughly ran a hand through his hair and glanced at his younger brother, Mackerel. Then, he pointed at the door with his thumb. Mackerel widened his eyes, pointed at himself with his index finger, and then slumped his shoulders in resignation.

“I’ll head out first. Can you summarize the situation and text me?” 

Baewon-woo, seemingly too overwhelmed to speak further, just repeated "Yes, yes" before hanging up. Uijae impatiently tapped his foot. Wasn’t today’s undercover operation supposed to be over? What could have caused such a sudden deterioration in Sa-young's condition? The apocalypse? He cracked his knuckles loudly, then looked at Mackerel.

“Anything strange happen?”

“Strange? What kind of strange?”

“Anything at all.”

“Nothing much, really. Prometheus rounding up civilians is something the director and the higher-ups already know about, so it’s nothing special... If I had to mention something, it’s the coughing. But that’s probably just an overreaction. Maybe there’s a sudden virus going around.”

“...”

“I think it’s more likely just a flu outbreak.”

“...”

“I don’t think Prometheus would stage a biochemical attack. If they were going to, they’d target Awakeners, not civilians.”

Mackerel skillfully twirled a pen between his fingers. Uijae wanted to believe that too. Coughing was a common occurrence, and in confined spaces, infections spread easily. But his fingertips felt unnaturally cold. Anxiety bubbled up inside him. Uijae rubbed the back of his neck, and as his hand moved, it became rougher, until he was scratching at his neck with his nails. Mackerel quickly grabbed his arm.

“Stop, hyung! You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“…Ah.”

Uijae pulled his hand away from his neck and looked at it. His fingertips were red. Only then did the stinging sensation hit him. He blinked blankly for a moment, then bit his lip. Luckily, the mask hid his expression. He managed to nod.

“…Let’s go. Get me to Incheon as fast as you can.”

Maybe this time he’d need to shake down Hong Yeseong for some emergency escape papers. Mackerel whispered something in his ear, then pulled car keys from his inventory and waved them.

“I’ll get you there safely. Once things settle down, how about you finally get your license?”

Uijae just nodded absently.

“I’ll think about it.”

---

Black liquid spilled onto the white floor with a splatter. Sa-young’s shoulders flinched. On all fours, Sa-young retched, spewing out the black substance. Each violent cough splattered more black blood in droplets. The dark clumps, as if they had a mind of their own, began to squirm. Sa-young, breathing in trembling gasps, tried to push himself up by gripping the floor. But his hand slipped in his own blood, and he couldn’t get up, panting heavily.

Baewon-woo, who had been holding a shield and keeping a safe distance, shouted towards Hong Yesung behind him.

“Why is this happening? Wasn’t it supposed to be over for today?”

“What’s coming has come. It’s a miracle he’s lasted this long.”

“What? What are you…?”

Earlier, when today’s ordeal had ended, J himself had carried Sa-young to bed, and Sa-young had fallen into a deep sleep. At that moment, they all thought they had survived another day. But before long, Sa-young had woken suddenly, staggering down to the basement with a pale face. He hadn’t even made it into the darkness before collapsing to the ground, coughing up blood.

Golden eyes quickly scanned the scene. Hong Yesung bent down in front of Sa-young.

“Can you hear me, Lee Sa-young?”

Sa-young slowly nodded his head up and down. His chest felt like it was burning. His throat was so raw he could barely breathe. Hong Yesung, without hesitation, grabbed Sa-young’s chin and forced his head up. Black liquid dripped down his jaw. After closely examining Sa-young’s face, Hong Yeseong clicked his tongue.

“This isn’t even the worst of it yet. It’s like a trial run.”

If this was how bad it was now, what would happen when it fully hit?

“Tsk, at this rate, even holding out will be difficult. I’ll go to the workshop; hold on tight. Don’t lose consciousness!”

“Wait, if you leave now…!”

Baewon-woo tried to grab him, but the reclusive artisan was swift. Before Baewon-woo knew it, Hong Yesung had vanished, leaving Sa-young to slump over like a puppet with its strings cut. Then, the original Hong Yesung rubbed his eyes and looked around.

“Huh? Where am I now…?”

And then his gaze met Lee Sa-young’s murderous glare. Even as Sa-young spat up more black blood, he kept staring at him with pure hatred. Horrified, Hong Yeseong crawled over to Baewon-woo’s shield.

“Help!”

“Where did the other artisan go?”

“Huh? Who are you talking about? I’m the artisan. But hey, doesn’t Lee Sa-young look pretty bad? Is he okay?”

Hong Yeseong blinked innocently. Damn it, this Hong Yeseong had no sense. Baewon-woo could only look on with pity, silently praying for Sa-young, who was enduring the pain without even screaming. He hoped J would arrive soon—or that at least the more competent version of Hong Yeseong would return. Someone needed to ease Sa-young’s suffering.

Just then, the sound of the elevator arriving rang out. The moment the doors opened, a dark figure rushed in like the wind. It was J. His ashen hair was disheveled.

But when J, who had come running in an instant, saw Sa-young coughing up blood and twitching on the floor, he stopped in his tracks.

For some reason, strangely enough—though his face was unreadable due to the mask—he looked terrified.

---

The pages of a worn notebook rustled as one was turned. The trembling tip of a pen touched the paper, but soon the man coughed violently. After a long fit of coughing, he pulled his hand away from his mouth. Blood smeared his dry palm. The man’s gaunt figure, shaking hands, reached again for the pen he had set down. Gaeul watched him from behind. She asked worriedly:

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine…this much, at least.”

“...”

His handwriting, never good to begin with, was now barely legible, shaking on the page. Gaeul slowly approached him, covering his frail shoulders with a somewhat clean blanket and smoothing his thinned white hair. All the while, the man’s trembling hand did not stop. Even in a world nearing its end, he was leaving behind something. Gaeul watched the black ink fill the paper and suddenly asked:

“What if no one remembers this?”

“...”

“What if even the fact that you left this record is forgotten...?”

“You’re being pessimistic. That’s not like you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for.”

The sound of the pen scratching against paper was crisp. The man let out another rough cough, droplets of blood splattering the desk. But not a single drop touched the notebook. He had cupped it with both hands. After catching his breath, the man blinked. His scorched white eyes gazed blankly at the notebook. For some reason, he looked unbearably sad.

He closed the worn brown notebook and secured the pages with a rubber band.

Yoon Gaeul, what are you trying to say to me?

What do you want me to do?

No answer came. Gaeul held back the urge to vomit, trying to remember the appearance of the notebook. There had to be a reason this memory was being shown to her. Certainly.

Slowly turning his head, the man, Nam Woojin, asked:

“How are the patients?”

“...The treatment is finally showing results. The condition of those who hadn’t started mutating has improved significantly, and even the ones who had begun to mutate have stopped progressing. Thankfully…”

Mutating?

“But it’s too late.”

“...”

“We’ve lost too many people because of it…”

The man closed his tired eyes. Soon, his light breathing signaled he had fallen asleep. Gaeul now knew how to wake from this dream. She bit her thumb harshly.

---

Yoon Gaeul opened her eyes. The orange light from the bedside lamp cast a glow on the ceiling. Was it still nighttime? It was hard to tell time in a windowless room. Gaeul sighed and sat up.

“Did you have a good dream?”

A voice broke the silence.

Gaeul gasped softly, her small shoulders jumping. Sitting in the chair next to the bed, Ga-yeong crossed her legs. Her eyes gleamed behind her glasses. It wasn’t a good sign.

How long had she been watching? Did I say anything in my sleep? Gaeul averted her gaze slightly, her neck damp with cold sweat. Ga-yeong handed her a cup of water with a kind smile.

“When you wake up drenched in cold sweat like that, it means you saw something.”

“…How long have you been here?”

“Hmm, since you started tossing and turning? I

 saw it on the CCTV.”

Gaeul didn’t take the cup. Instead, she shot back a slightly sharp reply.

“…Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“All the test subjects I was in charge of were transferred to the other side, so~ I don’t have much work left now.”

Yoon Gaeul clenched the sheet under the blanket tightly. Ga-yeong smiled brightly.

“We had a deal, didn’t we? To tell me everything.”

“...”

“You agreed to cooperate.”

Gaeul bit her lip. Ga-yeong stood up from the chair. In the dim room, her glasses gleamed oddly.

“Tell me. What did you see?”