30 – HGL 30

…Why?

Eui-jae was momentarily dumbfounded at the sight of the dark figure trespassing in someone else’s store, stopping dead in his tracks. How the hell did that crazy brat open the closed door and come in, and why is he sitting in the middle of the hall like he’s staging a protest?

The number one ranked, no, former number one Hunter was committing every crime in the book, from disrupting business to trespassing. The Gas mask’s head, sitting with his legs crossed, slowly turned towards Eui-jae. A sinister voice rumbled low.

“Did you sleep well?”

Unlike the rather affectionate question, the voice sounded like it had crawled out of hell. Waking someone up who was sleeping soundly and then asking if they slept well, he clearly had no conscience. Instead of answering, Eui-jae countered with a question.

“What are you doing here?”

Even though it was a perfectly reasonable question to ask, the Gas mask’s aura became even more menacing. He seemed to take a deep breath to calm himself, but the purple eyes inside the lenses flashed instantly, glaring at Eui-jae.

“What am I doing?”

“…….”

“That’s what I should be asking.”

Could it be… did he find out something about me? Considering his actions and information gathering skills so far, it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption. Eui-jae slowly clenched his fists, waiting for the next words to come out of his mouth.

“Why didn’t you contact me first?”

“…….”

“Damn it, I waited two weeks.”

Eui-jae’s strength drained away. You crazy brat, was that what it was about?

Judging from the terrifying energy swirling beside him, Lee Sa-young seemed to be seething. He seemed angry, but also like a child who was sulking because he was left alone while others went to have fun….

He wouldn’t say this in front of the person who had been waiting for his call, but to be honest, it wasn’t that he didn’t call―

‘I forgot….’

Eui-jae had completely forgotten that he had to respond to Sa-young’s deal.

Of course, Eui-jae had his own reasons. The problem was that they were reasons he couldn’t tell anyone. Anyway, if he honestly said he forgot, the deal and everything else would obviously fall apart. So, Eui-jae made the best excuse he could.

“Well, I’ve been busy.”

“Ha.”

Sa-young scoffed. But Eui-jae stubbornly continued.

“I’ve been thinking about it in many ways, too.”

“Oh, so you did think about it.”

Lee Sa-young openly sneered, then propped his chin up as if to say, tell me more. For a moment, Eui-jae felt the urge to flick him hard on the forehead. Why was this guy’s personality so twisted like a pretzel?

At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Eui-jae’s mind.

Ah, could it be….

‘Because J took away his number one spot?’

Come to think of it, even though that Gas mask bastard looks slick, he was number one for six years in a row, wasn’t he? To suddenly have his position taken away overnight by a dead man, he must have been quite shocked.

Compassion began to fill Eui-jae’s gaze. Sa-young muttered irritably.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, well…. Hang in there.”

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

“Making fun? I’ve never been more sincere.”

“Ah, forget it. I even filmed an advertisement because of someone, and then I get neglected for two weeks. Hyung, you know you’re really trash, right?”

Sa-young waved his hand dismissively, looking disgusted. But Eui-jae also had a reason to feel wronged about his public service advertisement.

Lee Sa-young’s public service advertisement, which he said he filmed because of Cha Eui-jae, popped up every time a popular program ended, inflicting mental pain on the Hunters watching TV. Eui-jae crossed his arms.

“What’s with that advertisement anyway? Why did you suddenly film something like that?”

“Hyung only likes people who film advertisements, what else could I do?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Jung-bin, and Honeybee.”

Eui-jae couldn’t dare to follow Lee Sa-young’s stream of consciousness that bounced around like a rubber ball.

The only thing Jung-bin and Honeybee had in common was that he wanted to ban them both from this store. What the hell was Lee Sa-young thinking when he committed such a bizarre act?

Sa-young gestured with his chin towards Honeybee’s autographed poster.

“That kind of taste?”

“Honeybee just gave it to me.”

“What about Jung-bin’s autograph?”

“He sent it by registered mail himself, I think.”

“Damn it, he should sell that kind of thing at Tomato Market.”

Eui-jae pursed his lips and got up from his seat, heading towards the water purifier. Every time he moved, eyes followed him. It was too persistent and tenacious to ignore.

Just as he was pouring water, Eui-jae, unable to bear the way he was staring, turned around and looked at him, asking what was wrong. Sa-young, as if he had been waiting for it, pointed his chin at Eui-jae’s feet.

“Feet.”

“Huh?”

“Do you always walk around barefoot?”

Ah, that’s right. Only then did Eui-jae look down at his feet. He had come out to ambush, trying to make as little noise as possible, but after seeing Lee Sa-young sitting in the hall as if it were his own living room, he had lost his will to ambush and ended up walking around the store barefoot.

Eui-jae wiggled his toes and brazenly retorted.

“I didn’t wear socks on purpose to wake myself up.”

“You should at least wear slippers.”

He seemed somehow displeased. Who was it who made me run out barefoot in the middle of the night?

“If you’ve been thinking about it for two weeks, you should have an answer.”

“Yeah.”

“…….”

“Let’s make a deal. But, there are a few conditions.”

“Wait a minute.”

Sa-young took out a long, finger-sized object from his Inventory. A screen and buttons, with a blue Mana Stone embedded at the end. It was the Mana Stone recorder that Eui-jae had struggled to get his hands on, attracting all sorts of S-ranks to Tomato Market and this Hangover Soup Restaurant.

“It’s better for both Hyung and me to have solid evidence, right?”

“You’re going to record. What if the recording is leaked?”

“I’ll only refer to it when writing the contract and then dispose of it immediately.”

“…….”

Sa-young spread his gloved hand wide in front of Eui-jae’s eyes, showing off. He meant that he would melt the recorder like he was melting a ladle, so there was no need to worry. So that expensive thing is a disposable recorder to you.

The recorder, with its button pressed, was placed in the center of the table. The Mana Stone began to glow blue.

“Then, let’s begin.”

He spoke with a skilled tone, as if he were used to this kind of procedure. Eui-jae nodded obediently and raised his index finger.

“First, I won’t work during Hangover Soup Restaurant operating hours. No matter what you ask or demand, I’ll only do it between 11 PM, when the Hangover Soup Restaurant closes, and 5 AM.”

“Ah.”

After thinking for a moment, Sa-young readily nodded.

“Okay. What’s the second?”

“Help me register as a Hunter.”

“Huh? Didn’t I tell you last time?”

Sa-young, who was tapping his arm with his palm, tilted his head and said in a dry tone.

“I need someone who’s unknown.”

“I know. Hear me out.”

Eui-jae had no intention of working as a Hunter again, but now that J’s survival had been revealed, the situation had changed. For the future, it was better to create a completely new identity that had nothing to do with J.

People are looking for J. The Awakened Management Bureau will also form a search team and start searching for J on a large scale.

Considering that J is an S-rank, it would be several times safer to disguise himself as a Hunter who recently had his Awakening than to be an Unregistered Person who could be mistaken for a Hidden Strength Hunter. They probably wouldn’t even be on the search radar.

Eui-jae continued calmly.

“You’ll admit that the range of movement you can make depends on whether you’re registered as a Hunter or not.”

“…….”

“My request is for you to help me get the lowest possible rank.”

“…….”

“If it’s around E-rank or D-rank, other people won’t pay attention. Because it’s common.”

The ranks of Awakened are divided into S-rank, A, B, C, D, E, and F-rank. The closer to F-rank, the lower the Awakening ability and physical abilities, and F-rank is only slightly stronger than the average person. Sa-young slowly rubbed the cheek part of his Gas mask.

“So… you’re asking me to help you hide your strength when you register.”

“Yeah.”

“Anything else?”

“Grandmother’s treatment.”

“We talked about that last time. Is there anything else?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

Sa-young chuckled softly and pressed the button on the recorder. The light of the Mana Stone gradually faded and returned to its original state completely.

“Then, it’s my turn now.”

He took out a palm-sized dagger from his Inventory and handed it to Eui-jae. Golden laurel leaves were engraved on the blade of the dagger.

[Laurel Branch of Contract (S)

If you draw blood with this dagger and mix it, you can make a contract that can never be broken.

Cursed be the one who breaks the contract.]

“Do you want to stab yourself? Or should I stab you?”

It was a completely absurd statement that made the listener doubt their ears. Is this crazy brat serious? Eui-jae didn’t hide his dumbfounded expression and literally glared at Sa-young.

“Of course I’ll do it, why would you stab my hand?”

“Sometimes there are guys who stab weird places. I told them to cut their palm, and there was a guy who stabbed his thigh….”

Eui-jae narrowed his eyes, as if to say, do I look like the kind of person who would do such a stupid thing? Does such a moron actually exist in this world? Is he trying to commit self-harm and blackmail while sitting down to make a contract?

Eui-jae thought it was ridiculous, but the face in front of him was endlessly serious to dismiss it as a silly joke. Sa-young shrugged.

“It’s more efficient for me to stab you in that case. Less blood, too.”

You’re going to catch someone while being efficient. Sa-young added kindly when Eui-jae didn’t put down the dagger even though he had explained it in his own way.

“It’s okay, I’m good at stabbing. Not painful. Just a prick.”

“Bullshit.”

“I can stab Hyung even less painfully.”

It’s better to just end this quickly. Eui-jae skillfully readjusted his grip on the dagger and asked.

“How much blood do you need?”

“Enough.”

Without hesitation, he slashed his palm, and red blood dripped down the thin crack. Sa-young, who received the dagger, asked.

“Do you have an Antidote? Or an artifact that detoxifies.”

Would I have one?

Eui-jae gestured with his eyes towards the shabby Hangover Soup Restaurant as if to show him. Of course, he had detoxification abilities, but there was no need to reveal all his cards to the suspicious man in front of him right now.

Lee Sa-young placed a glass bottle containing a purple liquid on the table. The liquid in the bottle was sticky like melted slime, and bubbles occasionally bubbled up. The swamp where the Marsh Toad lives seemed to be exactly that color.

Even if he didn’t know exactly what it was, it was definitely a sinister object that didn’t suit the Hangover Soup Restaurant. While Eui-jae was staring at the glass bottle, Lee Sa-young, who had taken off his gloves, kindly cleared up his doubts.

“It’s my personal Antidote.”

“Your personal one?”

“You can’t die while making a contract. Drink it now.”

“…….”

Eui-jae, who was examining the glass bottle in every corner with suspicious eyes, closed his eyes tightly and poured the Antidote into his mouth. The liquid went down quite smoothly, unlike its appearance.

Sa-young, who was quietly holding the dagger, opened his mouth.

“I have one condition to make.”

Without hesitation, he slashed his palm. From the large wound across his palm, a black liquid, rather than blood, dripped down.

“Never betray me.”

With a chilling voice, the table where the liquid touched turned black and burned.