182 – HGL 182

182

Dazed eyes, as if covered by an opaque film, stared blankly at Cha Eui-jae. Eyes of a dead man, devoid of the vitality he had when he was alive. The face that shyly offered an Elixir, the liveliness with which he ordered more Hangover Soup, had long vanished.

Yet, Eui-jae couldn’t take his eyes off the face. He struggled to find traces of the person he knew in the small object.

‘Why?’

His mind wouldn’t work. It felt as if only the head of the brown bear, with thorns sticking out all over its face, and himself existed in the world. The pupils, which had lost their life without even realizing it, were dim. His chest felt tight. His vision blurred.

Why was he here like this, why had he become like this? He had so many questions, but he couldn’t answer them. Because it was Cha Eui-jae himself who had cut off his head.

It was at that moment. Kikigik, the sound of sharp objects colliding echoed. His actions were faster than his thoughts. Before his foot, which had kicked off the ground, even touched the ground, a spear pierced through flesh and bone. Puh-ook! Eui-jae gritted his teeth. Pak, blood burst out.

He released the spear from his hand. Instead, he clenched his fist. Before the pierced body even fell to the ground, his firm fist shattered the rushing thorns.

Kaga-ga-gak! The shattered thorns bounced off his fist and face, but didn’t even leave a scratch. In the short moment of striking the hard head, Eui-jae captured the opponent’s face in his eyes. And he was relieved. It was a stranger, he was.

Kwaang!!

Dudududuk, along with the sound of bones breaking, the body hit by the fist flew away and crashed somewhere. Kung, kung, kung, his heart beat. He wiped the cold sweat from his palms on his pants and pulled the spear from the body that had collapsed on the floor. Blood splattered on the black Walker. Eui-jae plunged the spear into the ground.

The thick dust hadn’t settled yet.

Eui-jae raised his head. A Whitehole rippling in the hazy sky. The events that had just occurred felt like a dream. Eui-jae blankly stared at the sky and unknowingly smiled. Because a ridiculous thought came to mind. Was it possible that he had been dreaming for a while and was only now returning to reality?

Yes, he had thought it was strange that only good things were happening. His reality was always like this.

He felt empty.

At that moment,

A strong force grabbed Eui-jae’s arm tightly. Eui-jae instinctively struck whatever was grabbing his arm with his elbow. However, his elbow was also caught by something hard. A calm voice was heard.

“It’s me, Hyung.”

“…Ah.”

Eui-jae blinked. Lee Sa-young, who had followed him, was holding his arm tightly. Only then did Eui-jae take a deep breath. He must have been holding his breath without realizing it. He felt a weight in his hand. He was still holding the brown bear’s head.

A fit of coughing erupted. Heo-uk, as he bent his upper body, a large hand followed, supporting his body and stroking his back. He barely stopped coughing. But his body was still shaking.

Cha Eui-jae was trembling. To an unsightly degree.

“…Ugh.”

He kept feeling nauseous. He felt like he was going to throw up. The world was spinning. His hand lost strength. The head he had been holding onto fell with a thud.

As a large hand wrapped around his neck and pulled him in, Eui-jae was helplessly dragged along. A low voice whispered in his ear.

“Why all of a sudden…”

“……”

“Will you tell me? Why are you doing this?”

The hand around his neck stroked his hair. It was a gentle touch, as if urging him.

“…He was a customer.”

Eui-jae stammered. The person holding him tightly was the only one who could share his secret at this moment. The only person he couldn’t tell anyone else. The only person who knew both J and Cha Eui-jae.

“He was a customer at the Hanover Soup Restaurant…. It’s not a mistake. I’m sure. He even gave me a gift. The Elixir you just used… he gave it to me.”

“Yeah.”

“Why…. Since when? It’s only been three months since the store closed. Why…”

With each word, his rapidly beating heart gradually calmed down. It was strange. Just uttering the words he had to keep to himself was enough to calm him down like this. Sa-young didn’t answer and just listened. His panting soon stabilized. The black hand continued to stroke his back.

Lee Sa-young asked.

“Do you want to run away?”

Eui-jae blankly mulled over the voice. Did he want to run away? No. He couldn’t run away.

“You can.”

He raised his head at the firm voice. Lee Sa-young was looking down at Eui-jae with an unreadable expression.

“If that’s what Hyung wants.”

“……”

“I’ll go with you.”

A murmuring sound faintly entered his ears. Only now did he realize the presence of other people. Eui-jae gently pushed Sa-young away. And bit his tongue hard. A-deuk, the sound was audible.

Thanks to the stinging pain and the bitter taste of blood, he barely regained his senses. Sa-young frowned at the sight.

“Right now…”

“It’s not.”

As he cut off the words firmly, Sa-young quietly closed his mouth. He didn’t seem to like it, but he didn’t voice his complaints. Eui-jae swallowed the blood-mixed saliva.

“It’s not like I’m being stubborn. It’s just…”

“……”

“I just… don’t want to run away again. Don’t misunderstand.”

The dust gradually settled. Soon their appearance would be revealed to the people. This time he was prepared. Prepared to show his true self. Eui-jae smiled. Though Sa-young wouldn’t be able to see it.

“Still, thank you. I’ll remember it.”

Because now there was someone who would run away with him if necessary.

The dust had completely settled. Countless gazes pierced his skin. Anxiety and fear, mixed with curious gazes. Murmurs were heard.

Wow, it’s J. Where did he suddenly come from? And Lee Sa-young is next to him? What’s going on? Are they really together? They don’t seem to be on bad terms.

Eui-jae skillfully swung the spear to shake off the blood, then put it into his Inventory. The gazes followed his every move. Fortunately, it wasn’t a negative feeling. Rather…

‘Are they enjoying it?’

Eui-jae put his hands behind his back for no reason. It was a long time since he had felt this way. When he was with Min-gi Seo, he would quickly take care of things and disappear before anyone noticed. Because he didn’t want to stand in front of people’s gazes.

Sa-young, who was leaning with his arms crossed, yawned loudly as if to show off. Small screams erupted from here and there. Eui-jae glanced at Sa-young and muttered.

“What’s your image anyway…”

“You can see it, right? How long are you going to stay here?”

“No… I wanted to examine the body a bit. It’s not good to examine the body on my own. Someone must have reported it.”

People who had experienced the Day of the Rift and the Day of Change had become thorough in reporting. If any problems arose, they would immediately report it to the Rift Management Bureau and Awakened Management Bureau hotline. It was something that schools and public service advertisements loudly proclaimed. Because that was how the lives of swept-away civilians could be guaranteed.

“Well, they probably did…”

“I’ll talk to the Rift Management Bureau or the Bureau of Rift Management Hunter and—”

At that moment, several hurried footsteps were heard. Speak of the devil, they had arrived just in time. Eui-jae shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “See?” Sa-young snorted.

“Excuse me. Please step back. Further…”

The sound of hurried shoes gradually stopped. Sa-young twisted the corners of his lips.

“Is that why you told me to wait?”

“…No.”

He didn’t expect this person to come.

The man gave instructions to the Hunters who had run with him with a few gestures, then approached the two people standing tall. A gentle smile hung on his warm face.

“Ah, J. And… Lee Sa-young. You two took care of it? Thank you.”

Jung-bin, tidying his disheveled hair from running, bowed his head. J also bowed his head. After a brief greeting, Jung-bin took out a small device from his inner pocket, manipulated it, and pressed a button.

Kugugugung! The ground rumbled and a wall rose from the floor. The large wall circled the spot where they were standing, isolating them from the civilians.

‘What a great invention…’

As Eui-jae looked around, Jung-bin smiled.

“It’s Hong Ye-seong’s new invention. Since you two are receiving a lot of public attention… I thought it would be better if you weren’t exposed too much.”

“Why… Ah.”

Eui-jae followed Jung-bin’s gaze and saw Lee Sa-young’s neck, which was mottled with blue bruises from handprints. Damn it. Eui-jae quietly looked at the floor. Jung-bin looked at Sa-young with worried eyes.

“Did you get treatment?”

“None of your business.”

“I see you don’t want to answer. I understand. You must be very tired.”

Jung-bin, who had cheerfully withdrawn his attention, looked around. And gave his attention to the head near Eui-jae’s feet. Would he recognize it? Jung-bin wasn’t a regular, so he might not recognize it. His mouth felt dry.

Jung-bin’s face hardened.

“This is… Excuse me for a moment.”

Jung-bin carefully picked up the head and examined it from side to side. Eui-jae swallowed hard and asked.

“…Do you recognize the face?”

“…Yes, I recognize him.”

Jung-bin sighed. He looked at the severed head with pity.

“He’s a Hunter who went missing a while ago. The Guild Master reported it himself. He’s a Hunter from the Magok Guild…”

Eui-jae’s eyes widened. It was a different answer than he had expected. Missing? Jung-bin carefully stroked the face with thorns sticking out. The dull eyes, without focus or vitality, disappeared under the eyelids.

“The number of missing Hunter reports being received recently has increased. Even for people who haven’t entered Dungeons or Rifts. Most of them are low-ranking Hunters, and when they are found…”

“……”

“…They usually look like this.”

Like this. Eui-jae stared at the other corpse he had pierced with his spear. A grotesque Mutation with thorns protruding from all over its body. It was clear that Prometheus had a hand in it. Jung-bin said.

“Nam Woo-jin suspects that someone is kidnapping Awakened and experimenting on them. The period is too short to be addicted to drugs. Unless it’s a high-intensity drug…”

“But it wouldn’t be easy to kidnap Awakened.”

“It would be easy if there was a traitor.”

Sa-young, who had been quiet, chimed in. He stared at the head Jung-bin was holding with a dry look.

“Low-ranking Awakened can’t beat high-ranking Awakened even if they die and come back to life. It’s not like Prometheus’s combat power is outstanding either. At best, he just makes this kind of… garbage.”

“……”

“It can’t be ruled out that someone among the Hunters was involved… No, it’s probably quite high.”

“…That person would be a Ranker.”

Silence fell after the ominous words. Eui-jae closed his eyes. A small regret flashed through his mind. If he hadn’t closed the Hanover Soup Restaurant, could he have noticed the anomaly a little earlier?

But there was no time to regret.

Now, it was time to act.