By Zephyria The corners of his lips twitched. But despite his efforts, he couldn’t hide the rising corners of his mouth.
‘Acting… you’ve gotten pretty good, haven’t you?’
Indeed, his acting skills had improved quite a bit compared to before. Eui-jae rubbed his chin and straightened his hunched back slightly. A sense of pride welled up within him. At this rate, he could debut as an actor, just like Yang Hye-jin said.
In fact, given the state of the world, it was not uncommon for Hunters and entertainers to work together. Hunter and actor, or model, and so on. Actors mainly worked in the action field. Because they could do actions that ordinary people could only do with advanced training. In the latter case….
‘Honeybee was working as a model and a Hunter at the same time.’
Eui-jae fiddled with his black hair. The reason Eui-jae could roam around so freely was thanks to Honeybee’s hair dye.
‘I should send her a gift when this is over.’
Eui-jae glanced back. People were either clutching their injuries and sobbing, or staring blankly at the ceiling. Several people were holding down a man writhing in pain. It was a familiar sight. More so than people’s laughter and a peaceful world.
“……”
There was a strange smell, a mixture of disinfectant, blood, and dust. Eui-jae closed his eyes. The commotion subsided. Strangely, he felt at ease. It was as if he had come a long way, and finally returned to where he belonged.
He rubbed his lips with his thumb and opened the barrier. People in white clothes were moving busily like ants. They were wearing white clothes, but there were also burly men guarding the entrance. Their eyes were glazed over. Probably….
‘Hunters who have been modified or test subjects…?’
Eui-jae examined the faces of the burly men. Fortunately, he didn’t recognize any of them. The Basilisk incident must have been quite shocking, even for me. A red scene flashed before his eyes for a moment. Eui-jae swallowed a bitter smile.
He could feel the glances of the busy people. Eui-jae sat down on a plastic chair. The plastic legs scraped against the asphalt with a screech. As if waiting for him, someone approached.
“I heard what you said. You’re looking for your younger sister.”
It was a woman with clear eyes. Maybe in her 30s. Eui-jae nodded instead of answering. The woman bowed politely and handed him a notebook and pen.
“My name is Lee Mi-jin. Could you write down your younger sister’s description here? The more detailed, the better. They said the description you gave earlier was too broad, so they don’t think they can get any meaningful information even if they ask around.”
“Yes…. I understand.”
Eui-jae took the pen and pondered for a moment. The description he had roughly given earlier was Yoon Ga-eul’s. It had to be someone he actually knew so that he could answer sudden questions without raising suspicion. And….
‘She’s probably at school at this hour.’
He had to hope so. Even though Ga-eul was an S-Class, she wasn’t a combat-specialized Hunter. Eui-jae began to write down the description in the notebook. Yoon Ga-eul, 19 years old, female, brown hair, round face, glasses, school uniform…. Meanwhile, Mi-jin poured warm water into a paper cup and pushed it towards him. Eui-jae handed over the notebook and asked cautiously.
“Um, would it be okay if I kept the pen? My, my hands feel so empty…. I, I’ll return it when I leave.”
“Oh my…. Oh dear, of course. Feel free to keep it.”
“Th, thank you.”
Mi-jin checked the notebook and handed it to someone passing by, nodding. The person who received the notebook hurried away. She sat next to Eui-jae.
Eui-jae picked up the paper cup. Steam rose from it. It didn’t feel that hot on Eui-jae’s hands, but….
‘She might be testing me.’
Eui-jae deliberately held the top of the paper cup and blew on it.
“It’s hot.”
“Warm water is better for calming the mind than cold water.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You must have been very surprised?”
“Yes, a little….”
He was surprised. How could he not be surprised when people were collectively spaced out? Eui-jae glanced at Mi-jin and asked.
“You don’t seem surprised, Miss.”
“Is that so? Maybe it’s because I’ve been preparing for a long time.”
Mi-jin covered her mouth and smiled. Eui-jae deliberately widened his eyes.
“You’ve been preparing? For what?”
“Preparing my heart. You might think I’m crazy if I say this, but….”
Mi-jin stared into the air with a longing look.
“I’ve known it for a long time. That a day like this would come someday.”
“……”
“Have you ever had strange memories come to mind? Memories that are definitely yours, but you’ve never done those things.”
Eui-jae hesitated and fiddled with his hands. Mi-jin added as if to reassure him.
“Don’t worry. I won’t think it’s strange. I’ve been through it too.”
Only then did Eui-jae slowly nod. He had to play along to get her to talk more. He stammered.
“Th, um, it’s been like that since the Day of Change…. I haven’t told anyone, but….”
She smiled gently.
“Ah, I see. Don’t worry. There are so many people who have experienced that phenomenon since the Day of Change.”
“……”
“Can you tell me what kind of memories you’ve had?”
She’s really digging deep. Eui-jae hesitated without speaking. Fortunately, Mi-jin seemed to think it was because of resistance and gently urged him.
“Are they memories that are difficult to talk about?”
“No, it’s just that I’ve never talked about this to anyone before…. It’s a bit unfamiliar.”
Eui-jae scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.
“You know. If you talk about this anywhere…. Um, you’ll be treated like a crazy person.”
“That’s right. There are so many people who are afraid of that. But I think we should share the stories we keep inside. Humans need to be each other’s strength.”
She’s really good at talking. Mi-jin was about to stay by his side until she heard it. It seemed like she had come to his side to hear this in the first place. There was no choice. He had to make something up that sounded plausible. It was then.
“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!”
A scream came from somewhere, with someone’s mouth covered. It was very small, but it was definitely a woman’s voice. Mi-jin was looking at Eui-jae with a gentle smile, as if she hadn’t heard it or was pretending not to. The other people were also ignoring the sound.
‘If I act like I know here….’
I’ll get caught. That I’m an Awakened. Before speaking, Eui-jae took a deep breath as if to calm his mind, and drank the water in the paper cup. The aftertaste was strangely bitter. At the same time, his vision spun for a moment, but soon stabilized. He had felt this sensation before.
The sensation he felt when Basilisk’s Poison was being detoxified.
‘Ah… F***. Wait a minute.’
A vein popped out on Eui-jae’s temple.
‘These crazy brats put something in the water too….’
Eui-jae carefully ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth. What did they mix in? First of all, it wasn’t Poison. Even if it was Poison, there was no System notification that it had been detoxified, so it couldn’t be that great of a Poison. A sedative? A tranquilizer? A drug? The drug would be for Awakened. Did they put drugs in the water in case an Awakened infiltrated?
No, but why are they messing with the food?
Eui-jae looked at the ceiling. He didn’t forget to sigh as if he was troubled. He really was troubled.
‘This is really hopeless….’
“Mmmph! Mmph!”
The woman’s scream got closer. Thud, thud, the sound of struggling also got louder. Some people hesitated as if they had heard the sound. It was about time to act like he knew. Eui-jae turned to Mi-jin with the most harmless face he could muster.
“Um, can’t you hear something…?”
“Hear something? What kind of sound are you talking about?”
“That, like a mmph mmph sound.”
“Um…. I can’t hear anything.”
Mi-jin shook her head with a puzzled look. Eui-jae got up from his seat as if he hadn’t heard the answer. And headed straight for the source of the sound. Mi-jin hurriedly followed.
“Wait a minute! What are you doing….”
“I’m sorry, the voice sounds like my younger sister’s… I’m sorry, you can call me crazy, but I just want to check once!”
Eui-jae blurted out whatever came to mind and yanked open the tent. And.
“……”
“……”
Being dragged away with her mouth covered by a burly man’s hand….
“……Yoon Ga-eul?”
He ran into Yoon Ga-eul.
Ga-eul was struggling, grabbing the burly man’s arm with her glasses all askew. In the midst of that, she suddenly heard her name and widened her eyes, looking at Eui-jae. Her eyes were filled with shock. Eui-jae probably had the same expression. Why was a student who should be at school here? And she’s even being dragged away!
Eui-jae turned to Mi-jin with a shocked face. Mi-jin covered her face with her hands and sighed deeply.
“It would have been better for both of us if we had just talked and left nicely. Such curiosity is a sin.”
“……Excuse me?”
“Since you’ve seen it, there’s no choice. We have no choice but to drag you along too.”
Mi-jin snapped her fingers, and the burly men standing nearby strode over. Mi-jin waved her hand.
“Don’t hit too hard, and don’t make him an idiot. Just knock him out enough to lose consciousness. He might be useful.”
It seemed like they were going to hit him once and take him away. Wait, isn’t this a good thing?
‘Aren’t they taking me to their base?’
The burly man approached with rough breaths. Eui-jae stepped back and prayed.
‘Please hit me with something strong.’
He prayed repeatedly.
‘Please hit me with something sturdy!’
A metal bar would just bend!
Fortunately, the burly man was holding a heavy club. That should be good enough. Whoosh— the club flew through the air, cutting through the wind. The moment the club touched his face, Eui-jae threw himself as if he had been hit by the club.
Thud—!! Eui-jae collapsed in the middle of an icebox and cardboard boxes.
‘I’ve even mastered Hollywood action….’
Eui-jae praised his acting and closed his eyes with satisfaction. Mmph! Ga-eul screamed. Mi-jin snapped her fingers again. Thud, a sturdy hand grabbed Eui-jae’s ankle and began to drag him away.
“I heard she’s Yoon Ga-eul’s brother? It’s good that you’re not lonely. Hey, put him in the car with her.”
Mi-jin chuckled. The burly man picked Eui-jae up upside down. His ball cap fell weakly to the ground. The burly man swung Eui-jae like a pendulum a few times, then threw him somewhere.
Bang! Bang! Eui-jae hit the wall a couple of times before falling to the ground. Thwack! Clang! The door closed. Darkness fell.
At the same time, Eui-jae opened his eyes wide.