220 – HGL 220

220

‘Okay, then….’

There was a bitter smell of rusty iron and oil. The floor against his cheek was cold and vibrated rhythmically. He listened carefully. He could hear the engine and exhaust. Was it a truck carrying a container? Well, considering the state of the roads, they’d need something like that. While Eui-jae surveyed his surroundings, he heard Mi-jin scolding someone.

“Hey, I told you not to throw her around like that. What if something goes wrong! Cleaning the container is a pain in the ass….”

“……”

“Ah… forget it, forget it. What’s the point of talking to an idiot like you? It’s like talking to a wall….”

“Brother.”

Another voice chimed in. It was the man who had led Eui-jae around and introduced him to the various parts of the tent.

“Where should we put this one?”

“Mmph, mmph,” Ga-eul seemed to be struggling, making muffled sounds. Mi-jin replied nonchalantly.

“Isn’t the container door locked?”

“We can just open it again. There’s no room in the passenger seat.”

“Check the inside first, and if the guy we threw in there earlier is dead, make room and put her in the front. What if she goes crazy next to a corpse?”

“She seemed like an Awakened, even after getting hit with that club. A low-grade one, though….”

“Oh, really? Then she’s probably not dead…. Those guys are unnecessarily tough. Put her in the container. But don’t throw her this time!”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“Listen, miss. If you keep being uncooperative, we’ll have to resort to violence….”

“Mmph! Ugh, mmph!”

“Looks like she has a lot to say. Let’s loosen her gag for a moment.”

“Why, why are you doing this to me? Please let me go! I have to go home….”

Ga-eul shouted bravely. But Mi-jin responded with a sneer.

“Miss, do you think we don’t know you’re an S-class Awakened?”

Ga-eul fell silent. Eui-jae listened more intently. They knew about Ga-eul. How? Even among Hunters, few knew that Yoon Ga-eul was an S-class Awakened. At most, they’d know that the hidden S-class was a third-year high school student and a mental-type Awakened.

Mi-jin changed her tone, sounding almost pleading.

“We know all about your ability, too. You remember the Destroyed world, don’t you? Are you going to run away this time, too? Without stopping it? Brainwashing yourself that it can’t be helped?”

“……”

“We want to stop Doomsday, too. Shouldn’t we try everything we can to do that?”

Ga-eul, who had been silent, asked.

“…What do you want from me?”

“Hyung wants to see you.”

Hyung. Mi-jin’s voice changed slightly. It sounded like a fanatic, someone who believed in something blindly.

“Hyung has remembered Doomsday since very early on. He foresaw that Doomsday would come to this world someday, and he gathered us.”

“……”

“You’re an Awakened, and you have a valuable ability. We can cooperate. Meet Hyung and talk to him. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a clue to solving this crisis.”

“…Is that really all?”

“Of course. We’ll just have a conversation and safely return you to where you were.”

“How can I believe that? You kidnapped me and dragged me here….”

“We apologize for using such a rough method. We clearly told them to bring you here safely…. Those idiots must have misunderstood. They still don’t understand what we say.”

“……”

“Will you come with us?”

“You’re going to drag me along even if I say no, aren’t you?”

“……”

“…Please tell them to take their hands off me. I’ll get in on my own.”

Tap, tap, footsteps approached. Clang, the lock was released. Eui-jae quickly closed his eyes. Instead of Ga-eul, another man entered the container first. He approached Eui-jae and bent down. He put his finger under his nose and checked his pulse, grumbling.

“What the…. He’s still alive. He’s disgustingly tough.”

“……”

“Hey, miss. Get in.”

“……”

“Don’t think about doing anything else. Let’s go nicely.”

Light footsteps approached Eui-jae. Ga-eul sat down next to Eui-jae and huddled up. The door closed again, and he heard the sound of it being locked. At the same time, Eui-jae opened his eyes and quickly raised his head. “Gasp,” Ga-eul stifled a scream. Eui-jae whispered in a small voice.

“Student Ga-eul, why are you here? Weren’t you at school?”

“A, are you okay? You were hit really hard!”

“I was faking it. Didn’t even tickle. Why are you here?”

“How could I be at school…. With the situation like this. A-After I came to, I told Director and was on my way to the Awakened Management Bureau. But….”

Ga-eul sobbed and adjusted her crooked glasses. The car started with a roar, and the center of gravity shifted sharply to one side.

“People in white clothes grabbed me. They asked if I was Yoon Ga-eul. So I said no at first, but….”

She held up her student ID card with a gloomy face. Yoon Ga-eul, the three letters were emblazoned in large print. Eui-jae lowered his head solemnly. Ga-eul sniffled.

“I didn’t think about the student ID. I was out of it….”

“……”

“So I got dragged here. Where’s J?”

“I infiltrated to find out about these guys. I figured they wouldn’t see me as a Hunter in this getup?”

“That’s true.”

“The excuse I made was that I was looking for my lost sibling? And I borrowed Student Ga-eul’s personal information for that. I figured she’d be at school anyway. Thought it’d be a good excuse.”

“……”

“I didn’t know you’d be here….”

What kind of cruel twist of fate was this? Ga-eul lowered her head gloomily.

“I’m sorry, it’s because of me.”

“No, I got on here of my own volition.”

If he really wanted to, he could escape. He could just tear off the container door and jump out. He’d roll around on the road a bit, but that wouldn’t even count as a scratch. Eui-jae pressed his cheek against the container floor, lying prone, and racked his brain. This was actually good. From what he heard, they were going to meet the person who created Prometheus. He couldn’t miss such a good opportunity. Eui-jae muttered.

“Student Ga-eul, I’m really sorry to say this.”

“Yes….”

“I could escape with Student Ga-eul, but I’m not going to.”

Ga-eul pushed up her glasses and nodded, rubbing her eyes roughly with her sleeve. Eui-jae rolled his eyes and looked at Ga-eul.

“You’ve noticed that Doomsday is accelerating, right?”

“Yes, th-those big Monsters…. I remember them. They’re the ones that appear at the beginning of Doomsday.”

This world was already on the path to Doomsday. There was no escaping. Doomsday would chase them until destruction came. They could only move forward. Eui-jae muttered.

“There’s a huge variable in our world called Prometheus. A variable we don’t know about. Even if we want to stop Doomsday, we can’t make a plan without excluding those guys.”

“That’s right.”

“If we can’t exclude them…. I think we need to find out more about them.”

“……”

“I’m going to get everything we can out of this opportunity and then leave. What do you think?”

“…Can we escape?”

Ga-eul looked at Eui-jae with anxious eyes. Eui-jae propped himself up on his elbows. And he grinned, showing his teeth.

“I’m J, you know.”

“……”

“Trust me.”

The anxiety on Ga-eul’s face faded a little. Instead, a faint smile appeared. She smiled and nodded. Eui-jae said solemnly. Ga-eul also seemed nervous and cowered.

“And, we need to coordinate our story a little.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Should we say we’re siblings with different last names? It’s pretty common after the Day of the Rift. People who aren’t blood-related forming families.”

Ga-eul made a face like she’d lost all her energy. Eui-jae suddenly checked his wristwatch. Cha Eui-jae had wanted to be family with Lee Sa-young. He knew. He knew that his only family, his aunt, wouldn’t be coming back. That’s why he might have clung to Lee Sa-young even more…. He felt like that kid would become his family. Because they were each other’s only family. He wanted to keep him by his side, even if it was just as family.

‘Hyung, do you kiss your siblings?’

At that moment, a voice mixed with laughter popped into his head. At the same time, thump! Eui-jae hit his head on the floor. Ga-eul gasped softly.

…I didn’t expect it to change like this.

Eui-jae rubbed his forehead against the steel floor. The many thoughts that had been complicating his mind were converging on one name.

Lee Sa-young.

Was Lee Sa-young okay? Eui-jae sighed briefly.

Jung-bin said that he had melted the lab. That he had stood alone in the wreckage, covered in Poison.

…He didn’t remember it well.

Had his brain erased the memories to protect his body and mind? It was impossible to know. Lee Sa-young’s last memory was only the sensation of being hot and suffocated, as if he were in boiling lava. He could barely recall even that.

The days when he lived with Jung-bin and Bae Won-woo in the old house. They asked him every night. What was the lab like? Do you remember anything? Do you remember anyone? It would be good if you could remember anything. That way we can find those bastards and punish them…. Every time, Lee Sa-young shook his head. There was only one answer he could give.

‘I don’t know.’

It was strange. He remembered the time he was in the hospital so clearly. But no matter how hard he tried to remember, it was no use. Sa-young took Ga-young’s hand, struggled to get out of the hospital, and got into a strange car. His memory stopped there.

“It’s probably a protective mechanism.”

A black shadow muttered. Lee Sa-young raised his head. The black shadow, which had suddenly sprung up from the floor, was staring at him intently. At that moment, the shadow raised the corners of its mouth and smiled.

“You ran away, you did.”

At the same time, Lee Sa-young glared at the shadow.