The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low

She spread her arms wide as if to make a grand point.

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"The world has already been ruined twice by those oh-so-great people. Now, we want to do something about it ourselves, but does that bother you so much? Are we supposed to just sit and wait for the Awakeners to save us again, always prioritizing them?"

Her words sounded strange. It was as if she was implying she wasn’t an Awakener herself, and she knew about the two previous apocalypses. Uijae frowned. Gayeong crossed her arms and shook her head with a playful smile.

"Well, I do regret things a little~ I didn’t expect it to happen this quickly. If I’d known, I would have let people feel the fear of the apocalypse before sending them out."

The term "fear of the apocalypse" couldn’t be ignored. Uijae had only learned about it after hearing Gyu-Gyu’s explanation, but Gayeong accepted it as if it were perfectly natural. She accepted everything. Gayeong tilted her head with a curious look.

"Huh? Didn’t you endure it, J? You’re moving around just fine."

"......"

"Oh, I see. Because you’re the traitor of the world, huh? You really are something, always ahead of the curve."

Gayeong’s lips twisted into a smile, dark malice oozing from her expression. The image of people being devoured by giant monsters, the man covered in blood sobbing and clinging to life, flashed in Uijae’s mind. His stomach turned. Were they also dragged into this unwillingly? Or were they brainwashed and driven to their deaths? Gayeong showed no trace of guilt, standing confidently over the blood they shed.

"What’s your goal?"

"My goal?"

Gayeong pulled off the ID card hanging from her neck and tossed it aside. *Splat.* The black liquid quickly dissolved it. Screams echoed in the distance as Uijae tightened his grip on his spear.

"You already know, don’t you? It’s to stop the apocalypse with human strength! We’re not relying on Awakeners who’ve already failed twice."

"......"

"And to stop the apocalypse...."

Gayeong gazed up at the sky with a rapturous expression. Uijae followed her gaze. From the glowing white hole above, monsters continued to pour out. Gayeong giggled.

"...The apocalypse has to come first, right?"

"You speak like you’re not an Awakener."

"Huh? That’s right, I’m not an Awakener."

"But the hospital director..."

"Oh? Oh, that. Ha, that was back when the Awakener registration system still had loopholes. It was easy to fake it. I didn’t even meet the director in person, he was always so busy!"

Every time she spoke in that cheerful tone, Uijae felt his anger boiling inside. No, he couldn’t let emotions take over. He took a deep breath, his patience quickly wearing thin. He stepped forward.

"...You targeted that boy from the start?"

"No~ I didn’t even know he existed at first. They kept him hidden so well. But I did think I’d find something useful when I joined."

"......"

"In the end, it turned out to be the best decision of my life. Right, sweetie?"

Gayeong spoke softly, and the human-like creature kneeling beside her slowly nodded. Could it still be called human? Its mangled skin resembled Sayoung’s past injuries, and its jerky movements mirrored those of the mutated beings. Uijae couldn’t look away, recognizing the horrible truth. It was likely created using Sayoung’s data.

If Sayoung had been unlucky, he could have ended up like that.

"......"

Uijae clenched his teeth so hard they made a grinding sound. Gayeong smiled at him sweetly.

"This is my masterpiece. It’s the strongest thing I’ve ever created, and it follows orders so well. But...."

She sighed dramatically, circling around her creation.

"If I had the boy, it wouldn’t look like such a patchwork mess. That’s a shame~ If I had done more experiments, I might have found a way to fix the mangled skin."

At that moment, a strong hand gripped Gayeong’s neck. She choked, her face twisting in pain as she raised a hand toward her creation. The creature, which had started to rise as if to defend her, immediately knelt again. Gayeong’s feet hovered above the ground as Uijae tightened his hold. She coughed but still managed to smile.

"Ah... uh... is it okay to attack a civilian... like this?"

"......"

"There are so many... ugh... people watching."

"Shut up."

Uijae leaned in close, his voice devoid of emotion, the tone warped by his mask.

"I’m holding back, so just shut up."

"......"

"If it were up to me...."

He tightened his grip. Gayeong’s face grew paler by the second.

"I’d have killed you already."

With a sharp motion, Uijae let go. ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Gayeong collapsed to the ground, clutching her neck and gasping for air. After a long moment of labored breathing, she lifted her head, her bloodshot eyes glaring at him. Her hoarse voice lashed out venomously.

"Why don’t you... just kill me then? Oh, wait, you can’t kill a person, can you?"

"......"

"Hypocrite. All that power, and you just threaten people with it."

Ignoring her taunts, Uijae checked his phone again. No response from Sayoung. Had he lost consciousness again? His mind was a blur, filled with Gayeong’s words, his worry for Sayoung, and the endless stream of monsters falling from the sky. He bit down hard on his tongue until he tasted blood, clearing his head.

‘I need to take this woman in. Either to the Awakener Management Bureau or the Wave Guild. Maybe I can ask Hong Yeseong for help. Or... even the fish market would do.’

There was so much he needed to hear from Gayeong—about Sayoung, about Prometheus. Uijae scrolled through his phone, searching for a contact. Meanwhile, Gayeong staggered over to the creature she had created, muttering as she went.

"That boy... was so useful."

"......"

Uijae’s fingers froze mid-dial. Gayeong gazed into the distance, as if recalling something.

"He never screamed or thrashed around like the others. He endured pain so well."

"......"

"Did you know? He followed me of his own free will."

She chuckled, her shoulders shaking. Lies. That couldn’t be true. Sayoung had promised to wait for him. He had been waiting all this time. Uijae didn’t respond, but he couldn’t fully block out her words either.

"Hey, J... you were around back then, so you know, right? What happened to civilians who got caught up in the Rifts? The ones who lost their limbs or were on the verge of death?"

Most of them died without receiving proper treatment. Even after the Awakener Management Bureau was established, the medical system never fully recovered. There were too many casualties, and the limited medical staff prioritized treating Awakeners who could fight monsters.

"So... what do you think happened to that boy without you around?"

A chill ran down Uijae’s spine, as if cold water had been poured over his burning heart.

Treating a young boy who was on the brink of death required enormous resources and money. Whenever Uijae wasn’t on a mission, he spent his time running dungeons, especially those with poisonous monsters, to gather materials for antidotes. He had also donated large sums of money to the hospital under the guise of "contributing to society."

It had been a luxury only J could afford.

And if J disappeared...

*Crack.* The screen of the phone in Uijae’s hand cracked. Gayeong laughed softly.

"If I hadn’t taken him, that boy would have slowly died. Without any treatment...."

"......"

"For two months, things were fine. People still believed you would return by then. There were plenty of resources, plenty of funds. But by the third month... everything ran dry."

"......"

"That’s when I realized how important you were. Without you, the world started to fall apart. There were manpower shortages, more Awakeners got injured, and more medical supplies and resources were diverted to treating them, leaving civilians to fend for themselves...."

"......"

"Isn’t it funny? How everything starts to break down just because one person is missing?"

Gayeong’s shoulders shook with laughter. She adjusted her crooked glasses.

"The hospital staff, even though you had entrusted that boy to them, couldn’t take care of him for free. There were too few hands, and besides, he wasn’t even an Awakener—just a dying civilian boy. So fewer and fewer people took care of him, and they only provided the bare minimum."

"......"

"So, I took him with me. I even asked him directly."

Uijae stared at her in silence. Gayeong’s lips moved as if relishing her words.

"I asked him if he wanted to come with me and save J. What do you think he said?"