The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

…Why?

I froze in place, dumbfounded at the sight of Lee Sa-young trespassing in someone else’s shop. How the hell did he open the closed door and come in, and why is he sitting in the middle of the hall protesting?

The number one, no, the former number one hunter, was committing various crimes that led to obstruction of business and intrusion of buildings. Sitting cross-legged, the gas mask’s head turned lazily towards him, his voice low and sullen.

“Did you sleep well?”

Contrary to the friendly question, it was a voice that seemed to have crawled up from hell. It was clear that the person who had been sleeping well woke up and asked if he had slept well had a good conscience. Instead of answering, I answered with a question.

“What are you doing here?”

It was a fair enough question, but the gas mask’s momentum grew more menacing. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but the violet eyes behind the lenses flashed for a moment and glared at him.

“What are you doing?”

“…….”

“That’s for me to say.”

Don’t tell me… did he find something about me? Considering his moves and information skills so far, it was not a very unreasonable guess. I slowly clenched my fist and waited for the next word to flow out of his mouth.

“Why don’t you call me first?”

“…….”

“Shit, I’ve been waiting for you for two weeks.”

My heart sank. Crazy bastard, was that it?

Judging from the terrible energy that was shaking next to him, Lee Sa-young seemed to be breathing. I think he’s angry and he’s upset that I left him alone to go do something fun….

I don’t mean to do it in front of someone who’s been waiting for me to call, but to be honest, it’s not that I didn’t contact you, it’s just that-

“I forgot…”

I completely forgot that I had to answer Lee Sa-young’s trade offer.

Of course, I had my own reasons. Anyway, if I honestly said I’d forgotten, the deal would be off, and the whole thing would be a blank slate. So, I came up with the best excuse I could.

“First of all, work was busy.”

“Ha.”

Sa-young snorted. However, Ui-jae continued firmly.

“I’ve also been thinking about it.”

“Alas, I see you were thinking about it.”

Lee Sa-young openly sarcasm and leaned his chin as if to say more. I had an urge to give a big clout to the top of his head at the moment. Why does this guy’s heart look like a twisted bread stick?

At that moment, there was one thought that flashed through my mind.

Oh, no way…

‘Because you lost 1st place to J?’

I mean, that gas masked bastard may look skinny, but he’d been number one for six years in a row, so he must have been pretty shocked to be dethroned by someone who suddenly died one day.

There was pity in Ui-jae’s gaze. Lee Sa-young murmured irritably.

“What’s with the look in your eyes?”

“Nothing…. cheer up.”

“Are you teasing me?”

“You’re kidding, I’m more serious than ever.”

“Oh, that’s enough. I filmed an advertisement for someone, but I was left unattended for two weeks. You know you’re a piece of shit.”

Sa-young waved his hand with a disgusting expression. However, I was also unhappy about his public service announcement.

Lee Sa-young’s public service advertisement, which was not like a public service advertisement for me, was popping out at the end of every popular program, causing mental pain to hunters watching TV. I folded my arms.

“What the hell is that commercial? Why did you suddenly start doing that?”

“Hyung only like people who shoot commercials, what can I do?”

“What kind of bullshit is this?”

“Jung-bin, Honeybee.”

I could not dare to follow the flow of Lee Sa-young’s thoughts that bounced like a rubber ball.

What Jungbin and Honeybee have in common is that they both want to impose a ban on access to this store That’s about it. What did Lee Sa-young think of doing such a bizarre thing?

Sa-young pointed at Honeybee’s autographed poster with a chin gesture.

“That’s your taste?”

“Honeybee just gave it away.”

“What about Jungbin’s autograph?”

“He sent it by registered mail.”

“Fuck, sell that one to the tomato market.”

I stood up with my mouth closed and headed for the dispenser. His eyes glued to me as I moved. It was too insistent and persistent to ignore.

I, who couldn’t resist the appearance of staring at the water until the moment I poured the water, turned around and looked at him, and pointed at my’s foot with his chin as if Sa-young had been waiting.

“Feet.”

“What?”

“Do you usually go barefoot?”

Oh, that’s right. Only then did I look down at my feet. I came out to kill the presence as much as possible and surprise him, but when I saw Lee Sa-young sitting in the hall like his it’s his room, I lost my will to surprise him, so I walked around the store barefoot.

I wiggled his toes and replied brazenly.

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

“Why don’t you wear slippers?”

No wonder he looked displeased. Who’s the reason I ran out barefoot this late at night.

“You’ve had two weeks to think about it.”

“Yes.”

“…….”

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

“Wait.”

Sa-young took out a finger-length item from the inventory. Blue Mana Stone on LCD, buttons, and edges. It was a Mana Stone recorder that attracted all S-rank hunter to the tomato market and this haejang-guk.

“Either hyung or I, it would be better to have solid evidence.”

“I’m going to record it. What if the recordings are leaked?”

“We’ll just use it to write a contract and then we’ll be done with it.”

“…….”

Sa-young spread out his gloved hands and waved them impatiently in front of my eyes. The recorder meant that it would melt like a ladle without worrying. That expensive thing is a disposable recorder for you.

I pressed the button, and the recorder was placed in the center of the table. The mana stone began to glow blue.

“Well, let’s get started.”

This procedure sounded familiar and skillful. Ui-jae, who nodded his head gently, raised his index finger.

“First, I don’t work during the operation hours of the haejang-guk house. Whatever you ask and demand, I will only do it between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., when the hangover soup restaurant is closed.”

“Aha.”

Sa-young, who had been agonizing for a while, soon nodded willingly.

“Yeah. What about the second?”

“”I need you to help me register as a hunter.”

“Huh? Didn’t I tell you that last time.”

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

“I need an unknown person.”

“I know. Hear me out.”

I had no intention of working as a hunter again, but now that J’s existence has been revealed, the situation has changed. For the future, it was concluded that it would be better to create a completely new identity that has nothing to do with J.

People look for J. The Awakening Management Bureau will also set up a search team to begin searching for J.

Considering that J was in S-rank, it would be several times safer to disguise himself as a hunter who recently awakened rather than being an unregistered person who could be misunderstood hiding his power. I probably won’t even be detected.

I went on calmly.

“You’ll admit that you have different ranges of movement depending on whether you’re a registered hunter or not.”

“…….”

“My requirement is to let me have the lowest possible rating.”

“…….”

“If it’s grade E or D rank, other people won’t be interested. Because it’s common.”

The grades of awakeners are divided into rank S to A, B, C, D, E, and F. The closer to the F rank, the lower the awakening ability and physical ability, and the F rank was only a little stronger than the general public. Lee Sa-young slowly rubbed the cheek of the gas mask.

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

“Yes.”

“Anything else?”

“Grandma treatment.”

“I told you that last time. Anything else?”

“That’s all.”

“Good.”

Sa-young smiled low and pressed the button on the recorder. The light of mana stone gradually died down and completely returned to its original state.

“Now it’s my turn, then.”

He took out a palm-sized dagger from his inventory and handed it to me. The dagger’s blade was engraved with a golden bay leaf.

[Laurel Branch of the Covenant (S)
If you bleed and mix with this dagger, you can make a contract that you can never break.
Curse him who breaks the contract.]

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

It was a very baseless remark that made the listener doubt. Is he serious? I didn’t hide my disbelief and literally stared at Sa-young.

“Of course I’ll do it. Why would you poke my hand?”

“Sometimes there are people who poke in strange places. I told him to draw his palm, but some poked his thigh…”

I squinted my eyes to see if I looked like a person who would do such a stupid thing. Do you mean that there is such a thing in this world? Are you trying to blackmail me while sitting down to sign a contract.

I thought it was nonsense, but the face in front of him was infinitely serious to dismiss it as a silly joke. Lee Sa-young shrugged his shoulders.

“In that case, it’s more efficient for me to stab you. Less blood.”

You’re going to get someone after all this efficiency stuff. Sa-young added affectionately when I did not let go of the dagger, even though he explained it kindly in his own way.

“It’s all right, I’m good at poking. So that it doesn’t hurt. Just stings.”

“Bullshit.”

“If you were my hyung, I might stab you less painfully.”

I’d better just get it over with. I skillfully fixed the dagger and asked.

“How much blood do you need?”

“Just enough.”

As I drew my palm without hesitation, red blood dripped down the thin incontinence. Handed the dagger, Sa-young asked,

“Do you have antidote?” Artifacts that detoxify it.”

Do you?

I glanced inside the shabby haejang-guk house. Of course he had an antidote, but he didn’t need to reveal his entire hand to the suspicious man in front of him.

Lee Sa-young put a glass bottle containing purple liquid on the table. The liquid in the bottle was sticky as if slime had been melted, and bubbles sometimes boiled. I think that’s the colour of the swamp where the swamp toad lives.

I don’t know exactly what that is, but it was clear that it was a hideous item that didn’t suit the haejang-guk house. While I stared at the glass bottle, Lee Sa-young, who took off his gloves, kindly answer the question.

“It’s my own antidote.”

“It’s for me?”

“You can’t die during the contract. Drink it now.”

“…….”

Ui-jae, who was looking at the glass bottle with suspicious eyes, closed his eyes tightly and poured the antidote into his mouth. The liquid went quite smoothly, unlike what it looked like. Sa-young, who was holding the dagger still, opened his mouth.

“I have one condition.”

Without hesitation, he slashed his palm. A large gash across his palm, a liquid too pale to be blood, dripped from the back of his hand.

“Never betray.”

His voice was chilling, and the table where the liquid touched burned brightly.