The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

“Oh, I’m not shooting at you.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, have you been downgraded enough? If it’s not enough, you have to take a weak potion.”

I measured my physical condition by moving my limbs little by little. It was a long way off. This was why he was barely a B-rank. I shook my head.

“I don’t think it’ll be enough.”

“I knew it, and I’ve been preparing for it. Hold on.”

Just in time, the traffic light was red. Ming-ki took a large paper box out of the inventory and handed it over. When I opened the lid, 10 glass bottles containing white liquid were neatly contained.

“It’s an A-rank weakening pot. It’s a masterpiece made in one night by the potion makers of the Pado Guild.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. The guild leader promised a 300% bonus, so everyone scrambled to work overtime.”

That’s some kind of money. I thought for a moment.

‘It’s not my money.’

I pulled out a bottle with a lightened expression and reflected it in the air. Min-ki murmured with a somehow determined face.

“It’s supposed to be used on weapons… You won’t get any serious problems if you drink it. It went through a complete biopsy yesterday.”

My head, which was looking around at the opaque liquid, stood tall. Who the hell did you experiment with? I was staring at Min-ki with suspicious eyes for a moment, opened the lid and drank the potion without hesitation.

However, the sensation that came to my body was a little different from Min-ki’s words.

‘What difference does it make?’

Unlike bracelets that worked as soon as they were worn, the potion did not change. The name alone is too futile to say that it was made as a result of a terrifying biological experiment. I opened the second bottle with a mysterious face.

“What do you think?”

Without answering, I drank the second bottle. But the condition remained the same.

‘Is there really no difference?’

Min-ki asked carefully.

“If it’s not rude, can I ask you for an answer? If you’re not feeling well, you should take an antidote right away.”

“Min-ki.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Does it take some time for the effect to come out?”

“No. Experiments have shown that the effects are immediate upon ingestion. Maybe it’s because I made it with all my heart and soul, but even one bottle of it lowers my physical ability and rank. There’s a system warning window. I was terrified that my weakened ability would be fixed as it is.”

It’s getting a little weird as it goes on. Is it you who was tested on this. I looked at the empty bottle and kept asking as if I had checked it several times.

“The system warning window appears.”

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

I opened the lid of the third bottle without saying a word again. At this point, Min-ki also noticed that things were going weird. He asked, as he tapped the steering wheel nervously.

“Well, maybe. It’s really hoax. I don’t think so, but just in case.”

“…….”

“No effect… at all?”

I gulped.

Even after drinking the third bottle, there was no change in my body. Min-ki, who was watching the scene, looked almost crying now. Why doesn’t it work? I was agonizing for a while, suddenly raised my head.

“Minki-ssi.”

“Yes.”

“In your system, is the Weakening Potion treated as poison?”

“Ah, yes. Yesterday, our guild leader also took one, and since all poisons were ineffective against him, the Weakening Potion was also ineffective against him….”

Min-ki’s eyes, which were answering, began to tremble relentlessly. I quietly covered the box. The poison of the basilisk seemed to be deciphering it on its own without saying anything about drinking the weakening potion. He must have judged that it was not even worth displaying the system window because it was A-rank.

“Don’t tell me, are you resistant to poison? I didn’t hear that. If anything, I was being told that you were highly susceptible to poison and to take care of you properly….”

Min-ki asked nervously. At the end of the sentence, it was almost like talking to himself.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes? Yes. Go ahead.”

“Is there any other way to lower the rank besides this?”

Min-ki, who had bowed his head and was lost in thought, suddenly raised his head.

“…How about I go to the Hunter Market right now and buy a bunch of Weakening Curse items with my Corporate Card. I’ve always wanted to do that sort of thing at least once in my life.”

“I reject it.”

“…Of course you do. The rumor will spread immediately.”

Muttering gloomily, Min-ki let out a long sigh.

“I’m really sorry, but I didn’t predict this situation at all… Yes, the silver bracelet is all I have right now.”

The atmosphere in the car suddenly subsided. Min-ki was muttering with empty eyes, perhaps because he was greatly shocked by the plan’s failure.

I was a little at a loss in this situation, but I tried a small talk that I learned while working at haejang-guk because the person next to me was more depressed than necessary.

“Are you a Buddhist?”

“What, what? I have no religion.”

Then what is that prayer bead dangling in the rearview mirror. I wanted to ask for a moment, but I only rubbed my nose at the scent of thick failure. But my honed verbal skills weren’t about to crumble here.

“There’s a prayer bead here.”

When I tapped the prayer bead with my fingertips, Min-ki only then seemed to realize that he had left it on. He gave a small exclamation and nodded.

“I bought it at a Bulguksa souvenir shop for 20,000 won. For the reality show. Doesn’t it go very well with this vehicle?”

He likes reality shows. Is that gonna come out of the mouth of a guy who drives a chariot in a suit? My eyes cooled down, but fortunately, the small talk seemed to play its role. Min-ki murmured with a slightly excited face as if his momentum had revived a little.

“If it makes me look Buddhist, then it’s done its job, and it’s worth buying and hanging.”

“Oh, yes.”

I opened the glove box of the passenger seat by listening to Min-ki’s rap-like words in one ear and leaking them in the other. It was filled with things like a rough massage machine, a foot presser, and a folding fan. When a fan was taken out and unfolded, the Buddha, who was joined in the lotus flower, smiled gently at me. I slammed the glovebox back.

‘Didn’t he just catch a pushover?’

While Min-ki’s confidence in him plummeted, the car ran diligently and arrived near the registration center. Min-ki stopped his car in a paid parking lot with a view of the center.

The temporary registration center was a large container placed in the parking lot of the district office. At the entrance of the container, there was a life-size stand of Jung-bin with his thumb up and Lee Sa-young with his arms crossed with a gas mask on. There was also a banner hanging above the door.

‘Congratulations on your Awakening registration! -Awakening Management Bureau’

It is an overwhelming visual that can be trusted even if it is set up to kill anyone who came. Lee Sa-young’s life-size figure was neater than Jung-bin’s, as if it had been built after a public service advertisement. Min-ki turned his eyes slightly to avoid seeing his boss’ life-size figure.

“We’ve arrived first, but I don’t think a pair of bracelets will be enough to get a D-rank. Why don’t you make a strategic retreat and visit again?”

“When?”

“…I have an overseas business trip scheduled, so I won’t be able to do it until three weeks later.”

Does that make sense? I had to register as soon as possible and make an alibi, stared with cold eyes, Min-ki bowed his head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Other ways.”

“…Actually, it’s best to get it done today. This container shall be operated until the completion of the construction of this building… Maybe by the time I came back from my business trip…”

“If you’re going to rob an empty house, it’s today?”

“Your choice of words is unusual. Yes, it is, and that bracelet.”

I clasped my wrist. Min-ki said bitterly.

“If you don’t get checked today, you’ll have to stay like this until the next time, because that thing is actually disposable.”

Honestly, it didn’t really matter to be under a weakening curse all along. However, I read the inner thoughts behind Min-ki’s words.

“Just go and get checked out, now.”

“Actually, yes.”

“Earlier, you said we should make a strategic retreat.”

“That was a courtesy remark.”

“…….”

“You can do it. I trust you.”

Min-ki clapped his hands together in support. I was dumbfounded. What does he believe in and he’s so positive? Min-ki muttered again with a determined look.

“Don’t worry too much. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll use the last resort.”

“Don’t think about using the last resort, just let me get D-rank.”

“Now, don’t feel pressured. I’ll buy coffee and wait for you, so please take it well. Go!”

I shouldn’t hit people with prayer beads, should I? I glanced at the dangling beads and decided to give up. With my hands clenched and a supporting Min-ki behind me, I trudged to the makeshift center with my hood on.