The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

“Oh my god!”

At the same time, inside the rift, a giant pterodactyl, flapped its wings and drooped, having been struck in the uvula by the blade. The pterodactyl’s neck, which resembled a bird’s, but had an unpleasant valley to it, was twisted as surely as a chicken’s neck is twisted on a double-edged blade.

Before entering the rift, my stomach churned and my vomit rose, but after beating up a few monsters, it calmed down a bit. I don’t feel any more signs of life, so I’m pretty sure I’m done clearing out the monsters around me. I piled the dragon carcasses into a corner and dusted off my hands.

Unfortunately or fortunately, all the people who were swept away by the cracks seemed to be scattered. Thanks to this, I was able to kill the monster that rushed without being seen. I stood in front of a dead pterodactyl and rubbed my chin.

‘It doesn’t seem like a dangerous rift, but… I’ll have to reduce the number of monsters.’

It would not be possible to save people openly because I had to hide my identity, but I could indirectly ensure their safety by killing monsters. No innocent person should be harmed for not doing what I could. I bent and changed my shoes and walked.

And after a long walk, I smashed up 24 pterodactyls and 3 horned bison swarms, then found an office chair with two of its wheels blown off, a half-split desk, and Lee Sa-young’s life-size figure half buried in the ground.

I examined the life-size figure with a dubious expression. It was made of sturdy planks, but not broken.

“Throw this away or not…”

After a moment’s hesitation, I recognised the face of Miu and Gouna, no, I recognised the gas mask. I’ve seen them so many times in public service announcements that I’m almost starting to think they look familiar.

Recently, even Ha-eun imitated Lee Sa-young’s strange hand movements, I was experiencing the fear of the media’s influence on children.

Eventually, I plucked the hated figure like a radish and tucked it into my side. And after setting the muddy life-size figure upright in the shade under the tree, I tactfully sat on a broken chair. My body slumped, but my neat face looked quite serious.

‘The rescue team… will they come?’

This is a rift in a temporary monitoring station located in the middle of the city. If you think about it in common sense, the rescue team will come. Probably.

Since I handled most of the monsters, the safety of other survivors has been secured, and there is no need for me to step up and clear the rifts at this time. All I have to do is sit quietly and wait for the rescue team with Lee Sa-young’s life-size figure.

But just waiting for the rescue team… I had a very big problem.

“What about the business this evening?”

The answer is simple: the haejang-guk have to open at 5pm.

In addition to that, I had a very realistic and important concern. In order to make clear broth, bubbles should be removed continuously, but leaving it unattended for more than expected time was more likely to cause taste. I didn’t even bother to take the broth off the heat, even though it was over low heat….

What if it caught on fire? I was dizzy just thinking about it.

I turned on my cell phone. The clock stopped at three twenty-five after entering the rift. Since the electronic device was not working, I could not contact my grandmother or check the current time.

‘…No.’

At this rate, I’ll lose my pride in the Haejang-guk house’s accident-free and sincere operation!

A situation in which the store and my heart burned while waiting for the rescue team. I nervously shook my legs.

In fact, it was the prospect of meeting rescuers that was the problem. The plan Min-ki had come up with, and I had agreed to, was for me to register and return as a common hunter on the streets, minimizing contact with other hunters.

However, too big a variable intervened due to being caught up in a rift in the middle of Seoul, even at a temporary register. Presumably, the rescue team consisted of a variety of hunters from the Rift Management Agency, the Awakening Management Bureau, and hunters from the guilds that responded to the call for help.

And the haejang-guk house was a hunter’s mill. Hunters of all kinds would come and go.

If there’s a hunter in the rescue team who’s been to the haejang-guk house. And if he’s a regular? He’ll recognize me as soon as he sees me.

‘What are you doing in this rift?’

‘I know…’

Of course, they will talk about all kinds of things, starting with questions, and no matter how much I hide, they will inform the world that I came to register as awakeners and were unfortunately swept away by rifts. At least the regulars at the haejang-guk house will know everything. The mere thought of it chilled my blood.

The haejang-guk house that I got a job to live quietly is a hunter’s restaurant, so I keep bumping into hunters, meeting Lee Sa-young, the aftermath of the mana stone, and J’s survival being exposed to the whole world, and getting caught in the rift when I came to register for the hunters.

As the bad news continued to pile up to this extent, I recalled a myth I had picked up somewhere.

‘Shit… Am I this year’s Samjae?’

I can’t even ask Nexby because I’m in a rift. My life, which was already pretty messed up, had been spiraling downward in recent weeks. It was obvious that it was twisted from somewhere. I decided to sprinkle salt all over the store when I got out of here.

Anyway, Samjae or not, I couldn’t let my quiet life fly away like this. Of course, thanks to Ma-seok and Lee Sa-young, it is already half-torn, but I have to hang the banner of “Our Quiet Life is Open for Business”… I had to protect what was left.

I rose from my chair and turned craned my neck.

‘Let’s just make a plan.’

Hunters will come to save those caught in the rift, but they were not a rescue team for themselves. So it was much better to assume that there were no rescue teams. For a moment, the brazen face of Very Small Miracle flashed through my mind, and then I shook it off.

‘He won’t come.’

At times like this, it’s better not to have even the slightest hope. Everything can be dealt with in an unexpected way only by drawing and planning the worst situation. It was the truth that I learned through my experience.

I let out a long sigh, washed my face dry, and drew a picture on the floor with my sneaker ‘s nose. I had to make a plan to escape here with maximum efficiency.

The rift disappears only when the rift master at the center was dealt with. Since the rescue team moves with the top priority of rescuing all survivors, so it’s common to put off dealing with the master until the next step. If they do this, I’ll be late for the store opening.

So, while the rescue team enters and rescues the survivors, I escape the rescue team and kills the master alone. It’s perfect.

I rubbed off the picture with the soles of my sneakers. The survivors are all scattered anyway, and the search will take time. If they ask me where I was, after the rift disappeared… I’ll tell them I was hiding in a corner.

‘Kill the master as soon as possible, then escape and return to the store, fix the broth, and sell dinner.’

I took a short deep breath while reflecting on the plan in my head, took it out of my hood pocket in advance. It was Buddha statue taken out of the car’s glove box earlier.

Even if the clothes get dirty while fighting with bare hands, it will interfere with the opening of the clothes on time. If you don’t have a tooth, you have to use your gums. I closed my eyes.

‘Please cooperate, Buddha.’

<Tracker’s Eyes!>

The eyes that reopened were blue. Flames flutter and rise above the flat floor plan. The number of monsters did not seem to be large, perhaps because I killed them once. Seeing the shape of the person everywhere, the survivors seemed to be hiding well.

After identifying the location and number of survivors, I turned my eyes to the other direction. In the middle of the rift, there was a huge flame fluttering green.

“That’s him.”

<Soundless Steps!>

A gust of white wind swept around my feet, concealing my movements. I began to run soundlessly toward the flame.

Yang Hye-jin, an A-rank hunter from the Rift Management Agency, stood in front of what used to be the temporary registration office in Gwangjin-gu, her face full of dark circles. The spot where the container used to be had been devoured by the rift, leaving it in ruins.

She definitely liked it when she went to work this morning because she was free, but she didn’t expect such a big accident to happen.

‘This is why you can’t say you’re free… There’s an accident right away.’

In the winter wind, a fluorescent vest with white safety letters fluttered pitifully. Snorting, she lit a cigarette and muttered.

“Ha… What kind of rift does it to break out in the temporary center? I’m really unlucky.”

Another B-rank hunter, who was staring at the rift entrance with flashing safety rods in both hands, also held his head.

“That’s right. Still, it’s fortunate that most of the people involved are awakeners. We’ve got some time to spare.”

“Who has time to spare. They’re all low-ranking, white-collar awakeners, so they won’t be able to fight, so you’d better hope they’re hiding well….”

“Senior! Senior!”

The newcomer, who had gone to control the surroundings after interrupting the half-worried conversation, rushed over. Hye-Jin blew out a puff of cigarette smoke.

“Do you know? How many reporters are here?”

“Uh… there were about six people! Perhaps more will come.”

“It can’t be helped. What about the support staff? I heard they’re coming from the government offices.”

“Well, it is. Oh, I’m here to tell you this!”

The new employee, who was in a hurry, shouted with his back up close.

“Lee, Lee Sa-young is here! To attack… the rift.”

At the last words delivered by the newbie, Yang Hye-jin took another drag on her cigarette and paused. The new employee was still standing upright even though hye-jin did not answer. Yang Hye-jin’s face was coloured with embarrassment as she received the report.

“Did I make him work too much?”

She stared blankly at the newcomer with a cigarette in her hand, and unknowingly began self-reflection.