Chapter 6 – Lunatic

April 29th, 2023

Ui-jae swung the stainless-steel ladle he had brought with him when he went outside into the air. It was definitely more durable than a green onion, so it wasn’t a bad thing to have on hand just in case. As he continued to swing the ladle, he tried to think of places she could have gone.

I have to find Park Ha-eun and bring her home before it’s too late. He closed his eyes in determination.

<Tracker’s Eyes!>

Two pupils glowed blue beneath his reopened eyelids. The landscape in front of him became as simple as lines and planes, like a structural diagram of a building, and soon he could see through to the interior of the building. The ‘Tracker’s Eye’ is a skill that allows you to see someone’s unique glow, and it’s often useful when you’re looking for someone, like now.

In the place of the people, a white light rose and fell like a candle in the air. A child’s light is only slightly smaller than average. Ui-jae scanned the area with all his attention, but there seemed to be no sign of Ha-eun in the area.

It was at this moment that Ui-jae extended the range of his skill a little further.

Got it!

An intense violet flame blinded him. It was the brightest, largest flame he’d ever seen in his life, burning with a fierceness that threatened to engulf the surroundings.

…A flame?

He paused for a moment. He walked quickly towards the flame.

The only beings that could appear in the form of flames, not just light, were the awakened, including hunters. Even though the area around here was known to have a lot of hunters, a flame that burned so brightly that it glowed in a tangible way couldn’t be an ordinary person. It was sharp and huge, more like a monster than a normal hunter.

So I had to find out for myself. Was it just a good hunter, or a threat. If it was the latter… Ha-eun could be in danger. Ui-jae tightened his grip on the ladle.

The flames were burning in an alley not far from Haejang-guk’s. Puck, puck, puck… as the distance from the flame grew closer. The dull thuds of footsteps and stifled groans grew louder and louder. Someone was beating the crap out of him.

At last they reached the end of the alley, bathed in moonlight.

In the midst of the raging violet flames, a large figure clad in a sackcloth robe was mercilessly kicking someone crouched on the ground. The vicious aura emanating from him pierced the skin.

And at the same time, Ui-jae’s keen intuition flashed. He could feel it instinctively. The size of the flame, comparable to a monster, and the sense of imposing power that stamped the surroundings with its mere presence. The figure in front of him…

An S-class like me.

The figure that had kicked the man whipped its head in this direction. Ui-jae hastily switched off his skill and stepped back, the blurred figure now clearly visible in the flames.

A man wearing a gas mask that covered his face, black tech wear, and leather shoes that were stained with blood. He was dressed like a hunter in every sense of the word. After a long moment of silence with his gaze fixed, the gas mask man pointed a black-gloved hand at the garment.

“You.”

“…….”

Ui-jae stood, unmoved by the voice calling to him. The gas mask man said in a languid voice.

“I’ve seen it all, an apron like Cher X.”

“…….”

He took a step back into the shadows, and the gas mask man said, don’t even think about running.

”And a ladle.”

Ui-jae hid the hand holding the ladle behind his back. You have good eyes, you’ll have to start wearing a jin X apron tomorrow.

Just then, the fallen man squirmed and moved, and the gas mask man kicked the man in the stomach once more. His head was still facing Ui-jae.

“Kuck!”

“This motherfucker gets all excited when he sees an opening and crawls out again….”

Muttering in an irritated tone, the gas mask man continued to stomp on his stomach and glared at Ui-jae.

“Normal people?”

“Yeah.”

“I work late….”

The next words were dry, if only out of politeness. After a moment of silence, the gas mask man added a question.

”Then what are you doing outside with a ladle at this hour?”

“I’m out looking for my nephew, she wasn’t home.”

Ui-jae replied in a deliberately dulcet voice and waved his hand, palm down, around his waist.

“Have you seen a girl about this height? She’s an elementary school student with her hair in a single bun.”

The gas mask man shrugged as Ui-jae asked shamelessly.

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, then can I go now?”

“Wait. I’ll ask him.”

The foot that had been stepping on the man dropped for a moment, and then it thumped him in the side again, but the man only groaned, as if he had already passed out.

“Sorry, mate. He doesn’t know anything. His brain’s fried.”

The gas mask man didn’t sound very sorry, either; at this point I think he just wanted to make his excuses and give him another punch, but Ui-jae, who was more concerned about finding his nephew than the fact that some all-black thug was punching people, shook his head without further ado.

“No, thanks for the trouble, I’ll go then.”

“Wait.”

He turned and started to walk out of the alley, but the gas mask man grabbed him. After staring at Cha Ui-jae’s face for a long moment, the gas mask man tilted its head. His voice was slow, and his movements seemed sluggish.

“That’s strange.”

“…….”

“Have we met somewhere before?”

“No.”

“…Really?”

He stared at the gas mask man as if to ask what it was for. There’s no way that I couldn’t remember the concept of wearing a gas mask so visibly. Ui-jae assumed that this dark concept worm would be a newly awakened hunter while it entered the rift.

After studying him for a moment, the gas mask man raised one index finger to the corner of its mouth. Don’t tell anyone what you just saw, he said, and keep your mouth shut. Yeah, getting involved with the police or the Bureau would complicate things.

I nodded willingly, not knowing what it was like to beat people up in the back alleys without being seen. There was nowhere to say anything, so he could just pretend he didn’t see them. The gas mask man waved at me to go away.

That was it.

Gigigik… Kkigik…

Kwaak!

Sharp spikes pierced the crouching man’s back and flew towards him in a flash. He was not surprised by the fierce lunge. Instead, he calmly took a step to the side, readjusted his ladle, strengthened his arm, and…

Kaaang!!

I hit the thorn in perfect position!

Maybe I should have been a baseball player. I don’t know about a home run, but I’m pretty sure it’s a triple. Ui-jae inwardly beamed with pride, clenching and unclenching his hand a couple of times, and then looked at his gas mask impassively. He clutched the thorn he’d caught in his hand.

“…….”

“…….”

You…caught it?

Under the circumstances, it seemed so. Hunter’s guiding principle was to protect civilians, and he was, by definition, a civilian, out in the middle of the night with a ladle looking for his nephew, and even if he’d just taken a swing at a thorn with a ladle, he deserved protection, and it’s the gas mask man task.

A cold sweat trickled down his spine. The awkward silence continued.

“…….”

“……”

Fuck.

Which civilian in this world would take a swing at a thorn that was reaching for him like a madman, and he wanted to punch himself in the face for not being able to play the role of the good citizen who cowered in fear in front of the thorn.

It’s obviously not possible for me to jump out of here, so I’ll just have to stun the gas mask man. How hard should I hit him in the head to make him lose his memory and be done with it? He should be able to handle a little harder.

The weapon I’m holding is a ladle, so it’s hard to gauge its strength. Judging by the way his bare hands gripped the spikes that had just changed direction so abruptly, the gas mask man was no match for him, and he was stuck like a malfunctioning robot, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, the gas mask man shoved his gloves into his pockets and slowly crossed his arms, seemingly waiting for a reaction, so Ui-jae came to his senses and turned to face him.

Ha….

Life is like X….

Now that it’s like this, it’s a frontal assault, no, a frontal escape. Ui-jae stared into space, then bowed politely.

”…I’d better go, I have to find my nephew in a hurry.”

Escape from reality begins.

“Hey-“

But the gas mask man didn’t back down easily. On the contrary, he leaned in closer, his voice rising. Don’t talk to me anymore. Ui-jae took two steps backwards, but the gas mask man, which was now almost in front of him, took a step backwards and crouched down.

A shadow as long as he was tall covered him completely. The voice that leaked through the bars of the gas mask was a deep laugh.

“What’s your name?”

“No name.”

“Aha…. I take it you haven’t decided on a hunter name yet?”

“Nope. I just don’t have a name.”

“Well, do you want me to name you then?”

“Do you run a shop?”

“Trying to set up one temporarily.”

It was a conversation like a swamp, where the more you try to get out, the more it grabs you. The more you struggle, the deeper you sink. He had no choice but to end this conversation somehow. He took a deep breath to steady his voice.