The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low-Chapter 138

"Follow me."

After saying just those words, he turned and began walking away.

“Huh? Wait, hold on!”

Gaeul hurriedly scrambled to follow him, forgetting both her suspicions that he might be dangerous and the searing pain in her legs. She was just relieved to have found another person. Under the tattered black cloak, worn boots kicked up dust. His footprints left clear marks on the ash-covered ground.

Strangely, the more she followed his footprints, the farther away he seemed to get. Gasping for breath, the taste of sweetness lingered in her mouth. The cloak that had been fluttering just ahead of her was now far in the distance. Was he moving too fast, or was she just too slow?

‘Is he using some kind of teleportation technique? He’s really fast…’

Gaeul sniffled, trying to steady her breath. Then, just as she was about to lose sight of him, the sound of his footsteps stopped.

“…….”

He was standing far ahead, silently watching her. Had she spoken out loud without realizing? Feeling a bit guilty, Gaeul muttered under her breath.

“S-sorry… My legs hurt.”

“…….”

Without a word, the man in the black cloak tossed something toward her. It was an old leather pouch. Gaeul barely managed to catch it and quickly opened it. Inside was an assortment of potions, and they looked top-notch, even at a glance!

Was he telling her to drink one? Gaeul took out a red potion and glanced up at him. He finally spoke again.

“We have a long way to go.”

Did he have a condition where he couldn’t speak in long sentences? Thankfully, he waited patiently as Gaeul drank the potion and hobbled her way back to him. As she got closer, she could smell a strange, sweet scent mixed with the bitter odor of ash. It was so strong it felt like sugar had been melted into the air.

‘What’s that?’

She sniffed the air, but the sweetness vanished as quickly as it came. Maybe she imagined it? She rubbed her nose, but by then, the man in the cloak had started walking again. Gaeul followed him, the pouch swaying in her hand. He seemed suspicious, but at least he didn’t seem like a bad person. Feeling more confident, she finally spoke up.

“Where are we going?”

“…….”

“Um… Are there no monsters here?”

“…….”

“How much farther do we have to go?”

It seemed like hearing a response from him earlier was a miracle. No matter how many questions she asked, she got no reply. She felt like a fool talking to a brick wall. Gaeul grumbled to herself and glanced at the cloak again. This time, at least, they weren’t drifting apart like before. They maintained a steady distance.

The scenery around them began to change. The ruins of collapsed buildings faded away, replaced by a relatively flat area. Was this once a road? Before long, they arrived at the skeletal remains of a building. Calling it a building felt like an exaggeration since there were only a few walls and a framework left.

The man in the cloak entered first, and Gaeul, glancing around nervously, followed him inside. He spoke briefly.

“Rest.”

“Huh? Oh, uh… okay.”

Gaeul sat down on the ground, grateful for the break. Her legs were throbbing painfully, but she felt much better. As she massaged her legs, she looked up. The man was leaning against a wall. Out of nowhere, she blurted out a question.

“Um… why are you helping me?”

“…….”

Right, she hadn’t expected an answer. Just as she was about to grumble to herself again, he spoke.

“Because you called him.”

“Huh?”

Gaeul snapped her head up. His sharp, dry chin was pointed in her direction. “Because you called him.” Who did she call? There was only one person Gaeul had tried to contact.

J.

‘No.’

An instinctive chill ran down her spine. Cold sweat trickled down her face. She clenched her fists cautiously. Should she warn J not to come? But with this man right here, how could she? And if J didn’t come, then she’d be stuck alone in this world on the verge of collapse…

Something white crawled up from the cracks in the floor, coiling around her legs. It looked and felt eerily similar to what had wrapped around her neck just before she was dragged into this place. Gaeul held her breath.

A cold voice stabbed into the top of her head.

“Stop.”

“…Ah.”

“Don’t try to think.”

“…Ugh.”

“Don’t think about anything.”

‘How can I not think?!’

Gaeul squeezed her eyes shut. If someone tells you not to think of an elephant, all you can think of is an elephant! The thing wrapped around her legs was already creeping up her arms. Haaa…. A long sigh escaped from above her.

“Hey.”

Gaeul carefully opened her eyes. She couldn’t see clearly through the white substance wrapped around her, but she could tell he was crouching right in front of her in a lazy posture. Just as she sucked in a sharp breath, he reached out with a rough hand and pulled back his hood. Black hair spilled out.

“I…”

“…….”

“…just have to watch. Wait for the end to come. Here.”

“…….”

“And yet, I helped you because…”

His sharp eyes peeked through the long strands of hair covering his face.

“…he would want that.”

His eyes were a pale violet.

They burned white-hot, devoid of any emotion, yet they shone with that faint purple hue.

Gaeul’s eyes widened in shock. The glance she caught of those eyes felt disturbingly familiar. Where had she seen them before? The ominous gleam in his gaze faded as quickly as it had appeared. If she could just look a little closer, she might remember.

But then, darkness suddenly flooded her vision. She caught a glint of silver, and in the next instant, her entire view was swallowed by shadows.

‘At least let me say something!’

Her consciousness began to fade as her eyes drooped shut. The white tendrils wrapped around her loosened and fell away, strand by strand. The tension in her body melted into a drowsy calm. A low voice echoed through the air.

“Tell him… everything will flow to where it needs to go… so don’t worry too much.”

Gaeul, struggling to keep her mind from drifting away, managed to ask one last question.

“Why… don’t you… tell him yourself…?”

“…What a foolish question.”

He snorted.

“That’s because…”

There was a rustling sound, like someone standing up. A low chuckle followed.

“If I met him…”

“…And then, when I woke up, I was here. I think that coat belongs to that person.”

“Do you know what he said after that?”

“No… that’s as far as I heard. I’m sorry.”

Gaeul let out a long sigh. The way her fingers fidgeted with her skirt betrayed her anxiety. She glanced at Uijae, then quickly dropped her gaze to the floor when she saw Sayoung standing behind him.

The story had unsettled Uijae as well. The owner of the black leather coat, those violet eyes that burned even through the white flames, the smugness in his voice… Uijae clenched his jaw, covering his mouth with his fist.

‘Damn… could that have been Sayoung?’

This world was one of ruin. And Uijae had seen *that* Sayoung in this destroyed world. He had seen him, buried in the darkness, in the fragments Gaeul had shown him. Even when Honeybee and Baewonwoo had come to find him, he hadn’t moved.

“…….”

The man in the black cloak said he was waiting for the end to come here. Uijae fiddled with the coat lying on the ground. The worn leather was soft, with none of its original stiffness left. That sweet scent lingered faintly in the air.

‘The third chance.’

If the world they lived in now was the third chance, that meant two apocalypses had already come and gone. Time had been reversed twice. Even though no one remembered it. But Uijae had caught glimpses of the other worlds.

According to what Hong Yeseong had shown him in the Memorial Dungeon, Uijae had reversed time. Sayoung had died, and with no solution to prevent the oncoming apocalypse, Uijae had turned back time. To try for a second chance.

In the world Gaeul had shown him, Uijae had died first. Sayoung had been left alone and had fallen into ruin. So in that world, who had reversed time?

For time to be reversed, there needed to be an axis.

In the world where Uijae had died, who had served as the axis?

“…….”

Uijae snapped his head up. A confused voice spoke from behind him.

“Hyung?”

Uijae clenched his fists.

‘It had to be Sayoung, damn it….’

Uijae understood the power he held. He didn’t know exactly what it meant to be an ‘axis,’ but he knew it was beyond anything he could do on his own, no matter how hard he tried. And considering the strict system in place, there was no way an item like that could be used more than once! Cold sweat pooled in his palm.

‘If Sayoung reversed time…’

Why was Sayoung, the axis, still lingering in this ruined world? Like a ghost.

‘Was it a side effect? Was his power insufficient? Or was it something else?’

If only he could examine the clock himself and read its description, then all these theories would become clear. Uijae absentmindedly wiped his hand on his pants instead of his apron and opened his mouth.

The apron and bent ladle that had been dragged along with Sayoung when he was pulled into the rift… where should those be now? The hangover soup restaurant. Haeun, Grandma. The first place he went after escaping the rift.

The hangover soup restaurant.

Grandma hadn’t kicked him out even when he was battered and bruised, instead giving him a warm bowl of soup. But Uijae hadn’t had anything to repay her kindness with. All he had were empty potion bottles and his battered body. Desperate to give her something, Uijae had fumbled through his pockets and….

“Oh.”

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

He had handed over the silver watch that had been around his wrist for who knew how long.

The same watch he had shown to Hong Yeseong when he reversed time!

Uijae’s mouth fell open as he stood up with a scream.

“Ahhh!”

“Hyung?”

“J?”

“Oh my god!”

Sayoung and Gaeul looked at him in confusion. But he didn’t have time to worry about their stares. His heart was racing. Uijae gasped for air.

“We… we have to go. Now.”

“Where?”

The key to all these problems was at the hangover soup restaurant.

“The hangover soup restaurant!”

It had been there all along!