The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low-Chapter 161
**Two days later, in the Wave Guild meeting room.**
“Hahaha!”
Amidst the sound of pouring rain, a loud, sharp laugh echoed. The atmosphere in the meeting room was as gloomy as the weather outside, but the red-haired woman sitting at the table was slapping it in laughter.
“Haha! Ahaha!”
Standing at the podium, Baewonwoo rubbed his face vigorously and shouted,
“Gang Jisoo, are you seriously laughing right now?”
“Why not! This is hilarious! Oh... I’m so glad I didn’t go into that dungeon. I almost missed out on this crazy dopamine-filled content. Oh no... hahaha, I’m dying here.”
Gang Jisoo laughed so hard that she began to cry. In truth, Baewonwoo wanted to cry too, but not out of laughter—he genuinely wanted to weep. His giant hand, gripping a rolled-up newspaper, trembled along with the paper itself. In the corner of the room stood Minggijeok, looking gloomy, muttering in a near-dead voice,
“I’m really sorry.”
“Saying you're sorry isn’t going to fix this…”
“We’ve taken care of all the surrounding CCTVs, but as for photos taken on personal phones... I’m honestly a bit aggrieved too.”
Minggijeok bit fiercely into a handkerchief.
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“Why are phone cameras so damn good at zooming these days? I was watching the whole time, I swear, there was no sign of anyone.”
“Hahaha!”
“Stop laughing, damn it!”
Baewonwoo bellowed, hurling the newspaper at her. But the laughter wouldn’t stop.
On the front page of the fluttering newspaper, there was a large black-and-white photo. A man wearing a black mask was holding something just as large and dark in a bridal carry. The image had clearly been zoomed in as much as possible, resulting in poor quality, but the man’s black fingertips were unmistakably visible. Unfortunately.
The headline of the newspaper read:
**“A Secret Relationship Between the Number One and Number Two.”**
What a shameless title!
“Sa-young-ah...”
Baewonwoo's pitiful cry echoed through the meeting room.
---
To summarize the incident:
After finishing his usual early morning workout and returning to the Wave Guild, Baewonwoo had sensed something off—odd whispers and curious stares. It wasn’t negative, more like curious. What’s going on? As he wiped sweat from his face with a towel and approached the building, he knew instinctively:
*‘Something’s wrong.’*
Reporters were camped out in front of the building. Without hesitation, Baewonwoo zipped up his windbreaker, pulled out a hat and mask from his inventory, and slipped into an alley using his signature moonwalk.
This series of actions came naturally, as easy as breathing. Whether Lee Sa-young was around or not, he was always handling the guild’s practical affairs and aftermath. Running into or avoiding reporters was part of his routine.
*‘What could it be? Did someone screw up again?’*
He pulled out his phone and was met with a flood of missed calls and messages. Whatever had happened, it was seriously messed up.
He quickly opened a portal site. And there it was, a dark photo plastered across the main page.
*‘…….’*
The coat of the man being held by J looked disturbingly familiar, but he wanted to deny it. No way, it can’t be. Baewonwoo skimmed the article stamped with *“Exclusive Report,”* and then he saw it:
*“The man J was holding has been identified as the missing Hunter Lee Sa-young...”*
Baewonwoo squinted at the photo, zooming in as much as possible. The hand dangling below was unmistakably black at the fingertips, just like a single joint of a finger. Damn it, there was no denying it now. Anyone who knew Lee Sa-young knew about his black fingertips. To make matters worse, rumors of sightings of Lee Sa-young had already spread like wildfire on the Ranker Channel!
*Damn it all.*
Up to this point, he could have tried to spin things positively. They could have just denied it, held a press conference now that Sa-young was awake, and cleared everything up.
But when he read further, the article’s tone was... odd. It made it sound like the two of them had some kind of...
*deeper relationship.*
Baewonwoo checked his messages again, trying to calm his nerves. But then:
**Jung Bin Hunter:** *Saw the article. Was it coordinated with the Wave Guild? ^^*
The concerned text from the former guild leader...
**Jisoo:** *What’s going on, Deputy Chief?*
**Jisoo:** *(Link)*
**Jisoo:** *Did we decide to go with this kind of media play?*
**Jisoo:** *This is insane, lol, crazy!*
The teasing messages from his fellow guild member...
**Honeybee Hunter:** *What the hell are you guys doing?*
A short but sharp message from his hangover soup buddy...
**Seo Min-gi:** *Sorry. We’re screwed. Looks like this came from the Fish Market side.*
And the apologetic text from Minggijeok, known as the “Tiny Miracle.”
Upon reading that last message, Baewonwoo silently screamed and tried to make a call. Of course, the "Fish Market" didn’t answer.
*The Fish Market.* The most notorious information broker in Korea, based in Noryangjin Fish Market.
If the Wave Guild was a repository of knowledge, the Fish Market was a place where information was traded to the highest bidder. And when it came to critical information, like tracking Prometheus and drug distribution networks, the Wave Guild had often relied on the Fish Market.
Baewonwoo scratched his head.
*‘He’s not the type to stab a partner in the back like this...’*
Trust was the most important asset of an information broker. So why did this happen? What on earth was going on?
He wasn’t going to get any answers by sitting here worrying about it. With several newspapers in hand, he trudged back to the guild through the members-only entrance. As soon as he walked in, the guild members rushed toward him, looking flustered.
“First off,” Baewonwoo took a deep breath before speaking decisively, “Let’s disconnect all the phone lines.”
---
And now, back to the present.
The sound of a straw slurping up the last drops of a drink filled the room. After barely containing her laughter, Gang Jisoo slumped in her chair. Meanwhile, Choe Koyo, who had been browsing the portal site articles on his laptop, murmured to himself while resting his chin in his hand.
“Well, if the Fish Market’s involved, denying it will only make things worse. They must want something in return for this.”
“They’ll probably release more evidence until we admit it. Ugh.”
“There’s even a rumor that the guild leader has been avoiding public appearances because of this. People are saying that J trained him like a dog or even buried him somewhere and dug him back up.”
“What is he, kimchi? Buried underground and then dug out?”
“Oh, please... stop making me laugh. Let’s see... there’s even talk that the guild leader went missing for three months because he was getting disciplined. Should we just run with this narrative?”
“Ugh...”
Baewonwoo collapsed onto the floor, curling up like a bear, muttering,
“The general assembly is coming up soon. Why would they do this now? How am I supposed to explain this?”
“General assembly?” Choe Koyo raised his head. Gang Jisoo, sipping her green tea, responded.
“After the Day of Change, the heads of each department summon the highest-ranked hunters once a month. That thing.”
“Can we even call that a meeting? Isn’t ‘summon’ more accurate?”
“Let it go.”
Baewonwoo, still curled up on the floor, whispered,
“Guys, I just want to go back to the National Hunter Department.”
“Where do you think you’re running off to? You can’t go until you fix this mess.”
“Yeah, and the pay over there sucks anyway. You really want to go?”
“Less pay sounds like heaven compared to this.”
“Everyone knows that civil service overworks people. What are you talking about? You’ve lost it.”
“Should we call in an exorcist?”
“We might need one.”
“I just want to work with Jung Bin again.”
“Nope, not happening. Jung Bin Hunter doesn’t take traitors back. Now hurry up and prepare for the press conference.”
Baewonwoo let out a groan like a bear in distress. Gang Jisoo craned her neck to look at the corner of the room, where Minggijeok was still gnawing furiously on his handkerchief, clearly furious.
“By the way, what’s the guild leader saying about all this? When is he coming back to work?”
“The Guild Leader isn’t fully recovered yet. He said he needs more time to rest before he comes back.”
“And J? I’m really curious about J’s reaction.”
“J...”
Through the sunglasses, a glintless, dark gaze stared wistfully into the void.
---
The sound of rapid scrolling filled the room. No matter how many times he refreshed the page, the words on the screen didn’t change. A deep sigh escaped his lips.
Hunter Lee Sa-young, missing since the Day of Change, had finally reappeared after three months. How? In the arms of the number one ranked hunter!
The public reaction was explosive. No, it was more than
that—South Korea was on fire. It was as if J and Lee Sa-young were the only Hunters that existed in the country.
Ever since J’s return, he and Sa-young had been the hottest topic of conversation. The former number one hunter and the current number one hunter. But when the former number one, who had been presumed dead, came back and took back the top spot, people lost their minds. Lee Sa-young, who had held the number one rank for six years, was suddenly bumped down to second. It was the kind of high-stakes drama that people couldn’t get enough of.
It was like debating who would win in a fight between a lion and a tiger. People constantly speculated about who was stronger, what their relationship was like, and what would happen if they met. Online, their names were always mentioned together, like some kind of legendary rivalry.
But this time, it was different.
---
*―So, why is he carrying him in a bridal carry? Are they dating or something?*
---
‘...Yeah, I’ve made up my mind.’
Uijae tossed his phone onto the sofa and covered his face with both hands.
‘Let’s just destroy everything!’
