Chapter 182 - Wavelength
Clouded eyes, as if covered by a hazy veil, blankly stared at Cha Eui-jae. The vitality of life was nowhere to be found, the eyes of a dead person. The shy face that once offered a potion, the lively expression when ordering an extra dish of hangover soup— those had long since vanished.
Still, Cha Eui-jae couldn't take his eyes off the face. He tried to find traces of the person he knew in that small object.
'Why?'
His mind wasn't working. It felt as if he and the Russian bear hunter, with thorns protruding from his face, were the only ones in the world. The eyes, half-open and lifeless, were cloudy. His chest felt tight. His vision blurred.
Why was he here? Why had things come to this? He had so many questions, but no one to answer them. Because it was Cha Eui-jae himself who had severed the person's neck.
At that moment, Kikikikik! The sound of sharp objects clashing echoed in the air. The reaction came faster than expected. Before his foot could touch the ground after a leap, the spear pierced through flesh and bone. Thud! Cha Eui-jae gritted his teeth. Blood splattered.
He let go of the spear and clenched his fist instead. Before the pierced body could even fall to the ground, his sturdy fist smashed into the incoming thorns.
Crack! Shattered pieces of thorn bounced off his fist and face, leaving not a single scratch. In the brief moment he slammed his fist into the hard head, he took a glimpse of the face— and was relieved. It was a stranger.
Boom!
With the sound of bones snapping, the body struck by his fist flew off and crashed into something. Thump, thump, thump, his heart raced. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and pulled the spear from the collapsed body. Blood splattered onto his black boots. Cha Eui-jae thrust the spear into the ground.
The thick cloud of dust had yet to settle.
Cha Eui-jae lifted his head. In the hazy sky, the shimmering white hole swirled. Everything that had happened just moments ago felt like a dream. He stared blankly at the sky, an involuntary chuckle escaping his lips. A strange thought had crossed his mind. Maybe he had just woken up from a brief dream, returning to reality now.
Yes, things were too good to be true. His reality had always been like this, after all.
He felt hollow.
Then,
A strong grip tightly seized Cha Eui-jae's arm. Instinctively, he elbowed whatever had grabbed him. But his elbow, too, was caught by something firm. A calm voice spoke.
"It's me, Hyung."
"...Ah."
Cha Eui-jae blinked. Somehow, Lee Sa-young had caught up and was holding onto his arm tightly. Only then did Cha Eui-jae take a deep breath. He must have been holding his breath without realizing it. There was a weight in his hand. He was still gripping the Russian bear's head.
A fit of coughing seized him. Gasping, he bent over as a large hand followed, supporting him and patting his back. He finally stopped coughing, but his body still trembled.
Cha Eui-jae was shaking. Pathetically so.
"...Ugh."
He kept gagging. He felt like he was going to throw up. The world spun around him. His grip loosened, and the head he had been holding dropped to the ground with a thud.
As the large hand grasped his neck and pulled, Cha Eui-jae was helplessly dragged along. A low voice whispered in his ear.
"Why the sudden change..."
"..."
"Can you tell me? What's going on?"
The hand around his neck gently stroked his hair, urging him softly.
"...He was a customer."
Cha Eui-jae stammered. The person holding him tightly was the only one in this moment who could share his secret. The only person who knew both J and Cha Eui-jae.
"He was a customer at the hangover soup restaurant. I'm not mistaken... I'm sure of it. He even gave me a gift. That potion I used on you just now... He gave it to me."
"Yeah."
"Why? Since when? It's only been three months since I closed the shop. Why..."
With each word, his rapidly beating heart began to calm down. It was strange. Just speaking aloud the thoughts he had kept to himself was enough to soothe him. Lee Sa-young remained silent, simply listening. His ragged breathing slowly returned to normal. The black hand continued to rub his back.
Lee Sa-young asked,
"Do you want to run away?"
Cha Eui-jae mulled over the words blankly. Run away? No. He couldn't run away.
"You can if you want to."
He looked up at the firm voice. Lee Sa-young was staring down at Cha Eui-jae with an unreadable expression.
"If that's what you want, Hyung."
"..."
"I'll go with you."
The murmur of the crowd faintly reached his ears. It was only now that he became aware of the presence of others. Cha Eui-jae gently pushed Lee Sa-young away and bit down hard on his tongue. Hard enough for the sound to be audible.
The sharp pain and the taste of blood barely brought him back to his senses. Lee Sa-young, watching him, frowned.
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"Right now—"
"No."
Cha Eui-jae cut him off firmly. Lee Sa-young closed his mouth, though he looked displeased. He didn't voice his objections, however. Cha Eui-jae swallowed the blood-tinged saliva.
"It's not stubbornness or anything. I just..."
"..."
"I just don't want to run away again. Don't misunderstand."
The dust slowly settled. Soon, they would be visible to the others. This time, he was ready. Ready to reveal himself. Cha Eui-jae smiled, though Lee Sa-young wouldn't be able to see it.
"Still, thanks. I'll keep it in mind."
If it ever comes to it, someone will run away with me. Now.
The dust completely cleared. Numerous eyes fixated on him. Eyes filled with unease, fear, and a touch of curiosity. He heard murmurs.
Whoa, it's J. Where did he suddenly come from? And with Lee Sa-young next to him? What's going on? They don't seem to hate each other that much.
Cha Eui-jae skillfully swung his spear, shaking off the blood before storing it in his inventory. Every one of his movements was followed by a watchful gaze. Fortunately, none of the attention felt negative. Rather...
'Are they enjoying this?'
He placed his hands behind his back out of habit. It had been a while since he felt such awareness of being watched. Back when he moved with Seo Min-gi, he always tried to handle things quickly and disappear before anyone noticed him, because he hated being under people's gaze.
Lee Sa-young, arms crossed defiantly, gave an exaggerated yawn. Small gasps escaped from here and there. Cha Eui-jae glanced at Lee Sa-young and muttered,
"Your image, seriously..."
"You can see it for yourself. How long are we staying here?"
"No... I want to inspect the bodies a little. It feels weird to do it alone. Surely someone must have reported this."
After experiencing the Day of the Rift and Change, people had become quick to report things. If something went wrong, the hotline to the Rift Management Bureau or the Awakened Management Bureau was immediately dialed. That's what the school and public service ads constantly hammered into people's heads. It was the best way to ensure civilian lives were protected.
"Yeah, someone must have..."
"I'll just have a quick chat with the Rift or Awakened Management Bureau's—"
Just then, hurried footsteps approached. Speak of the devil. They must have just arrived. Cha Eui-jae shrugged as if to say, "See?" Lee Sa-young scoffed.
"Excuse me. Please step back. Further away..."
The sound of hurried footsteps gradually came to a halt. Lee Sa-young twisted his lips into a smirk.
"Did you wait just for this?"
"...No."
He didn't expect this person to show up.
The man gave a few hand signals to the hunters who had arrived with him and then approached the two standing figures. A gentle smile spread across his face.
"Ah, J. And... Lee Sa-young-ssi. You two handled this? Thank you."
Jung Bin adjusted his disheveled hair and bowed slightly. J bowed back out of courtesy. After the short greeting, Jung Bin pulled out a small device from his chest pocket and pressed a button.
Rumble! The ground quaked as a wall rose from the earth. The large barrier encircled them, separating them from the civilians.
'What kind of fancy tech is this...?'
Jung Bin smiled at Cha Eui-jae's curious glance.
"It's a new invention by Hong Ye-seong-ssi. Given the considerable attention you two receive, I thought it best to keep you from being overly exposed."
"Why... Ah."
Cha Eui-jae followed Jung Bin's gaze and saw the splotchy, bruise-marked fingerprints around Lee Sa-young's neck. Damn it. Cha Eui-jae subtly looked down at the ground. Jung Bin surveyed Lee Sa-young with concerned eyes.
"Have you received any treatment?"
"None of your concern."
"Not willing to answer, I see. Understood. You must have been through a lot."
With that, Jung Bin cheerfully dropped the matter and looked around. His gaze settled on the severed head near Cha Eui-jae's feet. Would he recognize him? Jung Bin wasn't a regular customer, so maybe he wouldn't. Cha Eui-jae's throat went dry.
Jung Bin's face hardened.
"This is... Excuse me for a moment."
Jung Bin carefully picked up the head, examining it closely. Cha Eui-jae swallowed hard and asked,
"...Do you recognize the face?"
"...Yes, I do."
Jung Bin let out a heavy sigh, looking at the severed head with a sorrowful expression.
"This is a hunter who went missing recently. The guild leader personally reported it. He was a hunter from the Magok Guild..."
Cha Eui-jae's eyes widened. Missing? Jung Bin carefully ran his hand over the face, now covered in spikes. The dull, lifeless eyes were hidden beneath the eyelids.
"The number of missing hunter reports has been increasing recently. These are people who haven't even entered dungeons or rifts. Most of them are low-tier hunters, and when they're found..."
"..."
"...they usually look like this."
Like this. Cha Eui-jae glanced at the other corpse he had pierced with his spear. A grotesque, mutated body with spikes protruding all over. It was clearly the handiwork of Prometheus. Jung Bin continued.
"Nam Woo-jin-ssi suspects that someone is kidnapping awakened individuals for experiments. The drug addiction can't explain it, as the timeline is too short. Unless it's an extremely potent drug."
"But capturing an awakened person wouldn't be easy."
"It would be, if there were a traitor."
Lee Sa-young, who had been silent, interjected. He looked at the head Jung Bin was holding with an emotionless gaze.
"Low-tier awakened ones can never defeat high-tier ones, no matter what. And it's not like Prometheus excels at combat. At best, they can make... something like this, a mere byproduct."
"..."
"So, the possibility of a hunter being involved can't be ruled out... In fact, it's quite high."
"...And that person would be a ranked hunter."
Silence followed the grim conclusion. Cha Eui-jae closed his eyes. A fleeting regret passed through him. If he hadn't closed the hangover soup restaurant, would he have noticed these strange events earlier? But there was no time for regrets now.
Now, it was time to act.