Chapter 74
“Yoon Seo Won.”
“Don’t come over…”
“Why are you crawling into dirty places when you’re such a clean freak?”
“…Because I’m embarrassed, so just leave me alone.”
Only then did Baek Rak’s footsteps stop. He seemed to have come close already, but didn’t seem to have any intention of approaching further. If he had looked at Baek Rak while feeling like this, he would have felt sorry and upset and wouldn’t have slept a wink all night, reciting apologies to him.
While he was feeling relieved like that, his body was suddenly dragged out.
“Ugh…ah!”
Of course! He wasn’t the type to retreat obediently, so what was he thinking feeling relieved?
He struggled to break free, but was eventually dragged outside by Baek Rak.
“You, really!”
“Is there any shame left for you to feel?”
“There is!”
“What nonsense.”
Baek Rak looked incredulous as he sat Seo Won back on the box. In that brief moment, dust had gotten on him, making Seo Won’s clothes spotty. Baek Rak naturally brushed off the dust while saying.
“Sleep instead of wasting time on that.”
“…Would I be able to sleep?”
“Unless you’re planning to stay up for three days straight.”
Baek Rak, who had meticulously brushed off even the dust from his hair, placed both arms on the boxes on either side of Seo Won.
Trapped by Baek Rak with no escape, Seo Won hastily pulled his body back. But as much as he retreated, Baek Rak also leaned forward and approached. After repeating this several times, just before touching the box behind him, Baek Rak supported the back of Seo Won’s head with one hand.
“You’re going to get dust on yourself again.”
“…You just need to not come over.”
“You just need to not run away.”
The strange Baek Rak had appeared again. Seo Won couldn’t adapt to his behavior at all and averted his gaze.
“Go away.”
“Why?”
“You’re not the same. …It’s strange.”
Even though he openly showed his discomfort, Baek Rak seemed unsurprised and didn’t care much. Instead, he just gently stroked the back of his head.
“…Did you really eat something wrong?”
“What would I eat by myself?”
When he removed Baek Rak’s hand and pushed him away, he easily backed off. Just when he thought he was going to distance himself, only a certain distance was created and he was still trapped within his arms.
Seo Won tried to dispel the strange atmosphere by pushing Baek Rak away and standing up.
“Anyway, I understand what you mean, so I’ll be careful not to cause any trouble in the future.”
“Should I thank you for cooperating?”
“Just say you’re glad I came to my senses, even if it was late.”
Baek Rak cleanly backed away as if he had never acted strangely. He had a smile around his lips, but Seo Won turned his head pretending not to see. His fingertips had been tingling since earlier.
“Are you going to sleep?”
Seo Won asked Baek Rak who had walked to the opposite side. Baek Rak sat down in his original spot and leaned back.
“I should sleep.”
Only then did the tension leave Seo Won, and he also lay sprawled on the box again. His complicated mind and tired body were crying surrender, saying they couldn’t endure anymore.
Anyway, worrying about Jody, planning how to find the hunter, figuring out why Baek Rak was acting strangely – all of that had to be done after taking a rest first. He couldn’t do anything with a drained body.
“Then I’m sleeping too.”
A yawn came naturally with the pouring drowsiness.
Seo Won looked once at Baek Rak who was silently watching him, then slowly closed his eyes. He didn’t need to worry about when he’d fall asleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, his consciousness became distant and all his senses disappeared.
Seo Won soon fell into a deep sleep. Listening to Seo Won’s regular breathing, Baek Rak also slowly closed his eyes.
It was sleep after a very long time.
***
The whereabouts of the fire-type hunter remained a mystery the next day as well.
They had finished checking the people on the ground floor including the first basement level, but couldn’t find even a clue.
Seo Won fell into thought watching Baek Rak return empty-handed.
The fire-type hunter didn’t seem to be hiding among people living ordinary lives. He was probably holed up somewhere secret by himself.
“Did you meet any other hunters by chance?”
At Seo Won’s question, Baek Rak lightly shook his head.
“Including the fire-type hunter, there are a total of seven hunters at Gangnam Station Shelter. I already know who six of them are. There’s no need to meet them specifically.”
“…Hah, why is that person hiding? If they’re fire-type, isn’t that incredibly good? You said they’re the only hunter who can burn creatures.”
“They’re only useful when encountering creatures, but in a safe shelter…”
Baek Rak, who had been explaining, gradually trailed off and then fell completely silent. Then he seemed to recall something and became deeply lost in thought.
Seo Won quietly stared at him, somehow feeling like Baek Rak had caught some kind of clue. Sure enough, Baek Rak narrowed his eyes and slowly met his gaze.
“Water.”
“Huh? Water?”
“The only situation where they encounter creatures is when going to get water.”
“Ah!”
At those words, Seo Won’s eyes lit up and he nodded.
Having to periodically go to the Han River to get water was the same for any shelter.
Especially to bring back water for this many people to use, they would definitely use trucks. In that case, they would inevitably encounter creatures, and naturally combat would follow.
In such situations, a fire-type hunter would absolutely have to step forward.
“When do you think they’ll go outside? Did you hear anything?”
“I’ll have to find out.”
“Should we go together?”
“No, you stay here.”
Baek Rak, who had disappeared outside like that, returned around nighttime when the lights were about to go out. His expression wasn’t as bad as expected.
“How was it? Did you find out? When are they going out?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Wow, really?”
Fortunately, luck was on their side. Tomorrow morning was perfect timing. If they had gone and come back before they arrived at Gangnam Station, they would have had to wait quite a long time.
But there was a problem. It was that they themselves had recently brought an alpha and thousands of creatures here. A more chaotic and fierce battle than ever would obviously break out.
“But isn’t it too dangerous right now? There must be a lot of those guys who chased us outside…”
“It’s been several days, so it doesn’t matter. They’re not the type to stay in one place continuously.”
“Then what about the alpha?”
“It might be around, or it might have gone somewhere else.”
Seo Won swallowed dry saliva. Didn’t that mean there was a high probability it could be around here? Then wouldn’t it be more dangerous?
“What if these people go out tomorrow and meet that guy?”
When Seo Won became anxious, Baek Rak’s eyes became narrow. He thought Seo Won was really worrying about others while exposing himself to danger. Of course, he knew what kind of feeling it was. He probably thought he had caused damage to Gangnam Station.
“It’s morning, so it’ll be fine. Even if they can’t kill it, they can run away.”
“…Really?”
“If hunters can’t even do that, they deserve to die.”
“Hey, Baek Rak!”
“Park Haru and I survived protecting you in the darkness. The administrator here decided to go out because they judged it was possible.”
“No…”
“So don’t worry unnecessarily.”
When Baek Rak spoke firmly, Seo Won hesitated and then reluctantly nodded.
Acting in dangerous situations meant they were that prepared. Thanks to that, he felt a bit more at ease.
But seeing how well the fire-type hunter had hidden until now meant they were very meticulous, so how would they find him?
“But how do we find that hunter?”
“They won’t go outside. Fire-type hunters are vulnerable at close range, so there’s no way they’d go together. Probably… there’s a high possibility they’ll be on the barrier rooftop.”
“Barrier rooftop… Then we can find them by looking when combat breaks out.”
Seo Won nodded and muttered. His face became slightly flushed at the fact that they might finally find the hiding guy.
“But fire-type hunters are weak at close range.”
“Most elemental types are like that.”
“In gaming terms, it’s like a mage.”
“…Mage?”
Looking at Baek Rak who asked back wondering what he was talking about, Seo Won shook his head slightly. The people here probably didn’t know how to use computers, let alone game consoles. This place was a future world 300 years after the world he had lived in, but civilization had declined due to the appearance of meteorites and creatures.
In other words, they were barely managing to use traces of the past that remained.
Medical equipment, lighting, smartphones, piezoelectric generators – these fell into this category. Of course, there were things that had developed too. People had adapted to the environment so diseases decreased, and ability users called hunters emerged who could fight against creatures.
In such a world, he couldn’t make use of his major, but since he was awakening as a hunter, it was no different from gaining as much as he had lost. The problem was that the path was very arduous.
Anyway, now that they had found a breakthrough, there was nothing they could do but wait.
Seo Won looked at the lightbulb that had lost its light and let out a short sigh.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
