In an instant, the black spikes shot out towards Cha Eui-jae with ferocious speed. Ignoring the spikes coming at him, Cha Eui-jae twisted the man's neck with a calm expression.
Snap! He distinctly felt the neck bone breaking in his grasp. The man's neck twisted in a bizarre direction, and the last light in his dull eyes vanished as his body went limp.
"This bastard was a pain till the end."
Cha Eui-jae muttered in an annoyed tone as he checked his own condition. His clothes were torn in several places, but his body didn't have a single scratch. Some of the spikes that tried to penetrate his body had even bent outwards.
Shaking the blood off his hands, Cha Eui-jae stood up and tilted his head in thought.
'Isn't this supposed to only happen at night?'
If such conspicuous beings roamed around in broad daylight, their existence would surely be known. Regular hunters would definitely have mentioned them.
'But I've never heard of anything like this.'
Suddenly, the image of the gas mask flashed through his mind. Cha Eui-jae let out a bitter laugh as he muttered to himself.
"I thought it meant not to talk about hurting people…"
What if it meant not to reveal their existence at all? Information control for confidentiality was common enough that it wasn't surprising…
Cha Eui-jae frowned. If that were the case, why did the gas mask let him go? It would have been easier to kill him rather than let him live while ensuring his silence.
At that moment, he heard small movements and sobbing sounds from the hangover soup restaurant. Park Ha-eun seemed to be approaching the door, having noticed the quiet outside. Cha Eui-jae quickly hid the man's corpse with trash. Then he ran to the door and knocked on it with the back of his hand.
"Ha-eun, it's your uncle. Can you open the door?"
He made sure to show his face close to the glass and waved his hand. After a small moment, the lock clicked open. Park Ha-eun was sitting on the floor, hugging her school bag tightly and trembling. Upon seeing Cha Eui-jae, she seemed to relax as her legs gave out from under her.
Cha Eui-jae crouched down to her level and looked into her eyes.
"It's okay. There's no more strange person. He's gone far away."
"Gone?"
Her tear-filled eyes looked at Cha Eui-jae. Seeing her tear-streaked face, Cha Eui-jae bit the inside of his cheek.
'…Did I kill him too cleanly?'
Park Ha-eun dropped her school bag and reached out to Cha Eui-jae. Her small hand seemed to overlap with the bandaged hand he had once held.
The boy who lay wrapped in bandages, unable to speak. The only way he could express himself was by slightly moving his fingers. When he did, Cha Eui-jae would either pat his head or hold his hand tightly.
'Damn it…'
His stomach churned. Cha Eui-jae lowered his eyes, hugged Park Ha-eun, and gently patted her back with his left hand.
"It's okay."
"Mm…"
"It's all okay now. Were you scared?"
Park Ha-eun responded with a sob. Cha Eui-jae slightly tilted his head back, worried that the dye on his hair might touch her skin, and spoke gently.
"I'll tell the hunters everything. So nothing like this will happen again."
"Mm…"
After patting her back for a while, she seemed to calm down. Park Ha-eun mumbled in a nasal voice.
"Tell Jung Bin and Honeybee too."
…That might be difficult. They had never been to the hangover soup restaurant, so there was no way to inform them. But he couldn't flatly reject her and make her feel worse, so Cha Eui-jae changed the subject with a slightly awkward smile.
"Can I go wash off this hair dye first?"
"Mm… actually, it smells a bit."
"Make sure to say it's hair dye smell. Other people might misunderstand."
Finally, Park Ha-eun laughed. Cha Eui-jae sighed briefly and began thinking about how to deal with the body hidden in the trash. He also thought about the regulars who would come to the hangover soup restaurant in an hour.
A body that an ordinary person couldn't handle. His identity that he needed to hide.
'Then I should ask a hunter for help.'
From now on, it was time to thoroughly act like an ordinary person.
***
A man in a black gas mask strode into the clean lobby of the Seowon Guild. The security guards did not stop him, as if the gas mask was his identification. A boy in a white coat, standing in front of the central staircase, saw the gas mask and ran over with small steps.
"You've arrived, Lee Sa-young."
Lee Sa-young looked down at the boy with indifferent eyes.
"Where is Nam Woo-jin?"
"He's in the operating room. I'll show you the way."
The boy led him down the right corridor, with Lee Sa-young following. The corridors of the Seowon Guild were complex like a maze and intertwined like an ant nest.
After walking for a while, they finally reached a plain door with a red 'In Surgery' light on above it. The boy carefully opened the door and stepped aside.
"Master, Lee Sa-young is here."
In truth, the place was more like a scientist's laboratory than an operating room. The walls were lined with books and documents, surgical tools and medical devices were scattered around, and a large operating table was in the center of the room.
A man sitting in a chair slowly opened his eyes. He had white hair tied back, heterochromatic eyes, a white coat over green surgical scrubs, and silver-framed glasses. Even in an era full of hunters with all sorts of hair and eye colors, his appearance was unique. Lee Sa-young nodded slightly in greeting.
"Nam Woo-jin."
Nam Woo-jin, ranked 6th in South Korea, the only A-grade healer in the country, stood up.
"I thought I'd have to wait three hours because you're so busy. But you came quickly."
"You know I'm busy. Let's get to the point."
"Alright."
Standing in front of the operating table, Nam Woo-jin pulled off the white sheet covering it. Revealed was the corpse of a man with a crushed face, twisted body, and black spikes protruding from various parts. It was what they called an 'addict.' Lee Sa-young muttered indifferently.
"The condition is terrible."
"According to Jung Bin, it was like this when they found it. The face was caved in from a very strong blow."
"That alone wouldn't kill it."
"Right. The direct cause of death is a broken neck. Someone twisted its neck."
There were bruises shaped like handprints on the neck. Lee Sa-young's eyes sparkled as he saw the marks.
"This…"
"Yeah. Someone grabbed it with their bare hands and snapped it."
Nam Woo-jin mimicked twisting something in the air.
The bodies of those who started mutating after taking drugs were extremely tough. It would take considerable force to break their bones and subdue them. Lee Sa-young, observing the corpse, straightened up.
"Who reported this?"
"Yang Hye-jin. An A-grade hunter from the Rift Management Bureau."
A familiar name. Lee Sa-young tapped the operating table with his fingertips and asked.
"Did she handle it?"
"No. We don't know who did it. There was a separate first discoverer. A part-timer at a hangover soup restaurant found it while taking out the trash… and got scared out of their wits when they saw its appearance."
Nam Woo-jin glanced at the corpse with its black spikes.
"It's natural for an ordinary person to be terrified. They were so shaken they didn't know what to do and asked Yang Hye-jin, who came to eat hangover soup, to report it."
"…Hangover soup?"
"Yeah. Apparently, it's a famous place… I haven't been there, so I don't know the details."
When it came to hangover soup restaurants, there was only one that Bae Won-woo was obsessed with, going there regularly. Lee Sa-young frowned. His fingers tapping on the operating table slowed down.
"Where exactly was this found?"
"This is interesting. Hey, show him."
"Yes, Master."
The boy handed over a tablet displaying a map. Lee Sa-young zoomed in on the screen.
"Doesn't the location look familiar? It's near the recycling center in the alley where an addict was found last time."
"…"
"We need to check if a new supplier has appeared in the area. Keep that in mind."
Indeed, the discovery location this time was very close to the alley where Lee Sa-young had met his 'Hyung.' Was it really a coincidence?
"Oh, and there's something else unusual… Look at this."
Nam Woo-jin pointed to some of the black spikes protruding from the corpse's body. Among the many spikes, several sticking out of the abdomen and chest were bent as if they had hit something hard.
Lee Sa-young tilted his head slightly and focused on the twisted spike tips. A strange sense of déjà vu hit him.
"I've never seen spikes bent like this. It looks like they suddenly collided with something very hard… Have you seen this before?"
Yes.
The spikes that his 'Hyung' had bent with a ladle looked just like this. Having replayed that day's events countless times in his mind, Lee Sa-young recognized it immediately. His previously stiff mouth curved into a smile.
When he couldn't find a single trace in the database, he nearly lost his temper. After some time passed, he was determined to track him down and punish him. But now that he finally found a clue, he couldn't help but laugh. Nam Woo-jin, resting his chin on his hand, muttered.
"Looks like you know something."
"Yeah."
Lee Sa-young smiled contentedly.
"I finally caught his tail."