The Hunter’s Gonna Lay Low

Chapter 269

A prickling sensation on his skin—a clear sign of hostility. Mackerel sighed audibly as if for them to hear, tucking his glasses into the chest pocket of his tank top. He then pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

"So… has Seowon Guild fallen too? Or did Jeong Bin die? Those are the only reasons I can think of for you coming here.”

"Sorry to disappoint, but neither of those things has happened," Sa-young answered in his place. Mackerel glanced back and forth between Sa-young and Uijae, then gave a dry chuckle.

“Then, I guess…”

“……”

“J must be about to die if Lee Sa-young has followed him all the way here.”

Uijae’s eyes widened in shock. What—he knew? Mackerel turned away, flicking his hand with the cigarette as he spoke.

"Anyway, I have nothing more to say. It must have been exhausting coming out to this isolated place. Have a safe trip back."

“Your brother,” Sa-young’s voice made Mackerel’s ashy feet pause mid-step.

“If there’s a way to save him… would you be interested?”

So he really was the younger brother, then. The glasses and hair had thrown them off.

‘So, are the glasses his brother’s…’

Mackerel slowly turned his head, glaring at Sa-young through his disheveled bangs, eyes bloodshot with emotion.

“Those words…”

A faint, eerie blue aura flickered at the young man’s back as he gritted his teeth, continuing in a low voice.

“You’d better choose them carefully.”

Sa-young uncrossed his legs and stood up, slowly walking toward Mackerel until he looked down at him.

“Even if it’s not in this world… if there’s a way in another world.”

“……”

“Would you tell us?”

A wind carrying white ash blew past them. Mackerel stared at Sa-young in silence.

“This is strange…”

He narrowed his eyes.

“You’re not the Lee Sa-young I know. Why are you so... restrained?”

This was bad. Uijae quickly got up and stepped between them.

“He’s been having memory issues.”

“Issues? What kind of issues?”

“He’s… been a bit off. Doesn’t he seem uncharacteristically kind today?”

“He does seem that way.”

Mackerel, in a mocking tone, looked up at the sky, white ash drifting through the air. Sa-young glanced at Uijae with a look full of unspoken questions but refrained from protesting. Mackerel motioned with his head, signaling them to follow.

"Alright, let’s talk inside."

The seaside village was eerily quiet. A fine layer of white ash coated the streets, and there was not a single blade of grass to be seen. It was sparsely populated, with more abandoned houses than inhabited ones. Mackerel had apparently taken up residence in one such house.

"What happened to the original owner?"

Mackerel didn’t answer, but Uijae assumed they were likely dead… or had become monsters.

As they walked, Mackerel asked, “How’s it going on your end? Making a living?”

“Not so great,” Uijae replied.

“Figures. The old Director isn’t around anymore either, I’d guess.”

Curiosity tugged at Uijae’s mind, questions about the Director’s and his aunt’s deaths, but a part of him feared to ask. Would the system silence him again for prying? Should he confirm their deaths? Just then, Sa-young, with his hands in his coat pockets, spoke.

“How did the Director die?”

"What, lose your memory and become an idiot?” Mackerel looked at Uijae, baffled. Uijae just shrugged in response and gave Sa-young a light pat on the back, thanking him for his support. Mackerel scratched his head, muttering.

“He died trying to protect the Bureau during the monster wave. You could call it a last stand…”

“……”

“A lot of the Hunters affiliated with the Bureau were killed in that wave. The civil servant teams survived, though, since they were stationed in other areas.”

“Did your brother die then too?”

“……”

Mackerel didn’t answer. Instead, he walked on until they reached the end of the path, where white sand met the sea. Uijae and Sa-young followed behind. With each step, the mixed textures of sand and white ash created a strange sensation underfoot. Standing near the gentle waves, Mackerel turned to them.

“Did Jeong Bin give you this location?”

“Yeah.”

“He swore he’d keep it a secret forever. Can’t trust anyone these days, can you?”

The sea was blanketed in white ash, with not a trace of blue remaining. Boats at the dock were covered in the same white powder, bound tightly as if they hadn’t been used for a long time. Nets lay tangled and abandoned.

Uijae crouched and dipped his hand into the ashen sea. Instead of water, his hand came away covered in white ash. The cold sea no longer held any sign of life—it was just there, an empty shell.

Mackerel spoke, “Be careful. You could get pulled in.”

“Pulled in?”

“Haven’t you seen seas affected by whitening? Guess not, considering you’re J and you’ve been collapsing all the time. They wouldn’t send you far out.”

Mackerel exhaled a plume of smoke, gesturing at the pale waves.

“When whitening spreads to the sea, it becomes a wasteland. Imagine what happens when the ocean itself loses its life.”

“……”

“No fish, no life. The sea turns into stagnant water, no longer the sea of life but one of death. The only creatures that thrive here now are monsters.”

“So how do people survive here? Weren’t many of the residents fishermen?”

“Once in a while, we get rations delivered. It’s irregular, though—could come any time or not at all.”

“……”

“So I go out to find food. I’m the only Awakener here, after all.”

Mackerel crossed his arms, his face unreadable.

“My mother’s hometown is here, so I came down. But I didn’t expect this.”

He must be referring to Jang Mi-sook. The quiet sound of ash-laden waves continued. Uijae looked silently over the still sea, sensing a strange presence. In the water… or was it the water itself?

<Tracker’s Eye!>

Uijae focused his gaze on the sea, but as Mackerel had said, there was no sign of fish. Instead…

A large white form lurked in the shadows of the deep. It was…

Something enormous…

“……”

Uijae’s lips parted slightly, and he slowly turned to look at Mackerel. Mackerel’s profile appeared unsettlingly pale, almost ghostly. Feeling Uijae’s stare, Mackerel turned to meet his gaze with a smile.

“J. Have you ever eaten a monster?”

“……”

“When there’s nothing else to eat, you end up resorting to it.”

“……”

“Better than eating people, right? I mean, a monster from the sea is kind of like a fish.”

A massive shadow glided leisurely beneath the white ash on the water’s surface. Without hesitation, Mackerel began to wade into the sea. His pants soaked, rising to his waist as he went deeper. When Uijae tried to follow, Sa-young grabbed his arm tightly.

“Where are you going?”

“Can’t you see? There’s something in that water…”

“I know.”

“……”

“He knows too.”

A thin white appendage wrapped around Mackerel’s body as he stood there in the sea. Gently, almost tenderly, he stroked the things encircling him. He spoke, his voice calm.

“You asked how the Fish Market fell.”

“……”

“The Fish Market was held together by my brother’s power. But then whitening spread to Noryangjin as well…”

“……”

“How could human strength stop a natural disaster? The Fish Market collapsed, and my brother, who governed that space, succumbed to the whitening… becoming something less than human. That’s all there is to it. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Mackerel smiled.

“This is our home now. There’s nowhere else for us to go.”

Beneath the ash-covered sea, a colossal shadow swam in silence. Although the water was still, the shadow’s movement created ripples. As Mackerel’s clothes grew wet, the faint glimmer of scales became visible beneath. White scales.

“You…”

Uijae stood speechless, simply staring at him in shock. Mackerel had already become part of the sea. He chuckled, spreading his arms wide.

“Sorry, I couldn’t be of more help.”

“You’re still human. Isn’t there a way to treat this? You haven’t… fully transformed, not yet.”

Right, wasn’t this world’s Nam Woo-jin researching something? Uijae demanded, hoping for a solution. Mackerel shrugged.

“Who knows? Even if there were a cure, I’m not sure I’d want it.”

“……”

“I think you’d understand that, J.”

Mackerel turned to look at Sa-young, his gaze steady, then took another step forward, moving deeper into the sea. Uijae looked at Sa-young, desperation in his eyes.

“Are we just going to let him go?”

“……”

“Are you really going to just let him go like this?!”

Sa-young remained silent, yet his grip on Uijae’s arm didn’t relax either. Uijae clenched his teeth, then,

With all his strength, he broke free from Sa-young

’s grasp. Holding Sa-young’s arm, he whispered,

“I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

With those final words, Uijae leapt into the sea without hesitation.