Life is Like a Boomerang

Cha Eui-jae looked at the rapidly rotating golden patterns and asked himself,

'How can every hunter I meet be a weirdo?'

In the past, there weren't so many hunters with such distinctive personalities. It was natural, as survival was the most important thing back then.

But in today's Great Hunter Era, hunters without personality cannot survive! The meaning of 'survival' that hunters pursue has completely changed. And no matter how much he thought about it, the personality that made Hong Ye-seong so famous in this era wasn't about crafting…

'Anyway, this guy is definitely a nutjob…'

The madness was obvious. Flash, lightning struck behind Hong Ye-seong's head once more.

Suddenly, rain began to pour down. Hong Ye-seong, not caring whether his body got wet, extended only the hand holding a boiled egg under the eaves. It seemed his obsession with magic stones was so intense that he cherished even things that looked similar. Cha Eui-jae gripped the ladle in his hand tightly.

'Should I report him to Jung Bin?'

No. He quickly dismissed the sweet temptation. Calling Jung Bin would be like burning down the entire house to catch a flea. What if Hong Ye-seong, who was in a bad mood, told Jung Bin that Cha Eui-jae had magic stones and suspicious weapons in his inventory?

Besides, there was no guarantee that physical memory erasure would work properly, and

'Cleaning up afterwards would be difficult.'

He couldn't predict what this peculiar mentality of his might do next. Cha Eui-jae glanced sideways at Hong Ye-seong. He was still holding out the yolk towards him. It seemed he would keep doing that until the door was opened.

"Tsk."

Considering Hong Ye-seong's bizarre obsession, it was obvious he would keep coming back until he got the magic stone. It was better to just hand it over quickly and send him away. That was the original deal anyway. Cha Eui-jae sighed and slowly opened the door.

Like a secret agent, Hong Ye-seong lowered his body, stuck to the wall, and sensitively scanned his surroundings before quickly scuttling into the shop. Only after checking the safety inside did he take a seat in a corner. Cha Eui-jae wondered how long he would keep up this ridiculous act as he watched him.

"Bawk."

Kkokko called Cha Eui-jae. When he glanced over, Kkokko pointed at the crouched Hong Ye-seong with his head and clucked again. It seemed he wanted to be taken to his owner. Cha Eui-jae picked up the box with Kkokko inside and approached the uninvited guest.

"Excuse me."

"Oh, Kkokko. You were safe!"

"Bawk."

Hong Ye-seong stretched out both hands. Just before his hands touched the box, Cha Eui-jae lifted Kkokko over his head. It was pointless to feign ignorance in front of the Eyes of Appraisal, so he didn't hesitate.

"Bawk?"

Ignoring the puzzled cluck of Kkokko, Cha Eui-jae spoke coldly.

"Before the father-son reunion, let's have a little chat."

"Kkokko!"

"If you want to see Kkokko again, you'll have to answer my questions properly."

"Damn, you cruel bastard!"

Hong Ye-seong started his dramatic performance again. Cha Eui-jae looked down coldly at Hong Ye-seong, who was dutifully playing the role of the troubled father. In this scene, Cha Eui-jae seemed to play the role of the evil employee preventing the father-son reunion. But this time, he wasn't going to let it slide easily.

"How did you find this place?"

Even if he was going to hand over the item, he needed to confirm this. Judging by the yolk, it seemed he came here looking for the magic stone, but it was a mystery how he found the hangover soup restaurant directly. It was only natural to search for Pado Guild first to find Kim Secretary. Cha Eui-jae squinted his eyes.

"Did you put a tracker on me?"

"Huh? No way."

He could see the eyes blinking under the sunglasses. Hong Ye-seong lowered his mask and replied.

"But the idea of a tracker is good. I should make one."

"Answer."

"Well… You have it right now."

Have it? Cha Eui-jae quickly lifted his head. Simultaneously, Kkokko, who was wriggling inside the Bacchus box, stuck his head out and looked down. Facing Kkokko's unreadable black eyes, Cha Eui-jae muttered.

"…Does this thing have a tracking function?"

"Not exactly, but maybe because it's made from a monster magic stone that absorbs memories? It remembers and finds people really well. We're connected by soul, so we communicate well too. It's impressive that it found you in this vast Seoul. Good job, Kkokko!"

"Bawk!"

Kkokko crowed loudly. Right, I did carry Kkokko around during the Artisan Exhibition… It was his fault for not imagining this half-grown chicken could find people.

Cha Eui-jae slowly placed the box with Kkokko on the floor. Kkokko immediately sprang out and charged towards Hong Ye-seong. And then,

Smack! He slapped him with his ceramic wing.

"Ow!"

Hong Ye-seong clutched his cheek and collapsed pathetically. Damn, that felt good. Cha Eui-jae subtly covered his mouth with his hand to hide his rising smile.

"Kkokko, why?"

"Bawk!"

Kkokko wailed, looking at the boiled egg that had fallen to the floor. Ah. Both Hong Ye-seong and Cha Eui-jae sighed at the same time.

Cha Eui-jae quickly picked up Kkokko and covered his small head with his hand. He recalled seeing something similar in an experimental TV program before. Chickens fall asleep if you cover their eyes.

"…"

Indeed, it worked like magic. Kkokko, who had been crowing like a siren, soon calmed down. Hong Ye-seong exclaimed in admiration.

"Oh, it's sleeping."

When Cha Eui-jae glared at him, Hong Ye-seong quickly picked up the boiled egg from the floor and put it in his pocket. Then he looked up at Cha Eui-jae and asked,

"But, Secretary, do you have a side job? Why are you at a hangover soup restaurant?"

"Yes, I do."

"Wow, you work hard. You're a model of society! Impressive."

When Cha Eui-jae answered calmly, Hong Ye-seong gave him a thumbs up. Falling for such words, this guy really was an idiot, despite his awakened abilities.

Facing an idiot made Cha Eui-jae's mind work quickly. Did Hong Ye-seong really escape the Awakened Management Bureau properly? Cha Eui-jae quickly locked the door and turned off all the lights in the shop. Then he asked in a low voice,

"…But weren't you captured back then? Assuming you found this place thanks to Kkokko, how did you shake off the Management Bureau?"

And as he finished speaking, Cha Eui-jae instinctively knew.

'Ah, I messed up.'

Hong Ye-seong's chest puffed up like a chicken inflating its body.

"Ah, you're curious about my escape?"

His voice was full of pride. 'No, I'm not.' Cha Eui-jae quickly shook his head, but Hong Ye-seong sighed deeply, holding his forehead.

"A lot happened. Listen up."

***

On the day Hong Ye-seong was transported like a yellow checkered kimbap in a car.

Originally, he was supposed to be transferred directly to Bukhansan, but since he planned to enjoy the secular world a bit before entering the mountain, the preparations at Jang-in Village were not complete. Thanks to that, Hong Ye-seong was elegantly confined in a hotel suite.

However, despite staying in a nice room, he felt empty inside. A security guard approached the wistful Hong Ye-seong and cautiously asked,

"Hong Ye-seong-ssi, do you need anything?"

"Magic stone."

The guard gave him a look that said "Not this again" but maintained a serious tone and tried to comfort him.

"We're looking for it diligently."

Diligently. They always said diligently! Hong Ye-seong shouted and struggled. In this harsh society, nothing gets done with just enthusiasm. Because of this, he came to despise the adverb "diligently."

Anyway, from the first day of confinement, Hong Ye-seong started to suffer mentally, saying the yolk of the fried egg from breakfast looked like a magic stone. Then, he wailed seeing a TV drama actress wearing a yellow floral dress, saying it looked like a magic stone.

The guards, who had to stick close and witness all this, were going crazy. It was as if Hong Ye-seong had gained a new mental attack skill.

Things got so bad that the Management Bureau brought in a hunter-specialized psychiatrist to counsel Hong Ye-seong, but even the doctor shook his head and left. Hong Ye-seong was growing mentally weaker day by day.

It was bearable when he had no idea where the magic stone was. But knowing its location and seeing it in person made it unbearable. The actual magic stone he saw was more resplendent, radiant, round, and beautiful than anything he had seen before. Hong Ye-seong hugged Kkokko and cried,

"Magic stooone—!"

"We're looking for it diligently."

It was like a broken record. By the time every jewel in the chandelier on the hotel ceiling looked like a magic stone, Hong Ye-seong decided to escape. After all, the biggest obstacle, Jung Bin, wasn't here!

Half-listening to his heroic tale, Cha Eui-jae's eyes widened.

"Jung Bin wasn't there?"

"Huh? No."

Hong Ye-seong answered casually while munching on a rice cake he had pulled out from somewhere.

"Ever since the Artisan Exhibition, I haven't seen him. Ah, I did get a message. He said he had something urgent to deal with along with Sa-young."

Good thing I didn't use the memory-erasing technique. This crazy guy knew all sorts of high-level information that wasn't even circulating in the Pado Guild's blind posts. Now that it had come to this, I had to extract everything from him. Cha Eui-jae asked calmly.

"Sa-young… what about him? Is he okay?"

"Huh? You don't know?"

"Ah…"

Cha Eui-jae recalled the blind post he saw earlier that day. Nice. He shamelessly but with a tone full of concern muttered.

"The Guild Leader hasn't come to the office since the Artisan Exhibition. He's been issuing orders via email to the secretary team, so everyone is curious about what he's doing."

"Oh, I see. Well, that makes sense."

Fortunately, Hong Ye-seong seemed to accept this explanation. He replied while rubbing his swollen cheek with a new boiled egg.

"It's nothing major. They said they're going into some dungeon. Something related to the apocalypse? …Yeah, that's what it was. They said they found a clue or something."

"…"

The apocalypse. It was too big a story to dismiss lightly. Cha Eui-jae widened his eyes and was about to ask more when,

Knock knock, an unexpected knocking sound interrupted him. Hong Ye-seong clamped his hands over his mouth and crouched in a corner. Cha Eui-jae also stood in front of him, holding a ladle, as if to shield him. The hangover soup restaurant was filled with sharp tension. In the moment when even their breaths were held,

What followed was…

"…Excuse me, is anyone inside?"

It was a voice he recognized.