# Chapter 86
The only thing he was dissatisfied with was, unsurprisingly, this unheard-of bizarre penalty. It was the first time he’d learned that there was a crazy penalty that attracted monsters.
He could understand why the skill stone’s owner before the regression had been active in combat against people rather than gate cleaning or exploration. This meant that now Lee Hwan would have to forcibly consider drive hunting during every battle.
“Ah… that’s a big problem.”
Of course, he had no intention of searching through gates endlessly for skill stones whose locations were unknown. Even the two skill stones he’d discovered so far were all he’d found after thoroughly combing through Naru.
However, to prepare for a possible monster wave that could come someday, he needed to continue combat training against them, but going into gates alone and spreading pheromones seemed rather dangerous.
‘I guess becoming familiar with the skill is the priority.’
It seemed like the time had come to stay away from gates for a while and explore other areas.
* * *
Upon leaving the gate, Kang Dongha was waiting for him, unusually after a long time. Seeing Lee Hwan’s face smeared with blood here and there, he made an expression suggesting he’d come for nothing rather than showing concern—truly characteristic of him.
“Do you eat monsters inside? You always come out with blood all over your mouth.”
Lee Hwan received the towel Dongha threw, wet it, scrubbed his face thoroughly, and then threw the reddish-brown stained rag right back at him.
He let out a short scream and quickly dodged.
“You’ll get infected.”
“Who are you treating like a virus?”
Still, it was good that the return journey had become easier. He was a bit tired from extensively using his newly acquired ability.
He must have brought his car personally because he had something to say. If he’d done something wrong, he wouldn’t be loitering around when Lee Hwan was on edge after finishing a battle, so it probably wasn’t bad news.
Reassured, he leaned his back comfortably against the seat, and a sense of comfort enveloped his body. Expensive cars really did feel different from the start. He appreciated the quiet driving that felt like gliding through air without any shaking.
“What is it this time?”
“Health Promotion Association. A meeting was suddenly scheduled for tomorrow. Maybe there’s been some progress with the experiment.”
“That’s good news.”
Or bad news. Lee Hwan inwardly muttered while looking out the window. Were there others with such tenacious and intense desire for life?
Having so much made them particularly afraid of death, which is fair to everyone. With their lives’ trajectories in such disarray, they feared what came after even more.
If that’s how they felt, they should have lived well from the beginning. How many more years were they going to hold onto a doomed experiment while causing harm everywhere?
Dongha seemed to think Lee Hwan’s expressionless face showed lack of interest, so he added another comment as he entered the highway.
“And, the area I can be involved in has expanded a bit more.”
That was genuinely good news despite being unpleasant, so Lee Hwan congratulated him as sincerely as he could.
“That’s good news.”
“What a truly joyful tone.”
Kang Dongha tended to ignore his best efforts.
With that, the conversation died. While waiting to arrive, all sorts of plans arose and faded in Lee Hwan’s mind.
Thanks to all the good information he had diligently provided, Kang Dongha probably now had access to all of the basement in Research Building D. This meant Lee Hwan would also have the opportunity to explore that restricted area.
To think he had regressed to prevent doom and ended up maintaining a symbiotic relationship with him. It felt strangely like repurposing a villain.
‘Hmm…’
It seemed he would need to search through the research building again soon. Even during his last superficial visit to the basement, hadn’t he found a fragment of causality? Based on the nagging feeling at the back of his head, he could roughly guess that more substantial content lay below.
The car moved smoothly forward. Having passed the tollgate, they would arrive home soon. He was starting to feel sleepy—if he had returned on his own, he might have dozed off on the bus.
Despite the trouble caused by this person’s nonsense, there were certainly convenient aspects when he thought about it. Even right after he regressed, though he didn’t want to admit it, Dongha had been helpful.
Lee Hwan sat in the passenger seat, absently staring out the window, and without turning his head, casually dropped a comment.
“You’ve actually committed an unforgivable sin.”
“What…?”
“But I’m going to spare you once.”
Thanks to him coughing up blood and suffering, Dongha would also face limits to his evil deeds, whether he liked it or not. Though he might rage about interference now, in the end, he wouldn’t face the ending of being restrained with his corn taken away.
Unaware of all this, a sound like air escaping came from beside him. As if asking what nonsense he was talking about.
That was rather fortunate. It was better for him to remain ignorant—about what he had done, how the world had ended up, and what had become of him.
That way, he wouldn’t do anything unnecessary and would just keep digging around in his laboratory.
“You haven’t started pouring in experimental subjects in large numbers yet, right?”
“…”
“Well, domestic procurement is too dangerous… and neighboring countries haven’t fallen into civil war yet.”
This seemed to be a detail he shouldn’t know about yet. The atmosphere in the car suddenly became colder than ice. But as always, this guy would eventually end up telling related stories, treating him like some kind of fake psychic.
“Even Qin Shi Huang died at fifty after all that fuss—I wonder how long those old men will live.”
With those final words, Lee Hwan closed his mouth and shut his eyes. There were too many things in the world to get angry about, and getting furious at each one was exhausting and made him hungry. When he got back, he’d have a bowl of cereal and sleep like the dead.
He could feel Kang Dongha glancing at him. Lee Hwan was glad he had taken the passenger seat. If he’d sat in the back, Dongha could have observed him comfortably through the rearview mirror, which he didn’t want to see.
After returning home, his memories were patchy. He had so much to think about—HPA, infiltration—but didn’t get to consider any of it even once. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by sleep as if drugged.
Fatigue must have accumulated. After all, he’d been constantly on the run since the stranding incident. He slept, slept some more, woke up to drink a pack of milk, showered, watched TV, then slept again. Except for not waking up whining in between, Lee Hwan had been sleeping almost like a newborn.
When he fully regained consciousness, not only had day broken, but the sun was already setting again into evening. Lee Hwan couldn’t hide his bewilderment and regret as he looked at the clock hands pointing to 8.
“No way… the weekend is gone again…”
Lee Hwan muttered, rubbing his messy hair that looked like a magpie’s nest. How many times had he already missed his holiday, which was only two days a week? Thinking he should try to do something weekend-like even at this late hour, he hurriedly got up and put on clothes.
The café he arrived at after trudging along still had its lights on, but the counter was empty as if they were cleaning up, with only the sound of dishes coming from the kitchen. As he carefully opened the door with a jingle, the owner peeked his face out from inside.
“Um… are you closed?”
“We’re not closed yet. We were just cleaning the inside first since there were no customers.”
“Ah… then, can I still get brunch in the evening? To go, please.”
Nothing was going as planned. Hopefully they hadn’t finished washing the dishes already. Hesitantly asking with that concern, he received a surprisingly willing affirmative answer.
As Lee Hwan grinned with relief, an unexpected offer followed.
“I’m going to clean the hall last anyway, so just eat here.”
“Is that okay?”
“It’s fine with me. Would you like scones? Or eggs?”
It was fortunate that only the owner was there. If there had been even one part-timer, he would have declined out of consideration.
Lee Hwan hummed as he quickly took a seat near the window, happy that he wouldn’t have to do dishes or clean up garbage.
After a brief sound of oil sizzling from the kitchen, well-toasted bread and scrambled eggs were soon placed on the table.
“Wow… this is exactly what I wanted to eat, so I rushed out. I’ll eat quickly and go.”
“You can take your time. I was worried, actually.”
“Pardon?”
“Well, I gave you my business card and then you suddenly stopped coming…”
Ah. Come to think of it, there were people who never returned to cafés or restaurants if the owner recognized them. How uneasy must he have been when a regular customer received his card and suddenly disappeared.
“Ahahah, it’s nothing like that. I was just busy… had some things to do. It’s not like I come every week anyway.”
In truth, he almost couldn’t come today either. Thinking about how this person would have made a big effort for nothing, he felt glad he had stopped by, even though they weren’t particularly close.
“I’m selling apricot jam as a limited summer item since you said it was delicious last time.”
“Oh, could I buy a jar when I leave? You sell it in jars, right?”
“Of course.”
Pretending to look for jam, the owner left with those words, as if telling him to eat comfortably. Lee Hwan placed the softly cooked eggs on the bread, took a crunchy bite, and glanced at the kitchen where the owner had gone.
When he rummaged through to pile on more eggs, he discovered two sausages that seemed to have been hidden inside. A smile naturally spread across his face.
After constantly mixing with businesslike colleagues, the nitpicky Kang Taesung, and Kang Dongha who always latched onto his words, suddenly having a normal conversation full of consideration and kindness made him feel like he was living a proper human life at last.
Thanks to that, he could gratefully go to work tomorrow feeling like he was living an ordinary life again. Although not long after, he planned to search the research building and essentially film a spy thriller.
‘This feels nice.’
Kind people are indeed good. Lee Hwan thought this unconsciously. And yet, the fact that he still thought of Kang Taesung at the same time felt foolish now, but once upon a time, he had truly liked his gentle side.
How much the lukewarm warmth that had crashed into his life of coldness had melted his solid defenses. That’s why he had kept holding onto the changed man. Because all the memories he had given were warm and soft.
As he chewed the bread with his cheeks puffed out while reminiscing about the past, he wondered what kind of melancholy this was. Still, remembering the ridiculous plan he had once made because he liked being with Taesung brought an awkward laugh.
He had planned to become best friends with whoever became Kang Taesung’s partner. That way, he could keep visiting their home. He wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with him as before, but it would create a trio including himself.
‘What bullshit.’
Thinking about it now, it was truly material for a drinking story. “My married friend came with a plus-one friend attached.” It was such a deranged idea that he quickly discarded it, but he almost turned his only friend into a divorcee.
Lee Hwan chuckled sneakily as he emptied his plate completely and drank all the water that had been served without leaving a drop. Filling his stomach with well-cooked food brought a languid sense of happiness.
Being in such a good mood for the first time in a while, Lee Hwan put cookies and muffins he didn’t really need to buy on the counter, sending 75,200 won worth of gratitude.
“The jam is homemade, so don’t keep it too long. You should eat it all within two months after opening the lid.”
“Oh… I was planning to save it and eat it little by little.”
“Just contact me if you need more. I’ll make a bit extra when I make my portion, no big deal.”
“Contact you?”
As he asked, his eyes turned to the edge of the counter where business cards with the café’s name prominently displayed were stacked. They looked completely different from the card the owner had given him last time.
Noticing his gaze, the owner added:
“Not those, the one I gave you.”
Lee Hwan thought as he left, carrying a paper bag packed with cookies, jam, muffins, and complimentary desserts:
What? I’m not a Hunter here yet.
