Chapter 727: Must not be sane (3)

'Let's just see what happens for now.'

He would watch how a Hunter and a wanderer fight. After he watches how they fight it out…

'If they try to touch me in the process? Then I just need to fight it out with them too.'

– Cale, your eyes seem vicious.

'Ah. I can't let that happen.'

Cale softened his gaze after hearing the Super Rock's urgent comment. However, he was amazed.

Bait?

Whether it was his life as Kim Rok Soo or as Cale Henituse, he had never been bait without his knowledge.

'I guess one of the two Hunter candidates is Jung Yi-Rang.'

Choi Jung Gun said that there should only be one Hunter, so it should be fine to conclude that Jung Yi-Rang was the Hunter, but Cale decided to remain alert against the other candidate as well.

'I can't trust him.'

He couldn't trust Choi Jung Gun.

'But at least he seems to cherish his own family a lot.'

That would be why he turned Cale into bait to make it safe for Choi Jung Soo.

It was at that moment.

"Hey Jung Soo, less go naw." (TL: Talking with an accent.)

"Hol-on, after I look at this." (TL: Also talking with accent.)

Two steps.

Exactly two steps behind Jung Yi-Rang's back… Choi Jung Soo was right there. Cale turned toward him.

Choi Jung Soo, who seemed to have come here with one of his cousins, was wearing a black track suit. The other person was wearing the same thing so it may be some sort of uniform.
17 years old Choi Jung Soo.

He looked much younger than the Choi Jung Soo that Cale had met.

'He's a bit shorter. He also looks scrawnier.'

He was in much better shape compared to Cale, but he looked like an average person who works out. It was quite unfamiliar for Cale, who thought Choi Jung Soo had been buff since he was young.

'What the hell happened to this punk during high school?'

The twenty years old Choi Jung Soo that he had met in the sealed god's test had an almost perfect physique. Compared to that, right now…

'He looks feeble.'

This was quite ironic coming from Cale, but it was an obvious thought for him.

"Kim Rok Soo."

Choi Jung Gun naturally but suddenly put his hand on Cale's shoulder at that moment. He then pulled Cale back, making Cale turn away from Choi Jung Soo.

"Ah, we should go now."

"Really?"

Choi Jung Gun had finished his conversation with Jung Yi-Rang. Jung Yi-Rang looked disappointed. This was probably his true feelings and not an act. How disappointed must he be to let his prey go from right in front of his eyes?

That was why Cale snickered.

"We're leaving now, Jung Yi-Rang. See you later."

"Hmm?"

"At school. What's wrong?"

"Oh right. See you at school."

Cale waived at Jung Yi-Rang, who was also snickering before moving as Choi Jung Gun pushed him forward.

He walked past Choi Jung Soo.

Choi Jung Gun did not even glance at Choi Jung Soo. No, Choi Jung Gun was making sure to never look at Choi Jung Soo since earlier.

It was because Jung Yi-Rang was watching them leave.

'Crazy bastard.'

There were glass walls all around them because this was an exhibition area.

Through the glass wall surrounding the model sword… Cale had seen it.

Cale had seen Jung Yi-Rang looking at him.

He saw Jung Yi-Rang lick his lips with a slimy smile on his face.

He truly seemed like a crazy bastard.

The typical energetic high schooler with glasses had instantly turned into a lunatic.

'…That looks a bit vicious.'

At that moment…

"Keke."

He heard a stereotypical villain's laughter from next to him. He turned his head to see that Choi Jung Gun was doing his best to hold back his laughter.

Cale couldn't help but speak after seeing that.

"It's him, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Are you happy?"

"Of course I am happy. The prey has rolled in front of me with his own two feet."

'Wow. This guy…'

– Cale, both of them are weird.

Both of them were crazy bastards as the Super Rock mentioned.

* * *

However, Cale's day proceeded peacefully after that. He did not see Jung Yi-Rang anymore.

"Take a good look. This is the family that does the most research regarding ancient sword arts in Korea."

On a stage prepared on one side of the Exhibition Hall… The people of the Choi family were demonstrating their sword art.

'Mm. This is definitely just for show.'

Cale could tell instantly that this sword art was not the real Choi family sword art.

Choi Jung Soo, Choi Han…

Although both of them had changed it to match their own styles, their foundational sword art was the Choi family's. That sword art was extremely aggressive but clean.

"Wow. It's cool."

"Right?"

The corners of Choi Jung Gun's lips were twitching. However, his face soon stiffened.

Choi Jung Soo had stepped on stage.

17 years old. They did not give much time for a young kid like him.

He was just in the back of the group's basic demonstration to fill numbers.

Cale started to frown.

'…He sucks.'

"His skills are still extremely lacking. This isn't good."

'Hmm?'

Cale turned toward Choi Jung Gun after suddenly hearing his voice. He did not even notice Cale's gaze as he was busy nervously biting his nails. He seemed quite concerned and worried as soon as Choi Jung Soo stood on the stage.

However, Cale could not just watch and let him keep doing that.

Tap.

Cale's shoulder hit Choi Jung Gun's shoulder.

'Eek. It's like a stone.'

Choi Jung Gun's shoulder was as firm as a stone.

– Cale, are you okay? Your feeble little body is nothing compared to him, even if his body is under restrictions.

Cale ignored the Super Rock's pitying voice before brushing his shoulder once as if he was brushing some dust off. He then whispered to Choi Jung Gun while hiding the fact that he was in pain.

"Nine o'clock direction."

Choi Jung Gun's gaze naturally looked around.

Of the numerous people around the stage… Jung Yi-Rang was there. He was looking at the stage.

"…I'm going to rip those motherfuckers to their deaths."

Choi Jung Gun turned toward the stage again and silently stood there until the demonstration finished.

Cale had a question as he watched Choi Jung Gun.

'Why does Choi Jung Gun loathe the Hunters so much?'

He seemed to have a bigger grudge against the Hunters than his hatred of the God of Death. Had something happened to him?

'That's none of my business.'

Unlike Choi Jung Soo or Choi Han, Choi Jung Gun did not mean much to Cale.

The two of them observed the demonstration in silence unlike the crowd cheering around them. Once the Choi family's demonstration ended…

"How was it?"

"I think it will be of great reference."

"Really?"

Choi Jung Gun hesitated for a moment after asking for Cale's thoughts before turning away from the stage with a single comment.

"There was a high schooler there as well. He's the same age as you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Choi Jung Gun hesitated before nonchalantly adding on.

"He has a good personality. That guy who is the same age as you."

He then quickly walked away from the stage.

Cale chuckled and followed behind him.

"Where are we going now?"

They had spent half the day helping out with the exhibition. It was not for the whole day.

"We're going to go watch a drama filming."

'Oh. Are we going to see Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk now?'

"It's a legal drama, and I'm going to be on it as a supporting character."

"Sunbae, you're involved in all sorts of things."

Choi Jung Gun simply shrugged his shoulders and returned his staff badge before walking out of the building.

They did not see Jung Yi-Rang anymore.

"Uhh… mm..."

Choi Jung Gun hesitated before dragging Cale to a corner.

"The original plan was to take a tour bus to go to the filming location."

"Am I allowed to ride that too?"

"I had taken care of that, but…"

There was an awkward smile on Choi Jung Gun's face.

'What is he scheming?'

Cale had that thought as Choi Jung Gun whispered to him despite nobody else being around them.

"You know about me."

"Yes?"

"Then do you want to go more peacefully?"

'Peacefully?'

Cale would soon get the answer to that question.

"It's a car."

It was a fancy foreign car. Furthermore, it was a sports car.

It was a brand that Cale didn't know very well, but he could tell that it was a luxurious car. He stared at Choi Jung Gun.

"Haha..."

Choi Jung Gun awkwardly laughed before pulling out an ID card from his wallet.

"I have two IDs."

One was a student ID, while the other was his social security card.

They were both fakes.

"I also have a lot of money."

Cale finally understood how Choi Jung Gun was able to bring Kim Rok Soo as an extra to this exhibition and the drama filming.

'…Something is a bit…'

Cale had imagined Choi Jung Gun struggling to complete tasks because he said that wanderers were like mercenaries, but…

"I guess I have a lot of bias."

Cale got in the sports car.

Choi Jung Gun grabbed the steering wheel and the car soon started a smooth drive toward their destination.

* * *

"The drama I'll be in is going to release soon, but it has a lot of action scenes because the main character deals with a lot of thugs."

Cale was looking at the scenery outside while listening to Choi Jung Gun's explanation as he responded.

"Are we leaving the city?"

"Yeah. They are filming on a hill in the countryside."

A hill in the countryside.

Just hearing the location was giving Cale an odd sense of anticipation.

– Cale, I guess the wanderer is planning on luring the Hunter to the hill to kill him.

'I know, right?'

Cale agreed with him.

"Hyung, what is your role?"

"Me?"

Choi Jung Gun calmly responded.

"A teenager who ran away from home and works at an illegal gambling center."

The drama was about a cop who raids an illegal gambling center located in the countryside.

"Do you want to be in it too?"

Choi Jung Gun mentioned what happened when he called the person in charge of the extras earlier to let them know that he would be driving separately.

"I told the person in charge that I'll be bringing a dongsaeng I know with me, and he asked if you would like to be in it. Someone apparently flaked last minute."

Choi Jung Gun looked at the side view mirror for a moment before looking forward again.

"Don't worry about acting well. We may not even end up in it. Other people have roles with dialog or actions, but we just need to stand there with our heads down."

He had no interest and wasn't an aspiring actor, but was it really okay to be thrown into a production last minute even if it is an extremely small role? Cale had that question, but kept his mouth shut after hearing Choi Jung Gun continue to talk.

"There is a hyung I got to know on the production."

The car had left the city and was driving through the countryside now.

"Lee Soo Hyuk. That is that hyung's name."

He was silent for a moment before continuing to speak.

"He's a good guy. That hyung is an aspiring actor and is trying to land a spot in the action school."

"Sunbae, you know so many people."

Cale's gaze turned toward the side mirror for a moment before he looked forward.

"But hyung."

"Yeah."

"The white car in the back."

"Yeah."

Choi Jung Gun smiled.

A white car had suddenly appeared behind them.

They could see that car following them once they got to the countryside.

Cale continued to speak in a calm voice.

"Isn't that Jung Yi-Rang driving the car?"

"He's openly coming after us now."

The Hunter who had pretended to be a freshman in high school had taken off his mask and was driving.

Cale slowly looked around.

There were fields and mountains. They were on a regular two lane road.

He could see a small side street a couple hundred meters ahead of them, but their destination was straight forward.

"Don't worry."

Choi Jung Gun stepped on the gas.

"We won't get caught."

The sports car's engine made a different noise from before as it started moving faster.

"I have no intentions of fighting right now. It's not the right time."

Choi Jung Gun quietly mumbled.

"It's easy losing a single tail."

'Will it really be that easy?'

Cale had that thought as he asked.

"Who is the other person?"

"Huh?"

Choi Jung Gun stopped looking forward and peeked at Cale after hearing the sudden question.

"The other Hunter candidate."

"…Why are you-"

Choi Jung Gun had said that there were two candidates, but that only one of them should be the Hunter.

His experience with the Hunters' hunting pattern and the fact that traveling through dimensions was difficult made him sure of it.

However, Cale was different.

"Ah, he's keeping up pretty well."

The white car sped up to follow right behind them.

Choi Jung Gun stepped on the gas even more and the sports car instantly moved forward again.

"Ah."

Cale gasped at that moment.

"...!"

Choi Jung Gun frowned at the same time.

SCREEEEEEEEECH—!

Choi Jung Gun slammed on the brake and turned the handle.

Cale turned his head to the left.

The side street he had seen earlier…

A car suddenly burst out of that side street and charged toward the sports car.

'When I was seventeen, Choi Jung Gun…'

Not in this illusion but in real life.

'He could not stop a situation from happening where the Hunters managed to mess with my memories.'

Although Cale did not remember that time and lived a regular life after that… He was certain it was not a good situation.

Basically, it meant that a situation that Choi Jung Gun did not expect had happened.

'There really were two.'

There were two Hunters and not just one. The Hunters had attacked them first while Choi Jung Gun seemed as if he wanted to fight them on the hill after seeing Lee Soo Hyuk.

Cale sighed while looking at the person sitting in the driver's seat of the truck trying to slam into the sports car.

'Rok Soo. It truly puts me at peace.'

'Your high school seems to be a good fit for you. You look very good.'

'You look much more relaxed than before. It makes me so relieved to see that you have adjusted well.'

'Alright, go on in. I'm sure you're tired.'

The things that the counselor at the orphanage had said to him echoed in Cale's ears.

And now… That counselor was smiling like the devil behind the wheel.

'Ah, right.'

Cale suddenly recalled something.

It was last year.

He had forgotten about it because that person had talked as if they had watched over Cale for a long time, but that person had only come to the orphanage last fall.

In just a few seconds…

The sports car and the truck will crash.

Cale turned toward Choi Jung Gun in that short moment.

Once he looked into Choi Jung Gun's stoic gaze…

"Kim Rok Soo, I'm sorry… It looks like you'll get hurt a bit."

Choi Jung Gun then let go of the steering wheel.

He waved his hand in the air.

Shhhhhhh-

A black sword appeared in his hand.

Baaaaaaaaaang—!

The truck and sports car crashed and created a loud noise.

The inside of the car was crushed and the car was shaking. As Choi Jung Gun's stoic gaze turned toward Cale with concern… Cale nonchalantly commented.

"But I won't get hurt."

"…What?"

Choi Jung Gun's eyes opened wide.

He saw that Cale was smiling. A pair of silver wings wrapped around him before a shield appeared in front of him.

Baaaaaang—!

The shield and silver wings protected Cale and wrapped around him so that he would not be shaken by anything.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]