Episode 9
Lee Jae-heon, to be exact, in his past life, he had a pretty good memory.
Of course, it wasn’t that I had any particular talent, it was just that I had to be quick-witted in order to survive, let alone eat.
Isn’t this a world in which people can live comfortably to a certain extent if they at least organize human relationships cleverly?
Therefore, no matter how uninterested I was, the next time I met someone, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
Moreover, in this case, there was a special condition called ‘I remembered my past life’, so it was not that difficult to find out who the other person was.
Lee Jae-heon, who had not remembered his past life for very long, had a limited range of options that he could think of.
Therefore, even after thinking about it 17 times, the man who was being chased around by a strange plant-shaped monster behind the glass wall was actually the doctor I met last weekend.
What is Ha-seong? Oh yeah… To be honest, I don’t remember the name.
‘Was that person also a character in the novel?’
Jaeheon Lee quickly thought.
Assuming from the description in the novel, if that doctor was really one of the characters, there was a high probability that the tattered corpse in the flower shop that the protagonist identified was that person.
I think there is a 99% chance that he will die if Lee Jae-heon does not help him within one minute.
But it wasn’t really a question of whether I really had to help him.
Lee Jae-heon, who was always struggling for a better life, hated variables, and that man was the perfect variable for him.
I was even more worried because the doctor, who had a strong professional spirit, was likely to remember Lee Jae-heon.
Because the build-up you’ve worked so hard to build up until now may be ruined.
Jaeheon Lee blinked his eyes slowly.
‘What did I talk about with that doctor?’
Information passes quickly through his mind.
He clearly misunderstood something about me.
Is it a misunderstanding that he must have had an illegal job? But other than the scars, Lee Jae-heon’s body was clean.
Of course, since the only body exposed was the arm, it is not certain.
No, his wounds were clearly self-inflicted, so at least the doctor’s misunderstanding wasn’t such a ridiculous delusion.
So what’s the misunderstanding? That I am mentally ill? No, that’s just the basics and nothing to misunderstand.
The doctor clearly built his misunderstanding based on more systematic information.
Jaeheon Lee changed his direction of thinking there. Anyway, he doesn’t know about that man’s misunderstanding.
If so, you need to make a quick decision based on other information.
Once you understand it from simple information, it is a clear benefit if you are willing to do things in the future.
Right away, Lee Jae-heon suffered a rather small wound, and the wound could have become contaminated in the park, forming pus and starting to rot. The days are getting warmer, and wounds tend to linger.
Jaeheon Lee has no proper medical knowledge. Yes, you need a doctor. Or it’s good to have.
Soon, the main character and his party will come to Jaeheon Lee, and if the doctor pretends to know me, then things get complicated.
It may be different from my plan. That doctor was not in his calculations.
‘So’
will you save him? Or will you let him die?
After putting the long and dense information in a corner of his head, Lee Jae-heon muttered under his breath.
What emotions was the other person feeling towards me?
Doubts about a situation that is rare even for a doctor. Or some other misunderstanding. No, delete this. I do not need. A doctor’s unique sense of duty. Complaints immediately after identifying signs of self-harm. he is a good person Delete this too.
And I have complete sympathy for Lee Jae-heon.
“….”
That doctor won’t hurt me.
This meant benefit to him.
Lee Jae-heon blinked his eyes and grasped the situation.
The doctor was about to be torn to pieces by the teeth of a bizarre plant, and a woman hiding under the workbench was looking at him with a white face.
I thought I couldn’t see it through the glass wall, but it seems it was there.
The woman, perhaps an acquaintance of the doctor, called out to him mournfully without even raising her body.
“Teacher Seo…” Lee
Jae-heon thought the moment he heard that small voice.
‘If I find a doctor, I might be able to win that woman’s favor.’
He entered the glass wall, satisfied with his decision.
In his hand was a pipe covered in squishy spider leg fluid, which would soon be covered in the blood of another monster.
Lee Jae-heon, holding the pipe high and pulling the doctor towards me while holding the back of his hand with his other hand, greeted him.
“Nice to meet you, teacher.”
“…What….”
Quas, that is!
With the sound of something full of juice exploding, bright red liquid, different from that of the spider monster, splashed everywhere. As expected, there was a terrible smell of blood.
Only then did the doctor seem to recognize the existence of Lee Jae-heon.
“…Patient?”
As expected, he remembered Lee Jae-heon, who was just one of many patients.
Is it because it was such an impressive case, or is it because of his strong sense of duty as a doctor?
Otherwise, whether it was both was not a truth that needed to be found out.
Jaeheon Lee shrugged his shoulders as he checked the doctor who had managed to keep his balance and the woman under the work table.
Blood was seeping thickly from the bandage on his shoulder, which had been clumsily treated.
“I’m still a patient now.”
“Well… it looks like that.”
The doctor’s face, who nodded at his words, was quite calm for someone who had just almost died.
Lee Jae-heon suddenly felt like he wanted to tell people how gruesomely the doctor would die a few minutes later.
Of course, instead of doing such a stupid thing, Jaeheon Lee took advantage of the moment when the monsters retreated and turned his attention towards the workbench. Trampling the crushed monster with your feet.
“Wouldn’t there be a woman there too?”
“…Ah ah….”
“Unless you plan on living with these disgusting things.”
“yes yes.”
The monsters at the flower shop stood still for a moment as Lee Jae-heon was acting so threateningly.
The woman, who had been crouching down as if she had confirmed this, quickly got out from under the workbench.
The workbench was not very close to the entrance, but the space itself was not wide, so it didn’t take long for her to run towards the doctor and Jaeheon Lee.
The woman, whose upper arm was bleeding drop by drop as if she had been cut, had an appearance that matched the description of the ‘flower shop owner’ among the main characters that Jaeheon Lee remembered.
A woman approached Lee Jae-heon, wary of the fallen monster.
“Thank you, thank you….”
“….”
And Lee Jae-heon liked these smart people.
His face was covered in tears and he was very frightened, but he seemed to have good judgment and knew how to survive even though he was shaking.
As expected, the protagonists of the future. He was a talented person who would do whatever he had to do and cry no matter where he went. Or do it while crying.
Anyway, it can be said that he is a very suitable human being to walk around in this shit world.
The doctor asked the flower shop owner while holding his side, not sure if he had been cut or chewed.
“Boss, are you okay?”
“I’m sorry, sorry, sorry. I’m really sorry. “I was so scared that I just hid…”
“It’s okay. “Oh my, why are you crying like this?”
“….”
Lee Jae-heon, who was looking at that scene, opened his mouth.
“Let’s go out first.”
Lee Jae-heon looked at the mushy flower-shaped monster with dry eyes. It was a monster full of colorful teeth instead of stamens in the middle, but the outside was just beautiful, making it even more disgusting.
As the doctor and the woman blinked at his words, Jaeheon Lee added an explanation.
“From the looks of it, I don’t go outside the flower shop. “These bastards don’t go out unless they are in their own area.”
“Ah ah… I see.”
“So…”
Clink!
Before we knew it, he hit the head of a large flower that was at our feet with the pipe.
“Let’s go out of the flower shop first.”
As expected, it was a dry voice.
The petals that were broken by strong force were as delicate and elaborate as stained glass, but it was unclear what they were trying to reflect. maybe.
However, the shattered petals were sharp, as if they had turned into blades.
Jaeheon Lee was careful not to step on it and looked at the monsters circling around us.
The monsters didn’t think to approach me carelessly, as if it was worthwhile to destroy it as dirty as possible.
It seemed like a monster with intelligence, unlike spider legs.
However, they didn’t know when they might pounce like this glass monster, and it wasn’t too far from where they were to the entrance of the flower shop.
The main character would soon come to collect the group, so we had to leave quickly.
At his words, the doctor wiped away the cold sweat and nodded.
“Those monsters are moving quite slowly right now.”
“Yes, I see.”
“Then shall we move now?”
At the same time, Jaeheon Lee realized something.
“I was planning to go to the hospital, but could I ask for treatment later?”
“…If only you would let me live.”
This doctor knew about the underworld.
The moment Jaeheon Lee figured it out, he was sure what the doctor’s ‘misunderstanding’ towards me was.
What position does this man have in the novel and how did he appear?
The corners of Lee Jae-heon’s mouth went up happily.
“That’s good.”
It was a very good thing.
* * *
The types of monsters in the underworld vary depending on the characteristics of the area or building.
For example, in a park full of plants, there are monsters in the form of plants, and in a hospital, there are monsters in the form of patients or doctors.
The various phenomena experienced in each building also reflect many of the characteristics of the existing space.
Of course, only the types can be distinguished to some extent, but no two monsters look exactly the same.
The main character in the novel explained that, roughly speaking, even if people are of the same race, they all look different.
Perhaps thanks to this, the monsters’ abilities vary greatly, which upsets the protagonist and his party.
And it was no different even if it was inside the flower shop, which was not described in the novel.
“…Huh.”
Lee Jae-heon shook off the black charcoal that was wrapped around his ankle.
When I lightly brushed my foot a few times, the charred charcoal crumbled into dust and soon disappeared.
Just before he completely left the flower shop, a vine-shaped monster wrapped around Lee Jae-heon’s ankle.
At first, I was nervous because I thought it was going to be a power struggle, but I ended up burning out on my own.
It was truly absurd for Lee Jae-heon, who tried to engage in a power struggle instead of shaking it off.
His expression became strange.
“You’re even talking about plants…”
“It doesn’t seem like a plant at all.”
“I guess he is too.”
However, it was absurd that a monster that was seemingly a plant itself had fire-related abilities.
Even the ability that was just shown was self-destruction, so the monster itself died.
Thanks to this, Lee Jae-heon, who was the only one of the three to suffer burns, did not look very good.
“Fortunately… “I have no problem moving.”
Aside from what I didn’t like, it wasn’t that serious of an injury.
In fact, it seemed like it was better to have suffered some burns than the previous penetrating wounds.
The doctor’s expression fell a little at Lee Jae-heon’s words.
“…Looking at your expression, I don’t think you’re happy at all, so I won’t say anything, but I think it would be better to get proper treatment when you can afford it.”
“I am amazed at the topic of you surviving through my sacrifice and conscience.”
“Sometimes people misunderstand, but being a doctor is a profession that you can’t do for a long time unless you have a long tongue.”
The owner of the flower shop, a woman who was wiping away tears from the conversation between the two, blinked and asked.
“…Do you two know each other?”
It was a valid question.
And Lee Jae-heon, who was curious about the exact identity of the doctor, also did not like the woman’s question.
I roughly knew what the role was and how it would appear in the future, but that doesn’t mean I knew it properly.
Lee Jae-heon, who thought that far, nodded his head roughly.
“We met only once as doctor and patient.”
In fact, it was a relationship that was nothing more or less than that.
The reason they remember each other is because the other person showed very impressive behavior, not because there was any special connection.
And then a familiar voice was heard.
“…Boss?”
As expected, he was the main character.
Behind him were a group of people who seemed to have calmed down.
The flower shop owner and doctor next to Lee Jae-heon seemed to have noticed that he was a new survivor, and their gazes were particularly lively.
Lee Jae-heon muttered as if it were absurd.
“…Didn’t I tell you to wait?”
“I came because I was worried.”
“Are you going to keep doing this, Assistant Manager Jeong? “Am I really funny?”
“That can’t be right.”
Now, he seems to be convinced that ‘Manager Lee Jae-heon’ is a perfect performance, and doesn’t even show any signs of humility.
If you think about it, the old manager’s appearance wasn’t really a lie, but from his perspective, it was a situation that could not help but upset him in some way.
Perhaps because of Lee Jae-heon’s sudden change in appearance, the expressions on the faces of the flower shop owner and the doctor became strange.
Since everything from the way he speaks to his facial expressions has changed, it would be even more strange not to notice anything strange.
“Uh… over there…”
“Ah, this is the owner and the doctor who were inside the flower shop.”
At Lee Jae-heon’s words, the expressions of the group standing behind brightened.
It seems like they thought it would be good to have more people who can rely on each other given the situation, but since the world is already full of monsters, it’s inevitable that people will be glad to see people walking around fine.
The first to speak was Employee Kwon.
“I’m really happy to meet you! “I bought flowers last week, do you remember?”
“yes? Ah ah… Are you the one who bought that succulent set?”
“That’s right, it’s really nice to meet you.”
She kept muttering that she was glad to see her, holding the hand of Director Kang who was next to her, and walked closer to the flower shop owner.
When employee Kwon, who was small and of the same sex, expressed his favor, the owner of the flower shop, who had been very stiff, also began to relax.
The facial expressions of the remaining men also improved a little due to the bright looks of the women.
Intern Noh Yeon-seok, who was a close friend of Director Kang, looked even better, but he must have been worried about her weak mentality.
Of course, in Lee Jae-heon’s eyes, it was Acorn’s height comeback.
After grasping the flow, he supported himself with a pipe and sighed.
In any case, there was nothing wrong with it as long as someone could lift the mood. Because mental strength was important.
‘Employee Kwon’s simplicity helps in times like this.’
Jaeheon Lee blinked slowly.
“….”
Two people who should have died have come back to life, and we have already met the owner of the flower shop who we will only be able to talk to later in the park episode.
The president in the novel was suffering from great trauma.
Unable to converse with people, I was stuck in a corner alone, staring into space, or I was startled by the sound of trees or grass shaking.
Perhaps that’s why, as a matter of course, he joins the main character’s group last.
I think it might be because the doctor, whom he seemed to be close to, was killed by flower monsters right before his eyes.
In the second half, she revealed her true feelings, saying, ‘It felt like the flowers I grew had killed that customer.’
But no one died right away. The current mental strength of the group was at a level that could not be compared to the novel, and the atmosphere was excited, perhaps because they had met a new survivor.
And Jaeheon Lee thought.
‘Is food supply the problem?’
What the protagonist took from the kitchen was for emergency use, and he had to be self-sufficient for the rest.
Having a large group of people has many disadvantages and advantages. If teamwork is good, work can be divided appropriately to ensure smooth progress, but if not, each person is stressed.
Moreover, to survive the monster, you need to have basic physical strength, so you couldn’t not feed it.
Of course, Jaeheon Lee had skills from his past life, so he was able to cover it up to some extent.
However, once things started to stabilize, the spread of human beings meant the division of the group.
And if it gets divided, it’s easy for everything to get lost.
That said, I can’t just kill those who have already been saved with my own hands…
‘If that’s the case, I’ll have to induce the monster to kill them.’
Thinking like that, Jaeheon Lee gave strength to his body that was leaning against the pipe again.
If the problem was food supply, I had no intention of killing him either.
If managed well, companions in the underworld were a great benefit, and surviving here alone was impossible.
However, it would have been much more efficient to kill that one person if he didn’t know the topic and would cause division and disintegrate the team.
Of course, we had to be careful not to let the quick-witted protagonist find out, but Lee Jae-heon had already recalled memories of his past life.
It meant that he was not in a position to be caught by a rookie like Assistant Manager Jeong.
After finishing up to that point, Jaeheon Lee looked back at the protagonist. It was to check what you thought about this atmosphere…
“….”
“…What is it?”
He was looking at his legs.
To be precise, the doctor and the protagonist were looking at the wounds on his leg in more detail.
It must have been great to observe because the penetrating wound and burn occurred on the same leg.
Are you checking some function? Jaeheon Lee looked at the two characters with a shocked expression.
“If you have something to say, say it clearly.”
“Are you not planning on getting treatment now?”
“I reject it.”
Jaeheon Lee pointed his finger to the sky as the doctor immediately spoke up.
“It’s getting dark, so shouldn’t we start by finding a place to rest?”
Instead of a sunset, the sky in the other world took on a gray color, like ink deepening.
The doctor fell silent at the ominous color, and then the protagonist spoke.
“Your ankle has melted.”
“What can you say so cruelly… I’m not melted, I’m just burned.”
The doctor joined in with a smile.
“Your skin melted, though.”
“Whose side are you on now?”
“Which side do you take when it comes to considering the facts?”
Jaeheon Lee frowned at that smooth answer.
I had thought about it before, but these gentlemen were very difficult and difficult to deal with.
The main character in particular is disgusting.
He answered, massaging his sore shoulders.
“I still have enough to make a living. I won’t suddenly be unable to do my job, so please get rid of those stares.”
“…I was just watching because I was worried…”
“It was a funny joke.”
You sound like you’re worried.
Lee Jae-heon was genuinely funny and let out a low laugh.
It would be fair to say that the relationship between Manager Kkondae and Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho was the worst.
Now, there’s no reason to worry about it just because it’s been useful a few times.
Of course, seeing him say things like that, it seemed like he was planning on treating him to a certain degree, but I didn’t know when our relationship would fall apart.
The protagonist’s expression slightly distorted at that, but Jaeheon Lee just shrugged his shoulders.
“Then why don’t you try moving first?”
