Episode 440
Saturday, 10 a.m. Dreamcatcher Aquarium.
“Everyone is gathered, right?”
Jaeheon Lee looked around at the survivors and checked their number.
Five-star employees and high school students. Two kindergarten students and CEO Jeongman Choi. Munsan-gun and old man Azalea. Garam Yoon, Han Do-yoon, Kim Ki-jeong… People who were originally unable to come to places that were empty here and there. College students and police all gathered except teachers Ha Seong-yoon and Lee Yun-byeol, who said they had plans for today.
“It looks like everyone came.”
“Then let’s take a quick look around.”
“Yes, teacher.”
“Who is the teacher?”
Lee Jae-heon placed his forehead on Noh Yeon-seok, who shrugged his shoulders. I don’t know how this guy who can calm down at the slightest word keeps saying obnoxious things about everything. Seeing Lee Jae-heon like that, Jang Seo-ah, a child in his arms, asked.
“I have a headache?”
“My head hurts because that guy is bullying you.”
“It was bad.”
“That’s right, it’s bad. “Did you hear, Yeonseok?”
Despite the question full of sarcasm, Noh Yeon-seok only had a twinkle in his eye.
“As expected, father…!”
“Who is this horrible subordinate who keeps raising children without a single person who is not married?”
Ignoring the nonsense, I looked at Choi Min-hong and President Choi Jeong-man.
“Minhong and Seoah had separate tickets for children, so I got them first. “Just wear this around your neck.”
“Isn’t this the bracelet other people wear on their wrists?”
“I heard there was a ticket that would allow you to try various experiences with a free pass, so I bought it. For teenagers, it was in the form of a necklace, but for adults, it was a bracelet. There is nothing to worry about as it is the same free pass. “I think it is in the form of a necklace because they are treated like children.”
“Wow, something like this must be expensive…”
President Choi Jeong-man joked, but willingly accepted Lee Jae-heon’s favor. President Choi Jeong-man is already a big man. It was an understandable response, as he is a person who is great at giving and accepting things. Jeongman Choi bent down and placed a necklace around my son’s neck.
“Here’s the necklace.”
“huh.”
Minhong Choi quickly raised his head and made it easier for him to put on the necklace.
Choi Min-hong, who initially came in in his father’s arms, made eye contact with Seo-ah and immediately came down. Then, it looked like he was bragging about something rather than pouting as he stuck out his mouth.
‘Are you saying that he can walk differently than you when you were younger? This could also be a kind of appeal to my brother.’
When he gets excited, he sticks out his lips like that.
The sight of him placing both hands on his hips and raising his head as if showing off was quite majestic. Jang Seo-ah didn’t seem to be very interested, but she still clapped.
“Now, please take one of these.”
“What is this?”
“Here we offer… a mini game. “They said that if you get all the stamps in each theme zone, you will receive a small prize later.”
“You really do business properly. Minhong, are you going to lift it? “Okay, okay.”
Distribution of admission tickets and stamps was completed.
The two children clung tightly to their respective guardians. Jang Seo-ah was holding the hem of Lee Jae-heon’s shirt, and Choi Min-hong was holding the hem of President Choi Jeong-man’s pants.
“Would you like to come in soon?”
“great!”
Between Kwon Yeon-hee, who spoke positively in a bright tone, and adults who nodded, high school students wearing necklaces identical to those of kindergarten students gave excited voices.
“This is my first time going to the aquarium.”
“I heard there’s an undersea tunnel here! “There’s even a shark passing by.”
“There must be a separate area where sharks roam?”
“Anyway, it doesn’t mean it exists.”
“They say they gathered over 100 of them.”
“100…”
Their conversation with Lee Jae-heon had suddenly turned into a chat among themselves.
‘He plays well on his own.’
If you look closely, there are times when it seems like they are more immature than kindergarten students.
Of course, the environment in which Seo-ah grew up was unrealistically unique, and Min-hong was born with a gentle nature, but even taking that into account, the group of high school students was very noisy.
After receiving their admission tickets confirmed by the staff, they entered the aquarium’s first theme zone.
“Oh….”
“I’m already gone.”
Transparent pillars rising here and there in a bright and spacious aquarium space. Fish smaller than the palm of your hand were moving around in the pillar where water flowed inside. The seaweed swaying gently with the flow of water grew to an appropriate length, giving a neat impression.
Looking up along the pillar….
“There are fish on the ceiling too.”
“I see.”
“Glitter.”
“Yes, it’s pretty.”
As expected, the water rippling on the transparent ceiling was visible. Small corals and seaweed were shining colorfully, and the fish I had seen on the pillar were passing between them. The water shadows projected according to the lighting reached the floor where the visitors were, making them think they were underwater.
Jaeheon Lee already felt like he was sighing.
‘Yes, it was like this.’
The first theme zone, ‘Underwater World’, was a space where diving and swimming were essential.
Although Eonhak High School’s swimming pool was not breathable, it did not have the resistance or wetness of the water itself, whereas the ‘Underwater World’ lived up to its name even in the behind-the-scenes world. Survivors could only survive by swimming through this area and reaching the next theme zone.
“There are so many pillars.”
I remember being able to breathe for a moment when I went to the location where the pillar was. However, in the other world, these pillars were not visible to the eye, so you had to rely on your senses to find them, but it was not until the main character of the original work returned to the real aquarium that he realized that the position of the pillars was a breathing space.
In other words, Jaeheon Lee is trying to use a cheat key. It could be said that the intention was to memorize the answers in advance and solve the questions easily on the day of the test. I already memorized the location of the pillars.
‘I think there was a penalty later if I relied too much on the pillars, but for now…’
The voices of high school students could be heard through Lee Jae-heon’s ears as he inspected the theme zone.
“But if the ceiling collapses, won’t everyone die…”
“If you think about it that way, no matter what building collapses, people will die.”
“That’s true.”
From their comments, I realized why the aquarium in the other world was like that. Did you think of the collapsed aquarium?
I was a little annoyed. It probably reflects each and every one of these thoughts.
“The fish here are mostly small.”
“Isn’t it because you need to be able to pass between the pillars without difficulty?”
“I think it would have been scary if it had been too big. “If you hit a pillar or something…”
“Oh, isn’t that a pufferfish?”
“It feels like I got hit by a puffer fish. “It’s called Thornbok.”
The adults were also gathering among themselves and enjoying it on their own. Looking at their excited expressions, it seemed like their childishness had been stimulated. Lee Jae-heon lowered his head and looked at the child Jang Seo-ah in his arms.
“Shall I drop you off?”
“Please listen.”
“Huh.”
“Over there and over there….”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Hi-Hi.”
Jang Seo-ah loved the word ‘lady’ very much. This seemed to be better than the ‘princess’ that Lee Jae-heon used to call his daughters in his previous life, and it was a time to see again that even small children like this have different tastes.
At the end of the ‘Underwater World’, which gave the feeling of being submerged in water even though it was not an undersea tunnel, another water tank was seen in the connecting corridor. It was an aquarium where the fish they had seen were kept by different types, and as is common in aquariums, explanations about them were attached.
“Ah, stamp.”
“I want to take a picture.”
The stamp was placed on the table next to the aquarium.
“Is it a freshwater fish this time?”
“Oh, that’s right. “The name here is Friends of the Stream.”
“It doesn’t look like there’s a stream in particular…”
“I guess that’s what you’re saying.”
The second theme zone is ‘Streamside Friends’. I remembered this too.
‘Maybe the floor caved in.’
There were places so shallow that only your ankles could be submerged, and there were places so deep that you could be submerged up to your head. We had to be careful because the parts that were randomly submerged like that would be eaten by fish in the other world. The main character of the original story sacrificed himself to pass through this area by carrying the survivors on his back and moving them to the next theme zone.
Please note that no other way to overcome this has been suggested. The original work was a survival story about a 19-year-old impoverished woman, and the convenient development of miraculously coming up with an incredible alternative never appeared. Therefore, Lee Jae-heon also knew no other way than to sacrifice someone like that.
“Wow catfish.”
“…Catfish soup….”
“Who are you? Turn yourself in.”
“It’s not a sin to be hungry.”
“It’s a sin. “I apologize to Meggy.”
“I’m sorry, Meggie.”
“With all your soul.”
“Sorry…!”
Ignoring the high school students who were making a fuss in front of the aquarium where the catfish were, Jaeheon Lee moved forward leisurely. Azalea, who was admiring the fish in step with Munsan, made eye contact. Her eyes landed on the child Jang Seo-ah, who was being held by Lee Jae-heon.
The old man who blinked asked.
“Did you hear it?”
“I heard it, but not in the way you think.”
“I tried to tell you about it because Lee Jae-heon is carrying it as if he gave birth to it.”
Azalea, who was speaking in a tone mixed with dialect, spoke to Seo-ah this time.
“Are you comfortable baby?”
“yes.”
“Oops.”
The old man, who smiled leisurely as if he was cute, shook his head and walked away. Munsan-gun also smiled awkwardly and bowed his head as he passed by. After the secret world came out, they did something somewhere and it seemed like those two were spending time together. For some reason, I thought he looked friendlier than last time.
Lee Jae-heon, who sent the two away, called the Choi family.
“Do you see over there?”
“Oh, that is….”
“I think I can feed it. “I thought it would be good for children to try it.”
“Hey, this sounds fun. That’s right, Minhong.”
As expected, the kindergarten students’ eyes sparkled as they watched the fish follow people and flap around asking for food, as if there was nothing more interesting than experiencing it firsthand. Jaeheon Lee purchased food from an employee and gave it to the kindergarten students.
It was a time when I was watching with tired eyes the fish that were fighting towards their food.
“….”
“….”
He made eye contact with the students who were glaring at him with cold faces that were as cold as their ears. I thought it was a zombie imitation.
“…what.”
“For us.”
“You have no money because you have no hands. If you want to do it, buy it yourself.”
“We both… want to be taken care of by you…”
“I want to…”
“It seems like we’re not worthy of Aissi’s age.”
The high school students who participated in the war carrying the food Jaeheon Lee had bought ran around and played with the kindergarten students. Jaeheon Lee’s face became confused in front of the feeding experience zone where loud cackling sounds were heard. I couldn’t believe that these children, who were children of their own, became adults in just 1 or 2 years.
This time, after stamping, the next connected space was none other than the ‘Amazon of the World’.
“Woah.”
“hot.”
This place, where the climate of a tropical rainforest was actually recreated, made all visitors take off their outer clothes. Humid and hot climate. Although it cannot be compared to the actual tropics, it is at a level where the creatures in the aquarium can be managed. When I thought about it, it was hotter and more humid.
Lee Jae-heon, who was dumbfounded, asked the child again.
“Shall I drop you off?”
“no, I do not want.”
“Yeah, I see…”
He doesn’t think about going down because it’s not too hot.
‘This place is threatening even if you don’t remember the original.’
Jaeheon Lee laughed. Crocodiles live here, and piranhas also live here. Besides this, were there any electric eels? Safety measures have been taken to prevent visitors from touching these dangerous creatures. The problem was that there was no such safety device in the underworld.
Besides, I don’t know if this can be called weather, but it’s hot and humid anyway. The few visitors immediately visible were wheezing their dissatisfaction. Even though I couldn’t imagine how these people’s thoughts would be implemented in the underworld, I could clearly see that they would deteriorate into something threatening.
“…How is Seo-ah here?”
“It’s hot.”
“You too, uncle.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
In this section of the underworld, it was literally a death race. If I didn’t want to get left behind, I had to run quickly and get to the next theme zone, but even if I don’t die here, I get injured? In fact, even if that happens, there is no problem right now. However, if you don’t find a way to recover by the time you get to the last theme zone, a problem arises.
In the first theme zone, a person took a long breath in the pillar area. In the second theme zone, a person was bitten and saw quite a bit of blood. In the third theme zone, there are hidden conditions in each zone, such as an injured person…
As the above conditions accumulate, the probability of being ‘exhibited’ in the final theme zone increases.
“Let’s quickly move on to the next area.”
Even Lee Jae-heon didn’t know the exact conditions. This is a 19-year-old impoverished survivor.
(Continued in the next part)
