Episode 182
‘…Genealogy.’
I never once thought of myself as the ‘main character’.
I didn’t mean to say superficial things like that I am the main character of my life or that there are many main characters living their own lives in this world. It meant that he had never had such a ridiculous delusion that he was the center of the world like the ‘main character’ in a creative work and everything happened around him.
It was the same when I was very young, and it was the same even when I grew up and became a full-fledged adult. Even with my childhood innocence, I was convinced that Jung In-ho would not be a hero or even a proper villain, as he said. Any person with common sense should have understood the subject to that degree.
“….”
“Hey man?”
“…Student Song In-myeong.”
But I’ve been having that thought lately.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind?”
“Haha… is it noticeable?”
What if I really am the ‘main character’?
“I want things to proceed slowly, but I’m curious what the students’ perspective will be like.”
If all that favoritism I sometimes felt was really true. If the center of this world is me and the story flows because of me.
Jeong In-ho would have collapsed on the floor and retched.
“Oh yeah? “Are you good at it?”
“Skill?”
“You isolated Munsan-gun. It’s a method I often use, but it’s more difficult than you think. “I think you really have a natural talent for this.”
“aha.”
“I don’t think you’re at the level yet to take what I say as a compliment.”
If I, who no longer gets angry even after hearing things like that, am really the main character, then how wrong is this world?
Jeong In-ho had to try hard not to think too deeply about Manager Lee Jae-heon’s words that Ha Seong-yoon had told him. It would have been better to be a worthless third-rate villain.
But that was really strange. Everyone around me is clearly a human being with their own lives and values, but I am the only character in a shallow creation with no idea where I am. It was more miserable than I could imagine that everyone except me was alive and breathing so vividly, and I was the only one who could not.
So, In-ho Jeong hoped that he himself was not the ‘main character’. If that were the case, there would be more than one problem that would be involved, and he would have to face those problems, not anyone else. For now, I just wanted to go back to my daily life, where I was able to live well, even if I wasn’t happy or satisfied.
“Are you not planning on coming this way at all?”
“I’m not particularly attracted to it.”
However, that ‘daily life’ required more costs than expected.
“Because I’m not the type of person who gets pleasure from killing people.”
“Then it might be a little difficult. There are a lot of people like you in this industry. It feels like everyone does it because it’s their job… but those people don’t feel very satisfied. But that doesn’t mean I’m taking a step back.”
“Oh, is it difficult to take your foot out? “Are you saying you’re going out with a finger like the Yakuza in the movies?”
“That’s the story of when. Well, that’s not entirely wrong, but… Still, it seems like they’re willing to send important information if they don’t know it, right? Of course, that and the aftermath are separate things.”
“It’s separate….”
“I’m not doing business by digging in the ground.”
Song In-myeong, who was gently smoothing her paint-stained apron, smiled languidly as she looked at him.
“So how much do you want to know?”
“….”
“I’ve slowly reached the point where it’s difficult to tell. To be honest, we don’t have that much trust, mister. I don’t want to tell too much to someone who might try to stab me in the back at any moment. “You know, right?”
“Of course I understand.”
Jeong In-ho put his usual smile on his face.
“Because I’m similar.”
They didn’t plot things like this because they trusted each other. However, Jung In-ho was confident that he would not worry too much even if others found out, and Song In-myeong seemed to want Jung In-ho to think more seriously before entering ‘this industry’.
To borrow an expression from Song In-myeong last time, I heard that it feels like ‘a stagnant pool of newbies’, but I’m not sure. This means that Jung In-ho is stuck like this because there is no penalty and Song In-myeong has the compensation he wants.
But as things progressed like this, I wanted to know at least one more thing about Song In-myeong. Of course, this meant that he wanted to identify weaknesses rather than favorable questions, but even that seemed like a good thing for this crazy guy.
“Well… it doesn’t matter. He seems talented in this area, so I think he could be a really good co-worker. “It seems like your emotional threshold is very high compared to other people, is that right?”
“To some extent…”
“In this day and age, even that can be fixed, so I guess this industry is taking a bigger and bigger hit. Actually, personally, I think he would have more fun handling that type of work than I do, so even if he really gets behind my back later, I don’t think what I’m doing now will have been in vain.”
“….”
“If that happens, I’m confident that it will all be your fault.”
“It’s sad that we have such a lack of trust.”
“Hmm… I think this is okay too. When he pretended to be nice, he seemed very unlucky, but if he had talent in this area, it would be different. “Isn’t that right?”
For someone who asked, ‘Isn’t that right?’ Song In-myeong didn’t seem to particularly want an answer.
Jeong In-ho, who felt strangely tired, sighed quietly, and Song In-myeong, who was still smoothing his stained apron, immediately raised his head and looked at Jeong In-ho, who was leaning against a tree.
“Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? “I think I’ll be able to handle things with some ease around then.”
“Is it right to talk about Mr. Munsan-gun?”
“It looks like our detective will be taking a break soon. Maybe it’s because he’s been blocking contact these days, but he was probably going to persuade your D○ni. “I wanted to join in, but I’m a little disappointed.”
“…Diz○?”
When Jeong In-ho asked about a very strange word, Song In-myeong answered in his characteristic languid tone.
“Ah, this is a nickname I made up… because I think I will soon become a princess.”
“princess.”
“Does that guy know how to do magic?”
“Magic.”
“It looks like you’ve already talked to the animals. Have you ever been poisoned or cursed? What about kidnapping or confinement? I think he will be able to fulfill all of the ‘Princess ○ conditions’ sooner or later. What do you think?”
“….”
“I chose a good nickname.”
Jeong In-ho blinked his eyes in a rare, foolish manner.
“…I want to refute it…”
But for some reason, I couldn’t just say no.
“It’s even scarier because it’s not really impossible.”
“right.”
“I have more reasons to take better care of my manager.”
“Oh my.”
Song In-myeong chuckled in an exaggerated tone and raised both hands.
“Anyway, when you get back, please open the guard, mister. I want to end this quickly while our detective talks with the princess over there. Personally, it’s not a job that particularly appeals to me…”
“I like it.”
“Then you are leading Munsan-gun out?”
Jeong In-ho thought to himself.
‘I guess he wants to hide the fact that he is a murderer from his friends.’
According to the testimony of others, Song In-myeong is currently working on a work called ‘Friend’. Song In-myeong would not want to taint the purity of the material called friends, so the reason he asked Jeong In-ho to come with him when he brought Munsan-gun was because he did not trust him. Lee Jae-heon needs to keep Hong Gyeong-jun in his place, but if Jung In-ho is there, there might be a problem.
I think I only limited Jung In-ho’s action radius because I thought he wouldn’t tell the rest of the group about the current plan, but it was a condition that didn’t really matter to Jung In-ho, who had a great helper named Ha Seong-yoon.
‘All you have to do is ask Hong Gyeong-jun to be kicked out here at the right time.’
After gathering his thoughts, he smiled softly and continued.
“I guess there is something else that Gumi is attracted to.”
“…Why are you worried about the manager? To be honest, it’s a shame to miss it, but… I won’t touch it until you stab me in the back first, so don’t worry.”
Even the person speaking did not seem to think that the current alliance would last for a very long time, but Jeong In-ho just smiled secretly. From the beginning, if he did something right in front of Detective Hong Gyeong-jun’s eyes and surpassed that damned standard of boundaries, he was planning to hunt Song In-myeong in earnest.
Song In-myeong, whether aware of his murderous intent or not, mumbled while adjusting his apron with a droopy face.
“Uh… I like making things. Usually, I feel proud when I see tangible results. So, usually, after thinking about the result I want to make, I explore and collect materials… Of course, most of those materials will be attractive, right?”
“For that matter, it looks like they’ve already killed one person.”
“Wow, did you even figure that out? I thought they would just ignore it, thinking that the body was gone and that someone had died from some kind of monster, but as expected, they were quick-witted. Well, I did kill it. But I didn’t really do it because I wanted to.”
This is something I felt while talking with Song In-myeong, but Jeong In-ho felt like throwing up.
‘It’s not like someone pushed him to his back and killed him, but he can say something like that.’
It may seem shameless, but at this point, it seemed like he had a sense of purpose. What can I do? He’s a psychopath who cuts people up and calls it art. Thinking back on what he did in the last episode, he was even more speechless, so Jeong In-ho just smiled.
Song In-myeong, who saw this, complained of injustice with drooping eyes.
“No, I really didn’t want to touch that. Are you saying you’re a nerd who hides behind kindergarteners just to survive? Really, why should I kill something like that? “There are jewels all over here, but it felt like I touched poop for no reason.”
“…Hide behind a kindergartener?”
“That, that… what are you, brat? Anyway, there is that boy. At first, two people came into the park holding hands. It’s hard for a grown adult to rely on a kid this small. When a monster came out, he left the child behind and even used it as a shield. “It’s too boring to use that as my material.”
“….”
I was certain that the person who was already dead was not in his right mind.
‘That doesn’t mean the guy who killed it was good, but…’
It certainly seemed like there were few sane people in the other world. Right now, Jung In-ho thinks that, excluding Noh Yeon-seok and Kwon Yeon-hee, only Kim Yeon-woo and Kim Ki-jeong have ordinary nature. Considering that there were not that many people compared to the total number of survivors, it seemed true that the ones who could survive the longest in the other world were generally crazy people.
“But I couldn’t help it. Honestly, you shouldn’t make things difficult for me. “I probably wouldn’t have touched him, but I knew so much detail that I had no choice but to kill him.”
“….”
Aside from how that person knew Song In-myeong’s identity, it certainly seemed like what was immediately important to him was whether or not his identity would be revealed.
‘To be precise, I think Hong Kyung-jun considers finding out as the Maginot Line.’
If it gets there, it will mean that no matter how much Song In-myeong is, the situation cannot be reversed.
In fact, Jung In-ho was a person who admired Song In-myeong’s ability to control the situation behind the scenes, pretending that it was not his intention. Wasn’t he first accused of being the culprit who killed Ha Seong-yoon and Yoon Gar-ram due to his ability? Perhaps, even in the current situation, if Hong Gyeong-jun did not catch him, he would be able to get rid of the charges by using Jeong In-ho as a sacrifice. I have loyal friends.
“If we deal with Mr. Munsan… it will be even more convenient in the future.”
“I hope so, sir.”
“Please take care of me. I hope things go well.”
Since they didn’t trust each other at all, the people who had prepared their weapons parted ways with a smile. Jeong In-ho knew that once this day passed and it was time for Hong Gyeong-jun to talk to Lee Jae-heon, there would be no turning back.
Still, it was okay.
* * *
“…Chief?”
Jaeheon Lee raised his head when he heard a voice calling me and looked at Inho Jeong.
“Deputy Jeong? Are you coming back now?”
“…May I ask what you are doing now?”
“If I were to be specific, it’s network management.”
Of course, the Pompitz monster that Jaeheon Lee was petting was not a human, but the bond was a bond anyway. Since we had become close friends and listened to each other quite well, there was no harm in continuing our relationship. Lee Jae-heon gently tickled the dog’s round, pointed nose.
Jeong In-ho was looking at him with a very strange gaze.
“Not only is it bad for your mental health, it also seems like a serious hygiene problem.”
“No, it’s cuter than I thought. That’s because it looks like this…”
“Stop it now. What is a person who is not feeling well doing sitting on the cold floor these days? “Just sitting by the bonfire and resting isn’t enough…”
Jeong In-ho said and raised Lee Jae-heon, and Lee Jae-heon did not necessarily reject Jeong In-ho’s actions. Jeong In-ho’s expression got even worse as he seemed to be obediently complying, at least in Lee Jae-heon’s opinion.
“Shall we go back?”
“okay.”
“…If it hurts, please tell me.”
“okay.”
“….”
Lee Jae-heon muttered inwardly as he looked at Jeong In-ho’s hard, inconspicuous face.
Maybe tomorrow.
