Episode 190:
The survivors decided to group two people into one team. If we went around one by one, there was a high possibility that we would not be able to respond properly to an external attack, and there was not enough time to go around with three or more people. Ultimately, the goal was to form a team that could minimize individual shortcomings.
Seo Jang-hwa, who had not opened his mouth even once since they gathered there, spoke.
“…I wish I could break up with Vivian.”
When I asked the reason, I got a quite surprising answer.
“I’m afraid that if I stay with that bastard, I’ll go find Song In-myeong.”
“That’s right.”
At her words, Vivian scratched the back of her neck as if she had expected it.
“In that sense, I would like to be assigned to a detective or a police officer. “If In-myeong… Song In-myeong suddenly appears and causes an accident, we should have something to say.”
“Are you saying you want to create an alibi?”
“It’s not a big deal, but maybe yes. Moreover, as Janghwa said, if we are picky and encounter Song In-myeong, we may be swayed to that side.”
Detective Hong Gyeong-jun tapped his thigh with his finger as the words were spoken casually with a dull expression. He asked Vivian with his characteristic expressionless face.
“Do you still consider this guy, who has attempted murder and possibly worse, your friend?”
Seo Jang-hwa’s face hardened at that question, but Vivian remained the same.
“I’m sorry, but that’s the case for us. To be honest, the current situation is urgent and we have feelings, so we are keeping our mouths shut, but I feel like asking where the evidence is. “Even if it was an attempted murder, we didn’t see it ourselves.”
“Someone almost died here…”
“So, you weren’t doing so well right now?”
Vivian, with a calm expression, gently tilted her head and continued speaking.
“For you, it may have been an unfamiliar lightning strike in a dry sky, but it was a lightning strike we knew well. If nothing else, my close friend has been accused of murder, and I think it’s natural to want to deny it first. “I want you to know that Janghwa and I are just keeping our mouths shut because we don’t want to lose our strength through unnecessary conflict in this situation. What do you think?”
Vivian’s face was the same as usual, naive at best and stupid at worst, but what she said was completely different. The tone didn’t change much, but there was a faint hint of anger and confusion in the words being spoken.
After hearing those words, Jeong In-ho blinked and said.
“You are quite eloquent.”
“thank you.”
Rattling.
“Even though it looks like this, he is the vice president of the department.”
As if it was a habit, he naturally licked his lips, and the piercing on his tongue made a faint sound and disappeared. I was a student who usually didn’t talk much, so I didn’t even know he had piercings, but…
Jeong In-ho pursed his lips.
‘…It looks surprisingly good.’
Song In-myeong, Seo Jang-hwa, and Vivian all had silver ring piercings. The hoodies were of the same brand, with only different colors, so it seemed like the three were made together.
Some people who thought Vivian would be tactless and dull were looking at her with strangely puzzled faces. Considering that his current appearance seemed shameless at first glance, Jeong In-ho was able to realize that that innocent face was nothing more than a mask. This is because even in the current situation, the appearance does not change at all.
“…So what we want to say is.”
Seo Jang-hwa, who seemed to be contemplating Vivian’s actions with his eyes closed, soon opened his mouth, looking at the survivors.
“They want us to be placed next to the police. “It means that we are voluntarily reporting it in advance because we are not confident that we will not be mistreated… I hope that you will not necessarily sell our best efforts.”
“I’m sorry if you were offended.”
Hong Gyeong-jun bowed his head in a sincere apology, and Seo Jang-hwa slightly raised his eyebrows at his actions, but also lowered his head. It was the same with Vivian.
“My friend caused a stir. “I can’t replace you, but I apologize.”
“I also apologize in advance…”
Then Vivian added a word.
“Now I really don’t know when I will die.”
If it was a cowardly act, it was a cowardly act, and if it was a responsible act, it was a responsible act.
Jeong In-ho blinked because he never thought he would call Song In-myeong a friend in this situation, but he was soon able to calm his doubts. Well, since they were ‘friends’ that the crazy guy was proud of, the relationship probably wasn’t that bad. It was indeed worthy of being called a work of art.
Although it is by no means a work that can be defended.
“…Then let’s do it like this.”
match.
Hong Gyeong-jun, who applauded and attracted attention, said.
“Seo Jang-hwa will move with me and Vivian will move with Kim Yeon-woo. If anyone has any objections, please tell us now.”
No one opened their mouths.
“great. Then, as for the rest…”
Assembling a team of the remaining survivors was much easier than in the case of Vivian or Seo Jang-hwa. All that needed to be done was to make it easy for each person to move, and the balance of power was designed to cover one side.
In that way, Jung In-ho, Kang Min-ah, Kwon Yeon-hee, Noh Yeon-seok, Ha Seong-yoon, Yoon Garam, Han Do-yoon, Kim Ki-jeong, Munsan-gun, and Choi Jeong-man decided to form a team. Jin Dal-rae, Min-hong Choi, and Seo-ah Jang were left behind because they were elderly and weak, Da-young Park and Da-hoon Park were minors, and Jae-heon Lee and Yun-byeol Lee were placed on standby due to lack of mobility due to injuries. Lee Yun-byeol’s leg injury was the same as last time, probably because he was injured at the entrance to the park.
Lee Jae-heon couldn’t help it because the smell of blood was the strongest…
“… I understand very well that this is not something a human would do.”
“Is that so?”
“Stop talking like it’s someone else’s business.”
Jeong In-ho and Ha Seong-yoon covered their abdomen with bandages as much as possible to prevent bleeding. The same was true for Munsan, who suffered a head injury. Even so, it wouldn’t have covered up the smell of blood, but in an urgent situation like the present, being able to move meant that it was a useful human resource.
And above all, Jung In-ho, who cannot be said to have done anything wrong in the current situation, would not have been able to sit still even if his arm had been cut off instead of being injured to this extent. If I could move as a decoy, I would have done so.
“….”
Munsan-gun, who was fiddling with his head where the bleeding had stopped, and Jeong In-ho’s eyes met, and the other person fidgeted under Jeong In-ho’s gaze and bowed his head slightly as if greeting him. Jeong In-ho, who knew that Munsan-gun was scanning Jeong In-ho’s red abdomen, felt like snorting.
For being so fucking nice.
“…Shall we move now?”
“Of course.”
While the two of them were moving in step, In-ho Jeong thought.
If that person dies because of this incident, we must return to life and bring him back to life.
* * *
Kwon Yeon-hee did not have good physical strength.
“Ugh…”
To be more honest, it was close to not being able to do most things that the body could do.
The plan for those who were now scattered in all directions was simple. The goal is to prevent the green algae monsters from coming here as much as possible. To do this, I found a caterpillar that smelled like blood living in a tree and threw it in front of the creature. However, the series of processes was quite a burdensome task for Kwon Yeon-hee.
To avoid the green algae monster and the vines that follow it, select a tree and tear off the tree’s thick bark to check for larvae. Since not everyone had iron tools, tearing out thick stones by hand was difficult even for people with average physical strength.
“Oh, there’s one here…!”
“No more? “Aren’t there usually multiple caterpillars on one tree?”
“Hmm… I don’t know, but if you look at it that way, it’s a bit strange to be parasitic on a living tree, huh… isn’t it? Ugh….”
“Isn’t that a rhinoceros beetle larva? is not it? Well, we looked alike…”
Noh Yeon-seok, who was muttering something, glanced at Kwon Yeon-hee.
“Would you like me to slow down a little? “I can carry it on my back…”
“Oh no, I can do it well…! “It’s really okay.”
“I don’t mind… I don’t think having one older sister would be too heavy. Wouldn’t it be faster that way?”
“Is that so…?”
Kwon Yeon-hee, who was wondering if that was really the better way, quickly shook her head.
“No, no. Then when the monster comes, you have no hands to defend yourself. Let’s take it easy and then we all die.”
“Ahh….”
“…It may be new to you, but we are a team of real fearless people, right…”
Kwon Yeon-hee laughed as if she had been liberated at the sight of Noh Yeon-seok, who was completely astonished at what kind of situation he had imagined. It would have been better if only Kang Min or Jung In-ho had been involved, but unfortunately, these two were quite weak.
‘I thought there was something that only Min-ah and In-ho had in common, so I stayed out of the way.’
Kwon Yeon-hee, who regretted it for just a moment, gently held the caterpillar in her hand and inhaled.
“Okay, let’s go somewhere else! In-ho said that no more than one tree lives on one tree…!”
“Then what about that tree? “It’s not very close, so I think it’ll be okay.”
“What about vines? Are you coming? “I’m a little dizzy right now, so I can’t hear the sounds around me…”
There were times when others complained that they couldn’t hear the sounds around them or that the world seemed black and white, and Kwon Yeon-hee also experienced the same phenomenon when she first saw the abandoned monster dog. Seeing that he was becoming more and more dull to the signs around him, it seemed like he was in the process of gradually losing his mind due to nervousness.
Noh Yeon-seok, who was looking at her with pity, looked around in all directions and spoke impatiently.
“No, I can’t hear you. nothing. “It’s all the vines we saw earlier.”
“Okay then, let’s just look at this tree and move on. “You never know when the vines will come back here.”
Kwon Yeon-hee, who was looking at the tree, nodded.
“You live here, right…!”
Kwon Yeon-hee found a small hole, the only trace that could tell whether it was a tree where caterpillars lived, and stuck in front of it.
“Give me a rock. I think it will come out if I dig here. Just do this…”
“I’ll sell it, sister. “I don’t think my hands can hold up anymore.”
When Noh Yeon-seok spoke while looking at his hands covered in blood, Kwon Yeon-hee desperately denied it.
“No, no! I don’t have the power to protect you… I can’t even run away properly. It’s better if you watch your surroundings. “I can’t even hear properly right now, so how can I protect you…!”
Sigh! Quack!
Kwon Yeon-hee said so and hit a large stone against the tree.
The process of creating a gap with a stone and then digging into the gap and removing the shell was very laborious and painful on the hands, but if Kwon Yeon-hee was in charge of keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings, there was no reason to form a pair team. Ignoring the blood and ooze coming from her hand, she put her hand back into the gaping tree. There were thorns stuck in the rough cross section, but it was not the time to worry about such things.
“Sister Vine…! “The vines are coming!”
“That’s it! let’s go!”
Kwon Yeon-hee, who barely got the caterpillar, ran, leaving behind the disgust of the insects wriggling in her hands. In an instant, Noh Yeon-seok hit the vines with a wooden block from behind her as they approached the vines just a stone’s throw away, and with great force, they untied the vines that were entangled like whips. Only after I stepped on it with my foot did some of the vines flinch back.
Without missing the opportunity, Noh Yeon-seok grabbed Kwon Yeon-hee’s wrist and ran quickly.
“This way…! “I can hear a sound from over there!”
“Who are you talking about, the green algae monster? Or other people?”
“Both!”
In the end, all of this is to make the green algae monster move in a different direction. Noh Yeon-seok and Kwon Yeon-hee ran to leave the two larvae they had barely found near the green algae monster. Perhaps one of the other six teams will be near the green algae monster for that purpose as well.
Everyone felt it instinctively. The longer we keep that green monster on the ground, the greater our chances of survival.
“Mr. Munsan-gun! Hey Munsan-gun! “Get away there quickly!”
“Ah ah yes…!”
Munsan-gun, who was caught in the vines at Kwon Yeon-hee’s words, was barely freed with the help of President Choi Jeong-man, and while the green algae monster was distracted by their escape, Noh Yeon-seok threw a caterpillar that Kwon Yeon-hee had given him. It was a caterpillar less than half the size of a palm, but as soon as it smelled blood, the green algae monster’s body froze.
Meanwhile, Noh Yeon-seok and Kwon Yeon-hee quickly turned around to escape the vines and ran in the opposite direction to the pavilion. Toothed vines were crawling to catch them, but the faster they ran, the farther they could gradually get away from them. A total of 7 teams of survivors moved like that, hoping to buy at least some time until the monster returned to the lake.
The problem is…
“…Why doesn’t it get out of here?”
The problem was that the green algae monster did not leave the area around the pavilion.
It was only after a full day and a half that the survivors realized the truth.
