Chapter 242
Fortunately… I’m not sure if this is fortunate or unfortunate, but in any case, Yoon Garam’s strange excitement gradually subsided. When I finally arrived at the park entrance, my face had returned to its usual appearance.
“I’m worried about the teacher. “She said she was working today… and the hospital is big.”
“Well, the other day, you were dragged into the underworld at the flower shop.”
“Even though our flower shop is small, I am worried about how we will get out of the hospital.”
Garam Yoon’s concern was completely common sense, but Jaeheon Lee shook his head.
“Still, let’s wait. “He said he would rush to the emergency exit if the situation arises… He is not an easy doctor.”
Otherwise, there is no way he would have stuck a scalpel into Song In-myeong’s neck during his last visit to the other side of the world. Lee Jae-heon’s prediction was that he might be able to get out on his own, as it might be an organization with many people to manage.
‘…If not, I’ll have to go back once.’
If a survivor was going to die anyway, all I had to do was find the right timing and have Lee Jae-heon die as well. There’s no way the protagonist’s mentality won’t be damaged in the process, but hasn’t he grown quite a bit since taking this break? Jaeheon Lee decided to trust the main character. If Jung In-ho had known, it was a trust that would have grabbed him by the collar.
Yoon Garam, who did not know Lee Jae-heon’s true intentions, asked.
“But did you properly explain the situation to Team Leader Woo Soo-young?”
“I was in a hurry to get out, so I only gave a rough summary. “I feel like I would like to find the right moment and explain it to you…”
His gaze landed on Team Leader Woo Soo-young, who still had confusion in his eyes. Among the survivors gathered at the entrance to the park, Woo Joo-young, who was seen for the first time, stood out.
Immediately after that, Lee Jae-heon and her eyes met, and she shrugged her shoulders in surprise.
“…As you can see, I seem to be very reluctant.”
“ah-ha, I see.”
“….”
“Hehe.”
Why are you smiling?
‘Was this a good story that would make you feel good?’
It could be that Woo Joo-young’s shriveled state is just funny, or he may have felt a sense of kinship with Yoon Gar-ram, who receives uneasy attention from others, or he may have been happy at the thought that ‘Lee Jae-heon’, for whom he has built up affection, will not be taken away by some strange person….
Even though I came up with various hypotheses, nothing was accurate. As he is a talented person with infinite potential, it was difficult for Lee Jae-heon to challenge his opponent. Lee Jae-heon silently wiped away the goosebumps on his arms and opened his mouth again.
“I think you haven’t gotten used to it yet… so I’m trying not to approach you as much as possible. “When I left the company, I threatened him with the intention of making him come to his senses, but he may have been hurt by that.”
“You have a soft heart.”
“He looks like that, but surprisingly, he is a person whose body goes out first. “He has good judgment and determination… and I don’t think he will cause any problems as long as he adapts well.”
Is it easy to be scolded by an old manager and rub your hands while taking care of your subordinates? Woo Woo-young was famous for being a talented person who had never lost her temper since she joined the company. If you think she’s too much for you, she’ll cut you off, but she’s basically a chick whose personality isn’t that bad.
Her smoke rose from her side of the main street as she waited for other survivors in front of the park.
“Oh, that is….”
“It’s the soup restaurant.”
When Jaeheon Lee blinked, Inho Jeong stood up first.
“I will go. Garam Yoon, can you come with me?”
“Sure. Oh, I left a baseball bat at the flower shop. “I forgot about it, so I’ll stop by and pick it up on the way.”
“Forget it…yeah let’s do that.”
Team leader Woo Soo-young, whose legs were shaking as he saw the two people quickly settling the situation and leaving with bottles of water, asked in a shaky voice.
“Is it okay for me to be like that…? If you’re going to go, let’s all go together….”
Seeing that he didn’t ask the question, ‘Why are you going towards the smoke?’, it seemed like he had heard the basic situation and the behind-the-scenes explanation from the other chicks. Lee Jae-heon, who was about to respond reflexively, looked at Kang Min-ah as Team Leader Woo stiffened as soon as his eyes met mine.
“You two are the most fearless of us. “You also have good judgment…”
“That’s not the problem.”
“You didn’t hear the screams. It means that you probably didn’t smoke in such a dangerous situation. “Maybe he’s lost on the road.”
Kwon Yeon-hee nodded her head at Kang Min-ah’s words.
“I didn’t even feel like my heart was dropping!”
“…Why is that…?”
“When something big happens to a person, the hearts of all survivors start to pound.”
“Can you say that so clearly…?”
“Here, you have to smile when you can, team leader.”
“….”
Woo Woo-young closed his mouth with a quiet, liberated smile.
‘…Still, I’m glad I’m getting used to it.’
Jaeheon Lee decided to just leave Team Leader Woo Sooyoung alone. Even if I approached him in the form of an old man, or in the form of ‘Lee Jae-heon’, I could clearly see that he would be embarrassed because one side was acting and the other side was an overly unfamiliar appearance. If you didn’t talk to them, the chicks would take care of them on their own.
Even if all chicks are the same, there is a difference in the softness of their fur between those that are just born and those that are a few days old.
“Kang Min-ah, please give me the hammer. “I will be watching the surroundings, so if you hear anything nearby, please let me know right away.”
“Oh yes… here. But don’t you take off your gloves? Ha Seong-yoon told me to take it off.”
“I thought it would be better than getting blisters for no reason. I haven’t taken it off lately because I don’t know when it will come to the other side. “Sometimes something sticks out from the entrance to the park, so be careful.”
“That’s what it sounds like… Anyway, my fingernails were torn off…”
Kang Min-ah, who had chosen her words several times, nodded with an expression between resignation and understanding.
“Well, anyway, I’ll stay alert.”
“great.”
However, I was curious as to why smoke came from the soup restaurant.
‘Choi Jeong-man and Choi Min-hong were present at the soup restaurant, so was there any reason to smoke? I can roughly understand it if one of the guests was dragged along, but…’
After the survivors’ meeting, Lee Yun-byeol said she would be especially close to Jang Seo-ah, and CEO Choi Jeong-man said he would bring his son Choi Min-hong to work at his restaurant. President Choi Jeong-man barely crosses the cutoff line of the secret world, so if his son had been nearby, he would have been eaten along with him. This is especially true because he himself must have had a strong belief that ‘I want to go to the world with my son.’
In that case, he could have taken his son to the park right away without even bothering to smoke, so why did he bother to send a signal?
“….”
Of course, I couldn’t be sure. President Choi Jeong-man is a survivor, so it is not clear whether he is a fixed member or not.
‘If you look at the people, they look fine, but the surroundings are a mess.’
If it had been like the original novel, the fixed member was correct. Didn’t my beloved son die after being run over by a drunk driver in broad daylight? In the novel, not in the current timeline, he appears in a much more sensitive form. Since he won’t be in his right mind for a few years after that, I guess I’ll consider him a regular member.
However, Lee Jae-heon, who recalled his past life, saved Choi Min-hong’s child, and it was unknown how President Choi Jeong-man would accept this. Lee Jae-heon defined the current president, Choi Jeong-man, as the type of sub-member who is easily preyed upon by the underworld.
“Oh, manager. “I think Assistant Manager Jeong is coming.”
“I can see it too. “It’s visible, but…”
And this is the second time I have been preyed upon by the secret world, so I am convinced.
“…Did you bring only Minhong?”
President Choi Jeong-man was a sub member.
‘No, wait a minute, so he smoked alone?’
It seemed like Yoon Garam and Jung Inho were also thinking about Jaeheon Lee, and their expressions were very subtle. Jeong In-ho, who approached the group, placed the child Choi Min-hong he was holding on the floor and said.
“I went there and found the child alone. I asked him who started the fire and he said he started it. He blindly lit a restaurant business card on fire, but it didn’t smoke as well as he expected, so he just added various things….”
“…Usually restaurant business cards are on the counter, but how can I do that with Minhong’s height?”
“President Choi Jeong-man often gives it to me. “He said he burned everything he had.”
“The spark… where did it come from?”
“I used a gas igniter. Turn on the commercial gas range….”
“There’s a lot I want to say, but if it were President Choi Jeong-man, wouldn’t he have given me a lighter? “I think I said that last time, but was I wrong?”
After hearing that he was not a regular member, CEO Choi Jeong-man called to say that after much deliberation, he had taught the child how to turn on a lighter.
Of course, a child starting a fire is an incredibly dangerous thing according to the common sense of this world, but most of the world behind the scenes was extremely large and the calling function of cell phones did not work. Since the only way to communicate with each other was the classic beacon system, President Choi Jeong-man’s choice to put the lighter into his son’s hands was inevitable.
I don’t know, but it would be better for the child to get burned than to be replaced by a mannequin.
‘Oh, now that I think about it, was it possible to use currency there…?’
Since the scene of a phone call in the other world has never been highlighted, I was able to immediately recall that place. The few buildings where communication was available were schools.
the problem is….
“….”
“Mister’s hand.”
“Huh.”
He keeps patting my hand and telling me how long it’s been since I last saw him.
Lee Jae-heon, trying hard to hide his annoyance, held out his hand, and Choi Min-hong took out something from the small bag that wasn’t there last time and placed it on his wrist.
“…Minhong?”
“It’s a gift.”
“uh….”
“Then I’ll give you another gift.”
“Is it a gun?”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll try my best…”
Jaeheon Lee looked down at his bracelet with a strange expression.
The color is a red pastel tone. It was composed of small squares of various colors attached in a zigzag pattern to form a circle, but since it was made of paper, it lacked elasticity and was loose, as if it had been made large from the beginning.
As if Lee Jae-heon’s answer did not satisfy him, Choi Min-hong grabbed Lee Jae-heon’s gloved hand and shook it gently.
“I have a gift too.”
“…I’ll give it to you when you get home.”
“What are you going to give me?”
“What do you want?”
“….”
Choi Min-hong, who was contemplating with his characteristic duck mouth poking out, pulled his hand. To be exact, his pitch-black gloves covering his hands.
“this.”
You’re asking for gloves, right? You’re not asking for my hand, are you?
“…Gloves?”
“….”
“please.”
“please.”
“I’ll give it to you when I get home. You have to use this to keep your hands from bleeding.”
“…Yes….”
“Last time, I got scolded because I got a blister on my hand.”
“Ugh….”
By the time Lee Jae-heon, who had nodded roughly to the whining that he didn’t know if it was negative or positive, bent down and stood up, he noticed that the surroundings were strangely quiet.
“…What is it?”
“Good dad…!”
“Do your best before I take care of business with Kwon Yeon-hee, understand? “In reality, there are endless ways to get revenge on you.”
“I will be quiet.”
“That’s right.”
Team leader Woo Soo-young’s face became even more bizarre, but all the survivors, including Lee Jae-heon, tried to ignore it. Even if I ignored her, there was nothing I could do for her. I just hope she adapts quickly.
As we waited quietly at the entrance to the park, survivors began to gather one by one, and the people who were astonished at the sight of familiar faces started talking little by little and regained their composure. Lee Jae-heon looked at Kim Ki-jeong, who came with Lee Yun-byeol and Jang Seo-ah.
“You came pretty quickly?”
“You’re saying it like you thought I would be the last one.”
“I guess it’s mental weakness.”
“Oh kinda…! I found a hotel near the park and stayed there! “I heard there was a kindergarten that Seo-ah attends nearby, so I went to see his face, but then I suddenly found myself in the other side of the world…!”
“Go to sleep and don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying!”
Lee Yoon-byeol consoled Kim Ki-jeong, who was angry with a skinny face, and Jang Seo-ah, who came with the two, was already attached to Choi Min-hong and were exchanging papers with each other. When I wondered what was in the bag Choi Min-hong carried, I found that it was full of all kinds of colorful colored paper.
Choi Min-hong looked majestic and handed out colored paper to Jang Seo-ah, who also applauded and accepted it. Although they were children with screws missing one by one, they were nothing more than ordinary children when you looked at them like that.
Azalea and Munsan, who had already arrived, were watching with happy faces.
“Oh you poopy puppies.”
“I’m glad we get along well.”
The other day, the two of them came by car and they seemed to be quite close, as if they had often met separately. Jaeheon Lee was proud of the chicks’ desirable growth.
‘It would be nice if there were no restrictions on my activities anymore.’
It seemed like he didn’t even think about the things he had brought upon himself. It wasn’t that I couldn’t think, it was that I didn’t.
The next ones to come were Kim Yeon-woo and Hong Gyeong-jun.
“Jaeheon Lee!”
Jaeheon Lee waved his hand at Kim Yeonwoo’s call.
“It feels like it’s been a while since I last saw you. No, actually, it’s been a while…”
The only person Lee Jae-heon met so far was Detective Hong Gyeong-jun. Police officer Kim Yeon-woo is said to have worked hard to maintain public order in the neighborhood.
“How have you been? “I haven’t been able to contact you often, but are you okay?”
“…Ah, the body.”
Jaeheon Lee turned his gaze to look at Gyeongjun Hong.
‘Are you asking this because you know this person?’
‘We’ve never talked about it.’
As of now, the only person who truly knew what Lee Jae-heon had experienced was Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, and since he had not said anything to Kim Yeon-woo, the question now would probably be close to a cliche greeting. Lee Jae-heon, feeling at ease, nodded his head.
“Yes, it’s okay. “The body is always in the same state.”
“…okay.”
“…?”
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
I don’t know why the reply was delayed, but Kim Yeon-woo, who said hello briefly, quickly moved towards the other survivors. It was a place where children and women gathered, and it seemed like they were really bothered by the fact that kindergarteners were brought here again this time. His face was always cold, but he was also a kind and altruistic person.
As I was looking at Kim Yeon-woo’s back, Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, who had taken a step back, approached me.
“He says he’s fine.”
“It’s not that bad, so I hope you don’t worry too much.”
Jaeheon Lee sighed and said.
“So don’t look at me like that.”
Hong Gyeong-jun’s gaze towards me was exactly like that of Jeong In-ho or Ha Seong-yoon. That inflexible detective probably had no idea how disgusting that was.
“I hate worrying so much. In any case, in the other world, isn’t the limit to what you can endure with your mental strength greatly increased? “I’m saying it’s okay because it’s okay, but everyone is having a hard time…”
“There’s a lot I want to say, but why are you wearing gloves? “I’m sure all your fingernails have fallen out.”
“Could you please lower your voice? “I told Kang Min-ah earlier, but I’m just wearing it because I don’t want to get blisters.”
“I don’t know why you keep lying.”
Hong Gyeong-jun continued speaking while looking at Lee Jae-heon’s hand.
“Isn’t it just that you don’t want to get caught? “I don’t want to worry.”
“….”
“…I know what you’re thinking. People like Lee Jae-heon can hardly understand or tolerate someone worrying about them. They act as if the world will collapse if they rely on others. “It seemed like I was afraid of the absurd situation.”
“Aren’t you seeing me as overlapping with that person? “I have no intention of going out and dying like him, just because my work is done.”
“If they see something like this, they’ll probably say it’s an unreliable promise. “I’m not the type of person who can be easily trusted, so I stopped without realizing it.”
“…Hong Gyeong-jun.”
Lee Jae-heon sighed and said.
“I know it’s hard to keep your cool, but come to your senses. “I don’t want to see you struggling in the past.”
“….”
“Are you going to do something stupid again like last time?”
Hong Gyeong-jun blinked a few times at those words, and the dark and heavy look in his eyes disappeared a little. The gaze that had been glued to his gloved hand had returned to Lee Jae-heon’s face.
“…Um, sorry. “I didn’t mean to do this.”
“Everyone who has made a mistake says that. “I didn’t mean to criticize you.”
“I know. I am reflecting. “I will be careful not to act stupid like last time.”
This is a little strong.
‘Is it okay to leave it like this…?’
Lee Jae-heon frowned because the way he spoke in a strangely soft tone seemed like he was thinking of himself as a dead gunner. When I told him to come to his senses, he felt like he was being held in a strange direction. Perhaps because of his mood, I felt a little nauseous.
Hong Gyeong-jun, who did not know Lee Jae-heon’s true feelings, opened his mouth with a lighter expression than before.
“And there were a lot of rude comments last time.”
“… Well… he never really did anything rude.”
“…It must have been rude of me to come and wait in front of the house at such a late hour. “He deserves to be scolded for going to see me because he said he wasn’t contacting me.”
“No, it really didn’t matter.”
It was what I wanted from the beginning.
“I was rather grateful that you came. “Thanks to you, although my crime was discovered, you were somewhat worried.”
“…Yeah, I’m worried….”
Hong Gyeong-jun’s voice muttered like that, becoming slightly muffled. I think he is probably thinking carefully about the way he looked when we first met. Let’s look at his face, which is becoming increasingly embarrassed. He did something he didn’t usually do, so it was natural for him to feel strangely awkward.
In the end, perhaps because he felt embarrassed, Hong Gyeong-jun slightly averted his gaze.
“Hmm, anyway, you’d better be careful. The same goes for his hands… The last time I saw him, Lee Jae-heon seemed to be in really bad condition.”
“It has improved a lot.”
“I still don’t really see it that way. Didn’t the situation get worse last time when we just skimmed over it like that? “What is it like to be self-reliant?”
“I am proud of myself. So, Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, please don’t overlap me with that person. “I have no intention of dying like that.”
“….”
“Of course, I appreciate your concern.”
“…you’re welcome.”
Hong Gyeong-jun nodded his head slightly and moved toward Kim Yeon-woo. He pretended not to, but it seemed like he was still worried.
“…?”
But that guy doesn’t say he won’t overlap until the end.
‘I think it’s because the other side of the world is causing my opposite sex to go back and forth, so I’m heading in a more bizarre direction… I wonder if this is okay.’
Although I tried to dig up the past with the goal of overlapping the former shooter with ‘Lee Jae-heon’, I felt strangely uneasy. Should I say that it feels like a small snowball I rolled is rolling to a place I don’t know? A strange, unknown and invisible feeling of anxiety crept up my spine.
Well, it will work out somehow.
As time went by and they saw smoke rising from somewhere, they formed a search team and the person who joined them was Vivian. The last to arrive, later than Vivian, who came carrying a barbaric weapon, was none other than Ha Seong-yoon.
“….”
“…Are you alive?”
“…I feel like I’m just alive.”
His neck and wrists were red and chafed because of what had happened.
At that moment, Lee Jae-heon, who had been stabbed by himself, slowly pulled up his gloves, but Ha Seong-yoon, who immediately noticed this, glared at Lee Jae-heon with a straight face.
“Are you crazy? Are you wearing his gloves again?”
“…Isn’t it possible that my palm might burst like last time?… I was wearing it all the time for some sort of protection. Honestly, it’s not a good thing to show to anyone.”
“No matter how much you think about it, the latter part is your true intention. But it’s not completely wrong, so I can’t say anything about it. “Why, when I came to the other side of the world, I got injured like that… haha.”
“Even so, why are you in that state, Ha Seong-yoon?”
He said, wiping his slightly bloody palm with the handkerchief that Garam Yoon gave him.
“I don’t know about Jaeheon Lee, but the hospital definitely seems crazy. Should he move to a quiet public health center somewhere….”
“What on earth did you do to me?”
“He realized why there are so many hospital-themed horror movies or ghost stories. To summarize, it was full of zombies and strange medical workers inside. “I was almost there, but I got caught in the middle and almost had to force open my stomach, but the binding was loose, so I managed to get out.”
“oh….”
“For your information, I have no intention of hiding that I am injured like this. “Imitate me.”
“….”
When Jaeheon Lee closed his mouth, Inho Jeong asked.
“Were there any other people in the hospital?”
“Recently, part of the hospital was under construction, so there were not many people. I walked around and checked… It wasn’t all, but it was marked on the occupant list tag. Hospital rooms with monsters are marked in red… Well, there was one person there. It was a fellow doctor. “I think he was dragged in while talking to me.”
“There was? But did you just leave it behind?”
“He was so distracted that when I touched him, he threw a fit and attacked me, and he was especially bad at working.”
“…Did you kill me because I couldn’t work?”
“That friend is not a doctor, he’s trash. “He can’t work, he can’t perform surgery, he doesn’t have eyesight, he steals money, persecutes patients, and causes medical accidents. If he hid it because of his power, wouldn’t it be hard to even call him a human being anymore?”
“You’ve accumulated a lot.”
“For your information, I didn’t kill it, I just left it behind. “If you use your head wisely, have the will and courage to live, and run hard, you can survive.”
“You are really unkind to doctors like you.”
“Is that my fault? “It’s the fault of those who can’t work.”
“Huh….”
At this point, he was suspicious of whether he had been hanging around with that ‘trash’ on purpose. I feel like someday, when I get eaten by the underworld, I want you to become a scapegoat too…
After finishing speaking, Ha Seong-yoon looked around.
“Still, a lot of people gathered. “There are some people I can’t see, and I’m worried that they may have had an accident.”
“Most of them lived near this park or moved here for a while. If there had been smoke, it would have been visible, but it could have been one of two reasons that it wasn’t even visible. “You either couldn’t participate in this trip because you’re not a regular member, or…”
“I didn’t even have time to smoke.”
“….”
“…it would have been nice if there had been a phone call.”
Lee Jae-heon blinked and asked.
“Did you bring it? cell phone.”
“Yes, I brought it. To be precise, I guess I just happened to get it. A doctor with outstanding ability is often called upon even when he is resting. “As expected, I can’t make phone calls right now.”
“hmm….”
Lee Jae-heon, who was sobbing, looked around widely. Jaeheon Lee believes that most of the survivors who are currently absent are likely to be sub-members, but there are also survivors who are not among them.
Dayoung Park and Dahoon Park.
“…The students haven’t arrived yet. “I understand because it’s so far away, but…”
“These are children who must have sent a signal somehow. Is that right?”
“I need to move quickly.”
The school was the setting for the first episode of the second visit to the other world in the novel.
It is one of the few areas where communication is possible.
