Episode 305
Jeong In-ho was exhausted.
‘We have to do better this time.’
Second visit to the underworld. In-ho Jeong and the other survivors all realized that they were able to move quite a bit compared to the beginning. Among them, Jeong In-ho had to come to his senses more than anyone else.
‘Because I can return to the past.’
Even if the method was death, Jeong In-ho had the ability to return to the time when everyone was alive and save them. Lee Jae-heon, who used to have that power, may have eventually given up on saving everyone, but Jung In-ho wanted to do better somehow. At least I wanted to do better than when I first came to the underworld.
And I got tired that quickly.
“….”
Death depletes a person’s spirit.
‘I could have done better.’
Every time Jaeheon Lee dies, every time others die. Every time he bled and screamed, a corner of Jeong In-ho’s heart became heavy. In the end, Jeong In-ho had to accept his own death in order to avoid seeing their deaths.
“Are you okay, Inho?”
“it’s okay.”
“You look tired…”
But it wasn’t something I could say to anyone else.
Kangmin? Although he is a sweet and kind person, he is not strong enough to share the burden. Ha Seong-yoon? If you make a hard noise, they will be busy pushing you like in the park. Park Da-hoon? I couldn’t express how difficult it was to have a minor in front of me. Jaeheon Lee? I was grateful that that person was still alive and breathing.
‘If you say you’re having a hard time, I’ll comfort you, but I’ll treat you even worse. ‘You can’t tell someone like that that it’s difficult.’
Although he usually hides it by lightly complaining, Lee Jae-heon is a person who has already given up a lot. Even if I made a ridiculous request like, ‘I’m hungry, so please give me one of your legs,’ he would have understood and given me his leg, but I couldn’t complain to him that I was having a hard time even for a moment. I had no idea what disastrous results that momentary complaint would lead to.
“…are you okay.”
I just consoled myself with false words that it was okay.
However, the hidden world was not easy enough to survive with such shallow brainwashing. Monsters that devour the air and spirit that make you so nervous that you become conscious of inhaling and exhaling. Even without those things, Jung In-ho’s schedule has been very busy recently.
Meanwhile, Jaeheon Lee even lost consciousness for five days.
“….”
Is it really okay?
‘Am I… doing a good job?’
In fact, maybe I’m standing still? Was it just my illusion that I was moving forward? If he was really doing it right, why did Jaeheon Lee have to get hurt like this? Why did Han Do-yoon almost die? The escape from the park last time was also the result of a coincidental connection with Lee Jae-heon’s death.
No, no. I’m doing well. are you okay.
“are you okay.”
That’s why I needed confidence.
“I’m sure we can get out…”
If there really is a monster at school that can help us escape from this crazy world. Jeong In-ho wanted to kill it even if it meant having its limbs torn off alive. It’s Jeong In-ho, not Lee Jae-heon.
With that in mind, I returned to Unhak High School.
“….”
I said that….
“….”
“It’s okay.”
“Boss.”
“It’s really okay.”
“…is it okay?”
“Because it’s a monster anyway.”
“Why is the manager a monster….”
“It’s okay. “It doesn’t hurt.”
“Stop lying.”
In-ho Jeong sat helplessly on a chair placed in the lobby on the third floor.
The sight of him walking towards me as a plaster monster and making no attempt to kill me was just absurd. If he had become a crazy doll that pounces on survivors and kills them like the countless plaster monsters he remembers, there would have been less laughter.
“Why…”
But even after Lee Jae-heon turned into a plaster monster, he just stood still in front of Jeong In-ho. He twitched his fingers intermittently, as if feeling some impulse, but was still quiet. It was not destructive or vicious like the monsters I had seen before, but was just staring at Jeong In-ho like a person who had taken off a mask.
“…Why are you always like this…”
He held his head in his hands.
“This is what happens.”
I tried to think of it as an opportunity.
Having this power to return to the past and to think of oneself as the protagonist is a duty and responsibility, as well as an opportunity and right. However, Jeong In-ho’s brain, which had to witness and experience numerous deaths in the process, gradually began to seize like an overheated wire.
“Would it have been better if this were real? Rather than a world like this where just being still gives me a headache… I wish it were a reality where nothing happened. “Then maybe I could have done better.”
“Don’t do anything stupid and run away.”
“The manager must have done something unnecessary… What is that? I think I get it roughly. You must have sat on one or two of those torture chairs in every classroom. “Why did you do that? If you had just stayed in the bathroom, I wouldn’t have had such a headache.”
“It’s really okay.”
“If you’re going to look like that, you should hide so that we can’t see you. Why on earth did you bother to show me like that…”
Jeong In-ho was able to guess what happened on the third floor.
“It’s obvious. Since I made you the manager and class leader, you must have seen him turn gray and thought that something had to be done. “Either he commits suicide before he becomes a monster, or he is tied up somewhere like a dog on a leash… I think it would be more likely that he tried to die.”
“are you okay. “It doesn’t hurt.”
“Did Hong Kyung-jun stop that? That person must have been quite panicked. He wasn’t that stupid. It’s a pity that Hong Gyeong-jun’s mind seemed to be in danger, so instead of committing suicide, he must have tried to save us by locking himself in the classroom. Even though he sat on the torture chair, Hong Gyeong-jun must have let it go. “If that’s the case, then why are you sitting there in the first place…!”
Jeong In-ho, who made a loud noise, bit his lip again.
“…Chief…”
“Don’t do anything stupid and run away.”
“I’m having a hard time.”
“Run away.”
“It seems difficult…”
said the monster.
“are you okay.”
“Are you okay?”
“are you okay.”
“I don’t think so, Manager. I’ve been trying to think about it that way, but I don’t think it’s true. “What on earth is okay?”
Jeong In-ho’s voice trembled like a paper boat swaying in the sea.
“We and I… no. At least there was a time when the manager was okay? No, you’ve never been okay. “First of all, I’m having a hard time.”
“It’s really okay.”
“Actually, nothing is okay with us. Would you like to think about Team Leader Woo or Kim Ki-jeong? You can see how crazy that person looked at us. I didn’t want to be looked at like that kind of crazy person. I wanted to be a good adult. I wanted to be that kind of kid who was a good person… but everything was crazy. “I’m all exhausted, everything…”
“It’s okay.”
“Nothing is okay right now.”
Tears flowed down Jeong In-ho’s cheeks, as if he had degenerated into a child again.
“Saying it’s okay… that’s a typical lie.”
It is said that even after the plaster monster becomes a monster, the ego of the survivor lives inside. So, if they are designated as the last survivors and have memories before their return, that doesn’t seem to be the case. In the end, Lee Jae-heon wouldn’t remember the words Jung In-ho was fluttering right now.
Lee Jae-heon, who became a monster, would be considered dead.
“…I…”
This much.
“I’ll just… just this once.”
“….”
“Can you kill me?…”
Wouldn’t it be okay?
“…I’ll take a break just once.”
With those words, Jaeheon Lee’s hand moved.
I thought it was a kind death.
* * *
“Noona.”
“….”
“Sister… I hear a strange noise from above.”
Kang Min-ah, who had been lowering her head at the sound of Seong Ji-ho’s voice, looked at him.
“Has something happened?”
It probably seemed like that.
“….”
I felt my mind gradually being weighed down by haziness.
Is this simply because the hand was cut off? Is my brain melting because of the pain it causes? Perhaps the atmosphere of the underworld was too unpleasant for the patient, Kang Min-ah. Through my increasingly dazed mind and blurred vision, I saw a student with an anxious face.
“…There’s a problem.”
This feeling of crashing and taking my breath away.
“The manager is dead.”
There was no way I could feel this way unless he died.
Jaeheon Lee died. Although she did not see it with her own eyes or hear it with her own ears, it soon became a certainty and engulfed Kang Min-ah. If Jaeheon Lee dies, Inho Jeong will be the first to die. I am a person who is greatly affected by Lee Jae-heon’s death. If Jeong In-ho dies….
‘We will be abandoned.’
Kang Min-ah was a returner and knew there was another chance.
What did I have to do to get that opportunity?
“….”
Yes, that’s right.
“…Jiho.”
“yes?”
“great job.”
Everyone had to die.
* * *
“Huh huh huh huh…!”
Kim Ki-jeong was a very timid person.
‘scared…!’
No, even if he had been a fearless person, the outcome would not have been different. Unless you go crazy, how can you not be afraid when your colleague turns into a monster? The current situation was too harsh for Kim Ki-jeong, who had already lost a lot of his mental strength by going around Eonhak High School.
‘I don’t want to die. You have to live. ‘I want to live.’
Kim Ki-jeong didn’t even know where he was going. He just wanted to run away and was running away. It felt like Park Da-hoon and Yoon Garam were calling me when they saw him come down to the second floor, but it was like a dream. When Kim Ki-jeong came to his senses, the first thing he saw was a dark auditorium.
He instinctively closed the auditorium door and took a deep breath.
“Ugh huh…!”
The hand that was holding the door handle was shaking.
“…Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…..”
I felt the realization that I had run away without respect, but that self-blame quickly disappeared. What use is respect in the face of survival? It was not a sin to want to live.
Kim Ki-jeong was trapped inside the auditorium, but he was not in great danger. Da-hoon Park and Garam Yoon would be in the lobby on the second floor, so I could go out as long as they opened the door.
However, Kim Ki-jeong was unable to even make such obvious calculations. Kim Ki-jeong, so frightened and consumed by fear, could barely turn on the lights in the auditorium.
“….”
Why me?
why am i here
“…scared.”
I was so scared.
‘I volunteered for no reason…’
The atmosphere of the survivor team was good, so if Kim Ki-jeong hadn’t volunteered, they wouldn’t have dragged him in. However, the reason he came here and became such a fool was because Kim Ki-jeong showed his chivalry for no reason. I ended up here, weighed down by that useless conscience.
Why on earth did I make such a stupid decision? For no reason…
“….”
I don’t know how much time passed while I was dazed.
“…Whew….”
When his panting breath gradually calmed down, Kim Ki-jeong thought about it.
‘…I have to go out.’
I belatedly remembered the people who had called him. He finally remembered the image of Ha Seong-yoon trying to catch him as he ran down to the second floor, and the voice of the waiting team on the second floor calling out to him in surprise when Kim Ki-jeong suddenly jumped out.
But it’s strange.
“….”
There was a number floating on Kim Ki-jeong’s wrist. As if to express my pitiful mental power, the number written on it was only 5 minutes, and even now that I have checked it, the number continues to decrease.
Kim Ki-jeong, who was looking at this blankly, opened his mouth.
“…Why are you really like this….”
It meant that there was no one on the second floor.
“Really. “Really, why… why like this… why did it become like this…”
Tears poured down, but Kim Ki-jeong sat down in his seat without even thinking about running away. He didn’t even have the will left to open the thick door of the auditorium.
“…I tried to do something good. I was trying to help people, but I went out of my way to help them. Well, shouldn’t this end on a good note? It was going well. You’ve been fine so far. uh? I worked so hard… why why? like this.”
Kim Ki-jeong’s voice, which had been rambling for a while, gradually quieted down.
“Please…”
He knew it too.
“….”
Even if you start with good intentions, there is no guarantee that it will lead to good results.
Kim Ki-jeong, who had closed his eyes once, shakily stood up from where he was sitting. Standing unsteadily, he stared at the auditorium stage for a long time and then took a step towards it. Tears were still flowing, but there was no hesitation in his steps.
“…Ah…”
Standing on the stage, he blinked his eyes again. He looked at the auditorium below the stage, and then at the tent hanging inside the stage.
The unexpected noise of the crowd murmuring penetrates my ears.
“….”
Tinnitus rang.
