Episode 31
Sometimes there are characters like that. He’s clearly on my side and the good guy, but he’s a strangely ambiguous character that upsets readers for no reason. And in this novel, the ‘detective’ was just that.
No matter what anyone said, the detective was clearly on the side of justice. He had an astute intuition for recognizing criminals, but at the same time he had an extreme dislike for criminals.
As a detective, it is a correct attitude, but since it is the main character who is affected by his intuition, a strange conflict arises in the story.
The detective feels a mysterious intensity from the main character, Jeong In-ho.
‘I realized that he was a bastard who would become a serial killer if he were to criticize me.’
Clearly, In-ho Jeong had not committed any wrongdoing, but at the time, the mentality of the main character in the novel was in a state of complete chaos. In a hidden world that turns even sane people into psychopaths, Assistant Manager Jeong, who is already insane, is openly warned by the detective.
The detective is a good person, meticulous, and flexible, but most of his decisions are extreme. He quickly realized that in this world, many people could be killed by humans, and became wary of the protagonist.
However, as with any creative work, such extreme choices backfire. Jeong In-ho, who was suddenly treated as a would-be murderer, felt a strange impulse, and when that impulse reached its peak, an incident occurred and police officer Kim died.
Upon her death, the protagonist rather calmed down.
After that, various things happened and eventually the main character left the park with a few people, and when he returned to the park after the hospital episode, no one was alive. Even detectives.
However, the problem here was that the protagonist’s mental state right now was probably not that bad.
‘No matter how much I end up like this, humans are social animals for no reason.’
What Jaeheon Lee managed was not just the main character.
The existing party members also took measures to prevent unnecessary conflicts, and if those who joined later had the right mind, they would not encourage unnecessary conflict.
Then that was enough. Assistant Manager Jeong was an annoyingly disgusting guy, so if you just gave him something to do, he wouldn’t wake up in any strange way, and people around him would tacitly support him. Regardless of the affection we have had so far, of course the only focal point of the team without Lee Jae-heon was Assistant Manager Jeong.
And anyway, he’s still alive. Due to Deputy Jeong’s unnecessarily sincere nature, he would not turn away unless he saw Lee Jae-heon’s body.
So, if there are any variables or problems…
‘I’ll have them.’
Lee Jae-heon, who was leaning against a tree, made eye contact with Police Officer Kim, who came back after leaving for a moment.
She must have been looking around, but as soon as she saw him, her face showed concern. It may seem narrow-minded, but despite his cold appearance, he was a truly compassionate person.
“…Are your wounds okay? “It was just tied up in a hurry.”
“Thank you for caring me.”
“Oh, it wasn’t me who did it, it was an old lady who wasn’t there right now…”
The old lady who was said to have treated my wounds was the main character.
In a way, this is natural, but there was no doctor in the original novel. Even the doctor who was supposed to be there at first was found as a piece of meat, worse than a corpse. It was the grandmother who provided the protagonist and his group with quality treatment.
“Then who is he?”
“You’re… taking a walk. “You’re right in front of me, so it’s not dangerous and it’s okay.”
“…for a walk.”
Taking a walk in a world where just looking at it weakens your mentality.
‘No one is sane anyway.’
Jaeheon Lee slowly nodded as he looked back at the descriptions in the novel.
“okay.”
Lee Jae-heon thought about buying the old man’s favor as well, but soon gave up.
It was also after a considerable amount of time had passed that the main character, the grandmother, opened her heart to the protagonist. Meanwhile, there was no way that she, who was strangely quick-witted, would open her heart to Lee Jae-heon, who was mentally ill.
‘It’s good if you don’t pay attention.’
Perhaps it was because he was the oldest character in the story, or perhaps because of his age, the old man’s notice was not something to be ignored. Her specialty was to keep her mouth shut and quietly observe the situation while knowing the character’s inner thoughts through that insight. Can you say it is the wisdom of life?
In that case, even if Lee Jae-heon doesn’t do something anyway, no. Rather, it would be more beneficial to remain still. He was the type of person who would keep quiet if you left him alone, but if you touched him wrongly, he would get angry for no reason.
‘Probably, unlike Police Officer Kim, no matter how close you become, he won’t help you escape the boundaries of being a detective.’
However, Lee Jae-heon, who read the novel, thought that it was close to impossible for him to completely escape from the boundaries of being a terrible detective with just this shallow favor from Police Officer Kim. The detective was a very suspicious and persistent person.
And Lee Jae-heon expected that he would never be able to avoid such detective suspicion.
‘I was so wary of the main character who hadn’t done anything yet, but it couldn’t be any different than me.’
No, in fact, if my side was at a disadvantage, it was even more disadvantageous.
In the world of his previous life, where the value of life was low, Lee Jae-heon committed several legal murders due to the circumstances of his job. At the time, it was possible to kill without hesitation because there was a reasonable justification and common sense, but in this life, it was just crazy.
When Lee Jae-heon bumps into a wary detective, will he be able to look kindly at me?
‘That can’t be possible.’
Of course, Lee Jae-heon in his current life was a common old man who had never committed a crime, let alone murder. But I don’t think anyone will believe that, and even if they do, they’ll just be labeled as a would-be murderer.
Lee Jae-heon completely gave up his expectations of being able to look nice to the detective. In fact, such vigilance was clearly necessary in future plans. However, there was no way to ease the detective’s nerves when his vigilance became unnecessarily strong.
“Is Kim Yeon-woo hurt anywhere?”
The first way is to use police officer Kim Yeon-woo.
“yes? Ah yes. No, it was a little scratched. “It’s not a big wound, but…”
“But you still need to get treatment in time.”
“Thanks to my grandmother’s treatment, I’m okay.”
If you have the intuition to recognize a criminal, you can also recognize someone who is the exact opposite. Since the detective immediately recognized Police Officer Kim’s foolish nature, he tended to trust her quite a bit. Even if you don’t trust them completely due to their nature.
Policeman Kim, who imitates an old soldier, looks a bit immature, but even though he is rotten, he is not lacking in skill. The reason she and the detective were together in the first place was because Police Officer Kim witnessed the suspect in the murder case.
Of course, there is a deeper and more detailed reason why the detective trusts her, but it makes my head hurt to think about it.
Anyway, the conclusion was that ‘if you buy Police Officer Kim’s favor, you will get at least 10% of it.’
Lee Jae-heon showed the calm expression he showed to the main character and his companions in the beginning when they were consumed by the secret world.
“It’s a good thing because the wound may be worse.”
“…Thank you for your concern.”
After saying that, Police Officer Kim glanced at his tattered legs.
His expression looked like he was thinking, ‘What are you going to say?’, but Jaeheon Lee, as usual, pretended not to know and ignored it.
In fact, people usually put their own pain first. A person can only face the pain of others when his or her own pain is resolved, and a person who is so devoted that he or she does not notice his or her own pain becomes special in many ways. If it were for that purpose, Lee Jae-heon could have acted to that extent as well.
So, perhaps the Lee Jae-heon that Police Officer Kim sees will be seen as ‘a person who tries to be considerate of others even though he was chased by a monster for unknown reasons.’
When everyone was dying, he saved Police Officer Kim, a stranger, first. It wasn’t his intention and he really didn’t like it, but he showed his weakness by unconsciously harming himself. This selfless appearance of the weak would give her great strength in defending Lee Jae-heon.
And above all, even if the content is the same, it is more effective for others to defend me than for me to defend myself.
‘Even more so if it’s an acquaintance.’
Of course, if the other person has a very close relationship with the person being defended, it sometimes backfires, but the detective and police officer Kim hadn’t met for very long, considering the novel. If someone of reasonable trust defended him, he could have been given some room to think again.
Of course, that wasn’t enough, so more diverse work was needed. Since he was a difficult person to deal with, I would have to give up on the old man who was outside, but at least there was no problem using the people who were looking for me or my body by now. Or, writing about someone you just met who might be alive somewhere in the park.
‘Of course, if necessary.’
This process was so difficult and cumbersome that even Jaeheon Lee, who was very worn out, thought about giving up.
Even if you check the seasoning appropriately, if there is no sign of being put on a leash…
‘I have to kill it.’
Lee Jae-heon, who was thinking with his mouth cupped, made eye contact with Police Officer Kim, who was looking at his wounds, and changed his expression again.
With a normal face, you don’t know what he’s thinking.
A voice that had become subdued due to not being able to drink water rang through the tree cave.
“What’s going on?”
“…I’m sorry if I bothered you.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for, but I think you have something to say.”
“Uh um. It may be rude, but…”
After he opened the door once, Police Officer Kim accepted him without being humbled a second time.
“You’re in too bad a condition to think you got hurt while being chased by a monster.”
“….”
“I saw wounds on the shoulder and arm… that looked like they had been cut by a knife. “Grandma said it looked like someone had drawn it.”
“Ah…”
Jaeheon Lee was speechless for a moment.
He let out an embarrassed sob and reflexively tried to cover his forearm, but soon gave up. You would have seen it all during treatment anyway, so it would seem even weirder to cover it up now.
However, Police Officer Kim, who noticed that small gesture, did not seem to have any intention of ending the story easily.
“If there is someone in danger nearby… I will help you.”
“…? yes?”
“I don’t know about the other wounds, but who caused the wound on my arm? No, there was no need for Lee Jae-heon to get hurt like this just because he was the most sane in the first place. “You don’t have an obligation to do that, right?”
“No, wait.”
“I’m truly sorry, but I wonder if you were being pressured by those around you…” “
…”
Now… could it be…?
‘Are you suspicious of those bright yellow chicks?’
Lee Jae-heon, who thought that far, was horrified and threw up his hands. He probably thought he was under a lot of stress when he saw him unconsciously strangling himself when he woke up, but who is forcing what on whom?
“No, you misunderstand… I just thought this would be the most reasonable.”
“That’s not rationality, it’s sacrifice, Jaeheon Lee. I don’t know when you first encountered the monster, but didn’t you also run towards that green algae monster as if it were attracting you? Of course, I may have seen it wrong, but people in the world usually call it bait.”
“No, that’s…”
Lee Jae-heon, who hesitated for a moment, continued.
“…no. Yes, I just got caught by a monster and ran away. So….”
“….”
“That’s why it was like that. It wasn’t bait or anything.”
In fact, it was true that I was bait, but I couldn’t tell the truth.
Aside from the fact that he appears to be a crazy person who willingly becomes living bait, from the protagonist’s perspective, Lee Jae-heon was just forcibly dragged away by vines. Contrary to what he saw, I thought that if Assistant Manager Jeong found out that I volunteered to be the bait, he would whip my head with that monkey wrench.
So, in order to completely deceive the protagonist, he would have to choose his words well even in these questions and answers, but despite Lee Jae-heon’s efforts, Police Officer Kim’s expression did not clear up.
“…Then what happened to your arm? “Did that monster do that too?”
“….”
After thinking briefly, Jaeheon Lee sighed and leaned his head against the wall.
“…No, I did it.”
If I was going to find out someday anyway, it would have been a much wiser choice to tell the truth, regardless of the image. Even if something breaks down further here, it won’t have a big impact on future plans.
“…Are you saying it was a wound inflicted by the teacher?”
“Accidentally made a mistake while cooking.”
“Are you telling me to believe that…?”
“Can’t you trust me?”
“….”
At those words, Police Officer Kim nodded slowly. According to Lee Jae-heon’s judgment, due to her good-natured personality, she would not lead a conversation that the other person does not want.
But regardless of that, my head hurt all the same.
‘Well, when you think about it with common sense, the wounds are not small.’
If this was the world of my previous life, I would have heard at least once that the punishment was severe. For Lee Jae-heon, who values efficiency, it was a very disappointing world.
However, the people of this world are weaker against blood than you think. Of course, many people see blood splattered in movies without thinking, but this is surprisingly different from the blood you see in real life. Just as the sunset you see in a video cannot be compared to the sunset you actually see.
‘I don’t know how far Police Officer Kim was thinking…’
It must be said that the possibility that these physical wounds may have left psychological wounds was also taken into consideration.
Since his main job is as a police officer, he seemed to want to investigate the case, but he seemed a bit cautious due to the situation. Well, normal people in this world would be scared or traumatized, but… Lee Jae-heon was not a particularly typical person either in his current life or in his past life, so he was far from such trauma.
He blinked once and thought.
‘Let’s just say I was scared though.’
That was more efficient.
Lee Jae-heon, who finished thinking in a very short moment, gently squeezed his hand without looking up. I also didn’t forget to shake the tip naturally, as if it was something I did unconsciously.
He moved his lips as if he were trying to calm down as much as possible, then briefly pushed his tongue into the back of his throat to make his voice crack a little. A voice that was perfected like that had a different weight from a voice that was subdued because it had not been able to drink water or had just woken up.
Lee Jae-heon answered while slightly averting his gaze.
“…A little while I was leaving the office. “I have work to do.”
“What if it’s a company?”
“Anyway… because it was a high-rise building, there were a lot of strange monsters. “It was hard to come down.”
I changed my tone of voice a little more politely.
Lower your eyelids halfway. He puts it aside as if unable to make eye contact and looks down as if it wasn’t a pleasant memory.
It is similar to the reaction shown by victims exposed to extreme violence, but maintains the calmness it has maintained so as not to strain the image it has built up until now.
‘…Lee Jae-heon is a survivor of the underworld and has a trauma about it.’
I am afraid of every minute and second of the world I have been dragged into again, and I do not tremble because I have adapted to that fear. For him, the current trauma was so familiar that he knew how to endure it.
When I think of the people who died when I was first eaten here, I couldn’t breathe. That’s why I tried so hard to save others by sacrificing myself. That level of devotion suited Lee Jae-heon, who was selfish and nothing special by nature.
So there was no need to be too scared.
“…But I survived.”
Because now is not the time when everything was ruined.
“So the wound is nothing serious. “It came about when I suddenly found myself in a different world and did various things to survive.”
“Uh…”
“As a result, no one died.”
Those words were meant solely for me, not for Police Officer Kim.
I may have been injured here and there, but in the end, no one died. No one died in front of me, and no one I killed.
In the past, as an inexperienced person, I had to watch a round of slaughter taking place before my eyes, but that would no longer be the case.
So it’s okay for me to overdo it a little.
“No one died.”
For my own purposes.
For the first time, a deep smile appeared on the low-slung face.
