Episode 313
Lee Jae-heon led the survivors to the garden on behalf of Park Da-hoon, who was not in a state to step forward.
“yes? “You’re leaving so suddenly?”
“This is what happened when I approached the school. “It must be said that there is a monster so terrifying that it can cause people with good mental ability to retire.”
“But there is a shelter built here…”
“They said there is a greenhouse in the garden as well. Moreover, if all the main forces go crazy and a monster attacks, we won’t be able to handle it. “It would be best to stay away from the school, at least until you regain your sanity.”
“Hmm….”
There were people who opposed that statement. It was because I was so sad to leave the nice building that had been built on the hill behind the school. That’s how long the survivors stayed here.
“…Okay, let’s do that.”
But in the end, we followed Lee Jae-heon’s words and moved to the garden.
I knew that no matter how crazy people were, one person’s life could easily be lost in the face of a natural disaster called the underworld. I’ve barely survived the monsters I can handle so far. If even the green algae monster from last time appears, wouldn’t everyone run away in panic?
“Well, if it’s okay, you can come back.”
“I’m not breaking it and leaving, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
As long as you didn’t completely destroy it and move it, you could always come back and use the simple building. Moreover, the sight of Jeong In-ho, who was always at the head of the search team, losing his mind caused quite a bit of anxiety to the survivors. Although the survivors hesitated, they followed Lee Jae-heon’s opinion and moved to the garden.
However, only Ha Seong-yoon, one of the returnees, sensed something strange.
“…Did Dahoon tell you this?”
He quietly approached Lee Jae-heon and asked.
“It looks like you two are having a conversation?”
“I don’t know either.”
“I’m curious about what happened last time.”
Ha Seong-yoon, who knew that Lee Jae-heon and Park Da-hoon made this decision after a short conversation, could not help but wonder what information Lee Jae-heon had obtained from Park Da-hoon, who appeared to be the last survivor in the previous episode.
“I wonder… how they all died.”
Especially since Park Da-hoon looks so broken.
“He didn’t seem as anxious as I did in the last episode, so that means something happened in the previous episode, right?”
“Maybe…”
“Did Lee Jae-heon come out of the school and go around killing people? In that case, it is understandable that student Da-hoon is having such a hard time. “Because I am a friend who likes Lee Jae-heon a lot.”
“….”
“Haha, just kidding.”
As expected, Ha Seong-yoon also lost his temper.
‘Is this how I can escape the underworld within a year?’
I don’t know if it was because he recalled memories from before his reincarnation, or for some reason that Jae-heon Lee still doesn’t know, but unlike other survivors, when Jae-heon Lee looked in the mirror, he saw the face of his previous life, not a mannequin. It seemed like he was the one walking around in real life while Lee Jae-heon was away, so there was nothing good about being away for a long time.
‘I don’t know when Lee Jae-hyung will introduce me to that industry, and in the meantime, that snake-like bastard might do something, so I want to get out as soon as possible… Even though it’s almost certain that there will be a final boss at Unhak High, I don’t feel relieved. .’
No one knows for sure until they actually kill the monster. In the first place, I never saw a monster that could be called the final boss in person, and even if it did exist, it could have been just a monster as strong as a dog.
“….”
Moreover, Lee Jae-heon himself was also in a mess, so the sooner he could escape, the better.
“Are the students okay?”
“yes? Oh yes, it’s really okay.”
“I don’t have much to do…”
Lee Jae-heon’s mind suddenly became dizzy as he heard the voices of survivors moving around while talking about various things.
‘I’m dazed.’
How should I express this feeling?
The feeling of being separated from reality and seeing characters sparkling with color on the other side of the screen. The feeling of sounds gradually becoming distant, vision blurring, and breathing gradually stopping.
“…Ha….”
It was an unrealistic haze where I couldn’t even hear my breathing.
“…Jaeheon Lee.”
“it’s okay.”
“….”
“…No….”
Recalling what he said before killing In-ho Jeong, Jae-heon Lee blurted out a rebuttal without realizing it. And I immediately regretted it.
What on earth did I say ‘no’ to deny?
“….”
Lee Jae-heon answered because he couldn’t think of anything to add.
“Yes, it’s okay.”
There’s no way it’s not okay.
* * *
“Hey, what brought you all the way here?”
“I ran away because I thought there was a dangerous monster near the school.”
“escape?”
After muttering that, Azalea slowly looked at the survivor’s face and nodded with an indifferent expression. The old man with a strict and cold-hearted appearance accepted Lee Jae-heon’s words in an emotionless voice that was typical of her.
“It’s not difficult to come in, so come on in. Since the number of people has increased, our garden will also be a little larger. “The last time a young firefighter came, it was increased by one space.”
Just like Azalea said, the scarecrow, who was floating around the garden, counted the number of survivors who came and expanded their garden. The scarecrow, who had marked his new territory with a wooden fence, bowed politely, then slowly retreated and planted his stick in the vegetable garden of his territory.
Above is a human being, below is a wooden stick. Some of the survivors who saw for the first time the scary shape of the scarecrow, made of straw on the outside and human skin on the inside, couldn’t even scream and collapsed to the ground.
“…Huh….”
“Ha, student. are you okay?”
“Mom….”
Maeng Na-eun began to cry out for her mother.
“Mother and daughter are dying here….”
“Oh no, I’m not dying. “Why are you suddenly killing people?”
“My heart almost dropped…”
When Maeng Na-eun, who was crying, began to sob, Seong Ji-ho and Kim Hee-chan clung to her and began to comfort her. Still, I know that Maeng Na-eun is a one-year older sister, but her appearance seemed to be the exact opposite. No matter how you look at it, it’s like the older brothers comforting the timid youngest child.
Team leader Woo Soo-young filled the vacancy left by the mentally ill Park siblings.
“Student, calm down… don’t look over there. yes.”
“Sister…!”
“Uh oh wait a minute…!”
Maeng Na-eun cried, wrapping her arms around the waist of Woo Woo-young, who comforted her wholeheartedly.
‘When I think about it, I think it was like that with Park Da-young in the past.’
Maeng Na-eun, who was quite shy, was not afraid to talk to this person and had no qualms about relying on others or touching them. Even when she first entered Unhak High School and was introduced to her, wasn’t she clinging to Park Da-young?
Lee Jae-heon felt a strange emotion when he remembered Maeng Na-eun from the past.
“…I won’t go somewhere and starve to death.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Student Maeng Na-eun. “You have a really nice personality.”
“Aha, that’s right. “He’s a good kid.”
I don’t know if a 19-year-old high school student who will become an adult the day after tomorrow can really be called a ‘child’, but Lee Jae-heon, who was too lazy to refute, roughly nodded.
‘Actually, rather than that….’
Lee Jae-heon’s gaze turned from Maeng Na-eun to Woo Woo-young, who she was hugging tightly.
“….”
Ha Seong-yoon asked while looking at that gaze.
“What’s wrong?”
“Woo Joo-young has improved a lot.”
“Because you are putting in a lot of effort in one way or another.”
“Effort…”
Well, I didn’t know if that was right.
‘Woo Joo-young is a person who finds it difficult to tolerate being left out.’
Although Woo Joo-young is not the type to show off, no matter how good-natured he is, he is still the team leader of Oh-seong. Even though he is struggling under a boss like Lee Jae-heon, he is a capable person who not only does his own work but also encompasses other employees.
‘He may not be ambitious as he has been a team leader for many years, following Jae-heon Lee’s line, but he has enough self-love and a desire to improve.’
Since she said she worked out regularly, it means she had enough money to invest in self-care, and we could guess that the parents’ temperament and the resulting home environment that raised a daughter with such a personality were above average. In a way, it was natural that Woo Joo-young, who had never been treated as a useless burden anywhere, would show a lot of effort in the behind-the-scenes world.
“….”
It’s natural, but….
“…It’s not good….”
“…Are you talking about Woo Joo-young?”
“hmm.”
Lee Jae-heon wiped the corners of his mouth once and glanced at the survivors, led by Woo Joo-young.
“…If you think about it, there is no such thing as normal.”
“You suddenly say something like that. “The person who is most abnormal.”
“I think I need to take care of it once.”
“…?”
Ha Seong-yoon looked at Lee Jae-heon with strange eyes.
“Management?”
“The words came out in vain.”
“Just put spit on your mouth and lie, sir. Could you please explain what the words exactly mean? Management?”
“Ah, you’re tired. “I need to get some sleep.”
“No, look…”
Lee Jae-heon shook off Ha Seong-yoon and approached Azalea.
“Do you have a place to sleep?”
“It’s been a while since we started managing it, so there’s no place like the mountain behind it.”
“Then what about a greenhouse?”
“I was going to say that now. At least that’s a long way to get some rest. “If you’re going to sleep, sleep in it.”
“thank you.”
Inside a fairly large greenhouse, there were Han Do-yoon playing with the children, and Kim Ki-jeong, who clearly seemed to have been dragged in by Han Do-yoon. Anyway, because it was a greenhouse, it was a little hot, but not so much that it was unbearable.
“Oh, it’s him.”
“mister.”
Lee Jae-heon, who had patted and removed the little ones that were clinging to me, asked the two men.
“I need to get some sleep, is that okay?”
“Then it would be better for us to get out of the way.”
“There’s no need to do that… I have kids.”
“Oh, that’s it.”
Han Do-yoon smiled awkwardly and said.
“The kids liked the scarecrow.”
“….”
As Lee Jae-heon silently picked one of his ears, Kim Ki-jeong muttered in a calm tone.
“You heard correctly….”
“…Tastes must be respected. Especially for growing children… Only by broadening their imagination and tastes can they become great adults… Uh…” “Why are you
making excuses on behalf of the children?”
Kim Ki-jeong quietly got up from his seat.
“I’m going out, so get some sleep.”
“Oh, are you okay?”
“Jaeheon Lee needs to lie down and stay still. If you get hurt a little more, I think you can become friends with the scarecrow outside…”
“Huh.”
“Besides, I don’t need to be tired. “I just came in because I didn’t want to see the scarecrow.”
Kim Ki-jeong, who was leading Do-yoon Han and the children out of the greenhouse, looked at Jae-heon Lee and said secretly just before closing the flimsy door.
“…Actually, I think I was a little scared.”
“What.”
“The mountain behind the school, um. “Joining the exploration team.”
“….”
“…I’m embarrassed to say this after volunteering, but… I feel at ease because I feel like I can have a little more time. “Well, I think moving to the garden was a good thing.”
Kim Ki-jeong wrote a pastoral song while looking at Lee Jae-heon, who had no answer.
“Rest.”
Squeak.
The vinyl-covered door closes.
“….”
Lee Jae-heon laid his head down on the straw.
“…Haa….”
Perhaps because it was a greenhouse, it felt strangely stuffy and hot.
Little by little, oxygen became scarce, my lungs became oppressed, and my breathing slowed down. A humid and humid warmth penetrated every crevice of my body, as if I was trying to sleep between furs soaked in hot water.
Under the fingernails, inside the ears, between the pores of the skin…
“…I.”
What should I do?
What should I do to get better?
(Continued in the next part)
