Episode 329
Yes, to be honest, it was true that the current atmosphere of the Survivor team was ruined.
‘If things continue this way, it will be difficult to go back to Unhak High School.’
It is a kind of recession.
The first and biggest cause that can be thought of is, of course, the mental breakdown of key personnel. It is said that other survivors are gradually gaining experience and learning how to survive, but the experience of early combat is not something that can be easily caught up.
‘Not only Jung In-ho, but Ha Seong-yoon and Kang Min-ah are all in an absurd condition. At least No Yeon-seok had good strength, but he is gone now… Seo Jang-hwa was really a daily wage earner, but Vivian couldn’t catch him, so he couldn’t come again. Han Do-yoon has good physical strength, but he doesn’t have any tricks, so it’s hard to make him fight even though he doesn’t know how to explore.’
In addition, Jung In-ho was suffering from burnout, Ha Seong-yoon was going crazy because he couldn’t see the patient, and Kang Min-ah was unable to come to her senses because the enormous responsibility put pressure on her.
“….”
In fact, Lee Jae-heon couldn’t say he was in good condition either.
‘So, we need to quickly return to reality… In the end, what’s important is how to catch the final boss.’
Lee Jae-heon knew of the few final bosses that appeared in the novel, but even the closest aquarium, which was realistic enough to reach, was too much for the current survivor team. Besides, wouldn’t it take another year to figure out the rules inside the water tank?
‘But I don’t have the energy to find a completely different final boss.’
It was difficult, both mentally and physically, to search through this vast underworld to find a new final boss. Even if they found it, there was no way to tell if it was just a monster as strong as a dog or if it was really the final boss that would help them escape.
You might ask if the same goes for the monsters at Unhak High School, but at least Unhak High School knows the rules, so there was less effort to find and kill the monsters that could escape.
“….”
No, wait a minute.
‘Was there no way to find out if it was really the final boss…?’
Why do I think I exist?
Jaeheon Lee, who realized that he had secretly been hoping for a chick, was in a state of confusion and couldn’t come to his senses right away. He pondered over the elusive clue until Kwon Yeon-hee approached him.
“That manager….”
“What’s going on with Employee Kwon?”
“Ah, it feels like it’s been a long time since I heard the name Employee Kwon.”
“Huh… Did you just come here because you were bored?
“…No, I’m just anxious these days… Can I stay with you for a while?”
“Like that.”
Moreover, the longer they remain in the underworld, the worse the condition of the survivors naturally becomes.
“I was planning on resting anyway.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Kwon Yeon-hee, who made an effort to laugh in a light tone, curled up and laid down next to Lee Jae-heon. As I just watched, I fell asleep right away in just 10 seconds. This meant that the schedule in the behind-the-scenes world was a huge burden on Kwon Yeon-hee.
Kwon Yeon-hee was not the only one like this.
“mister.”
“Mister.”
“Why are you not playing anymore and why am I looking for you?”
“I’m going to sleep too.”
“I want to sleep.”
“I’m going to sleep….” This
goes for the kindergarten students who sneak up next to Lee Jae-heon, accompanied by Lee Yun-byeol, as well as the high school students who are restless because they haven’t yet adapted to the atmosphere of the other side of the world. Lee Jae-heon’s concerns were valid, as even grown-up adults are gradually getting tired without realizing it.
As the children continued to dig into Lee Jae-heon’s arms, teacher Lee Yun-byeol said in embarrassment.
“sorry. “He’s resting…”
“No, Yunbyeol Lee is having a hard time every time, so what’s there to be sorry about?”
“Thank you for thinking so.”
After saying that, Lee Yun-byeol also sat down in a place where she could easily see the children and began to rest.
‘Well, they’re pretty tired over there too.’
Even in reality, it is not easy to take full-time care of children, but Lee Yun-byeol took care of Jang Seo-ah and Choi Min-hong as if they were her own children or nephews.
‘He’s probably trying to stay sane by obsessing over his work ethic like Ha Seong-yoon.’
Of course, like Ha Seong-yoon, he didn’t feel the pressure of ‘I’m not a doctor, so I’m trash, so I have to scavenge’, but it meant that he was exhausted enough to be able to survive only by sticking to his professionalism in that way.
“Uh, manager.”
“…Do you think it’s worth living?”
“No, just.”
Woo Woo-young, who was holding a basket full of what he picked from the garden, smiled awkwardly and continued.
“You can’t not do what you can do….”
“You wouldn’t say anything even if you took a break?”
“I kept thinking about it, but no matter what, I didn’t want to become surplus manpower.”
“Huh.”
Lee Jae-heon said awkwardly.
“Are you treating your heavenly manager’s advice like this?”
“Oh no, it’s not that, it’s just…! Anyway, it would be nice to have more manpower, so why are you behaving like this?”
“Why have you become so spoiled?”
“Umm um ummm….”
Woo Joo-young, who was rolling his eyes, quietly left while avoiding Lee Jae-heon’s gaze. He then hid next to Azalea, who was busy watching people, obviously knowing that Jaeheon Lee was having a hard time with Azalea.
“That bastard…?”
It was absurd.
‘What are they really going to do when they go back to reality?’
Woo Woo-young was a person with a healthy mind and even competent enough to be regretted by Jae-heon Lee, and was a direct subordinate who was almost like Jae-heon Lee himself. It was difficult to see such a talented person being immersed in the underworld, so I personally stabbed him in the side, and now he is trying to adapt to it. To Lee Jae-heon, this was a ridiculous thing.
However, I couldn’t just grab him by the collar and shake him by saying, ‘Oh, I’m telling you not to live like that’, so I couldn’t preach any more, even though it was undesirable.
“….”
Moreover, when I think about it now, I wonder if I stopped Woo Woo-young, a talented person who could become a pretty good chick, for no reason.
Jaeheon Lee calmly exhaled.
“…Haa….”
I had to return to reality really quickly.
‘Whether it’s Woo Joo-young or not, it’s a problem that can be solved as long as we return to reality.’
Although the garden was safe, it could not be considered a very good shelter from a mental standpoint. There seems to be some sort of rule among them, and at certain times, a scarecrow floats around, but that doesn’t seem like a particularly good thing to look at. To put it bluntly, you never know when they might attack the survivors, so your body automatically becomes tense due to the visual threat.
Instead of being provided with a safe shelter and clean food, it was a place where I could not help but feel a constant sense of discomfort, but the problem was that I had not yet been able to find a better shelter than this place.
‘So, if we finish the Eonhak High School problem as quickly as possible and return to reality…’
Lee Jae-heon turned his gaze discreetly to look at the protagonist.
“….”
“….”
Jeong In-ho, who was sitting on a poorly made chair, was probably completely out of his mind and did not move a single movement.
‘…I’m so lost that I don’t know where to start.’
Would you believe me if I told you that apart from a brief conversation right after this regression, we’ve never talked to each other? Perhaps because of what Jung In-ho turned him into a monster in the last episode, he was slowly avoiding Lee Jae-heon, and it was a source of anger for Lee Jae-heon to be avoided like that.
‘It would be nice to have an event once, but this is also something that needs to be done cautiously.’
Lee Jae-heon was also slowly getting a sense of how fragile and soft these chicks were. I was already mentally broken, but I didn’t know if ‘Lee Jae-heon’, whom I depended on, suddenly went out and died, I might not be able to make a comeback.
“Ugh.”
“Uh, manager? why?”
“Okay, sleep more.”
“Ah yes.”
Of course, I didn’t want that.
‘So, all you have to do is surprise the guy who is completely exhausted and dazed and bring him back to reality…’ An
event held like that should have been able to solve the problems of all survivors, not just Jung In-ho, little by little. As for Ha Sung-yoon, it cannot be resolved unless he returns to reality, so even if he is an exception, Hong Gyeong-jun is overly immersed in it. Kang Min-ah has too much responsibility. Park Da-hoon has a personality that comes and goes. Kim Ki-jeong has mycelia, Munsan-gun has school problems, etc…
‘I already have a rough idea of the others except Jeong In-ho.’
However, In-ho Jeong needed a more cautious approach. If you throw a fancy event in a situation where the seriousness of the situation has not yet been properly assessed, there is a high chance that your mentality will become distorted.
‘So for now.’
It seemed that a conclusion could only be reached by determining the extent of the subject’s ecstasy.
“…I guess I should get some sleep too.”
Of course not now.
Because I can’t wake up sleeping children.
* * *
“….”
The sky in the other world has no color.
No, if white were a color, would it be a color? However, it was also true that it was not as vibrant as the deep blue sky that can be seen in reality. Aside from the occasional unidentifiable figure, whether a monster or a bird, flying across the sky, the moonless ceiling feels distant.
“…Ah…”
And today, In-ho Jeong realized that the color had disappeared from his vision.
‘I shouldn’t be doing this.’
I felt that way for a moment, but it was only a moment. My mind soon became blank and all I could see was the colorless sky and the world. His actions had no purpose or direction. It’s just like that, taking up a place in this crazy world.
In fact, it has been quite a while since the eyes were deprived of the color they should have been able to see in this way. However, it was too much for Jeong In-ho to realize that, so…
“….”
Why is he so dazed?
‘…Actually, it’s too clear to ask why.’
He thought his condition was a type of burnout syndrome.
To Jeong In-ho, who was naturally mild-mannered, my current condition was very strange and unfamiliar, but that did not mean that his eyes and brain were not able to perform their functions. There was no problem with seeing except that there was no color. However, Jeong In-ho was able to define his condition because there were often people around him who showed the same reaction as him.
‘That’s pathetic.’
I filmed a youth drama saying I would try my best on my own, but when I realized the reality, I gradually felt pressure that my brain was not aware of. People who become frustrated when they find out that they are not the main characters in a drama, but still cannot give up completely and continue to live on.
Looking at them like that, I often thought that Jeong In-ho was pathetic. It was a different kind of pathetic than Lee Jae-heon, who was crooked in everything. If I had observed my own condition objectively without expectations from the beginning, I wouldn’t have been consumed by such helplessness. Jeong In-ho, who had never been buried in emotions, was unable to understand them, and that lack of understanding led to their rejection.
‘Pathetic…’
But now that I see them, they are no different from the current Jung In-ho.
If we had to be honest, Jeong In-ho himself would be even more pathetic. Even if the same burnout occurs, there will be differences in the situation and degree. At least it wasn’t something to compare to myself, who had acted stupidly and killed several people. He was an adult with the ability to objectively evaluate himself.
“….”
However, the problem was the helplessness that could not be shaken off.
I know the cause, I know the process, I know the result. I thought that if I knew all this, it would be easy to solve one problem, but I couldn’t accomplish anything with my heavy head and dull mind, as if I was stuck in a swamp. It was difficult to even find a reason before I had the motivation to do so.
It’s just that the sky is so white.
“Are you having a hard time?”
“….”
I couldn’t take my eyes off Lee Jae-heon’s question.
“yes.”
I felt comfortable in that empty white color.
That might be why.
(Continued in the next part)
