Episode 348
The fact that Lee Jae-heon and Kim Yeon-woo fell into a sinkhole was already unusual news, but when they realized the absence of the key ring monster, it became clear that the situation was more serious than imagined. The fact that the keyring monster that had been hanging out in the garden disappeared right after the two most talented of the survivors fell behind couldn’t be seen as a simple separate event.
Without further delay, the survivors quickly decided on their respective teams.
“I, Ha Seong-yoon, and Jeong In-ho will guide the standby team to the police station.”
Kindergarten students with no combat skills, high school students who had not yet matured, and Jin Dal-rae, a skinny old man, were divided into a waiting group that would stay inside the safe police station. Hong Gyeong-jun, Ha Seong-yoon, and Jeong In-ho were selected as the team to protect and lead them to the police station in a shopping mall infested with monsters.
“Mina Kang, Vivian student. Yeonhee Kwon, please move to the sinkhole in the center of the apartment complex. As I said before, if you can use the Pompitz monster on the hill behind the school, please do so.”
Currently, the only way to directly visit Lee Jae-heon and Kim Yeon-woo, who fell into the wrong hole, is to enter the large residential sinkhole in the center of the complex. Their mission was to bring in the Pompitz remaining on the mountain behind and find the stragglers. If it was a Pompitz monster that liked Lee Jae-heon, there was a high probability that it would remember his scent and willingly track him down.
Kang Min-ah, who tried to hide her trembling hands, opened her mouth.
“…That abandoned dog monster could do it because he liked the manager. It seemed like he was particularly good at understanding what I was saying…”
“But there is no need to go out of your way to provoke the monster. In the end, monsters are monsters, and we never know when they might pose a threat to us survivors.”
“Yes, I understand.”
As Kang Min-ah nodded, Hong Gyeong-jun looked at Do-yoon Han next.
“Han Do-yoon and Kim Ki-jeong. Mr. Garam Yoon. Mr. Woo Woo-young….”
“Yes, let’s look for the key ring monster. “We will also check if there are any other clues.”
On the day he was temporarily imprisoned by a crazy kidnapper, Han Do-yoon was guilty and responsible for personally bringing the key ring monster out of room 1201. Kim Ki-jeong frowned at Han Do-yoon’s rarely nervous look.
“It hasn’t yet been determined what the Keyring Monster did. “Fighten your expression, young man.”
“…Umm… Thank you for the warm comfort.”
“Instead of doing this here, let’s go to that house quickly. “I think it was on the 12th floor, but from what I remember, climbing up the apartment itself wasn’t difficult as long as you used the stairs.”
“You are correct.”
“Of course, if you feel repulsed because of the memories of that crazy guy…”
“No, that’s not true at all.”
Han Do-yoon, who firmly denied it, soon sighed and nodded.
“Kim Ki-jeong is right. Even if you procrastinate here, nothing will change. “We will go around the apartment building as widely as possible, excluding the sinkhole, and gather information.”
“Please take care of me.”
Hong Gyeong-jun’s expression softened due to Do-yoon Han’s positive attitude.
Lee Jae-heon is gone, Jeong In-ho has a screw loose, and Ha Seong-yoon is keeping his mouth shut like a clam like when they first met. Hong Gyeong-jun had no choice but to step forward and decide the order of work, but he was equally confused.
‘…I guess he’s not already dead.’
My heart was pounding loudly with anxiety.
‘It’ll be okay, I haven’t felt any signs yet.’
When someone dies in the underworld, everyone who had even the slightest connection with that person receives different degrees of intuition. And Hong Gyeong-jun hasn’t felt that way yet. Even though Kim Yeon-woo and Lee Jae-heon were very important figures to Hong Gyeong-jun.
So the anxiety he feels now is simply because Hong Gyeong-jun is scared. That’s true when you see that your intuition, which you’ve always used well, is quiet. It’s probably just anxiety, not ominousness.
That’s it.
“….”
Hong Gyeong-jun stopped tapping his fingers and opened his mouth.
“Then we will go to the police station. “I believe everyone knows where the police station is located in the mall.”
“I remember you…”
Woo Joo-young, who glanced at the survivors, continued with a puzzled look on his face.
“…Once the matter is resolved, I will go to the police station. If there is a problem, I will smoke and contact you. “Detective Hong Gyeong-jun really knows, right?”
Hong Gyeong-jun nodded at her confirmation.
“I know. “If no one comes to the police station or smoke comes out of nowhere for three days, we will go to the police station first.”
“In the meantime, please take care of the students and my grandmother.”
Azalea raised her eyebrows when she heard the words ‘my grandmother.’
“The attachment is also good.”
“Oh, if you were displeased…”
“No.”
Azalea, who had ended the conversation with no context, looked back at the kindergarten students squirming next to her. In fact, it was attached to Lee Yun-byeol, who was in charge of the kindergarten students, but she didn’t seem to mind that and stared at the children with a simple and upright gaze.
Woo Woo-young, who was embarrassed by Azalea’s reaction, looked at her and said,
“Well then…”
“Yes.”
Hong Gyeong-jun nodded.
“See you later.”
* * *
As we moved to the police station inside the shopping mall, high school students huddled closely together.
“What is it, a penguin? “Is it real?”
“Look at these kids, they’re so fucking funny. “I need to take pictures of things like this.”
“…Oh shit! “Don’t make fun of me… you bastards…”
Seong Ji-ho started to raise his voice in response to Park Da-hoon and Park Da-young’s ridicule, but when he noticed what was going on around him, he gritted his teeth and lowered his voice. Even that sight made the Park siblings laugh, making Seong Ji-ho even more excited.
“Is it strange that this isn’t scary? Don’t you know that? “If we scatter, we die, but if we unite, we live…!”
“Here, even if we disperse, we die, even if we unite, we die.”
“Why do you say that?…”
“It’s true.”
“Ugh….”
Seong Ji-ho thought he was making fun of me again and avoided his gaze in disgust, but Park Da-young, who knew the existence of the returner, and Park Da-hoon, the person who returned, were sincere. Well, it’s not like any of them have ever died, so the Park siblings’ words that ‘no matter what you do, we’ll all die’ may be unreliable, but… ‘
It’s fun.’
‘Yeah, it’s fun.’
It was also a story I told from the beginning knowing that the other person would not believe it.
“Huh, Park Da-young….”
“Oh my god, I’m so scared. Oh, that’s right.”
“Ugh, please save me…”
Maeng Na-eun was so scared by Park Da-young’s story that she cried and clung to her. It wasn’t awkward at all since he was a friend who often touched me in class, but the atmosphere wasn’t as light as it was back then because the reason I was hugging him like I was now was because of my anxiety about survival.
Kim Hee-chan, who was on guard as he glanced around his surroundings, opened his mouth as if embarrassed.
“Monsters don’t approach because there’s a police officer, but…”
“But don’t make eye contact. “Yeonhee said there was a fight the other day because we made eye contact.”
“…Yes, that’s what makes me uneasy.”
Kim Hee-chan smiled with a resigned look.
“I hope nothing bad happens.”
It was truly a naive hope. In the other world, something bad happens just by taking a breath, so it was highly likely that Kim Hee-chan’s wish would not come true.
“….”
“Do you care about Park Da-hoon’s babies?”
“…A little….”
Park Da-hoon glanced at the kindergarten students next to Lee Yun-byeol.
Since they were the weakest and youngest children, Jeong In-ho was right next to them, guarding them as a kind of bodyguard. Park Da-hoon, who knew that Jeong In-ho was not in his right mind, could not help but feel anxious.
‘I feel a little better after talking to you, but… I don’t think I’m fine.’
Since the police station had selected only those who would receive protection, the current group was full of people with little fighting ability. Although Lee Yun-byeol had been putting in a lot of effort to gain experience recently, it could not be said to be very reliable as it had only recently started.
‘In that situation, both the doctor and the guy with the glasses were out of their minds…’
Park Da-hoon looked at the kindergarten students and Azalea without making it obvious.
“….”
“…!”
Park Da-hoon, who made eye contact with Azalea, quickly looked away.
‘…When are you going to apologize?’
Lee Jae-heon said that the apology was something that had to be made when the time was right, but he wanted to show that he was reflecting at least through his actions. Of course, it was for Park Da-hoon’s self-protection, not a true apology, but the desire to show that he was ‘sorry’ did not disappear.
But it wasn’t as easy as I thought.
“Hey, if you’re so obnoxious, you should at least talk to me.”
“…Just shut up.”
Park Da-hoon bowed his head.
“I said that because I thought I would get strange looks.”
To be honest, neither Park Da-hoon nor Park Da-young were friendly to kindergarteners or azaleas. That doesn’t mean that I harbored hostility towards the person I was in love with, but it was also true that I didn’t have a very close relationship with them.
This is because the siblings envied them for being protected by people.
‘It’s not that bad now, but I put the first button wrong.’
They say that children are sensitive to the emotions of adults, but the same was true for the Park siblings, who were not adults. Even though the kindergarten students had been together for a considerable amount of time, they rarely approached the Park siblings, who seemed friendly on the outside. Da-hoon Park and Da-young Park could feel a strange sense of distance from the children’s gaze.
Moreover, Azalea was looking right through Park Da-hoon, as if to show him what age meant. She was quite friendly towards the Park siblings, but the moment the siblings first felt both envy and shame and distanced themselves, she respected them.
“….”
So there was no way I could just say ‘I’m sorry’ now.
“…Haa….”
It is true that Jung In-ho was untrustworthy, but at least he was better than Park Da-hoon.
It was a fact that everyone could see that Jung In-ho, who went crazy on his own, was much better than Park Da-hoon, who killed innocent children and old people simply to get a new opportunity.
‘It would be better to be unemployed than a murderer.’
Even before somehow safely entering the police station, Park Da-hoon was unable to say a word to the children and the elderly. It was because of guilt and debt.
“There are a few doors that won’t open, but don’t touch them. Monsters don’t come to the police station anyway. Of course, we will be guarding the police station door just in case…”
“Should we block the entrance just in case? Oh, then if someone on the exploration team runs away, you won’t be able to receive it right away. “I’ll leave it alone for now.”
“Yes, but blocking the entrance would be a good barrier. “Let’s pile the items near the door.”
From the moment they entered the police station, the adults were busy moving around and preparing to settle down inside the police station.
“Should I leave the food here?”
“It would be nice if it were a bit cooler… but there is no place colder.”
Da-hoon Park thought as he organized food along with his school friends.
“…at least this one is better.”
I miss you uncle.
* * *
“Oh my god, I’m surprised.”
“….”
“…Will it jump?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Around that time, Lee Jae-heon and Kim Yeon-woo were running away.
From peacefully crazy monsters.
(Continued in the next part)
