Episode 396:
The original purpose was to ‘use Lee Jae-heon as bait to lead the art teacher to the swimming pool.’
It was a crude and simple plan, but no one disputed that it was a clear and effective plan. At least the returnees and those who received information from him knew how much the art teacher coveted Lee Jae-heon.
The reason for the failure of so many regressions was that the clever art teacher did not follow them to the swimming pool. Unless there was something that could cloud the brainy guy’s reason, it would have been difficult, and Lee Jae-heon was the perfect bait for that. Everyone knew it.
Still, I just didn’t want to use Lee Jae-heon as bait.
“Please… there must be another way.”
I know that I can return if I become the last survivor, but from the perspective of Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, who is in charge of Song In-myeong, I always had no choice but to die in the beginning. Therefore, for Hong Kyung-Jun, the present was always the present. Even though I knew it was possible to return, I didn’t want to see Lee Jae-heon die.
Of course, he now acknowledged that Lee Jae-heon had no choice but to be used as bait, but that was only if the plan went well.
“The place we are now is the bathroom in Building B. If it had been the bathroom in Building A, if Lee Jae-heon were to act as bait from here on out, he would have died before even reaching the swimming pool. No, maybe you will be taken away.”
“But if we stay here, won’t we all just die?”
“…In the end, Jaeheon Lee’s goal is not to kill the monster, but to capture it for us. “The purpose is not to move according to a previously made plan, but to sacrifice for us.”
The reason I was convinced when Lee Jae-heon said he would become bait was because I knew he would survive in the end. If the plan was successful, they would be able to return to reality, and even if it failed, they would return. In the process, Jaeheon Lee moved to survive, whatever the outcome.
Unlike now, where people want to become bait for the purpose of sacrifice in order to die.
“Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, look at the reality.”
“I’m watching.”
“So what do you see now? “Do you see the monster bastard hanging around in front of the door holding a saw?”
“I can see… well.”
“Do you also know that I’m the only one who won’t die if I go outside right now?”
“I also know very well that death cannot be the worst thing.”
Young people think there is no worse world than death, but that is not true. There are many cases where life leads to deeper abyss and greater pain. For Hong Gyeong-jun, death was just one of the options. On the contrary, there were many more lives in this world that were made easier by death.
It was difficult to hear Jaeheon Lee say that he would endure pain worse than death.
“…Detective Hong Gyeong-jun.”
Detective Hong Gyeong-jun.
It’s a languid and heavy voice.
“Didn’t I tell you I wouldn’t die?”
“….”
“I won’t die.”
My mind is clouded by déjà vu.
“…But…”
“But, now is not the time for an adult like you, a detective, to act foolishly as he knows everything. “Don’t be pushy unless you have a better option to offer.”
A better option? Of course there was.
If everyone here dies, Lee Jae-heon can start anew without having to suffer. Hong Gyeong-jun can get a new opportunity without seeing Lee Jae-heon’s blood. Just for the next time, if I leave the information that ‘the art teacher’s obsession with Lee Jae-heon was beyond imagination’…
if I leave
“….” .
“…Ha….”
In order to leave behind, someone had to survive until the end.
“I guess I’ll have to hold out until at least the third floor.”
This fact had to be reported to Jeong In-ho, who could return without becoming the last survivor. Or, they had to inform someone on the second or first floor who was likely to be the last survivor.
Being the last survivor was quite difficult as there was a standby team outside the school. Even though I survived school, I had to leave school safely and join the remaining waiting group outside, and I had to be the last one to survive.
‘Since the point of return is right after entering Unhak High School, it is not a wise choice to leave information to someone else while on standby. If we let Ha Seong-yoon know, there is a possibility, but he might act according to our intentions…’
The best of all was to leave information to Jeong In-ho. Lee Jae-heon was effective as a bait, but he made a mistake because he was better than expected. In the next episode, Lee Jae-heon will have to be placed in building A or in front of the swimming pool and have him act as bait from there.
“….”
“….”
Only then could I succeed next time.
“Are you able to organize your thoughts?”
“…unfortunately.”
I sighed.
The art teacher wanted Lee Jae-heon, and the clever thing said that he was good at getting what he wanted by using survivors as hostages. Even if we were lucky and Jae-heon Lee escaped, he would be dragged in by using me or Vivian as hostages. He said he died that way several times in the past.
“It’s really absurd and disgusting that I have to ask you for something like this, but…”
“Looking at the way you attack me so recklessly, I think if you’re good, you’ll be able to catch your guard and run away. “I don’t think we’ll kill him right away, so let’s try to keep him alive as much as possible.”
“Is that so. “That’s right…”
Hong Gyeong-jun muttered.
“It’s terrible.”
In-ho Jeong’s opinion probably wasn’t much different.
* * *
Five minutes later.
Jaeheon Lee left the bathroom.
* * *
“…You jumped out again.”
A classroom without school rules on the 3rd floor.
In-ho Jeong, who heard the story of the 4th floor from Vivian, let out a helpless sigh as if he was dumbfounded.
“Can’t you stand it again…?”
The ambiguous expression, neither smiling nor not smiling, contained disillusionment. He had a face that was so sick that he was ready to die.
Vivian made up an excuse without realizing it.
“That person over there is alive….”
“It’s so funny to hear that as a lie.”
“Um….”
“Where are Hong Gyeong-jun and Song In-myeong?”
Vivian, wearing the back of her neck, answered.
“It’s in the bathroom of Building A on the 4th floor. “They said they were checking to see if the pool was full.”
“okay.”
Hong Gyeong-jun is the type of person who does not believe anything unless he sees it with his own eyes, so he always went to check for himself, even when the returnees said that the swimming pool would have been filled with water in about 30 times. Even in this situation where Lee Jae-heon was on the verge of death, his temper seemed to remain the same.
“….”
Jeong In-ho took off his glasses for a moment and pressed the area between his eyes.
“…The manager will be in the art room on the 4th floor.”
“…yes.”
“It’s obvious. “As soon as I saw the art teacher, I would have turned around and pretended to be bait.”
Jeong In-ho naturally thought that Lee Jae-heon had lost his temper and attacked the art teacher. In all previous episodes, when other survivors encountered monsters that were difficult to handle, they stepped forward in that way. There was no way that personality would go anywhere just because I had a few honest conversations with Jung In-ho.
But surprisingly, Vivian denied Jeong In-ho’s lament.
“yes…? no. “I didn’t blindly attract the art teacher’s attention like that.”
Jeong In-ho blinked slowly at Vivian’s firm denial.
I don’t know when I started feeling unfair because I was so close to Lee Jae-heon, but there was something that bothered me more than that.
“…No?”
“The decision was made after a thorough conversation with me and the detective, and it wasn’t so irrational as to say my eyes were rolling. In fact, if Jaeheon Lee hadn’t caught the art teacher’s attention, it would have been difficult for me to come down to the third floor. It is true that that was the only way.”
“….”
You didn’t lose your temper even though you faced the art teacher head-on?
‘…Even when I hid it somewhere else or was pushed back, I always acted recklessly, so why now? Does it make sense that even though he encountered a monster, he was rational, unlike in previous episodes?’
Around that time, I also had this thought.
‘Rather, when you demonstrate a sacrificial spirit, you suffer less mental damage…?’
Vivian herself seemed more aggrieved and tried to clear Jae-heon Lee’s name, so I could tell that Jae-heon Lee approached this matter with a fairly sane attitude. But if Vivian’s words are true, then what is the meaning of the returnees protecting Lee Jae-heon so far?
And if sacrificing one’s sanity on behalf of others is really the way to go, is that really true for a human being?
“…understand.”
My head was pounding with despair and relief.
When I talked to Jaeheon Lee on the first floor, I felt like he was from a completely different world. I felt at a loss and felt a sense of disconnect, as if people from two different cultures were having a conversation that made it difficult to understand each other. The emotions from that time rose again.
“Since he has such mental strength, if we go up to the fourth floor to look for him now… he might still be alive. “You can run even if your limbs are broken, so you probably aren’t dead already.”
“Jaeheon Lee came down as soon as he was caught by the art teacher. “It hasn’t been that long, so if you go now, you might be able to save your life.”
“Yes, that would be very likely.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘I can’t win.’
Jeong In-ho admitted that he had been misled and returned several times. Lee Jae-heon’s death caught his eye and he admitted that he had left the easy path and taken the long way back.
Indeed, the meaning of Lee Jae-heon’s existence and the value of his soul lay in sacrifice. It’s bullshit, but that’s the objective truth I see. This was even more evident when comparing each episode through regression. What I mean is, look at how someone who was easily broken when protected and protected becomes stronger when they are explicitly used as bait.
I couldn’t help but find it funny.
‘Who the hell is the bastard in this case?’
Jung In-ho, who continued to protect Lee Jae-heon, which he could not accept, and inflicted a psychological blow on him? Lee Jae-heon, who denounced the sincere concerns of other survivors as his essence? A past relationship that made him that way?
ah.
“…Mr. Yoon Garam.”
I really don’t know.
“yes yes.”
“Can you come up with me? “I need to find the manager.”
“I’m ready.”
“great. Vivian, please come with us.”
Garam Yoon was holding a baseball bat, and Inho Jeong was holding a metal club. After urging Woo Joo-young and Park Da-hoon, who had to remain on the third floor to receive those who would come down, to be careful, In-ho Jeong left the classroom without any school rules.
Park Da-hoon caught him with a sudden remark.
“this time.”
“…this time?”
“….”
What did you want to say?
After licking his lips a few times, Park Da-hoon shrugged his shoulders.
“Have a nice trip.”
I don’t think that’s what he wanted to say, but Jeong In-ho nodded instead of refuting. No matter what Park Da-hoon was trying to say, it was probably related to Lee Jae-heon or his return, so there was no need to listen.
He laughed as usual.
“I’ll have a nice trip.”
I wanted Lee Jae-heon to live, but I realized that was just my greed.
He was a man who could not die. So it wasn’t strange if he died at any time, but he still survived. Although others didn’t know, Lee Jae-heon did his best in everything he did.
“I’m sure you’ll be okay, uncle?”
“He will be alive.”
So Jaeheon Lee may still be alive.
“Surprisingly… because he is a very persistent person.”
It’s like when I thought he was already dead and didn’t even mourn, at least he came back alive.
(Continued in the next part)
