Episode 481
『I will call this [1 o’clock].
Among the 12 rooms that exist to successfully complete the performance, the room at 1 o’clock is centered around the aquarium. It is one of six rooms that can be opened and entered without meeting any conditions.
[1 o’clock] takes the shape of a pool. It is filled with balls of a total of 7 colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy blue and purple. For some reason, it doesn’t overflow outside the door. The thin plastic ball is very slippery and has strong elasticity, so if you step on it, you will inevitably fall.
Although it is in the form of a ball pit, the balls gathered together take on the characteristics of water. If you hold it in your hand, it does not have the characteristics of water.
Anyone who falls here will fall from head to toe, and in the pitch black water you will see your beloved child. Be careful not to go crazy and drown in love.
But don’t be afraid of being submerged in water. Just be afraid of deception. Even if your beloved child calls you, be afraid. And catch 7 different colored balls in the pitch black water. As long as you don’t lose your attention to your child, you will definitely be able to find it.
Let’s remember. Let’s remember. You have to run away. Let’s go live and see the real child.
I want to see you』
-Survivor’s Record 1-
* * *
“Chief.”
once.
“Boss.”
twice.
“…Boss.”
third time.
“…Puh-ha…!”
“You came out.”
When Jeong Eun-woo, who couldn’t wait, called Jae-heon Lee three times, he jumped out from among the numerous balls. Lee Jae-heon, drenched in black, murky water, took a few breaths and threw what he was holding at Jeong Eun-woo.
Eunwoo Jeong easily caught the green ball.
“This is the last one. Thank you for your effort.”
“The other side of the world….”
“You are correct. Aren’t you cold? “Would you like me to give you a coat?”
“It’s done. “Jeong Eun-woo, please take care of your clothes.”
Lee Jae-heon came out of the pool, hitting the ball with his hand. He was immersed in the thick, thick water like ink, and his entire body was stained black.
Lee Jae-heon, who had completely left the room, squeezed the moisture out of his clothes with his hands. However, for some reason, the water droplets that fell on the floor were not black but transparent.
“It seems like the water itself lowers mental power…”
“Shall I check?”
“It’s not like you can fall into the water just by putting your hand in, and from the beginning, didn’t we ask Eunwoo Jeong to remain intact? “I think you just forgot. Don’t think about doing anything stupid.”
“….”
“…What are you thinking about now?”
When Lee Jae-heon asked about Jung Eun-woo giving him a strange look, he answered as if he had been waiting.
“You seem to have a talent for portraying your own sacrifice as a villain’s threat.”
“It seems like Jeong Eun-woo has passed on to his nephew the talent of putting people down. “The difference between speaking even if you don’t give permission or speaking only when you give permission is to say that your model is exactly the same, right?”
“Inho has very good learning ability.”
“aha. “You bullied me like that because you have a good learning ability, Assistant Manager Jeong.”
Jaeheon Lee raised the corners of his mouth. It was a deep smile, like a snake flicking its tongue with its prey in front of its eyes. It seemed like he was both angry and happy.
Jeong Eun-woo looked at Lee Jae-heon again with a strange gaze.
“….”
“Why are you looking at me like that because you want to say something else?”
“I understand that if you were tormented, you were bullied and not the kind of person who should be bullied.”
“How weak of a person am I to be slandering me like this?”
“Haha yeah.”
“Smile?”
Even when Lee Jae-heon noticed, Jeong Eun-woo silently did not erase his eye smile. This was because the other person knew that Lee Jae-heon was not really angry.
Lee Jae-heon licked the black water around his mouth with his tongue and muttered as if steam had escaped.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s a color that smells like herbal medicine, but it’s unusual because it’s sweet.”
“I think it’s a single unit because it’s the kids’ room.”
“Oh, is that the principle?”
“This floor is all like that.”
It was not a world run by plausible logic or laws.
“….”
Lee Jae-heon slowly blinked and looked at the water tank.
The mermaids were still staring at us humans.
They don’t have eyes. How absurd it is to feel like you are being watched even when you are not there. In Lee Jae-heon’s field of vision, he saw the water in the tank shining so white that his pupils became smaller.
I think I’ll feel a little more comfortable if I sleep in there.
“…Do you have any instructions, Manager?”
…It’s so hard to get comfortable.
“Let’s move on to the next room.”
“Are you okay?”
“of course.”
Jung Eun-woo probably didn’t ask this question because he really thought Jae-heon Lee would be okay. Yes, that’s right. It’s okay, go to sleep, and I had to find out the right information before I lose my mental strength anymore. That way, when you return, you won’t waste any effort and will be able to plan the most efficient attack route.
The reason Lee Jae-heon was so obsessed with information was, of course, for strategy.
‘Whether you stick to plan A or switch to plan B depends on finding the right information.’
If possible, I wanted to successfully attack Lee Jae-heon alone. That’s why I was the only one sitting in this concert hall where the final boss was, and I was looking around the theater to see if there was a different method than the original. In this way, Lee Jae-heon’s idea to solve everything with just one person was Plan A.
But what if Lee Jae-heon’s own manpower is absolutely impossible to attack? The plan B I had prepared for that time was to attract other survivors, not just me.
‘If possible… the Park siblings.’
And luckily, the siblings were here at the aquarium together.
If it is true that Jaeheon Lee remembers the original work correctly, and unless the author tampered with his brain, they were the right people for this strategy.
‘If the Park siblings awaken properly like they did in the original work, it will be much easier to attack that water tank.’
The survivors seem to have concluded that the Park siblings’ abilities were some kind of psychic communication, but this was not the case. In the original work, they displayed their abilities in an additional form. From what Jaeheon Lee saw, it was just manifesting itself… Even
after looking at all these aquariums, if he couldn’t solve it on his own, he planned to use the Park siblings.
“Did you hold the ball well?”
“Yes, I don’t think they are friends who are running away and running away. “They were safe in my arms.”
“I’ll tell you in advance, in this world, you can run even if you don’t have feet, or you can run away if you have feet. I hope you don’t let your guard down and get caught in the back. “It will be good for my mind and body.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Then I’m worried about how to take care of these colorful friends…”
Eunwoo Jeong looked at the seven balls he was somehow holding in his arms and lightly poked them with the kitchen knife that Jaeheon Lee was holding.
Jeong Eun-woo’s pose while holding the ball made it look like Lee Jae-heon was threatening him with a knife, but no one took issue with it.
Lee Jae-heon put away his sword and opened his mouth.
“Let’s go to the kitchen first. “It’s number 2 in the order, and I’m also curious about what’s inside this colorful plastic ball.”
“….”
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to cut it here, but… once I stepped on it, the elasticity was really no joke. “It would be a good idea to cut it properly on a cutting board.”
“….”
Lee Jae-heon quirked his lips at Jeong Eun-woo’s bored gaze. It was a nervous smile.
“…From now on, if you have something to say, don’t ask for permission and just say it. “That gaze is strangely annoying.”
“It’s a ball that’s light and doesn’t seem to have anything inside, but are you opening it to see what’s inside?”
“In this world, the common sense we have is of no use, Jeong Eun-woo. This is a world where, if the conditions are right, you can survive even if your heart is ripped out, and you can walk on two feet even if your legs are cut off. “There are knives and a kitchen, so there’s nothing you can’t do to check out what’s inside.”
“I see.”
This time, only Lee Jae-heon entered the room. Lee Jae-heon, who had received all the colorful balls, asked Eun-woo Jeong, who was holding the door handle outside.
“Do you think you won’t be able to come in again this time?”
Jeong Eun-woo slightly extended his hand into the room and nodded shortly afterwards.
“Yes that’s right. “I feel more rejected than before.”
“…As things progress, the degree to which the room rejects people may become more severe. “Okay, I would appreciate it if you could continue to stay outside like before.”
“I will.”
The kitchen was narrower than the pool just before.
There was a faint, strange fishy smell and the smell of rotten intestines, and the white-tiled floor was clean, except for a shallow layer of red water that looked like blood smeared. Inside the metal kitchen table sink was a small amount of unidentifiable flesh.
Jaeheon Lee looked at the white kitchen table and cutting board and placed a red ball on it. Then, I gently sliced it with a knife, like slicing a carrot.
“…Hmm….”
Perhaps because the elasticity was so strong, the blade did not go in well.
Lee Jae-heon stopped cutting like a saw and held the knife upside down. Without any further measurement, just stab the ball and insert the blade inside…
Bang!!
“…ah.”
The ball exploded.
Bursting out bright red juice.
“….”
When I licked the slimy substance on my lips, it was as sweet as black water.
“I don’t think it’s blood.”
“okay.”
“Seeing as there is nothing inside and even the shell of the ball is gone, this is a failure by anyone’s standards. “Do you think this means that this is not how you use your balls?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“But I’m curious.”
Jaeheon Lee put the remaining balls on the cutting board and popped them one by one.
Bang bang bang!!
The elastic balls disappeared in an instant, as if a balloon had been stabbed by a sharp object and burst. Instead, juice with no scent stained the cutting board and Lee Jae-heon.
They were all red.
“I thought the green ball would have green juice.”
“Regardless of the color, they are all red. “It looks like blood that has just burst out.”
“The viscosity and color are the same, but… it’s also sweet.”
Jaeheon Lee saw the floor covered in fake or real blood.
The white-tiled kitchen floor was filled with calm, red-tinged water, and the juice that flowed from the ball Jae-heon Lee had exploded was naturally mixed as if it had been there in the first place.
Lee Jae-heon, who was staring at it, blinked as if shaking something off.
‘…I feel…’
Perhaps it was because the nature of the aquarium did not suit Lee Jae-heon well, but even such an insignificant scene made my brain hurt. He breathed quietly as he felt his composure shaking.
When I opened my eyes, ‘Lee Jae-heon’ was still ‘Lee Jae-heon.’
“I’ll have to get a new ball.”
“yes.”
“I don’t think this was the way to go. Maybe the room was wrong to begin with. “There is nothing in this kitchen except knives, so this method failed… If I get a new ball, I’d better go to the third room first.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The time it took Jaeheon Lee to get a new ball was a little longer than when he first went to get the ball.
“Are you okay?”
Jung Eun-woo, who asked curiously, seemed secretly curious about what Jae-heon Lee saw and heard while he was in the water.
Lee Jae-heon laughed while looking at that. Was it a little dry? In any case, Eun-woo Jeong would forget all the conversations he had with him after his return, but Jae-heon Lee somehow wanted to resolve his doubts.
“I guess I told you to ask if you have any questions?”
“What’s under all those balls?”
“Pitch black water. “It’s sweet and cloudy, but it’s clear before your eyes.”
It could have ended there, but Jaeheon Lee insisted on giving the correct answer.
“I saw a dead person.”
“…Was it a good relationship?”
“It was good, but it ended up being a bad relationship.”
“Did the manager kill that good but bad relationship? “Are you as tired as you are now because you saw the person you killed down there?”
“I killed a lot of people.”
Jaeheon Lee continued.
“But I couldn’t kill as many children as I did.”
“Then who killed it?”
“Well, didn’t someone else kill him instead of me? Maybe he’s still alive.”
“….”
Jeong Eun-woo asked after some thought.
“Can I ask about your past, Manager?”
“…You seem to be curious as to why I was so good at killing people on the boat that day and why I don’t dwell on killing and dying. How long have I known about this world and how much does that have to do with me going crazy like this?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I will let you know.”
Jaeheon Lee added with a smile.
“Not now.”
No matter how hard Lee Jae-heon tells it, Jung Eun-woo will forget it when he dies.
That’s so inefficient.
(Continued in the next part)
