Episode 488
Jeong In-ho was preparing to go to the aquarium.
“….”
“…is that Mr. Jeong In-ho?”
“Because my ears are itchy.”
“Looks like someone is swearing.”
“Iknow, right.”
Jeong In-ho’s expression became subtle. Even the popular saying, ‘When someone swears, your ears get itchy’ could actually happen, so it was hard to pass it off as a joke.
‘Then who is it… Ha Seong-yoon?’
Jeong In-ho, who had pointed out a likely suspect, soon shook off his thoughts.
“I am ready.”
Seo Jang-hwa nodded at his words.
“Okay then, let’s move.”
“Oh, I really hate it…”
Seo Jang-hwa rolled his eyes at Kim Ki-jeong’s grumbling.
“What is a grown man making fun of like this?”
Jeong In-ho saw that and thought with a warm heart.
‘Is this combination really right?’
I never thought I would miss Lee Jae-heon, Ha Seong-yoon, and Hong Gyeong-jun so much, whom I hated to see so much when they were next to me. Jeong In-ho’s unique sincere smile bloomed on his face.
Then I thought again.
‘…If anything happens, I’ll have to die or something.’
Because returning doesn’t mean you’ll be spending money.
Although I didn’t know it, it was a conclusion that was extremely similar to Lee Jae-heon.
* * *
‘There really is no protagonist so untrustworthy.’
Back again, Lee Jae-heon of the aquarium.
He grinned crookedly and muttered.
“No, in this case, it is an unreliable novel….”
This novel about survival of a 19-year-old impoverished woman was a very unkind novel to readers.
The viewpoints all originate from the main character, Jeong In-ho. Perhaps because of this, when Jeong In-ho loses his mind, the novel’s narrative also becomes insane.
Unfortunately, Jung In-ho’s mind was mostly gone in the novel, so readers had to guess the objective situation while reading.
‘So, in fact, it’s kind of cute that there’s no description of how the door to the place you were trying to escape was locked. It’s really not that big of a deal, but… every time I confirm that the main character’s narrative is not trustworthy, I become less sure if I’m doing a good job.’
Jaeheon Lee rubbed his chin as if covering his mouth.
The most important thing when carrying out a mission is preliminary research and its accuracy, but the information I had was so uncertain. It was a very harsh situation for Lee Jae-heon, who does not like hastily prepared situations.
Then, suddenly, Jaeheon Lee’s hand that was fiddling with his chin stiffened.
“….”
…That’s right, I hated hastily prepared situations.
‘…But seeing as how he has managed to live well with this side script, there must have been a big difference in Lee Jae-heon’s personality from his past life or prototype. My tastes change, my personality changes, and what the fuck is left? ‘I feel sad.’
And then I immediately forgot about that disappointment. I didn’t have the confidence to even feel sad in a place where suicidal impulses occurred just by taking a breath. Jaeheon Lee was a wise consumer who knew how to consume himself efficiently.
His eyes landed on the six neatly collected keys.
“It looks needlessly archaic.”
It was a key made of water with a different texture than the keys I had seen in the other world. It’s a key with a fancy clover-shaped pattern on the handle.
Lee Jae-heon picked up a key that glowed softly white like the water in a water tank. The light was so dim that I had to see and touch it up close to recognize that it was water. As if it were made of metal, the cool reflected light and the degree of corrosion made it look like a silver key.
“…If it’s this hard, it won’t go soft even if it goes into a keyhole.”
I was a little worried that it might not work as a key due to the extremely soft material called water, but as expected, the key was solid. To be honest, it was difficult to understand from common sense that water was in a solid state, not even frozen.
The keys could be ordered according to the degree of corrosion. One of them was accidentally blown by Jae-heon Lee, so a total of six keys remain, so Jae-heon Lee has more work to do.
“….”
Jaeheon Lee headed to the pool in the first room again.
By the time he got the key to the red file, his mind and body were already in tatters.
“I’m going to die like this.”
“How about I do it instead?”
Jung Eun-woo’s question came back to his side as he rescued the red ball, lured the red file, and cleaned it in the kitchen.
I know that I am not the type to recommend something, but it seemed to Jung Eun-woo that Lee Jae-heon’s condition was quite serious. I see you keep asking the same question.
Jaeheon Lee smiled brightly and answered.
“I really want to make you do everything, but I can’t. It can’t be possible. Mr. Eunwoo Jeong, please keep his power as intact as possible. Try not to think about anything negative and just clear your head. “I will give the orders myself.”
“thank you.”
“I said thank you so quickly, but now I’m getting grumpy again?”
Jeong Eun-woo was the last bastion and last conscience of Lee Jae-heon’s personality. Now that the prototype’s personality was getting stronger in real time, I couldn’t tell when I would go crazy.
‘The reason I hate damp places is because poisonous snakes are worse than Lee Jae-heon.’
The trauma was so strong that the poisonous snake felt uncomfortable even getting its clothes wet. For reasons of pride or respect, I let people around me know that I just disliked it, but it did not change the fact that it was essentially a trauma. It was not something that could be overcome or shaken off with willpower.
Lee Jae-heon prayed that Jung Eun-woo would make a wise decision when he lost his mind. No matter how much you like to follow orders, you will have to make the minimum amount of judgment in order to follow the instructions to ‘help and protect students as much as possible.’
‘Even that screw-up Jeong Eun-woo must have that level of mentality.’
The more I looked at it, the more strangely it was a person who resembled my nephew. No, if you ask me, Jung In-ho resembles his uncle, but anyway.
“Now, Jeong Eun-woo.”
“yes.”
“Here are seven keys.”
“…I just need to find a door that fits the keyhole?”
“Don’t even open the door just because the keyhole is right. All you have to do is check which key can open which door. We’ll have to check the inside together. “I don’t have enough confidence in our Jeong Eun-woo to even entrust an internal check.”
“understand.”
If you could number the level of corrosion, number 1 would be the cleanest key, the one from the red file. The purple file, which is the most corroded key, can be called number 7. I decided that such a simple task would not cause any harm to Jeong Eun-woo, so I entrusted it to him.
Meanwhile, Jaeheon Lee found another room.
“I said this is the room where the monster is…”
Among the six rooms that were not locked with a key, rooms 4 to 6 were said to have monsters visible as soon as the door was opened. While Jeong Eun-woo went to check rooms 7 to 12, Lee Jae-heon tried to check the unlocked monsters’ rooms.
Then the first room number 4. Lee Jae-heon opened the door and blinked.
“…Fish market?”
Wow, what a crazy structure!
‘…Honey, your tastes are really strange. know…?’
Still, the mirror lake in the park and the glass-themed props nearby were really pretty and nice to look at, but the further you leave the park, the more bizarre things become.
I don’t know whether the author created this world one by one or whether it was a concrete form of vague thoughts, but it was still a strange taste.
‘Anyway, what’s the fish market in the aquarium? What’s going on with all this fishy stuff?…’
Lee Jae-heon couldn’t help but lament.
“…It looks like a fish market after all.”
Even though I looked again five times, it was still a fish market.
A long alley with small shops lined up on both sides.
Mannequins wearing shiny aprons stood guard in front of the fish that anyone could tell were from the underworld. The reason why they said they were ‘standing guard’ seemed to be because the fish they were selling was too bulky.
“I might be able to walk away on my own.”
What did they say about that? Blob fish? The strange slimy skin was a light pink color that wasn’t cute at all, and its limp appearance resembled a liquid monster. The combination of two small, button-hole-sized eyes, a large, bulging nose, and thick lips looked strangely human, forming an uncanny valley.
‘…Oh, now that I see it, the eyes don’t really have eyeballs, they’re just holes. It was a real button hole.’
The wide-open eyes, devoid of anything that should be there, gave off a strange feeling of nausea.
It was so large that one head stuck out more than a mannequin imitating an adult woman.
It even had strong legs, like a tadpole with only its hind legs. Only its fins were fluttering where its arms should have been, but it looked so healthy that the iron cage that imprisoned it put to shame.
‘I guess this must be a secret world because the word ‘healthy’ comes to mind even when I see that strange face. I’m glad I don’t have to show this shit to Jeong Eun-woo.’
The fish market is so crowded that it is frustrating to see in a dark and damp alley. A feast of unidentified strange creatures listed in between and the internal organs that seem to have been cleaned and discarded.
The foul, fishy smell mixed with the smell of old blood hindered breathing, and the noisy atmosphere of the mannequins irritated my brain.
I couldn’t show my precious subordinates this fish market, which was mind-boggling just to look at it.
“Huh…”
After lamenting once more, Lee Jae-heon closed the door to room number 4.
When I was about to open the door to room 5, I saw Eunwoo Jeong approaching. Lee Jae-heon postponed checking room 5 and walked there to listen to Jeong Eun-woo’s report. Eunwoo Jeong was carefully holding seven keys.
“I confirmed it, Manager.”
“Please speak.”
“No doors were open.”
“…?”
A question struck his brain, but Lee Jae-heon quickly took control and asked a question.
“…are you saying that nothing from keys 1 to 7 worked?”
“I tried all the keys from room 7 to room 12, but it wouldn’t open.”
“Nothing is going to work.”
“Maybe?”
“Life is like this.”
Jaeheon Lee clicked his tongue and shook his head.
In the midst of my headache and confusion, I got the wrong answer about the use of the key, which gave me a headache, but if it doesn’t open, it doesn’t open. They had to do what they could.
I walked forward a little to listen to Jeong Eun-woo’s story, and Lee Jae-heon was in front of room number 6. Since he needed to check this place anyway, Jaeheon Lee opened the door in front of him rather than going to room 5.
“Oh, don’t look in. “Just looking at it makes me feel sick.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Where…”
That’s how we confirmed room 6.
“…oh.”
They looked better than the fish market.
“Long table… Is this a banquet hall?”
Unlike room 4, which was narrow and long, room 6 was decorated like a banquet hall for a wealthy person. In contrast to the dark fish market, the atmosphere was brilliantly sparkling with gold.
A total of six people are sitting at the long table in the center of the large room.
“….”
They were all women and had fish tails.
I connected my stuttering thoughts and reminded myself of the words that would define them.
“…Are you a mermaid?”
It seemed to be the same species as the monsters in the aquarium.
Like the weak fish that die as soon as they come out of the water, they were looking at the table in a small tank with wheels.
The tank, which looked like a huge, unsophisticated stroller, had a transparent front so the mermaids could look outside.
Unfortunately, the table they were staring at was empty. Except for the white, round plates placed one by one in front of me.
“Huh.”
It was a sight that never ceased to be lamented.
“Hold here too.”
Jaeheon Lee closed the door to room 6 to block out excessive stimulation.
In addition to the sparkling atmosphere of the banquet hall, I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted to go inside and offer myself up, perhaps because of the mermaid’s unique ability to charm. He feels paternal love, wanting to feed the poor, hungry mermaids with his own body.
It was astounding. Jaeheon Lee had no intention of putting his already weak body on the table. There was no paternal love for monsters without eyes or noses.
‘…Then where on earth is the computer room that the main character saw?’
Of the rooms that Jae-Heon Lee and Eun-Woo Jung can enter, the only room left is room number 5. If you couldn’t check the monitor there, it would have been in rooms 7 through 12. And for some reason, the two couldn’t enter the room.
“Now I have to check room 5.”
“Can I wait outside the door again this time?”
“Yes ah no. Please check if any of the seven keys can open the souvenir shop door. Please come back as soon as you confirm.”
“All right.”
Lee Jae-heon, who had sent Jeong Eun-woo to the souvenir shop, soon stood in front of room number 5.
“I wish there was proper information here…”
I muttered and opened the door.
“….”
“….”
Inside the open door.
“…ah.”
“…kkek kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk…”
“Oops.”
I saw water.
“I can’t.”
I saw blood.
You can see the bottom of the water soaked in blood. Moist air sticks.
I see a chair. I see a small light. There are no windows in a dark room. The chair had a chain attached to it. There is a lump of flesh sitting on the chair. It is speaking. No, I’m not saying that, I’m not saying that. Is it moaning? Is it laughter? Are you human? Is it a monster?
A lump of meat. A skeleton with speckled flesh. Like spilling intestines or something like that. It looks like an unidentifiable lump of flesh that is tied to a chair submerged in water and falling out.
There is meat and knives here. This is the kitchen. This is….
“I can’t do this….”
Is this a torture chamber?
A lament escaped from between the empty smiling lips.
“What do we do.”
What should we do with our poor chicks?
I heard the sound of a piece of my mind being crushed.
(Continued in the next part)
