Episode 502:
When Jeong In-ho came to his senses.
“Mr. Inho?”
“….”
“…Appointment In-ho Jeong…?”
The first thing he saw was Team Leader Woo Soo-young looking at me with worried eyes.
No, it might not have been worry, but caution.
“Oh yeah. “Did you call me?”
Inho Jeong drew a familiar smile on his face.
He used it often in his social life, and even Woo Joo-young, who knew it was only half an act, couldn’t help but feel reassured.
Woo Woo-young, with a subtle expression on his face, nodded, as if he wanted to believe it for once, even though it felt uncomfortable.
“I didn’t call you because there was anything special going on. “I was a little scared by your expression earlier.”
“What kind of expression do I have…?”
“No, it’s okay if there’s no problem. “I wondered where it hurt.”
Woo Woo-young, who waved his hand, immediately left his seat and joined the group who were in the midst of building a fence in front of the pavilion. After checking this, Jeong In-ho immediately saw the wooden spear and hatchet in his hands.
Judging from the blunt end of the spear, it looks like they were making weapons.
“….”
Jeong In-ho, who was blankly reflecting on the situation, burst into laughter.
“…haha.”
Song In-myeong, you garbage bastard who will be eaten in food waste.
“It’s annoying.”
When he died and came to his senses, the origin made the back of Jeong In-ho’s neck warm.
‘I didn’t know that bastard knew about regression.’
Of course, I thought that I might find out someday, but I was really only thinking about it. When Song In-myeong found out about the regression and tried to kill them all, it was more annoying, disillusioning, and embarrassing than we could imagine.
Yes. Jeong In-ho just died from Song In-myeong and was sent back to life.
“Phew…”
Seeing Jeong In-ho sighing, Kang Min-ah, who was also making wooden spears, approached and asked.
“Hey, did you just happen to…?”
“That’s it.”
“Ah… How about this time?”
Seeing Kang Min-ah calmly expressing her sorrow even after hearing the news that all the survivors had been killed, Jeong In-ho felt ashamed that Lee Jae-heon had ruined people. I wasn’t this kind of person originally.
In-ho Jeong answered after confirming that there was no one around him listening to the story.
“This time, I didn’t die from a trap or monster from the other world.”
“then…?”
“I think Song In-myeong killed us all.”
“….”
Kang Min-ah’s face froze in shock, and Jeong In-ho continued.
“I was almost at the aquarium when I encountered it and it was killed. It seemed like it knew about regression. “I think I knew, at least vaguely, that the last survivor would return.”
Thinking back on how they didn’t know completely, but attacked with the attitude of ‘I honestly don’t know what to do, but I won’t lose anything by trying it out, so I’ll commit it first’, it was clear that either Park Da-young or Park Da-hoon had made an appearance.
“Dayoung and Dahoon are not friends who reveal their true feelings that well, but it must have been the situation. It must have been difficult to maintain composure when you had two children to take care of and a murderer next to you. “It would have been difficult to completely hide the fact of a return so close to death.”
“Ah…”
“Song In-myeong said there are no more survivors left in the aquarium. I don’t know if that’s true or how it came out, but… he was the first one who ran into us after escaping from the aquarium. Even though I was dead at that time and don’t know what happened next… I think they probably went to the park and killed the remaining survivors.”
Jeong In-ho continued speaking in a calm tone, recalling the situation at the time.
“He killed student Janghwa and me, and it felt like he deliberately didn’t touch Kim Ki-jeong first. “He was the most difficult person to rebel against Song In-myeong, so he must have caught him and stolen the information somehow.”
Since Jeong In-ho died after Seo Jang-hwa, it was unknown how Song In-myeong found the survivors in the park.
Kim Ki-jeong, who was terrified, may have sold the survivors to escape from Song In-myeong, or he may have been tortured and had no choice but to speak out, or he may have visited the park because he expected that there would be many survivors there since long ago.
Kang Min-ah, who heard Jeong In-ho’s words, asked in her characteristic quiet voice.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, it’s okay.”
“Like Team Leader Woo said, I thought your expression was very bad earlier.”
“Can you tell me what kind of expression I had?”
“He had a face like In-ho’s when we first came to the secret world.”
“Hmm…”
Jeong In-ho, who was thinking deeply, smiled slightly.
“I don’t remember exactly what kind of face it was.”
“I was scared.”
“When you say that, I can almost guess what kind of expression you were making.”
Dark sunken eyes and a pure white face. That was the face Jung In-ho had had since he was very young. His parents were very afraid, thinking that his face was that of a monster.
That must have been scary. At that time, Jeong In-ho was wondering how he could kill his parents even with a small and weak body like me.
A person who was born without emotions would cause basic discomfort, but with murderous intent added to it, it would have been inevitable to be reluctant.
“….”
Jeong In-ho, who blinked for a moment, asked Kang Min-ah.
“…Did I look like that when we first came to the other side of the world?”
“… To be exact, when I see the manager… mainly…?”
“Oh, I see. “This is so embarrassing.”
Maybe he wanted to kill Lee Jae-heon back then too.
In the beginning, I was wary that I couldn’t figure out his identity, and later I was frustrated that I would feel less upset if I killed that bastard.
“Anyway, if Team Leader Woo and Director Kang say that, then it would be correct. “I felt like I had been stabbed in the back unexpectedly…”
In any case, it felt bad to see and imagine the people I thought were my colleagues dying. This was especially true if the person who killed them was Song In-myeong.
Jeong In-ho swallowed that pitch-black emotion deep in his throat.
“…just…”
I felt a little sick.
“The current situation… So, is it when Kim Ki-jeong or Han Do-yoon haven’t arrived yet?”
When I changed the topic, Kang Min-ah looked at me for a moment and nodded.
“Yes, I believe he is still at Eonhak High School with Detective Hong Gyeong-jun.”
“It’s completely back to the beginning. “I’m really going crazy…”
“Is there anything I can do to help you?”
“Well, I haven’t completely organized my thoughts yet.”
I couldn’t think clearly, to the point where it felt like my brain was filled with small stones or sand. Jeong In-ho, who was struggling to turn his head, soon opened his mouth.
“If I get a call from Hong Gyeong-jun… I will also contact Ha Seong-yoon and gather information about each person’s situation. Even though I and teacher Ha Seong-yoon are not the final survivors, we can remember the previous episodes. “The right order would be to understand the situation and devise countermeasures.”
“Then the final survivor is…”
I looked around at the survivors gathered in the pavilion just in case, but there was no one showing abnormal symptoms typical of returnees. First of all, it meant that there was no final survivor here.
Inho Jeong answered.
“The last thing I heard from Teacher Ha Seong-yoon was that he was coming to the park with Mr. Munsan and Grandma Azalea.”
“is it so…?”
“yes. So, if Song In-myeong had arrived while he was at the park, he would have been killed just like me and the park’s standby team. If it were not Mr. Ha Seong-yoon among the group, there would be a high probability that Song In-myeong would be the final survivor.”
Jeong In-ho, who was thinking of the survivors outside the park, continued.
“What I’m most curious about is Kwon Yeon-hee. I need to ask about the situation there as well.”
“Could it be that Yeonhee is the final survivor?”
“I do not know. “I’m not sure exactly what the criteria for regression are.”
Hong Gyeong-jun said that it was confirmed that there were survivors outside the metropolitan area, so there could have been a clear reference point and distance limit for regression.
‘For example, only survivors within 100km of the main character are subject to the regression system… Unless there is such a thing, there is no way that only survivors outside the metropolitan area will continue to die.’
Based on the experience so far and Lee Jae-heon’s testimony, it seemed that only survivors within the surrounding range of this ‘main character’ could experience regression. In this case, Kwon Yeon-hee had no idea what would happen.
“…It is highly unlikely that Song In-myeong arrived safely on foot to Namyangju, so if Kwon Yeon-hee is the final survivor, there is no distance limit. Otherwise, I guess there is a distance limit.”
“…If it’s the latter, then the final survivor will be Song In-myeong?”
“It’s terrible, but that’s the reality.”
“The situation is a bit too much.”
Kang Min-ah said while fiddling with the wooden spear.
“The fact that Song In-myeong killed all the children and came out of the aquarium means that everyone inside failed to control Song In-myeong.”
“Yes.”
“Then, first of all, the manager… there is a high probability that he is dead.”
“If the director were alive, Song In-myeong would have continued to cooperate with the students.”
They knew how much effort Lee Jae-heon put into Song In-myeong and how much he comforted him while they were in reality. Lee Jae-heon was even convinced that he could control Song In-myeong.
The fact that it failed means that Lee Jae-heon died before Jeong In-ho even arrived at the aquarium.
“…It’s a bit of an early death for a manager.”
Jeong In-ho had no idea that Lee Jae-heon would die so quickly.
Even if he is a bastard who lives by talking about ineffective efficiency, there are students and vulnerable children who need to be met… and Song In-myeong, who had great ability, died even though he existed. If he died that early, it seems like he didn’t have the will to live.
“The manager is also a person who hates water.”
“…You must have suffered a great mental blow at the aquarium.”
“I do not know. Like when I first entered a language school, I may have died after being confused by the rules I didn’t understand. “Nothing is certain yet.”
As Jeong In-ho said that, his hands were cold and stiff.
It’s no big deal. It’s because I feel bad. The variables that Song In-myeong will create after seeing a vivid death for the first time in a long time. Plus, my cold, annoyed stomach was so uncomfortable…
“…I don’t know.”
“Mr. Inho?”
“I just came to work and I feel like an office worker who wants to leave work.”
“That’s… I’ve always been like that.”
“That’s how I feel.”
Even though I knew it was just beginning, I wanted it to end as quickly as possible.
Because I don’t want to go crazy.
* * *
Pop.
Pop.
Blood dripped from my hand.
“….”
“…What is it? “Are you hurt a lot?”
“…no.”
Accept the situation slowly.
A posture of kneeling on one knee and a finger bleeding bright red as if it had just been torn. A fluorescent waterway sparkling with soft white light. Students pacing behind me anxiously, pretending to be popular.
‘Song In-myeong’ is.
“….”
Yes, Song In-myeong realized that this was ‘Friends by the Stream’.
“no it’s okay.”
Song In-myeong said that with an expressionless face and stood up.
“…Fingers don’t usually have a lot of flesh, so it’s natural for bones to be visible even if they are torn a little. yes?”
“What are you talking about…?”
“The problem is this water bottom. It’s so shiny that you can’t see the inside, and you can’t see any waves on the water, so you have no idea where the monster is. “If you don’t know what to do, you’ll immediately become a skeleton.”
Song In-myeong took out a bandage from the pocket of his hooded zip-up and cut it off with a jackknife. Park Da-young, who was looking at me with a strange look, hesitated but steadfastly asked.
“…Did you bring bandages?”
“If you get hurt, I’ll lend it to you.”
“…I didn’t ask to borrow it…”
“I didn’t know when I would come to the other side, so I kept it with me just in case.”
Five minutes later, Song In-myeong smiled slightly as he looked at his finger bandage covered in blood.
He muttered softly.
“I can’t stop the bleeding.”
Unlike the bright red blood, his tone was relaxed.
(Continued in the next part)
