Episode 51
“You said you didn’t see any fish?”
President Garam Yoon nodded in response to Jaeheon Lee’s question.
“Yes, it wasn’t something that wasn’t there to begin with. At least when I stopped by last week…”
“So it was there.”
“There were too many.”
After saying that, President Yoon shrugged his shoulders. At the same time, there was a calm and faint smile on his face, but by all accounts, it was not the reaction of an ordinary person.
Lee Jae-heon, who glanced at Yoon Garam, Kang Min-ah, and Noh Yeon-seok, wiped the corner of his mouth.
“…I was wondering if I could go hunting if there were fish.”
I sounded disappointed, but in reality, there was nothing to regret.
‘It’s not that it doesn’t exist, it’s that you can’t see it.’
Even though my memory got better after recalling my past life, it wasn’t enough to remember every single detail of the novel I read out of loyalty. So, I forgot most of the detailed settings and dialogue about the novel, but I still remembered a lot of key information. Especially since it was an early episode, the story about the park left a deep impression. The small lake was one of those memories.
There are two lakes in the park. Among them, the large lake covered in green algae was the habitat of the green algae monster, and the annoyingly transparent small lake and its vicinity were places with the characteristics of mirrors and glass.
Even so, that characteristic has never been strongly revealed.
‘I just remember that it was a setting that the author added because he liked shiny things.’
“Still, she was very pretty. “I have to say it was like a jewel.”
“The water was also very transparent and white. “It was cool.”
On the outside, the white and clear water may seem transparent, but in reality, it appears that way because it reflects the pure white sky. I think he may have put it in too much for his own taste, but he never pointed it out. There was no need to give serious advice to someone who wrote something that said it was good.
‘Anyway… that’s why I said it would be so spectacular if you visit at night.’
“…I guess I’ll have to go check it out later.”
“Oh, you know that’s not possible now, right? As Yeonhee said, the current manager is a complete zombie…”
“Why is everyone doing this to me?”
If so, I wonder why I can see pebbles underneath, but I don’t know anything about them. Since the novel is told from the point of view of Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho, what he does not know is not described. Of course, Jaeheon Lee couldn’t have known about the setting that wasn’t shown in the story.
‘It’s just that the author may have made some errors in the settings he created for the sake of it.’
And the most important thing was that if you completely fell into the lake, you could see fish.
‘Did you say that you can’t see it once you’re partially inside…?’
If you just dip your feet or head in, you won’t be able to see the aquatic life inside.
In the early stages of the story, the survivors supplemented their nutrition with bugs that were easiest to find and catch. Thanks to this, my overall mentality was divided, but in the end, one of the survivors who could not bear the discomfort jumped into a small lake and was able to find out this information.
Of course, the lake was deeper than expected and there were monsters living there, so it was not a very pleasant fact that a survivor who tried to take a bath almost drowned. As it happened, the guy who jumped in was a beer bottle, so there was a commotion.
‘I think he was some kind of boss.’
As Lee Jae-heon was going over the contents of the original work, Director Kang spoke carefully.
“And… something felt strange.”
Intern Noh Yeon-seok nodded his head vigorously and agreed.
“that’s right. Should I say it feels overly clean? Like a jewel…?”
“It felt like a pretty decoration rather than an edible food.”
“You gave a good analogy. It was accurate.”
President Garam Yoon, who said that, seemed to have been greatly impressed by Director Kang’s analogy. If you look at the way he speaks with the calm smile on his face gone.
Lee Jae-heon frowned and thought at their words.
‘…Was there a description like this?’
Since the owner of the point of view is assistant manager Jeong In-ho, the words ‘pretty’ or ‘jewel-like’ did not come out about something in his gaze. The only description of the small lake in the novel was that it was strangely clean.
However, given Director Kang’s personality, he would not have said something completely unfounded. She learned a lot of business sense through working with an old manager and hates causing trouble to others, so there’s no way she would say something that would cause unnecessary concern to her patient, Lee Jae-heon. This means that I wanted to convey information to him somehow, even by using such ambiguous words.
‘But there was no story of anyone suffering visible damage due to the small lake in the story.’
There were descriptions of a few people almost drowning, but from Lee Jae-heon’s perspective, most of them were self-inflicted, and people actually died near the large lake where the green algae monster lived.
“…for now… let’s keep that in mind.”
After saying that, Lee Jae-heon limped on one leg and approached the bonfire.
“Director Boo. “If you tell me, I will do it…!”
“It’s okay. I just sat there until you guys came, and I’m feeling really sore.”
He clicked his tongue briefly and placed the glass bottle filled with water near the campfire. The water was so clean that it could be boiled directly without filtering it with a cloth or other means.
“…Actually, I’m a little uneasy because it’s a glass bottle.”
“yes? “Are you okay with a glass bottle?”
“That’s not the case… If the temperature rises sharply, it will break. “It doesn’t heat up as quickly as a can.”
Of course, since this glass bottle didn’t come from a refrigerator or freezer somewhere, I wonder if that would be the case, but anyway, if I had brought a can, I would have drilled a hole next to it and hung it, or made a simple support and placed it on the fire. However, glass bottles were difficult to make holes in and were heavy to hang, and if I made a wooden net and placed it on top, the support would burn before the water even boiled, so I couldn’t do that.
‘Actually, it’s been so long since I last endured in the wild with such poor equipment that I wonder if this is right…’
Of course, that doesn’t mean it was a very bad option.
“Well, it’s actually better if you have the right equipment later. Should I say that it is easier to cook than canned food… because the shape is not deformed due to fire in most cases.”
Most of the equipment that can be made now is inferior, but if you use a good support, you can cook with peace of mind. In that case, glass was a fairly good container as there were almost no mishaps due to heat.
Lee Jae-heon placed a wide wooden plank close enough to the campfire that it wouldn’t burn and placed a glass bottle of water on top of it. Since it had a lot of moisture, it wouldn’t burn easily just because it was a little closer to the fire.
“done.”
“…What is this?”
“It will be difficult to take out the glass bottle later. “I told you to pull this out and pull it out.”
Of course, the process will become more cumbersome.
If it was a small can, it wouldn’t be a big problem to get it out of the campfire. It wasn’t very heavy to lift, and in that case it would be hanging somewhere, so I could get boiled water without difficulty just by touching the support.
However, the glass bottle that the collecting team picked up was not long and weighed quite a bit. A glass bottle that has been heated to the point of boiling water will be too hot to touch right away, and because the glass is thick, it does not cool down as quickly as a can. However, it is too inefficient to completely extinguish the bonfire, so a device was installed to extinguish it in this way.
‘Of course, it’s so crude that it was hastily constructed, so I don’t know how effective it will be.’
Jaeheon Lee muttered lowly out of fatigue.
“…I’m glad the floor is soft.”
Although they were inside a jungle-like park, the ground was quite dry. Moreover, since the soil was soft and free of large and small rocks, pulling the bottle in this way would not have resulted in the bottle falling over.
Jeong In-ho, who was looking at Lee Jae-heon, pretended to be cautious and asked.
“Then, Manager, can’t I drink water unless it’s boiled?”
“…I was going to say that just now…”
That disgusting, disgusting bastard.
‘Now it’s really treated as a knowledge encyclopedia.’
If you’re a chick, you have to act like a chick to be seen as cute. Assistant Manager Jeong, who knows nothing but is so savvy that it’s annoying, was an opponent that gave Lee Jae-heon the creeps. Even if you go crazy every time, if the conditions are right, you can quickly regain your composure. It didn’t look like he was trying to get rid of something that wasn’t there just because he spoke openly for a moment.
However, in some ways it was understandable and in other ways it was a wise decision, so in order not to waste any more energy, Lee Jae-heon continued talking as if nothing had happened.
“If this was a remote mountain, I might just try it at least once… but I guess it’s because of the location.”
“…Ah….”
“Did you say you didn’t even see any fish?”
“Yes, I couldn’t see it.”
“It would have been easier to estimate if we knew what lived there, but it’s a shame.”
There are creatures that live in drinkable water. If you check whether there are such people, you will be able to find out whether the water is safe to drink, but this is a secret world. There was no way such a common-sense creature existed.
However, Jaeheon Lee already knew that this water was safe to drink.
‘Otherwise, the novel would have ended in less than one volume.’
Even the main character was searched.
The main character and his party get drinking water and wash their bodies in a small lake, and fill their stomachs by catching fish they didn’t even know existed. Perhaps because of the circumstances, it was not highlighted much, but it was true that it was a relatively rare and harmless lake.
The only problem is the response of the drinking water team, including Director Kang. Even if the intern’s judgment is so poor, the judgment of the main character, CEO Yoon Garam, or Kang Min-ah, who also plays the role of the foreman, would not have been in vain.
And I would like to add….
‘It’s ugly.’
The content of the novel was unsatisfactory.
The novel, which is a story about survival of those under the age of 19, unfolds from the perspective of the protagonist. In other words, everything depicted in the story was done under Jeong In-ho’s judgment, and it makes one wonder just how cold-hearted Dae-ri Jeong must have been as he was devoured by the other side of the world and was mentally deprived of people’s lives. So, it wasn’t that strange if there were more devices in the park that Jaeheon Lee didn’t know about.
‘I don’t remember it in that much detail.’
However, if opinions about the small lake are true, I think Lee Jae-heon should also visit and see it at least once.
Anyway, the conclusion is that I don’t know how safe the water in such a small lake is….
“….”
“….”
“…if I drink it just once….”
“Stop.”
“No really…”
“Stop.”
“….”
Damn these chicks.
‘Even if I confirmed it, it’s damned.’
I don’t know what it would be like from their perspective, but from Jaeheon Lee’s perspective, this kind of inefficiency was a real hardship.
In a case like this in the past life world, one of the most confident team members took the first step. When there was no one I wanted to check, I made a fair bet and made a choice. It was an unspoken rule that was set because we couldn’t afford to send it to the research center and check the results of the experiment while we were having a hard time making a living.
The situation was not much different now. There are so many people who feel like they are dying of thirst. How long will they wait?
‘Isn’t it true that the lake water in the other world might actually become safer if we boil the water?’
Rather, the most efficient option is for one person to see signs and then check for stability.
“No, but I didn’t force someone else to eat it. “They say they will check to see if it is poisonous or not, so why are they stopping this?”
“Is that a question you’re really curious about? really?”
“….”
At the doctor’s sad smile, Lee Jae-heon added, trying to remember common sense from today’s life.
“…I won’t die if I eat it. “It won’t be okay as long as you don’t die.”
“Then you may end up living without being able to die, Manager.”
“Why on earth do you talk like that?”
In the end, Jae-heon Lee lost the bucket of lake water he was holding in his hand, and Jae-heon Lee, who had no intention of drinking it without the consent of the group, ended up leaving. Chicks are children, and they are now looking at me like a five-year-old child.
Lee Jae-heon, who was almost dragged by Jeong In-ho, asked with a feeling of astonishment and stuffy nose.
“You don’t trust me that much…? “Is this your attitude towards the manager now?”
“So you’re usually pretty good.”
“What’s really your problem, Assistant Manager Jeong?”
“Oh my, I did everything wrong.”
“Just stop laughing and tell me.”
At those words, Assistant Manager Jeong became completely expressionless, and Lee Jae-heon grabbed the back of his neck. I’m sure someday I’ll get rid of this disgusting bastard.
Lee Jae-heon, who was taking a deep breath, heard a calm yet small voice.
“…So what did you know when you said you wanted to drink it?”
“….”
Lee Jae-heon, who confirmed that no one was watching their conversation around him, glanced at Jeong In-ho, who was looking elsewhere and waiting for his answer so as not to be noticed. Anyone would have thought that the voice just before was an auditory hallucination of Lee Jae-heon alone.
This is why it’s disgusting. This is why.
“…I don’t know.”
Lee Jae-heon changed the tone of his voice to match the main character’s rhythm. It was a tired yet mechanical voice that was assumed to be that of the ‘real Lee Jae-heon’ who is not acting.
“As far as I know, eating it won’t kill you.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m not sure… Well, it tastes pretty good.”
According to the description that appeared in the story, it was said to resemble the taste of premium bottled water. This is the extremely expensive luxury bottled water that is said to have been made by melting glaciers at the foot of a distant mountain. It was so absurd that I remembered it.
Jaeheon Lee continued speaking while covering his mouth as if resting his chin.
“It tastes similar to carbonated water without the carbonation, but it also tastes a little salty.”
“It means you’ve tried it.”
“….”
Lee Jae-heon ignored the protagonist’s question. Perhaps because he did not tell the story of Lee Jae-heon’s life in the underworld, anyone could see that Jeong In-ho was trying to get information from him.
In response, Assistant Manager Jeong rolled his eyes and looked at Lee Jae-heon with a sincere smile.
“I don’t think it’s a good habit to treat yourself as a lab rat, Manager.”
“…I take care of my own business.”
Anyway, he was a disgusting bastard.
