Episode 553
The survivors immediately became noisy after confirming that no matter where they looked at the concert hall, there were no kindergarten students in sight.
“What if I take my eyes off the kids…!”
This is Song In-myeong.
“Don’t harp on the topic of serial killers for valid reasons, you fucking idiot!”
This is Seo Jang-hwa.
“For now, let’s all calm down and find the kids, okay?”
This is Jeong In-ho….
In addition, there were Park Da-young and Lee Jae-heon, but Park Da-young had not yet escaped the aftereffects of being connected to Park Da-hoon, and Lee Jae-heon had been silent from the moment the disappearance of the kindergarten students was discovered.
‘It’s a pain in the ass.’
Jeong In-ho could feel once again that this episode was truly a failure.
‘If Lee Jae-heon is in that state, it’s definitely right to turn back time and care for him in a better condition… Then, we can maintain the status quo to some extent. We can pay more attention to the fact that Da-hoon is trapped, and if Da-hoon Park’s condition is okay, Da-young’s condition will also improve. And the wetsuit…’
My head was already thinking about the next episode, but I couldn’t give up on the reality that was right in front of me. In the first place, it was difficult for Jung In-ho to turn back time as he pleased because all survivors in this area had to die in order to advance to the next episode.
There was a way to really go crazy and kill everyone like Song In-myeong before, but that would take too long, regardless of the issue of conscience. The distance from the aquarium to the park is quite long.
“West gorilla, you didn’t even have anything to do, so you couldn’t check on the kids jumping around?!”
“Oh, shut up, really, just shut up! “Even if you have a valid opinion, just shut up because it will help the world!”
“evil…! evil! “Don’t talk while hitting me!!”
“….”
Jeong In-ho turned away from the two fighting college students and turned to Park Da-young.
“Dayoung, are you okay? “How is your condition?”
“…I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“…Are you still connected to Dahun?”
Dayoung Park’s eyes were still dark purple as she crouched down.
“huh? “Dayoung.”
“….”
Park Da-young put her head between her knees without saying a word.
“…Whew….”
Jeong In-ho also gave up on the conversation at that point.
‘I don’t think I’m in the mood for conversation at all.’
Seo Jang-hwa, who was watching from the side, said that the way Lee Jae-heon urged Park Da-young to use her abilities was almost like the leader of a cult. So, it means that Lee Jae-heon was half toying with Park Da-young.
‘Now that the flow has been cut off, Park Da-young seems to have regained her senses to some extent, but she must be out of her mind after reaffirming what she was trying to do while being swayed by Lee Jae-heon’s words…’ There is clearly a sense of betrayal towards Lee Jae-heon
. There would also be disappointment.
I raised my head and looked at Park Da-hoon, and sure enough, his condition was much more serious.
It must have been quite a shock to be connected to Park Da-young and persuaded semi-forcibly to try to tear up the doll. Park Da-hoon was panting nervously and in panic.
“….”
Jeong In-ho wanted to blame Lee Jae-heon for putting the two poor students in this situation, but…
“… Manager.”
“….”
“Manager.”
“….”
“Senior?”
“….”
“I’m going crazy.”
This person also seemed to be just as crazy as the Park siblings, or even more so.
Although the situation was agreed upon among the survivors, the attitude Jaeheon Lee showed toward Dayoung Park was excessively inhumane. I wondered if there was a need to express his willingness to sacrifice himself in such a harsh way, but as soon as he heard the news that the two children had disappeared, Lee Jae-heon acted like a machine whose power had been cut off.
“Every single one of them was really….”
It was ruined.
It wouldn’t be easy to fail like this, but it failed in so many ways.
Jeong In-ho, who had already gotten rid of his fear of returning to some extent at Unhak High School, thought, ‘Should I just pretend not to know and kill everyone and return?’ It was similar to the urge to power cycle a computer that wasn’t working properly.
“….”
Of course, it wasn’t there yet, so Jeong In-ho just let out a small sigh and swallowed the sudden desire. Because killing people is clearly a bad thing.
For a moment, In-ho Jeong felt that his thoughts were becoming strangely simple and free from emotion, but instead of continuing the question, he decided to elicit a meaningful response from Jae-heon Lee.
“…Sir, I think losing your mind in a situation like this is a very ineffective response. Your reaction doesn’t help in the disappearance of kindergarten students. “It’s very…useless to be doing this.”
And as expected, Jaeheon Lee reacted.
“…Oh, that’s right.”
“Are you willing to answer now?”
“Okay, I’m sorry.”
“you’re welcome.”
Jeong In-ho suppressed his frustrated feelings without showing them.
‘You must be really crazy to react like this when you say something in such a harsh way.’
There was a time when Lee Jae-heon was very disappointed in Jeong In-ho, who said that he was an inefficient and unfair person when Jae-heon Lee was still able to communicate well. I took a stab at it based on the dramatic reaction at the time, and it worked better than I expected.
So there were some things that were even more annoying, but Jeong In-ho just smiled a round smile.
“I plan to take other survivors and go look for the kindergarten students. Senior, why don’t you stay here? “Since you are in poor health, I don’t think participating in the search will be of much help.”
“…That is correct. I don’t think my current condition will be helpful in the search. “I think it is right for you to lead this search.”
“thank you.”
Jeong In-ho, who had secured the safety of Lee Jae-heon, approached Seo Jang-hwa.
“Boots.”
“uh?”
“I think we should go look for the kids first. Of course, I’m in favor of harassing Song In-myeong, but there are more urgent things to do right now… I want you to come with me. what do you think about it?”
“Why has your tone become so soft and disgusting? Are you following Lee Jae-heon now?”
At those words, Jeong In-ho paused for a moment. I also felt it when I was talking to Song In-myeong, but it seemed like my way of speaking had definitely changed a bit.
‘…Am I very nervous?’
The fact that his tone became softer even though the situation was not at all appropriate did not mean anything good, at least to Jeong In-ho. This means that you are squeezing out the space you don’t have.
“….”
Of course, there was no need to tell Seo Jang-hwa that.
Jeong In-ho asked with a smile.
“So what is the answer?”
“Of course I should go.”
Seo Jang-hwa said, letting go of Song In-myeong’s collar.
“Let’s go right now. I really don’t know when the kids disappeared, so I think I should go quickly. The good news is that the only way to go from here is in a straight line…”
“Yes, that’s right. There aren’t many places they can go, and they’re still young, so they probably don’t walk fast. “If you chase after it now, you’ll find it, so don’t worry too much.”
“…okay.”
“You know it’s not Janghwa’s fault, right?”
At Jeong In-ho’s words, Seo Jang-hwa’s lips tightened.
‘I knew it would be like this.’
Seo Jang-hwa was such a hot person that I couldn’t understand why he stayed with Song In-myeong. The mental factor was stronger than the physical one, but since I was such a good person, I felt like if I blamed myself once, it would last for a long time.
‘It’s impossible to stay healthy all the time in the other world.’
Jeong In-ho said with a gentle smile.
“It’s not your fault.”
“…I know.”
Even though he said that, he still seemed to be blaming himself.
Normally, Seo Jang-hwa would not have blamed himself unnecessarily due to his personality, but now Seo Jang-hwa was under a lot of emotional burden in many ways. On top of that, I would have felt guilty about missing out on kindergarteners, so it would have been even weirder if I had easily recovered my mood.
That’s why Jeong In-ho just pretended not to know and laughed it off.
“Then that’s a relief.”
I was worried that Song In-myeong would jump in and criticize them, saying, ‘Oh, it’s not Seo Jang-hwa’s fault,’ but he seemed to care about them as ‘friends’ and just looked at them with a sullen expression. As expected, he was an annoying guy no matter what he did.
‘Anyway, the question is where exactly did the kids go…’
No, why did that happen in the first place?
‘I don’t know about Minhong, but I thought Seo-ah would normally be timid and not take such personal action…?’
In addition, Jang Seo-ah was especially observant of adults.
In real life, he lived with Lee Jae-heon and acted quite foolishly under his care, but in the behind-the-scenes world, he stayed as quiet as possible, as if he knew that the situation was not easy.
I could sense that he did not want to cause trouble in an already difficult situation, but that made this sudden action all the more incomprehensible.
“Well… there’s only one way anyway, so let’s move toward the undersea tunnel.”
“Things would have been better if I had had a cell phone. All I have to do is call and ask where you are… There are so many fucking inconvenient things in this world.”
“That’s right.”
In the same vein as sending the wetsuit team, Song In-myeong decided to leave it behind at the concert hall. The reason was that he, who was bleeding, might summon some kind of monster.
In-ho Jeong spoke to Jae-heon Lee, who would remain at the concert hall.
“I will come back, so be careful.”
“….”
“…I wonder what this means.”
Jeong In-ho muttered softly and left the concert hall with Seo Jang-hwa.
“….”
And only then did Jaeheon Lee look at the backs of the two.
He had unfocused gray eyes.
* * *
It was difficult for the man to deal with children.
“….”
It was unfamiliar.
In fact, when has he, a villain who must die someday, ever lived with children? When did you have time to get used to them? And there was no need for children to have much to do with cruel villains.
So the man was bad at dealing with children.
“….”
Now I’ve even forgotten the names of my children.
I was clumsy.
‘dad.’
I hear auditory hallucinations.
‘On the topic of monsters.’
Auditory hallucinations…
‘Please.’
“….”
‘Become the most miserable person in the world.’
“….”
‘I can do that much.’
“…yes.”
If I were a monster to you too.
“That’s true…”
When did I become human?
How on earth can you define me?
* * *
“…?”
Kim Ki-jeong, who had been quietly staring at the bottom of the water, raised his head.
“…Now….”
“Mr. Ki-jeong?”
“…I hear something.”
“yes?”
“….”
A look of astonishment appeared on Kim Ki-jeong’s dazed face.
“This is crazy.”
“Why why what?”
“we. You have to jump quickly…”
“Are you a monster?”
“Then what the fuck can you do!”
“Oh my.”
Han Do-yoon, who had been sitting down, got up straight away.
Dayoung Park said, ‘Be careful because the monster from the feeding corner might come this way too,’ but I had no idea that would actually happen. Han Do-yoon urgently helped Kim Ki-jeong up and asked.
“What is that biological slime coming? Wow, that’s okay?”
“no…!”
“yes?”
“No, no, no…!”
Kim Ki-jeong, whose legs were weakened and who was barely helped up by Han Do-yoon, spoke half in tears.
“I don’t think so!”
“Speak so I can understand!”
“Biological slime! “I don’t think so!”
“No? “Then what is it?”
“This is not the time to do this, run away quickly!”
Quad deuk-!!
“….”
“….”
Do-yoon Han and Ki-jeong Kim fell silent at the same time at the strange sound coming from the aquarium ceiling.
Teuk special….
“Oh….”
I heard the sound of something strongly grabbing the ceiling.
So, there is a monster with a strong grip inside that shabby ceiling. Instead of swearing, Han Do-yoon let out an exclamation and looked back at Kim Ki-jeong. His face turned white.
“…What does that mean?”
“…Once you see it alive, it looks like a monster…”
“We can move now, right?”
“I am not a monster detector or monster analyzer.”
“Now you have admitted that you are a detector.”
“Does that matter now?”
“Probably not, but I’m also out of my mind right now…”
And then a sudden
“….”
“….”
The sound cut off.
Has the monster left? Do-yoon Han had a hopeful thought for a moment, but looking at Kim Ki-jeong’s face with an expression of ‘Oh, I’m ruined’, he put away that small and precious hope.
“Will it jump right now?”
Kim Ki-jeong answered Do-yoon Han’s question a while later.
“…It’s just here.”
“Oh, let’s die together? Not bad.”
“No, that’s not it….”
At that moment, Kwazijic!!!
The ceiling was torn apart.
“…Uh….”
Do-yoon Han widened his eyes at the strange figure visible through the hole in the black ceiling.
A monster with blue scales growing on its cheeks, revealing sharp teeth.
“…Jung Eun-woo?”
Coincidentally, it resembled Jung Eun-woo.
(Continued in the next part)
