Episode 60
I was satisfied with that.
* * *
Although the park in the other world was much larger than the one in reality, it did not take a long time for the group located in the middle of it to get to the small lake.
Lee Jae-heon, who checked the still pure white sky, looked back at Park Da-hoon and asked.
“Is that worth it?”
“…Ah yes. yes.”
At the call, the student looked at what he was holding.
What he was holding was none other than a black plastic bag, a small bag usually used to carry items purchased at convenience stores.
Unlike real apples, glass apples are perfect spheres, but their size is similar to that of an apple. It was quite heavy compared to how it looked, perhaps because there was a lot of juice or flesh inside, but I was greedy because of its small size. The desire to take a lot at once while already here.
In fact, with only a few exceptions, all spaces in the underworld cause discomfort, fear, or disgust in survivors. No matter how pretty the small lake or the glass apple tree is, that’s it.
‘There’s no way I would want to come back again, wasting my stamina in a place where I can’t help but feel an instinctive repulsion.’
And the result was that black plastic bag.
“I’m so glad there’s trash everywhere.”
“It’s ironic that we have to say that environmental pollution is a blessing, but… yes, it is.”
“…and…there are no tears anywhere.”
These were the words of Kang Min-ah, Yoon Garam, and Park Da-hoon, one by one.
If there had been people wearing outerwear, they would have used it as a wrapping cloth, but unfortunately, none of the current foraging groups wore outerwear. In fact, who would have had the presence of mind to put on a coat and run out of the mess at work or the flower shop?
Of course, student Park Da-hoon had a school uniform jacket, but it was dismissed on the grounds that the weather was chilly as it was early March and the person involved was a minor. Lee Jae-heon was also managing his image as a good adult, so he couldn’t force it.
After searching around the lake, fortunately, I was able to find a bag of the right size.
“It takes a lot more than you think.”
“It’s not very light… but it’s not heavy, is it? “I’ll take it if you need it.”
“Oh… no, I’m strong.”
Park Da-hoon said that and straightened his back as if he didn’t feel the weight of his luggage.
There was no sign of boasting or bravado on her face, but Manager Kang Min-ah smiled slightly at the message felt in that posture. You’re probably thinking that the kid is really cute or that he’s mature. I was also holding a glass apple in both hands.
Lee Jae-heon sighed inwardly at such friendly faces.
‘I’ll have to come back soon anyway.’
If you think about it, it was natural.
How long will the indomitable Koreans, who eat three full meals a day, survive on the squishy fruits they have never seen before? He predicted that the apples he had packed would be gone within two days.
Of course, if he adjusted his diet, he could have lasted another week, but Lee Jae-heon didn’t think it was necessary. Besides glass apples, there were quite a few fruits near the small lake that were hard to see, and there were also fish living in the lake. Sooner or later, if you make a trap and place a piece of fruit or an insect in it, you will be able to catch a few. That’s how you supplement protein.
‘It’s almost time to eat meat.’
In addition, there was a flower garden on the right side of the side road and a cave inside it. I probably couldn’t find it yet, but there was a vegetable garden near the pavilion where Police Officer Kim and Detective Hong were. The genre was a 19+ poverty survival story, and the main character was so unremarkable that it did not stand out, but surprisingly, it was a world rich in resources.
‘…This too.’
Lee Jae-heon blinked calmly at the feeling of a foreign object inside his pants pocket.
I collected it when I went to call President Yoon and the rest of the group right after getting away from Jeong In-ho, and I was very fortunate to catch my eye at least one. It’s not that big, so you won’t be questioned right away.
‘So… now you’re less worried about the chicks dying.’
However, it is difficult to collect like this every time.
In particular, in the case of items other than those obtained from nature, most of the effects were strangely good, but the penalty was large, so it was better for the user to find industrial products in the building as much as possible. If used incorrectly, trying to save someone could end up killing someone else.
So, as I gradually get used to this, I will have to rob convenience stores and supermarkets someday. Since Jaeheon Lee’s condition was so bad, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to stop by the hospital.
“But it smells really good. “It would be nice to make an air freshener out of something like this…”
“The sight in particular was really pretty. “It’s not something I really want to keep, but I wanted to take a picture if my phone was safe.”
“Hmm… it tastes good too.”
“….”
Of course, this was a story about when these chicks grew up a bit.
‘Be patient when I go somewhere with these soft things.’
There was a sudden rush of blows, but Jaeheon Lee took a short deep breath and adjusted his grip on the pipe.
I looked around intently and noticed that it was still daytime and the surroundings were moderately noisy. This meant that it was not a time when green algae monsters were frequently active, and that a monster that the animals in this area could not handle had not appeared. Moreover, Lee Jae-heon also received treatment from a doctor and hid the smell of blood as much as possible, so the probability of being attacked by a green algae monster was low.
‘So, you can relax a little…’
There were exactly 886 memories of a past life where I died while acting stupid like that. Isn’t there a saying that if a person’s brain is not working, his body is going to suffer because ‘remembering’ is that much? Lee Jae-heon was like that when he was in the thick of things, and he couldn’t just let down his guard once he was killed by the green algae monster himself.
Lee Jae-heon, who was observing his surroundings, suddenly remembered something from a novel.
“….”
…Is it time for the miscellaneous things to come out?
‘Well, it’s been a while.’
Jaeheon Lee thought while wiping his mouth with his free hand.
The first monster that appeared in the original novel was not the green algae monster they first encountered. It’s a fact I’ve repeated several times, but that pale blue guy was like the final boss of the park episode.
This park, which was transformed into a jungle or forest, was not just home to green algae monsters. Monsters in the form of fish, monsters in the form of birds, monsters in the form of bugs, and so on. Of course, if you see them in person, they don’t have a clear shape that you can just call them fish, birds, or insects, but there were monsters created by such human thoughts.
And the most commonly seen miscellaneous monsters were none other than monsters that reflected the appearance of abandoned dogs.
‘I said it felt like a chimera made of cloth.’
I couldn’t remember the exact description, but I could remember feeling a little sick to my stomach when I read it. I don’t know the exact shape of it, but I didn’t think it would be very pleasant to see.
But the funny thing was… these monsters were created entirely from human thoughts.
‘In fact, the person involved in the abandoned dog has no remorse at all.’
Except for a few, all monsters in this world originate from human thoughts.
If someone at the company had not been disgusted by the severed spider legs or the spider webs they had spun, the spider monster would not have been created, and if people had not felt pity for the abandoned dog in the park, such a type of monster would not have existed in the underworld.
Of course, I am not advocating the act of abandoning four-legged life, but at least there were such irrationalities in the other side of the world. Because it is a world that makes even the sympathy and consideration that humans should have in the most disgusting and unpleasant way.
This was because the underworld wanted to harass and kill as much as possible the survivors, who were foreign objects.
‘…It’s hard to make a living.’
And what is a little worrying is that, unlike the green algae monsters, the activities of these abandoned dog monsters are not limited by day or night…
“…How long will it take, boss?”
“Give me a minute or two. “We’re almost there, manager.”
“thank you.”
I wasn’t particularly worried about the atmosphere.
‘They mainly attack mentally, but the group’s condition is very good right now.’
My heart was quite generous.
Contrary to their appearances, the abandoned dog monsters did not rush at them, bite them, or cause any injuries. Even if it does, it seems to have been said that when a human gets too close, it bites as a threat but rarely lunges first. Did you say that there are even cases where it just stays still even if you hit it first?
They are not hostile, they just hover around the survivors or approach them in a friendly way… but the weak minds of the humans in this world found the intimacy of such monsters very disgusting. The main character in the story described it as feeling like a cockroach was coming out of his intestines and into his mouth, pretending to welcome him.
‘…I’m suddenly craving nicotine.’
In his current life, as a non-smoker, he had no idea why he had this desire to smoke.
Anyway, that’s only if we met while mentally exhausted, and the current state of the group was better than we could have imagined. After Lee Jae-heon came back, we got along so well that it was annoying, so I really wasn’t that worried.
‘The big guys will take care of that.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Of course, I made up my mind to think of these guys as five-year-olds, but that was a separate issue. How big of a blow would it be if Lee Jae-heon, a mental recovery specialist, lowers the mental strength of his group?
And I was amazed.
“Director Boo. Bar just a monster monster.”
“…Ugh ugh. Wow….”
They lamented at the same time.
“…What is this?”
It felt even more strange because I felt like I could tell what had happened just by looking at it.
I was wrong you 5 year old chicks.
* * *
‘I was planning to build a camp today.’
In this case, isn’t it a bit too much of a camp? This isn’t training…
‘No, no. ‘That’s not important now.’
Jaeheon Lee tried to calm down his hand that was trying to grab his backside. It’s not that those guys are weak mentally because they intentionally want to be, so I knew that blaming them for that would have the opposite effect.
But there was one thing that was disappointing. If the group’s condition was okay, they tried to build a roof as there was still plenty of time before nightfall. According to Lee Jae-heon’s common sense, humans are inherently psychological creatures that must live within strong walls under a reliable roof.
Of course, if they had been able to stay in the building, they wouldn’t have had to do this kind of manual labor, but unfortunately, they were newborn chicks. How can people who have never even killed a fish be able to see the blood of a monster?
However, if we look at it that way, it does not explain the cases of Assistant Manager Jeong and Manager Kang, who soon became accustomed to dealing with monsters…
“…Chief Kang, let’s sort out the situation first.”
Well, those guys are different cases.
“Ah yes? yes yes.”
“Student Da-hoon and Director Kang help me organize the food I brought and heat the water. People seem to be very surprised, but warm water would be better than cold water.”
“Water… I can heat the water.”
“No, Chief Kang, please do the hard work of heating the water. “Student Da-hoon is organizing the fruit.”
Director Kang’s pupil, who had been momentarily distracted by those words, immediately stood up, and student Park Da-hoon, who had only been observing her, stood next to her. Kang Min-ah pushed the student as if she was hugging him and looked at Park Da-young.
“Dayoung, can you help student Dayoung as well?”
“…Ah… Yes yes! I could!”
Park Da-young, who looked similar to Park Da-hoon and was looking around in confusion, ran towards Director Kang. He then gave a light greeting to Lee Jae-heon, and he seemed to be in quite good condition compared to the interns and Kwon employees who left in a state of mental breakdown.
Lee Jae-heon, who had entrusted the minors to a reasonably trustworthy person, passed by Jeong In-ho and Yoon Gar-ram comforting the group and approached the doctor who was looking at them blankly.
“What is the situation?”
“…I think you just figured it out, but the monster stopped by for a moment.”
“What kind of monster is it?”
“So…”
The doctor played with my earlobe and rolled his eyes.
“…monster?”
“….”
“Oh no. “I’m sorry, that’s not it…”
From the looks of it, Doctor Ha Seong-yoon didn’t seem to be in his right mind.
The ‘monster’ he uttered semi-unconsciously probably meant an insult that people in real life often use. Just as we sometimes insult a very heartless or cruel person by calling him a monster, Dr. Ha Seong-yoon seemed to have uttered such words in a similar context without realizing it.
Lee Jae-heon thought as he watched the doctor’s eyes wander for a moment.
‘…This is surprising again.’
Based on the setting in the novel, the people who were basically crazy were less affected by the underworld.
In fact, it would be more correct to say that they are not aware of it, rather than saying that they receive less. Just as it is impossible to identify a pitch-black object in a room without any light, survivors who were in a state that could not be called normal were not greatly confused by things in the other world.
Therefore, Lee Jae-heon could not hear the wind noise made by the spider monster in the company hallway, so he thought that Dr. Ha Seong-yoon would be similar in the same context. In particular, in the case of humans who understand the other side of the world before being eaten, the probability of being sane is even lower, so I wondered if they would suffer any damage even though the monster did not physically attack them.
After thinking that far, Jaeheon Lee was able to think of other cases.
‘Well, if direct trauma is involved, it’s a different story.’
The crazy people in the underworld are slightly less affected by it, but when they encounter the most fundamental trauma, their reaction is the exact opposite. This is because they experience thousands of times the trauma that ordinary people experience.
If there is a part described in the novel, I will refer to it, but I do not know what kind of trauma Dr. Ha Seong-yoon, who appeared as a corpse from the beginning without saying a word, suffered as an individual. As expected right before saving him, the doctor came across as a variable to Lee Jae-heon several times.
Fortunately, the doctor came to his senses in time and continued speaking.
“It looked like a doll. However, it felt like fabric was sewn onto the skin of a live dog, not just a doll. “The eyes were beads or buttons.”
“….”
“Actually… I don’t remember exactly what it looked like. I don’t think they all looked the same. “It was all different.”
Lee Jae-heon, who had been listening to the story for a while, asked.
“Was it a direct attack?”
“If that were the case, would we be alive now? No, it actually seemed like it was welcoming people.”
Even as the doctor said that, his voice was clouded as if he thought his words were funny. They seemed surprised to hear that a monster had welcomed us.
Doctor Ha Seong-yoon removed his hand from touching his earlobe and immediately blushed and said.
“No one was injured. I thought about running away, but when I backed away, more followed me. I thought that if I ran, they would run together, so I watched the situation…”
“Did you see it?”
“Kwon Yeon-hee was crying and Yeon-seok was nauseous, so he ran away.”
“okay.”
It wasn’t running away, it was just avoiding the place.
‘Because I like people.’
One of Jaeheon Lee’s eyebrows rose and then fell again.
Although abandoned monster monsters do not know that their extroversion causes rejection by people, most of them have a tendency to like people. It was nice to meet a survivor for the first time in a long time, but the closer I got, the more I got scared and reacted negatively, so I backed off.
After saying this, I first start to question the humanity of people who cried or vomited carelessly, but I don’t know. When I remembered that a person whose mind was driven to the edge would not end well, I did not feel sorry for those monsters. In the first place, not all abandoned dog monsters like people.
‘Among the dogs, there was clearly an abandoned monster that was hostile to the survivors.’
Even if they didn’t show any particular likes or dislikes, there were some that aggressively attacked or threatened you when you got close. If they perceive the other person as prey through olfactory elements such as the smell of blood, they become aggressive again. Just because the level of threat to life was lower than that of other monsters, that didn’t mean it was safe enough to exchange intimacy.
Even this fact was information that the main character found out only late in the story, so even this was dangerous for the current party.
“So…objectively, there is no significant damage.”
“…All right.”
Passing by the doctor who seemed to have nothing more to say, Lee Jae-heon’s gaze landed on intern Noh Yeon-seok, who was drinking water, and employee Kwon Yeon-hee, who was shaking.
“….”
He briefly swept the corner of his mouth and managed his expression.
It was time to act.
