Episode 7
If I were to describe Lee Jae-heon now, he turns about 10 degrees more than 360 degrees, so it’s not noticeable.
* * *
The most important thing in the underworld was surprisingly mental strength.
In fact, to exaggerate just a little, everything in the hidden world was solved with just mental power.
Physical weapons, physical recovery, and countless other things are achieved through only the spirit of the survivor.
As expected, the underworld was a place where the thoughts of the original world were reflected.
Since it exists as a concept somewhere between reality and fantasy, it should not be considered a realistic standard.
Therefore, it can be said that mental management is an essential requirement for survivors of the underworld.
“If I fall behind you, I will abandon you.”
In that sense, Lee Jae-heon’s aggro like the above was essential.
The faces of the employees gathered together became confused at the sudden remark of the old manager who got up from a short break.
Anyone who saw it had an expression like, ‘What kind of bullshit is that?’
“No, honestly, wouldn’t it be more efficient if you could live that way? “It is better for one to die and one to live, than for both to die.”
“Chief, do you have a dual personality?”
“Deputy Jeong, is the manager easy now? “Are you ready to play pranks on me?”
As if it were so absurd, even the theory of Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho’s dual personality emerged.
In fact, from other people’s perspectives, it could really seem like a dual personality.
If a person who just a moment ago sacrificed a shoulder and a leg to save his group woke up and started talking about abandoning someone, wouldn’t they think so?
Above all, the protagonist understood Lee Jae-heon’s words, ‘If I fall behind, just leave it and go like before.’
But now that he is saying the exact opposite, along with the strange things the old manager has been doing recently, we have come up with the hypothesis that he has a double personality.
To be honest, it’s similar to a dual personality situation.
Just because you think about your past life doesn’t mean your current personality will go anywhere.
But it’s not like there are two personalities.
Lee Jae-heon continued speaking while massaging his sore legs.
“I said this based on objective judgment. Just now. what is it. “There are some weird ones out there like spiders or something, but are you sure there won’t be something else?”
“That’s not true.”
“So let’s think efficiently.”
He shrugged his shoulders and said.
“At least when it comes to necessary things, it’s easier for both of us to not have any grievances.”
“…Is it really necessary to abandon someone?”
The main character seemed quite impressed by Lee Jae-heon’s words.
The question itself didn’t seem to be intended to cause an argument, but it seemed like it was just asked out of genuine curiosity.
Lee Jae-heon blinked and then opened his mouth.
“Then are we all going to die together? Or do you have the ability to save everyone from those strange guys from earlier? Nope. Then you should at least run away.”
“….”
“Don’t worry.”
He continued.
“I won’t blame you either.”
At this point, it seems like the companions also understood what I was saying.
“….”
He was talking about what happened when he was running away from the spider legs just now.
Director Kang, who was in a state of panic, was unable to look around and almost fell behind the railing, and employee Kwon, who was nearby, pretended not to notice and ran away.
Immediately after, Lee Jae-heon rescued them, but in the meantime, the rest of the party had fled, leaving them behind.
There was so much urgency at the time that there was no time to think about it later, and the ethical conditions could not have been brought to mind because of the relief of having survived.
If I had left it like this, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it until I went out to the park.
But by then it will be too late. If people are left alone, they will think of thousands of thoughts, and unless they say them out loud, people around them will not know what they are thinking.
There is no harm in resolving it quickly.
Lee Jae-heon had no intention of dragging his feet through this small crack and watching the battle unfold.
‘I can’t afford that.’
When I leave work, the sun is about to set.
At that time, you would be in a hurry to survive, so in order to get your mind back on track, you had to do it now, when you had the most time.
Jaeheon Lee leaned back on the sofa and blinked slowly.
“Kang Min-ah, if you don’t say something now, I won’t have time to bring it up.”
“…Uh….”
“Just because I don’t hold a grudge doesn’t mean Kang Min-ah can’t do the same. Think about it carefully. It must have been scary. Later on, you will feel resentful. “That’s how distrust arises.”
He recalled the contents of the novel.
Unlike now, which Lee Jae-heon has somehow managed to resolve, in the novel, Manager Kang Min-ah is dead, and everyone in the group learns this when she leaves the company.
Since this is the first time someone has died since coming to the other side of the world, the group is mentally broken.
Not only that, once when Employee Kwon feels that he contributed to Director Kang’s death by letting go of her hand, the other party members strangely dislike Employee Kwon, which lowers his overall mental strength once again.
Because Director Kang was very happy with Employee Kwon because they were of the same sex, the atmosphere became even colder, and emotions that could not be helped if they were born as humans spread between them.
It seems that when a monster appears in the park, they cannot cooperate properly and Employee Kwon loses his mind and acts like he is giving up his life.
The guilt he must have felt when he remembered that Chief Kang died because he had let go of his hand.
Lee Jae-heon thought while pressing the temple of his throbbing head.
‘Actually, letting go is a wise decision.’
Director Kang was a woman of average physical condition, and Employee Kwon was shorter than her.
Even if you keep holding hands, you will either fall together or be killed by the monster that follows you.
In that case, it would have been much more efficient to run away first, at least instinctively.
However, as I continued to say, not all people in this world could have the same thoughts as Lee Jae-heon, who was mentally ill, and the group, who were nothing more or less than chicks, just had a mental breakdown.
It is not a crime not to have become mentally ill beforehand.
In the end, the only people among the employees who survived the park were the main character and Lee Jae-heon.
“You may have thought it was okay until now because it didn’t feel realistic, but it won’t be the case later. “If we were to immediately return to the company we knew, would Kang Min-ah be confident in seeing these people’s faces like before?”
“….”
“The way I see it, the only time is now. Get angry or cry. Anyway, let’s end what happened earlier here and let’s go.”
After saying those words, Chief Kang began to cry.
‘Director Lee Jae-heon’ didn’t know, but from what he remembered, Director Kang tended to cry a lot.
He usually cries in the bathroom after being broken up by the old manager and gets embarrassed when he runs into other employees.
That’s what the main character described.
Considering that description, the current reaction was quite exceptional.
He asked how he could abandon me and hit Employee Kwon next to him with a weak fist, and Employee Kwon also apologized in tears.
Intern Noh Yeon-seok was also crying, probably infected by the two people’s tears.
As expected, the main character just observed Lee Jae-heon with his pitch-black eyes.
I think they’re just thinking, ‘What are you planning?’ But then you take care of the kids’ mentality.
Lee Jae-heon, who watched the entire series of processes above, had only one thought.
‘I’m craving a cigarette.’
To be more precise, I was drawn to the thick nicotine.
To be honest, what Jaeheon Lee looks like now is a kind of collapse of the setting.
At least the main character had some non-story conversations over the weekend, but the other employees didn’t.
The sudden change in the old manager would have felt improbable.
But to be honest, Lee Jae-heon didn’t like this role either.
‘You grown bastards should take care of your mentality, damn it.’
He tried to calm his rumbling stomach.
I don’t know why the term self-management exists for no reason. The black adults are dragging their feet.
The most representative statement from an old man is ‘That was back in my day’, and if you look at it that way, Lee Jae-heon was truly a perfect old man.
No, when I was in my past life, assholes who couldn’t even take care of their mentality were literally treated as assholes.
But this world, to be exact, the original world was overly peaceful and idealistic.
Of course, people talk about Hell Joseon and all that, but compared to her previous life, she can truly be called a fairy.
It was a hassle to have to take care of the chicks one by one, but there was no way that those who lived only in such a soft world could come to the other side and take care of their sanity.
However, Lee Jae-heon needed to manage the mental strength of these chicks for survival, so he went to the trouble of causing the collapse of the setting to console their mental strength.
To begin with, he doesn’t seem to feel awkward at all because he has often behaved in a way that makes him feel at odds with the old manager.
Instead of the precarious atmosphere from before, a rather stable air hovered among the group, as if it was worthwhile to live a life of saintliness, even using an unusually soft tone of voice.
Jaeheon Lee confirmed it and muttered inwardly.
‘Damn, I must have burned all the calories.’
There would be a lot of calories burned in the future, and I even shed tears, so I was really looking forward to the future that was not even close.
However, it wasn’t something Jaeheon Lee could say.
In that situation, telling him not to cry would have had the opposite effect, and if he had increased his mental strength in exchange for this much calories, it would have been a good deal.
He, who is struggling with survival, can only hope that the day will come when these chicks will not waste their emotions for no reason.
Instead of saying something harsh, the old manager spoke to the main character who was staring at him as if observing the situation.
“Mr. Jeong In-ho.”
“…yes.”
“Do you have any snacks from the bathroom?”
“yes.”
“Let’s eat that and get moving.”
There was nothing good about the break being too long.
It’s not that there wasn’t, there was a mountain of work to do now. Anyway, while I was searching through the maze to get out of the office, I was suddenly struck by lightning.
Still, there was something marked with a pen before the chase just now, so you can refer to it, but as a result, the emergency exit was not found.
Just going around the maze again, going down the stairs, and even leaving the office would have drained an enormous amount of energy.
Moreover, the underworld becomes more dangerous as the day gets darker.
The main character in the story guessed that it might be because the evening is usually the time when people’s thoughts deepen, but immediate survival was the issue, let alone the reason.
There was nothing good about a delayed escape.
The main character, who had been handing out small chocolate bars one by one according to his words, opened his mouth when he saw Lee Jae-heon pouring them all in one bite.
“By the way, Manager.”
“What is it?”
“Your personality has changed a lot.”
“…I’m not stupid enough to act like a brat even when I’m on the verge of death.”
“Isn’t that your original personality?”
Lee Jae-heon met his gaze with pitch-black eyes.
Perhaps it was my last remaining conscience, but the voice was so loud that the other party members could not hear it, but it was at a level that could be heard if you made up your mind to listen.
Still, the main character’s face had not changed from when we met this morning.
Lee Jae-heon, who was looking at the face of the crazy man who pretended to be shameless and relaxed, couldn’t bear it any longer and let out a laugh.
A mocking breath escaped out.
“well.”
“….”
“I don’t know either.”
Anyway, you disgusting bastard.
He was such an annoyingly obvious guy.
* * *
To be honest, yes. I expected it.
‘Why not postpone it for a day or two?’
They were bait that was thrown out loud in the first place, and the main character just got caught up in it.
In fact, everyone in the party other than the main character was completely convinced.
The manager of a department had fewer personal conversations with his subordinates than expected, and most of them were work-related.
It seemed like he roughly understood that a bad boss doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a bad person.
However, the main character’s specialty was observation and analysis.
Just as he defined ‘Manager Lee Jae-heon’ as a villain, the protagonist already knew his true nature.
Manager Kkondae was a bad person both privately and publicly. At least that’s how the main character was defined.
But why? On the weekend, he saved a stranger’s child even when he was injured, and when it was most urgent, it was the old manager who stepped in first.
He behaved much more sacrificially than other people whom the protagonist defined as good people, and even got hurt, but he never said a word of complaint.
Then, of course, you will begin to doubt your own justice.
‘Was my judgment wrong?’
Yes, you are wrong.
‘Then is Manager Lee Jae-heon a good person?’
Probably not.
‘Did he voluntarily save people?’
I saved it voluntarily.
In other words, Director Lee Jae-heon is ‘a person who is not good, but knows the value of life and knows how to protect it.’
In that case, the ‘not good’ point in the front doesn’t feel very important as it is overshadowed by the proposition in the back.
Of course, the annoying things that Director Lee Jae-heon has shown so far are not going anywhere, but due to the special environment of the behind-the-scenes world, they no longer have as much impact as before.
At least this was a crazy town where previous common sense did not apply.
What is important in this place is survival and life, and at least so far, Director Lee Jae-heon has protected them all.
Even if it were real, it was an action that would make people see again, so it was nothing more than an action in the other world.
However, there were many things that Director Lee Jae-heon did not like in solidifying a completely new definition.
‘Why are you used to pain? ‘Why don’t we take the wound seriously?’
‘I used to react sensitively to even the smallest wound, but now why am I so calm?’
‘Why does he look so good at fighting?’
The most realistic thing I can think of is an illegal job.
Although I have never seen the main character in person, if he is related to the criminals that appear in other dramas or movies, the above questions can generally be resolved.
But Director Lee Jae-heon had no reason to do so.
He was a parachute given directly by his superiors, and his family also said he was a man with a golden spoon. Of course, I may have been involved because I was interested in the behind-the-scenes world, but there was no reason to waste my body and do something illegal. If I had been treated better, wouldn’t I have received it?
I’ll say it again, Director Lee Jae-heon was able to eat and live well just in this situation.
If so, the question comes back to the beginning and no other realistic options come to mind.
In the end, the only thing the main character could figure out was that the image of the old manager that had been shown so far was an act.
That’s why I use the only proposition I have figured out as a weapon to attack.
“Your personality has changed a lot.”
“…I’m not stupid enough to act like a brat even when I’m on the verge of death.”
Director Lee Jae-heon hesitated, but was not shaken.
If everything up until now had been all acting, it was a calmness that could have been seen and an excuse that was appropriate for the situation.
The protagonist, who did not back down, took a step forward.
“Isn’t that your original personality?”
“well.”
Manager Lee Jae-heon gave a vague answer.
“I don’t know either.”
“….”
Or tacitly affirmed.
Unless the main character suddenly became an asshole, there was no way they would have been unaware of each other’s two sides.
Just like Jeong In-ho, who hides another face behind his sincere and good-natured face, Lee Jae-heon, who hides another face behind the appearance of an old man, is also a similar type of person.
This has been proven by our actions so far.
Although they didn’t say it openly, they knew that each other had dark intentions, and they realized that it could make good business sense.
Judging by the fact that the other party members ran away from the spider legs earlier, they were rather happy about it.
Therefore, Jae-Heon Lee would also have judged that there was no need to deny the truth to the point of exhaustion if his opponent was In-Ho Jeong.
After all, they’re both the same kid.
Nothing more was needed.
“…Will you stand at the front?”
“Our intern did a good job earlier, so this time Assistant Manager Jeong will stand last. “Go grab Monkey Spanner or something.”
“Of course.”
The main character liked good people, but he didn’t think too badly of people who were not good but did good things.
If Jaeheon Lee were to analyze it based on the novel, it was probably like that.
In-ho Jeong doesn’t know why Director Jae-heon Lee has been acting like an old guy all this time. He doesn’t know why he’s used to pain or why he’s good at fighting.
I don’t know what Lee Jae-heon’s intentions were in saving people and comforting their spirits, but at least he was trying to save his current companions somehow.
The protagonist couldn’t have needed more than that.
No matter how much he was the main character of one worldview, Jung In-ho was also a human being, and if Director Lee Jae-heon wasn’t there, I would have felt that I would have taken on that role.
He may not know it later, but right now, Lee Jae-heon was someone he needed.
And Lee Jae-heon had to take advantage of the time when the protagonist’s suspicion and distrust had weakened to build a relationship of trust.
“….”
“Chief?”
“…let’s go.”
Of course I felt dirty.
