Episode 76
To be honest, it was true that the level of difficulty became easier because Lee Jae-heon recalled his past life.
Of course, if the party found out about his thoughts, they would probably be grabbed by the collar. It’s hard to say, but how dare you put a grade on the pain that people experience.
‘I guess it’s almost like throwing a tantrum right in front of someone who has suffered a family injury.’
However, it was true that the difficulty level became easier. If you die, you can return, so as long as Lee Jae-heon himself does not give up, there is no chance of anyone dying or being left behind.
Compared to the story in the novel where he ate bugs and chewed food, the food he ate was okay and he didn’t become tattered like Lee Jae-heon. In the underworld, where the difficulty level increases in proportion to the survivor’s stress index, this situation should have been considered quite comfortable.
“This is all baked, right?”
“It seems like that, but…”
“It was white until it was baked, so why did it suddenly become colorful?”
Moreover, the most important thing was the feeling of relief that there was someone in the group who was prepared to deal with this world.
‘At least as long as Director Lee Jae-heon is there, they can survive no matter where a monster appears…’
To be honest, they had a confidence that I don’t know where it came from.
“…If you’re really worried, should I eat it first?”
“I’ll give it a try.”
“One of my bucket list items was eating poisonous mushrooms.”
“Ignoring the manager?”
However, perhaps because of that, there were almost no similarities between the contents of the novel and the current situation, except for the larger context. It was natural that Lee Jae-heon was active in a setting different from the original novel.
One such noticeable change was the mental state of the main characters.
‘They’re all crazy people who do one thing at a time, but they’re in pretty good shape now.’
Originally, the main character’s party consisted of the Park siblings, assistant manager Jeong In-ho, president Yoon Garam, and a grandmother. To be honest, I had to say that none of them were sane.
Among the group of protagonists, the leader, the protagonist, was the most wary, and President Garam Yoon, who joined the group last, was a very unique psychopath. At least that’s what Lee Jae-heon, from his previous life, who read the story of this world to the end, thinks.
She takes pleasure in fire magic.
‘Did you say you feel pleasure when you see something burning?’
It’s a very unique taste.
Unlike Director Kang and Intern Noh Yeon-seok, who were only extras, President Yoon was the main character, so Lee Jae-heon knew a little about her past and nature. Although it has never been revealed openly, it has been described several times in the story.
He briefly glanced at the other person who was eating the flesh of a well-cooked fish.
“…It’s unexpectedly delicious, although it tastes a little earthy.”
“It feels like eating ordinary freshwater fish.”
“I guess there was still a lot of fat. “When I looked at the oil in the can,
it seemed like there was a lot of oil…” They looked quite harmonious.
Although his movements were a bit dejected and slow, President Yoon’s condition seemed to be not bad. Compared to just now, my mental power was so low that I screamed carelessly, forgetting how dangerous the other side of the world was.
Jaeheon Lee remembered her trying hard to hide her smile by covering her mouth, and he munched on the fish meat again.
‘…His nature isn’t bad.’
Just before, he used harsh words such as crazy and mentally ill, but that does not mean that CEO Yoon Garam is a crazy arsonist who does not know how to control himself.
Rather, President Garam Yoon’s personality was better than average.
“I’m giving this to the kids. Sometimes I’m really hungry…”
“That would be nice. “Guys, let’s eat this for you.”
“Uh uh. Is that okay?”
“You can just catch the fish again. “Don’t worry, eat a lot.”
It’s a story that only appears late in the novel, but he said that he was sending monthly donations to various orphanages, and at least if there was someone in trouble in front of him, he would think about it twice and then help them right away. Although he wasn’t as good as police officer Kim Yeon-woo, he was a good person.
But the pleasure she instinctively feels is different.
‘If you could control it with reason in the first place, you wouldn’t call it pleasure.’
Garam Yoon feels ecstatic as he watches it burn. When I was very young, I started playing by lighting candles, but as time went by, I realized that my tastes were strange.
Well, if you feel pleasure in seeing a living person burning, rather than something other than food or a doll, would you be anything more than a psychopath? When President Yoon was in middle school, he felt both joy and embarrassment while watching the fire scene on the news being broadcast in real time. I knew something was wrong.
As a result, it meant that President Garam Yoon himself was trying to control himself.
‘I’ve never hurt anyone.’
That is, until you come to the other side.
‘The distortion starts from the flower shop.’
After seeing her beloved doctor die before her eyes, she tells the story much later in the novel. He confessed that he felt as if he had killed him.
But what President Yoon was really thinking at that time was….
[It would have been better if he had died in fire.]
“….”
“Manager, would you like some more of this?”
“…Why don’t you just eat Gwon?”
Lee Jae-heon, who roughly declined the friendly invitation, continued his thoughts.
‘At this point, isn’t it even more surprising that I lived like a normal person before?’
And President Yoon in the novel probably had similar thoughts.
That must have been why I felt a sense of shame. I felt guilty. This is the reason why she, who cries but does everything she has to do, is unable to come to her senses in the beginning of the story and becomes a half-dead person.
It was similar even in the present rather than the novel. When Lee Jae-heon first visited the flower shop, CEO Yoon Gar-ram said right after he found Dr. Ha Seong-yoon. I looked at him, who had just come back from death, with tear-stained eyes.
-sorry.
With a trembling voice and shaking eyes.
Unable to hold back her sobs, she apologized to Dr. Ha Seong-yoon.
I don’t know why President Yoon, who was quite capable, couldn’t save him at the time. Was it really his first time coming to the other side of the world and his body was frozen, or was he hiding alone, wishing for something different? Just because you read a novel doesn’t mean you know everything about this world.
So, I think Lee Jae-heon, who has to lead President Yoon to the end, should think a little more about what the ‘I’m sorry’ she said at the flower shop was aimed at.
What she is thinking in real life, not in fiction.
“…I’m a little tired so I think I should sleep first.”
Doctor Ha Seong-yoon reacted to Lee Jae-heon’s words.
“Then, let’s hold your hands one more time before you go to sleep. “I’m going to wipe what I need to clean, and I’m probably going to get blisters, but…”
“Aren’t you eating any more?”
“A doctor who comfortably eats while leaving a dying patient is not a doctor, sir.”
“Someone said he was dying…”
“So did you cough up blood? It wasn’t even hemoptysis?”
“….”
At that moment, I was at a loss for words.
It wasn’t because I was particularly sorry or had a prick of conscience, but because I was worried the moment I heard it.
‘…I need to solve this problem, but I can’t figure out the timing.’
But it’s a bit difficult to say right away.
Although the action consistently foreshadows the green algae monster, not everything is explained. I was worried about when to bring up the story in a way that would seem natural and plausible.
Leaving him like that, the protagonist quietly intervened.
“What is hemoptysis and what is hematemesis? “It seems like the manager knows the difference.”
“Oh, hemoptysis…”
Doctor Ha Seong-yoon stopped answering and turned his head to look at Lee Jae-heon.
“…I guess so.”
“what.”
“You clearly know what hemoptysis and hematemesis are. Why do you know, sir?”
“If I keep going like this, I’ll be left feeling unfair. I don’t give Kusari to a decent person just because he knows a few things. “It’s all because I’m smart.”
“Honestly, I can’t say I’m fine….”
“Shut up and get rid of those disgusting eyes, Assistant Manager Jeong.”
Jeong In-ho nodded, although I don’t know if he had no intention of probing further or if he just figured it out on his own. Doctor Ha Seong-yoon was in a similar situation.
He continued talking while treating Jaeheon Lee’s hand.
“To put it simply, blood coming out when coughing is hemoptysis. Blood coming out when vomiting is hemoptysis.”
In the case of hemoptysis, the source of blood is the bronchial tubes or lungs, and in the case of hematemesis, the source is most often the esophagus or stomach. The former has the characteristic of being bright red with bubbles mixed in, while the latter has the characteristic of being dark red.
“In fact, in Korea, very few patients show hemoptysis. “It’s hard to see unless you’re in a very large hospital… and even if only a small amount of hemoptysis occurs, it’s usually a serious illness.”
“….”
“Around 100ml to 600ml is considered massive hemoptysis, and in this case, 2 to 5 out of 10 people die. It may not be much different in other places, but the lungs are an organ so delicate that if the blood that bursts out is handled incorrectly, it can be absorbed into the alveoli or coagulate in the airway, leading to death from suffocation…” “Chief?
”
In the end, Assistant Manager Jeong In-ho, who could not bear it anymore, looked at him and asked.
“Are you still alive?”
“Why don’t you just say hello to death?”
“Isn’t he already half dead at this rate?”
“I could kill you halfway.”
Please, someone won’t take away that group.
If you look at it positively, it’s a worrying statement, but maybe because the other person is the main character, it really stings. He had a humble face, but I didn’t know how even such a worried expression could be so obnoxious and irritating.
Lee Jae-heon wiped his face and continued speaking.
“No… Isn’t it okay to endure it because it’s worth it?”
“I guess you have a medical license. I know how to do a medical examination on your own.”
“I know my body best. “This is a death flag.”
“You know very well. That’s on the same level as ‘Did you get rid of it?’”
“It’s really going to be hard to make a living.”
It’s funny. Since I was in a real novel, I had to pay attention to these common clichés. It was even more troublesome because the writer was quite fond of clichés.
Even though I said such nonsense, I shook my head.
‘The timing is really bad.’
No matter how poor I was, it wasn’t right now.
It’s true that I was trying to find the right time to talk about the incident where I was dragged away by the green algae monster, but other than that, the situation wasn’t good right now. It won’t be long before monsters attack, so when will I explain everything?
Until now, Jaeheon Lee had not brought up the story of that day as if he was hiding it from the group, and the other members of the group also did not ask about it. I don’t know if it was the chick’s unique consideration or something, but it was like that anyway.
But you’re bringing up such a hidden story now, when it’s hard to get the mood right?
‘This is such a waste.’
I felt like the build-up I had accumulated so far was a waste.
It looks like I’m curious as to why it’s like this, but no matter how much I think about it, I’m not right now. Isn’t this a story that can only be told after at least the two groups of survivors come together and talk to the detective? It wasn’t a secret at all, but in any case, a certain mood had to be created to tell a story that seemed even a little secret.
When Lee Jae-heon hesitated, Dr. Ha Seong-yoon, who was looking at him to see how he accepted it, opened his mouth like a sigh.
“…Yes, but actually, I don’t know.”
“yes?”
“If things were going the way they were supposed to, the manager should have already passed away.”
“No, speak kindly”
“Is the manager dying?!”
“Are you dying?!”
“Are you going to die?!”
After responding to the words of Employee Kwon and Park Da-hoon, who were shaking in shock, the doctor who had been looking at them with quiet eyes opened his mouth. His expression was a little sunken.
Dr. Ha Seong-yoon’s unique, quiet voice came out.
“To be a doctor, there are a lot of things you need to know. “I can make a more accurate diagnosis as I study while experiencing nosebleeds.”
“Yeah…”
“But I’m really not sure anymore. The condition of the blood also changes from time to time, and I thought it might have gotten worse because I was spitting out more blood than last time, but it subsided on its own… If this much blood comes out, I think my lungs are completely damaged, but I’m still alive and breathing….
” ….”
“There is no CT room, stethoscope or anything here. The patient seems to be out of breath, but I don’t know how much his blood pressure is rising or what his oxygen saturation is. They can’t even do a blood test. “Even if we try, all we can do is feel the pulse or look at the before and after conditions and roughly guess, but how helpful is that?”
For some reason, Dr. Ha Seong-yoon, who spoke for a long time, had only a tired expression on his face without a single smile.
“Of course, I am a surgeon, not an internal medicine specialist. It’s something I know because I studied it separately, no. “In the first place, just because we are an internal medicine department, we cannot provide decent medical treatment or treatment in such an environment.”
“…I…”
“What I know best is tearing skin with a clean, sterilized scalpel. Using the tools provided, I suck out blood, secure vision, remove the cause, and sew up the torn skin beautifully… That’s my job. “The only thing that can be done in this environment is simple disinfection and finishing, which even first-year residents know how to do.”
“….”
“…So… yes.”
Doctor Ha Seong-yoon let out a breath, touched his earlobe once, and slowly opened his mouth. Although it was far from cautious, it was a gesture that suited the silence of the other side of the world quite well.
A neat voice rang out in the middle of the campfire.
“I ended up complaining, but this is what I wanted to say.”
“….”
“In this world, the common sense that is so obvious to us does not apply.”
Draw a soft smile
like that .
“Even normal people become assholes.”
He didn’t seem particularly sane.
