Episode 80
“…Uh…”
I couldn’t think straight for a moment.
I was suffocated as if my throat was being strangled by someone, and my vocal cords were crushed so I couldn’t speak. The fingertips holding the monkey wrench, which had suddenly become lukewarm, lost strength and each and every word of it began to tremble.
He felt afraid of the being in front of him.
“…Boss.”
The other person blinked at the unsightly trembling voice.
“It’s too much to do alone. “Because it’s dangerous.”
“….”
“We have to move together….”
“….”
“….”
No more words came out.
‘…It’s dangerous to go alone?’
I don’t know if this makes sense.
So actually… I guess that person is more dangerous than all the monsters in the park. It might not be a being worth protecting like the one I saw earlier. Isn’t it a monster?
The gazes that met each other in silence seemed heavy yet meaningless and light, and their contradictory focus stared at Jeong In-ho without moving. He felt an inexplicable sense of anxiety as he saw that round, empty gaze reaching for me.
The standing posture and the distorted gaze. The eyes he looks at and the head he turns are the blood he sheds. The elongated figure standing in front of the flames and shadows under the ink-smeared sky. I felt so uncomfortable that I couldn’t even call myself human.
“….”
But
Jeong In-ho hated losing.
I forced myself to open my mouth and let out my voice.
“…You must move together.”
“….”
“It seems like the manager has taken care of all the monsters around here, but it’s difficult. I’m sure the rest of the group will chase after the others who ran away. “If you leave alone, you will have problems.”
It wasn’t a very convincing voice, but at least it was better than before. Even though I spoke through gritted teeth, I didn’t commit the foolish act of stopping in the middle of what I wanted to say.
“I don’t know why you keep acting like this, but…”
It wasn’t that I couldn’t guess, but I made an effort to continue speaking naturally.
“Come to your senses, Manager.”
“….”
“We also want to worry in a normal way.”
I thought I had at least that level of qualification.
“…I’m worried.”
Lee Jae-heon blinked at Jeong In-ho’s words.
The way he looked at me, as if he was very puzzled, suddenly had a liveliness that had not been there before, and then died again. As Jeong In-ho stopped breathing due to the strange phenomenon that occurred in a very short period of time, Lee Jae-heon rolled his eyes.
Eventually it opened its mouth.
“…Mr. Jeong In-ho.”
“…yes.”
“Why are you angry?”
“….”
“I just asked….”
“Manager.”
“Ah… Okay, let’s do that. OK.”
The tone of speech changes back and forth and the gaze turns like a glass bead.
He immediately changed his complexion and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
“I’m not crazy.”
“Probably not.”
“I’m pretty sane. “It’s true, it doesn’t hurt that much.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Didn’t you just wake up coughing up blood?”
“I’m just sorry I was tired.”
“Please answer properly.”
“Is it true? I’ve come to my senses. “Anyway, I have to go find my companions.”
He handed me the torch he was holding in his hand.
“It’s made from the oil saved when grilling fish, so it should be useful. Assistant Manager Jeong takes it.”
“…Boss.”
“But I think I’ll have to take it a little slower. It’s been a while since I moved, so I’m tired and bleeding a lot… If you go first, I’ll follow you. how is it?”
“Boss.”
“Anyway, if we move together in this state, it will actually be a hassle….”
“Please listen to what the manager says.”
“….”
“What’s the problem?”
This was a question I wanted to ask a while ago.
“Why are you doing that?”
What was the problem that led to the current situation?
If Lee Jae-heon’s condition had been normal, something like this couldn’t have happened. In other words, he was in an abnormal state, and as a result, a big rift arose between the group, which had gradually diverged. I wasn’t even sure where or how they had escaped or what to do now. Also, all of this happened after Director Lee Jae-heon was captured by the green algae monster.
However, he was not the type of person to tell others about his ideals. This was because he was a great man who did not trust others and did not regard people as human beings.
Something must have happened to the green algae monster to end up in this state.
He must be turning into a monster.
“So now…”
I also couldn’t find out anything.
Because they won’t tell you.
“I’m doing this because I feel like I’m losing my mind right now.”
“….”
“You’re doing this because you don’t trust yourself because you might end up in danger if you go together.”
“I always believe in myself.”
“Is there anyone in this world whom you believe?”
“….”
Lee Jae-heon didn’t answer, and that was enough. Jeong In-ho was able to clearly understand the positivity hidden in the other person’s silence.
“Why is that?”
But I couldn’t understand.
“What the hell… why did it happen like that?”
“….”
“Something happened.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Why won’t you tell me…? Can’t you tell us? “Where does it hurt, what do I suspect, what should I do…”
“It’s so cumbersome.”
“I’m just saying.”
Gentle anger boiled over the fear that remained like a scar.
“Is it that hard?”
The group gathered now was not a group of very evil people.
It was just ordinary. In the previous world where they were not too good but not too bad, they were people who lived in society without any problems. They also knew how to be grateful to those who helped them and gave them grace, and how to feel sad about their pain.
But Jaeheon Lee always tried to handle everything on his own. It seemed convenient to us at first glance, so at first we welcomed him standing at the front, but now it has gone beyond that point. One-sided sacrifice always hurt both the person concerned and those around them.
He said Jaeheon Lee just wanted efficiency and we feel guilty about that. Accumulating favors and debts create a sense of debt in proportion. Who can fully welcome sacrifice without even a single agreement?
They were also able to worry, be considerate, and help as much as they wanted.
“I guess it was very difficult to ask you to tell me if you were sick.”
If only he had said so.
“I guess you didn’t understand when I told you to stop hurting yourself, right?”
It would have been better if I had said it was painful and difficult.
If not, you can either make ridiculous statements like before. I want you to sit down, scream, make a fuss, and shout out what you want, making a fuss about something that is nothing.
That was better. At least, ‘Manager Lee Jae-heon’ didn’t blindly burden us with debt.
When the other person blinked his eyes once without saying a word, I suddenly felt anxious.
“Why did you come? “I came because I was worried.”
“….”
“I’m afraid I’ll die alone and without anyone knowing. “I came here because I was afraid that I would never hear any news of the corpse that was left behind after being eaten by a monster and burned.”
“…okay.”
“Please…please suddenly…”
Just like that, the strength left my hands and feet.
“…Please don’t die, Manager.”
I can still hear the sound of glass breaking in my ears.
It was something that could not be helped. In front of me was a person who had been crushed and torn to death, and Jeong In-ho returned to the past without knowing the cause or process, and the person who survived so well is about to die again. It was painful for anyone to have their own secret that they couldn’t even explain to themselves.
There was not a single person who remembered the miserable events of the past that he had experienced, and by recklessly saving someone who should have died, another death was just around the corner. An unknown incident comes. It felt like I was standing with one foot on a sand castle built high with sea water. It would either not be able to withstand its own weight and swallow him up, or the sea water would dry up and scatter to the bottom.
Unbeknownst to me, the whole time of being slaughtered was incredibly unsettling.
Yes,
I admit it.
‘scared.’
The death I encountered in the previous time was imprinted with fear in me.
Chief Kang was the first to see it, and intern Noh Yeon-seok was geometrically thrown into a tree. The death of Director Lee Jae-heon, which he saw immediately afterward, and everything he personally experienced afterward, were remembered as extremely scary events for Jeong In-ho, who had memories of returning to the past.
Still, Kang Min-a and Noh Yeon-seok knew how to save and protect their own bodies, but the crazy guy in front of me didn’t seem to know how to do even that. That was the reason Jeong In-ho ran all the way here.
Instinctively, I drew out anger instead of fear.
“You’re… out of your mind right now. “I’m doing this because I’m out of my mind.”
“….”
“But I thought you could act like a human before, but now you’ve almost become a monster. I don’t know who the monster is. Well, most crazy people don’t look like people.”
“That’s harsh.”
“do you know? “The manager is the most crazy person I’ve ever seen.”
Anger has always been the best means to forget fear, so Jeong In-ho was able to confess his doubts to the person in front of him.
“…Did you even see us as people?”
Jaeheon Lee responded to that.
“No way.”
“….”
“How could I do that?”
* * *
‘I have to say something that makes sense.’
This was a world in a novel.
There is a protagonist who stands at the center of this world, there are extras who die as a device as soon as it starts, and there are third-rate villains who are consumed for simple pleasure.
Jaeheon Lee was already a person who viewed others as tools and means. In the world of his previous life, those were not very strange values, and Lee Jae-heon in his current life also did not have a good personality. Although not a very noticeable garbage, the dogs that are likely to be somewhere were common types of humans.
Before and after realizing my past life. Lee Jae-heon was never the main character, and at the same time he could not even be a resident of this world.
How can I see you as people like that?
“…Then let me ask you one thing too.”
I consciously brought out the jealousy.
I frowned briefly. The lips were gently pulled up and the eyebrows were furrowed and narrowed. For Lee Jae-heon, the feeling of jealousy was a very reasonable concept, so it was a natural process.
Just be very careful not to overdo it.
“Did you see me as a person?”
“…What can I say…”
“I was always in your way.”
“….”
“Stupid, annoying, one-dimensional….”
Such a paper human.
‘Manager Lee Jae-heon’ was simply created for the main character.
My choices were always wrong, and the protagonist’s choices were often wrong but true. I am stupid and you are smart. In the end, even Lee Jae-heon’s death was only used as a moment of pleasure and had no meaning or meaning left behind in the world.
It’s not that the person who looks at him that way is particularly bad. In the end, it was Lee Jae-heon himself who had done such a bad thing, and he deserved the attention and treatment he received because he earned it all on his own. Lee Jae-heon just found the current situation so funny.
So how can I see you as people like me?
“Jung In-ho, I’m asking this because I’m really curious.”
“….”
“Did I look like a person?”
I’ve always been a villain.
“Have I been in your life?”
Because you are the main character.
Because the protagonist’s blood is valuable, and the villain’s blood does not even deserve to leave a trace. In the end, even the blood stains that fell on the floor were cleaned up from where they had been sitting, like grains of desert sand.
“Look at this… I am a person who can be hurt or killed, Jeong In-ho.”
“…That kind of thing….”
“Because it doesn’t mean anything.”
However, Jaeheon Lee had a knack for resignation and giving up. I learned to let go of what I couldn’t have.
“…Even if I die, you guys will forget it right away.”
No reader remembers this type of villain.
Anyway, I am a villain who will be forgotten for a moment of pleasure, and if you are the protagonist who is loved by the world and other beings, that is okay. It’s okay if it disappears without any meaning.
Instead, I will enjoy the wealth and glory that you cannot have.
“So, I will do this much.”
“…don’t do that.”
“I have the ability to do that, and you are weak, so if there is someone who deserves to die in the end and be forgotten in an instant, you should spend that first. “This is efficiency and being an adult.”
“Stop.”
“There’s no need to worry, Jeong In-ho.”
He smiled lightly and shook off the resignation that had appeared on his face.
“I will not die.”
“driving me crazy.”
“I will live as long as I can.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Because you are worth living for.”
That’s how I survived and grew. Someday, I have to protect and embrace Lee Jae-heon. Their group was worth protecting for now.
‘I can’t die anyway.’
Jeong In-ho, who has memories after returning, may not think so, but Lee Jae-heon was eventually brought back to life. Since I couldn’t die anyway, I had to use everything I could.
So there was no problem. I was quite envious and jealous of the main character in front of me and the chick on the cushion, but Lee Jae-heon is much more of an adult than those guys. He was too old to be rolling around on the floor and throwing a tantrum because he wanted things that belonged to children who were only ten years old.
If this job goes well, Jaeheon Lee will be able to occupy a convenient position and will be able to get rid of the lucid dreams that continued to plague his sleep at night. I was able to proceed with the story of this world.
Since everything in the world was on stage, he had nothing to hesitate about.
“Of course I’m crazy, but…”
After all, I’m an actor and
“there’s really no problem.”
Because you are nothing more than a prop.
This time, they will be able to enjoy a perfect play.
“Even if it looks like there’s a problem, it’s not. It doesn’t matter if it looks like it hurts so much that you can’t even use your hands anymore. “I don’t know, but I can only handle what I can handle.”
“….”
“If you just stay still and take care of yourself, I will take care of everything. I hope you know that too.”
“…under.”
“I always do my best to find the best efficiency.”
The protagonist said:
“…Just go out and search.”
So I answered.
“If you need.”
