Episode 85
It was a trap that no one would notice unless they looked at the ground.
Like a trap to catch an animal.
* * *
Lee Jae-heon muttered inwardly as he watched Chief Kang being led helplessly by his hand.
‘Wow.’
No matter the plan or anything, we almost died together.
He approached the students, trying to calm his heart, which felt like it was pounding against his ribs. As if Lee Jae-heon was not the only one who was confused by Director Kang’s sudden behavior, the siblings were looking at them with concern from up on the tree.
The first to speak up was student Park Da-hoon.
“Noona, are you okay… Why are you in such bad shape again…?”
Sigh.
Park Da-young, who tore off her younger brother’s head, let out a small cry.
“sister…! mister!”
“Ah, you really crazy bastard…!”
“Oh, don’t come down. “Stay there.”
Chief Kang, who was being dragged by his hand, was Chief Kang, but no matter how much I thought about it, those Park siblings were also targets of attention. If you think about the fact that even those common brother-and-sister appearances were made up.
Lee Jae-heon looked back at Kang Min-ah and asked.
“Since Director Kang’s day is like this, wouldn’t it be better for Director Kang to go up as well? “I will help you…”
“What is this?”
“…what?”
“Why, why did the manager just a moment ago…”
A trembling voice and a shaking gaze.
The face reflected in the torchlight had a faint scarlet tint, but if it had been under an ordinary fluorescent light, the skin would have clearly turned white. She was very confused.
Lee Jae-heon blinked once and suddenly remembered.
‘…Oh right.’
Originally, traps like this were not easy to come across in this world.
It felt quite pathetic as it was a world where servants who could not get used to pain lived, but looking at Director Kang’s cold hands, it seemed like it was not something to be taken lightly. To these chicks, it almost feels like they’ve seen a ghost.
Lee Jae-heon tried to shake off his frustration and put on the same calm expression he had set before. The face seen in front of the main character, the doctor, and Detective Hong Gyeong-jun.
It is now time to inform them of my settings.
“…Chief Kang.”
“Yes, manager.”
“I’ll tell you in advance, it’s not a ghost or anything.”
“….”
Perhaps because of the change in expression and tone, those listening to him froze for a moment, but Lee Jae-heon acted as if he did not even notice such a thing. Try to look as distracted as possible.
“It’s not a ghost… it’s similar to the monsters we’ve seen so far.”
“…a monster.”
“Maybe Kang Min-ah saw me, but I think she was briefly possessed by a monster.”
After a pause, he said,
“…because there are monsters like that.”
It was again.
‘I need to hint that I’m already possessed.’
It could also be said to be a kind of rice cake.
The protagonist or the doctor would have already known that his condition was to some extent related to the green algae monster. Of course, anyone can make this level of inference, but if he was in a state of reduced mental power like he was now, he would not have been able to even make such a basic inference.
So, he should have made a meaningful appearance by now. Even if you don’t feel strange right now, later, when you have more time, you can think, ‘Oh, that’s why it was like that.’
‘If you just act a little dazed about the honorifics you haven’t used much lately…’
Wouldn’t you be able to feel at least some change?
And the way Lee Jae-heon showed them was not simply to let them know that he was suffering from a medical condition. It was finally time to tell Lee Jae-heon the identity of the sense of discomfort he had been feeling.
Of course, I couldn’t say it out loud, but I could tell you indirectly.
“It’s a flower field over there. “I heard before that there was a flower field on the outskirts of the park, and there were actually a lot of flowers.”
“I… have heard that too. “Do those lovers often go together…?”
“I don’t know that much, but it seems certain that the flower garden was a transformed place.”
Jaeheon Lee openly revealed his knowledge.
He didn’t find it out on his own, but the main character, Jeong In-ho, obtained it by burning his entire body, but since he vaguely remembers the contents of the novel, there was no problem in explaining it.
“Of course, it wasn’t that steep like a cliff in the past.”
Jaeheon Lee said that and looked at the cliff not far away.
All I could see was a glimpse while catching Chief Kang, but he roughly guessed that the depth was about the 5th floor of an apartment building. If you were unlucky to fall, you would die, and if you were lucky, you would end up broken and broken.
The bottom of the cliff was flat and oval-shaped, like an old park, and the colorful flowers that filled it were enough to dazzle the eyes. If such a terrain existed in the real city center, it would have become a famous tourist destination.
But this is a hidden world, and a centipede monster exists within it.
“…I guess he was possessed by the monster inside.”
It swallowed the person whole.
‘Actually, it’s not that monster’s role to possess survivors.’
Lee Jae-heon deliberately said, ‘It seems like a monster has possessed you,’ to relate it to his setting, but in reality, that was not the case. It was the beautiful flowers, not the monsters, that brought the survivors and made them fall off the cliff.
Flowers that emit transparent light like stained glass.
‘Did you say that if you drink the blood of a fallen survivor, it will shine even more?’
However, he thought he had seen those shiny things somewhere before.
Big monsters filled the inside of the window. A beautiful, thin petal full of teeth instead of pistils and stamens walked up to chew and devour the side of a man…
probably a flower shop.
“….”
…Well.
‘I don’t really remember.’
It was difficult to remember exactly where I saw it because I didn’t have the mental and physical space to do so. For now, things seemed to be fine as is. It seemed like that.
After stopping talking for a moment and just looking at the cliff, Chief Kang, who, as expected, had run out of patience, spoke first. It was evidence that he recognized Lee Jae-heon’s dazed appearance.
“Is there a monster over there too?”
“…there will be. “Wherever there are traps like this, there are usually monsters.”
“….”
“I was surprised that you ran to a place like that, calling me, but I was actually surprised that Kang Min-ah came all the way here.”
He continued speaking in his characteristic mechanical tone.
“I expected you wouldn’t have gone far.”
And this was half sincere.
‘Did I overestimate him?’
Lee Jae-heon thought that no matter how much Kang Min-ah ran, she would still be wandering around the middle of the park, but when she got there in person, that wasn’t the case. At least they ran away leaving no trace and came back in time. If they weren’t chicks, they would have been in quite a bit of trouble.
First of all, starting with the unplanned death of Director Kang, there was no way the other party members would have been mentally healthy in that case. Moreover, the situation has become too big to even touch the flower garden when all the work has not been completed.
‘In conclusion, I’m glad I arrived before I fell into a trap.’
Chief Kang, who had been quietly listening to Lee Jae-heon, pursed his lips a few times and opened his mouth.
“Then… we have reached the outskirts of the park.”
“Thanks to you, I was late in finding it.”
“Uh…”
she asked after hesitating a couple of times.
“How did you come here…?”
“….”
Now it seemed like his head was slowly turning.
‘…Give me time, and you’ll even realize that I’m possessed by the green algae monster.’
Of course, that’s not true, it’s just a simple setting.
Hiding his happy smile on the inside, Jaeheon Lee tried to maintain a tired and stiff expression on the outside of his face. It seemed like the chick still had something she wanted to say, so it was polite for an adult to wait.
As expected, Chief Kang muttered, unable to hide his trembling eyes.
“We… we don’t know the way here either. “I was lost because I didn’t know.”
“….”
“The manager clearly said he didn’t know much about the park.”
“I do not know.”
“But how did we find you? No, no, more than that…”
A shaky breath escapes.
“…Why do you know that?”
Try reincarnating just one more time, you chick.
Lee Jae-heon made a remark that did not fit the atmosphere, but his expression remained the same. I can’t even die, so I’m rolling around in the mud. Of course, I wouldn’t be annoyed if I saw a chick with fluffy fur.
Actually, the only reason I knew information about this world was because of the novels I read in my previous life, so Jaeheon Lee, who didn’t actually run, also had nothing to say. Of course, I won’t say that out loud.
“Why why… why is there a monster… like that? Why do you know that…?”
“….”
“I shouldn’t know that… right? no?”
Director Jae-Heon Lee, whom Director Kang knew, was not in a very different situation from the others. If anything, he would have been more dissatisfied with his wealthy background, but even so, Lee Jae-heon was releasing more than a certain level of knowledge.
Jaeheon Lee responded while maintaining his emotions as he saw Manager Kang Minah feeling uncomfortable and confused by the contradiction of the setting.
“…It just seemed like it.”
“…aha?”
“And I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
He blinked once and continued speaking.
“By the way, Kang Min-ah.”
“….”
“Can we talk about this a little later?”
“Uh…”
“Still, if you’re curious… you can ask Assistant Manager Jeong later. Or when everyone gathers.”
Of course, when that time comes, I won’t feel like talking about it like this.
After saying that, Lee Jae-heon completely changed his face to his usual tone and expression. I felt Director Kang, who was in front of me, startled by the rapid change, but he didn’t bother to stop talking.
A low voice rang out in the narrow space barely illuminated by a torch.
“I met Assistant Manager Jeong before coming here. “Employee Kwon and I were running towards the doctor… but as far as I know, our intern ran away first.”
“….”
“I thought Yeonseok would be here, but I guess not?”
The tiredness that he couldn’t hide was evident in those words.
‘Ah, it’s a reset angle.’
The best option I could think of right now was to hope that the protagonist would handle things well.
In fact, there was a high possibility that things would work out better after resetting, but dying was tiring. It would have been nice if the plan had been completed well without anyone dying.
Only then did Chief Kang understand Lee Jae-heon’s words and opened his mouth, looking pale.
“… haven’t you seen Yeon-seok?”
“I started last to beat those four-legged monsters.”
“Oh no, why don’t you do it alone? Yeonseok….”
“So, I’ll look for it and come back.”
“…yes?”
I answered Chief Kang’s question.
“If you stay somewhere, you can find me right away.”
These were not empty words.
It wasn’t that difficult to just find and follow the traces left by the chicks, and if he were still alive, intern Noh Yeon-seok would not have panicked and run like Chief Kang due to his personality. If it was hiding somewhere, it could be found even before the sun came up.
Or maybe he was taken away by an unknown monster.
‘Plus, I need to see how the group of survivors on the other side moves.’
It may be true that they have become one team as expected.
As the probability of reset increased, the information that became more important was about other groups of survivors. Considering Detective Hong Gyeong-jun’s personality, there was no way he would sit still in this chaos, so he had to look at it and devise the necessary route.
However, Director Kang, who did not know Lee Jae-heon’s true intentions, slowly shook his head.
“Oh no… no, Manager.”
“Why can’t it be done? “That’s all abysmal?”
“Don’t change your mind. Don’t act like it’s light, really…!”
“….”
‘Lee Jae-heon’, who suddenly became a light man, felt sadness in silence. My personality changed a bit after remembering my past life, but my previous personality still hasn’t disappeared.
For a moment, he forgot the fatigue that had been hidden on his face and made a dumb expression.
“Oh no… Why did Chief Kang talk to me like that…”
“I told you not to act! “Don’t do that, please!”
“….”
Hey, this wasn’t an act….
‘Is this the mysterious first loss or something?’
Chief Kang, who didn’t know Lee Jae-heon’s inside jokes, seemed to be quite angry and almost grabbed him by the collar and shook him. To be precise, I grabbed the best part of the solar plexus, but in terms of feeling, it was no better than the collar area.
“Yeonseok is also a grown adult. I can handle it on my own. “We can all do well!”
“… Chief Kang, calm down first….”
“Why do you keep looking at us like that? Why do you treat me like that? Manager, do you think we’ll all die if we don’t bleed for even a day? Yes? Are we that pathetic?!”
“No….”
Lee Jae-heon, who had hit the nail on the head, was unable to continue his words, and Kang Min-ah burst into tears with a bright red face, wondering how he interpreted it.
“…I’m really grateful and sorry for helping us, but…” “
…”
“And what if you die…?”
I can hear the sound of nose blindness.
“To the manager. I don’t know what happened… I don’t know why you’re like that, or even if you know why…” “
…Chief Kang.”
“Oh, is it okay if I don’t die? “Is it okay if the manager doesn’t die because of us?”
“How dare I die….”
“Don’t die. I really feel like I’m going to die like this.”
“….”
I guess I could open a fortune telling shop.
‘Isn’t this chick actually a chick…?’
Lee Jae-heon, who actually died and came back to life once, was once again speechless. They say it’s scarier when people who aren’t usually angry get angry, but this went beyond that point and pricked my conscience like I never had before. The words you say are so sharp.
But the timing wasn’t very good to back down.
‘Rather, it’s an opportunity.’
If he had intended to earn your affectionate trust, he would have ended it with a touching hug at this point, but life isn’t that easy, chick.
‘Besides… it looks like you already have some idea of the setting.’
I just said, ‘I don’t even know what happened.’
The sentence itself means that you don’t know, but if you look at it with the words ‘I don’t know why or why I know that’, it roughly means that I have figured it out. Director Kang had already instinctively understood and accepted, to some extent, the setup that Lee Jae-heon had revealed to Jeong In-ho and the doctor.
Then, the first layer of ground food had been absorbed to some extent, and the Park siblings, who were listening to the story on top of the tree, must have understood the situation with their characteristic quick sense… ‘It will only be a matter of time before the first setting is resolved
.’
I thought it would be most appropriate when the weather was bright and everyone was gathered. Now, I felt like I could comfortably proceed with the setting of ‘being possessed by a green algae monster and becoming an enemy’.
Jaeheon Lee laughed and Minah Kang said.
“Do not go.”
I answered that.
“Chief Kang does what Chief Kang can do.”
“….”
“I should do what I can, shouldn’t I?”
“…Boss.”
“say it.”
“sorry.”
“….”
She was still crying.
“sorry….”
