Chapter 146

Episode 146

“….”

The protagonist finally caught a worthless third-rate villain.

It was a really stupid choice, but in the end, Lee Jae-heon couldn’t laugh at Jeong In-ho. At least Lee Jae-heon was not in a position to do that.

I didn’t want to be abandoned.

“…I will listen.”

He decided to install another device for his own happiness.

“…If you want….”

“….”

“I won’t forget it either.”

That was enough.

Raising the fallen protagonist is also about preparing for the next time.

* * *

“I heard a scream.”

Jeong In-ho looked back on the memories of that day.

“I don’t know exactly who it was. “But it was clearly a woman’s voice… so I guess I was surprised.”

I still remember it vividly.

I was startled by the woman’s scream and rushed over to find Kang Min-ah lying on the ground and Noh Yeon-seok pinned against a tree. Seeing the unrealistically deformed corpse, In-ho Jeong seemed unable to breathe at that moment.

“The manager was next.”

I also had some hope as I saw footprints that had escaped somewhere.

“It was a stupid idea.”

He was captured by the green monster and was dying.

Director Lee Jae-heon even seemed to have no will to live. The only will left to him was to catch the monster that was sucking his blood, and if I had to add, it would have been to encourage Jung In-ho to go save others. That was the meaning behind the pipe he rolled with his foot.

“…Honestly, it was unfair.”

It wouldn’t have been so miserable if he had just died without saying a word.

“Why don’t you just do nothing and die…”

“…Okay.”

“Then, unfortunately, you were caught by a monster and died. “You could have thought that way, right?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why is everyone doing this to me?…”

“I’m sorry.”

“….”

“….”

“…Still, I worked hard.”

As long as I had a bloody pipe in my hand, I wanted to do something good.

“The main characters in many movies are like that.”

It’s an obvious story about someone carrying a dead person’s weapon as a keepsake and carrying on their spirit.

Although Jung In-ho and Lee Jae-heon did not share a common mind and he was not the main character in the movie, the feeling of holding a weapon used by a dead person was indescribable.

He set out to find other people, just as Director Lee Jae-heon wanted.

“And it ruined everything.”

Kwon Yeon-hee was already on fire, and CEO Yoon Gar-ram, who saw it, acted like a crazy person. In that hectic situation, Jeong In-ho clearly saw two students wearing school uniforms.

“I remember those kids were running away…”

I found out later that Yeonhee Kwon was caught by monsters and died while trying to protect the two students.

Nevertheless, Jeong In-ho had to swallow his anger at the actions of the students who ran away without even looking back. That was a wise choice. Even if they had helped, Kwon Yeon-hee would have died.

But is it possible to move people’s hearts like you think? In the end, when Jeong In-ho saw the two children alive and well, enjoying comfort under the detective’s authority, he could not help but furrow his eyebrows.

That wasn’t the only problem.

“I… it’s just my opinion, but I probably don’t get along well with Detective Hong Gyeong-jun.”

I couldn’t get along with him from the beginning.

Jeong In-ho liked good and just people. Even though he knew at a very young age that he was not worthy, he wanted to become a police officer or firefighter in the future. So, when we just exchanged greetings, I even had a very slight crush on Hong Gyeong-jun as a detective.

But that shallow crush couldn’t last long. Hong Gyeong-jun put pressure on all survivors just because he was a detective and wanted them to do as he pleased. Detective Hong Gyeong-jun, who acted as if this was very natural and right, seemed like a tyrant or maverick in the literal sense of the word.

“Honestly, I was disappointed.”

I was as disappointed as I had expected.

“The police officers I admired… were cooler and at least more considerate.”

Rather, it was police officer Kim Yeon-woo who thought that Jeong In-ho was a real police officer.

She was truly a sweet and kind person. He was a person who took great pride in being a police officer and worked hard, even under these circumstances, to become a person worthy of it. While doing his best to protect the sick, he always approached others with consideration.

“Actually, it’s not easy to do that in a situation like this.”

I was left alone in a remote world without any explanation whatsoever. It’s a world where just walking, talking, and breathing is difficult, but monsters pop out here and there, making it impossible to relax. There was no place to go home right away or to rest properly.

My stamina is low and I’m hungry. Since it was a world where it was impossible to eat even a single meal comfortably, the survivors who survived had no choice but to become selfish. Among those who struggled desperately to protect what was in their hands, Kim Yeon-woo was the only person who was considerate.

“It seemed so… awesome.”

It seemed that only that person had the qualifications to be a human being.

“…I can’t do that.”

Originally, what you couldn’t have seemed more valuable.

Of course, this did not mean that In-ho Jeong was jealous of Yeon-woo Kim. Not only was I not old enough to do such childish things, but I didn’t even have the energy to care about such things in the first place. It’s just that, to Jeong In-ho, police officer Kim Yeon-woo was like a being from a fairy tale that could not exist in reality.

So there was no need to imitate her. That person does not exist in Jung In-ho’s reality and is just standing where I can see.

“So it was okay in its own way.”

President Choi Jeong-man was always wheezing out of frustration and nervousness, conductor Kim Ki-jeong couldn’t sit still for even a moment and wiped his hands with a handkerchief until they were sore, and teacher Lee Yun-byeol got irritated whenever someone laid eyes on the child, so it couldn’t have been that dangerous. That is.

“…It was very different from when the manager was there….”

“I’m sorry.”

“…It’s not something you should be sorry about.”

I was just shocked by the difference.

“At that time, Seo-ah was always looking into space.”

He just stuck next to the teacher like a doll without saying anything first.

The child with clear features and round eyes was really pretty and cute, like a doll, but Jang Seo-ah, who was motionless, looked as if she had been stuffed. Some people complained that they felt scared by the child.

“Firefighter Han Do-yoon… is similar. “He was always smiling.”

Even though anyone could see that his eyes were not smiling, the corners of his mouth were always raised in a gentle way. At first glance, he just seems like a sly and cheerful person, but if that continues, can it really be nothing more than a mask? Although he moved actively and the conversation was smooth, he couldn’t deny that he felt a sense of disconnect.

Grandmother Azalea never opened her mouth without Kim Yeon-woo speaking first, and the college students always gathered together and talked among themselves. I remembered that when another person approached, all three would just keep their mouths shut and stare at the other person.

“And Dayoung and Dahun… nothing much has changed. “The only difference is that he did not try to leave Detective Hong Gyeong-jun’s side.”

President Garam Yoon acted as if his world was falling apart, and it became increasingly common for him to leave the office without saying a word.

Doctor Ha Seong-yoon couldn’t sit still even for a moment and looked at the injured people. It was a behavior that felt obsessive, but he never once attempted to initiate conversation.

In fact, he was always like that.

“The only exception was when the manager was there. Maybe even that was the same. “Even if Ha Seong-yoon wants something, he always wants someone else to step forward and solve the problem rather than himself.”

“Are you angry?”

“Yes, maybe… maybe I’m just holding a grudge.”

That was a resentment.

“Because I didn’t want to do anything.”

Sometimes, when monsters approached the survivors, In-ho Jeong had to take out a caterpillar living in a tree and use it as bait. It was almost absurd to think that the person who told us about the caterpillar that smelled of blood was Ha Seong-yoon. Jeong In-ho was displeased with the man who seemed to be trying to manipulate him.

In the process, In-ho Jeong realized that there was a relationship between Garam Yoon and fire. Some of the monsters in the form of plants could combust on their own, so at first glance it reminded me of the monster I saw at Mr. Garam Yoon’s flower shop, so I guess I’m done. I was guessing that maybe that was also induced by Dr. Ha Seong-yoon.

But that didn’t mean I could rest.

“President Garam Yoon is dead.”

Her body was found and it was clear that she had been murdered by someone.

There were clear marks left as if the person had been strangled to death by suffocation, and a broken vine with a human handprint on it had fallen nearby. In addition, there was a lot of evidence to prove that it was a massacre between humans. Fortunately, the body showed almost no signs of being damaged by other monsters, making it easier to determine the cause of death.

Around that time, Detective Hong Gyeong-jun spoke up.

“He said there was a killer among us he was after.”

And Jeong In-ho was also one of the suspects suspected by Hong Gyeong-jun.

After seeing Yoon Garam’s body, Detective Hong Gyeongjun became even sharper and more sensitive. All survivors had to operate within his line of sight, and if they were out of sight even for a moment, they had to explain what they had done minute by minute. The people he suspected of being suspects had to be explained almost in seconds.

Among such suspects, Jeong In-ho was the one who often came into conflict with Hong Gyeong-jun. He was so harsh that even Choi Jeong-man, who had little time to spare, was able to comfort him, so all he said was said.

The conflict between Jeong In-ho and Hong Gyeong-jun only deepened day by day.

“And one evening… Ha Seong-yoon called me. “I think I was embarrassed because it was the first time he asked to talk to me.”

He told a story about Yoon Garam.

“It was a story about trauma.”

This is a story about a family who went on a trip as a student and their entire family died in a fire. The relationship between Ha Seong-yoon and Yoon Gar-ram has continued since they met then. Why was he so scared when he saw Kwon Yeon-hee on fire, etc…

“Honestly, I didn’t think it was all true.”

“Why?”

“Mr. Garam Yoon clearly enjoyed looking at the fire…”

Before she died, she let out a suppressed scream at the burn marks on others. Then, symptoms of hyperventilation came up every now and then, keeping Dr. Seong-yoon Ha busy, but In-ho Jeong once saw Gar-ram Yoon smiling even in the midst of it all. It was clearly a happy expression.

When asked about this, she did not deny Jeong In-ho’s words.

“It was just a bunch of crazy people.”

However, before I could even talk about it with Ha Seong-yoon, the very next day. Dr. Ha Seong-yoon was found as a cold corpse.

“…I kind of wanted to die.”

I couldn’t come to my senses after everyone around me died. Therefore, even when Jung In-ho was accused of being the culprit at some point, he could not muster the courage to deny it. Perhaps because of the unique atmosphere of the other world, I was obsessed with the delusion that maybe I had really killed him.

At that time, it was police officer Kim Yeon-woo who defended Jeong In-ho.

“Hand sizes are different.”

As expected, the cause of death on Ha Seong-yoon’s body was suffocation due to strangulation, and vines were not used like last time, so handprints remained, although not very clearly. It was a little smaller than Jeong In-ho’s.

However, it wasn’t a very big difference, and there were several other people with similar hand sizes besides In-ho Jeong. Detective Hong Gyeong-jun decided that he could no longer proceed with the situation due to the heightened situation, so he postponed the search for the culprit until the next day.

Just before night fell, a green algae monster attacked.

“To be exact, they are the vines… but everyone knows what they are. “It was a dangerous situation.”

And then this story comes out.

“Wouldn’t it be okay to use people as bait?”

Surprisingly, the bait they were talking about was none other than Jang Seo-ah.

If a child does not act like a child, adults will feel uncomfortable. If they were better adults than them, they would have been able to care for and care for the child more. The survivors, obsessed with the delusion that they might die the most miserable death in the world, tried to lure Jang Seo-ah, who was considered an unpleasant burden, away.

At that moment, Inho Jeong realized.

“Oh, if this continues, we’ll all die.”

Even if that’s not the case.

“At least Mr. Kim Yeon-woo will die….”

Indeed, police officer Kim Yeon-woo was the most good and just person among those gathered. From her face gradually distorted with an inexplicable sense of betrayal, Jeong In-ho became convinced that she would act as bait instead of the child.

But I didn’t want to leave it like that.

“So I came forward.”

In-ho Jeong decided to attract the attention of the green algae monster.

Detective Hong Gyeong-jun suspected Jeong In-ho as the culprit anyway, and the other survivors were not much different. Other than Kim Yeon-woo, there is no one who believes in me and there is no one left by my side. If that’s the case, let’s just die like this. Let’s die and leave something behind like this. Okay then.

“…The problem is… things didn’t go as planned.”

The green algae monster targeted other survivors, not In-ho Jeong.

I don’t know the exact reason. Maybe it was because he didn’t get the attention properly, or maybe there was something that could have drawn the monster to those survivors. However, what was certain was that Jeong In-ho thus failed even in his own death.

“CEO Choi Jeong-man went crazy and started killing people.”

“…That’s….”

“Yes, that’s right. “I think I was in the same situation as the manager.”

Of course, he wasn’t on the verge of coughing up blood.

In this way, the murderous intent became contagious and people died. I knew that the green algae monster was watching everything and waiting for something, but there was no time to dig deeper.

I definitely thought I was going to die, but I guess I still wanted to live. Jeong In-ho gritted his teeth and struggled to survive from the charging monsters and the people who had become monsters. As I killed, ran away, and killed again, relying on a faint lighter, morning came before I knew it.

I only realized this after my eyes started doing their job.

“…I was the only one alive….”

Jeong In-ho had killed all those people.

“Kill everyone and just me.”

“….”

“I fucking killed him like that….”

That’s how he survived.

I became alone like that…

“…I hated that so much.”

I don’t know how miserable and funny I felt at that time.

Everything felt like a lie. I know everything is true. The bright white sky was obscured by pitch black leaves, allowing sparse light to shine through. Dead black and red things that appeared in the dotted light under the cool shadows filled Jeong In-ho’s field of vision and swallowed his brain.

It was like a work of art. Perhaps Jeong In-ho might have seen something similar to this at an art museum he visited with his uncle when he was young. That’s what I thought.

“That made me think of the manager.”

I knew that your body was dragged into a large lake.

“So I thought I would be scared alone…”

The blood that remained as it was when he was dragged was clearly visible as it did not disappear. As I followed the path, a large lake filled with green algae came into view, and behind me, familiar-looking vines were overflowing. Even if I didn’t see it, I could feel it.

It’s really over now.

“…thank you.”

Now I’m not alone.

“Thank goodness it wasn’t scary.”

“…okay.”

“I think it was more worth doing than I thought.”

“Is that so.”

“I was really lonely.”

That’s how Jeong In-ho was able to escape from extreme isolation.

I was able to run away.

“…If it weren’t for the manager, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do that….”

(Continued in the next episode)