Chapter 104 |
In short,
“Right before entering this world, I happened to encounter the child. I don’t know his name or exact age, but he seemed to be around the same age as Jang Seoah.”
“……”
“I don’t remember the pants, but the boy was wearing a white t-shirt. There was an adult next to him, but Teacher Lee Yoonbyeol said that person looked unreliable. Their appearance was shabby, and there were problems from a common-sense perspective….”
Lee Jaehun was baffled for three specific reasons.
‘Why do you trust me?’
Detective Hong Kyungjun kept tracking the protagonist and a few others with his gaze, indicating his radar was functioning well. However, the fact that it didn’t react to Lee Jaehun, someone who’d killed thousands, if not tens of thousands of people in his past life, was beyond comprehension. His plan had gone awry, but he never expected Hong Kyungjun’s radar to malfunction as well.
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The second reason.
The villain, already a stubborn old fart, had become an even more astonishingly despicable person after remembering his past life. And yet, ironically, because of this, Lee Jaehun respected the elderly and children. No matter the conditions, no matter the scenario, simulations run on every factor showed that the moment someone targeted the elderly and children, every authority figure, at some point, would end up in ruin.
Yet, the person stranded in the remote location was reportedly a child, and the detective was looking at Lee Jaehun with an absurd gaze of trust that seemed to say ‘Of course, you would help that child, right?’. He couldn’t fathom where that belief stemmed from, but he couldn’t back down now.
And thirdly.
‘There was no such child in the novel.’
The only child who appeared in the R-rated dark survival story set in the otherworld was Jang Seoah, currently fidgeting in Teacher Lee Yoonbyeol’s arms. And now there was another child? And an adult next to him at that?
‘Even if I started a snowball effect, this is…? Isn’t this too much…?’
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Lee Jaehun knew his limits. It was often said that the flap of a butterfly’s wings could cause a storm, but could just an ordinary butterfly do that?
If they existed in the otherworld but weren’t mentioned in the novel, it meant they were supposed to be dead. The fact that he’d unknowingly saved two lives that were supposed to be lost was difficult to explain. He was utterly confused.
‘Wait, was there any description of seeing a child’s corpse?’
The monsters in the otherworld usually left corpses behind unless they completely devoured their prey. If the protagonist, who pursued goodness, had seen a child’s corpse, he would have been quite shocked. Yet, despite wandering around considerably until the novel’s conclusion, there was no mention of him encountering a child’s corpse, except for Jang Seoah’s initial situation.
Well, yes, of course. Jaehun had caused a lot of things to happen, so it was not entirely unbelievable….
“…Then, shouldn’t we look for them now?”
Lee Jaehun quickly plastered a concerned expression on his face.
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Forget the failed plan, forget his annoyance. Regardless of how the original novel progressed, Lee Jaehun had to survive. Now that things had come to this, he couldn’t take a stance like, ‘I’m actually a potential criminal! A b⋏st⋏rd who can kill anyone at any time!’
‘Aside from that, I need to instill some healthy suspicion, but the timing isn’t right.’
There was an image he had built up so far, and that image consistently respected the vulnerable. In the current situation, there were limits to how Lee Jaehun could act.
The detective seemed to think Lee Jaehun’s concerned behavior was only natural.
“That’s true, but visibility is poor, and there are many injured.”
“Then, even if it’s just me, I can look around….”
“I don’t think that’s something the most seriously injured person here should be doing.”
“……”
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D⋏mn it, then why the hㅌll did you tell me?
Lee Jaehun was dumbfounded. He believed he was the most helpful among the survivors, and therefore assumed Hong Kyungjun’s intention in sharing this information was to seek his cooperation.
But there was one thing Lee Jaehun was overlooking.
“I heard from Grandmother; she said your condition is quite serious. Kim Yeonwoo mentioned that you’ve sustained more injuries since then. Especially… around your neck.”
“…….”
“I heard a monster suddenly attacked, and your group was scattered. I imagine you’ve been quite exhausted searching for them. That’s why, if possible, I’d prefer not to rely on you, Mr. Lee Jaehun.”
“Huh.”
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Frankly, it was a bit of a blow to his pride.
‘If I had proper abilities, I wouldn’t be treated like this.’
To summarize, it was roughly equivalent to, ‘How dare you refuse my help?’ Of course, Lee Jaehun had no intention of helping in the first place, but being rejected first made him feel like his worth was being belittled. In any case, he felt offended.
However, Lee Jaehun quickly accepted it.
‘This guy probably didn’t mean any harm.’
Even if he was a police officer, he was still wㅌt behind the ears. So, even though Jaehun wasn’t entirely convinced, he must have said it out of kindness.
Lee Jaehun was aware of his own limitations, but the other chicks were not. He was confident he could outperform any of them in his current state, but they probably didn’t know that. By his past life’s standards, Hong Kyungjun’s words have sounded dismissive, almost mocking, but things were different here.
But then, why bring it up to him in the first place?
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“The reason I’m telling you this…. I know this might be rude, but I hope you won’t do anything excessive, Mr. Lee Jaehun.”
“…Excuse me? What do you mean by excessive?”
“I don’t know if I should be saying this, Mr. Lee Jaehun. Hmm.”
Detective Hong Kyungjun hesitated to answer, much to his dismay.
“You seem to have… a lack of safety awareness.”
“…What the…”
Given his past life, Lee Jaehun knew what a lack of safety awareness meant. Didn’t it mean a failure to perceive the dangers of an accident? And Lee Jaehun was anything but unaware of dangers.
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‘D⋏mn it, there’s no one more aware of danger than me.’
The reason Lee Jaehun had gotten injured so far wasn’t because he couldn’t sense danger, but because he actively intervened to resolve situations. Someone who had to check for traps and lead the group couldn’t afford to be oblivious to dangers.
Therefore, Lee Jaehun was offended because his investigative abilities were being disregarded. Detective Hong, puzzled by his reaction, seemed to understand his thoughts and made an ambiguous expression.
“Of course, it seems your group survived thanks to you. I heard the others were mostly unharmed.”
“That’s right.”
“But the lack of safety awareness I was talking about… that is…”
Detective Hong, after some pondering, continued.
“It’s about your own well-being. It’s not about how well you perceive danger, but whether you recognize how much damage an incident could cause you.”
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“…….”
“As proof, it’s a miracle you’re even walking and talking right now.”
Lee Jaehun had nothing to say to that.
‘…He has a point.’
Things were so chaotic that his persona was all over the place, but even Lee Jaehun wasn’t unaware of his own condition. He had meticulously applied common sense from his present life in the beginning, but as time passed in this otherworld, his judgment became clouded.
In his past life, Lee Jaehun possessed near-perfect regenerative abilities, but not here. Honestly, constantly feeling this external pain was a new experience for him. Perhaps it was only because of his experience with curses and poisons that he was less sensitive to them.
As he hesitated, Detective Hong Kyungjun continued with a sigh.
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“…I don’t know how you handled things before, but it’s not a good habit. Didn’t your companions say anything?”
“There wasn’t a reason… um.”
“…….”
“No, thank you for the advice.”
Detective Hong’s eyebrows twitched, but it was outside Lee Jaehun’s field of vision. He was preoccupied with the chick peeking at them from ⁱnsⁱdㅌ the dome.
“Then what’s the reason you told me all this?”
“As I just mentioned, it was to ask you to refrain from taking any actions as much as possible. I thought with your perceptiveness, Mr. Lee Jaehun, you’d easily realize if something goes wrong…”
“…….”
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“And in that case, you’d likely take action, so I thought it would be better to tell you in advance. I’d prefer it if you didn’t participate in rescuing the child, if possible, Mr. Lee Jaehun.”
“…Ha.”
He was speechless.
‘What the hㅌll does he think he knows?’
It was as if he was saying, ‘If you know a child is missing, being the good person you are, you’ll naturally jump in without a second thought, so restrain yourself.’ It wasn’t something you’d say to someone like Lee Jaehun, who just wanted to sit on a pile of gold and silver, enjoying wealth and glory.
At this point, Lee Jaehun was starting to get suspicious. This was only his second encounter with Detective Hong Kyungjun. The time they spent together was even shorter, and for some reason, Lee Jaehun himself wasn’t picked up by his radar. Was it broken, or was he deliberately putting him aside while suspecting everyone else?
Why me of all people?
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‘It doesn’t make sense.’
In his opinion, there was no plausibility, no narrative coherence. He had meticulously planned everything based on that radar, so what was he supposed to do if parts of it malfunctioned now?
At that moment, a hypothesis came to mind.
“…….”
“I apologize if my words offended you, but your condition is quite precarious, Mr. Lee Jaehun.”
“…I’m not offended.”
If something implausible happened in reality, there had to be a clear mediator.
“You’re just telling me to be careful.”
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And this was a fairly common cliché.
‘Overlapping images.’
It wasn’t unusual in this otherworld.
People often overlapped someone they remembered with another person, subconsciously ignoring any differences. They would perceive the person as the one they remembered.
But the problem was…
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“…….”
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Lee Jaehun didn’t know the details of Detective Hong Kyungjun’s past.
‘He’s not close enough to the protagonist to have friendly conversations.’
The novel was entirely from the protagonist’s perspective, and any facts the protagonist didn’t know or misunderstood were described as it was in the book. This was often used as a narrative trick when the protagonist was hallucinating or out of his mind.
Likewise, the protagonist wasn’t close enough with Detective Hong Kyungjun to have intimate conversations. Therefore, the protagonist naturally didn’t know his past, his history, or his connections.
Therefore, Lee Jaehun didn’t know either.
“…….”
D⋏mn it, who is he overlapping me with?
Though dumbfounded, Lee Jaehun continued speaking with a composed expression. The fidgeting, bright yellow chick, hesitant to approach their conversation, was getting on his nerves.
“Still… I can’t stay completely quiet. I have companions who got separated, and I’m the only one who knows where they are. There’s also one person whose location is completely unknown.”
“Ah, I heard of it. A doctor, is it?”
“He has an abdominal injury. He’s held up well so far, but I don’t know what will happen if he’s left alone. There’s no time to waste.”
“That is true, but…”
Detective Hong Kyungjun pondered and then nodded.
“Then when do you plan to leave?”
“As soon as visibility improves.”
“Until then, please rest as much as possible, Mr. Lee Jaehun. I’ll say it again, it’s a miracle you’re still walking and talking.”
“I’ve heard it enough.”
“I apologize for repeating myself.”
Glance.
Looking at the brown-haired chick, Detective Hong Kyungjun gave a short nod and walked away.
‘…I wonder who he’s mistaking me with that he’s not wary of me.’
With his plans getting this tangled, Lee Jaehun was worried about how to act cautiously.
He knew he would be under suspicion after his deal with the green algae monster, but he was worried that his actions would seem too abrupt and implausible.
Lee Jaehun sighed and spoke to the brown-haired chick.
“What is it?”
“…….”
“…Ah, no, that’s not it.”
It was Employee Kwon Yeonhee.
“What is it? Everyone else is asleep, but you’re still loitering around here.”
“…You’re not sleeping either, Manager…”
“It’s not my fault I can’t sleep.”
“Is it not entirely not your fault…? Probably?”
“Why are you all treating me like this to me these days?”
He didn’t know which part of him evoked this sudden sense of closeness but the insubordination had been increasing lately. It was truly sad and unfortunate for Lee Jaehun, whose soul was that of a third-rate, old-fart villain.
Nevertheless, the shoulders that kept shaking in the middle of the night seemed to have a lot to say.
“…Come here.”
“…….”
“Let’s talk, Ms. Kwon Yeonhee.”
Lee Jaehun had to call her over.
It might not seem like it, but that kid was mentally shattered right now.