Chapter 109 |
Yoon Garam felt plɛasʊrɛ watching things burn.
In a way, she had the potential to become an arsonist in a flash, but her kind and gentle nature prevented her. Perhaps, if she had continued to grow up undisturbed, she could have lived a normal life, suppressing her true inclinations.
However, an incident occurred.
‘An incident where everyone but herself burned to death in a forest.’
If Yoon Garam hadn’t felt exhilaration from flames, she would have only felt terror. If she had been cruel and impatient, she would have become an arsonist. But in the end, Yoon Garam became someone who, while tormented by trauma, also found joy in it.
When her ‘sanity’ finally crumbled and disappeared, when she laughed with a broken mind, and when she finally confronted her past, that was when Yoon Garam would be able to show her true abilities.
“Ms. Yoon Garam probably will never get lost.”
Starting a fire within the forest, yet evading the inferno.
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Lucky enough to never dⁱㅌ.
Well, someone else might dⁱㅌ instead.
* * *
Kwon Yeonhee looked back at Owner Yoon Garam.
“…….”
She was staring at Lee Jaehun with a smile.
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“…Thank you for your kind words.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I hope we all have the same luck.”
Pale and composed…
It was a gaze that seemed like she was about to kill someone.
“…….”
It felt like someone was about to dⁱㅌ.
* * *
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“Ahjussi…!”
Lee Jaehun heard a cry that seemed to be reduced to its minimum volume. Perhaps they were trying to keep their voice down due to the potential presence of monsters, but the caller’s face was bright with relief. Lee Jaehun sighed and approached.
“What’s got you so excited?”
“Ahjussi, do you know how scared we were?”
“I get it. Come down slowly, I’ll catch you.”
“Who goes first…”
“You first, then Park Dahoon.”
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He had chosen a relatively short tree for them to climb, but since there were a lot of monsters crawling on the ground, the tree he picked wasn’t exactly short either.
Knowing the chicks would struggle to climb down on their own, Lee Jaehun naturally positioned himself beneath them.
Then, someone grabbed his shoulder.
“Mister, what are you doing?”
“Gah, fʊck, you startled me.”
“Your cursing is remarkably gentle.”
“Then should I scream instead?”
Lee Jaehun clutched his pounding heart and stepped back.
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If he’d been in decent shape, he would have sensed someone approaching. Unfortunately, he was running on empty. He instinctively knew that even if it had been Noh Yeonseok instead of Dr. Ha Sungyoon, he wouldn’t have noticed.
As if reading his exhaustion, Dr. Ha Sungyoon’s eyes narrowed further.
“Come to think of it, your reactions are slow. You were quite alert before entering the park.”
“Don’t you know who I’ve been keeping alive that made me end up like this?”
“You should do that in moderation. You’ve become so much like a zombie that even I, a doctor, can’t do anything about your state.”
“The way you talk is really…”
Despite Lee Jaehun’s grumbling, Ha Sungyoon remained firm.
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“I acknowledge your miraculously fast recovery, but you also burned your hands, didn’t you? I don’t understand how you plan to catch anyone safely in this condition. Do you even have the strength for that?”
“You might not know this, but when someone’s in enough pain, they stop feeling it—actually, never mind.”
Jaehun, who had been speaking without a filter, suddenly felt his pride sting.
“Are you questioning my capabilities?”
“…Capabilities…”
The doctor muttered briefly, then continued with a gentle smile.
“Mr. Jung Inho, why didn’t you stop him?”
“…I was about to. If Dr. Ha Sungyoon hadn’t appeared without a sound.”
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“My, you look surprised.”
“I was indeed surprised.”
Jung Inho gave a rare, genuine smile.
“Not just that… your eye changed.”
“…….”
“You must have been busy overnight.”
At that moment, Lee Jaehun thought,
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‘He’s suspicious.’
If you looked closely, the protagonist often wore that expression when trying to hide something. Even before Lee Jaehun remembered his past life, similar situations had occurred, and this smile alone explained why the old-fashioned department manager’s soul had always burned with frustration in those moments.
Aside from that, Lee Jaehun was a little shocked by his own condition.
“…….”
“Manager, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing… just.”
Lee Jaehun realized that one of Dr. Ha Sungyoon’s eyes had changed color only after Assistant Manager Jung Inho pointed it out first. Even though he had been facing Ha Sungyoon directly.
“I think my performance is slipping.”
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“…Your performance?”
“…Just get someone to help those kids down. Where’s Noh Yeonseok?”
‘Performance’ was a slip of the tongue.
‘There’s no way they’ll understand what I mean here.’
The ‘performance’ he mentioned was a term he used in his past life. It referred to the value of an individual based on specific criteria. Those with low performance were usually assigned menial tasks. Like being a pack mule, bait, or a meat shield.
Lee Jaehun looked at the red and yellow burn marks on his hand.
‘I guess I’m reaching my limit…’
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But there was no way to recover his mental strength immediately, and his ‘sanity’ hitting rock bottom actually boosted his recovery. Considering his reduced mobility due to the injuries, it was better to avoid restoring his mental strength even if he could.
Well, it was easier to think of it as just being under a curse.
“S-Shall I catch them?”
“Yeah. Senior Associate Kang can help from above. Get the kids down first.”
“Yes, sir.”
Park Dayoung was the first to be lowered down, dangling precariously, followed by Park Dahoon with practiced ease, and finally, Kang Mina, who stepped on the ground with awkward and hesitant moves. Judging by the smooth process, everyone except Park Dayoung seemed capable of climbing trees without much difficulty.
After briefly checking on Kang Mina and the siblings, Lee Jaehun muttered, looking to the side.
“…Now then…”
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He was addressing Ha Sungyoon and Jung Inho.
“Shall we sort out the situation?”
“…….”
“We need to know what happened to each of us to avoid any further mishaps.”
Jung Inho muttered,
“That’s not really something Manager should be saying…”
“Just you wait until we’re out of here. I’ll pull every boomer move in the book.”
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“The fact that you’re aware of doing that makes it even stranger.”
“Are you picking a fight?”
“People usually call that stating facts.”
In the end, Lee Jaehun smacked Jung Inho on the back and was subsequently scolded by Ha Sungyoon for hitting a solid back with his burned hand.
“Your fingerprints are already gone, and now your skin is about to disappear too. Please stop, sir.”
“…But it was Assistant Manager Jung who got hit…”
“And who suffered more for it?”
“…….”
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“Besides, what Mr. Jung Inho said wasn’t wrong.”
Lee Jaehun shut his mouth. Even with his already fractured sanity, he knew he was the one who suffered more, and the protagonist’s point wasn’t entirely wrong.
Therefore, he was certain.
‘It’s time to fully address the first bait.’
For the first bait, ‘Lee Jaehun is a survivor of the other world’, to be believable, the information that ‘the previous boomer department manager was a facade’ had to be revealed first.
That stage seemed complete, so it was time to address the first set of bait. He’d already hinted at it to some extent.
Lee Jaehun let out a deliberate sigh and continued.
“…First of all, Dr. Ha Sungyoon, where were you and what did you do that made you lose an eye?”
“I’ve already told the students and Ms. Kang Mina. I thought a monster was chasing me so I ran away. I heard a strange sound and couldn’t think straight. By the time I came to my senses, I was near the small lake.”
“I have a lot I want to say, but why is your eye like that?”
“You remember the statue you mentioned before? The snake climbing the tree… I touched it, and when I regained consciousness, this is what happened.”
“Huh.”
Look at that shameless face.
‘At least make your lies believable.’
When did I ever mention a statue, you idiot?
More importantly, both Kwon Yeonhee and Yoon Garam said they had stopped hearing anything after some time passed. That implied he was moving stealthily, which was difficult to explain as unintentional. Judging by his expression, Jung Inho seemed to be thinking along similar lines.
However, there were a few problems with openly expressing these suspicions.
“…Well, I’ll take your word for it.”
“Haha.”
Ha Sungyoon himself didn’t seem to expect anyone to completely believe him.
‘He doesn’t care if we believe him or not.’
Lee Jaehun felt that Dr. Ha Sungyoon had a clear purpose in this other world, and this eye seemed to be part of achieving that purpose. He couldn’t act rashly without knowing what abilities the pale eye possessed and why Ha Sungyoon had those eyes.
Because Ha Sungyoon was a character Lee Jaehun didn’t know.
‘Besides…’
He rubbed his itchy neck and continued.
“I didn’t know that statue had such a feature.”
The statue of a snake climbing a tree was supposed to simply symbolize the small lake, without any other function. Those were the author’s words, so the statue that supposedly had no function had changed Dr. Ha Sungyoon’s eye.
‘Then it’s one of two things.’
Either this world wasn’t entirely the novel he knew.
Or, the author lied to him.
“Fortunately, I’m not in any pain. My vision is perfect, too.”
“…That’s certainly a relief.”
Why not just outright ask for attention?
Lee Jaehun’s face naturally soured as Dr. Ha Sungyoon talked without even bothering to hide his intentions. He already had a lot to think about, and this variable was making things incredibly messy. If Ha Sungyoon wasn’t so useful, he would have ditched him already.
Lee Jaehun unconsciously scratched the area next to his eyes with his palm.
‘What the hㅌll is the problem?’
He couldn’t tell if it was a problem with the novel itself or if the author had lied to him. His ⁱnsⁱdㅌs churned. The author hadn’t always been truthful, so he couldn’t be sure. It was more likely that she had lied.
If his guess was correct, he would be quite hurt. He had forced himself to finish that novel because she’d said she’d cry if he didn’t read it, and honestly, it didn’t even suit his taste… He didn’t understand why she was being so difficult with him, especially after all this.
Of course, of course, I’ve lied to you too. You’ve also teased and deceived me for various reasons.
“…….”
Still, I always believe in you…
“Manager.”
“……..”
“…Manager?”
“What.”
“………”
“…No.”
Lee Jaehun wiped the corner of his mouth with the hand that had been covering his eyes and continued speaking.
“I was just sleepy.”
He was so exhausted that it turned his mind foggy.
No, was it fogginess? Or betrayal? But among the emotions he could feel toward her, betrayal was not one of them. You already know that, right? Yes, I always trust you.
Even if you strangle me, I—
“…….”
“…Sorry, I’ve been tired lately.”
“Manager, I think your condition…”
“It doesn’t seem good.”
“…….”
“I’m sorry.”
Even though he had just uttered words that would normally never leave his lips, words that diminished his own worth, Lee Jaehun was not aware of it. All he was thinking about was how to somehow divert the anxious gazes of those around him.
He blinked a few times and continued.
“We… Assistant Manager Jung and I. Yes, we met other survivors. They’re also in a group, like us. We exchanged greetings, and the place they’re staying is…”
“…The pavilion. There used to be a large pavilion there, almost directly aligned with the small lake. It’s quite close to the main gate, too.”
“That’s right. After I parted ways with Senior Associate Kang, I met Yeonseok and this other group. Thanks to them, our intern survived.”
“Yes…?”
Kang Mina, who had been listening quietly with an anxious expression, turned to look at Noh Yeonseok in surprise. Though it had been one-sided affection from a younger man, she seemed to have some awareness of the subtle romantic tension between them, as her expression was filled with worry as she hurried toward him.
“A-Are you hurt? Where? Where are you hurt? Oh, oh, uh. Y-Your s-stomach…”
She must have finally noticed Noh Yeonseok’s shredded shirt.
“N-No, I’m really okay now…”
“You’re bleeding so much, how can you be okay?”
“…Ms. Mina, I’m really fine.”
The protagonist gently pulled her shoulder. Lee Jaehun quietly watched them, and when he felt a gaze on him, he slowly raised his head.
The protagonist was staring at Lee Jaehun.
“The Manager fixed him up.”
“…….”
“I don’t know exactly how, but…”
Yeah.
“…Tsk.”
I knew you would ask that.
Creepy b⋏st⋏rd.