Chapter 132 |
“…Keuk….”
“…….”
“Heup, euk….”
Lee Jaehun looked down at Jung Inho, who was lying down with a disgruntled expression.
“…Oh dear….”
A sigh inadvertently escaped his lips.
He hoped he wasn’t about to lose the protagonist.
‘That would be a significant loss.’
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This was what had happened: Immediately after Lee Jaehun was semi-forced to swallow the fruit, Jing Inho collapsed. Carrying him into the pavilion inevitably woke the other survivors who had been sleeping.
Lee Jaehun, looking much better than usual, and Jung Inho, practically crawling on the floor.
Detective Hong Kyungjun, the first to grasp the situation, calmed the rising commotion and laid the groaning Jung Inho down. The survivors, confused by the sudden disturbance, gradually began to understand what was going on.
Then, silence fell.
“…He seems barely conscious.”
Lee Jaehun shrugged at Detective Hong Kyungjun, who was hovering near the protagonist.
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“It can’t be helped. It’s his own fault.”
“So, Mr. Jung Inho offered it to you first, I presume.”
“I refused it.”
Lee Jaehun muttered, his voice full of discontent.
“What was I supposed to do when a bunch of lunatics surrounded me like thugs and shoved it in my mouth?”
“Thugs? Come on, sir You shouldn’t belittle people’s good intentions like that.”
“Then what would you call that situation? I felt like loan sharks were after me.”
“What a joke from someone who’ll never be in debt.”
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“Huh.”
Lee Jaehun leaned against the pavilion wall, giving a cursory reply to Dr. Ha Sungyoon’s comment. He was both pleased and bewildered by his legs, which were working properly for the first time in a while.
“…If he was going to be this pathetic, why even bother trying to handle it…?”
Tsk.
He clicked his tongue in disapproval.
As evident from his collapse immediately after eating the fruit, Jung Inho wasn’t in a normal state.
He seemed to be itching as well as in pain, occasionally scratching his neck with his fingernails. Ha Sungyoon, Kang Mina, and the others paled at the sight, likely experiencing déjà vu.
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“…But how can it be itchy if it hurts…?”
Lee Jaehun scratched his neck and answered Kwon Yeonhee’s trembling question.
“If it hurts beyond a certain point, it actually becomes itchy. It’s like a dull, tingling sensation, like a cramp, then at some point, it explodes.”
“Uh-huh….”
“Especially since he’s scratching his neck. Neck skin is less exposed to external stimuli compared to other areas, so even a slight impact can make it feel itchy. For example, if someone were to strangle you.”
“O-Okay. I think that’s enough information.”
“Oh, dear.”
Lee Jaehun was too taken aback to tease her further, seeing her about to cry. With his mind considerably clearer thanks to the protagonist taking on the mental stress, he could see the significant impact the current situation was having on the others.
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Perhaps his overly detailed explanation was also fueled by a bit of spite.
‘Those ungrateful b⋏st⋏rds.’
If they were going to be this pathetic after ruining his plans, what confidence did they have to challenge him in the first place? In fact, the reason he had half-heartedly accepted the fruit was due to a spiteful thought: ‘Let them suffer the consequences.’
As a result, the protagonist was now out of his mind. Jung Inho couldn’t control his limbs, let alone speak properly, only managing choked gasps. He was also shedding tears, likely a physiological response to the intense pain, and Kang Mina and Kwon Yeonhee were visibly anxious.
Seeing him like this, Lee Jaehun sometimes felt a flicker of pity.
“…….”
Jung Inho looked like he’d be better off dead.
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‘…Though that’s not possible.’
This wasn’t a convenient world where dying and reviving a few times would cure all ailments. They only had one life, and medical technology was abysmal. It was fortunate that there seemed to be no physical damage, but seeing him suffer so much, Lee Jaehun wondered if it would be better to end his one and only life.
But Jung Inho was the protagonist, and Lee Jaehun, a mere third-rate villain, couldn’t kill him. Now that things had come to this, Lee Jaehun’s role was clear.
Dⁱㅌ quickly and rewind time.
“…Ahjussi.”
“…….”
“You talk like you’ve actually been strangled before.”
The blunt statement almost made him think it came from Song Inmyeong, but the voice, clearly feminine, belonged to none other than Seo Janghwa. She was staring at Lee Jaehun with a very dubious expression.
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“Ahjussi, are you really just an office worker?”
Her gaze held a hint of wariness.
‘But it’s wariness for the sake of protecting her friends.’
And also, a compassion she didn’t want to acknowledge. The unavoidable feeling of pity that came with being human. A flicker of worry stemming from her principled nature. All those small, sad, and confused gazes.
She was truly too good to be friends with that piece of trash.
“Are you picking a fight?”
“I apologize if it sounded that way… but normal office workers don’t get strangled. Unless it’s an incredibly dysfunctional workplace.”
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“I’ve never worked in back alleys.”
“…I was just saying, just. Why do you have to take my example so literally?”
Despite his denial, she probably suspected he was involved in something shady. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be looking at him with such wary eyes in front of her friends.
‘She’s really a good person.’
By the standards of his previous life, her excessive empathy might be a demerit, but in this world, ethics and kindness were valued. In the story, ‘Seo Janghwa’ valued trust and friendship above all else.
‘Which makes that b⋏st⋏rd even more of a scʊm.’
Lee Jaehun’s gaze landed on Song Inmyeong, who was standing behind her.
“…….”
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“…….”
Song Inmyeong was watching Jung Inho, who was gasping for breaths.
It was a look of clear interest, but the cruel fascination was hidden behind a languid, quiet face. His unusually sturdy build and the paint-stained apron made him look like a somewhat eccentric artist.
Lee Jaehun hadn’t thought much of it when he read it, but seeing it in person, it seemed true.
“…So, you were originally in as much pain as him.”
What a dⁱsgʊstⁱng guy.
“…Probably not as much as him. The pain multiplier is random.”
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“He looks like he’s dying. So that means the base value is high, right?”
“Anyway, I wasn’t in pain.”
Lee Jaehun ruffled his hair with a troubled sigh.
‘If I provoke him a bit more now, he’ll come to me on his own when it’s daylight.’
Lee Jaehun had intended to make him so agitated that he’d jump at him at the slightest provocation. With his now much clearer mind, he figured he could trigger the incident by today.
He continued, keeping his gaze fixed on Inho.
“…That idiot did something unnecessary….”
His attention, however, was directed at the college students, who were feigning indifference.
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The story didn’t go into much detail about the three college students. The author seemed to have an aversion to describing the criminal’s psychology – though why include a criminal as a character in the first place was another question – but in any case, due to the author’s so-called narrative trick, their past wasn’t properly depicted.
So, Lee Jaehun couldn’t understand why someone like Vivian, who seemed simple, honest, and friendly, or Seo Janghwa, who, despite her tough exterior, fiercely protected those she considered her own, would become friends with that guy. He could only assume that Song Inmyeong must have managed his image well enough to make them believe he was a genuine friend.
‘Come to think of it… I wonder where that other character who used to hang around with those guys is.’
A sudden thought crossed Lee Jaehun’s mind, and he rolled his eyes to meet Song Inmyeong’s.
“…Did something unnecessary?”
“…Forget it, let’s stop.”
He craved nicotine.
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‘I should buy a pack of cigarettes when I get out.’
He used to abstain from alcohol, cigarettes, and drʊgs in an attempt to maintain some semblance of health. But now, he needed the rush of inhaling and exhaling cigarette smoke deep into his lungs. That tingling sensation throughout his body, the momentary clarity of mind followed by a brief lapse into s*upidity.
‘This storyline has deviated way too much.’
Originally, the group of college students who traveled separately from the detectives weren’t strictly a ‘college student’ group. There was supposed to be one more member, a character with an incredibly weak mentality.
But that guy got swallowed whole by a centipede monster for the crime of trampling flowers in a flower bed, and a couple more dⁱㅌd after that. Relatively speaking, that person dⁱㅌd quite early.
‘The problem is, now I’m curious about their current state and whereabouts.’
Lee Jaehun had a vague idea, but it added another item to his post-regression to-do list.
“Anyway… you’ve seen it, so you know. This isn’t something just anyone can use.”
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A few people shrugged at Lee Jaehun’s words as he looked around.
“I have a high pain tolerance, so I managed relatively well, but enduring this potentially endless agony is practically torture. Even if you do it to yourself, it’s unbearable.”
“Why are you badmouthing our Inho, sir…?”
“Since when is he ‘our’ Inho? I believe I’m excluded from that ‘our’.”
“So cold…”
“Hey, are you going to keep arguing with your elders?”
Kwon Yeonhee pouted and sulked at his words, and some of the survivors’ expressions subtly twisted. Grandma Dallae, in particular, couldn’t contain her laughter and cackled loudly.
“Oh my, I’m out of breath. Even talking nonsense is a talent if you do it enough.”
“…I’m not sure what’s so funny…”
Lee Jaehun twitched his lips before continuing.
“It’s best to avoid using the fruit, if possible.”
His face became calmly serious as he recalled the novel’s plot, and the survivors’ gazes fell upon him. Ignoring them, Lee Jaehun pulled out the information he wanted from his memory.
“There weren’t many cases where using this ended well.”
“…….”
“If you want to become a wreck, feel free to collect as many as you like.”
In the novel, the protagonist used the fruit to save the severely injured Jin Dallae and Park Dahoon. He screamed and writhed on the ground immediately after taking on double the pain for both of them.
Park Dayoung and Yoon Garam, unable to bear watching the protagonist suffer, brought a treatment that didn’t have any side effects, but since the injuries requiring treatment were already gone, it went unused. Once the phantom pain had taken hold, there was no way to escape it other than to numb the mind with narcotic painkillers.
It took about a month of enduring the pain in a relatively safe location before he could function somewhat normally again. Recalling that inefficiency and soft mentality, it was truly a bad idea for these chicks to use the fruit.
Then, in response to Lee Jaehun’s words, Conductor Kim Kijung, who had been quiet, asked,
“Is that story from experience?”
“…….”
As was already half-revealed, it was a question that confirmed Lee Jaehun had experienced this world before.
So there was no reason to avoid it.
“Yes.”
Not my experience, of course.
‘But even if it isn’t mine, it is still a kind of experience, isn’t it?’
Isn’t it?
After calmly passing off the protagonist’s story as his own, Lee Jaehun observed the crumbling expressions of the survivors. They likely had intended to use the fruit in some way.
But fear would naturally creep in. Some might have been tempted because he had used it so casually, but they would have been shocked by Jung Inho’s near-death throes. The guy who always smiled diligently and maintained a composed demeanor was turning into a wreck.
‘…Well, he’s holding up pretty well, considering.’
Lee Jaehun’s gaze landed on the protagonist.
He didn’t want to brag, but the fatigue and pain he had accumulated so far weren’t imaginary. Even in his mostly recovered state, his leg, which had been chewed on by the algae monster, must be excruciating. For the current protagonist, whose mind wasn’t broken enough to completely avoid the pain, it must have been unbearable.
Yet, Jung Inho hadn’t bitten his tongue. He hadn’t tried to strangle himself despite scratching his neck raw, which meant he still had some semblance of rationality left. It was just that his remaining rationality didn’t allow him to physically move.
Seeing that, Lee Jaehun thought, he truly is the protagonist.
“…….”
So, this level of pain must be bearable for Jung Inho.
“…When day breaks, I’ll make my move too.”
One of the laws of fiction:
The protagonist has a below-average, troubled past.