Chapter 142 |
In Hong Kyungjun’s opinion, no one should ever kill another person.
His mentor always had the same response after hearing such words.
‘Oh, you’re right.’
Hong Kyungjun could never understand his senior’s intentions. Was he being sarcastic, mocking Kyungun for being naive and boring? Or did he genuinely mean it? Perhaps it was just a habitual response, a casual remark. His mentor was a man of such fluctuating weight, so unpredictable in his actions, that Hong Kyungjun could never truly decipher his meaning.
Nevertheless, Hong Kyungjun—Detective Hong Kyungjun—always thought…
“…”
…that no one should ever kill another person.
“Hey, hey! Run away quickly… Aaack! Ah, sob…!”
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“Are you crazy, spacing out now? Those monsters are coming!”
It wasn’t just about ethics and morality.
“Those people are crazy! What are you going to do if you go crazy too?!”
“Ah…”
At Kim Kijung’s words, Hong Kyungjun took a short breath. He realized that in the moment he’d regained his senses, a cold sweat was running down his back. A sensation he hadn’t experienced since childhood, when he would wake up from nightmares with his bedding damp. Hong Kyungjun was speechless.
What unfolded before his eyes was a clear depiction of hㅌll.
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“I see.”
It was a world where people killed people, and monsters killed monsters.
His wavering gaze landed on Lee Jaehun. The man’s mouth was firmly shut, but it felt as if a growl could be heard. Even so, Hong Kyungjun noticed that Lee Jaehun’s side was gradually turning red with blood. As a detective, he had to stop this innocent citizen from committing murder.
But.
“…”
He saw the hammer gripped tightly in Lee Jaehun’s hand.
“Uh, uh…!”
“Move behind me. It seems impossible to control the situation, so it would be best to escape as you said.”
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Of course, Hong Kyungjun had no intention of leaving this place alone with Kim Kijung. However, he had the common sense to move an ordinary person with poor mental and physical abilities to safety. No detective would chase a criminal while leaving a civilian in immediate danger.
Yes, the weak must be protected. The strong must fulfill their duties as the strong. Hong Kyungjun felt his convictions becoming more and more intense, but he quickly forgot about it. It was a fleeting moment.
“W-Wait a minute! What about Ms. Kang Mina? What about, what about, uh, Mr. Lee Jaehun or…!”
“Of course, I’ll take Ms. Kang Mina with us.”
As he spoke, Hong Kyungjun saw the woman trembling, her hands covering her head. Instinctively mapping out a safe route to avoid the approaching monsters, he continued a beat later,
“…However, it seems difficult to approach Mr. Lee Jaehun or Song Inmyeong at the moment.”
His eyes fell on Lee Jaehun again, swinging his hammer.
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Lee Jaehun’s face seemed remarkably composed, or perhaps devoid of emotion altogether. His still-pale face, perhaps due to the lingering effects of the algae monster even after his recovery, made him appear as if he had been a monster from the start. There seemed to be a wound on his abdomen, but it didn’t seem to be the only reason for his monster-like appearance.
However, his eyes, focused and sharp as if fixated on prey, and his stark gaze showed that Lee Jaehun was enraged. The target of his hammer swings was Song Inmyeong, the one who had killed Student Seo Janghwa.
Hong Kyungjun couldn’t tell if Lee Jaehun had lost his reason or not.
“…Let’s move together. Mr. Kim Kijung, would you help me lift Ms. Kang Mina?”
“Uh, uh…! Yes, of course. I can do that…”
He fended off a monster that rushed towards them, but Kang Mina, who was completely out of it, couldn’t. Even with Hong Kyungjun’s quick approach, he couldn’t stop the crow monster circling above her head from a distance. In the end, Kang Mina suffered severe injuries to her arms and hands, which were covering her head.
Even when Hong Kyungjun half-carried her, Kang Mina remained unresponsive.
“Sob, sob… Help me. Help me…”
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“H-Hey. Ms. Kang Mina…!”
“Aaaah…! Help me, gasp, hic…”
She clung to Hong Kyungjun, but didn’t recognize him.
Hong Kyungjun noticed Kim Kijung’s expression gradually souring, perhaps from witnessing this hidden side of a usually calm and quiet person. However, he thought it was better to have the stamina to be this agitated.
As he fended off approaching monsters with a wooden stick, Hong Kyungjun’s eyes landed on Seo Janghwa’s corpse, being devoured by a dog monster.
“…Ha.”
Was it from the corpse, or had she been crying?
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Blood flowed from her half-closed eyes, neither fully open nor shut, and he couldn’t tell its origin. Hong Kyungjun filled the space where he felt undeserving of sorrow with only disgust and hatred.
“You idiot.”
If his mentor saw him creating this situation while having the criminal he’d been chasing right in front of him, his mentor would probably laugh mockingly and look down on him. He remembered being looked at with that gaze hundreds, thousands of times.
Hong Kyungjun still hadn’t figured out whether the emotion in that gaze was contempt or pity. His mentor acted indifferent but was quite kind.
And because of that, he blamed his own s*upidity.
‘I should have stayed focused.’
Because he failed to fulfill his role as a detective, innocent citizens dⁱㅌd, a man who wanted to remain human became a monster, and the planned exploration ended with great sacrifice without even being completed properly. It was truly horrific.
Hong Kyungjun berated himself for being complacent. He felt like he had been somewhat focused at first, but perhaps he let his guard down as more people gathered. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it started, but Hong Kyungjun had definitely become complacent. In this world teeming with monsters.
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He should have acted as a detective, protected the weak, and placed the strong at the forefront. He should have led the way, ensuring that everyone followed the right rules.
“Help me…”
“…I will save you.”
Someone who could have lived, dⁱㅌd.
‘I could have saved that student, too, definitely.’
As he watched the young student dⁱㅌ before his eyes, what did he think? What did he feel?
Hong Kyungjun knew that the monsters became more agitated at random moments, and he believed there was a definite reason for it. The sight of a criminal confirming this vague assumption with a person’s life made him feel as though his vision was turning white.
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Glancing at Lee Jaehun, rampaging as if devoid of emotion, and Song Inmyeong swinging a knife at him, Hong Kyungjun handed Kang Mina over to Kim Kijung.
“W-Wait…!”
“I’ll block the monsters from the front, so please support Ms. Kang Mina and follow me. We may not be able to completely escape the monsters, but it’s better than being between people engaged in slaughter.”
“…R-Right. Yes…”
Kim Kijung flinched at Hong Kyungjun’s words and their implication, but soon obeyed his instructions, supporting Kang Mina behind him. Even though Kim Kijung felt something was wrong, he lacked the courage to speak.
He felt uneasy as he folded his noticeably taller frame to support the unconscious Kang Mina and followed Hong Kyungjun, who was clearing the path by fighting off monsters.
Crack!
“Ugh…”
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He felt like Hong Kyungjun’s attacks against the monsters had become more ruthless.
“What are you doing, Mr. Kim Kijung? Follow me quickly.”
“…I-I’m coming…!”
His pride flared up, raising his voice despite knowing it was meaningless. In this situation, all Kim Kijung, who had no special abilities or talents besides music, could do was follow Hong Kyungjun’s orders.
However, every change in the world always made people uneasy. Kim Kijung couldn’t understand why he felt a strange aversion to Hong Kyungjun, even more so than the monsters, but he gritted his teeth and moved quickly, avoiding the monsters.
Hearing the trauma of a complete stranger, whose arm was dr*ped over his shoulder, right next to his ear was not pleasant at all. Kim Kijung admitted that he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. He felt disgusted by a person, not an object…
Creeeak—
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“…Ugh.”
A tearing sound, its origin unknown, made his shoulders hunch again.
In a world filled with gruesome noises, Kim Kijung felt his suppressed, mild OCD resurface. He considered himself overly sensitive, but couldn’t help the discomfort.
Just as he felt his stomach churn, Detective Hong Kyungjun stopped.
“…Mr. Noh Yeonseok?”
“Uh, uh…”
In front of them stood Noh Yeonseok, his eyes wide as he stared at them.
“And, Mr. Ha Sungyoon.”
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“…It’s good to see you.”
“You look terrible.”
And there was Dr. Ha Sungyoon, bleeding profusely from his side. He was holding his abdomen with one hand.
Perhaps noticing Kang Mina’s condition, supported by Kim Kijung, Noh Yeonseok looked horrified, while Ha Sungyoon wore a tired and irritated expression. Despite their different faces and gazes, Kim Kijung and Hong Kyungjun hardened their expressions as they faced yet another incident.
Hong Kyungjun gestured with his eyes towards Ha Sungyoon’s bloodstained abdomen and said,
“…The side… Let’s put that aside for now.”
The doctor before them had consumed a fruit, given by Lee Jaehun. And the bloodstains on his clothes had spread wider than he remembered, clearly indicating that Ha Sungyoon’s side wound hadn’t healed despite consuming the fruit.
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The strange thing was that despite his back injury appearing more severe, Ha Sungyoon didn’t seem to be in much pain. And Hong Kyungjun instinctively understood the situation.
‘Did Noh Yeonseok have a fruit?’
Perhaps he’d healed his back with a fruit, but for some reason, the wound on his side remained. Ha Sungyoon only complained about the pain in his abdomen.
And Lee Jaehun had said that the fruit could heal most wounds. Neither Lee Jaehun nor Ha Sungyoon had mentioned the side wound. Yes, ‘most’ wounds. A fact that neither of them had revealed or shown…
Hong Kyungjun, running through various scenarios in his head, asked Ha Sungyoon, who was leaning against a tree,
“How did your back get like that?”
“…”
The doctor, his face unusually filled with irritation, let out a hollow laugh and replied,
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“Thanks to the b⋏st⋏rd who did this to you, I suppose.”
“I haven’t said anything…”
“So, who is that crazy fellow going to kill next?”
Ha Sungyoon seemed angry.
“My poor patients?”
“…”
At those words, Hong Kyungjun recalled Lee Jae-heon’s impassive, mechanical face. Then, he looked at the group of weak individuals gathered there.
He had to go back.
* * *
In the world of his previous life, when training newbies, you usually taught them two things.
First, how to deal with humans. Second, how to deal with monsters. Often, if they weren’t capable enough, they’d only learn one, but that wasn’t the case for Lee Jaehun with his regenerative abilities.
So, why bring this up now?
“Ugh, aaack…! Fʊck, it hurts like hㅌll!”
“…”
“This is crazy, he’s a real monster, isn’t he?!”
Anyway, the point is, monsters existed in his previous life’s world.
‘Imitating those monsters isn’t difficult.’
Lee Jaehun had seen teammates lose their minds, entranced by monsters. He’d seen idiots become fully infected, turning into monsters themselves. He’d seen and endured countless actual monsters. After all, his role was to smack the back of their heads.
He deliberately maintained an unnaturally mechanical expression, as if all his emotions were confined within his eyes, glaring intensely at his opponent. The hammer he swung grazed Song Inmyeong’s arm, causing blood to splatter.
“Ah, shiiit… If anyone’s gonna kill him, it’s gonna be me.”
“…”
“Ahjussi, are you crazy? You’re not even talking now. Aren’t you a real monster?”
He knew the chattering was meant to provoke him.
‘Should have hit that yap instead of his body.’
It wouldn’t have been easy since the guy dodged so quickly, but Lee Jaehun felt a pang of regret that he only grazed his arm. Those loudmouths were never any good.
Of course, that included Lee Jaehun himself.
“…Dⁱㅌ.”
He muttered as if brainwashed, and Song Inmyeong, who somehow understood, burst into laughter.
“Pathetic.”
Lee Jaehun agreed.
‘That’s how I get you hooked, you crazy b⋏st⋏rd.’
Honestly, if the theme of this week wasn’t ‘sacrifice,’ Lee Jaehun would have proceeded differently. This altruistic image didn’t suit his taste, and becoming someone’s prey, even if it was only an acting, wasn’t pleasant.
He deflected the knife aimed at his neck with his arm and immediately swung his hammer.
Whoosh—!
“Whoa, shⁱt…! That was close.”
Song Inmyeong dodged with a chuckle, but he didn’t seem entirely at ease. After all, even the usually cautious Lee Jaehun had started to mimic the monster, even if only a little, and that alone made it overwhelming.
But now that he’d confirmed the algae monster’s arrival, Lee Jaehun had nothing more to hesitate about. Whether Song Inmyeong lived or dⁱㅌd here didn’t matter. If things had progressed this far, Song Inmyeong’s identity would be revealed unless the entire gathering team was wiped out.
‘So, the important thing is Jung Inho.’
Knowing that not only he, but also the protagonist, had returned with their memories, Lee Jaehun had to conclude this properly for the next round. The key was how the detective or other survivors, who would soon return here, would remember his death.
“Ahjussi, I’m sorry if I’m mistaken, but weren’t you in a lot of pain earlier?”
“…”
“Ah, answer me. Huh? You were hiding your back pain, weren’t you…!”
Either way, once this was over, revealing Song Inmyeong’s identity would ease Jung Inho’s anxiety, as well as suspicions toward him. Besides, since Lee Jaehun had shown kindness to the group, the chicks’ right to speak would remain even after his death.
‘Then the protagonist will regress after seeing more.’
Then things might be a little easier in the next round.
“Say something! I might be able to help you!”
“Ha.”
By putting the protagonist at the forefront, Song Inmyeong’s true identity could be revealed. Since he was already aware of the hints regarding ‘Lee Jaehun’s’ brainwashing, there was no need to unnecessarily inform the rest of the group. Additionally, he could use the now-grown protagonist as a focal point to step away from the leader position.
‘Even if keeping my distance has become tricky, being the leader is still too much of a burden.’
Also, wouldn’t Jung Inho, having learned the ropes in this timeline, be able to escape Detective Hong and Officer Kim’s suspicions? Then Lee Jaehun could build proper relationships with the current survivors.
“Ahjussi, I can, really… I can kill you in the coolest way possible.”
“…”
“You wanted to dⁱㅌ, didn’t you…! I can kill you in a really cool way, I’m telling you! Really!”
An excited tone. A flushed face. Reddened ears.
And a blood-soaked jackknife in his hand.
“…”
Lee Jaehun didn’t bother to answer.
‘…This world must have been uncomfortable for this b⋏st⋏rd too, huh?’
In this life, there were criminals who developed a taste for murder. It wasn’t quite the same concept in the previous life, since death was almost nonexistent, but the closest comparison he could draw was to those who enjoyed torture.
They craved intense stimulation. Lost in the delusion of controlling someone’s fate, like addicts unable to quit, they constantly thought about killing someone. They said that suppressing their desires was agonizing, especially in a world where they couldn’t easily indulge their happiness.
So, how must this world feel to him?
‘From the beginning when he was almost eaten, he had his identity revealed by some ant, and now he’s facing a detective while feeling pissed.’
He must have been quite disgruntled. That’s why he was so easily agitated by Lee Jaehun’s prodding, and even in this situation with monsters swarming everywhere, he was pointing his knife solely at Lee Jaehun.
Lee Jaehun, for the sake of plausibility, didn’t bother fending off the other monsters, inwardly calculating the distance to the survivors heading their way. Naturally, it was mostly intuition.
And…
“…!”
Suddenly, a sharp pain scr*ped his leg, and Lee Jaehun stumbled, his face contorted in surprise.
Teacher Lee Yoonbyeol had finally accepted his gift.
—Thud.
“Gasp…!”
In that instant, a knife plunged into his solar plexus.
“Cough, ugh…”
“Oh, why is this happening all of a sudden?”
Lee Jaehun couldn’t breathe.
A calm, amused voice, not at all surprised, reached Lee Jaehun’s ears. The owner of the voice pushed him against a tree, the knife firmly lodged in his solar plexus.
As his back hit the tree, the knife was driven in deeper.
“Khaaack…!”
“Strange.”
Song Inmyeong blinked several times, surprised by how easily the wound was inflicted, making his previous monster-like behavior seem embarrassing. He twisted the knife in Lee Jaehun’s solar plexus and continued,
“You just staggered, right? So suddenly? Isn’t that a bit too abrupt?”
“…Gasp, huh…”
“Did it hurt a lot because I stabbed you earlier?”
No way.
‘Such a clueless brat.’
Lee Jaehun was so annoyed he almost sighed.
Well, he still vividly remembered Song Inmyeong’s reaction when he stabbed Lee Jaehun’s side during their fight over the evidence. He looked at his bloodstained hand with a rather entranced expression, seemingly wanting to have a significant impact on ‘Lee Jaehun’ somehow.
‘Those self-absorbed morons are all the same.’
Of course, his side throbbed a little thanks to that, but that wasn’t what Lee Jaehun was focusing on. It seemed the murderer in front of him had finally realized it too.
“Ah, I see. Your leg definitely stiffened, so…”
Around that time, Lee Jaehun released the tension in his leg, and Song Inmyeong, taking a step back, pulled the jackknife out of his solar plexus. Lee Jaehun staggered a few times as if trying to hold on, then slid down the tree and collapsed.
To be honest, it didn’t hurt enough to make his leg go weak and distract him.
‘But that b⋏st⋏rd doesn’t know that.’
It was a necessary measure for Song Inmyeong to plausibly kill ‘Lee Jaehun’, who was almost a monster. If Lee Yoonbyeol hadn’t eaten the fruit before Lee Jaehun dⁱㅌd, he would have killed Song Inmyeong first, but since he’d been given this opportunity, there was no reason not to use it.
The deal was practically done anyway.
“…Cough, huh…”
A green mass.
Within his vision, the algae monster, which had been quietly observing the chaos, came into view. Lee Jaehun had noticed it setting traps around Song Inmyeong to devour him.
A sound like countless snakes crawling reached his ears.
“…”
Well, there was no rule that he had to kill him to offer him up.
“…So, is this it? That… fruit that Jung Inho ate?”
“Haa…”
“Fʊck, what? Who did you give it to? Huh? I’ll kill that b⋏st⋏rd for you, ahjussi. Just tell me… Yeah, I get it. Is it a woman or a man? Huh? Just tell me that much. It’s lonely going through this alone.”
“…”
“Really, wow. It’s driving me crazy how perfect you are until the very end… I knew you’d be like this! Wasn’t the back pain earlier because of this too? I’m going crazy, you’ve scattered the reasons for your death everywhere…!”
From now on, it didn’t matter when he dⁱㅌd.
‘Song Inmyeong’s condition isn’t good either.’
The culprit’s identity was revealed. Kang Mina survived. And if he dⁱㅌd, Jung Inho would be fine…
“…”
Beep—
Lee Jaehun felt like he heard tinnitus.
‘…Not bad results.’
This was a passing grade.
He felt Song Inmyeong cutting at his body and muttering something slowly, but Lee Jaehun decided to ignore it. There was no point in clinging to a body that was about to dⁱㅌ.
The knife narrowly missed his heart, but it was all the same. Of course, he could survive even if his heart was ripped out if he poured in his willpower, but Lee Jaehun had already decided to leave this timeline. There was no need to push himself and endure while new holes were being carved into his body.
He closed his heavy eyelids, then opened them again at the sudden commotion, and—
“—…!!”
“…!”
Through the blurry noises, a familiar silver-haired figure came into view.
The figure was plunging a scalpel into Song Inmyeong’s neck.
“…”
Lee Jaehun figured Ha Sungyoon must be angry.
‘…Why?’
Naturally, a question arose.
Did he suffer at Song Inmyeong’s hands too? Or was he angry that Song Inmyeong touched Lee Jaehun, his patient? It was possible, considering his strong pride as a doctor. Even though Lee Jaehun didn’t know much about Ha Sungyoon, he knew the man wasn’t the type to kill someone recklessly.
But suddenly, the emotions in his gaze, as he looked at Lee Jaehun after discarding the collapsing body…
“…Mr. Lee Jaehun.”
“…”
No.
‘No, it’s just…’
He prayed that the current chicks would survive as long as possible.
He didn’t want to be abandoned.