Chapter 169 |
Yoon Garam’s inherent ability was to incinerate anything but herself, and traces of her psychic energy clung to every corner of the park. The reason for the spontaneously combusting vines Lee Jaehun saw at the flower shop being scattered there was simple. It meant she hadn’t just gotten to know the altered landscape of the otherworld park so well from taking frequent walks.
‘So… about half of this stage was created by Yoon Garam.’
As expected of the otherworld, where mental strength dictated everything. The fact that even a survivor could become the boss of the otherworld wasn’t… well, not really that surprising. Lee Jaehun was more concerned about managing the mental states of his chicks. In a world where a perfectly healthy survivor could evolve into an otherworld boss in the blink of an eye, they needed to be careful.
‘The protruding tree roots were probably the same.’
In the original novel, Owner Yoon Garam rediscovered her ability and confronted her trauma while witnessing Ha Sungyoon being killed by a monster. In any case, she was shocked, and her mental fortitude strengthened in some way, so it made sense that she caused a visible change like the ‘tree roots’.
If Owner Yoon Garam were to completely lose her mind, it would be difficult to distinguish her from any other monster in the otherworld. At least, that was how she was depicted in the latter half of the story.
‘How did it start again….’
As Lee Jaehun carefully reviewed Yoon Garam’s character settings, Ha Sungyoon’s voice reached his ears.
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That was how it was in the novel, too.
Jung Inho said with a laugh.
“This might have been inappropriate to say at the time, but it was just like a final boss awakening in a game. Like an NPC turning evil.”
It was actually quite similar.
‘In the novel, they seemed to have figured it out but still accepted her into their group.’
The protagonist’s path in the novel was first to the park, then to the hospital, and then back to the park to defeat the algae monster, the boss of that stage, before returning to reality. The protagonist knew from the first time he entered the park that Yoon Garam had the ability to summon fire, yet he kept her in his group until the very end.
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While being suspicious, he also held expectations. The protagonist wanted Yoon Garam as a companion, even if she were another form of monster in the otherworld. The more the protagonist understood and accepted her uniqueness, the more Yoon Garam demonstrated her abilities.
‘As a result, he ended up killing Yoon Garam himself.’
After going in and out of the otherworld multiple times and experiencing numerous episodes, the protagonist reached the final chapter and killed Yoon Garam, who had become the new boss of the park. If Lee Jaehun’s memory served him right, Jung Inho, the protagonist, had to kill Yoon Garam to escape the otherworld.
“…….”
Because that was his last chance.
As Lee Jaehun reviewed the original storyline, Ha Sungyoon’s voice, filled with a bewildered emptiness, reached his ears.
“…It was a flippant remark, but I’ll admit it was an apt analogy, Mr. Jung Inho. I didn’t know I could be so lighthearted while describing scenes of people dying or being killed. I didn’t want to know either.”
From Lee Jaehun’s perspective, all three of them were crazy.
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‘They seemed to be growing, but we really needed to get out of there.’
Constantly pushing them wouldn’t help their growth.
“To continue, Garam at that time… she didn’t seem like the child I knew.”
“That’s a cliché.”
“I know, so please be quiet. It was already confusing enough with what I was seeing. How was I supposed to organize the information in my head if you kept chattering like that? I asked for your cooperation.”
“Alright.”
“…Anyway, what I wanted to say was… that is….”
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To the hesitant and wavering Ha Sungyoon, Lee Jaehun spoke.
“Did Ms. Yoon Garam burn down the park?”
“…That’s what it felt like to me.”
He sighed.
“As you may already know, Garam is a child who enjoys the fear of fire. She knew it was terrible in her head, but when a problem actually arose, she genuinely rejoiced. I hoped you understood that it wasn’t because she was a bad person.”
“I was aware, so you didn’t have to worry.”
“I was glad to hear that, but… I think that’s why such a thing happened, because of her constitution and disposition. It was so contradictory that I didn’t know what to say, no. That… uh….”
“…Mr. Ha Sungyoon?”
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“…I never thought the day would come when I couldn’t explain things properly. I used to be someone who could blabber on even in front of terminally ill patients….”
He feigned indifference, but his expression showed subtle self-deprecation.
“I apologized in advance, but did you know that uncanny feeling I sometimes got from Mr. Lee Jaehun? That feeling that you weren’t human?”
“Was that something you should have said in front of the person? Were you picking on me for becoming a monster?”
“Picking… ha, no. I mean, I apologized in advance. I just wanted to express the monstrous feeling I felt from Owner Yoon Garam at the time. It seemed like she had completely lost her mind, and although we could have a bit of a conversation, the park was still burning… There were hardly any survivors left, but Ha Sungyoon and Ms. Kang Mina were still alive. I thought I had to stop it.”
“You were describing yourself as if you were someone else.”
“…….”
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His expression distorted slightly.
“…I couldn’t help it. I was just watching what happened, and it didn’t feel like I was recalling existing memories at all. It was like I was watching the story of another person with the same face and body.”
“Then, strictly speaking, it seems you didn’t ‘recall your memories.’ As you said earlier, Mr. Ha Sungyoon seemed to be able to know the previous situation exceptionally because he gained eyes. Was that correct?”
“That would be the case. I didn’t know why my mind was so erratic sometimes, but now I understood why Mr. Lee Jaehun often spaced out or acted strangely.”
“You didn’t have to phrase it like that.”
“To get to the point, that’s why I killed her.”
“…….”
“I also wanted Ha Sungyoon, or rather, myself and Ms. Kang Mina to live… but honestly, I just wanted Owner Yoon Garam to dⁱㅌ as a human. I thought Garam would have wanted that too…. Yes, that’s how it seemed.”
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Suddenly, Lee Jaehun thought.
‘You managed to kill her.’
Certainly, due to her early awakening, she might have been a little vulnerable, but she was still a boss. Considering the description of the entire park burning, the situation wasn’t much different from the original novel, but it seemed the skill he showed when killing Song Inmyeong in the previous loop hadn’t gone anywhere.
“She willingly offered her neck too.”
“Aha.”
Well, if she offered to dⁱㅌ herself, it would have been easy to handle.
‘It’s still surprising that Ha Sungyoon did it… but if he was that crazy, it wasn’t strange.’
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Lee Jaehun nodded inwardly.
It was too bizarre an act and thought for the current Ha Sungyoon, but it was understandable for the Ha Seongyoon of the previous loop. When he recalled his abnormal obsession with his patients, the way he tried to help them was quite ambiguous. He might have killed Yoon Garam in his own way, thinking he was helping her.
“But in the end, I also dⁱㅌd from smoke inhalation before I could escape the park, and only Ms. Kang Mina remained. It would be better to hear what happened afterward directly from Ms. Kang Mina.”
“…Although I don’t know how much or how far she remembers.”
Jung Inho’s voice seemed strangely lacking in emotion.
“……?”
This wasn’t right.
‘I thought he’d be happier if someone else regained their memories?’
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Wasn’t that the point of planting all those hints? It was partly for Lee Jaehun’s own selfish desires, but also to help the protagonist regain his composure. But if he was this apathetic to the appearance of a new comrade, then half of it was a waste of effort.
‘If the last survivor really could regain their memories, I was going to try manipulating things myself in the next loop… but now things were getting weird.’
No, if he was really this uninterested, why did he act so weak right after his regression? He whined about how lonely and difficult it was that no one remembered, and now he was acting like this? It made Lee Jaehun, who had been planting hints and supporting the protagonist, look like a fool.
Jung Inho stared at Lee Jaehun with dark eyes.
“More importantly, didn’t you have more to say?”
“…….”
“Where did you go with Ms. Kang Mina that you came back with that leech, Song Inmyeong, attached to you?”
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D⋏mn, he’d put that question on hold for now.
Swallowing the complex question, Lee Jaehun averted his gaze and answered.
“There was something I wanted to confirm. I knew the others wouldn’t be able to do it properly, so I wanted to go myself… I knew you and Mr. Ha Sungyoon would try to stop me, so I slipped away.”
“Aren’t you going to ask what that something was?”
“…Um….”
After a brief pause, he said.
“…I tried to communicate with the stray dog monster….”
“Are you crazy?”
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“Watch your language, Assistant Manager Jung. It’s offensive to your manager.”
“You needed to break the habit of trying to brush things off like that. If that wasn’t crazy, then what was it? Communicating with a monster? Was that some new suicide method?”
“Huh, really, this guy…”
Suppressing his rising boomer spirit, he continued.
“…I wondered if we really needed to fight if they didn’t attack first. Among the nearby monsters, the only non-hostile one was the stray dog monster.”
“Wait, wait a minute.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Ha Sungyoon interrupted.
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“Where did you get that ‘non-hostile monster’ criteria? More importantly, stray dog monster? Did you already know where those monsters originated?”
“Of course I did. How long had I been here? …There was a reason I kept saying we shouldn’t go to the pharmacy. I knew more about the monsters in this world than you did. Especially the stray dog monsters, they were common in this world. Especially in the park.”
“Don’t suddenly show off your knowledge. Then why did you, someone who knew the dangers of those monsters so well, do something so bizarre? I had also met that monster, the stray dog monster, but I wouldn’t say it wasn’t hostile.”
“It hadn’t actually caused any harm.”
‘Lee Jaehun’ frowned, looking troubled.
“…Most stray dog monsters didn’t bother survivors first. Didn’t they eventually leave on their own when Ms. Kwon Yeonhee collapsed on the ground crying? They had no intention of attacking, but they were leaving because you guys seemed to be in pain. That’s what it was.”
At that moment, Ha Sungyoon interjected.
“You’ve become quite the animal communicator, sir. With such consideration and kindness, couldn’t you take care of us first? You seemed to understand the inner workings of monsters so well, but you were just…”
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“Ah, so I succeeded, didn’t I? It wasn’t a failure, I actually learned that communication with monsters… some degree of interaction was possible. It was quite a challenge for me, so were you really going to keep doing this? I tried to do something helpful in my own way.”
“The problem is why you did it while making us worry so much.”
“I already apologized for that, didn’t I?”
He flinched slightly, remembering the time he was force-fed the fruit and scolded inappropriately for his age, but he still seemed to be holding back, recognizing that ‘Lee Jaehun’ was a patient. He had no right to say anything, as he was the one who broke the promise first.
In the slightly subdued atmosphere, Lee Jaehun opened his mouth, feeling awkward.
“It was really… nothing.”
As if angered by that, this time Jung Inho began to scold him.
“Nothing, you said?”
“I wasn’t injured or anything….”
“You got your hand bitten, didn’t you? And even Song Inmyeong, who’s more dangerous than a monster…”
“I wasn’t attacked.”
“You must have been able to afford such complacency because you hadn’t seen firsthand what kind of trash Song Inmyeong was. That b⋏st⋏rd even killed Minhong, that little kid. Did you even know how you dⁱㅌd at the hands of that man? Did you know how mangled your body was?”
“…No, I didn’t even know his name until just now… I slipped up. I was so out of it at the time that I didn’t attach any meaning to Ms. Kang Mina’s reaction or Song Inmyeong’s interjections.”
As he offered his prepared excuse, both Ha Sungyoon and Jung Inho’s expressions darkened.
“…This won’t do.”
“No, I don’t think it will.”
The two of them seemed to have reached an understanding. Ha Sungyoon approached Lee Jaehun, who still hadn’t grasped their intentions. Then, he grabbed Lee Jaehun’s shirt as if he were grabbing him by the collar and started dragging him away.
“Uh? Uh, uh…! W-Wait a minute. What is this? Use your words!”
“I always use my words, sir. I am just taking you near the bonfire, so don’t worry, I really won’t do anything.”
“I’d—I’d go on my own. Mr. Moon Sangun is already looking at us strangely, so please refrain from such behavior…!”
“Let him misunderstand. Right now, our priority is your life, sir. You should have been grateful we’re not tying you up somewhere.”
“…….”
Since they seemed serious, Lee Jaehun wisely closed his mouth.
He had a murderer to skillfully hook in the midst of all this, so he couldn’t afford to have his limbs tied up.
* * *
“…….”
Watching Lee Jaehun being dragged away by Ha Sungyoon, Jung Inho nodded inwardly.
‘This is right.’
Manager Lee Jaehun was more important to them than Moon Sangun, who should have dⁱㅌd anyway. Especially since he was someone affected by the algae monster, he would require extra care.
‘Since things have turned out this way, there’s no need to join Detective Hong’s team….’
It might not have been necessary at all.
Yes, let’s just leave them to dⁱㅌ.
Choi Minhong needed to be returned to his parents, but there was no need to merge the detective’s team and theirs. They were already struggling to survive on their own, so why should they take on the burden of others? To borrow Manager Lee Jaehun’s words, it was truly inefficient.
Guilt gnawed at his brain.
“…That wouldn’t do, would it? No matter what….”
Jung Inho muttered like a sigh.
No matter how crazy, broken, or distorted he was, he couldn’t abandon his humanity. Even if he couldn’t become a good person like Officer Kim Yeonwoo, he didn’t want to remain an evil person, as his parents had cursed him to be.
If he abandoned even that, what would become of Jung Inho?
“…Ugh.”
But he couldn’t shake it off.
“Ugh, gasp, cough….”
Unable to bear the disgust spreading from his brain, he finally retched. All that came out was clear gastric fluid, but to Jung Inho’s eyes, it looked like the cerebrospinal fluid that had been enveloping his brain. If he continued to vomit, would his ⁱnsⁱdㅌs come out too?
He couldn’t help but think that way.
‘Why shouldn’t I?’
Why shouldn’t I abandon my humanity?
“…….”
Wiping his mouth, Jung Inho started walking, recalling the person who had now become a benchmark.
‘Yes, the stray dog monster, he said.’
As expected, Manager Lee Jaehun still had a lot of information he hadn’t revealed. Rather than hiding it, it seemed more like he was choosing the right time to speak. Since Jung Inho had also made him promise not to dⁱㅌ, it would be good to hear that information again.
Did the fact that he led them to the park mean that this space was easier to survive in than other areas? Considering how he persistently advised against going to the pharmacy, the probability was high…
“…Ha.”
Jung Inho suddenly recalled a part of a conversation he had with Lee Jaehun. It was a very abrupt recollection.
“Mental shocks are reflected in the otherworld….”
He had said.
“…….”
Jung Inho, too, had definitely been shocked.
‘…Why wasn’t the shock I felt right after returning to the past reflected?’
He turned his eyes around.
If Kang Mina really came back to the past with him, what about her shock?
“…Why….”
Did recalling past memories not count as a shock? But surely it was a factor that greatly influenced one’s personality, so such a thing wasn’t reflected in the otherworld? Why was this the only exception?
“…….”
Jung Inho, who had stopped for a moment, started walking again.
‘…Two questions remain.’
Whether the favoritism he felt was real, and where this time travel originated from.
These were questions he couldn’t answer yet.