Chapter 147

Episode 147:

A small fire that was embarrassing to call a bonfire was burning, and the sound of dry tree branches collapsing from the heat was heard.

The two in front of the bright red light under the pitch-black sky did not say anything for a while.

It was Lee Jae-heon who opened his mouth first.

“...So...”

He continued, lightly wiping the corners of his mouth.

“Are you saying that In-ho Jeong died and returned to the past?”

“...I feel like yes. “It seems so.”

“So, people who should have died originally are alive....”

“Because I tried to do something. “I wanted to change it somehow.”

“....”

As Lee Jae-heon remained silent, Jeong In-ho, seeing him like that, took off his glasses and touched the area between his eyes. A voice cracked from fatigue came out from the mouth of the head that was bent down.

“...I can’t help it if it sounds crazy.”

My legs, which were sitting on the floor, had no strength.

Actually, I never thought it would be easy to trust him. When you die, you return to the past. Isn’t this a delusion or nonsense that only truly crazy people would say? And this world was a place that turned even normal people into crazy people. Looking at it that way, even if Lee Jae-heon asked Jung In-ho if he was crazy, he had nothing to say.

There may be a way to prove it, but I don’t have that much strength left, and if I were to ask Jung In-ho if he was completely sane, I wouldn’t be able to say yes. His honest feeling was that he couldn’t even trust himself.

Maybe I’ve just gone crazy.

“Maybe I’m just too stupid and weak... or maybe I just had a strange hallucination.”

“....”

“I may already be crazy, Manager.”

I wanted to cry, but not even a tear could fall.

In-ho Jeong has only told the story of one life at most. All I was saying for the first time was how I lived and how I died. The reality was that I had not even mentioned the second and third chances that I still remember.

Nevertheless, Jeong In-ho was afraid to speak out.

“I don’t know where my time ended...”

At this point, I couldn’t tell the difference.

Why am I still alive when I should have died? How many times have you died and how many times have you lived? Who is alive and who is dead. I couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake. It felt like everything had been crushed into one and had lost its original form.

Since I, who experienced the phenomenon myself, am sometimes confused, I wonder what other people would think about it. Even if Lee Jae-heon got angry and said that what I had said so far was not appropriate, Jeong In-ho did not have the power to refute it. It was so difficult and helpless.

And around that time, Lee Jae-heon, who had been quietly listening, opened his mouth.

“...I don’t believe it... I don’t.”

“....”

Jeong In-ho was only able to react one beat later.

“...yes?”

“So, I don’t think it’s a lie or crazy...”

“Why...”

“If you’re going to react like this, why on earth did you bring this up?”

He seemed a little puzzled. Should I say that it looks absurd?

Lee Jae-heon’s disapproval was clearly revealed by the hesitant look he was looking down at Jeong In-ho and his habitually frowning eyebrows.

“You probably know that I’ve met a crazy person or two, but you can’t be considered as crazy as Jeong In-ho. Unfortunately, it falls below the standard. “I’m overly self-conscious.”

“...even if you say so....”

“And I never thought that In-ho Jeong’s creativity or imagination was that good. But aren’t the things you just talked about clear causal relationships and consistent in context? “I know you’re too organized to be crazy, and you don’t have the temperament to lie.”

“....”

“No, before that. Why did you think I wouldn’t trust Inho Jeong? “I told them about my past to gain their trust, but what can I do if I do this?”

At those words, Jeong In-ho recalled something that happened not long ago, that is, not long ago. Lee Jae-heon briefly explained his past in front of Ha Seong-yoon and Jeong In-ho.

The feeling I felt at that moment was none other than absurdity.

“...Was that something you said to gain trust...?”

“...Then you probably took it out because you were bored?”

“Oh well. No, that’s not it...”

It was a little funny.

“I just... didn’t know that was your intention.”

At that time, you revealed your past not because of our urging, but for the sake of our trust. In the end, it meant that Lee Jae-heon also made an effort to somehow coexist with the current group.

“....”

No, wait a minute.

“...Then why did you say it that way last time?”

Then why did you talk like that when you went to help him when the monster attacked last time? Why did you say something like that that you don’t even see us as people?

“What are you talking about all of a sudden again?”

“No, last time the dog monsters came. No, what on earth is this....”

“Speak in human language, Jeong In-ho.”

“You are truly unlucky, manager.”

“Are you going to start a fight?”

“That’s not it...”

As I let out a bewildered laugh, I saw one of Lee Jae-heon’s eyebrows slightly raised. Then, Jeong In-ho was able to feel a strange feeling from the series of actions where he looked down with such a shameless face.

The words came out without me even having time to straighten my distorted expression.

“...I’m really unlucky....”

My voice naturally trembled due to the frustration and nervousness welling up from my danjeon.

“This time I saw a corpse. “I saw how you died.”

The corpse of Director Lee Jae-heon, which I saw for the first time in my life, was indescribably horrific.

He had his eyes closed as if he were sleeping. Contrary to his calm eyelids, his entire body, including his hands, was in chaos, and his abdomen was torn to the point where his internal organs were almost spilling out, making it difficult to open his eyes and look at it.

Anyone could see that it looked like a person who had been tortured to death.

“...Thanks to you... Kang Min-ah was very shocked.”

“...Why?”

“Because I remembered everything that happened back then.”

“....”

“It’s funny to hear that you had some kind of deal with that bastard.”

After a while, Kang Min-ah, who regained her senses, went crazy again.

The incident at the company was repeated, and this time, Manager Lee Jae-heon died in her place. Even though she can’t actually be said to be a ‘great minister’, in Kang Min-ah’s opinion, the reason Lee Jae-heon died was because of her.

“He was holding on to Kang Min-ah while hanging on a tree root. Just like that, I asked that art-sick bastard for a deal. Well, what did it say?”

“....”

“Instead of torturing me like this, don’t drop me. I heard you made a deal to try to save that person somehow, since if you fall from that state, both the manager and Kang Min-ah will die...” I looked at Lee Jae-heon, trailing off, and

he answered in a mechanical voice.

“I can’t possibly do that.”

“...I thought you would say that.”

“okay.”

Nevertheless, Jaeheon Lee just snorted and spoke. I don’t know if it was because he really didn’t believe it or because he didn’t want to admit it, but what was certain was that Jeong In-ho was heartbroken by such a reaction.

He pressed his temples and continued speaking.

“Well... after that it was similar to last time. Detective Hong Gyeong-jun has become a maverick again, and thanks to the people he killed there, people are going crazy. “The mood is getting worse day by day.”

In particular, in the case of Vivian, who had both the killer and the victim as friends, it was impossible to say anything. Because of his close relationship with Song In-myeong, he had to face the distrustful gaze of quite a few people, including Detective Hong Gyeong-jun. It was a pity for him to lose two friends out of nowhere.

Jeong In-ho knew how terrible the situation was.

“Because I was also suspected of that.”

This time too, police officer Kim Yeon-woo urged people to refrain from making groundless charges, but things did not get better. Jeong In-ho couldn’t help but swallow his sadness as he saw her working hard in everything.

“Yeonseok was also one of the people who hated Vivian. I know it’s a ridiculous way to vent, but it’s true that Kang Min-ah ended up like that... because of Song In-myeong. “I blamed myself for doing such an ugly thing to a fellow student, but I did not change my attitude.”

“....”

“...Then the monster came. It was a green monster. Yes. It’s a green algae monster. It’s much faster and stronger than before, but I thought I was watching some kind of battery commercial. What was it? Oh my gosh, he’s so big that he kills people almost like he’s fishing...” “

....”

“...a sick person like the manager has come out.”

My fingertips were shaking.

“He feels murderous towards living things and wants to kill them... Just like last time. “I’m just as crazy again.”

“...Mr. Jeong In-ho.”

“I had to kill again. Who will kill it if not me? Isn’t that right? It has to be someone who has killed and died once. If not me, who would tell me to kill someone?...”

“Calm down.”

“This time, it was President Choi Jeong-man.”

“....”

“...You endured it for quite some time, but then you saw your son’s body.”

I felt a familiar sense of déjà vu and couldn’t even get there.

“What that bastard killed was President Choi Jeong-man’s son.”

After that, things were very similar.

Seeds of distrust. Escalating conflict. A divided team. The traces of the killer burrowing through them and the intrusion of monsters that disrupt them. Humans turning into monsters and green algae monsters watching as if they were watching.

In-ho Jeong was the one who had the choice.

“...This time too... I didn’t want to be alone.”

“....”

“I was scared. I’m sorry. I was so scared... I ran away. If it continues like this, I think it will be the same again. I was afraid that I would kill everyone, monsters and people, and then be alone again to see the bright morning... I didn’t want to do that...” I decided

to let go of the choice I was holding on to, at least this time.

“You know what? “It would have been okay if the manager had been alive.”

“...gibberish.”

“It would have been better for you to be here than for me. I would have found a better way and made it into a better situation. Rather than having a nobody like me alive. “I just keep failing.”

“That can’t be possible, right?”

“So please don’t die...”

“....”

“...please...”

For Jeong In-ho, all the freedom to make choices came from Director Lee Jae-heon. If he didn’t exist, everything would have been ruined in the first place. Isn’t that clear?

He muttered as if he was praying to an amulet.

“Don’t die, boss.”

“....”

“Don’t die....”

It felt like a curse.

Even if Jeong In-ho heard it.

(Continued in the next part)