Chapter 404

Episode 404

Before the full-scale final boss hunt, Song In-myeong described art teacher Seong Dae-young.

‘Honestly, such a far-fetched view of art doesn’t suit me, but... I think the working technique itself is something to look at. ‘The ability to place a corpse in a plaster statue without decomposing it at all is quite admirable.’

‘The higher the synchronization between the plaster statue and the corpse, the more he cherished it. Life and death are contained within the plaster at the same time... I think so.’

‘ah...? No, I won’t kill you. When dealing with material that I don’t like, I kill it right away... but if I like it, I usually lock it in a plaster statue and wait for it to die.’

In addition, she said that she has similar tendencies to misogyny, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t touch men, so it’s virtually meaningless information. What was important here was that the victim inside the plaster statue did not die right away. Didn’t they say that the more you like something, the more you put it in plaster and wait for it to die?

In the same context, even if the art teacher monster became a plaster monster based on the favor he showed toward Jae-heon Lee, it was unlikely that Jae-heon Lee would be declared dead right away. Even in lucid dreams, rather than killing someone right away, I enjoyed slow-moving plasters and chases that didn’t work out.

From there, Jaeheon Lee thought.

‘If this thing turns into a monster and you drop it right into the water, won’t it survive?’

The plaster, which had received some impact, broke easily when water entered it. In the past, when Lee Jae-heon turned into a plaster monster and was hit with water from a sprinkler, bright red blood was flowing inside. The point is that a plaster statue is made alive. Jaeheon Lee aimed for that point.

Therefore, he asked Song In-myeong to drown him if necessary, and he, who was obsessed with ‘Lee Jae-heon’s’ sacrificial spirit, readily accepted the request.

“Cough huh...”

The result.

“Chief, are you okay? “The body...!”

“It’s okay... it’s okay.”

In fact, Jaeheon Lee lived.

“Except for my neck being a bit curly, there’s no problem.”

Lee Jae-heon, who vomited out a bunch of water that had entered his windpipe, sniffled and answered. I fell into the water while still a plaster monster, but that didn’t mean water wouldn’t get inside. Rather, thanks to the water penetrating deep into his body, he was able to take off his plaster skin and survive.

And Jaeheon Lee really hated the feeling of vomiting.

I really, really hated it.

“...Wow....”

“How great is my uncle...!”

Garam Yoon patted the back of Jaeheon Lee, who was struggling, and sobbed bitterly. Behind them, Vivian was beating up Song In-myeong.

“Oh, are you fucking doing that as a favor? uh? Can you hear that? “What the fuck, the bastard who normally wouldn’t even listen to a request is doing something that anyone can see is a sham...!”

“evil! Ouch! 고만 때려 개새끼야! Argh!!”

“Where is the trash barking? Wow, it’s amazing.”

“Ahh! “My lovely hair!!”

Hong Gyeong-jun, a detective of this era, justly ignored it and pretended not to see it. It was rather comical to see a face that was only concerned about Lee Jae-heon, as if it were a commotion that did not exist in the world.

“Is it true that there is no other problem with Lee Jae-heon’s body?”

“I said earlier that it was pretty good.”

“I’m really worried about your pale complexion. Besides, are you sane to ask Song In-myeong such a favor? “Luckily, I came back as a human, but for a moment, I had a hard time wondering what to do with this.”

“That’s...”

“Look at Jeong In-ho smiling. “I’m all horrified.”

Jeong In-ho, who was smiling with his characteristic grinning face, opened his pitch-black eyes and asked Hong Gyeong-jun back.

“Are you creepy?”

“Even if you take on the haunted house interview like this, I think you’ll pass in the first attempt.”

“Our detective speaks beautifully.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not Jeong In-ho’s ‘Our Detective.’”

“Excuse me, but I don’t think I will accept it even if I give it to you.”

As the two childish adults exchanged attacks and defenses, perhaps because the tension had eased, Lee Jae-heon, who was showing off his presence by not being sharp, stood up.

And fell.

“mister!!”

“Boss!!”

“Jaeheon Lee!!”

In the end, Jaeheon Lee was neatly placed in a chair in the lobby on the 4th floor.

“...It’s a bit harsh.”

“I hope you realize that the manager is now worse than a four-legged animal that has just been born.”

“Director Jeong, I think we’ll be seeing each other in the planning office soon, so you’re saying enough, right?”

“Oh my. Then why did you do something like that with Song In-myeong? “It’s not like me going crazy in a park somewhere.”

“What? You’re quite open-mouthed, aren’t you? Make me have nothing to say?”

“If you know, just stay there.”

Perhaps it was because the monster, an art teacher who had a great influence on Unhak High School, had both broken legs. Even though the hallways were cluttered with at least one or two monsters wandering around, no monster came out of the classroom. This was the reason why Lee Jae-heon and Jeong In-ho were able to have an unusual chat in the 4th floor lobby.

So what happened to the art teacher monster?

“...okay?”

Lee Jae-heon’s mood was also excited as he seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

It would have been a huge advantage to be able to handle a man like Song In-myeong. I don’t know what kind of work this bastard wants to do with ‘Lee Jae-heon’, but considering the Vivian and Seo Jang-hwa cases, I don’t think the planned work will be made within a day or two. It wasn’t that difficult to use Song In-myeong since there would be less risk for the time being.

‘If you think about it, they’re really good people.’

Just in case, I need to put in a little more effort to shake his mind. The reason Song In-myeong was able to become a good human resource was because he only wanted one thing, the favor of ‘Lee Jae-heon’, so he had to give a delicious bait performance so that the effort he put in in the process was not a waste at all.

And it wasn’t as difficult as I thought. In his past life, there were times when he acted like a strong man in order to use the manpower at his disposal as efficiently as possible, and there were also times when he acted like an absurd weakling.

“....”

“....”

“...Wow....”

Of course, you will only have time to do such things when you return to reality.

“Is that really true...? Is that right? Even if Bian is like that, an office worker, a flower shop owner, and a detective come together to do something like that...”

“People can act like that when they’re stressed.”

“I’m being very serious, that’s a bean pod, man. Then one day, you might get stabbed in the back.”

“What’s with the backs of the chicks’ heads...”

“Those aren’t just chicks, they’re carnivorous chicks? “You’re just a soft chick in your eyes?”

Jaeheon Lee clicked his tongue at the monster art teacher who was still in good shape despite being trampled like that.

“Let’s just finish it off.”

“...He just looked like a complete gang leader.”

“Song In-myeong, shut up.”

Beetle.

Jaeheon Lee stood up with difficulty.

His expression became more grim due to fatigue and his face became pale and inhuman. Clothes in dark colors that make you feel damp and cool. All sorts of wounds visible through the torn fabric. A quiet, heavy voice...

“What are you doing?”

“....”

“I didn’t soak it.”

For a moment, silence fell.

Later, Song In-myeong evaluated him as ‘he was indeed a member of the Lee Dang group.’

* * *

I blink, feeling a strange sense of helplessness.

“....”

I saw a TV with nothing playing.

It was a cool and quiet space that was momentarily mistaken for another world.

“...ah.”

Jaeheon Lee realized it too late.

He was sitting on the sofa in the living room with the lights off.

“You’re back.”

A low voice cracked.

Although he knew he had returned to reality, Jaeheon Lee did not relax his body. I hadn’t lived an easy life where I could relieve all my tension just by looking at a dark living room. He listened closely and realized that there was no sign of anyone anywhere in the house, so he moved slowly.

“Where...”

Eyelids. Finger wrist. elbow. shoulder. neck. Toes, ankles, knees....

The journey ended only after gently scanning the entire body with the tips of my fingers.

“You’re fine.”

It was the same as ‘Manager Lee Jae-heon’, with no damage whatsoever.

He got up and walked around the house before heading towards the kitchen. The pantry was filled with different items than I remembered, suggesting that someone had eaten the food and then filled it up. This meant that while Lee Jae-heon himself was in the underworld, someone ate and lived in this house.

‘Is that the guy in the mirror?’

A thin, unlucky face like a snake came to mind, but it soon disappeared.

“...Ha....”

Tuk.

I closed the pantry door and leaned my forehead against it.

“....”

An officetel with no one around.

The comfort of a cold touch and a longing emptiness welcomed him.

(Continued in the next part)