Chapter 175

I said it was for my people, but it was also for me.

‘I used you for my own good.’

Lee Jae-heon recklessly revealed to others the past that he had trusted and confessed to Jung In-ho, changed the story to suit his own taste, and even dared to use this person’s most difficult and painful times for his own profit. No matter what the outcome was, that fact did not change.

Jeong In-ho was an evil person.

“…I…”

What should I say?

“therefore.”

How should I answer so that I don’t commit any more sins? How can I not do something bad to the person in front of me when I just did something disgusting without even thinking about it?…

“….”

“…It’s okay.”

But in the end, everything that came out was just a lie.

Just as he died because he didn’t want to be left alone, Jeong In-ho was a coward who only knew how to run away.

“I don’t know why you came out here, but there was no problem. “No need to worry.”

“…There’s no need to worry.”

“Yes, it’s really okay. “I’m more worried about the manager’s condition.”

“I?”

“You seem to be having a lot of trouble… and you also seem to have a headache. How about talking to Ha Seong-yoon? Even if there is no suitable medicine, I can tell you a simple prescription…”

Lee Jae-heon frowned and asked him as he turned to talk.

“It felt like I was having a conversation with Song In-myeong.”

“….”

“Mr. Jeong In-ho.”

thank god.

“It was a mild warning.”

Jaeheon Lee probably didn’t hear the conversation with the trash.

In fact, if the opponent had been Hong Kyung-jun, it wouldn’t have mattered much even if I had heard it. In any case, thanks to the fabrication that Song In-myeong spread through his unique eloquence, it became nonsense for him to get along with Detective Hong Gyeong-jun’s group, and in that case, no matter what Jung In-ho did here, Hong Gyeong-jun would be suspicious of him.

‘Actually, I think it’s right to be suspicious at this point.’

However, even if he was suspected, Hong Gyeong-jun was not a great person who would kill or abandon anyone. Even if Song In-myeong commits murder in front of our eyes, we won’t be able to deal with him. It would have been the same even if Jeong In-ho had plotted murder with Song In-myeong.

‘So even though I heard it, nothing changed.’

I thought that if I was going to receive it anyway, it would be better for me to receive it alone. It is very tiring for Kang Min-ah and the rest of the group to be involved in such a dirty and complicated matter like now.

However, Jaeheon Lee’s case was a little different.

“I was just telling you not to approach this way, Manager.”

“…okay?”

“There was nothing special.”

I don’t know exactly what it was about, but I didn’t want to let him know about my situation.

“So I don’t think you really need to worry.”

Perhaps former Manager Lee Jae-heon also felt this way.

My thoughts and memories were mixed together like mud, and it was difficult to even say them out loud. It was the kind of selfishness that made me want to stay under a warm blanket on a cold winter day, just as I didn’t want to roughly shake a glass filled with water that was barely reaching its limit. There was a surprising comfort there.

Therefore, if I assume that the situation will get better by just keeping it in my mouth, I don’t want to bring it out. Because just holding it in isn’t as painful as I imagined.

“…It was Jeong In-ho who said Song In-myeong was dangerous.”

“I remember.”

“You say that person was targeting me, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t kill other people.”

“I remember that too.”

“….”

The slightly furrowed brow represented Lee Jae-heon’s feelings, but it was difficult to analyze because it was a reaction he showed often. To be precise, it was correct to say that Jeong In-ho did not have the luxury of doing so.

After hesitating for a moment, the other person continued speaking.

“I regret it.”

“What?”

“I just revealed it to you.”

At that moment, my heart sank like a child being scolded by its parents.

“…I….”

“I thought In-ho Jeong wouldn’t change no matter what I said or relied on.”

“It hasn’t changed.”

“If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have approached. I would have just watched from afar like before. “It’s because I was a bad influence on In-ho Jeong…”

“It’s not like that.”

“or not.”

Jaeheon Lee’s expression calmed down.

“Why do you make that face?”

“….”

Lee Jae-heon must have been watching Jeong In-ho as much or more than Jeong In-ho was observing him. Is it because I’ve changed that I’m acting stupid even though I didn’t know that? Is it because you missed something or lost it?

But even when I swept my hand over my mouth, nothing changed.

“Look, even I’m not sure right now.”

“…no.”

“What on earth do you want to do?”

“No, Manager.”

“Let me ask you one last question.”

A mechanical, tired voice.

“Is it true that I don’t have to regret anything?”

But Jaeheon Lee was lying.

“…yes.”

“….”

“It’s okay.”

Who believes in ‘the last’?

‘I’m sure I won’t be able to let go, so I’ll ask again at some point.’

I’m not a cold-hearted person who can end things by scolding and interrogating just once. Isn’t he a person whose standards he has for himself are extremely cruel, yet he can’t treat others the same way? Even if you say this is the last time, in the end, Jung In-ho will show up and call you when you are at your most difficult.

Just like before, I know that he will approach me by calling me ‘Mr. Jeong In-ho’ in a low voice.

‘Good.’

That gave Jeong In-ho a great sense of stability.

The momentary fear I felt when Lee Jae-heon frowned at my change suddenly subsided. Unless Jung In-ho dies again and turns back time, Jae-heon Lee eventually said he would help him and promised not to die. Even when Jung In-ho is at his most vulnerable, Lee Jae-heon will not leave even though he may be disappointed.

Jeong In-ho was not naive enough not to take advantage of such foolishness.

“…Then shall we go back together?”

“…You…”

“There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly strange around you. Abandoned dog monsters were occasionally seen, but they didn’t seem to be in significant numbers. “They didn’t show any particular hostility.”

“Mr. Jeong In-ho.”

“I think you can rest in peace.”

You can’t be a good person anyway.

“Yes?”

In that case, all that was needed was for a bad person to do something good.

* * *

Lee Jae-heon blinked at the sight of the protagonist passing by like that.

1 second 2 seconds.

“…Huh.”

He was bruised for a moment and couldn’t help but lament.

‘That bastard dares to deviate?’

I felt anxious for some reason, but ended up being stabbed in the back like this.

Given the circumstances, I thought the main character would break down first if I revealed that I had heard the conversation, so I kept my mouth shut, but hearing was one of the senses that improved after realizing my past life. Even though there were times when I couldn’t come to my senses due to my overloaded brain after entering the secret world, there was no way I couldn’t hear the conversation with Song In-myeong.

And it was confirmed that Jaeheon Lee’s prediction was correct.

“You disgusting bastard who said you didn’t like my plan…”

His meaningless muttering was scattered in the air, reaching nowhere.

‘If you wanted to borrow my plan, wouldn’t you have to report it to me, the owner, first?’

Even though I knew it was a joke, this stupid thought was the only thing that came to mind in a brain that was missing three screws. No matter how much I tried to deny it, it seemed like ‘Lee Jae-heon bait operation’ had turned into ‘Munsan-gun bait operation_actor Song In-myeong_directed by Jeong In-ho’, and I was dizzy as to where to start with this.

“….”

Calm down first.

‘…is the biggest problem a change in the protagonist’s personality?’

Yes, this was the most serious issue.

Of course, the current situation, which has been distorted due to Song In-myeong’s intervention, is also a problem, as is Lee Jae-heon, who is clearly in the position of the weak, and the rest of the group who are under suspicion, and Munsan-gun, who is unable to move between them, is also a problem. However, even compared to all of them, there was nothing that caused Lee Jae-heon as much headache as the change in the main character.

‘You must be good enough to be disgusting even if you turn black.’

How dare you make such a wrong judgment about the main character of this world? For Lee Jae-heon, who was a reader before being a resident of this world, it was a difficult change to accept.

If you think about it, Lee Jae-heon may have made a lot of mistakes, but it was quite a shock to see the main character who was so obsessed with goodness change into something like that. Perhaps the current protagonist’s obsession with goodness has decreased because he has several colleagues he can rely on, including ‘Lee Jae-heon’.

“…Because before, there was no one else to rely on….”

Unlike the original novel, which could not survive without clinging to goodness.

“….”

Jeong In-ho went first, and Lee Jae-heon, who stood still for a while, quickly nodded.

This is a problem.

‘I need to fix it somehow.’

This is possible because we live in a special environment where human life is worse than that of an ant. But what if you escape this world even for a moment? What if we go back to the world of laws, rules, and letters? If I were to return to a more comfortable and peaceful daily life, rather than this place where my mental strength drops just by taking a breath, would I be able to survive then?

“That can’t be possible.”

Lee Jae-heon muttered as if in a whisper.

Even though the range of emotions I feel is basically small, I don’t think that there will be no emotion or pride that I have felt about ‘goodness’ throughout my life. He was already a person who thought that obsession with goodness was the purpose of his life, but even after he came to his senses, he couldn’t have been so shameless and confiscated his face. There was a reason why Lee Jae-heon tried to save the survivors in front of the protagonist in the first place.

‘There’s nothing good about it…’

It was enough for Lee Jae-heon among these many survivors to be a race that considers people as their long-term partners. It was especially unacceptable when it was the main character. So what on earth has become of Lee Jae-heon, who has built up his image to appeal to his obsession with goodness? It was the worst choice both in the short term and the long term…

if you think about it.

“yes.”

Sometimes situations like this happened in my past life as well.

When Lee Jae-heon was young, he was inflexible, so he never did such sloppy acting, but as he got older and understood the subject, he could see how human affairs work roughly. It was a world full of people crazy about efficiency, but it wasn’t without emotions, so Jaeheon Lee learned how to put on a facade.

As long as Lee Jae-heon was a human being, he was bound to grow. He learned how to manage facial expressions from someone, how to analyze others from someone, and how to gently touch other people’s brains from someone else. Even if they didn’t tell me, there were things I saw and felt from the sidelines.

There was a time when employees’ performance was improved with this outward image.

“…Hmm.”

Some mental patients were so influenced by such show-like images that they even caused malfunctions, but if you think about it, Jung In-ho’s situation was not much different then and now.

My eyes rolled around and I scanned the dark side of the world behind me.

“is it.”

A light of understanding appears on the pale face.

Lee Jae-heon wasn’t aware of it, but it was an expression he made very often in his past life. It was also a face that rarely appeared outside the surface after I realized that I had been reincarnated in a novel.

After organizing his thoughts, Lee Jae-heon finally took a step forward.

“This is enough.”

Now it’s your turn to whip, you disgusting bastard.