Chapter 56

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Chapter 56

Of course, it was true that Lee Jaehun had tried to win them over first.

As a rather typical old-fashioned director, he was disliked by the protagonist. This was more of a nuisance than a sorrowful matter for him. If possible, Lee Jaehun also wished to become part of the protagonist’s ‘group.’

Thus, he began a ridiculous charade. He pretended to meet the protagonist by chance, captured their attention, shattered their values, and injected a new image into their mind. By aligning himself with the protagonist, who favored kindness, others naturally began to see him as a good person.

This was inevitable. Lee Jaehun wanted to rebuild the trust, which had hit rock bottom, between him and the group. These fledglings would never realize his true intentions, so he managed to acquire the ‘good person’ image he desired.

However, if he made one mistake, it was that he ultimately failed to gain their trust.

‘All I did was raise their expectations unnecessarily.’

Lee Jaehun had managed his image meticulously to become part of the protagonist’s group.

Yet, they were more susceptible to affection, felt guilty for receiving help, and were sensitive to others’ suffering more than he had imagined. This was a surprising fact for him, whether in his past life or current one. What Lee Jaehun wanted was a relationship where they couldn’t discard each other despite conflicts, not one where trust was replaced by guilt and affection from unilateral sacrifices.

‘Where did it all go wrong?’

It was a headache. Life was still tough, and his existence was perpetually miserable. Nothing had changed.

If only the stage of his act hadn’t been the hidden world, things might have been better. One of Lee Jaehun’s strengths was his quick acceptance and new plans. Even if he sometimes confused past and present common sense, it wouldn’t have led to such an uncontrollable situation as now.

From a distance, the outcome of his plan seemed somewhat plausible, but up close, it was a complete mess. Instead of solid trust, Lee Jaehun gained separation anxiety and, instead of a rough image, he earned the title of a gullible fool who would die if left alone for a moment. Additionally, unexpected encounters and situations prevented him from building relationships with detectives or other survivors as planned.

The fact that nothing went as expected, except for the broad outline, was infuriating. To make matters worse, he suspected he had brought about 10% of these troubles himself.

‘They’re misunderstanding about the blood I coughed up. How should I clear this up?’

Honestly, he hadn’t coughed up that much blood. The pastel-toned fledglings, who had never seen blood before, were overreacting, making it embarrassing to think why they were making such a fuss over something so minor. It wasn’t like he had done anything wrong.

If it had only happened once, it would be one thing, but a detective witnessed it. Given Detective Hong Kyungjun’s nature, there was no way he wouldn’t come back, and he might inform others without even realizing it. To avoid getting blindsided by this overly dramatic situation, he needed to somehow spin his coughing blood into something beneficial for the group.

‘So how? At what timing?’

What could he say to make them accept it with a simple, ‘Oh, I see. Got it.’? The creeping feeling of impossibility made his hair stand on end.

Pretending to sleep with his eyes closed, Lee Jaehun eventually decided to shed another piece of his pride.

‘Dignity doesn’t put food on the table.’

He could afford to drop a few pieces of his towering pride. If he could neatly package unfavorable facts to his advantage, it was worth it. Lee Jaehun felt the need to somehow clean up the exaggerated image he had inadvertently built.

So, adjusting the image he had accumulated so far would be a good move…

“……”

Well, actually.

‘It doesn’t take long to make someone unlikable.’

Lee Jaehun prided himself on being adept at manipulating public opinion. Furthermore, the underworld was an extreme environment for the survivors, making it easy to mess with their already strained minds.

This might make him regret the good person image he had built in front of the group so far, but if he left things as they were, it would only become a burden. It might be better to reset their trust to zero and be seen as someone completely unreliable. Ultimately, what he needed was trust in his abilities alone.

However, betrayal is a sentiment born from longing for past circumstances, so even if they turned their heads and avoided eye contact, there would still be a minimum expectation left. As a result, the protagonist’s group wouldn’t be able to abandon him.

In this case, Lee Jaehun could hold the group’s leash.

‘Convenient.’

It was a fairly satisfying plan.

No matter how much he wished for death, they wouldn’t be able to give up on ‘Lee Jaehun.’

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“Looks like we’ll need cans after all,” Deputy Jung Inho remarked as the day broke.

“While glass is sturdy, it takes longer to boil and is harder to handle,” he added.

“Yeah, that’s true…”

“Oh, no, I’m not saying anything about bringing glass bottles specifically.”

Saying so, the protagonist showed some discomfort, but Lee Jaehun understood. He cursed inwardly, wondering why they had to bring glass, but he couldn’t say it outright.

Lee Jaehun intervened before Team Leader Kang’s mental state deteriorated further.

“It’s okay, we’ll need cans anyway if we plan to cook something later.”

“…Director…”

“Ah well, what is it?”

Anyway, it wasn’t just empty talk. Considering durability, glass was undoubtedly superior to cans. From a long-term perspective, it was a pretty decent choice. Besides, they hadn’t picked up random glass bottles when there were clearly cans available.

The words seemed to provide comfort as Team Leader Kang’s face relaxed slightly, and annoyingly, Yoon Garam looked pleased with the situation. Seeing the intern’s face also relax made Lee Jaehun feel even more disgusted, knowing why they were smiling like that.

‘Seems like you’re feeling good because your secret crush reacted positively.’

Lee Jaehun remarked sarcastically.

“Anyway, the water issue is resolved.”

The issue of water safety was resolved faster than expected. Once they boiled the water and drank it without any problems, and since Lee Jaehun, unable to bear the stuffiness, drank the unboiled water to confirm its safety. Still, since the weather wasn’t very warm, it wouldn’t hurt to boil the water.

The team seemed to realize the situation at the same time. Especially the doctor, who had claimed some responsibility for their safety, seemed more serious.

‘Even a spoiled 4-year-old wouldn’t react like that.’

The protagonist’s mood didn’t seem great either, as a bitter voice came out.

“…It could have been dangerous.”

“But no one died.”

“It seems like you categorize people into alive and dead.”

“Are you going to keep nitpicking? Deputy Jung, behave yourself.”

“I’m always sorry.”

Even with furrowed eyebrows and a faint smile, Deputy Jung didn’t look apologetic at all. If it were the Lee Jaehun from his previous life, he would have wanted to smack him once for such cheekiness.

Even the doctor opened his mouth with a sigh.

“Do you realize you’re the patient?”

“Not entirely.”

“Even if you do, just stay quiet. You might end up dead.”

“You have a way of making words sound so pleasant.”

Finally, their eyes met with Park Dahoon, who had been watching the situation closely…

“… …”

“… …”

“…Okay, okay, I get it. I won’t do it anymore, alright?”

Their eyes darting back and forth seemed to recall their last conversation from dawn. It was clearly a betrayed gaze, as if saying, ‘You promised to protect me, but now you’re trying to kill me.’

Of course, it was likely an intentional gaze…

“You said something similar yesterday, I’m sure.”

“How much more do you want to pry into me?”

Honestly, it was absurd. Even after being caught drinking water raw, they still dug into him like this. Yet, it seemed like no one remembered the intensity of that moment.

But personally, Lee Jaehun felt somewhat satisfied.

‘It would be nice if these small grievances piled up into conflicts.’

Right now, everything seemed fine between them, so it was just a minor hiccup, but humans, as creatures, tend to remember negative emotions. They may have worried about Lee Jaehun, but what they received in return was this tiny betrayal, which didn’t sit well with them at all.

After finishing his reasonable grumbling act, Lee Jaehun rubbed his stiff shoulders and spoke up.

“Anyway… shouldn’t we start filling our stomachs a bit?”

Yes, now he was sure.

The time for survival game’s flower, farming, had arrived. It might still be challenging to stop by convenience stores, supermarkets, or pharmacies, but it was the time to gather everything they could to survive.

‘We can’t keep surviving on snacks alone.’

He recalled the contents of the novel he remembered.

Originally, in the novel, they had to resort to meals made from bugs and other things found in trees due to the lack of food. But so far, the team had relied on bottled water and a few snacks brought from the company as their energy source. Now, in the current situation where they didn’t even know what bugs tasted like, their mental state was not too bad.

‘But… that’s only sustainable for a day or two.’

No matter how much they minimized their meals, there was a minimum threshold they had to eat to survive. Unless they raided the company entirely, sitting still and hoping for food to magically fall into their hands would be foolish.

And surprisingly, there were plenty of safe foods in this world.

‘The novel was so worn-out that there were plenty of things to pick up.’

The author seemed genuinely dedicated to food, so the provisions were abundant. Even the natural remedies were in the form of fruits, so considering the previous Mirror Lake incident, one could see how much she was obsessed with her novel.

Moreover, in the original work, although their mental state was shaken and their judgment clouded, they still ate bugs they found while passing by. But now, the team’s condition was relatively okay. Even if they had to resort to hunting for the first time in their lives, they could probably get enough food to survive.

‘Even if there’s some idea where to find food…’

There was generally a rough idea for hunting. Lee Jaehun, who had once ventured into hunting to avoid starving, wasn’t entirely without experience.

But it wasn’t expected to yield visible results immediately. Just like chicks that had been living comfortably on warm cushions until recently, wouldn’t know what to do.

‘Ultimately, death consumes one’s mind. Whether it’s a land animal or a water creature, hunting, in essence, is a struggle for survival. It’s not surprising if one feels pity for creatures like rabbits and can’t kill them.’

In the end, death consumes the mind of a person. Whether it’s a land animal or a water creature, hunting is essentially a struggle for survival. It’s not surprising if one feels pity for creatures like rabbits and can’t kill them.

Of course, it was a phenomenon that Lee Jaehun, with his current life’s knowledge and lacking empathy, couldn’t understand, but not understanding didn’t mean he didn’t know. Determined to treat the current team as five-year-old kids, Lee Jaehun resolved to be more flexible with them.

“So there must be fruits somewhere.”

Harvesting.

Just as the team had picked up firewood and fetched water so far, there was a way to obtain resources from inanimate objects or plants. Probably, there wouldn’t be a better method for the current team of chicks than this, Lee Jaehun boasted.

“Although we may not have much time and may only be able to get one type of item…”

Still, if they were lucky, Lee Jaehun could gather several items he had in mind. It would be best to prioritize collecting medicine. That was the top priority for now.

And lo and behold, some seemed to be thinking about hunting, as their stiff expressions relaxed a bit.

“Um… is it possible? It’s a bit strange place, so…”

“Although it’s a world where our common sense doesn’t apply, well. I still think it’s not an entirely unrealistic world, you know?”

In the first place, there was a reason why Lee Jaehun described the other world as ‘reflecting human thoughts’ rather than ‘made by human thoughts’.

‘The other world isn’t just a formless space made entirely of thoughts.’

That was the key.

It exists beneath reality, with human thoughts added to a separate world that already has its own inherent rules. It’s not like adding thoughts onto the existing world, it’s not like a testing ground or an evolution platform of the real world.

That’s why, just like there’s a food chain in reality, there’s also one in the other world, and just like there’s an ecosystem in reality, there’s one in the other world too. There are ordinary creatures, and surely, ordinary trees and fruits as well. Lee Jaehun, having read about this world through the novel, knew this.

With a steel-like expression on his face, he spoke up.

“Hey, do you remember when I said I saw some four-legged animal last time?”

“Um… yeah.”

“They didn’t seem that strange to me when I saw them. They just looked like ordinary animals, and even those kinds eat and survive.”

“Is that so?”

“Sometimes, when you hear bird chirping, you wonder if there might be some small fruits around.”

The other world directly rewires the brain, so if you focus well enough, you can see proper colors or hear the sounds of nature. It may feel like a world of black and white silence, but with some concentration, it can be quite livable.

“If such things exist… it would be really nice.”

“Should we boil and eat the fruits of this world like we did with the water?”

“Well, seeing how the director drank it and was fine, it seems there might be some safe options… thankfully, I wasn’t confident enough to boil that fish-like thing.”

“…”

What should they do with these yellow chicks?

Perhaps, judging by the last words of Kwon Yeonhee, she might have remembered herself holding a harpoon, but Lee Jaehun didn’t bother to mention the refined method of using a spear instead of such barbaric acts. They would find out soon enough anyway.

Recalling the contents of the novel somehow, Lee Jaehun found an appropriate moment and casually spoke up.

“So, who’s coming with me?”

The doctor asked in return.

“Where are you going now?”

“Do I really look like I’m three years old? Am I three?”

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