Episode 295
“… … .”
The search team members, who had been looking at the disconnected phone with complicated expressions, came to their senses one by one. Hong Kyung-jun confirmed that there were no monsters approaching them yet, and only after Jeong In-ho confirmed this once more did the survivors speak.
Ha Seong-yoon was the first to speak.
“I guess I’ll have to change my plans.”
Lee Jae-heon agreed to this.
“If things go as planned, Kang Min-ah won’t be able to hold out.”
“Class will be over soon. There is a classroom on the first floor, so the teacher monster will come down here too. Before trouble breaks out, it would be better to decide who will save Kang Min-ah and hide the rest. After saving Kang Min-ah… Yes, it seems like the original plan is not feasible.”
“I don’t know what other variables there might be, so for now, let’s just try changing the composition of the waiting room by floor.”
The search team members, including Ha Seong-yoon, nodded obediently at Lee Jae-heon’s words. It was not that they really thought his words were valid, but rather that they seemed to have not yet adapted to this sudden situation. Lee Jae-heon, with a noble heart to be considerate of the chicks, began to organize things first.
“The original plan was for me and student Seong Ji-ho to be on the first floor, detective Da-hoon and me on the second floor, Supervisor Kang and CEO Yoon on the third floor, and Mr. Kim Ki-jung, Mr. Jeong In-ho, and teacher Ha Seong-yoon on the fourth floor. Is that right?”
“you’re right.”
“In this situation, it would be absurd to send Kang Min-ah to the third floor. But we can’t send the students to the third floor, and there might be some problem with Kang Min-ah… Let’s have Kang Min-ah and Yoon Ga-ram, who were previously on standby on the third floor, take charge of the second floor.”
“Then, Seong Ji-ho and Da-hun will take the first floor… No, wait a minute. So, you’re saying that the principal will take the third floor?”
“I’ll be with Detective Hong Kyung-jun. Since I’ll just be waiting anyway, I don’t think it’ll be too much of a burden.”
“You still say that after hearing the phone call just now?”
“Then why are you doing this?”
Lee Jae-heon raised the corners of his mouth as if he was laughing.
“Pull yourself together, Mr. Jeong In-ho. I know you’re worried about your close colleague’s safety and are confused, but we have too much work to do. What are you worried about? Are you worried that Kang Min-ah has become a monster?”
“that….”
“You said you went into the bathroom in Building B, and after an hour, you’ll automatically be kicked out. If Kang Min-ah really turned into a monster and stole your ID, then it’s definitely worrisome. Especially in Garam’s case, he might run into Kang Min-ah who has turned into a monster. I know, it’s a worrisome situation.”
“… … .”
“It seems like you’ve calmed down a bit, so let’s think realistically now. Rather than wasting precious mental energy and wasting time, I think it’s more important to worry about how to save Kang Min-ah, how to deal with her if she really becomes a monster, and how to spend the class time that’s just around the corner.”
“…I understand.”
Jeong In-ho’s face was frowning as he spoke, but Ha Seong-yoon, who was standing right next to him, seemed to immediately regain his senses at Lee Jae-heon’s words. He spoke in his characteristically soft and calm tone.
“There was no need to press me with such a sharp tone.”
“It worked out because everyone came to their senses.”
“What I mean is… you didn’t have to play the bad cop, sir. I’m thankful that everyone regained their composure thanks to you.”
“…What?”
When he frowned in bewilderment, Ha Sung-yoon nodded as if he knew everything. He even changed the subject without properly answering Lee Jae-heon’s question.
“Mr. Lee Jae-heon is right. The layout is also appropriate. Let’s put Da-hoon and Ji-ho on the first floor, President Yoon Ga-ram and Ms. Kang Min-ah on the second floor, Detective Hong Kyung-joon and Mr. Lee Jae-heon on the third floor, and if we proceed with the fourth floor as originally planned with me, Mr. Kim Ki-jung, and Mr. Jeong In-ho… it’s pretty balanced.”
“But in case of an emergency, the structure is such that we cannot protect each other. It’s a plan with no end in sight.”
Hong Kyung-jun continued speaking, tapping his arm with his fingers.
“On the first floor, there are only young students, so mistakes can easily happen, and on the second and third floors, there are people who are injured and have difficulty moving. The fourth floor is as originally planned, but it is more difficult than other floors because you have to go to the art room. If you don’t get off on time and get swept up by monsters, it will collapse in an instant.”
“It’s just the end of the 4th period… That’s right, there are still 4 hours left anyway. If it’s hard to get off school this time, I thought it would be okay to stay for about 8 more hours, so I came in right before the 4th period class. It’s hard to just hide away all this time. It’s much more reasonable to prepare for getting off school by being active in some way.”
Hong Kyung-jun’s fingers stopped at Ha Seong-yoon’s words.
“… Didn’t you pass that on to Jaeheon Lee?”
“Oh my goodness. What nonsense did I say.”
“Outrageous remarks… Outrageous remarks? Are you saying this because of the word ‘reasonable’? No, it’s just an ordinary word.”
No one listened to Lee Jae-heon.
This topic could have been talked about for quite some time, but unfortunately they had no time left. The survivors nodded as they heard the bell ringing to end class.
“Then, Ha Sung-yoon, Yoon Ga-ram, and I will go check on Kang Min-ah’s condition. I don’t know if Ha Sung-yoon will be able to go back up to the second floor….”
Ha Seong-yoon, who was walking up the stairs as if in response to Jeong In-ho’s words, said.
“Oh, it works. It seems like you can still go up without paying a price. Let’s go see Kang Min-ah before there’s a variable. Come up quickly.”
“Yes, so the rest of you, please hide in the bathroom or under the chair. If there’s a plaster statue nearby, you should avoid it as much as possible… Anyway, please do not contact us until we call you first. Of course, you can call us if your life is in danger.”
Jeong In-ho, who had left a hurried message, followed Ha Seong-yoon and Yoon Ga-ram up to the second floor. If Kang Min-ah was still human, he planned to find a place for Yoon Ga-ram and Kang Min-ah to hide, and if she had turned into a monster, he planned to deal with her or lock her up somewhere.
‘… There’s a high chance that it won’t be possible.’
Kang Min-ah was probably turning into a plaster monster, but at school, the plaster monster was too much of a burden for the survivors to fight against. It was stronger and faster than the student monster or the teacher monster, so if Kang Min-ah had turned into a plaster monster, there was a high chance that she would have just checked the status and avoided it.
Well, it was a useless thought at the moment.
“Okay, then students, this way.”
“yes yes?”
“Quickly. Before the teacher monster comes down.”
Lee Jae-heon led Park Da-hoon and Sung Ji-ho.
“By the way, there seems to be a bathroom inside there too. There’s also a lot of room to hide. However, given the structure of the school, I think the monster will reach the bathroom at the end of Building B the last, so the students will hide there.”
“Now, just a moment. The more people that go into a bathroom, the less time you can spend in it.”
“It’s okay because you divide the 60 minutes by the number of people. Since you just have to avoid the teacher monsters who come and go when class starts and ends, you don’t have to stay inside for the whole hour. You can hide for about 30 minutes.”
“Uh… 30 minutes? 30 minutes?”
Kim Ki-jung asked with a puzzled frown on his face.
“Mr. Lee Jae-heon, are you thinking of staying outside…?”
“… … ? Of course. Who would have thought that a monster would open the bathroom door and come in? There has to be at least one person guarding the front.”
Lee Jae-heon looked at Hong Kyung-jun.
“Detective, you have to watch over Mr. Kim Ki-jung. I’ll take care of this part…”
“mister.”
“…uh.”
“What are you doing?”
Lee Jae-heon answered in Park Da-hoon’s calm voice.
“No, isn’t that better? No matter what….”
“No, I don’t want to. Let’s go together. You said you only need to pay attention at the beginning and end of class. Even if three people go in, there will still be 20 minutes left. That should be enough. Right? I think it’s okay.”
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“but….”
Lee Jae-heon, who was about to say something, hurriedly led the students and hid in the connecting hallway when he heard the sound of the elevator arriving. When he looked behind the wall, Hong Kyung-jun and Kim Ki-jung also seemed to have quickly hid themselves and were no longer visible. Lee Jae-heon watched them come out of the elevator with relief.
No, to be precise, it was ‘things’.
“… … .”
Mannequin monsters wearing colorful clothes. They made their own elastic footsteps and headed to their respective grade rooms.
“this.”
He immediately led the students to the bathroom after seeing the monster teacher approaching the broken hallway. The moment he brought the two students inside and stood in front of them, Lee Jae-heon felt a strange sense of foreboding.
Oh, right. That’s right.
“mister.”
“…Dahoon.”
“Sir, come in. Hurry up… a little.”
“no.”
“Come in!”
Bam!
Lee Jae-heon was grabbed by the collar and fell to the bathroom floor.
“Ugh… .”
“Ah, that, uh, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. This, I was in too much of a hurry, in a hurry. I didn’t mean to hurt you…”
“… It’s okay, just shut up. I’m getting distracted.”
At Lee Jae-heon’s words, Park Da-hoon firmly kept his mouth shut. However, he was still checking with his eyes to see if Lee Jae-heon had suffered another injury, and he realized that the 18-year-old student’s gaze was filled with anxiety and fear.
Yes. Jaeheon Lee realized that the gaze was similar to someone else’s.
‘Jung In-ho… Kang Min-ah.’
It was the appearance of those who were trying their best to avoid facing their own karma before returning. Lee Jae-heon slowly sighed as he recalled what he had done to Park Da-hoon before.
“… I’m really okay. You don’t have to worry.”
“sorry.”
“I… um.”
Jaeheon Lee, who had been thinking for a moment, continued speaking.
“I was going to hide with you anyway. I didn’t know that the monster teacher would come so close, so I tried to hide, but I was only startled for a moment when he grabbed me by the collar. You’re not hurt anywhere, so please calm down.”
“…iced coffee….”
A look of relief appeared on Park Da-hoon’s face. Sung Ji-ho wiped the goosebumps on his arm as if he was very unfamiliar with Park Da-hoon, but Lee Jae-heon, who had just confirmed that the lie he had made up worked, was very happy to see him. He could see the chick’s mind slowly recovering.
Lee Jae-heon opened his mouth at the sound of the monster’s footsteps that could no longer be heard.
“… By the way, it seems like there is a grade room in Building B as well?”
“… Yes, that’s right. I didn’t realize that the grade room signs were gone… In reality, there used to be one in Building A and one in Building B. I’m sorry for telling you now.”
“You have a lot to be sorry about. Now, just rest and go with your friend over there.”
“Sir….”
“I’m going to rest too, for a bit.”
“all right.”
Even as he said that, Park Da-hoon just looked around the bathroom and hesitated.
‘Are you confused by the memories from last time?’
As the last survivor, the way he gained memories of the previous episode was different from Jeong In-ho or Lee Jae-heon. The last survivors said that they felt like they saw someone else’s video, not their own memories. Park Da-hoon also seemed unfamiliar with the previous episode, although he knew about it, because he had not experienced it himself.
Jaeheon Lee swallowed a sigh and sat down in the innermost part of the bathroom with the two students.
“Well, if you want to rest, then rest for a while. Nothing will work if you just loiter around.”
“…that’s right.”
“What about your cell phone?”
“I have it.”
Seong Ji-ho took out his cell phone. His face was strangely clear, perhaps because he was with an adult named Lee Jae-heon. Lee Jae-heon pressed Seong Ji-ho’s head a couple of times and said.
“You hold it. Just in case.”
“Oh, yes, yes.”
“… Do kids these days hate having their hair touched?”
“No…? No, uh, I’m fine.”
“Okay, then that’s good.”
Lee Jae-heon, leaning back against the wall, muttered while adjusting his grip on the crowbar.
“… Let’s take a break.”
There was nothing I could do right away until I got a call from the second floor search team, and so many things had happened so suddenly. The young chicks on either side needed a break.
Probably, to Lee Jae-heon too.
