CH 12

Lee Jaehun looked at the thick blood flowing from his palms.

‘… Is this my blood?'

Drowsiness came over him with the strange sense of unreality, but Lee Jaehun blinked his eyes slowly and shook it off.

It was getting dark, and he couldn't afford to be distracted.

He showed his hand to the doctor who was resting on a stone chair and spoke to him.

“As you can see, it looks like it’s torn. Do you think this will heal?”

"...No, why are you telling me this now...."

The doctor mumbled something in disbelief, and then closed his mouth, as if intuitively realizing that it wasn't going to work.

He just pulled something out of his coat that looked like a sewing kit.

Seeing that, Lee Jaehun felt glad.

“Oh, you’re going to sew it? That's good.”

“…….”

“… Isn't it?”

The doctor Ha Seongyoon's, frowned strangely.

"I'm not a psychopath... Did you think that I would sew people with needles and silk thread like dolls, now?”

“…….”

So if he had patched himself up with a stapler, he would have been crazy.

[Note: Earlier, the MC considers treating his wounds with a stapler, he now decides it would ruin his image if he did.]

Lee Jaehun, who recently became psychotic, decided to keep his mouth shut.

He knew he didn't have to act like a normal person, given the setup he'd set up over the weekend, but he didn't want to look like a lunatic before the real trouble even began.

At this, the doctor seemed to mutter a mild complaint.

“I bet you don’t usually get treated like that… ? you...? Not only is there a high risk of infection with unsterilized silk threads, but also the pain during treatment will be severe. Medical threads aren't a thing for nothing. No, but why would you create a stitchable wound in the first place...."

“If you have any complaints, let’s settle it with money. How much do you want?”

"That's a very condescending thing to say."

[Note: Also could be translated as “That’s a very old-fashioned thing to say”.]

Finished with his preparations, the doctor said as he held his torn hand.

held his torn hand.

"...I don't have any anesthetic, so I'm going to treat it the way it is, are you okay with that?"

"It's okay."

“…….”

He began stitching up Lee Jae-heon's hand with a face full of dissatisfaction.

The thin, smooth threads dug into his palm, but he blinked away the drowsiness that washed over him.

The doctor looked very unhappy about something.

"...Aren't wounds like this often stitched up in life?"

“… Don't wounds like this often get stitched up raw?”

Understanding Lee's meaning, the doctor stared at him in silence for a moment before drawing a faint smile on his face.

It was the same expression he'd seen at the hospital over the weekend.

"Yes, but very few patients are willing to accept it."

"Not all of them, I suppose."

"At least they don't take it for granted like you do."

Having said that, the doctor pursed his lips as if to say something more,

"...Okay, that's it."

He then smiled in resignation.

"The tear was so complicated that I had to lengthen the sutures, and I've only done the simplest of things, so if possible, I'd recommend avoiding using that hand."

"I have a lot of work to do."

“…….”

When Lee Jaehun pointed his finger at the group looking around, he seemed a little annoyed.

Judging by the way his eyebrows furrowed as he smiled.

Ha Seongyoon spoke in a low voice.

"Your life will be short if you live like that, sir."

"I suppose so."

Lee Jaehun took the warning lightly.

Partly because it wasn't surprising, but also because it was Dr. Ha Seongyoon who was 'misunderstanding' him.

‘It’s not easy to stay alive.’

He inwardly muttered.

“Thank you for the treatment. I hope you live a long life.”

“…Should I take that as a joke?”

Suddenly feeling humourous, and Lee Jaehun laughed.

“Do as you wish.”

* * *

He found a suitable spot, now he had to start a fire.

Now that they had found a suitable spot, they needed to start a fire.

"After that, water. After that, building a shelter... I guess."

"Okay."

"Employee Kwon, don't be so quick to agree with me. Ask me why."

The reason fire became a top priority was simple.

In the wild, the existence of fire had many uses.

For one thing, it keeps you warm and illuminates the otherwise lightless night.

Not only does it provide warmth and visibility. It can also be used to warm food to make it safer to consume if the water source is of poor quality or if you suspect parasites in your food.

Of course, the underworld is a bit more twisted than the wilderness, but it's not all that different in terms of being required to be self-sufficient in many things.

“Especially if a monster comes out at night, it’s going to be tough without a clear view.”

At Lee Jaehun's words, the party's faces hardened.

“Yeah, that’s right. we don't know where the monsters are... .”

“This is nervewracking.”

“Should we set a trap or something…?”

Lee Jaehun blinked at the words of Roh Yun-seok, not knowing where the intern had picked up these ideas from.

Don't you call flint, which shouldn't be in a place like this, 'stone'?

That guy has been bringing up obscure and miscellaneous knowledge since a while ago, but it was hard to completely ignore it because it didn't seem like it was useless.

[Note: He’s saying that Yun-seok is giving random ideas that aren’t practical but not completely bad.]

Lee Jaehun wiped his lips as if to cover them and continued.

"I don't know about traps, but I'd like to make some kind of alarm, something that makes a sound when it gets close...."

“Oh, is that so?”

“The problem is, we don’t know what might be around here.”

So, traps, alarms, whatever, all I had to do now was make a fire.

“As you can see, the sun is setting.”

In the conventional world, the sun would set as the sun went down and the world would be dyed red, but in the underworld, there was no such thing, and it was calmly devoured by black.

It was on these evenings that the novel's protagonist was most nervous.

Unlike the conventional world, where there was at least some light, the underworld was devoid of even the slightest glow from things like the moon and stars, and it was impossible to see at all unless you lit a fire beforehand.

Without a luminous source, there was no light for the eyes to see, so it was natural.

The only reason he didn't die right away in the novel was because he usually carried a lighter with him. However, the fire was so small that the rest of the company were almost all killed.

After a day in the park, the only ones left alive were the protagonist, the head manager, and the two students who really clung to the protagonist.

The next day, he will have to look for the other main characters, but to survive right now, he needed a big fire different from the novel. There were a lot of people, so it seemed like 2 bonfires would be enough.

Lee Jaehun looked around and spoke.

“Then, we should gather some dry grass, thin twigs and thick twigs.”

"uh… Does it have to be that varied? Can’t we just light a tree?”

"ha… .”

He grimaced at the intern’s words

"If you want to start a fire by yourself until your lighter runs out of fuel, go for it."

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

[Note: the author uses 죄 which was used to express yun-seok’s guilt, except it’s not something a person would say. So I just wrote ‘oh’.]

“If you want to get out of internship, shouldn’t you raise your awareness?”

Just as putting a lighter on a tree doesn't make it ignite, there was an order to lighting a fire.

Just as you can't just put a lighter to wood and expect it to catch fire, there was an order to starting a fire.

'Of course, this kind of knowledge wouldn't be common sense.'

Lee Jaehun glanced at the dejected intern who was used to his insults.

He knows, too. It's not common knowledge that everyone knows how to build a bonfire, and when you're criticized for not knowing, you naturally feel like it’s unfair.

And that resentment can quickly turn into irritation or anger. Lee Jaehun aimed at just that.

In the first place, he hated useless things.

He considers physical strength, health, and emotions as important resources, so he doesn't create shallow conflicts for no reason.

But now, this level of bruising was needed.

'The distance has closed too much.'

His relationship with the protagonist started at a really low point, so he was willing to let it go, but not the others.

The group's fondness for him was higher than it needed to be because he was the one who took the lead and got hurt on their behalf.

That's why Lee Jaehun deliberately attacked his weakness, the title of 'intern', and brought out his dislike.

Not only was intern Roh Yun-seok tense, but also Chief Kang, who was close to him, must have felt uncomfortable.

The main character was probably in a similar situation, but he decided that this level of investment was necessary.

Lee Jaehun wanted to be unrestricted in his actions.

However, the more the other party relies on him, the more difficult it is to move around, and the more it gets in the way of his freedom. He has to take action before that happens.

Roughly, to the extent that even if he died, they would be able to get over it within a day.

Lee Jahun shrugged his shoulders and continued.

“Well, nothing to be sorry about.”

"yeah….”

"You do realize this is all for our intern, right?"

“Yeah, of course.”

"Good, because I didn't say it out of spite."

He was a really perfect asshole until the end. The whole "it's all for your own good" thing is a shitty move if you have any self-respect at all. It’s bound to make anyone angry.

Of course, it was only a light insult, so it shouldn't have hurt that much.

In fact, it wasn't much different from the insults he spewed at work. The intern probably thought he had gotten along with him, but then realized that nothing had changed and felt worse than necessary.

Lee Jaehun looked past the slightly intimidated intern and turned his attention to the wooded area.

‘Now, let's get out of here before it gets even more awkward.'

It was a good time to leave in the name of fetching firewood, as there would be more people to bring back.

If he brings the two students with him when he comes back, the atmosphere will be much better.

No one has yet to be practical enough to antagonize a newcomer, even minors, for lack of food.

With that, Lee Jaehun took a step forward.

"I'll gather the ingredients, and you guys can start the fire at ....."

"Manager."

“…What is it?”

[Note: MC says “뭡니까?” Sentences using the formal speech level usually ends with ~ㅂ니다.]

As he unknowingly used an honorific, the disgusting fellow stared at him with black eyes.

"You've lost a lot of blood, and you're limping on one leg.... Don't you think it's too much for you to go alone?"

At his words, the gaze of the party automatically landed on Lee Jaehun’s leg and shoulder.

The shirt on the shoulder area, which he hadn’t shown to the doctor yet, was already stained black, and the leg that had been pierced by the monster had even suffered burns on the ankles, making it difficult to move properly.

No matter how you look at it, he looks like he should be lying down and resting, not moving.

Lee Jaehun, now clearly recognizing that point once again, frowned his eyebrows in a moment of complete absurdity.

“I…it’s only blood, no bones were broken.”

“But it must hurt.”

“…….”

This bastard?

‘You’re crushing my build-up now… ?'

Lee Jaehun was irritated and inwardly gritted his teeth.

Honestly, Lee Jaehun had no intention of appearing as a lunatic accustomed to pain.

Unfortunately, the setting had created a background where he was accustomed to pain.

But more than a little bit of strangeness can be frightening, and for Lee Jaehun, who wanted a slightly above-average level of likability, fear was not a pleasant emotion.

The mistakes that the novel main character made early on were the result of being devoured by the underworld and losing his mental power.

Lee Jaehun kept forgetting the common sense of his previous life and his current life, but he was careful in his own way, and above all, he had the skill to deceive the other members of the group.

He had the power to make them doubt what they were seeing.

Until now, the party was very accustomed to relying on Lee Jaehun. He has the best judgement among all of them, he’s good at dealing with monsters, and tells them what to do.

What Lee Jaehun was wary of was getting too close to the group, not being used up, so he purposely let them rely on him.

That's because it's hard for him to act on his own if he's mental support.

Therefore, he wanted to gain favor as a means through physical use. He was hoping for that, so he avoided being mentally close in such a cumbersome way.

But now, the main character was ruining that build-up by recounting what Lee Jaehun had done for them without return.

“Looking at you now, your hand is also torn. For how long has that been the case?”

“…….”

The things he'd been trying so hard to hide.

Fuck you, you fucking ugly bastard.