Theatrical Regression Life

Chapter 98:

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In the otherworld, what matters most is mental strength, which is how survivors solve everything or crumble entirely. The stronger the trauma one carries, the higher and more precarious the tower they stand upon.

This is why the first noticeable phenomenon in the story was caused by none other than Yoon Garam.

‘She has a very intense trauma from her high school days.’

She had gone on a 3-night, 4-day trip to a mountain lodge with her family and witnessed the lodge, where her family was sleeping, engulfed in flames. Whether by misfortune or luck, Yoon Garam had gone out for some fresh air in the early dawn, far from the lodge.

However, whether something collapsed inside or the owner had locked it at night, Yoon Garam pounded, banged, and clawed at the lodge’s door where her family was, but it wouldn’t open. She tried until her nails were torn off and her fingertips were bloody.

When she finally collapsed in despair, something caught Yoon Garam's eye as she raised her head.

‘A desperate plea for help from her still-alive family.’

They had been trapped in the top-floor room on the third floor, unable to escape.

Yoon Garam’s family screamed from inside, desperately breaking the old window with a chair, half their bodies hanging out as they called out to her for help. But having already called 911, there was nothing more Yoon Garam could do.

However, something fell right in front of her.

‘Her younger sibling.’

The small hand was covered in burns from the intense heat.

One of her siblings, unable to bear the scorching heat, thrashed around and fell from the third floor, breaking their neck and dying instantly. Even in death, their eyes, twisted in a grotesque angle, stared at her.

The lifeless eyes seemed to speak to Yoon Garam. Save me, please save me. Even in death, they clung desperately to life, and within that desperate gaze was a faint trace of resentment. A resentment toward her, the one who hadn’t been consumed by the flames.

There was no way Yoon Garam, still a minor, could stay sane after witnessing such a horrific scene.

‘She pounded on that burning door again.’

As a result, she suffered burns over most of her body.

She kept hitting, banging, and scratching. It didn’t matter if her clothes caught fire or if her back was melting; the screams wouldn’t stop ringing in her ears. Even when the paramedics finally arrived and took her to the hospital.

In the end, Yoon Garam was the only one who survived, and as she lay in the hospital bed, she realized something.

‘Ah.’

I enjoyed it.

Watching her family and strangers alike burn to ashes. I was thrilled by that extraordinary experience, something I’ll never go through again.

That was Yoon Garam’s trauma.

‘The fact that someone like her opened a flower shop… she really isn’t in her right mind.’

Since the first episode of the story took place in a park, her peculiar nature was the first to be revealed.

Yoon Garam always remembers that incident when she looks at plants. The trees, leaves, flowers, and people burning. The large building. The people inside the building burning. All reduced to ashes, just like when you burn a doll.

Being someone who even enjoys her nightmares, it’s no wonder even the fiercest flames shy away from Yoon Garam.

Lee Jaehun continued speaking calmly.

"I've confirmed that Team Leader Kang, the students… and Yeonseok are safe. He’s with the others over there."

"...Ah, ah. Did you see Team Leader Kang, Director?"

"She was at the edge of the park. I put her up in a tree; the monsters won’t be able to get her."

He quickly adjusted his plan.

‘Trying to keep my distance now will just backfire, so I’ll wait for the next opportunity.’

His miscalculation was in underestimating how unexpectedly soft-hearted and loyal these fledglings were. He thought they’d naturally distance themselves when the time and situation were right, but they just kept clinging. Why do they keep coming back?

In the end, instead of widening the gap, it only grew narrower, with unnecessary guilt and a sense of obligation thrown into the mix. Such a colossal failure made Lee Jaehun lose the will to pursue his new plan.

Seeing him like this, Yoon Garam asked,

"By the way, do you know where Ha Sungyoon-ssi is?"

"…Couldn't you find him?"

Only three of the four who had been together were visible, suggesting that Ha Sungyoon had slipped away somewhere.

‘But… I have no idea where he could be.’

At least with the main characters in the story, you can get a sense of their personalities as you read through the novel.

Even the other characters who die quickly are somewhat understandable because ‘Lee Jaehun’ exists in this world. Of course, he’s not particularly interested in the lives of his subordinates, so there are some parts where he stumbles, but he still has a grasp on the employees.

But Ha Sungyoon was different. He wasn’t originally a character in the novel. To be precise, he does appear, but only occasionally in flashbacks from Yoon Garam, and it’s unclear if those lines were even Ha Sungyoon's. Because of this, he was hard to figure out.

His ultimate goals, his personality, his values—none of it was clear. Sure, if Lee Jaehun had spent a year building a relationship with Ha Sungyoon, he might have figured it out, but that wasn’t the case.

In the end, Lee Jaehun didn’t know much about Ha Sungyoon as a person.

"The last place I saw him was…"

"Oh… it was up further from where we made the campfire. There were a lot of trees with domes."

"…."

Sigh.

Lee Jaehun inwardly lamented.

‘She’s talking about the carnivorous trees… isn't she?’

These trees, mentioned only twice in the novel, have characteristics similar to the well-known carnivorous plant, the Nepenthes. That plant looks like a long pouch and dissolves insects that enter it.

The carnivorous tree isn’t much different. It lures in survivors looking for a place to rest or sleep for the night, making them feel secure and keeping them still. While the survivor sleeps, the tree slowly closes its entrance, trapping them inside to starve. That’s when the tree starts its real meal.

Of course, no survivor actually dies inside the tree in the novel. Starving takes a long time, so if someone outside helps, it’s possible to escape, and the entrance closes slowly enough that you can get out unharmed if you’re alert.

This is why, by the latter half of the novel, the protagonist even sleeps inside them. Monsters don’t come near the trees, so it’s actually a pretty decent place to sleep if you time your exit right.

‘But… still, no matter what…’

The current fledglings couldn’t be compared to the seasoned protagonist. Lee Jaehun had seen the direction they ran and had thought, ‘No way’, but they really had gone in there. Even if they had, he believed they’d notice and escape, but it was still absurd.

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Lee Jaehun blinked slowly and said,

"…Well then… let's go find Ha Sungyoon."

At that moment, Kwon Yeonhee screamed,

"No! You can’t!"

"What’s the problem now, Kwon Yeonhee?"

"You’ll die, Director…!"

"Who’s killing who now?"

"You’ll die if you go!"

"Sigh."

Lee Jaehun frowned at her tearful expression. Her anxious gaze had been making him avoid speaking to her, but she was a difficult person to deal with.

Still, he somewhat understood; Kwon Yeonhee was worried about him.

‘Honestly, I’d prefer if they used their time worrying about me to work on their own skills…’

In fact, from her perspective, she had abandoned Lee Jaehun and fled, only to realize she had made a huge mistake and barely managed to return. Although he didn’t fully understand it, it was likely that the guilt and sense of debt she felt had been amplified by Lee Jaehun's poor condition.

Of course, Lee Jaehun couldn’t relate to why this fledgling was acting this way, or why they were all so soft and warm-hearted. He didn’t understand what they found so appealing to keep coming back, and he was frustrated that all the careful build-up he had done seemed to be going to waste.

But what could he do?

‘I can’t ignore a problem that’s right in front of me.’

Whether it was Noh Yeonseok or these fledglings, it seemed that even Team Leader Kang and the other two students wouldn’t keep their distance from Lee Jaehun.

So, he had no choice. Although his attempt to instill fear and maintain distance had failed, there was still some groundwork left to build upon.

Lee Jaehun decided to continue his act, putting on a slightly dull expression.

"But… Noh Yeonseok almost died just now. There's no way Ha Sungyoon-ssi isn’t in danger too."

"Even so, you can’t! Director, you’re in really bad shape!"

"I could just go quickly and come back…."

"No, you really can’t. Do you even realize your eyes aren’t focusing right now?"

Yes, that’s part of the act.

‘I need to maintain the role of the villain who's been brainwashed by the algae monster.’

There was no way he was going to abandon all the groundwork he had laid up to this point.

Sure, considering the algae monster’s sluggishness and low intelligence, ‘brainwashing’ didn’t seem like the right term, but hey, since when were zombies smart enough to strategize and spread their forces? If you consider it more of an infection than brainwashing, the story moves along quicker.

The idea was that Director Lee Jaehun, who had been dragged off and infected by the algae monster through some unknown method, was gradually losing his mind and would eventually attack people.

‘I’ll act like I’m trying to hold onto my sanity, at least.’

He could definitely pull off that level of melodrama.

"Director, I know you don’t trust us much, but wouldn’t it be better to rest?"

"…."

"…What if you really die like this…?"

Honestly, with someone as sensitive as Kwon Yeonhee, it wouldn’t be surprising if a tear-jerking scene came out of this. She was the most emotional of the chicks that Lee Jaehun had gathered.

Lee Jaehun resigned himself and muttered internally.

‘The protagonist will interpret the rest on his own.’

He’s already a thinker with a lot of doubts. With the group having split up, and a few hints dropped here and there, if Lee Jaehun just kept beating his own drum, the others would react accordingly.

Although his ‘distance strategy’, which should have yielded smoother results, had failed, it wasn’t his first time failing. He could recover from this. What he wanted was a natural drifting apart, but given how things had turned out, he’d just have to add a bit of melodrama.

‘…Though, honestly, I’m not sure if they’ll keep their distance like I want.’

Damn it, just give up.

‘If it gets really bad, I’ll just pretend I’m sick and collapse.’

Though he had many reservations about trusting these fledglings to manage on their own, it was frustrating even for someone like Lee Jaehun when things didn’t go as planned. They could figure it out themselves.

Of course, he knew that if the situation became truly dire, as an adult, he would have to step in. But after a series of failed plans and repeated mistakes, he was too heated to think straight, and venting in his mind was the only way to feel better. At this point, he didn’t care if everyone else ended up miserable.

Besides, if Lee Jaehun did end up hurting someone, no matter how fond they were of him, they’d have to start being wary of him. How could anyone trust someone who was half-monster?

With this thought, Lee Jaehun felt a strange sense of relief and blinked slowly.

"…Alright, I’m sorry."

"…."

"I’m sorry. I won’t do it, then."

From now on, his role was to act like someone infected by the algae but struggling to resist it. The image he had built up until now was of a selfless maniac hiding his madness, so he at least needed to pretend to protect or help his group.

Given that this ‘Lee Jaehun’ could sense that he would soon lose control and harm others, he’d have to start showing signs of distancing himself.

‘So they don’t get hurt if I lose control.’

But ‘Lee Jaehun’ also wants to stay with the group. So, even though his actions to keep his distance should appear detached, his inner turmoil should show. Pretending to struggle with headaches or other pains to maintain control wouldn’t be a bad touch either. He could also continue showing a dull expression like he had been doing.

As he looked at the group, who had come to find him out of concern, he was supposed to feel a mix of complex emotions. Gratitude, guilt, anxiety about what to do next. The tension of whether he could hold on.

And a bit of resignation.

"I’ll try… not to worry you."

He uttered the words knowing full well he would soon break this promise. He said it only to reassure them, even if they would resent him later when the promise was broken—he would bear that burden alone.

Kwon Yeonhee seemed slightly relieved by his words.

"…I’m sorry for yelling."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Kwon Yeonhee."

"I’m really sorry…."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Yoon Garam was observing the situation from a short distance away, and the protagonist and the detective, who had been deep in conversation, had gone quiet. They seemed to have had a good talk among themselves.

Looking in their direction, Lee Jaehun spoke.

"Well then… let’s look for the others when morning comes."

"…Alright."

"For now, why don’t we rest, Deputy Jung?"

The protagonist replied,

"Yes, Director."

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