Theatrical Regression Life

* * *

To sum it up, Lee Jaehun was fine.

“What did I tell you?”

“That doesn’t mean he’s completely healthy.”

“…….”

To clarify, he was just fine enough not to cough up blood.

The doctor was clearly smiling, but he didn’t look amused at all. He watched Lee Jaehun as if he were a major criminal, while those around him watched him with pale, anxious faces, as if looking away would cause Lee Jaehun to die.

And all of this made Lee Jaehun feel uneasy.

“Did I kill someone?”

“If you consider yourself a person, then….”

“Good grief, oh my…”

As Lee Jaehun lost his words, the doctor asked in his usual soft tone.

“I’m curious too. What did you do to have blood in your airways?”

“…….”

“Even while you were asleep.”

At that, Lee Jaehun couldn’t easily answer and closed his mouth.

Of course, Ha Sungyoon, being a doctor, nodded that there was no reason Lee Jaehun should have been coughing up blood. Though he himself couldn’t be certain, given his diagnosis in the middle of a park without a stethoscope, he seemed to rely on his accumulated medical knowledge.

Moreover, there were no signs that he had leukemia, lung cancer, or other illnesses commonly associated with coughing up blood, so in the end, Lee Jaehun just seemed to have blood in his airways despite having no apparent medical condition.

‘Like a thermos or a pocket.’

After briefly mouthing words without saying anything, Lee Jaehun eventually gave a hesitant response.

“…I’m not really sure…”

“You’re not sure?”

He genuinely didn’t know.

“…It might not even be blood…”

“Are you serious?”

It might not actually be blood.

‘…But he won’t believe me.’

In the end, Lee Jaehun fell silent. Yeah, I wouldn’t believe it either if I were him.

To be honest, he wasn’t sure what was happening either. His suspicion was that maybe water from the lake in his dream had gone up his nose and into his mouth.

‘Well, of course, I have no idea how that ended up happening in reality.’

Trying to figure out what to say to explain the situation, Lee Jaehun eventually decided to let it go.

“If it doesn’t hurt, then isn’t that good enough?”

A little bit of denial was always part of human nature.

“You’re not exactly pain-free either.”

“So did I puncture a hole in my lung? Or do I have tuberculosis? Maybe it was just a nosebleed in my sleep that ran into my mouth. Is that such a big deal…?”

“If the blood had come from a nosebleed, do you think I, as a doctor, would have been so alarmed, sir?”

“You might just have been too tired and misinterpreted what you saw.”

Lee Jaehun scrunched up his face as he thought about reality.

His gaze deliberately avoided meeting Dr. Ha Sungyoon’s eyes, turning his head slightly to the side. Despite this, he twisted one corner of his mouth into a smile and continued speaking.

“There’s no proper equipment here, and everyone’s so exhausted—one or two misdiagnoses… that’s not too strange, is it?”

“…….”

“Oh, and I’m not saying you’re incompetent, of course.”

After saying that, Lee Jaehun put an end to his brief smile. His head and gaze were still turned away, showing no respect toward Dr. Ha Sungyoon.

Then he looked directly at the doctor with a face full of disdain.

“Isn’t that right?”

This was a form of diversion.

Whether or not he remembered his past life, Lee Jaehun’s upbringing in a well-off family seemed to make him prone to looking down on others. Unless they were of a similar economic standing to his own, he treated them like a nobleman treating a peasant.

‘Just because I remembered my past life doesn’t mean the experience I gained goes away.’

Lee Jaehun kept up the attitude that people seemed to fear the most from his memories, hoping to navigate the current situation smoothly.

‘Best case scenario, they’ll be so fed up they won’t pay any more attention.’

Despite being an uncooperative patient, he couldn’t even show gratitude for the medical treatment he was receiving, instead choosing to dismiss it.

His dismissal of the doctor’s duty to care for patients was an insult to someone who had been willing to even consider contacting the police on behalf of the patient. Doctors tend to be upset when their skills are undermined, so Lee Jaehun hoped that his attitude would drive the other party away.

If there was a mistake, it was that he hadn’t fully understood Dr.Ha Sungyoon.

“…Sir.”

“…….”

“Doctors, you know, end up getting insulted by their patients a lot more often than you might think.”

With those words, Lee Jaehun realized he’d miscalculated.

‘This isn’t going well.’

Since he didn’t know much about the character from the novel, it seemed he had misunderstood the situation.

As expected, Dr. Ha Sungyoon gave Lee Jaehun a composed smile, keeping his usual demeanor as he observed him. The strange, unsettling smoothness of his manner nearly caused Lee Jaehun to let out a curse without realizing it.

The doctor turned to Team Leader Kang Mina and asked softly, “Is he usually like this?”

“…Yes, often, though in a slightly different way….”

“Thought so.”

Lee Jaehun, feeling a strange sense of unease from the conversation, instinctively asked, “Why? What did I do?”

“Hmm, yes.”

Team Leader Kang slowly nodded her head, then averted her gaze. Lee Jaehun sensed a faint trace of bitterness and pity in her reaction, which made him frown even more.

Seeing this, the doctor spoke again, seemingly back in control.

“I understand how you must be feeling.”

“…….”

“Doesn’t seem that way to me.”

“You probably just didn’t want to burden us further.”

“No….”

Not at all, definitely not.

‘What are these people coming up with in their heads?’

A chill ran down his spine as he realized the entire group seemed to silently agree with that nonsense.

Lee Jaehun felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It was like realizing only after the snowball had rolled away far from his hand that he had let it slip. He’d felt this ominousness several times before, and every time it surfaced, it never ended well.

Without a clue about Lee Jaehun’s inner turmoil, the doctor, who had regained his composure, continued in his characteristic calm tone.

“You seem uncomfortable, so I won’t press further. It’s not ideal to hound a patient with questions, although as a doctor, I could. Nevertheless, as you said, you haven’t killed anyone.”

“…….”

“You got injured protecting us, so my attitude could even be considered disrespectful. You must be thoroughly exhausted after escaping from that creature.”

“Honestly, your current reactions are more exhausting.”

“I primarily deal with surgeries, so even if I had used a stethoscope, it would have been difficult to conduct a proper examination. So, you might be right. The blood from your nose might have dripped down your throat…”

The doctor paused and then continued speaking with a soft smile.

“Anyway, since I couldn’t catch it as a doctor, I believe it’s not too serious. Though it feels absurd to say. Usually, when doctors can’t identify the symptoms, it tends to be more serious, ha ha.”

“That’s not the reaction of someone who actually believes what they’re saying.”

“Though you did just wake up, is there anything you’d like to instruct us on? We don’t really know what’s needed out here in the wild.”

“Oh my.”

Might as well just eat me up, honestly.

Lee Jaehun was astonished by the doctor’s all-encompassing manner of speaking. For a clue that had died early in the story, leaving behind only remnants, his eloquence was quite impressive.

‘…Let’s get this straight.’

So, okay. That’s more or less how it is.

Whether he had a pre-existing condition or got injured while being dragged by that algae monster, they all seem to think he’s trying hard to hide his ailments. They probably assume he’s worried they’ll suggest going back to a pharmacy or hospital again.

‘Well… I haven’t completely ruled out the possibility of worrying about that….’

Lee Jaehun frowned hesitantly.

If these inexperienced folks were to enter a building full of monsters, how many would actually make it out alive? If even one of the group dies, it would shatter the protagonist’s carefully built-up mental state, and that would make things even harder to manage.

‘Returning to the past is one option, but I shouldn’t resort to that just yet.’

He knew that resetting everything wasn’t as convenient as it seemed, so it was a situation he wanted to avoid.

‘Besides, the current setup is too over the top.’

In their minds, Lee Jaehun seems to be some sort of ‘self-sacrificing person with a strong sense of responsibility,’ and from the perspective of the doctor or the protagonist, he’s even a ‘survivor and victim of the supernatural world.’ They’ve practically thrown a bunch of ingredients together to create some sacrificial saint.

Of course, to be honest, yeah. Lee Jaehun had aimed for this somewhat good-natured image to some extent. His initial image had been so bad that it was tough to leech off the protagonist’s group.

In other words, he had managed his image to reap the benefits of the protagonist’s buffs, not to earn such bizarre titles…!

“Do you have anything to say? Should we just prepare everything ourselves?”

“…Hold on a second, my mind is still hazy.”

“Oh, hazy? If you genuinely feel something is off with your brain or other senses, I can check again….”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, leave me alone!”

At this point, it was just unfair.

Even if he made a few mistakes because he was disoriented, this was a bit too much. Unless the entire universe was conspiring to help him, this didn’t make any sense.

‘Honestly, boosting my personality like this isn’t doing much good anyway.’

Even if Lee Jaehun had a genuinely good personality, the risks were high. His already ruined personality was now being lifted to the clouds. If he showed even a hint of his true self later, he’d face twice the criticism.

Seriously, would they really be that ungrateful? Humans are inherently made to stab others in the back, and no matter how naïve someone might be, they’ve definitely hurt someone at least once. Whether intentional or not, it’s human nature, a system, and a rule, and it’s never a good thing.

‘Not just a helpful ally, but I’ve become a self-sacrificing leader.’

Of course, in this life, he hadn’t yet relied on or expected others at that level, but this was truly….

‘Crazy.’

It was really a crazy situation.

“You seem very conflicted. Are you feeling embarrassed, sir?”

“…What would I have to be embarrassed about, really? What is this? Why do you seem to be enjoying this?”

“Oh dear, that’s a misunderstanding.”

“…….”

Damn.

After cursing internally nine times, Lee Jaehun covered his mouth.

‘…What’s my loss in all of this?’

First of all, the issue of his excessively inflated reputation.

If it was just the endearing old-man quirk he’d shown so far, that might have been fine. But if he crosses the line even slightly, the group would likely feel betrayed. This would add a handicap to handling future complications openly.

Moreover, these people now seem to have a general sense that ‘Director Lee Jaehun’ is a fake. It makes sense, considering they work for one of Korea’s top companies—they should be capable of that much deduction. This was expected.

‘The problem is… this will make me more exhausted.’

Lee Jaehun blinked at the wave of fatigue washing over him.

He’d planned to revert to the old Lee Jaehun of this life, causing trouble if they encountered stubborn individuals. But now, such behavior would no longer be received naturally by the group.

‘From now on, every bit of my troublemaking will be seen as intentional.’

And the benefits? What are the benefits….

“…….”

Are there any?

“Director?”

“…I’m really not a nice person…”

“Oh, yes.”

“What a disgusting guy, really.”

Huuu

He took a deep breath and lifted his head.

“…Alright, so, yeah. Um… water.”

“Water.”

“Yes, we need water.”

There wasn’t much bottled water, but there were a lot of people.

You can survive on less food, but if you don’t drink water, you’ll lose your mind first, and then your soul will follow. Without hydration, you can’t even swallow food, so water was a must.

Looking at the steady fire, he continued.

“We’ve lit the fire, so it would be good to boil some water and drink it. Do we have any milk cartons or cans?”

“I think I saw some discarded cans here and there.”

“Even in these circumstances, there’s trash around. If you can pick them up, do it, but if not, it’s fine. If necessary, we can strain the water through clothes or distill it.”

“So you want us to collect water, right? And the cans, if possible.”

“Exactly, just getting enough drinking water today would be a good start. It doesn’t mean there aren’t other things we need, but it might be tough to address everything today.”

“Understood.”

The prompt and straightforward voice made Lee Jaehun brush his lips lightly.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“……”

A dark, piercing gaze.

It was so blatant and unnerving that it made his hand clench instinctively.

That irritatingly familiar stare.

Lee Jaehun replied shortly.

“No.”

This bitch is suspicious of me right now.

* * *