Theatrical Regression Life

HELHEIM SCANS

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Demon God ]

Chapter 94

When someone you despise and hate turns out to be a genuinely good person.

When you discover that their past was unimaginably painful and miserable, and you had no idea. Moreover, when you realize that they had no intention of ever letting you know about it.

The feeling that follows is indescribable.

“…Director.”

For a moment, a complicated mix of emotions made it hard to breathe.

Why had that person never thought to tell us even once? Had we been tormenting someone who was already struggling enough? If he had told us, we would have listened. If he had asked for respect, we would have given it our all.

Why didn’t he say something? Unless we were so terrible or disgusting, why hadn’t he mentioned it even once? The unfairness and misery of it all left me speechless.

The most miserable part of it all is….

“Why….”

“…….”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

I have no right to blame him.

“Thank you.”

Like characters in a movie, I had no right to scold, advise, comfort, or console him for not taking care of himself.

That was the minimum courtesy.

* * *

When asked what a doctor needs, people often give similar answers.

An eagle’s eye to spot where the problem lies. A lion’s heart remains calm when looking at organs and blood that an ordinary person would never see. The delicate hands of a woman to navigate and save the complex human body.

‘But these are just the basics.’

To put it bluntly, what patient would trust their body to an incompetent doctor?

The human body is so intricate that even a slight deviation can lead to death. Unlike objects, a mere 5℃ deviation from normal body temperature can be fatal, and a single wrong move in the countless blood vessels can be deadly. Because humans can die from the smallest things, doctors must always be competent.

‘An incompetent doctor is a liability.’

Those kinds of people should all just die.

Ha Sungyoon thought this as he smiled softly.

The dry sound of sand and soil crunching under his heels tickled his eardrums, making it feel like bugs were crawling into his ears. His genuine emotions were similarly unsettling.

It’s only natural for doctors to be skilled. If a doctor misdiagnoses and treats the wrong area, the patient will die. Even a small cut in those delicate organs will kill the patient. A panicked doctor? Useless from the start.

Was it inevitable because the patient was testing the limits of modern medicine? Could you say that in front of the guardian or fellow doctors? In the end, didn’t that patient die before your eyes?

Therefore, an incompetent doctor is a criminal.

“…This way.”

Ha Sungyoon thought so too.

He fiddled with his earlobe while looking at the notebook in his hand. According to his notes and what he had heard from her, this should be the right place, but he still couldn’t find it.

“Did I take a wrong turn?”

In the end, Ha Sungyoon thought that the most important virtue a doctor should have was the ability to lie skillfully.

If there was only one thing a doctor could give a patient, it had to be hope. The hope that they could survive, recover, and return to their normal life or start a new one. A patient who clung to life was the best kind of patient for a doctor.

And doctors had to instill that hope in their patients. Even if this person might die tomorrow, they needed to believe that the doctor could do something for them, that there was hope for improvement.

That’s where the ‘lie’ came in.

‘Even if it gets exposed, it should be something that can pass without any damage, or even if there is damage, it should provide a glimmer of hope.’

That kind of hope.

‘…Of course, lying based on statistical calculations is despicable….’

But it was about being able to tell socially acceptable lies.

Just like Ha Sungyoon did with Yoon Garam.

“…Ah.”

He stopped in his tracks.

In front of him stood an ice-like sculpture, gleaming brilliantly.

The sculpture, shaped like a snake climbing a tree, was transparent and cold. It gathered all the brilliance of nonexistent sunlight in this world, making the cold felt at his feet unbelievable.

It was unbelievably beautiful.

“…….”

…How long I’ve waited for this.

“…Oh my god.”

The lengths he had gone to, the life he had lived, to reach this point.

An intense joy pressed hard against the back of his eyes. The space between his eyes and brain felt tight and full, like the moment before tears burst out or the tingling sensation on the tongue after tasting something delicious.

“…Whew.”

He took a deep breath.

Although Ha Sungyoon's expression was as calm as ever, his trembling hands and gaze as he flipped through his notebook betrayed his inner turmoil. He read the densely written words in his notebook intently before closing his eyes tightly.

Only after putting the notebook back into his coat could he open his eyes again.

He lifted his head to look at the tree.

“…….”

The long tree bore fruits that sparkled like decorative lights, and Ha Sungyoon was already familiar with them. He had heard about these perfect, transparent globes that you could see right through.

‘That's why I was surprised.’

When Director Lee Jaehun and the others had brought back a handful of them.

Knowing the exact location, Ha Sungyoon had always wanted to come here and see the sculpture, but he couldn't. There were many reasons, but most importantly, he felt that if he left, Director Lee Jaehun might die.

‘But not now.’

The park was slowly burning, and monsters were spreading throughout.

According to what she had told him, the flames would soon die out, leaving little time. The current chaos was Ha Sungyoon’s only opportunity. If not now, how would the suspicious Jung Inho or Lee Jaehun react to him?

Although their scrutiny wouldn't be a significant issue, they would relentlessly question why he had to do it.

‘It’s easier for me to act and return.’

Ha Sungyoon liked his current group. Though he would eventually return to his own path, he didn't want to forget his objective. Nor did he want to reveal it. So, if acting ignorant and using the chaos to achieve his goals was the best option, then so be it.

Reaching out, Ha Sungyoon plucked a fruit from the tree.

“…….”

It felt like an artificially beautiful creation from a workshop, yet surprisingly, it had life. A life that felt opposite to that of animals or plants.

He smashed it against the tree trunk.

HELHEIM SCANS

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Demon God ]

‘…What next.’

What was the next step?

After a brief contemplation, Ha Sungyoon put it in his mouth. The familiar starchy texture, acquired from experience, spread across his tongue, and a subtle sweetness moistened his lips.

Then, holding the remaining fruit above the sculpture, he squeezed it hard.

“…Ugh.”

Crack, snap.

The sharp edge of the shell pierced into his palm.

Despite the pain, he continued to squeeze, causing drops of blood to fall. At the same time, the juice from the crushed fruit mixed with the blood and dripped onto the snake statue below.

The vivid red stained the smooth, transparent, and brilliantly shining statue. It looked like the only moon in a starless space, with the fruits on the tree above shining like stars. The only thing with color was his own blood.

Surprisingly, it no longer looked like blood.

“Ha… haha.”

It seemed like something far more noble, not just a mere human secretion. It appeared as something inherently valuable, alive in its own right, so refined that it was hard to believe it had come from him.

The snake’s eyes,

“…….”

“…….”

rolled,

towards him.

The once-stone snake came to life and looked at him.

“…Are you alive?”

“…….”

“Yes, you’re angry at me.”

Ha Sungyoon accepted all of this with joy.

“You dislike humans.”

This snake, or more accurately, the snake’s shed skin, despised humans.

But there was no other choice. To communicate with a snake that avoids humans, the shed skin was the most realistic way, and to get what he wanted from it, he had to provoke it. Only then would it react.

And around this point, Ha Sungyoon felt at a loss.

“…….”

He had never been told what to do next.

‘…What should I say?’

Ha Sungyoon had something he desired.

His desire was in this world, the shadow world, so he always prepared to come here. He carried bandages in his coat and a lighter given to him by a friend.

Ha Sungyoon thought it was okay to go a little further, or even a lot further, to achieve his goal. After all, a person pushed to the brink is never in their right mind. No matter how crazy things got here, it wouldn't faze Ha Sungyoon much.

In the end, he had gone mad as he wished, come to this world, and taken that crucial first step.

‘Now, I have to do this on my own.’

Without his friend's help, alone.

“…I’m sorry to wake you, but there’s something I desperately… desperately want to find.”

“…….”

“I must see it. Whether it’s a trace, a fragment, or whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. Anything will do.”

“…….”

“Can you show it to me?”

The shed skin didn’t answer,

―Sss.

but the sound of a tongue flicking echoed.

The sound a living snake makes, a hiss, made Ha Sungyoon unable to suppress his smile. He had no idea how twisted this world really was.

Instinctively, Ha Sungyoon reached out to it.

“Please, help me.”

The shed skin, which had been watching his outstretched hand, soon placed its head on his hand.

Climbing up his palm, his wrist, passing the joints of his arm, wrapping around his shoulder and then his neck, Ha Sungyoon continued to smile. The cold he felt on his skin confirmed this wasn’t a hallucination, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before this creature took something from him.

The monster stops right in front of my right eye and opens its mouth.

"...Not a bad choice."

And then,

Crunch.

"..."

"..."

The creature devours the doctor's eye.

The sensation of my eyeball being crushed is so strange that Ha Sungyoon bites his lip hard.

'A doctor losing an eye...'

The corners of his mouth twist into a strange, inexplicable amusement.

As the nerves disconnect and something round inside my skull is completely removed, the feeling is indescribable. Blood vessels torn apart by the enraged creature make something, tears or not, trickle down my cheeks.

And once the creature finishes its meal and returns to its place on the crystal tree,

"...Ha, haha."

Finally,

Laughter spills from my mouth.

Reflected in the mirror-like tree trunk, my eye socket is not empty.

"Haha, ha, huff...hic, ha."

Impossible.

"Aha, ha ha ha ha...!"

Wow, truly.

What an astonishing world.

'Even an eye that's been plucked out comes back.'

At this rate, who really needs a doctor?

In this otherworld, where can a species like a doctor even survive? What can they do? Can I really save anyone? With all these questions and righteous anger, Ha Sungyoon's laughter wouldn't stop.

Yes, righteous anger. Fury at witnessing injustice. If this isn't called injustice, what else could be? Destroying everything without upholding any loyalty, morality, or justice. How have I, as a doctor, ended up like this because of this world?

And that's why I laugh.

"Ha, ah."

A gasp.

Reflected in the mirror-like tree, my eye, the right eye, definitely shines with a brilliant color like this serpent's skin. Perhaps, as a doctor, or not, I'm no longer human.

"...The color is beautiful."

"..."

"Thank you."

I express my gratitude.

Please, let this not be a lie.

HELHEIM SCANS

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Demon God ]