Yujin, who had been walking silently, approached Baegae-yeong. Then, hesitantly, she spoke to Baegae-yeong.
"Have you seen any survivors in Jujak-dong?"
Jujak-dong, which can accommodate over 400 people, is mostly inhabited by researchers. It is said that the layout was designed this way because the research center is close to Jujak-dong. Baegae-yeong, upon seeing Yujin, exclaimed in surprise and frowned. She had completely forgotten that Yujin was a researcher.
"While working outside, I saw that the Jujak-dong research center was damaged. We were originally heading to Jujak-dong, but we had to return to Baegho-dong in a hurry."
Seo Ji-hyuk tried to speak in as gentle a tone as possible.
"As you can see from the people escaping from Baegho-dong, the dormitory and the escape pods are the closest, so many people must have escaped before the water rose."
The fact that more than half of the people who escaped from Baegho-dong were so drunk that they didn't hear the emergency alarm and were sleeping didn't seem to be helpful information for Yujin in the current situation. Many of the researchers and professors who were working on their Ph.D. programs were stationed in Jujak-dong and the Jujak-dong research center. Yujin's expression was not good. As I watched Yujin, a question came to mind, and I quietly asked:
"Why were you staying in Baegho-dong instead of Jujak-dong?"
I whispered, thinking it might be a personal matter, but Yujin answered with a dark expression, as if it were no big deal.
"Originally, an American professor of marine biology was staying in the room next to mine, but it wasn't my professor. Recently, the data hasn't been coming out well, and the stress of writing papers has been so high that having another professor next door is very stressful. They always greet me by asking how the paper is going. I couldn't sleep well, so Martina offered to let me stay in her room and switched rooms with me. ... What about Martina? I can't reach her. I don't know if it's because she's on a mining shift or if she's in Jujak-dong and can't be reached."
"Maybe Martina is just working and can't be reached. The people managing the mining robots outside might not know what's happening here."
At that moment, Nikita, who was walking at the front, pointed to a small window.
"Look outside!"
The window Nikita pointed to was a precious round window facing south from Baegho-dong. Windows were rare in the Fourth Underwater Base. There was one occasionally in the corridor, but even the largest was only about the size of a person's upper body.
I had hoped for a large front window, but when I asked Wang Wei, who was in the next room, he simply replied, "It costs a lot." Besides, even if there were windows in the deep sea, you could only see darkness when you looked outside.
According to Nikita, the lights of the Jujak-dong research center, located to the south, looked like stars in the darkness. However, there was nothing to see outside the window. Normally, you should be able to see various colored lights from the research center.
They said that the lights were lit like stars 3,000 meters below the sea, where deep-sea fish and light-related research were conducted, but there was nothing to see at the end of where Nikita was pointing. It was pitch black.
"Can't see anything?"
When Nikolai said this calmly, Nikita jumped around in frustration.
"What should I see! There are no lights!"
"Oh, right."
"Aah! Idiot!"
As Nikita jumped around, Vladimir looked at Shin Hae-ryang and said:
"It doesn't seem to be a lie."
"If you don't believe it, why don't you swim over?"
While they were having this icy conversation, Yujin, who was looking out the window, seemed to be in a daze. When she saw only darkness where the research center should have been, she stammered:
"Why... isn't it there? Why are the lights... not on? They should be on, right? They have to be on!"
"Calm down, Yujin. Maybe they're not there. Maybe they were removed or turned off."
"But they don't turn off! The 7-story research center with 4 buildings is gone! Yujin, who was shouting the same thing, looked out with a dazed expression and then stumbled back from the window.
Knowing that Yujin likes sweets, I tried to take some snacks out of my bag to give her. I unconsciously searched my snake-filled backpack and only realized it contained a snake when I pulled out a pad and a phone. The snake didn't bite me. I checked my hand secretly and breathed a sigh of relief.
The phone wasn't working, and there was no internet, but the internal intranet seemed to be accessible. I handed Yujin a sugar-free apple candy. As I put a sugar-free lemon candy in my mouth, I wondered if I should offer one to Shin Hae-ryang, who was passing by. He shook his head. I admired his jawline as it moved gracefully. Seo Ji-hyuk immediately snatched the sugar-free orange candy from my hand.
From the Russian team, Viktor and Sofia took strawberry candies. As I heard the rustling sound, I accessed the underwater base bulletin board on my pad and clicked on the first post, which was almost a wall of text.
Title: I'm in Jujak-dong 77!
Content: Help! The water is rising outside the room! I can't get out because of the water pressure, and the door won't open! There are 5 people here! Save us! 😢
Am I the only one who has checked the underwater base bulletin board? Has no one seen it yet? Are they pretending not to see it? No one was talking about this post. Didn't Shin Hae-ryang say that the research center and Jujak-dong were flooded? Then what is this post about?
If Jujak-dong is not flooded and is intact, then the entire engineering team A is lying. If they are heading to Hyeonmu-dong as they suggested, is that the right thing to do?
If Jujak-dong is completely flooded, then this post itself is a lie. Someone is hoping that someone will come to Jujak-dong. Which side is lying? We are about to reach the central square of the central building. From here, going south leads to Jujak-dong, and going north leads to Hyeonmu-dong. If I don't say anything now, no one will pay attention to Jujak-dong.
"Has anyone seen the post on the base bulletin board?"
The people walking turned to look at me. As an introvert, I flinched at the dozens of eyes on me. I tried to speak more firmly in my fading voice.
"The post says that several people are trapped in Jujak-dong 77."
"So what?"
"We need to go and save them."
Nikita narrowed her eyes. With a voice like the claws of a Russian Amur leopard navigating the winter wind, she asked:
"Who?"
"We do."
"Why do we have to go?"
Upon hearing this, I thought she must have already seen the post asking for help. My words were cut off as if someone had covered my mouth. But there is a clear reason why we need to go to Jujak-dong.
"They say people are trapped in the dormitory, and we can help them."
"You saw the dormitory in Baegho-dong flood. The dormitory is now sealed, and they barely avoided drowning. Are you asking us to go back there? We'll all die trying to save them."
"They say five people are trapped. They could be from our team!"
"Shut up!"
Nikita's face turned pale, and she shouted angrily. Usually, engineering teams work in groups of 7 to 8 people. Team A was probably drunk and sleeping because it wasn't their shift. Now, with 5 people, 2 or 3 might already be fish food in the deep sea, or they might have escaped, or they could be trapped or wandering somewhere in the base.
"Or they might have already escaped."
I tried to calm her by suggesting the most hopeful scenario. I didn't know these people, but I hoped they were alive. But the information I hadn't shared was something they already knew. I also told the engineering team A:
"The people trapped in Jujak-dong could be from your team or someone you know."
The Russian team members glared at me with their arms crossed. Carlos also looked unhappy. They didn't want to go to the flooded dormitory and risk their lives. I felt the same way. I didn't want to go back into the water and swim again. But there is a post on the bulletin board asking for help.
"Our four team members all escaped on the escape pod."
Seo Ji-hyuk answered awkwardly and then closed his mouth at the chaotic atmosphere. Shin Hae-ryang extended his hand to me. Thinking it was a gesture of agreement, I quickly reached out to shake it, but Shin Hae-ryang skillfully took the pad I was holding. He then read the post. I asked Shin Hae-ryang in a bewildered voice:
"Mr. Shin Hae-ryang, your pad?"
"Mine is in room 22 of Baegho-dong."
Ah, it must be submerged forever. How long can a completely sealed electronic device withstand the water pressure in the sea? The abandoned items in the sea would either be completely powered off or would be on until they were destroyed by the water pressure.
Baegae-yeong entered the internal bulletin board of the underwater base on her phone, and I heard Seo Ji-hyuk saying he wanted to see it too. Yujin bit her lip for a while and then said:
"I'm going to Jujak-dong. I might not be much help, but I'll try to save the people who are trapped. I don't know who they are, but my advisor or my lab mates might be there."
The probability that the researchers in Jujak-dong are alive is high. Or it could be Martina, who switched rooms with her. I don't know why five people are gathered in one room.