"We're going to Cheongryong-dong. Do you want to come with us?"
Jennifer shook her head, her light blonde hair and small earrings swinging together.
"We're going to find our team that fled to Jujak-dong and take the central elevator."
Impressive. If I were in this situation, I'd run away without looking for my team. Well, there aren't many places to run to, anyway. Kim Gayoung's eyebrows twisted.
"That call takes 10 minutes, and you can't move for 10 minutes while you're in it."
"That's the fastest way to get out of here."
While looking outside, Shin Hae-ryang, who seemed not to be listening to the conversation in the multimedia room, took Seo Ji-hyuk's pad and showed Jennifer a photo. He tilted the pad's screen so that Henry, who was in front, and the light outside couldn't be seen, but I immediately knew what the photo was.
Shin Hae-ryang showed Jennifer a photo of a man with his eyes open, which made me suddenly have to meet the dead man's gaze for a few seconds. Ah, damn. Jennifer frowned and bit her lip when she saw the photo. Shin Hae-ryang, looking outside, said:
"It's too dangerous."
"Are you not afraid of danger when someone is swinging an ax to board an escape pod or shooting someone in the head?"
"The central pressure regulator in Jungsang-dong could break down at any time."
"Then we should go faster. If the elevators in Cheongryong-dong or Hyeonmu-dong break down, we'll die anyway."
Jennifer stood up. Seo Ji-hyuk, who had been standing and looking outside, said:
"We're going to Cheongryong-dong as originally planned."
Upon hearing this, Henry raised his small hand. In the darkness, Shin Hae-ryang's surprised expression on his small arm was visible. Henry, raising his hand, expressed his opinion:
"I'm going to follow Ms. Jennifer."
"Why... why?"
"Because it's about finding Dad, who is in charge of the research center."
The adults stared at Henry in a daze as he spoke clearly. He's so sharp? When I was 7, I was rolling around on the floor, crying for toys while watching cartoons.
While the people here are thinking of escaping somehow, they don't want to search all the unknown underwater bases to find Henry's father. The child seemed to realize that his promise to call for his father and take him was a lie. When Jennifer subtly took the child's hand, Kim Gayoung sighed and took the other hand.
"I'll go too. My nephew is about the same age, so he keeps catching my eye."
"Wouldn't it be safer to go to Cheongryong-dong with us?"
"If we can't use the escape pod in Cheongryong-dong, we'll take the elevator there, right? Whether we take the central elevator here or the elevator for the third underwater base, the risk seems similar, so we'll just take the direct elevator to Jungsang-dong."
"There are multi-passenger submarines and elevators to the third underwater base in Cheongryong-dong. Come with us."
After urging once more, but seeing Kim Gayoung refuse, Shin Hae-ryang nodded and opened the door to Theater 1 and went out. Three seconds later, Baek Ae-young, who had high-fived Jennifer silently, went out, followed by Seo Ji-hyuk. Yoo Geum, who had been holding Kim Gayoung's hand tightly, said, "Let's see outside," and let go of her hand and left the room. I, too, carefully swept the bottom of the bag with my sleeve and took out all the chocolate bars and candies, handing them to the three.
"If this rots, I'll fix it when we meet next time."
"See you later, Muhyeon."
I left Theater 1, watching Kim Gayoung wave her hand. Baek Ae-young led the way, stopping when told to stop and walking when told to walk. As we walked briskly past Theaters 2 and 3 and approached the cafe, Yoo Geum said quietly:
"Gayoung-ssi has a bad ankle. She said she twisted it a lot while wearing heels, and her left ankle is in bad condition. It must have been hard for her to keep up with this pace. She might have stayed because she didn't want to slow us down, or maybe she really thought the elevator was safer than the escape pod."
"What about you, Geum-ssi?"
"I relieved stress through exercise. I ran on the treadmill every time I heard my voice from the professors. I probably ran more than any used car."
Thinking of Yoo Geum running wildly on the treadmill out of anger made me want to laugh, but I barely held it back.
"......What about the doctor?"
While listening to Yoo Geum's story, Seo Ji-hyuk, who was walking quickly, asked me. The weight of the cat on my back felt like it was crushing my entire body. After going into the water twice and carrying 6kg and 20kg alternately, I had no strength to walk. I diagnosed my overall condition and told Seo Ji-hyuk:
"I'm on the verge of death."
"You look fine."
Do your ears get worse when you live underwater? I looked at Shin Hae-ryang's solid back, then at Yoo Geum. She looked anxious. I, too, am anxious. I can't lie well, and I can't live with accumulated anxiety. I probably never will. So I asked Baek Ae-young, who was walking quickly beside me:
"What's your real identity?"
"Me? I'm an engineer."
"No, I mean the knife."
"A knife is essential for women living in this dangerous world. It's a trend these days!"
Seo Ji-hyuk agreed with this. It's like an accessory, right? I looked at Yoo Geum, wondering if it was really true, and she screamed:
"Why are you looking at me? Do you believe it?!"
That scream made me think of something, and I said to Baek Ae-young:
"Isn't the import of weapons prohibited in the underwater base?"
Baek Ae-young immediately countered:
"Only firearms and grenades are prohibited, but cold weapons are allowed! If knives weren't allowed, how would they cook in the cafeteria?"
"Cold weapons?"
When Yoo Geum asked Baek Ae-young what cold weapons were, Baek Ae-young looked surprised. I looked at Seo Ji-hyuk in disbelief, and he turned his head to avoid my gaze. I heard Baek Ae-young's voice, saying, "Damn," and asking Shin Hae-ryang what to do. Shin Hae-ryang, who was leading the way, peeked around the corner of the cafe building and waved his hand. What does that mean? We all moved quietly and stuck to the wall, and Shin Hae-ryang said in a low voice, as if he had a headache:
"It was over when you pulled out the knife."
"What's your real identity? Are you a soldier or a special forces member?"
"Would various countries have poured over 6,000 trillion into the underwater base and filled it with ordinary civilians?"
Baek Ae-young shot back at me, and Yoo Geum clapped softly and wagged her finger.
"I knew it! There were rumors among the researchers that there were unusual people, not just ordinary people, in the underwater base! There were rumors that there might be special agents from various countries or even criminals, but I thought they were just urban legends!"
Suddenly, Yoo Geum's eyes widened, and she started asking questions.
"Are all the people on your team like this? What about Seo-jung and Ji-hyun? And Kim Jae-hee and Jeong Sang-hyun? Do they all know how to use knives and guns?"
"Lee Ji-hyun is the most dangerous. That fool."
"That, that can't be. How nice is Ji-hyun?"
When Yoo Geum timidly contradicted Seo Ji-hyuk, Baek Ae-young kicked Seo Ji-hyuk's calf.
"Stop talking nonsense. Really."
A choking sound came, and Seo Ji-hyuk shut his mouth. Shin Hae-ryang explained that he would run from here to there, but we shouldn't make any noise. Among those with shoes, Yoo Geum and I were to hold our shoes and run when signaled, so we ran one by one.
Occasionally, the sound of popping beans could be heard, but it was hard to tell where they were coming from because the sound was so loud. A few minutes later, Baek Ae-young, who was leading the way, signaled for us to lie down. We lay down quietly.
I tapped Shin Hae-ryang and my mouth, and after a few minutes, he nodded and said, "Speak."
I shuddered at the realization that I was trapped in this narrow space with people who had received professional training in methods of human harm.
"So, the crazy people in Hyeonmu-dong shooting guns weren't just trying to get the escape pod, but some of them might have been trained in firearms and did it on purpose!"
"......And we don't have guns."
Shin Hae-ryang's clear words made me feel a headache coming on. I held out my palm to him.
"?"
"It's been fun so far."
"Excuse me?"
"It's been a fun and enjoyable conversation. Give me the hidden gun."
"I don't have one."
"Team N of the engineers brought guns, and Team D of the engineers brought boxes of alcohol. One of the mining teams brought a large amount of cigarettes from their country. Don't we have anything? Haven't you hidden something? Like a multi-passenger submarine that can rise from 3,000 meters below sea level to the surface in one go."
"This is all we have."
Shin Hae-ryang searched his pockets and gently placed the sugar-free grape candy I had given him before entering Jungsang-dong on my palm. Haha. I could only laugh bitterly. I slapped my palm and returned the grape candy.
"We didn't expect to end up like this."
"What do you mean? Being 3km underwater, not knowing when we might drown? Or that every escape pod we encounter is broken, missing, or 'tampered with' and stuck on the floor?"
"We didn't expect any of that."
Shin Hae-ryang said calmly, and Baek Ae-young quickly chimed in:
"How could we have known someone would torpedo the Jujak-dong research center? If we had known, we would have taken a vacation the day before and gone to Hawaii. We never thought we would become fish food in this stinky sea!"
Yoo Geum, trying to comfort me, who looked depressed, screamed in shock:
"......What do you mean, torpedo? It's a missile that runs underwater, right? Who fired a missile?! Are they crazy? Do they know how much that research facility is worth? How expensive the equipment is? Don't humans usually fight with words and then resort to violence? How many trash are these crazy people trying to create in the deep sea by blowing up four 7-story research centers? I can understand the deep-sea biology center. They just collected a lot of jellyfish! But I heard the amount of metal collected for rare earth element research in the rare earth center is ridiculous. Do you know how much money that is? There's gold, silver, and even a lot of uranium extracted from seawater! What did the marine pollution center do wrong? They are people from all over the world who came to research how to prevent marine pollution and get rid of the disgusting microplastics and tons of trash in the sea, and some crazy people blew them up? Are these people really crazy?"
"Calm... calm down, Geum-ssi."
"Calm down and lower your voice! There might be someone around."
Yoo Geum, a master's student, was furious at the thought of someone firing a torpedo at the underwater base. I quietly asked Shin Hae-ryang:
"Is it really a torpedo? Not an earthquake or something?"
"We saw it while working outside."
"......If you're military, is there a way to contact Korea? The navy? Or is there a separate escape method?"
Seo Ji-hyuk laughed in a resigned way at the question.
"We... we're not soldiers. You can tell by our age. Except for Baek Ae-young, we're almost in our 30s, hahaha. The people who do that kind of work are all in their early 20s. We're already retired, and... well, you can think of us as mercenaries. Mercenaries, I mean, it sounds a bit strange, but... contractors? Contractors are a bit... Ah... think of us as subcontractors. That sounds a bit strange too? Contract employees? Contract civil servants? That's not it either. We're not officially registered as civil servants, and we don't have pensions... Thinking about it, it's not really a good deal. Team Leader Shin, what kind of contract did you sign?"
"You get paid from two places. Or did you want to contract with Japan or China?"
"Ah, that's true."
At this, Baek Ae-young started grumbling.
"There are things like prioritizing the rescue of Koreans and friendly actions towards Korea, naming places in the underwater base in Korean, and reporting activities once a week, but there's no additional material support. We communicate by email, and as for guns, they've never even bought us a pair of socks."
"......I've been refused four times for a satellite phone on the island. A multi-passenger submarine for 2,000m was also refused."
"Ah, I... Ha. I won't compare with the United States or New Zealand. I'll just compare within Asia. Teams N and R of the engineers have cruiser yachts for their teams. They have a lot of money, but it's also because their supporting countries provided it! I even asked for a 20-foot one, but they said, 'Why do you need a yacht in the underwater base?' I didn't ask for a 50-footer, did I? They just say they'll consider it when I ask!"
Baek Ae-young started venting her frustrations, probably because there was no one around and she had a lot of pent-up grievances. Shin Hae-ryang, who seemed to have a lot of built-up frustration from rejected support requests, sighed and said:
"We have nothing but our lives."
"We all do. But-."
Shin Hae-ryang quickly put his hand over my mouth. As I tried to remove his rough palm, a short, long-haired Asian woman with a gun and a sad face passed by the side of the cafe. Everyone froze. Just before she disappeared from sight, Baek Ae-young whispered to Shin Hae-ryang:
"It's Takahashi Yurie. Should we take her?"
"Let's pass."
Shin Hae-ryang gestured, and Seo Ji-hyuk, confirming that no one was around, stepped forward first.
Author's Note:
Engineering Team A - Team Leader Shin Hae-ryang - Korean
Engineering Team N - Team Leader Sato Ryusuke - Japanese
Engineering Team D - Team Leader Vladimir Sergeyevich Ivanov - Russian
Engineering Team R - Team Leader ??? - Chinese
Engineering Team M - Team Leader Jennifer Smith - American
Engineering Team B - Team Leader ??? - New Zealander