Seo Ji-hyuk seemed to realize he really had to walk here only after he took a step on the stairs. He let out a laugh mixed with a sigh and said,
"Well... Haha... If I had known, I would have lightened the load a bit. Please take care of me."
"Yes, please take care of me as well."
Shin Hae-ryang didn't even respond. He just gave me the inner part of the stairs and stood at the farthest side. It seemed he did this because the inner part moved less. Shin Hae-ryang and I tightened our grip on Seo Ji-hyuk's back and arms, and we started climbing the stairs.
The stairs were sturdier than expected. The problem was that they hadn't been maintained, so dust had piled up to the size of a pinky finger, making them slippery. Baek Ae-young took the lead, pushing aside any trash or obstacles and mercilessly dropping them down.
Seo Ji-hyuk, Shin Hae-ryang, and I formed a team to climb the stairs. As I walked on the inner part of the stairs, I noticed there were both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that it moved less than the outer part, but the disadvantage was that there was no railing next to me, so I had to be careful not to step into thin air.
Shin Hae-ryang, on the outer side, had to move the most among the three of us, but the advantage was that he could lean on the wall with his hand or shoulder. However, the wall was covered in dust, and strangely, some creepy-crawly bugs were wriggling around. Thinking about the pros and cons, I focused on the moving light.
Climbing the stairs with three people holding each other is not recommended because everyone climbs at a different speed. At first, we almost fell a few times right after starting. Sometimes we climbed as slowly as turtles. It was like a three-legged race with three people.
Shin Hae-ryang simplified it: count one, two, three, and step on three. One, two, three! One, two, three! One, two, three! One, two, three! After doing this for over 100 steps, we finally managed to synchronize our steps.
Yu Jin followed the light from Baek Ae-young and climbed quickly, not wanting to be left behind. Occasionally, the light would shine on a cat following Baek Ae-young. However, most of the time, it illuminated broken concrete or exposed steel beams, and then it would shine ahead again as we passed.
With each step, Yu Jin counted the stairs. He scratched marks on the wall to keep track. When Baek Ae-young asked, Yu Jin said he was counting the number of stairs and floors. He counted one floor for every 24 steps.
Walking in the dark, I thought about Yu Jin counting in the elevator. That girl really likes counting. If I were counting, I would probably lose track around 50. I'd get confused between 47 and 48 and end up missing an entire set of tens.
We kept moving without a break. We weren't tired yet. Seo Ji-hyuk started telling scary stories to tease the two women leading the way. However, he lost his nerve when Yu Jin told a story about a ghost crawling on the stairs, which would chase and eat the first person it caught when coming down. I chuckled and continued climbing.
How far had we climbed? Soon, my legs started to feel heavy, and Seo Ji-hyuk's arm and shoulder on my shoulder felt like a significant weight. The only sound I could hear was Yu Jin counting. He had just passed 200.
"How many floors have we climbed?"
The counting stopped, and a voice came from the darkness.
"Just past the 8th floor."
Then the counting resumed because Baek Ae-young didn't stop. If 180 floors is the end, how far have we come? Maybe 4%? Suppressing the urge to lie down, I took one step at a time.
While doing this ridiculous three-legged race, I realized that if one person didn't move in time, we couldn't climb the stairs. It was maddening. Now, I could hear not only my own breathing but also the breathing of others. We were starting to get tired. Soon, all three of us were panting like dogs that had run for a long time. Shin Hae-ryang, breathing heavily, said,
"Let's rest if we pass 430 steps."
Hearing this, Seo Ji-hyuk quickly called out to Yu Jin,
"How far have we come?"
Yu Jin, panting and stopping, swallowed and said,
"402 steps!"
Damn. Neither Shin Hae-ryang nor Seo Ji-hyuk seemed to want to rest. They somehow kept moving their legs. I tried to clear my mind and not think about anything. When you're tired, thinking too much just makes it harder. I just focused on moving my legs.
Move your legs! One step! Another step! Another step! No. Damn it. Stop thinking about the crazy shark in the ice water. Legs! Just think about your legs! I'm a robot that moves its legs. Just move your legs. One step. Another step. Another step. No, stop thinking about the face of someone who died from a gunshot wound! One step! Another step. Move your legs. Don't think! Again! One step! One step! One step!
With each step, my desire to kill the cult members grew. I was drenched in sweat and wanted to lie down on the stairs. Just think about your legs! Legs! Just think about your legs and moving one step at a time.
I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and swept the sweat from my forehead with my palm. My legs felt like logs.
"Let's rest here!"
Baek Ae-young was kicking trash and dust on the landing. Just a little further. Just a little further. Seo Ji-hyuk, Shin Hae-ryang, and I almost fell twice due to tangled steps, but we finally made it to the landing. We scattered and lay down in our preferred positions.
The floor was covered in dust and trash, but we just wanted to lie down. After a few minutes of heavy breathing, our breathing started to return to normal. The wind blew through the stairs, and each time it brushed past my head, I was grateful despite the dust and mold.
I rolled up my sleeves and tried to cool off by lifting and lowering my shirt. Hearing the sound of a zipper, I turned my head to see Shin Hae-ryang lying down and exposing the back of his suit, which looked like a diving suit.
"Aren't diving suits supposed to not have zippers?"
"This isn't a diving suit."
He said nothing more, apparently satisfied with his explanation. Even Seo Ji-hyuk was quiet. Occasionally, I heard him say he was dying, but he was lying peacefully in the darkness. I could see Yu Jin lying near Baek Ae-young's feet.
Only Baek Ae-young was sitting on the stairs, taking a break. Her flashlight was shining diagonally on the people resting on the landing. I thought about how well I had packed the flashlight and said without thinking,
"We should have packed more flashlights from the convenience store. It's a shame."
Shin Hae-ryang, lying on the floor, shook his head and said,
"People with good observation skills can guess our condition or destination by looking at the packaging or missing items in the convenience store."
Wow... I never thought of that. But would the cult members wandering around the third underwater base or the people escaping from the fourth underwater base have the time to check what we did at the convenience store while they were busy escaping? They should be running for their lives, right? I don't know.
I crawled towards the snake bag Yu Jin had placed on the floor, and I heard Seo Ji-hyuk gasp in shock. I took out a water bottle and took a sip, and then I heard people asking for water.
The water bottle was passed around and then thrown outside by Baek Ae-young. It took a long time to climb up, but it only took a few seconds to fall to the ground.
After resting and stretching my legs, a cat brushed past my ankle, almost making me scream. I was startled, but the cat moved away like the wind and sat on Shin Hae-ryang's back. I thought about shooing it away, but when Shin Hae-ryang got up, the cat jumped down on its own.
Shin Hae-ryang said it was time to start again. It had been five minutes. I realized he was keeping track of time. He must be counting something. Should I count something too? After what felt like five minutes, we groaned and got up.
Baek Ae-young's light led the way steadily. How does she have so much stamina? How does she climb the stairs so well? Yu Jin's nearly broken stair count started again. Seo Ji-hyuk, Shin Hae-ryang, and I, like a malfunctioning robot, became one again. As we tried to climb the stairs, our steps got tangled, and we had to count one, two, three! again. Seo Ji-hyuk, panting, said,
"Medics can climb these stairs in one bite."
A medic is a transport robot equipped with AI, designed for medical emergencies. It usually moves on four legs, but if needed, it can extend four more legs to move like a spider. It efficiently