After climbing about a thousand steps, no one cared about the dust rolling around on the landing where they should rest. They just inhaled the damp air into their lungs and rested their aching legs. I apologized to Seo Ji-hyuk, who was in the darkness.
"I'm sorry. I... don't have any money. The only thing I can offer to the Infinite Bridge is my knowledge and labor as a dentist. Of course, this underwater dental clinic will send me a salary, but given my personality, I would never contribute that money to those guys, even if it meant starving to death."
"Did you want better dental treatment? Like having more of your teeth drilled?"
Yugeun's voice was much lower than usual, as if he was lying down while asking.
"The dental treatment is free, right? The drilling... it depends on the doctor."
As I answered Yugeun's question with another question, Baek Ae-young, who was lying far away, yawned and asked.
"Why, given your personality, would you never contribute money even if it meant starving to death?"
A long silence fell over the landing. I didn't answer because I had never received such a question in my life. Reflecting on it, I had never had a conversation like this with anyone. I stared into the darkness and answered appropriately.
"I hate giving money to religious organizations."
It wasn't a lie. I detest the way religious groups take money in the name of donations. If there is a god, they wouldn't tolerate their priests and believers extorting money in the name of faith. Or maybe the god isn't a proper one. Seo Ji-hyuk scratched somewhere and asked.
"Like tithing?"
"I hate all kinds of donations. Why do they need money to maintain their faith? They don't even pay taxes, like some privileged class."
Seo Ji-hyuk chuckled and stretched while lying down.
"My dad, who goes to church, should hear this."
A faint laugh echoed in the darkness. It was hard to tell if it was Baek Ae-young or Yugeun. Shin Hae-ryang spoke softly, almost like a whisper.
"Have you ever talked to Elliot or the people around him about your family?"
"No, I haven't."
I don't know if Shin Hae-ryang believed me, but I was telling the truth. I hadn't formed any attachment to the people here, nor had I been here long enough to share personal details.
Baek Ae-young's voice signaled the end of our rest and urged us to stand up. Had it been five minutes already? She shone her flashlight at the people who were still lying down, attacking their eyes. "Keeeee!" Seo Ji-hyuk cried out like a vampire. Thanks to that, I easily walked over to him, grabbed his arm, and helped him up. Seo Ji-hyuk, looking at the stairs in front of him and the distant light (presumably Baek Ae-young) climbing up, grumbled.
"Damn stairs. They really never end."
"They will end."
It was a confident voice. Shin Hae-ryang grabbed Seo Ji-hyuk's other arm. I wondered when I should ask Seo Ji-hyuk about Shin Hae-ryang over a drink.
Standing in front of the stairs, I sighed involuntarily. My calves felt numb. Don't ask how many stairs we've climbed. Hearing the number might make me want to roll down and go back.
Going down was always easier than going up. I had always struggled to stay above my starting point, but now, trying to climb up with all my might, I felt like I was about to collapse. But still, they will end.
"I should have exercised more."
Seo Ji-hyuk shook his head, having heard my mutter.
"Even if you had exercised, it wouldn't have been this bad."
He was probably referring to the shaking flashlight light from the high above. Good stamina. They called it a vertical marathon, didn't they?
"I only learned about the vertical marathon from Ae-young."
"Is that so? I never wanted to know about it."
Seo Ji-hyuk and I chuckled as we climbed the stairs.
After climbing so many stairs, my back was starting to bend forward, and I wished I had a cane. Eventually, I just stepped on the stairs below me without a word.
My breathing became more rapid. How many stairs have we climbed? When will we rest? I thought I would eat all the dust I would ever need in my life as I bowed my head and climbed for a long time. Suddenly, Seo Ji-hyuk tapped my shoulder, and I turned my head to look at him, then followed his gaze to the front.
The light had stopped. Baek Ae-young said to us.
"Here, we need to jump a little."
She then handed the flashlight to Yugeun. The stairs had a gap of about 1 meter. It looked intact, but it was the first time we had encountered such a large gap. Baek Ae-young jumped over it like a deer leaping over an obstacle.
I took the flashlight from Yugeun, who stopped for a moment at the gap but then fell with a scream of "Kyyyyaaaaa!" Now it was my turn, Seo Ji-hyuk's, and Shin Hae-ryang's. We decided that one of us would cross first, then throw Seo Ji-hyuk to the other side for the rest to catch. Shin Hae-ryang asked me.
"Do you have any strength left in your arms?"
I really wanted to show off, but I answered honestly.
"I have no strength left in my body."
Hearing this, Seo Ji-hyuk urged me to go first. I easily jumped over the 1-meter gap. I passed the flashlight to Baek Ae-young and prepared to catch Seo Ji-hyuk, who would be thrown over. Shin Hae-ryang asked Seo Ji-hyuk.
"Do you want to jump forward? Or backward?"
"Sideways!"
Since Seo Ji-hyuk's left leg was injured, we agreed to throw him diagonally so his right leg would land first. The two of us stood at the end of the stairs. As soon as Baek Ae-young shone her flashlight on us, the ground beneath us collapsed.
"Kyyyyaaaaa!"
Yugeun's scream echoed, and the flashlight light swung wildly. Shin Hae-ryang was nowhere to be seen, and Seo Ji-hyuk had already been thrown to our side of the stairs. I was being dragged into a dark hole by a tremendous force in my stomach. "Aaaaaa!"
To prevent myself from being pulled down the 2-meter gap, I tensed my legs and reached out to the stairs above me. Baek Ae-young and Yugeun grabbed me by the weight and forced me to lie flat on the stairs.
"Go!"
I literally crawled up the stairs. The pain in my stomach finally made me realize the situation—Shin Hae-ryang had tied us together with a parachute cord. Every time Baek Ae-young and Yugeun pulled me up, Shin Hae-ryang, who had fallen through the gap, was being pulled up as well.
Seo Ji-hyuk, lying on the ground, wrapped the parachute cord around his arm several times and pulled. All kinds of curses poured out of his mouth. Baek Ae-young's flashlight light illuminated Shin Hae-ryang's arm as he climbed out of the darkness. Seo Ji-hyuk, who was lying down, grabbed Shin Hae-ryang's arm and pulled him closer. I continued to crawl up the stairs.
Shin Hae-ryang, now fully out of the dark gap, crawled over to us. Seo Ji-hyuk, leaning his head against the stairs, muttered, "I almost fell, damn it." We decided to climb about 50 more stairs before resting, just in case the current stairs would collapse.
My body felt like it was pumping three times the blood due to tension. Adrenaline was surging through me, and my heart was pounding in my ears. When we saw Baek Ae-young's signal, we all sprawled on the landing. I asked Shin Hae-ryang, who was next to me.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
Shin Hae-ryang felt his arms and legs, then moved his fingers and toes for a moment before answering.
"I'm fine. Even if I had fallen, I would have landed on the stairs below and wouldn't have been seriously injured."
I sighed with relief. I laid my head on the dusty floor and lay down completely, asking.
"When did you tie us up?"
"At the first rest stop. I thought the stairs might collapse."
I wouldn't have noticed if someone had tied a rope around my waist. In this darkness, I wouldn't even notice if someone stabbed me with a knife.
Baek Ae-young was looking at Seo Ji-hyuk's splint. It was tightly bound and hadn't come loose, but she checked to make sure his shoes were still inside the splint. She then shone her flashlight at my and Shin Hae-ryang's feet and sighed.
"I thought we were done for."
Seo Ji-hyuk groaned and said to Baek Ae-young.
"I already fell. Look for me in the darkness."
"Just stay alive."
Baek Ae-young, now too shocked to speak, was patting Yugeun's back, who was sobbing softly. Hearing the crying, my elbows and knees throbbed. I must have bruised them on the stairs. My palms were also sore from crawling on the rough stairs.
We'll be a mess when we reach the top. The pain I hadn't noticed due to the tension started to hit me. Baek Ae-young looked at the three of us sprawled out, groaning, and asked.
"How about temporarily joining a cult? They'll be thirsty for new members. You can join, pray a bit, and then run away when the time is right."
"Like cherry pickers?"
Yugeun, sniffing and drinking water, asked. Shin Hae-ryang thought for a moment and asked.
"Is it easier to join and then run away, or not join at all?"
"It's better not to get involved. Running away isn't easy."
I could feel everyone's gaze in the darkness, even though I couldn't see them.
"They know everything about our families and financial situations. They might follow us or keep an eye on us even after we leave here."
An uncomfortable silence passed between us. It's a very unsettling feeling to know that someone has secretly gathered information about you without your permission and might use it without your knowledge.