"People often get trapped here because of the door, but it's rare for five people to be trapped. There was a time when four people were trapped while playing mahjong and it caused quite a commotion."
"Why is it wise not to reveal your name?"
Without thinking, I asked, and Yujin answered.
"If your identity is known, you can't tell if a rescuer will come or if someone with a grudge will become a potential criminal. ... Oh my. The person trapped is a woman."
Since Kim Gayoung is trapped, Yujin's guess was right. But how did he know the person trapped was a woman? Lee Ji-hyun, walking quickly, said to me,
"Leave a comment. Tell them to prepare."
"Is that okay? Won't the people who read this know that someone is wandering around the Jujakdong?"
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have thought about it, but after seeing the way Kang Soo-jung wrote, it seemed they were hesitant to reveal where they were moving or even where the person writing was.
"Anyway, in this situation, is there anyone other than us who can go underwater and rescue that person? Even if others read that there are more than two people wandering around Jujakdong, if someone could rescue them, they would have done it already. Tell them to prepare."
I wrote a comment under the name RESCUE: [We are on our way. Prepare to leave the room and wait.]
Lee Ji-hyun stopped in front of the escape pod port.
Seeing the water marks at the entrance to the escape pod port, Lee Ji-hyun stared at the floor and then looked at us, speaking softly.
"There are engineers inside."
"Huh? Huh. Huh?"
There are engineers inside? I see. But how did you know that? My stupid question made Yujin raise an eyebrow.
"You know there are engineers inside because they didn't go to rescue the person trapped in the adjacent dormitory?"
"How did you know there were engineers?"
In response to my question, Lee Ji-hyun quickly said,
"The water marks on the floor are from the shoes engineers wear when working underwater. They must have entered Jujakdong while working on the outer wall."
The floor was marked with the wet footprints of people who had run frantically from the flooded dormitory, but there were also a few shoe prints on top of them. Indeed, now that I looked, Lee Ji-hyun's shoes were different from the sneakers we were wearing. This is different from the dream, isn't it? Lee Ji-hyun, not expecting much from Yujin and me, still asked,
"Do you have any weapons?"
"No."
"None."
"Maybe they don't know someone is trapped?"
"Engineers? They handle almost all tasks through their pads."
I see. The dental office is different. Moreover, there's a bulletin board for the underwater base. I didn't even know such a bulletin board existed before. Lee Ji-hyun looked reluctant to enter the room. Hmm. It seems the relationship between the engineering teams isn't good. Yujin, looking at the thick, sturdy door of the escape pod port, asked,
"Maybe they left in the escape pod."
"That would be the best scenario."
"Ji-hyun, wouldn't it be better to rescue the trapped person first and then come this way? It's not far from the dormitory, after all."
"What if the escape pod is gone when we come back?"
To Lee Ji-hyun's question, I simply replied,
"We can go to another section. We're going to rescue them anyway."
Lee Ji-hyun hesitated for about five seconds before nodding. It seems she values time like gold, similar to Kang Soo-jung. ... So, is Lee Ji-hyun a retired soldier or a mercenary? I don't know. As Lee Ji-hyun and Yujin walked, I watched their backs and steeled my resolve. If we're moving together, we have to trust each other. I started speaking slowly.
"Actually, I had a dream a few hours ago."
"Yes?"
"In the dream, I saw a similar scene."
"How similar?"
After a moment of thought, I replied to Yujin's question.
"The underwater base Jujakdong was hit by a missile, people couldn't escape in the escape pods and were dying, we were going to rescue someone together, and cultists had taken over the underwater base."
Lee Ji-hyun, who had been walking while keeping an eye on the front, turned to look at me.
"How did you know Jujakdong was hit by a missile?"
"... In the dream."
While answering, I felt like I was turning into an idiot.
Yujin looked at me with a strange expression, mouth open. Ah, I understand. If I were in this situation, I would look at someone babbling like this the same way. I thought Lee Ji-hyun would react similarly to Yujin, but surprisingly, she didn't say much. She just glanced at me and then urged us to keep moving.
"The missile attack on Jujakdong is true. Our team members were almost killed in the explosion while working."
"Really?"
Yujin, surprised, asked, and Lee Ji-hyun nodded, eyes fixed forward. Yujin, walking in a daze, asked me,
"Weren't you talking about the strange dream you had? The missile attack on the Jujakdong research center was real? Why? Who would think of destroying a research center with over 400 people?"
"I don't know. I didn't dream about that part."
"The people in the research center gathered to improve the Earth's environment. They're not destroying other planets but trying to save Earth. A missile... ...Oh. What about deep-sea pollution?"
"Well... Concrete and rebar sink to the bottom, so the mesopelagic zone (1000m~3000m) where we are should be okay, right?"
My words didn't seem to help much. Yujin, holding his neck, walked in a daze, and I was worried he might fall. However, Yujin, though unsteady, continued walking forward, and I sighed inwardly. Watching Lee Ji-hyun, who was walking a bit faster, I asked,
"You don't seem very surprised, Ji-hyun."
"Really? I was so shocked when the research center exploded that what I heard now just seems normal."
"No, I mean the part about seeing it in a dream."
Lee Ji-hyun hesitated, swallowing her words, and then looked into the distance.
"In the Bible, there are many instances of people having dreams that predict the future. Angels even appear to tell Mary about her pregnancy. For Christians, divine revelation through dreams isn't that surprising. What's more concerning is what you said about people not being able to escape in the escape pods and cultists taking over the underwater base."
Is that so? Are the memories I have divine revelations or something? But if they are, why wasn't there a divine revelation when my father died? Why wasn't there a divine revelation when my family had an accident? I've never felt that I was favored by God enough to receive such things. If this is a favored life, I'd rather live a life without even God's impartiality.
"Is that so? I thought my dreams were just dreams. Until the underwater base flooded and we escaped from Baekhodong."
To my words, Lee Ji-hyun summarized the situation lightly.
"Anyway, the fact that we need to rescue the trapped person hasn't changed."
"That's true."
The cult we encountered isn't from the Fourth Underwater Base. Moreover, we won't know about the escape pods until we enter the escape pod port. Lee Ji-hyun, hesitating, asked me as we headed toward the dormitory,
"... Did you escape in the dream?"
"Um, well."
I died in a very, very terrible way. Should I tell them this? It might be better to give them hope with a better story rather than dampen their will to escape by explaining something that hasn't even happened yet. After watching my actions for a few seconds, Lee Ji-hyun said,
"I understand."
Even though I didn't answer? Then, Lee Ji-hyun supported the unsteady Yujin and quickly walked to the Jujakdong dormitory. I ran to catch up and arrived at the dormitory entrance.
Opening the pad to check the underwater base bulletin board, I saw that the posts about Jujakdong 77 were everywhere. Most of them mentioned that the lights were out and the water was rising, causing fear.
I informed the people about the content on the pad while watching Lee Ji-hyun check the isolation doors connected to the dormitory. Lee Ji-hyun, looking at the isolation walls in the 500-person dormitory and the rooms from 50 to 99 where room 77 was located, asked me,
"Did I drain the water from this room in the dream?"
"Drain the water?"
"Remove the water, I mean."
"I... I don't know."
Even I could tell my answer wasn't very helpful to the engineers. Lee Ji-hyun seemed to be considering whether to press the drainage button in the isolated area. She explained her thoughts to Yujin and me.
"Normally, some water would drain, but if it's broken, the water might rise faster."
"Then, shouldn't we open the door to the dormitory and check the water level before pressing the button?"
Yujin, staring blankly at the pad, shook his head.
"It might be better not to take unnecessary risks. There are already too many uncontrollable factors."