While the elevator passed the 5th, 6th, and 7th floors, the lights illuminating the building's interior entered the transparent elevator, so I didn't feel it was particularly dark. However, as soon as the elevator left the Deep Sea Pollution Center building, it was momentarily enveloped by the darkness of the seabed.
The sudden contrast of shadows wasn't too frightening due to the fluorescent lights inside the elevator, but as someone who was riding the main cargo elevator for the first time, I felt the overwhelming sensation I had when I first rode the central elevator. It felt like a rectangular box, completely submerged in the sea, was rising through the darkness of the deep sea, carrying a tiny bit of light.
However, the sensation I felt for a moment was completely different for those who were already familiar with this elevator. Unlike me, who was slightly startled, people relaxed, sitting or lying on the floor.
Kim Gayoung, Yoo Geum, and Lee Ji-hyun leaned against the elevator walls, exhausted, occasionally blinking their eyes. As soon as the elevator started moving, I recalled the disasters that had occurred in my dreams, opened my pad, and started timing. Yoo Geum occasionally turned her head to look at the time passing on the pad.
James and Sam chatted excitedly about their escape, and Canu, after listening to Lee Ji-hyun's advice, put out his cigarette. Carter raised his phone and waved it towards the ceiling, while Benjamin glared at Logan with dissatisfaction.
However, when Logan glared back, Benjamin turned his head away. Kevin, holding an ax handle, looked out at the darkness visible outside. Emma, leaning against the elevator wall, sat there without blinking.
I looked around at the people and then raised my head to notice some Chinese characters written on the elevator ceiling. Why are Chinese characters written here?
[自燈明 法燈明]
What do these characters mean? I asked Yoo Geum, who was staring blankly at the time passing on the pad.
"Geum-ssi, do you know what's written on the ceiling?"
Yoo Geum raised her head, frowned at the characters, and said,
"I'm not sure."
I see... I also don't know. I only recognize the characters for 'self' and 'light.' Kim Gayoung, who had lived in the Deep Sea Pollution Center, read the characters hesitantly.
"Self-lamp. Is the middle character 'lamp'? No, is it? Self-lamp, Dharma-lamp?"
"Wow."
As Yoo Geum and I uttered our amazed exclamations, Lee Ji-hyun raised her head, glanced at the ceiling, and spoke. Then, the person who spoke four languages added,
"The Chinese characters are correct: 'Self-lamp, Dharma-lamp.'"
What does that mean? Kim Gayoung stretched her arms above her head and frowned.
"I remember my grandmother saying something like this before... but I can't recall it."
At that moment, Carter, who had been waving his phone in the air, looked at the ceiling and said to us with a sigh,
"Are you Asians? These are Chinese characters. Isn't this related to Buddhism?"
"I'm an atheist."
"I believe in science."
"I'm an instant Buddhist who goes to the temple once or twice a year."
"I believe in the Lord."
As the Asians answered one after another, Carter looked flustered, clicked his tongue, and shook his head.
"Right before the Buddha's death, his disciples asked him, 'When you leave, who should we rely on and believe in?' This is the answer the Buddha gave before his nirvana."
As Canu, who had been looking at the ceiling, spoke, everyone turned their gaze towards him.
"Rely on yourself as a lamp."
...That's a good saying. But how do you rely on yourself as a lamp? Canu, who seemed to have no connection to Asia, explained the phrase in Chinese to the Asians and yawned. Logan pointed at the ceiling and said,
"Originally, they were going to engrave something in English there, but the Asian countries fought to have Chinese characters included."
When I looked around at the Asians, they all looked puzzled. Hmm. I don't know either. I thought the researchers who lived here would know more about the underwater base, but from the expressions of Kim Gayoung and Yoo Geum, it didn't seem like they did. They must have spent most of their lives in the laboratory. I asked Canu,
"Is there a line engraved in each elevator, like the Bible verse in the central elevator?"
"Probably. I've only ridden the ones I use."
Canu's words made Kim Gayoung snap her fingers and say to Yoo Geum,
"Oh, that's it. There's an elevator with that phrase: '必死則生 必生則死' (If you are determined to die, you will live; if you are determined to live, you will die)."
Yoo Geum, whose eyes were drooping from fatigue, suddenly opened them wide and said to Kim Gayoung,
"That's the elevator in the First Underwater Base and the one that goes to Dae-han!"
"What does that mean?"
In response to my question, Lee Ji-hyun said hesitantly,
"There's an elevator where Korea actively participated and had a phrase engraved. According to Team Leader Shin, there was a crazy person at the Underwater Base Headquarters who insisted on engraving something. In the First Underwater Base, the phrase '必死則生 必生則死' is engraved in Korean, and whenever Sang-hyun rides it, he says it feels like the elevator is going to fall."
Kim Gayoung, hearing Lee Ji-hyun's words, replied as if she was happy,
"Still, whenever I miss Korean, I ride that elevator to see the phrase."
Kim Gayoung looked into the distance as if gazing at something far away. I repeated the eight characters in my mind and said,
"Is it really engraved in the elevator? How did it get approved?"
No matter how I think about it, it's not a phrase suitable for an elevator in the deep sea. When I asked Lee Ji-hyun, she shrugged.
"The person said it reflects the reality of 21st-century humans who have to live in the sea after abandoning the land. He lobbied the Underwater Base Headquarters and the Navy so well. What was the original phrase? It was... so unusual that I memorized it. It was more obscure. What was it?"
Lee Ji-hyun thought for a moment and then said to me,
"Ah, 'If you give up your life, you will gain it. Tomorrow will be a lamp.' The person was insisting on engraving this, but our team leader said he was crazy and asked if it was appropriate to engrave such a phrase in a deep-sea elevator. So, it was changed to a famous quote by Yi Sun-sin."
Kevin, who had been looking out at the dark sea, glanced at the ceiling and said to us, somewhat embarrassed,
"Canada engraved 'From sea to sea' (a mari usque ad mare)."
Among all the phrases I've heard, this one seems the most normal. ...Or is it? It also gives the feeling that the elevator might fall into the sea. Wouldn't it be better to have something more positive and bright?
If I were to engrave something, I'd choose something like 'Regular brushing habits ensure lifelong health.' ...But that's not suitable for a deep-sea elevator either.
While talking about how the eight countries tried to claim a spot for their names or phrases in the underwater base, the lights suddenly went out, and the elevator stopped.
The sudden stop made me feel dizzy and nauseous due to inertia. Don't be scared. You can't be scared. Don't be scared. You know it's just the elevator stopping. It's just a temporary power outage.
After enduring the nausea for a few seconds, I saw the numbers on the pad, which had been moving non-stop in front of my eyes, stop. 5 minutes and 31 seconds. At that moment, screams erupted around me.
"Kyaahhhhhh! Ahhhh!"
"Uaaaaahhhh! Ahhhh!"
"Waaaaahhhh!"
"Kiyaaaaah! Kiyaaaaah!"
"God! Jesus! Oh! Gaaaaah!"
...Fortunately, no one seemed to be injured because everyone was sitting or lying down.
Instead, people were screaming randomly in the darkness. It seemed that none of them had experienced a power outage while riding an elevator before. If I hadn't experienced it in my dreams, I would probably be screaming with them.
The terrified people screamed for 1-2 minutes, and then, startled by their own voices, they started screaming again. After 3-4 minutes, they gradually calmed down and slowly closed their mouths. However, one man continued to scream.
"Uaaaaahhhh! We're all going to die! We're all going to die! Damn it! We're all going to die! Uaaaaahhhh!"
"Shut up!"
Someone kicked the man hard, and finally, the elevator became quiet. Canu lit a lighter, I turned on the pad's light, and I reached into my backpack to find the flashlight at the bottom. Lights from pads and phones appeared here and there.
I found the flashlight in my backpack and turned it on. After a while, it lit up, becoming the brightest light source in the elevator. Since there was no suitable place to shine the flashlight, I directed it towards the window showing the dark sea. Seeing this, Emma almost had a seizure and said,
"Shine the light somewhere else! What if someone sees your flashlight in the