Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Chapter 129

In a disaster situation, anything can become a burden. Moreover, it’s understandable to be reluctant to care for the child of someone you dislike. While I understand the sentiment, we are adults. We can’t just throw away something we don’t want to do simply because we don’t want to do it. It’s easy to set aside a bit of our humanity. But when we’ve shed all these burdens and feel unburdened, can we truly fly away from here as if we had wings? Although Kang Soojung frowned when I said I’d take care of the child, she didn’t say anything more.

Henry was diligently eating the candy, chewing slowly, and nodded when I explained that he needed to be quiet. However, soon after looking at the dark interior of Ophion, Henry asked something like, “Why aren’t the lights on?”

“We’re playing hide-and-seek with people who have guns right now. The game doesn’t end until we see sunlight. That’s why we’re hiding.”

Henry moved the candy to the other cheek, sighed, and said:

“They should just drink beer while watching TV. They always want to do such weird things.”

Haha. Kid, whose way of speaking is that? Leonard’s or Nevada’s? Henry seemed to want to look around, but seeing all the adults sitting on the floor or standing looking at their pads in the dark room, he seemed to give up on wandering around. Instead, he asked something difficult for adults to answer. Seo Jihyuk forcefully stuffed a towel that was rolling around nearby into John’s mouth, and Henry, seeing this, asked:

“Why is that person tied up like that?”

“Mmph!”

How could I explain to a 7-year-old that this person believes in a strange religion called Infinity Church and is tied up because he might be a threat to others? I searched for a good answer for a moment, then gave up and said vaguely:

“Mmph! Mmph!”

Listening from the side, it seemed both Kang Soojung and Shin Hae-ryang had concluded on going to the East District. Although going to the Black Tortoise Building would allow them to use both the Black Tortoise Building elevator and escape pod, going to the East District gave them three options: the elevator, escape pod, and submarine. In the past, out of those three options, I had only used the elevator. There were many incidents on the way to the East District, excluding the people with guns.

“Oh right. I heard the life support system in the East District was malfunctioning. It was cold the entire way there.”

Both Kang Soojung and Shin Hae-ryang looked at me and then back at the map. Kang Soojung, with an expression overflowing with stress, was searching for something in the engineer’s computer system and saying something like “Nothing’s working properly” to her team leader.

I was about to tell the two about the person who died in the laundry room along with the life support system but hesitated. Not only because Victoria, who died after being shot in the thigh, was Kang Soojung’s friend, but also because there was a possibility she might not have died this time. How much do the events from the previous iteration match with now? I asked Shin Hae-ryang:

“Can we see inside the East District’s laundry room?”

“…Here it is.”

He showed me the CCTV feed of the laundry room interior on Roarke’s pad, but there was no one inside. Only some unfolded clothes were visible. Has Victoria not arrived at the East District escape pod yet? Or did she escape without getting shot? I hope she didn’t die.

Some of the CCTV screens were either pointing at different angles or just showing black with nothing visible. It seemed that some of the engineers heading from the East District to the West District, or people who were in the Central Building, had adjusted the CCTV angles or stuck something in front of them. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Underwater Bases weren’t visible on the pad at all.

Shin Hae-ryang told everyone to get up. Seo Jihyuk, who had been lying on the floor, got up. He reached out his hand to help Lee Jihyun up, then played a trick on Baek Ae-young, who was sitting, by extending his hand and pulling it away before she could grab it, only to get kicked in the shin. “Ow!” Hearing Seo Jihyuk’s scream, Lee Jihyun, dusting herself off, asked Shin Hae-ryang:

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to the East District.”

Seo Jihyuk asked me again:

“Do we really have to take this cultist with us? Leaving him here is also an option.”

“Then let’s untie either his arm or leg before we go.”

“…I think we can take him.”

Seo Jihyuk put John Doe on his back, climbed up some exercise equipment, and dropped him feet-first from about 2.5 meters high. There was a thud and a muffled scream, “Mmph!” …Seeing Seo Jihyuk’s actions, it seems this person has no human rights. I suddenly thought that leaving him here might be the more respectful choice.

However, for people to leave Ophion, they had to voluntarily climb over mountains of metal desks and exercise equipment, eagerly giving up their own human rights.

In Henry’s case, he could easily slip through small gaps or twist his small body to get out. Adults had to skillfully avoid the metal pieces while getting bruised. I hit my calf on an indoor bicycle pedal and almost teared up. By the time we reached Ophion’s entrance, everyone had at least one or two bruises. Seo Jihyuk grumbled as he passed the bench press:

“Who suggested piling these up like this?”

“You. You did.”

Lee Jihyun said, ducking to avoid a protruding barbell. “Whoa!” I heard a scream and saw Yoo Geum-yi sliding forward as she was trying to climb over a treadmill. Kang Soojung and Seo Jihyuk, who were below, caught Yoo Geum-yi simultaneously and helped her down. Tumanako said as she was coming down the wall of exercise equipment:

“Since it seems safe here, it might not be a bad idea to just keep holding out inside. At least one military from one of the eight countries will come, right?”

I answered Tumanako while rubbing my bruised calf with my palm:

“The problem is that the underwater base probably won’t hold out until those people come.”

“You’re saying the underwater base will collapse?”

“It could.”

“Come on. That’s nonsense. Do you know how much money each country poured into this place? It’s probably just leaking a bit due to the shock from a volcanic eruption or earthquake or something. By tomorrow, the engineers will be busy repairing it, right?”

Baek Ae-young answered with a sigh:

“I hope so.”

Seo Jihyuk, looking at John Doe writhing on the floor, untied the string around his ankle and said in a friendly manner:

“You can try to run away if you want, but I’ll just catch you again anyway.”

Then he lifted him up by the armpits and forced him to stand.

Next to the Ophion door, Shin Hae-ryang was holding something round and black. Wondering what it was, I saw that there was a hole in the center of the round circle. I don’t exercise much, but could that be a barbell plate? Shin Hae-ryang was holding two of them, one marked 10 and the other 15. …That can’t be the weight, right?

“Why are you holding those?”

“There are no decent weapons.”

So those are substitutes for weapons? How are you planning to use them? Kang Soojung was holding two pads in one hand – Roarke’s pad and Shin Hae-ryang’s pad – and a kettlebell marked 10kg in the other hand.

Yoo Geum-yi, curious about the kettlebell that Kang Soojung had briefly put down to scratch her cheek, tried to lift it with one hand. It didn’t even budge from the floor. Yoo Geum-yi tried to lift it with both hands, grunting with effort, managed to lift it a few centimeters for a few seconds, then gently put it back down. Henry, finding this amusing, tried to grab and lift the kettlebell, but it didn’t move at all. Kang Soojung, watching the two, laughed for a moment, then lifted the kettlebell effortlessly like a handbag and said to Seo Jihyuk:

“People should use what they’re used to. It’s awkward when you try to use something you’re not familiar with, be it scissors or whatever.”

“…No matter how I think about it, I don’t think Jung Sang-hyun is in his right mind. Why does he occasionally defy you, Deputy Team Leader?”

“You’re the same.”

“Come on. I’m much better, aren’t I?”

When Seo Jihyuk, holding a dumbbell, answered like that, Baek Ae-young looked at the three of them and simply evaluated them as gorillas.

Baek Ae-young took the two pads from Kang Soojung’s hand like a flying squirrel. Then she gave Shin Hae-ryang’s pad to Lee Jihyun and observed the CCTV screens on Roarke’s pad herself. Seo Jihyuk clung to Ophion’s door, and Shin Hae-ryang joined in. I also stuck to the door and started pushing sideways. The weight was no joke. Did they make the door out of solid metal?

After a minute, when the door was half open, Shin Hae-ryang saw Baek Ae-young’s hand signal and went out of Ophion. Then, after checking the surroundings, he said:

“You can come out now.”

At those words, Henry ran out first, and I was startled. Well, it’s okay to come out, but… I earnestly pleaded with the child:

“You need to stay with me.”

“Why?”

“You ate three candies without your mom knowing. I need to tell your mom that it’s okay, that I gave you permission.”

“…You said I could eat them, and now…”

Henry pouted. When everyone had come out of Ophion, Baek Ae-young looked at the pad and took the lead. Kang Soojung and Shin Hae-ryang were next, with people in the middle, and Seo Jihyuk bringing up the rear.

Just a short walk from the gym, we came across the cafe [Agulhas Current]. Ah, I think I know the way from here. Just as I felt a moment of relief, suddenly someone jumped out from behind the cafe.

I couldn’t see anything else clearly, but the first thing I noticed was the gun the person was holding. Shin Hae-ryang, who was next to Baek Ae-young, who had her head down looking at the pad, reacted a bit faster. He threw one of the plates he was holding horizontally.

“Agh!”

The person holding the gun was hit in the thigh by the plate and fell forward immediately. Their hair was so long that their face was barely visible, but as we got closer, I could just barely recognize who it was. It was a woman named Uehara Sumire, an Engineer Team N member who had visited the dental clinic before.

Baek Ae-young immediately threw the pad and everything else behind her, and Lee Jihyun, who was right behind her, caught Roarke’s pad mid-air in a panic. As Shin Hae-ryang grabbed the woman’s hands to prevent her from using the gun, Baek Ae-young immediately snatched the gun away.

Seo Jihyuk didn’t participate. He seemed to be on guard, looking around to see if there were any more people. The others, including Kang Soojung, were stunned by the event that had unfolded in just two seconds.