Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

I don’t clearly remember what I was thinking when I left room 52. I barely moved my feet that felt like they wouldn’t budge and walked down the dormitory corridor. Each step felt heavy, as if weights were attached to my feet. It was even better when I was walking through corridors filling with water. Why is it so hard to walk on two feet in any dormitory corridor, as if I’m wearing shackles?

I kept reminding myself that I had promised Seo Jihyuk five minutes. I barely made it to the stairs located next to room 40, and as I was about to climb them, I turned my head at the sound of someone’s presence. I thought Sumire might have come out of her room.

However, the person I discovered was someone from a room in the 70s, and I couldn’t see their face clearly due to the distance. The other person also seemed unsure of who I was after catching a glimpse of me for a few seconds. I immediately went up the stairs as if falling forward. Although I couldn’t see the face clearly, even from afar I could distinctly see a black gun slung diagonally across their upper body. Who is it? Was there an armed person among those who didn’t go to West District?

I considered locking the door connecting the East District dormitory and corridor but decided against it. If water rushes in, or if Sumire changes her mind, they would use these central stairs to come up. And I didn’t want to block other people’s escape route just because I was frightened at the moment.

There was no one in the corridor between the escape pod port and the East District dormitory. Walking alone through the gloomy corridor, all sorts of thoughts came to mind. Would the Engineer A Team people still be waiting for me? The promised 4 minutes had passed. It seemed like about 1 minute was left, but I didn’t think I could make it to the submersible port in 1 minute even if I rolled from here.

As I was running with these thoughts, someone called out to me. “Doctor!” At first, I thought I had misheard. But when someone called me a second time, I couldn’t mistake it.

As soon as I turned my head, I saw Zhu Shi’an in the distance. She seemed to have come up the stairs next to room 80. Zhu Shi’an, holding a gun, smiled at me with a welcoming expression. But as soon as our eyes met, chills ran down my spine.

“How did you end up here? You reside in West District, don’t you, doctor?”

…Yeah, how did I end up coming to the East District dormitory? The words that I came to take Sumire, who got injured while moving around armed, back to her room rose to my throat but stopped there.

The gun Zhu Shi’an was holding bothered me. No matter how I thought about it, given Sumire’s attitude towards Kang Soojung, there was no way she could be on good terms with Zhu Shi’an from Engineer B Team. I recalled Sumire’s statement that she had no friends among the people in the underwater base.

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed very rare to see East Asians getting along well with each other here. I didn’t want to tell Zhu Shi’an that Sumire was in the dormitory. The same went for talking about Engineer A Team. The images of Seo Jihyuk’s leg and Ha Yoon’s corpse swirled in my head. The bullets embedding in the elevator wall and the tense moments flashed through my mind sequentially.

If asked why Sumire got injured, unless I said she fell on her own, I would have to talk about Engineer A Team. I decided to dodge the question vaguely.

“West District was flooded. I ended up here while escaping.”

“Is that so? You’ve come quite far.”

Zhu Shi’an said that while pointing the gun muzzle in my direction. A wave of mild fear washed over me like waves wetting my ankles. Without having learned it anywhere, I raised my hands with palms open next to my ears. Zhu Shi’an scanned my surroundings with her eyes and asked:

“Are there any other companions hiding?”

“No.”

“Did Engineer A Team send you?”

“No.”

“Have you seen Team Leader Shin Hae-ryang today by any chance?”

“No.”

Zhu Shi’an looked like she didn’t believe any of my answers. But I couldn’t hide my frightened demeanor. My mouth had gone completely dry after just saying three words. Zhu Shi’an, looking at me, asked again:

“Did you go to the East District escape pod port before coming here?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you escape from there? There should have been a few escape pods left.”

“There were none left. They had all been launched.”

At those words, Zhu Shi’an’s face hardened. She probably reacted that way because the escape pod she was planning to use to escape the underwater base was gone. Instead, I gathered courage to ask Zhu Shi’an:

“Isn’t there any other way to escape? Like hidden escape pods?”

“I don’t know either, doctor.”

Zhu Shi’an answered with a light smile. Recalling the image of Zhu Shi’an having tea time with me at that cheerful voice, I asked:

“Why were you in the dormitory instead of escaping?”

“I was busy searching the rooms of the Engineering Team leaders.”

Armed and ransacking other people’s rooms. Is she a thief? If she thought she’d make a profit by robbing rooms before going to the mainland, it could be possible. There were people who robbed the next room even though they knew Kim Ga-young and her group were trapped in their room with a broken door.

“Did you do it for money?”

Zhu Shi’an, shattering my imagination, said:

“Four people from our team are trapped in West District. Originally, team leader level and above had free authority to open and close building sections, but strangely, neither our team leader nor the Japanese team leader can leave West District. We need someone with team leader level authority or higher, or their pad.”

“Is that so?”

For a moment, the image of Engineer General Michael Roarker’s pad flashed through my mind like lightning. However, I quickly tried to forget that thought. I don’t know anything. I haven’t seen Engineer A Team today.

It seems that all four members of Engineer B Team – Ha Yoon, Li Wei, Wei Qi, and Hao Ran – are trapped in West District. Unlike Shu Ran, Zhu Shi’an didn’t abandon her team members. She seemed to have been busy in the East District dormitory where the engineers stay, looking for a way to get the trapped people out. I was a bit surprised by that. Is it because of Li Wei?

“Do you know where they might be?”

“I don’t know.”

I was about to add that I didn’t know anything about engineer authority, but I kept my mouth shut, thinking it might seem suspicious if I spoke at length.

When Zhu Shi’an waved the gun muzzle for me to walk, I started walking slowly down the corridor with my arms raised. Zhu Shi’an began walking at a distance where I couldn’t reach her even if I suddenly attacked. When she told me to enter in front of the escape pod port entrance, I slowly went in.

…Fortunately, Zhu Shi’an wasn’t aiming for the submersible port. If I had hurried, we might have met at the escape pod port or the submersible port. What would have happened if we had met? Someone would certainly have been shot.

As soon as I entered the escape pod port, I turned my head to the side at the mountain of piled-up corpses. Zhu Shi’an, who followed me in, confirmed that there really were no escape pods and expressed slight frustration. I inwardly felt relieved as I watched the escape pods on the front panel safely rising towards the sea surface. Zhu Shi’an looked at me for a moment and then asked:

“Who betrayed us?”

“Pardon?”

“Was it Hong Tao? Or Shu Ran? …Or maybe our team leader Ha Yoon?”

“I’m not sure what you’re asking about.”

Realizing that I really didn’t know, Zhu Shi’an sighed and answered:

“I heard your broadcast. The one saying we were waiting armed at the East District escape pod port for people to come. Who reported that to you?”

Zhu Shi’an looked at me with a smile on her lips. Ah. Didn’t they say Engineer B Team had a big fight over this? I chose my words carefully, trying to prevent someone from being unfairly blamed for my broadcast.

“It was an anonymous tip to the dental clinic, so I’m not sure either.”

Zhu Shi’an, mercilessly trampling my efforts, said:

“Is that so? Then let’s say it was Ha Yoon.”

“Excuse me?”

“That Ha Yoon betrayed the team. Hong Tao or Shu Ran would be fine too.”

“…I’m not sure what you’re saying.”

Zhu Shi’an answered me casually:

“In history, it’s not facts that remain in records, but what the survivors want to be recorded. We just need to make someone we don’t like into the culprit.”

I felt a cold breeze caressing the back of my neck.

“What if those three didn’t betray you? Could it possibly be Li Wei or Wei Qi…”

“That’s impossible. Li Wei isn’t that kind of person.”

“Then Ha Yoon might not be that kind of person either.”

“That’s not my concern.”

Zhu Shi’an coughed lightly, as if cold, and said:

“Anyway, what people want isn’t the truth. We just need to manipulate it a bit. If you get out of here and testify well, doctor, you’ll be compensated generously.”

“What if I don’t want to lie?”

“Do you want to die right now?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Zhu Shi’an smiled, narrowing her eyes, and said to me:

“Don’t worry. It’s not like we have a bad relationship or anything. If you listen well, we might be able to get out of here together.”

“How are we going to get out of here?”

We can’t leave East District by escape pod. It would be best if there were any submersibles left. Zhu Shi’an spoke as if it were simple:

“We just need to tell the people in the second underwater base that we couldn’t escape.”

“You mean the Infinite Bridge people?”

“Yes.”

“Then will they let me go to South Korea?”

“Well, you’ll probably have to wait about 7-8 hours before leaving. The biggest problem is the people trapped in West District. Because of that bastard Shin Hae-ryang.”

I doubt it. Those people won’t let us leave the underwater base that easily. It seems Engineer B Team and the Infinite Bridge have made some kind of deal, but I didn’t think the fanatics who say they need sacrifices would keep their promises well. Watching Zhu Shi’an grind her teeth at the last part, I carefully asked:

“…Did you try to stop your team members from going to West District?”

As if dumbfounded, Zhu Shi’an stared at me blankly and asked:

“Have you ever bought a boat or yacht, doctor?”

“I don’t even have a rubber duck to float in my bathtub.”

Zhu Shi’an chuckled at my honest answer.

“They’re extremely expensive. And because we’ve suffered so much at the hands of Engineer A Team, we can’t just leave without paying them back.”

“Weren’t you and Deputy Team Leader Kang Soojung from Engineer A Team close?”

“Deputy Team Leader Kang Soojung is a decent person. The problem is Shin Hae-ryang.”

I’m not so sure. As far as I know, before Shin Hae-ryang did anything, he seemed to get at least some prior permission from his deputy team leader. I quietly swallowed those words.

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