Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

I slowly pondered before speaking to Yoo Geum-yi.

“······I, too, if I stay here for about a year, might turn into a person who, if I dislike the people here so much, could potentially dig a hole in the seabed base floor with a spoon. But yes, I agree, taking out 72 people is a bit extreme. If I were to hold a grudge against someone, I’d probably dig a hole in his room, but I wouldn’t destroy the escape route.”

Yoo Geum-yi tapped my arm with her small hand, an action made easy by our mutual seated position on the floor, as a way to comfort my nervousness.

“Why are you so weak? Have some confidence. And don’t go around making assumptions depending on the situation. You’ll end up being accused of wrecking the seabase!”

As Yoo Geum-yi rummaged through the backpack I had been carrying, belonging to Baek Aeyoung, she discovered a bottle of Ballentine’s liquor. Her eyes widened at the sight before fiddling with the cap.

“I wouldn’t argue if you call me naive. But when the time comes, discarding one’s humanity and fighting like a beast, that’s too… primitive.”

“······You’re really strong, Geum-yi-nim.”

“Where exactly?”

“Your mentality is strong. Even in this situation, you try to think positively and make moral judgments. Even when you’re in a garbage situation, you don’t try to throw others in the trash like a water ghost. You don’t abandon me, who’s acting like a complete loser, calling me a stupid kid… there’s so much more. Is today particularly tough for me? I’m acting way too self-deprecatingly.”

“Everything. Your knee seemed strong too when you fell earlier.”

“Pain is just something to endure.”

‘Pain is just something to endure.’ That felt like a useful life quote. I mulled over that phrase, and then looked at the liquor cap that Yoo Geum-yi had been fiddling with.

“Are you going to open that?”

“Here, now? Liquor? Absolutely not! I don’t know who put it in the bag─,” she quickly answered. “It’s Seo Ji-hyeok-ssi─Ah, I thought so. Absolutely not. Maybe when we’re outside, but we shouldn’t drink now.”

Worried that I might try to drink it, Yoo Geum-yi hastily zipped up the backpack.

“I don’t intend to drink either. I’ll drink when we get out. ······If I get out, I’ll buy all the drinks at the bar. Really. I’ll spend my first paycheck here on liquor.”

“Who knows if you’ll get a paycheck? Hmm. ······The nearest bar is in Hawaii.”

“There’s not even a single bar on this damned artificial island?”

“Do you think the engineers and the mining team would work sober?”

I had no response to that. I recalled the engineer who had gotten drunk, passed out, and became a bad example for the others. Especially if a bar was established, the psychological counselor Elliot would flip. Prescription drugs don’t mix well with alcohol.

“Elliot!”

“Yes?”

“She’s a specialist, isn’t she? She should’ve been staying in the West district!”

“If you’re talking about psychologists, they’re residing in Daehan Island.”

“Ah······that’s a relief.”

With a sigh, I took off my backpack and laid flat on the cold floor. Had I been wearing wet clothes until now, I would surely have caught a cold.

“Baek Aeyoung-nim is late.”

“There’s no update on the board.”

Neither of us suggested we take the elevator up. If Yoo Geum-yi wanted to take the elevator and leave the seabase first, I’d let her, and wait for Baek Aeyoung alone. But from what I’ve seen of Yoo Geum-yi so far, she wasn’t the type to leave alone. She’d probably let me go first, and then wait for Baek Aeyoung herself. …Unless the situation gets even more messed up.

Waiting indefinitely was making me anxious. What if 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes pass and Baek Aeyoung still doesn’t show up, even when the life-support systems stop providing oxygen? What if Baek Aeyoung gets attacked or is in a situation where she can’t make it to the elevator? Should I force Yoo Geum-yi onto the elevator then?

Contrary to my anxiety, Yoo Geum-yi casually asked out of boredom.

“Do you know why they built a dental clinic at the underwater base?”

“I don’t know. Because people’s teeth here are a mess?”

As I laid down and listened, Yoo Geum-yi’s voice, laced with laughter, sounded like a lullaby.

“Muhyun-ssi may not know this, but the dental clinic at the underwater base isn’t exactly an essential facility, but it’s nice to have one. Your arrival here signifies that the North Pacific Underwater Organization has made up its mind to gradually increase such facilities. Do you know what this means? It means they’ve given up on the futile attempts to refreeze the ice that melted decades ago, or somehow restore the flooded lands, and have now started to compromise. Just think about when the previous generation barely sent a hundred people to Mars after a long time doing the Galaxy Project, pouring astronomical sums of money, and literally sacrificing their lives. Not to mention the money wasted on the Moon and Planet Projects. The efforts to venture into space have now begun to stagnate.

People now are trying to survive in the polluted ocean of the Earth. Soon, the Atlantic underwater base will be completed. Didn’t they virtually throw all the construction workers here and the funds from the surrounding Atlantic countries into it? Soon, the Indian Ocean underwater base will also be developed. The underwater was chosen as a habitat necessary for the survival of mankind, not for mining.

Of course, no one knows how much this choice will backfire in the future. Scientists are making all kinds of grim predictions. It’s easy to predict stories like when people starved to death due to an outbreak of bugs caused by some lunatic who ordered to kill sparrows, but no one knows what will happen to humans or how it will affect the Earth if we live in buildings built 3km under the sea.”

“Just like how we are right now?”

When I asked with a laugh, Yoo Geum-yi also chuckled. “Right. Just like how we are right now. I hope people who look at this situation, which will go down in history as the worst underwater accident, and reflect on it, can operate the Atlantic underwater base in a better state.”

“Please exclude me from the worst part because I’m going to survive to do the interviews.”

“I’m not going to die either! I still have so many things I haven’t done yet. I haven’t even finished my thesis yet! Oh, I suddenly feel like dying!”

Yoo Geum-yi began to roughly rub and twist her hair with her fingers.

“Do you know what my thesis topic is? It’s similar to a jellyfish, but it’s a water snake that Muhyun-ssi has never seen before. It’s a bizarre creature that roams around the deep sea floor, making me wonder if it should be called a fish. What happens if you pour reagent and observe this guy?”

As I listened to Yoo Geum-yi’s voice, I could push away some of my anxiety, worries about the people who entered the evacuation port in the East district, and guilt. After running for a while, I was overwhelmingly sleepy once the intense anxiety subsided. Before I knew it, I was back in my lodging in the West district. The lodging was filled with water, and the new socks that I bought because I was coming here were floating around the room like fish. I was able to swim freely in the water. Naturally, I breathed underwater and left the room and went down the hallway.

Various items that came out of the rooms passed by me in the hallway. I passed by cups, scarves, chairs, earphones, cosmetics, and basketballs. Despite being completely submerged in water, I was peacefully breathing like a fish and leisurely looking at the rooms. In the hallway, all the walls were transparent, so I could see inside all the rooms. I passed by room number 38, my room, and saw an alarm going off on a lit pad in room number 22, Shin Hae-ryang’s room.

People were hiding all sorts of things in their small rooms. Prohibited food, weapons, medicines. Finally, I passed by room number 8. There was someone floating in the room. It was the first time I saw this person, but I couldn’t see their face due to their hair. The person quickly caught me as I was passing through the hallway and started to strangle me.

Even though we were underwater, the voice was so clear in my ears. “Why didn’t you save me?” At that instant moment, water started to fill my mouth. The moment I swallowed the seawater, I couldn’t breathe. “You could have saved me!” I was out of breath. I struggled to get away from them.

“Save me!”

“I can’t!”

“Save me!”

“I don’t have the strength!”

“Save me!”

Suddenly, I woke up with a start. Baek Aeyoung and Yoo Geum-yi were looking at me as I was sprawled out on the floor, swimming on all fours. I got up from the floor in a daze.

“How long was I asleep?”

Yoo Geum-yi checked the time and said, “About 5 minutes.”

I thought I had slept for about 5 hours. Baek Aeyoung, who had gulped down the water handed to her by Yoo Geum-yi, pointed at the elevator.

“I went to the submarine area, but all the usable submarines have already left. There was one manual two-seater submarine, but I won’t bother asking if either of you have ever driven a submarine before. (Yoo Geum-yi laughed nervously.) Anyway, you two need to take the elevator to the 3rd Seabase right now.”

The elevator was already activated, whether she had already pressed the button or not. Yoo Geum-yi, hearing Baek Aeyoung’s answer, frowned and asked, “What about you, Baek Aeyoung-ssi?”

“I’m going to the escape port. You two should go ahead.”

“Are you going to help them? I’ll go too!”

Baek Aeyoung smiled at my words.

“You think I’m going to help those two? I just want to know what’s happening. You two, as Shin Team Leader-nim said, go ahead.”

Yoo Geum-yi spoke anxiously towards Baek Aeyoung, “Those two could be in great danger. They knocked twice! Not three times. I definitely heard it! Baek Aeyoung-ssi could be in danger as well.”

“I know.”

Unable to stay still at her simple and chic response, I added, “There was someone who suffered a wound to the femoral artery and died from excessive bleeding. It might be safer for you to come with us,”

Baek Aeyoung, having presumably already heard from Yoo Geum-yi, nodded her head. “It’s probably a gunshot wound.”

“Excuse me?”

“There were a few people who died from gunshot wounds in the submarine. I also saw the sight of the submarine’s inner panel riddled with bullets.”

“But… the two didn’t mention anything like that.”

At Yoo Geum-yi’s words, Baek Aeyoung squinted and chuckled.