Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Everyone assumed that we were moving towards the elevator as Baek Ae-young went to press the button. However, Shin Haeryang suggested we stay put, causing Baek Ae-young to naturally return to us. Baek Ae-young quietly answered Yoo Geum-yi and my question.

“The area around the elevator is too exposed. We can’t stand in front because anyone could see us.”

“Wow!”

“Whoa.”

Yoo Geum-yi and I muttered in admiration at the unexpected insight. During our three-minute break, Seo Jihyuk sat on the floor behind the cafe’s counter, checking if he could access the internet on his tablet. Yoo Geum-yi promptly sat next to him and took out his phone.

“The internet isn’t working.”

“Neither are the phones.”

Hearing their disappointed voices, I looked around the inside of the cafe we were in. I hadn’t had a chance to try this cafe, as I’d only been to the two in the fourth undersea base. The menu seemed to mainly consist of fruit smoothies. The evacuation must have been quite hasty as they left large quantities of frozen strawberries and blueberries outside the refrigerator. I attempted to put a pack of frozen strawberries back in the freezer above when I noticed that it wasn’t working. And then… huh?

There was a lump of metal in the freezer that shouldn’t have been there. Is this a real gun? Seo Jihyuk couldn’t move. Baek Ae-young was busy watching the elevator.

“Shin Haeryang-ssi, could you come over here for a second?”

At my call, Shin Haeryang promptly came over. I showed him the non-functioning freezer. It seemed to have been used as a storage area, but there was an item that shouldn’t have been there in a place selling fruit juices.

“Did you touch it?”

“No, I just opened the door.”

Looking at the pistol and magazines in the freezer, Shin Haeryang pointed to a palm-sized empty spot next to them.

“It seems like someone took something from here and left these behind.”

Then, he checked that there was nothing else installed in the freezer, took the gun, and checked the safety and chamber.

“Is it fake?”

Please be fake.

Shin Haeryang shook his head. “It’s real.”

Inside the freezer were a gun, two magazines, a pack of bullets, and a bottle of spirits. Shin Haeryang carefully opened the remaining refrigerators. Only then did I realize he was checking for booby traps. …And I had just recklessly opened the freezer?

But all we found in the rest were bottles of milk, cold sodas, and various foods. Even after looking behind the milk, there was nothing. I awkwardly placed the pack of frozen strawberries I’d been holding back on the floor. It seemed that the large packs of strawberries and blueberries were probably used to camouflage the gun. Shin Haeryang disassembled the gun completely on a cloth with a metallic clang.

Wait. Why is he disassembling a perfectly good gun? The disassembled parts of the palm-sized gun, exaggerating a bit, amounted to a handful. I worried he wouldn’t be able to reassemble it, but Shin Haeryang, as if smashing my worries, began to put the gun back together, inspecting the spring and the internals. Like assembling LEGO, he pieced it together and finished reloading it within a short time. Just as he was finishing loading the magazines, Yoo Geum-yi entered the kitchen.

“What on earth are you two doing here…?”

Yoo Geum-yi’s eyes widened at the sight of the gun. Ah, I had the same reaction when I  found it in the freezer.

Swallowing hard, Yoo Geum-yi asked, “Are… are you going to use that?”

Shin Haeryang, looking at the gun he was holding downward, spoke. It seemed like he was engaging the safety. “I hope there’s no need.”

When we left the small kitchen following Shin Haeryang, Seo Jihyuk and Baek Ae-young, who saw the gun, caused a commotion, startling Yoo Geum-yi and me.

“I can’t shoot? Captain? No, Team leader! I even got shot today, and it’s tough.”

“He’s tired, let’s leave him out. You know my skills, right? I can guarantee I won’t waste a single bullet.”

“…I’ll keep it. Both of you, quiet down.”

Both of them looked disheartened at Shin Haeryang’s words. Why are they both so desperate to possess a gun? When I asked, Baek Ae-young spoke as if sighing. “I’m currently carrying a machine gun loaded with my desires. Do you know how anxious it is to be unarmed?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

I paused to think but my answer was still the same. I should have been armed at some point to understand that.

“Don’t you think we can expect a peaceful resolution from the other side, given that I don’t have any weapon to harm them?”

“Well, seeing a gun being brought into an underwater base where weapons are prohibited, it seems like the other side is not thinking about a peaceful solution at all. They seem to want chaos filled with blood and screams.”

“······ I do excel at causing blood and screams, but I always resort to peaceful solutions.”

Upon hearing that, Seo Jihyuk and Yoo Geum-yi laughed quietly. They both have received treatment from me before. Baek Ae-young, seeing the two of them smiling, wore a puzzled expression. It wasn’t until later that she clicked her fingers and remembered, “Ah, you’re a dentist,” she said.

“If the other side wants peace, I’m the kind of person who will reciprocate with the same kind of peaceful approach. (Seo Jihyuk shook his head as if that would never happen) But if they want a bloody fight, I’ll gladly fight.”

“······ Have you never heard the saying that fights should be stopped and negotiations should be encouraged?”

“Is that a Korean proverb?”

Hehehe. My goodness.

Baek Ae-young suddenly looked up and saw the elevator. Like a meerkat stretching its neck, she suddenly told everyone to crouch down. I, who was already half-sitting, and Yoo Geum-yi, who covered her mouth with her hand, could barely breathe.

Hiding behind the counter of the cafe, we felt like we would be discovered if we even slightly raised our heads. Footsteps could be heard, possibly someone coming out of the elevator. Looking at Baek Ae-young’s fingers, it seemed to be two people. I had to suppress my urge to throw myself at them and beg to be taken out of the underwater base. Shin Haeryang, Seo Jihyuk, and Baek Ae-young, without making a sound, raised their index fingers to their mouths.

Shin Haeryang nudged the gun in my hand twice with his fingertip and knocked the air twice towards the elevator. It was hard to understand whether he wanted to shoot the person who had just come out of the elevator or whether those people were also armed with guns. Given the engineering team’s personality, the former seemed more likely, which made me anxious.

When the people came out of the elevator and moved to the side, we could see them just a little. On their arms, they had either a round mark or a patch, shaped like a shark with its mouth open, made up of black, red, and white colors. Both were armed with guns, dressed in dark clothing overall, and wearing black masks that covered their noses.

People in the underwater base mostly don’t wear all black. As you go deeper into the sea, it gets darker due to the lack of light. They wear colorful clothes to prevent accidents and alleviate depression, but seeing their dark clothing after looking at colorful clothes for five days, I naturally felt intimidated.

Seeing them made me understand why Baek Ae-young was so cautious about riding the elevator. They seemed to have been constantly inside the elevator. Seeing them come out as soon as I pressed the button. Two men  with guns, wearing black hats, black masks, black clothes, and shark patches on their shoulders. Such unsightly figures that people would avoid them on the street. Why are these people in the underwater base?

Listening to their conversation, the two armed men seemed very curious about who had pressed the elevator button. Yoo Geum-yi muttered quietly. Somniosus microcephalus. I had no idea what that meant. But the translator in my ear translated it to “Greenland Shark” after a few seconds with a dry voice, and I thought my heart was going to drop.

The two with guns began to search the “Unlimited Chocolate Cookies and Book Café,” which was closer to the elevator than the café where we were hiding. Only after the two figures had completely disappeared did Baek Ae-young speak.

“If we had a silencer, I would have shot them right away.”

Shin Haeryang did not deny Baek Ae-young’s words, agreeing with them. She asked whether they should take the now vacant elevator, given that the two armed individuals had gone towards the book cafe.

“I am concerned about them having used the elevator that was stationed at the second submarine base.”

Perhaps Shin Haeryang anticipated that as soon as they ascended in the elevator, called ‘Archelon’, they would encounter a truck filled with personnel dressed in black hats and dark clothing.

Yoo Geum-yi scratched her cheek and asked Shin Haeryang, “Do you think they’ll be hostile towards us, even though we haven’t done anything?”

“They’re hiding their faces. It means they’re ready to do anything anonymously.”

“But there are many who do such things even without hiding their faces.”

“…True.”

Hearing the two’s lukewarm exchange, I asked them incredulously, “So what do we do?”

“The first who moves is wins.”

Baek Ae-young, holding a screwdriver, looked at Shin Haeryang. After a few seconds, he nodded.

“We’ll catch and interrogate them.”

Shin Haeryang handed the gun he was holding to Baek Ae-young. With the screwdriver clenched in her teeth and a gun in one hand, Baek Ae-young told me and Yoo Geum-yi to hide in the kitchen until they captured the two individuals. And to not come out until called.

As Yoo Geum-yi and I prepared to take Seo Jihyuk, who was sitting on the floor, into the kitchen, Shin Haeryang shook his head. Seo Jihyuk sighed deeply and spoke.

“So you need my killer acting skills, right?”

“Yes.”

In front of the grumbling Seo Jihyuk, Shin Haeryang nodded without a change in expression. Seo Jihyuk, who claimed that he had to be there, held his leg and pretended to roll around.

“Aaaargh! My leg!”

Yoo Geum-yi and I hid in the kitchen and began counting. Less than two minutes had passed when we heard Baek Ae-young’s voice. When we came out, one of the armed individuals was lying on top of Seo Jihyuk. Baek Ae-young was pointing a gun at the other’s face, and the end of the gun that the armed man was holding was pointed directly at my thigh.

Shin Haeryang, bare-handed, was almost dragging the man from behind, directing the man’s armed weapon towards the man’s own thigh. Shin Haeryang then made a terrifying threat.

“If you scream, either your face will be blown off, or something inside your pants. One of the two will be blown away.”

Since Shin Haeryang was over 190 cm tall, if the gun were fired, the man who seemed about 170 cm tall would lose something precious in his lower abdomen or lower area. But even if Shin Haeryang was hit incorrectly, it would be his thigh or calf. Seo Jihyuk pushed the man on top of him aside, snatched the gun he was holding, and pointed it at the man Shin Haeryang was apprehending. The three of them were aiming at one person.

“Slowly raise both hands.”