I asked Kim Gayoung how she had managed to get out of the room. She wouldn’t have been able to leave without someone’s help.
“Miss Gayoung. How exactly did you escape from the room?”
“······How did you know I was in a situation where I couldn’t get out of the room on my own?”
“Uh······.”
Kim Gayoung’s gaze was sharp as she looked at me. Seeing me flustered for a moment, Kim Gayoung spoke slowly.
“It’s nothing worth hiding, so I’ll answer. But answer my question too. How about it?”
“Very well.”
Kim Gayoung let out a deep sigh and answered.
“People who were trying to leave the dormitory stopped in their tracks to listen to the broadcast. People who hadn’t stopped even at screams for help halted their steps at the emergency broadcast telling them not to board the escape pods.”
Kim Gayoung gave a bitter smile. At the sound of Kim Gayoung’s voice, several people nearby lowered their heads, blushed, or averted their gazes.
“There were people who ignored the broadcast and ran to the escape pods, but there were also people who gave up boarding and came back for me. When four people grunted and heaved, the rock-like door did open.”
Gang Soojeong, who had been listening quietly, invited her to come along once more, but Kim Gayoung declined again after a moment. She seemed to feel a debt or gratitude toward the people of the Jujak-dong dormitory who had saved her.
I wanted to persuade Kim Gayoung to come along by saying that those people had once abandoned her, trapped in the room, to board the escape pods, thereby tarnishing the right actions they had taken this time. But the moment I thought that, I crumpled it up and threw it in the trash bin of my thoughts.
It wasn’t me who saved Kim Gayoung at the dormitory today. Even if they had left her behind before, they didn’t this time. That’s what matters most. Whether the situation changed because of the broadcast, or they stopped at the sound of pleas for their life, what matters is that they didn’t do it again. ······At least today’s Kim Gayoung would feel less betrayal and sadness from the people around her.
“The situation Miss Gayoung was in—I didn’t know it clearly either. I never thought anyone would help. I only expected that Miss Gayoung would write a post asking for help on the underwater base bulletin board while trapped in the room.”
And trying consciously not to look at the part of Kim Gayoung’s body where she had been shot in the elevator, I asked.
“Do you happen to have any painful areas? Some part that suddenly hurt terribly. ······Like your stomach hurting too much.”
Kim Gayoung furrowed her brows and asked me.
“How did you know that? My lower stomach hurt as if it had disappeared. It hurt so much I thought it was the first time I’d ever hurt like this. It wasn’t just because the door wouldn’t open that I asked for help, but also because my stomach hurt so much.”
Kim Gayoung felt pain too? So does that mean they feel the pain they faced right before death? Then what happened to Lee Jihyeon? Did the elevator really fall? No, if that was the situation, did Lee Jihyeon force the elevator to crash?
Then what about Yu Geumi? While coming out of the dormitory room and going to the escape pod, Yu Geumi hadn’t shown any symptoms. ······Had Yu Geumi been in a situation painful enough before? It looked like she was completely crushed under a truck. ······Could it be that if you die instantly, you don’t feel pain when you wake up next time? When Yu Geumi died before.
The image of Yu Geumi with her eyes closed as if asleep came to mind. ······If a bullet lodges in the head, would one die without feeling pain? The brain doesn’t feel pain. Please let that have been the case. There must not have been even a moment of pain.
Someone grabbed my shoulder, and I started, looking at the person. Gang Soojeong’s hand was on my shoulder, and three people around me were looking at me. I asked Kim Gayoung blankly.
“Does your stomach still hurt?”
At my question, Kim Gayoung unconsciously rubbed her stomach and answered.
“No. It hurt so much then I thought I would die, but now I’m fine.”
Certainly, the current Kim Gayoung seemed to feel no pain at all. Lee Jihyeon, the last time I saw her, had also seemed to gradually get better as time passed. Was the pain all temporary? Then isn’t that okay?
······No. It’s best not to hurt at all. When the cause of the pain doesn’t exist, having only the pain remain like this is the worst. Why should one suffer pain for no reason when their body is fine?
“······How did you obtain all the information about the broadcast and what you know now?”
Kim Gayoung asked about the source of the information, hesitating yet resolute. I answered without much hesitation.
“Actually, I’m a believer of the Mugyo Church. I’m a newbie who joined this crazy pseudo-religion not long ago. They originally promised to give me 800 million won, but when they didn’t transfer the promised money even after five days, I got annoyed and apostatized.”
Kim Gayoung stared at me with her mouth open.
“They have to deposit money on time and accurately for work to get done. What would go right in this cold-hearted capitalist society if you try to exploit people without money? Faith, loyalty, happiness, and all that nonsense only come about when there’s money. I joined Mugyo because they said they paid the most, but they don’t give money on time and spout nonsense about sharks, the past, and whatever.”
I could feel those around me, including Gang Soojeong and Seo Jihyeok, looking at me with similar expressions.
“On top of that, the underwater base suddenly became an indoor swimming pool. Even though bringing firearms into the underwater base is prohibited, the engineer team members are walking around armed with guns. Some country fired a torpedo at the research center. There are so many people with good bodies from working out. They only told me later that things not mentioned or coordinated in the contract would happen. And these crazy pseudo-religion bastards don’t tell me when something’s been deposited into my account.”
Trying hard to put on an annoyed and frustrated expression like Carter’s, I continued speaking.
“And from the crack of dawn, they incite people to board escape pods or take elevators? Lying down and thinking all morning, I’m slowly getting angry. What if I do as they say and become unemployed without even receiving my first paycheck yet? Should I devote the first precious weekend I’m enjoying since joining, to unpaid exploitation in the name of religious activities? Why am I doing this crazy thing? When they’re not even paying the contracted amount?”
“No, that’s······.”
“There must be a few Mugyo believers here too. Think carefully. Does any of the nonsense they spout there even slightly make sense? No matter how much money they give, can you go to the past? If anyone has ever traveled to the past or future like taking an overseas trip with money in hand, please raise your hand. Everyone dies trying to go to space, so apart from drug addicts, has anyone ever properly arrived at such an unknown destination?”
People would obviously suspect I’m a Mugyo believer anyway. Then let’s just let them believe that. If they ask why I know the internal affairs so well, saying I’m a Mugyo believer would be more convincing than denying it. If there’s something I don’t know, I’ll just say I haven’t been here long.
No matter how I explain it to anyone, this would be far more convincing than saying that Mugyo had occupied this place and conducted an experiment to return to the past, and that it had succeeded and I was going back to the past alone. Who would believe that?
And I judged that giving the impression that those pseudo-religion bastards had actually succeeded at something through force and experiments would be more dangerous than gaining the notoriety of being a lunatic who joined a cult for money. You cannot obtain proof that you can return to the past through me. Think of it as having inadvertently gained one money-crazy apostate who isn’t even on the membership list. No returns accepted.
Actually, while talking nonsense, tears welled up slightly in my heart. My family would know I’m an atheist. That’s enough.
“Honestly, can Mugyo really live well after terrorizing the underwater base like this? Even if they succeeded temporarily, can you happily live and then leave Mugyo? Would a religion that tells you to help with terrorism for 800 million won let believers go quietly? Look around this underwater base. How much do you think it cost to build this place? Even one bathroom built at this -3000 meters probably costs hundreds of billions of won. Rather than becoming a globally wanted maniacal fanatic and being chased your whole life, wouldn’t it be better to change your mind now, spill everything you know, and humbly beg the eight advanced countries of the North Pacific for mercy?”
Among those quietly listening to my conversation with Kim Gayoung, one man stood up, breathing heavily with wheezing sounds. He was a researcher I’d never seen before, with indistinct features. I probably wouldn’t have remembered his face if I’d passed him on the street. He twisted his facial muscles mercilessly and spoke.
“You’re a Mugyo believer?!”
“······Yes. I threw the hat in my room because it was tacky, and I dumped the gun somewhere because it was heavy.”
“If you’re really a believer, there’s a way to check besides that.”
My heart went cold. What was he talking about? Whether I’d had dental work done? Was there a church member number assigned, or a mandatory payment required when joining? ......A prayer or something?
That was when. While the man was distracted keeping an eye on me, Seo Jihyeok approached silently and swung his fist at him. I don’t know what exactly he hit or how, but though he’d only struck the man’s chest with a thud, the struck person’s eyes rolled straight back. Seo Jihyeok instantly knocked out one Mugyo believer and then embraced him affectionately as if nothing had happened. Haha. Why like this all of a sudden. Creepy.
“Sub-team leader. Sir. It’s time to go.”
Gang Soojeong, who had momentarily lost focus due to my sudden bombshell remark, had at some point excitedly been recording everything on her pad. Gang Soojeong, turning off the pad screen, looked at Kim Gayoung once before turning her back without hesitation. Seo Jihyeok hoisted the staggering man onto his back like a sack.
At that moment, a scream erupted. I thought they were screaming at us for knocking out and kidnapping a person in an instant, but the researchers were pointing at the front screen with their fingertips and shouting. Before anyone knew it, people’s gazes were fixed on the large display window that had been showing the escape pods.
Among the escape pods that had been launched so far, those that had been rising toward the surface the earliest were now falling back down.