Is there any reason they had to name an athletic facility inside the North Pacific undersea base after a snake god? They said the dental clinic’s name, Deep Blue, was taken from the name of a great white shark, too, but why a great white? Come to think of it, why were the base’s four wings named after the Four Gods? Are all the names decided by vote, like when they named the island Daehando? Or can someone pay to name them?
······When I knew so little, everything looked suspicious if I chose to suspect it.
“What are you thinking about?”
Yugeum was staring blankly at me. Around us, Tumanako, Yugeum, and Kang Sujeong had been sitting or lying near Henry, resting, but at Yugeum’s question they turned their heads toward me. Still sitting on the floor, I answered.
“I was thinking the athletic center’s name might be a little too grandiose.”
“Doesn’t it sound pretty nice? I heard they decided them by vote in the early days, but these days I think the countries take turns naming things.”
Kang Sujeong, who had been listening to Yugeum, rolled onto her side, propped her chin on her arm, and said,
“Apparently, from the moment Korea named the island, the other seven countries threw a huge fit, and after that it became total chaos.”
“Why, why?”
Tumanako asked from where she lay on her stomach, yawning. As if Tumanako’s yawn had infected her, Kang Sujeong covered her mouth with her hand and answered.
“I guess they thought naming something was a way of marking ownership. The eight countries kept checking one another over the most pointless things, so the people who were on the undersea base back then had it pretty rough. I came in midway, so I don’t really know.”
Kang Sujeong explained that there had been pressure from every country to get as much of its own language into the undersea base as possible, then let out a big yawn and closed her mouth. Tumanako, who had been running her fingers through Henry’s hair this way and that, trying out different styles, looked at me and asked,
“What’s the dental clinic called?”
“Deep Blue. They named it after a big, famous shark in the North Pacific.”
“That sounds like a name that reflected the opinions of shark biologists. The skull is here, too. There are people in this world who are a little crazy about sharks.”
The person who was crazy about jellyfish answered indifferently, as if talking about someone else. Yugeum, who had been to the dental clinic before, yawned and stretched both arms straight up toward the ceiling.
So shark biologist was a profession that actually existed. Well, of course there would be people who studied specific creatures, so there would be people who studied only sharks. Then was I a human dentist? Kang Sujeong rubbed her chin and said,
“Deep Blue, huh. Did the Americans name it? Whatever it is, they probably named it after some big shot connected to the sea or water.”
Tumanako thought for a moment, then said,
“The salon I’m staying in has a strange name, too. It’s called NÜWA.”
“What does that mean?”
There had to be some meaning behind it. At my question, Tumanako’s face brightened a little. I could feel her confidence in answering about something she knew well.
“They said it was named after a famous god in China. The lower body is one, but on the upper body there’s a male head and a female head, one each. If a god like that came in to get its hair done, I feel like we’d have to charge double.”
Must be a god I don’t know much about. Lee Jihyeon, who had gone out saying she would help Baek Aeyoung, lightly climbed over the mountain of metal desks and exercise equipment and said,
“That’s Nuwa. The Chinese probably named the salon.”
“Nuwa?”
That was the first I’d heard of it. What did I know about Chinese gods? Lee Jihyeon shook her head vigorously, then explained simply.
“There’s a Chinese legend that Nuwa and Fuxi, a woman and a man respectively, gods with human heads and snake bodies, created the world. Something like that.”
Tumanako shrugged and said,
“I think it was well named because it feels like it means to create beautiful hair. I also like that it seems to mean men and women can both visit the salon. There’s even a picture of NÜWA next to the salon entrance, you know?”
At Tumanako’s slightly proud tone, I too thought of Deep Blue and said,
“Deep Blue is like that too. In front of the entrance to Deep Blue, there’s a huge great white shark skull.”
“Wow. I’m jealous. I think my salon would look cool if it had a statue like that out front. If we come back here later, I want to go see it.”
I felt a little awkward at Tumanako’s innocent impression. If I had known Tumanako earlier, I might have shown her around, even though there wasn’t much to see at the dental clinic. But there really was nothing worth showing. What was there to see in a dental clinic?
“I’d like to ask you for some advice on the dental clinic’s interior design, Tumanako. Were there any weird items inside the salon?”
Inside the dental clinic, photos of Greenland sharks were everywhere. Sharks looked frightening enough as it was, and the photos were so dark and black that I had taken them all down and shoved them in a corner, but among the people who had come to the clinic over the past five days, I felt like a few must have thought I was a believer of the Infinite Church. Was the salon planted with bombs like that inside too? Tumanako thought for a few seconds before answering.
“Hmm. The salon did have a Medusa bust and shark carvings, but I secretly threw them away as soon as I arrived. They were cool, but they didn’t suit a salon.”
“Our clinic has a great white outside, but inside they hung framed pictures of Greenland sharks.”
“That’s how they slowly isolate you.”
From afar, Seo Jihyeok said this as he came out of the shower room, shaking out his hands.
“That’s how cult bastards operate. They scatter their symbols everywhere without people noticing, surround you only with their own cult bastards, and normal people gradually get pushed out.”
Shin Haeryang came out of the shower room last, bringing along the Infinite Church believer he had taken in earlier, bound. The man’s hands and feet were tied, and his mouth was completely gagged; Shin Haeryang carried him like luggage and set him beside the shower room entrance. Aside from looking terrified, he had no visible external injuries, so I felt at least a little relieved. Shin Haeryang looked at Baek Aeyoung and asked,
“The door?”
“I broke it.”
Seo Jihyeok quickly went over and turned off the switch on the wall, and the athletic center, where no sunlight came in and there were no other light sources, became not only dark but quiet. Shin Haeryang looked at everyone and said in a low voice,
“As I explained before, you only need to wait now. Let’s wait quietly.”
At that, everyone fell silent in the darkness without any conversation. Quite a few people were sitting tensely on the floor, but there were also people lying down on it.
Kang Sujeong, who must not have heard any explanation because she had gone with me to meet Kim Gayoung, also stayed silent. To be precise, she quietly scribbled something furiously on her tablet, and when she showed it to Baek Aeyoung, Baek Aeyoung snatched Kang Sujeong’s tablet and typed, [We wait here as quiet as mice, then leave when the signal comes,] before showing it to me, Seo Jihyeok, and Kang Sujeong.
Kang Sujeong frowned, then lay down on the floor using Baek Aeyoung’s arm, which was holding the tablet, as a pillow. Seo Jihyeok showed no reaction except to close and open his eyes twice.
······All right. It seemed I was the only one who didn’t understand this situation. I moved by practically crawling and approached Shin Haeryang, who was sitting on the floor. Then, in as low a voice as possible, like a breath, I asked,
“What are we supposed to be waiting for? I think I’m the only one who doesn’t know.”
“The enemy is armed with firearms. We are unarmed.”
“I see.”
Shin Haeryang nodded slightly, then closed his mouth. I waited, but even after thirty seconds, he said nothing. Was that the end of the explanation? This was infuriating.
“Please explain a little more at length.”
After hesitating for a few seconds, Shin Haeryang answered quietly.
“······You announced over the broadcast that Engineer Team Na and Team Ra were attacking people while armed with firearms.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“When unarmed people know they will encounter armed individuals in the near future, there are three actions they can take.”
There were three? There were two more besides getting shot? I shuddered faintly at the memory of facing a gun muzzle at point-blank range. In an even lower voice, I asked Shin Haeryang,
“What are they?”
“The first is to avoid them. You quickly leave the danger zone and flee far outside their field of vision before they notice you.”
The moment I heard Shin Haeryang’s answer, I felt like prey. The first option had never once succeeded. If we had managed to run away properly, we would already be out of the undersea base. Besides, I wasn’t exactly a good runner.
“And the second?”
“When there is no clear escape route, you must find a safe place. You have to hide somewhere the enemy cannot easily enter.”
Where was there a safe place? As far as I could see, there was no such thing as a safe place in the undersea base. There were only places that had not been destroyed yet or were less flooded.
“And the third?”
“If you can neither run nor hide, you must fight back. You counterattack with everything you have. We are in the second situation.”
“······So we quietly hide in a safe place and hope the people with guns pass by?”
“Yes.”
“When you said earlier that the door was broken······”
“If they try to break in, they will have a very hard time.”
As a barricade, metal desks and exercise equipment had been stacked densely in front of the door. On top of that, the door itself was a heavy one like the doors used in the lodgings, so even if that door opened, it would be difficult to break through the barricade and come straight in. Lee Jihyeon, lying spread-eagled on the floor, pushed the obstructing Seo Jihyeok away with her foot and mouthed only with her lips,
“Cramped. Roll over.”
“Boo-hoo. So mean.”
Watching Seo Jihyeok roll over toward the wall after making a fake crying sound, I pointed at the wall with my finger.
“What if the armed people don’t come in through the door and shoot the wall?”
The action movie in my head imagined the members of Engineer Team Ra all firing wildly at the wall at once, and the thin wall that looked as if it were made of paper failing to stop the bullets, leaving people’s bodies riddled with holes like Emmental cheese. It was not a particularly good image for my mental health. At my question, Seo Jihyeok’s amused voice reached my ear.
“Our team leader ruined the walls several times, so our team poured concrete into the walls here.”
When Yugeum heard that, she chuckled heh heh heh, then startled at the sound of her own laughter and hurriedly covered her mouth. Soon, the inside of the athletic center became silent as the grave. I whispered to Shin Haeryang,
“Isn’t it possible the two engineer teams will join forces and try to attack the people here?”
“That will not happen. I do not know why this happened, but······ the leader of Engineer Team Na is steeped in elitism, so he would have returned to his home country before any situation arose where he would have to shoot someone with his own hands. And Team Ra’s leader, Ha Iyun······ I do not believe she would have taken up a firearm voluntarily.”
In a voice as low as the sound of wind, Kang Sujeong said,
“They didn’t get along even normally. Let’s see how friendly they can be while holding guns.”