The elevator, its three sides made to look like a dark ocean, was lavishly decorated with all sorts of marine life hologram stickers. The six curious eyes of people just like me were scarier than the bizarre creatures emitting light. I felt like a fish thrown into a fishbowl. Shin Haeryang spoke to me lightly.
"If it is uncomfortable for you to answer my questions, you do not have to answer."
"Yes."
The right to remain silent was possible? I had just witnessed someone shooting another person's leg. I had thought Shin Haeryang's interrogation technique was the type where you punched until the truth came out, but it seemed that wasn't the case. Was this also a benefit for a fellow countryman? ......No. In the first place, violence had no place in conversation. Get a grip.
"Is everything you broadcasted the truth?"
"Yes. Is there any reason I should bother lying?"
"I thought that telling people not to use the escape pods and the central elevator might itself be providing false information, restricting their actions."
......Why would I do such a thing? I couldn't understand. Shin Haeryang looked at my face and spoke simply.
"Think of the guys trapped in Baekhodong because of my broadcast."
So they thought it might be a trap.
"Ah. ......I see. Then why did you believe my broadcast, Haeryang?"
"If there is really a problem with the escape pods, using them would be extremely dangerous."
Seo Jihyeok smoothly cut in.
"As soon as Jeong Sanghyeon left, Vladimir came over dangling that sleeping kid in his arms, saying your Korean dentist played him for a fool, and demanded to know if you'd ordered it, Team Leader."
Shin Haeryang seemed to not want to mention that matter much. Had something like that happened before I came? ......Shin Haeryang seemed to omit too much from his words. Ignoring Seo Jihyeok's interruption, Shin Haeryang spoke.
"You already knew beforehand that a child was sleeping in Room 80. And that you were in a situation where you couldn't run away."
"There was also a cat and a snake."
Baek Aeyeong added from beside me. And then the three of them turned their heads toward Tumanako in unison. Tumanako, who had been resting in the corner of the elevator as far away from the four of us as possible, flinched in surprise at that gaze and looked around nervously, as if asking, Why? What is it? I had come to the escape pod port with Tumanako, after all.
"I saw Tumanako for the first time today."
Perhaps judging from my answer that it was nothing serious, Tumanako's expression brightened slightly. And I turned my head toward John Doe and spoke.
"I am also meeting John Doe for the first time today."
"Uh, uh. Why do you keep me tied up? That guy Tumanako too, and this dentist weren't tied up. I won't do anything, so untie me."
John Doe, who had been lying on his side with his head on the floor, raised his bound wrists. Then he spoke toward Baek Aeyeong with a desperately pitiful expression. Since he probably thought Seo Jihyeok and Shin Haeryang would never untie him, he seemed to be clinging to Baek Aeyeong. In my opinion, Baek Aeyeong seemed even less likely to untie him.
Baek Aeyeong swept over the knot at his wrist with her glass-bead-like eyes and then pretended not to see his plea. Then she approached Tumanako, who was sniffling in the corner. Watching John Doe stare vacantly at the back of Baek Aeyeong's head as she walked away, I spoke with a sigh.
"I did not meet Shin Haeryang for the first time today. And under the current circumstances, all questions are uncomfortable. May I answer after we leave the undersea base?"
......To be honest, I was desperate to get out of here now. After seeing Sumirena, who gave up on escaping and remained here, and Zixuan getting shot, I had reached my mental limit. I was sick of repeatedly witnessing people's deaths and corpses, scenes of direct violence.
I could no longer endure the situations that terrified me with every breath. Like a beast that had been starved for a long time, with only instincts remaining, I could think of nothing but doing whatever it took to get out of this undersea base.
On the way here, I had been so envious of people leaving in intact escape pods. When Shin Haeryang told me to use an escape pod to get out, the reason I hadn't said "thank you" and immediately thrown myself into an escape pod was due to the last remaining thread of reason and, more than that, the dregs of human duty left at the very bottom.
But if I could turn back time by just 30 minutes, Gang Sujeong would be unable to leave the undersea base. Because I would have boarded an escape pod and left, even if I had to lie on the floor crying and screaming. The luxury to put on airs had already disappeared long ago.
But if we consider only current conditions, now is the best opportunity for escape. First, there were the people from Engineer Team Ga who were favorable to me simply because I was Korean, and the three people whom I could never catch up to by force even if I died and revived were completely uninjured. Furthermore, many of those who came with me had succeeded in escaping to Daehando by escape pod. Since I hadn't wandered in the water to rescue Kim Gayeong, and had only sat in Opion, I had been able to preserve my stamina better than before.
And not only had the armed engineers been isolated, but I had already been armed with three guns even before ascending to the Third Undersea Base. Right now, the best opportunities for me to escape were gathered all around me.
I couldn't waste this precious opportunity. Somehow leaving the undersea base this time was the best option. So in this golden opportunity of a situation, I really didn't want to reveal to the whole world that I was experiencing strange phenomena.
The cause of this strange phenomenon I was experiencing was clearly the product of an experiment by a mad pseudo-religion, but I didn't want to be associated with the Muhan Church even by a pinky's worth. I wanted to quietly leave the undersea base and return to a peaceful daily life without any problems.
Chewing over what Cano had said in the elevator, if the Muhan Church believers found out I had this ability, I would likely become a corpse immediately. Or become a lab rat. Thinking of the space station survivor's story, it seemed they would continue to receive unpleasant surveillance even after escaping.
And it was a sad thought, but if I revealed my secret here, neither the Engineer Team Ga people, nor Tumanako, nor John Doe had any obligation to keep my secret. Because the people here had no sense of responsibility or emotional solidarity formed with me. Thinking about it was bitter. ......Lee Jihyeon had sold herself out to protect me even with gun barrels pointed at her.
No matter what the Engineer Team Ga people wanted, I couldn't say anything in front of John Doe, a Muhan Church believer. And I didn't know how these people might use my secret either. Let's talk later. There would surely be an opportunity. I could tell them after getting out of here. Shin Haeryang watched me quietly and spoke.
"I can make the situation a bit more comfortable. ......Though you won't like it, Doctor."
"How?"
Shin Haeryang made a few simple hand gestures. At a glance, it looked similar to brushing dust off the back of one's hand. It was a movement I was seeing for the first time, and I couldn't understand it at all. Shin Haeryang rose from where he had been sitting on the floor.
John Doe had been sending desperate glances at Baek Aeyeong, but when Shin Haeryang approached, his face lit up. He seemed to think his bound wrists would be untied.
Baek Aeyeong was taking out sugar-free candy she had received but hadn't eaten from her pocket and handing it to Tumanako.
When Shin Haeryang lifted John Doe's bound wrists up to his chest, John's eyes sparkled wildly. John Doe, who had been resting his head on the floor, spoke to Shin Haeryang while lying down.
"Yes! I won't do anything. I'll stay quiet and still. As expected, the one who tied me should untie me...."
Shin Haeryang pressed the skin of John Doe's neck and the area beside his ear with his other hand. It happened in an instant, so my mind couldn't properly process what was occurring. If pressed like that, blood can't reach the brain! With his neck caught in a large grip, his carotid artery compressed while lying down, John couldn't make a single sound before going limp.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
I approached to pull Shin Haeryang's hand from John Doe's neck, but Shin Haeryang withdrew his hand faster than I expected. Then, as if practiced, he laid John Doe on the floor and turned his head to the side. Half-kneeling, Shin Haeryang undid a few buttons tight at John Doe's neck and spoke in a low voice.
"I rendered him unconscious."
I can see he's unconscious myself! I felt nothing but shock. Looking around, Seo Jihyeok and Baek Aeyeong were companionably blocking Tumanako's view. Behind Baek Aeyeong's voice saying, "Don't worry too much. Next time we find an escape pod, we'll make sure you, Tumanako, get out first. How should I dye my hair to make it pretty?" I heard a voice like, "I want to dye mine a different color from the great white shark too. When we get out, I'll give you a sick ride on the used boat we got today, Tumanako!" Their two bodies were skillfully blocking this sight.
"Where in the world do you knock someone out so savagely like this?"
"Then should I strike the nape or the back of the head hard? ......That was a joke."
Tumanako rolled the sugar-free candy around with their tongue and glanced our way, but John Doe was lying peacefully. As before, Shin Haeryang was sitting on the floor again, and I alone remained standing, glaring at Shin Haeryang.
Hit the back of a person's head hard enough to knock them out and they die. It's not unconsciousness, it's instant death. How the hell is his talent for infuriating people so outstanding? Now I understand why these guys with broken or dislocated bones come to the dental clinic and curse Shin Haeryang by the bucketful. Seo Jihyeok knocked John Doe out by striking his solar plexus, while Shin Haeryang deliberately induces a stroke.
"Is this what you call making things comfortable? Then what happens when you make them uncomfortable? ......Don't answer. I don't want to know."
I was too scared to find out more. In my imagination, Shin Haeryang was punching through the elevator floor and throwing people down below. No. Surely not. When Shin Haeryang glanced toward where Tumanako was, I shook my head violently.
"Let's not do that. Please don't do that."
"......Yes."
After that, there was silence. Shin Haeryang, sitting on the floor, quietly raised his head and looked up at me, so I cautiously sat down on the floor.
"There are too many suspicious parts."
"People usually have one or two questionable things in their lives."
As I said that, I felt my neck grow itchy.
"But there are things that cannot be explained by such words."