Shin Haeryang didn't seem to be asking because he expected to find his team members right away. I spoke simply, using only what I had guessed and figured out.
“They’ll be on Daehan Island. They got out of the undersea base safely.”
“How did they get out?”
“They escaped from Cheongnyong-dong in fully functional escape pods.”
Because Shin Haeryang’s expression didn't change at all, I couldn't tell whether he was glad to hear his team members were safe or not. Only after a few seconds of silence did Shin Haeryang look at the pad in his hand and speak.
“We have a pad that the chief engineer lent us.”
“Ah…… I see?”
It seemed the pad Kim Jaehui currently had was Michael Roarker’s. Hadn't Kim Jaehui confessed to Gang Sujeong about stealing the pad from Michael Roarker in the elevator? Michael Roarker, who seemed to be affiliated with the Infinite Church, wouldn't have lent it willingly, so Kim Jaehui must have stolen it again this time too, saying they would delete the CCTV footage. This person's way with words, really.
While I was laughing inwardly at the absurdity, Shin Haeryang continued.
“Using Roarker’s pad, I confirmed that Lee Jihyeon and Gang Sujeong had disappeared from the corridor CCTV footage in less than a second. The deputy team leader, Gang Sujeong, vanished right before my eyes while talking to me. It was a physically impossible movement, yet you say they escaped using escape pods, Doctor.”
So he'd confirmed through CCTV that the team members disappeared. Of course. I had lived without paying attention to the CCTV cameras on the ceiling as I walked around, so I'd forgotten that method even existed. Come to think of it, since they were engineers, they must have checked immediately when the team members disappeared. Was it because I subconsciously didn't think of these people as engineers? Well, it's not like I'd seen them fix anything.
If you checked this phenomenon with an electronic device, it seemed the person next to you could disappear in a second, as if turned to dust. No. Then did that mean Shin Haeryang had seen someone vanish into thin air right before his very eyes? ……He must have been terrified. Wasn't this basically a horror movie?
“I saw Lee Jihyeon, Gang Sujeong, and Yu Geumi leaving in escape pods. It wasn't a kidnapping, so I don't think you need to worry too much.”
I'd been about to add “paranormal phenomenon” after kidnapping, but I omitted it since even I couldn't be sure of that. What I was experiencing seemed like a paranormal phenomenon.
After telling Shin Haeryang not to worry, I began worrying even more about the people on Daehan Island, so I added a few words.
“But don't stop worrying entirely. Deputy Team Leader Gang Sujeong said she couldn't drive a boat, and she seemed flustered by Team Leader Shin's order to escape from Daehan Island.”
If I were told to take a boat carrying people who had barely escaped the undersea base and make my first voyage on the open sea, I would lie down on the sandy beach and refuse. I recalled the first time I'd driven a car on the highway, trembling uncontrollably inside. What if I got into an accident in the middle of the Pacific while driving a boat?
……Are the people on Daehan Island doing well? I hope they're faring better than me.
“You have memories that I and my team members don't know about.”
“Ah…… yes.”
“The team members…… think the CCTV malfunctioned, and that a coworker disappearing right beside them was due to mild nitrogen narcosis symptoms. Especially since moving around in dive suits for long periods for external wall repairs is seen as the cause. What is your opinion, Doctor?”
People really do think alike.
“I had also thought that drugs or external problems caused issues with my cognitive function, but I don't think so now. I determined that cognitive decline cannot lead to acquiring knowledge about situations I knew nothing about.”
“Do you think something like this could happen again?”
“During the escape?”
“Yes.”
Shin Haeryang seemed to be asking this because he was afraid a few more team members might disappear without him knowing during the escape from the undersea base. Though I couldn't be certain, I shook my head.
“I don't think this will happen during the escape.”
“Understood. What else do I need to know?”
He was asking about the immediate situation. Shin Haeryang seemed more interested in future movements and prospects than in interpreting the strange phenomena of the past. I quickly divulged what I was most worried about.
“We need to help Kim Gayeong, who's trapped in her quarters in Jujak-dong right now. Water is filling her room, and she's trapped alone because the door is broken. She'll post on the undersea base bulletin board soon asking to be saved.”
Even after hearing that someone was trapped in a room, Shin Haeryang asked dryly.
“Is there more?”
“Ah…… ah. Kim Gayeong is the most urgent right now. And the engineers from Team Na who were in Hyeonmu-dong will head down to Jungang-dong and start shooting.”
Shin Haeryang looked me over briefly and asked.
“I see. Aside from your left hand, are there any other injuries?”
“Huh? No. None.”
“Understood.”
And that was it. ……A desire to ask what exactly he understood swelled like a balloon. If he were my private tutoring student, I could at least have him solve a problem to see how much he understood.
Then, suddenly, Sofiya pointed at one of the front panels and spoke.
“Look at that. The escape pods aren't going up.”
Just as she said, the escape pods barely passed the deep sea layer (1,000m–3,000m) and entered the central sea layer (200m–1,000m), but couldn't proceed further. Starting with the pod that had gone up first, their speed gradually slowed.
Having ridden in an escape pod before, I could keenly feel how terrible that situation was. Inside the escape pod, you could see the location of the pod you were riding and how high it was ascending, and you could feel the kinetic energy continuously surging upward even within the green fluid.
Perhaps they could even keenly feel the sensation of falling. I was watching with a frown when Tumanako, who was beside me, shook my shoulder, and only then did I realize someone had called me. Vladimir asked me.
“Doctor. Which escape pods are broken besides the ones here?”
“Huh? Ah. You shouldn't take the escape pod in Jujak-dong either. Cheongnyong-dong seems fine, but I'm not sure about Hyeonmu-dong.”
Vladimir scoffed cynically and said.
“So you smashed the escape pods in Baekho-dong and Jujak-dong, meaning they're waiting with guns in Hyeonmu-dong and Cheongnyong-dong? Shin. Where are you going?”
Vladimir, who had been patting Nikita's back with a large hand, asked Shin Haeryang. Shin Haeryang countered with a sigh.
“Where are you going?”
“We're going to Hyeonmu-dong. All the better that there are Japanese there. Mitri (Dmitri's nickname) wasn't a guy I particularly liked, but he wasn't someone who deserved to get shot and die. Irina even less so.”
Though the Russian was converted to Korean and entered my ears, there wasn't the slightest hint of goodwill in that “all the better.” Shin Haeryang looked at those lying on chairs and asked.
“Are you leaving the bodies behind?”
At those words, Nikita's head, which had been still, moved this way as if snapped. The robotic movement gave me chills, but Vladimir met Nikita's gaze and answered.
“Taking them out and sending them to their families would be the best way. But in this situation, that's excessive greed. We're busy enough taking care of the living.”
Hearing that, Shin Haeryang glanced at me once and answered Vladimir.
“A Korean researcher is trapped in her quarters in Jujak-dong. I have to go get her. ……Our team will hide in Jungang-dong and move once everyone regroups.”
Vladimir listened and spoke as if displeased.
“Going out of your way to get one researcher? She's not even your team member. Unless you're some extraordinary genius, it'd be better to give up on her in this situation. In any case, there are more than enough researchers to replace her worldwide. Rather than that, wouldn't it be better to move to Hyeonmu-dong together?”
Hey. Our Gayeong isn't just some mere researcher! I felt a surge of desire to shout and butt into their conversation right away, but I held back. Shin Haeryang replied expressionlessly to the red-faced drunkard.
“That goes for engineers too. Take this.”
Shin Haeryang handed the pad he was holding to Vladimir. I thought he was giving it because it contained photos of Dmitri or Irina. I figured he wanted to give the bereaved family photos of the deceased's final moments, or perhaps because their team members didn't have a single pad, but Shin Haeryang added as if it were obvious.
“It's a pad registered under my name. Use it when you mess with the Japanese guys.”
“Hoo…… Deputy Team Leader Nikita.”
When Vladimir grinned as if he'd received a good gift and spoke to the side, Nikita took the pad from Shin Haeryang with an expression as if his soul had been scorched by fire. Looking at Nikita with tears still on his face, I recalled the time he'd grabbed my collar upon hearing Dmitri had gone missing.
Hadn't he said he didn't want to tell his parents he'd fled alone while his younger brother was missing? Now Nikita would have to explain to his parents that his younger brother had been shot and killed by foreigners.
Ah. Damn it. Even to me—someone who wasn't particularly close to his younger brother, but not on bad terms either—just imagining that was absolutely horrific. Now Nikita began scrutinizing Shin Haeryang's pad, staring holes into it rather than looking at Dmitri's face. It seemed the desire for revenge was surpassing the grief over his brother's death.
From the moment he'd seen Dmitri's corpse, he looked far more alive than he had moments ago, when he'd been blankly out of it. It was a vengefulness that seemed to burn with vitality.
“Aeyeong.”
“Yes sir!”
Shin Haeryang called out to Baek Aeyeong, who was standing far away. Baek Aeyeong, who had been beside Sofiya, ran over as if flying like the wind.
“They say researcher Kim Gayeong is in her quarters in Jujak-dong, and the door is broken. I'll go get her, so take the others and go to Opion. Move as defensively as possible.”
Though his name hadn't been called, Seo Jihyeok had flown over at the sound of Baek Aeyeong being called and hovered around Shin Haeryang, speaking.
“What about me? Can't I come too? Team Leader. Take me with you.”
“Stay here quietly. Don't go wandering around saying you'll look for Jihyeon.”
“Wow. That's harsh. Accusing me of something I haven't even done.”
Shin Haeryang looked at Seo Jihyeok's wet clothes and the bruise on his face but said nothing. Yet that gaze alone made Seo Jihyeok shut his mouth as if he'd been hit.
“Even if I don't return, prioritize civilian evacuation.”
“Ah. Abandoning a superior is what I do best.”