A scream rang out from where Seo Jihyeok was aiming his muzzle. Then came a sound like someone collapsing. Footsteps pounded as Seo Jihyeok ran to a new position. A moment later, the enemy was unleashing gunfire toward us.
There was almost no cover or structures nearby to protect our bodies from bullets. Thinking back now, at that jewelry exhibition hall, there had at least been high display stands or large rough gemstones to hide behind. Now that I was in an even worse situation, all I could do here was throw myself to the floor and wait for the gunfire to pass.
Gunshots rang out from all directions. Judging solely by the direction of the sounds, Baek Ayeong also seemed to be firing at something, but I couldn't see because I couldn't raise my head. Wait, how are they shooting like that in the middle of a gunfight? Are they actually aiming at something?
Thinking back to my past experience, I had no idea where the bullets were coming from, or who was shooting and how. It was the same the second time I got caught up in a gunfight. Aside from being a bit calmer now, unlike before when I had been so terrified that I cried, nothing had changed.
Everyone around me had thrown themselves to the floor, wrapping their heads with their hands and screaming. Since Tumanako was screaming as loudly as the gunshots, I reached over and covered her mouth with my palm. In less than three seconds, Tumanako grasped the situation and clamped her mouth shut, and I removed my hand from her lips. Kim Jaehui, covering her head, looked at me beside her and smirked. Ratatatat! Gunshots rang out, stinging my ears.
"Isn't it thrilling? This is the most fun I've had since coming to the undersea base."
It was only because she was so close by that Kim Jaehui's voice reached my ears; otherwise, the surroundings were so noisy with gunfire that conversation would have been impossible. Sounds seemed to be coming from everywhere, but if I raised my body here, I'd surely be hit by a blind bullet flying in from somewhere. I gripped my head with both hands, unsure whether I was covering my ears or protecting my skull, and replied.
"Bullets are flying around right now!"
The moment I finished saying that, something struck the floor right beside my forearm and passed by. Ah. Damn. I almost got hit.
"That's what makes it fun."
A relaxed voice was heard amid the noise. It wasn't fun at all. Tumanako, pinned beneath me, was trembling like a leaf. Jeong Sanghyeon, who had thrown himself to the floor in much the same way I had, shouted while rubbing his face against the ground.
"Hyung's lost his mind! Are you high?!"
"Hey. That's going too far."
When I slightly raised my head and looked around, Sin Haeryang and Vladimir were also lying prone and firing their guns. Looking in the direction their muzzles pointed, I could see people dressed in black collapsed at the other end.
The enemy's shooting stopped, and only after a brief moment did the shooting from our side cease as well.
"Jeong Sanghyeon!"
Sin Haeryang called Jeong Sanghyeon's name in a low voice. At that, Jeong Sanghyeon, pressed flat against the floor, replied in a small, resentful tone.
"Nothing showed up on the pad!"
From the enemy side, who had been shouting for a ceasefire, a man suddenly yelled loudly in English.
"Who the hell are you bastards?!"
...That's what we'd like to know. Who are you guys? Judging by their outfits, they looked like devotees of the Infinite Church, but could they have come down from Undersea Base 2? Nikolai, who had obviously been thinking roughly the same thing, immediately shouted back in English.
"Who the hell are you bastards?!"
At that roar, the enemy seemed slightly flustered, then revealed their identity first.
"We are the devotees of the Infinite Church who have seized the undersea base. Who are you bastards?!"
Ah. As expected. So it is them. But weren't those people not coming down from Undersea Base 2 or Undersea Base 3? Nikolai seemed slightly confused, and I heard him asking the people around him. What's the Infinite Church? What? I don't know either. Nikolai shouted to the team leader.
"Team Leader. What should we answer? Should we tell them honestly?!"
"Tell them we're Japs. Any armed bastards roaming around here are either Japs or Chinamen, right?"
Sin Haeryang didn't care what those around him were muttering about and began crawling on his belly. After hearing Vladimir's low voice, Nikolai bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"We're Japanese bastards!"
Good Lord. Sin Haeryang paused in confusion for a moment at those words, which Nikolai had shouted at the top of his lungs in Russian exactly as he had been conversing with Vladimir, before moving again. The moment Kim Jaehui heard that, she burst out laughing while lying face-down on the floor.
Vladimir's face flushed red and purple as he glared at Nikolai while hunched over, and from far away in the corner, Carlos, who had been pressing his head to the floor, screamed.
"Are you crazy? Ah. I was an idiot for traveling with those Russian bastards after all!"
Nikolai was bewildered by the reactions of those around him, then realized he had shouted in Russian exactly as before and made a dismayed expression.
Since the enemy had stopped shooting, I raised my hand ever so slightly and gently waved it above me. No one was firing. I raised my head and looked around.
Far away, Seo Jihyeok, crouched behind a pillar, was gesturing toward me. What caught my eye first was that his fingers were stained bright red with blood. Waving only his second and fourth fingers, he moved his hand from right to left. It probably meant to crawl over, or perhaps to swim across the floor. Come to think of it, Seo Jihyeok and Baek Ayeong hadn't made a sound at all. Seo Jihyeok, hiding behind the pillar, was sitting with his gun trained on the enemy side.
I tapped Tumanako's back with my fingertip and pointed to where Seo Jihyeok was. After tapping Jeong Sanghyeon's calf right beside me to alert him to Seo Jihyeok's position, Jeong Sanghyeon tucked the pad he had been watching behind his back and began frantically crawling sideways. A devotee of the Infinite Church who had been silent for a few seconds shouted.
"You must be Engineer Team Da. Seeing that you have guns, did you steal them from Engineer Team Na?!"
"Save meeeeeee!"
Suddenly, Takahashi Yurie spat out the cloth jammed in her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs. Sofiya, who had been holding onto Takahashi, must have been injured from the gunfight just moments ago, as she couldn't subdue a struggling person with bound wrists. A soprano scream filled the western area of Central Sector, where the gunfire had stopped. I saw Nikita hurriedly stab Takahashi in the neck with the knife he was holding.
Perhaps finding the situation itself amusing, Kim Jaehui lay on her side, her back trembling with laughter. As the scream was forcibly cut short and an eerie silence fell, a woman's shout in Japanese was heard from the Infinite Church side, followed by a reluctant reply.
"So it seems you took them. Is Team Leader Sato alive?!"
Far away, the figure lying unconscious next to Viktor seemed to be Sato Ryusuke. I tapped Kim Jaehui's calf, but when she didn't react, I tapped her side.
"Miss Jaehui! Miss Jaehui!"
Kim Jaehui turned her head, looked at me, then saw Jeong Sanghyeon crawling in the distance. Then, after looking around, she began lowering her body and crawling together with me toward where Jeong Sanghyeon had gone. Vladimir sighed and then shouted toward the enemy side.
"Assume he's dead! Why did you terrorists attack the undersea base?!"
"You don't need to know! ...We have someone we're looking for! If you want to live, cooperate!"
At the enemy's reply, Vladimir shouted at the Infinite Church devotees in a furious state.
"Why the hell should I care! Get out of the undersea base!"
From afar, Carlos spotted Engineer Team Ga and Engineer Team Da, then began crawling toward where Team Ga was. It was only after crawling to the pillar where Seo Jihyeok was hiding that I realized he was injured. The sleeve of his left arm was drenched in blood.
"Were you shot in the arm?"
"It just grazed me."
Seo Jihyeok spoke while looking ahead, as if it were no big deal. Then he suddenly asked me behind him.
"Do you happen to know how to treat a gunshot wound?"
What do the people here think a Korean dentist is? Of course I can't.
"No."
"Ha... Understood."
"Why do you ask?"
"Ayeong should be behind that snack vending machine over there, but she hasn't answered and I can't see her since a while ago."
Seo Jihyeok answered, frowning. So that's why Sin Haeryang had moved to the opposite side of where Seo Jihyeok was. I guess he went that way. Jeong Sanghyeon came in behind Seo Jihyeok to hide and asked.
"Hyung. Then what are we going to do?"
Seo Jihyeok spoke in a tired voice.
"What do you mean, what are we going to do. We have to escape. Didn't you see anything of them on the CCTV?"
"I think they or the Japanese broke the ones installed in Central Sector on their way here. The screens are all black."
"Where aren't they broken."
"...Uh. Just a moment."
"Rewind the unbroken ones too. It could be a trap."
While Jeong Sanghyeon was looking over the pad, someone from the Infinite Church shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Is there a dentist named Bak Muhyeon there?!"
It felt like my heart dropped. Even after hearing what the enemy said, I doubted my ears, wondering if I had heard correctly. Why is my name coming up there? The moment they heard the Infinite Church devotee's words, Tumanako, Kim Jaehui, and Jeong Sanghyeon looked at me. Seo Jihyeok was still aiming his gun forward.
Now I understand why Nikolai was flustered. Finding myself in a situation where I had to answer a terrorist organization of a pseudo-religious cult's question, I had no choice but to ask the others as well.
"...How should I answer?"
I had been about to reflexively answer that I was here, but the sudden thought struck me: would there be any benefit to them knowing I was here? What should I say? How could I feel so uncertain about my own existence? Tumanako spoke quickly to me.
"Can't you just say you're not here? It's not like they're looking for you with good intentions."
"No. If I say I'm not here, won't that start another gunfight?!"
At Jeong Sanghyeon's remark, Kim Jaehui said to me with eyes sparkling with interest.
"What did you do? Same with Team Leader Sato earlier. Just answer something."
But Seo Jihyeok frowned and spoke to me while looking outside.
"Stay still."
While I was unable to decide, someone else answered the Infinite Church devotee's question in my stead from elsewhere.
"Why Bak Muhyeon! What happens if he's here, and what happens if he isn't!"
Carlos shouted at the top of his lungs toward the enemy as he crawled over. It was a good answer and a good question. I wished they would answer both clearly and in detail. Depending on the answer, I both existed here and didn't exist here. A devotee of the Infinite Church shouted sharply.
"Hand over Bak Muhyeon to us! Then we'll let the rest of you go!"
I realized that the people around me were staring holes into me.