It was strange how people's gazes worked. They were only looking, yet I felt a heavy pressure. It was as if silent demands to decide immediately and silent rebukes were mixed into their eyes.
······No. It was just my imagination. I wasn't a mind reader, so there was no way for me to know what other people were thinking. Let's not think negatively. I had to think and decide in a direction that benefited everyone as much as possible, including me.
That people would be blinded by small, uncertain gains and try to easily sell out ordinary people who had no connection to a pseudo-religious cult through herd mentality—there was no way they'd tr—
"Get out, now!"
Jeong Sanghyeon shouted sharply at me. Upon hearing that, Tumanako fiercely snapped at Jeong Sanghyeon.
"What do you think will happen to him, telling him to go to those bastards!"
"They said they'd let the others go!"
Tumanako exploded in anger.
"You birdbrain. Do you believe that! You don't give those bastards with guns anything! You don't even let them breathe a mouthful of air!"
Tumanako, huffing with a voice that seemed to hold some deep grudge, added:
"They don't know how precious people are, and they're ready to give those bastards whatever they want!"
Jeong Sanghyeon looked at Tumanako with a disgruntled expression and asked.
"Didn't the Maori practice cannibalism in the old days?"
It sounded like something said to pick a fight with Tumanako. Or maybe just to get on his nerves.
"Shut your mouth if you don't want to get eaten."
At Tumanako's threatening words, Jeong Sanghyeon pouted and closed his mouth. I bowed my head slightly to Tumanako and expressed my gratitude with my eyes. Contrary to Tumanako's insistence that I shouldn't be sent, I felt that I needed to get caught by the Church of Infinity people at least once, even if I had to do it on purpose.
What purpose were they doing this with, what were those jewels at the jewelry exhibition, why had I died and come back to life, why did every Church of Infinity believer say different things, why couldn't we escape from here—I felt like I could ask them these things. At least the Church of Infinity believers would know more than me.
But······honestly speaking, I didn't want to go. I knew it was like piling up unpleasant tasks and putting them off until the deadline as much as possible, but the moment I thought about voluntarily walking into that group of fanatics and spending time with them, revulsion churned wildly inside my head.
Even if it was a rite of passage essential to finding the answers I sought, I didn't want to go. Faint memories of what had happened at the jewelry exhibition hall were coming back to mind, but thinking about the massacre at the Jujak-dong cargo elevator, I wanted nothing more to do with the Church of Infinity believers ever again.
And their attitude of wandering around with guns, insisting on finding just one person to take with them, made something surge up in my chest. Who do you think you are to order people around as you please? Do you think you can order anyone to do anything just because you have guns? Do the unarmed have to do as they're told because they're afraid of dying? I thought their mentality—that the strong could naturally command the weak—was rotten to the core. If our group had more people and overwhelming force, would they be able to threaten us like that?
And what was that about just letting the others go? What if we just don't let them go? Is there anything more you can do besides killing people, anyway? If you had spent this time confronting each other and exchanging nonsense rescuing those submerged in water or in danger, you would have already pulled all the undersea base personnel out of the water.
Unlike the old days when I trembled in fear, now that I could observe the armed group coldly, I felt an unknown rebellious streak of mine raising its head here and there. ······Calm down. Muhyeon. You have the body of a commoner who has never exercised. I soothed myself, which was on the verge of anger, as best as I could.
In the first place, would there even be anything beneficial for me in going to the Church of Infinity? They said the Church of Infinity people were looking for me, but if I went now, wouldn't I just be doing them a favor? Did I have the ability to brilliantly escape from pseudo-religious fanatics with professional firearms training while preemptively extracting their information without revealing my own abilities?
······Rather than expecting such an ability to manifest, I felt like gills growing on my body would happen faster. I had the feeling that all my knowledge would be extracted and I'd be exploited to death.
Still, I was curious that the other side was pinpointing exactly me. How did the Church of Infinity people know that I was repeating today's time? This time, I had come out of the Baekho-dong quarters so late that I hadn't done anything, broadcasts or otherwise. Had they perhaps reviewed CCTV footage like the Engineer Team A people did? Even if they had, the only thing CCTV would show was that people had suddenly disappeared.
"Why would terrorists who believe in a pseudo-religion need a dentist who just joined the undersea base?"
Gim Jaehui asked me, but I didn't have a decent excuse to give. So I relegated the pseudo-religious cultists to the level of beasts.
"Maybe they have a doctrine that forbids brushing teeth? So they have a lot of cavities? Or severe bad breath? I don't know."
Gim Jaehui looked at me as if fascinated and asked.
"I'm bored. Can I ask them if I can go with you too, Muhyeon?"
Hearing that from beside him, Jeong Sanghyeon was startled and moved far away from Gim Jaehui.
"Ah. Stop talking nonsense! Hyung! If you're bored, play a game or something!"
"Does a game have this much thrill?"
"We're about to get killed, what do you mean thrill is important right now?!"
"When else would I experience terrorism in a multinational workplace and get caught in the middle of a shootout? This is all experience. Got it?"
"What do I know?! Agh! There's not a single sane person in this undersea base. Really!"
A bout of silence swept through the hallway. I had thought someone might answer or speak up for me, but unexpectedly, no one responded to the enemy's demand to hand me over. I had imagined someone shouting at the top of their lungs that Park Muhyeon was here, so send him quickly, and in exchange guaranteeing our safety.
"It's quiet?"
At my question, Seo Jihyeok hissed as if his arm hurt, held his breath for a moment, then slowly exhaled.
"We're worried that the moment we hand you over, they'll say 'Thank you very much!' and then 'Have some bullets as a reward!' That's what we're agonizing over—whether we hand you over and get shot, or don't hand you over and get shot. Especially the Russians are waiting for our team leader to answer······Actually, if they had asked for Sofiya or Nikolai, we would have complied quietly."
Carlos, who had crawled with all his might to cross half the hallway, finally reached where we were hiding; Tumanako and I pulled him over with our strength and hid him behind the pillar. Carlos looked at me, smiled brightly, and said.
"Oh! You were hiding here?! What are you going to do. Are you going to say you'll go? I think they're lying. I feel like they'll shoot us with guns as soon as we send you over. What do you think?"
"Do you have any intention of telling those people that I'm here?"
Carlos lowered his body, afraid of getting shot, and answered.
"In movies and dramas, the guys who act that disloyal are always the first to get shot and die."
Jeong Sanghyeon frowned upon hearing that.
Carlos began wildly mashing the buttons of the candy vending machine behind the pillar. When candies poured out, he gave one to Tumanako and dumped the rest into his own mouth. Seo Jihyeok looked straight ahead and asked me behind him.
"Doctor, do you want to go to those bastards?"
The gazes looking at my face from the surroundings stung. Somehow, I felt like if I answered positively, they would send me away.
Can I be honest? I hadn't had a good encounter with the armed Church of Infinity believers. For starters, Seo Jihyeok himself, who was asking me this question, seemed to have his forearms soaked in blood.
They said they would guarantee the safety of the people here, but how could I believe the words of pseudo-religious cultists? I was someone who didn't even believe the words of religious people. A shootout had occurred earlier, and several people seemed to have fallen; would they really not take revenge?
"······No. I don't want to go."
"Then stay quietly behind me."
Then Seo Jihyeok raised his eyebrows with a sigh and said.
"This is our team leader's specialty, not mine. I was waiting for the team leader to answer, but they seem busy in their own way, so it can't be helped."
"What is?"
"Deceiving them. ······In nicer terms, it's called disruption and deception operations, but it's not my specialty."
Can lying really be called a specialty? Is this really how you talk about someone's strengths?
"Then what are you professionally good at, Jihyeok?"
"My specialty is rolling over and doing whatever I'm told. Ha. If it were Team Leader Sin, he would have done this bullshit, right? ······Why are you trying to take him?!"
Seo Jihyeok suddenly shouted the last part in English. His voice rang deafeningly. Kim Jaehui panicked and covered his ears. Then, a somewhat delayed answer came from the Church of Infinity side.
"None of your business!"
Neither side seemed to have the slightest intention of providing or sharing even a speck of decent information. Seo Jihyeok, too, perhaps not expecting the other side to answer obediently, simply shouted with veins bulging in his neck.
"We'll hand over Park Muhyeon, so guarantee our survival!"
The moment I heard that, chills crept up the back of my neck. Hey. ······Did you sell me out? If you were going to do that, why did you ask if I wanted to go? You told me to stay quietly behind you like you weren't going to send me. ······If he had told me it was for everyone's survival, I would have gone, understanding the situation at least.
At Seo Jihyeok's words, Tumanako opened his mouth wide. He didn't even seem to notice the candy he had just put in his mouth rolling on the floor. Carlos, too, rolling the candy in his mouth, looked at Seo Jihyeok and seemed to be saying something like, 'The Russian bastards seemed to have no brains, but these Korean bastards have no loyalty.'
Jeong Sanghyeon smiled proudly at Tumanako, but Tumanako didn't look at him. The Church of Infinity side shouted at us.
"Send him right now! Once Park Muhyeon arrives on our side, we'll withdraw from Fourth Undersea Base immediately."
Which sounds like they'll stay in Second and Third Undersea Bases, then. Seo Jihyeok maintained his motionless stance with his gun aimed and spoke.
"Park Muhyeon is dead!"
What?
I could feel everyone around me, including myself, panicking. Even the Church of Infinity side seemed to be panicking. Seo Jihyeok shouted while looking at the corpse lying spread-eagled in the middle of the hallway.
"The man in the middle of the hallway with his face ruined is Park Muhyeon! Take the corpse and get the hell out!"