What the hell am I supposed to do if you don’t know! I wanted to shove Sin Haeryang aside and rush out to grab the collar of the person spouting such nonsense. But since Sin Haeryang stood between me and the Infinite Church believer, such an act itself wasn’t easy. ......Good block. As the rage that had flared up in an instant subsided after a few seconds of deep breathing, reason came flooding back in.
Then, the urge to deliberately throw an angry dentist into the mix of this counseling room—which already held a hostage-taker in a foul mood and an irresponsible cultist—vanished. Of these three people, at least I should keep my head on straight. Instead, I asked Joseph something else.
“Who was the person designated to be the Savior?”
I’d asked wondering if any of the people I’d met so far was the designated one, but even as I spoke, the feeling was strange. What was I supposed to do if it was someone I knew? Joseph answered quickly.
“Elizabeth Weaver.”
Thank goodness. I had no idea who that was. I didn’t think she was anyone I’d met while working at the deep-sea base. Not that I’d met that many people here, in any case. Especially names—the more I heard them, the more I forgot.
I had enough trouble memorizing Korean names; foreign names passed through my brain like the wind unless I deliberately committed them to memory. Probably the same for people from other countries.
“So to sum up, the Infinite Church had someone named Elizabeth Weaver prepared in advance to become the Savior, but some stray mutt like me who rolled in from god knows where got picked instead of her? And even the Infinite Church people don’t know why I hit the jackpot?”
“Yes! ......N-no, that’s not it!”
I wasn’t sure how the interpretation had gone, but Joseph flusteredly stammered an answer.
“Weaver had already walked the path of eternal life before, so the church expected that she could obtain the miracle more smoothly. But there must definitely be a reason you became the Savior this time.”
I couldn’t think of myself as anything but an unlucky civilian caught up in this mess. ......Is that Weaver woman fearless? She’d experienced this kind of repeating life before, so she’s willing to do it again?
Maybe. If I managed to escape from this deep-sea base safely, I probably wouldn’t even look toward the sea. That woman from Haiti who survived the space station probably wouldn’t even glance at the night sky, right? If the person Sin Haeryang mentioned was Gim Jaehui, Gim Jaehui wouldn’t set foot in a movie theater.
That Elizabeth woman probably hadn’t experienced something like this at a deep-sea base before. What on earth was she thinking, saying she’d go through a dangerous loop like this? Just the thought of dying and falling out of bed again made me shudder. Wasn’t she afraid of dying?
‘Beth! Get a hold of yourself! You can’t die like this! You can’t die like this here!’
Suddenly, an urgent voice that seemed somewhat familiar came to mind. Could Beth be short for Elizabeth? The scene of a woman draped in jewels collapsing helplessly replayed in my head.
I, who had suddenly jumped out firing a gun, collided with Elizabeth, who had been running forward. What shone on the face of the person I encountered wasn’t fear, but simple surprise. An expression that said she had never expected me to come out of there. Had I smiled in that moment? Goosebumps rose all over my body.
“This Elizabeth person. What color is her hair?”
Joseph answered faithfully, though puzzled.
“The white hair that everyone equally obtains at the end of time.”
I’m going crazy.
“Was that...... person a white woman covered head to toe in jewels?”
......Tell me no. Tell me she wasn’t the person who died by my gun at the exhibition hall.
“Yes. That’s correct. It seems that person bore you a grudge. Have you heard the explanation of the Infinite Church?”
“No.”
Should that even count as meeting? While Joseph and I were talking with the uncomfortable barrier named Sin Haeryang between us, the song *Twinkle Twinkle Little Star* (반짝반짝 작은별) drifted in faintly.
It seemed a Medic was approaching from afar. When a Medic nears its destination, it automatically plays a world-famous song. The same when it’s moving while loaded with cargo.
There are various reasons for the song. When a Medic walks around extending four of its legs, it looks somewhat like a quadruped, but when it extends all eight legs it possesses, it literally looks like a giant spider. Moreover, if the path is rough or buildings have collapsed, it can climb walls according to the AI’s judgment.
In the early days after the Medic’s release, people fainted upon seeing it at night, or reported it to the police. I had no idea whose head the idea of reducing the disgust caused by its appearance with music came from, but it had been somewhat effective. Injured people hearing the Medic’s song approach from afar gained hope that they could be transported to a hospital.
Because it continuously plays the song even while moving, it also helps maintain the patient’s consciousness. When people hear this song, they automatically stop what they’re doing and retreat to walls or corners to let the Medic pass. The gradually approaching music began to sound as if urging them on in front of Deep Blue’s door. The Medic seemed to be right in front of the door.
“Just in case, when the door opens, lie face down, cover your ears, open your mouth, and close your eyes. And stay still right there.”
Why? Before I could even ask, Sin Haeryang cautiously approached the hallway and lowered his body as close to the floor as possible. Figuring there must be a reason, I hastily threw myself face down, covered my ears, opened my mouth, and closed my eyes. Is this really how you’re supposed to do this? Along with the sound of the door carefully opening, I heard what seemed to be the Medic entering Deep Blue.
Beyond my covered ears, the song was faintly audible. How long did I have to keep my eyes closed? I slowly opened my eyes to see nothing but a single Medic quickly entering the hallway. Sin Haeryang carefully examined the body of the Medic that had boldly entered Deep Blue. He seemed to think that tear gas, flashbangs, smoke grenades, and all sorts of bombs would come in loaded inside the Medic’s body.
However, the Medic’s body was basically loaded with emergency medical supplies. Upon entering, seeing the narrow hallway and the messy floor, it stretched out four long, thin legs and clung to the hallway wall. Its strength was so great that I heard the sound of holes being made in the wall. Then, displaying a smiling emoticon on its screen toward Sin Haeryang, who was touching its body, it stayed obediently. Sin Haeryang spoke to me.
“You may open your eyes.”
Joseph squirmed like a caterpillar, then shook his shoulders and hips to turn his body around. Then he looked displeasedly at Sin Haeryang’s actions in the hallway.
“Bak Muhyeon wouldn’t attack like that when we don’t even know where he is! I requested a Medic to take care of the injured—what on earth does he think we are?!”
“A bunch of lunatics.”
He had tried his best not to use colorful language in front of me, but unable to hold back any longer, he literally poured out curses at Sin Haeryang.
“You......you! You fucking XXXXX! What the hell are you?! You think you can get out of here?!”
Joseph shouted furiously. Sin Haeryang told the Medic to go into the clinic. The narrow hallway already had two chairs overturned, and people who’d been shot were rolling around here and there on the floor. If they were to keep the Medic in the hallway, there was no choice but to leave it floating in the air like that.
As the Medic buzzed and entered the clinic, Sin Haeryang pressed the carotid arteries of the groaning believers, knocking them out one by one, then threw them into the clinic. Judging by the path of the penlight’s beam, blood was splattered all over the floor. ......Would that kill someone? Just slam them down. Slam them down. Sin Haeryang spoke as he threw the patients.
“I’m Sin Haeryang, leader of Engineer Team Ga.”
“......Oh. So you’re that Cessakki Sin Haeryang from the rumors?”
“Shut up before I show you I’m even crazier than the rumors.”
“You mean there’s more to show here?!”
Ignoring that sarcastic sneer, Sin Haeryang entered the clinic. Perhaps because I was in the counseling room, I could only hear the sounds, but judging by sound alone, it seemed he was also doing renovation work on the clinic interior.
If you place a person on a Medic’s body, the Medic automatically spews out thread like a spider, restraining the patient between its legs and body, binding them immobile and hardening the webbing. Then it moves to its destination without shaking. Sin Haeryang was probably placing Baek Ayeong and the people he’d shot onto the Medic one by one.
“O Savior.”
He couldn’t be calling me.
“Ruler of eternal time, and Savior of all creatures surviving on this star.”
“......Are you calling me right now?”
I’m going crazy.
“Please pass me my knife that is on the desk over there.”
“Excuse me?”
Looking at the desk, there was indeed a knife that appeared to have been confiscated by Sin Haeryang from Joseph. Joseph squirmed with his wrists and ankles bound with parachute cord and spoke.
“Now’s your chance. Hurry!”
There were only me and two Infinite Church believers in the counseling room. Did they think I could run away just by handing over this one knife while Sin Haeryang was in the clinic? Sin Haeryang had taken down three people who had barged in with guns without firing a single bullet. It was simple math—to capture Sin Haeryang, they’d need at least six people on their side. Or terrain extremely unfavorable to Sin Haeryang. Or an ability user on Sin Haeryang’s level. Or Sin Haeryang would have to be grievously injured.
“......It’s not an opportunity or anything. Though this is my first time being a hostage since the day I was born, I don’t think we should do anything to provoke or act suspicious toward a captor who’s already in a bad mood. And I think attempting a hasty, clumsy escape like this is no different from a suicide attempt. Don’t do anything reckless—just stay put.”
“You don’t trust me?”
I’m a working adult. I’ve been a working adult for a long time.
“Regardless of trust, you’re all people I met for the first time today, and I just hope no one here gets hurt any worse than this.”
The song that had quieted in the clinic began to grow louder again. Watching the penlight wavering here and there in the darkness, the Medic passing through the hallway looked like a giant spider moving three pure white cocoons. I thought I glimpsed the fluorescent glow of lapis lazuli from the neck of the smallest cocoon in the innermost corner. In an instant, the Medic crossed the hallway, opened Deep Blue’s door, and disappeared.