Baek Ayeong activated the bulkheads inside the dormitory building first. Judging by the numbers, the dormitory could accommodate roughly 500 people, so bulkheads should have come down at every fiftieth room. Before descending via the midway staircase between rooms 50 and 100, the system automatically measured the wall pressure first. The moment Baek Ayeong knocked on the door, the wall displayed the pressure the bulkhead was under. When asked why they were doing this, Baek Ayeong replied with a smile.
"Well. If we skipped this and opened the door, and if our luck was bad, this entire hallway would turn into an ocean in the blink of an eye. ...You can go down. It hasn't been completely submerged."
Sin Haeryang set the child down on the floor and took out the emergency axe mounted on the wall. With his handsome face and an axe in hand, he looked exactly like a serial killer from a movie. Holding the axe, Sin Haeryang spoke to Baek Ayeong.
"Open all the dormitory doors."
"The system shows them all as open, but I don't know whether they actually opened. Everything from room 61 to 120 has lost power."
"Seo Jihyeok."
"Yeah, yeah."
Seo Jihyeok took off his cardigan and flung it to the floor. After hesitating over his shoes, he even took off his socks until he was barefoot. Then he struck the nearby wall hard with his fist. A panel beside it came loose with a clatter, and he pulled out a flat-head screwdriver, a flashlight, and insulating tape. Did engineers hide tools all over the walls?
Sin Haeryang was wearing something similar to Baek Ayeong, an outfit that looked like a wetsuit. Since he apparently had no need to take it off, he simply began untying the cord bracelet on his wrist.
"What is that?"
"It's parachute cord."
What is that, and why is it on his wrist? I swallowed those pointless questions. Instead, I gently set down the two backpacks I'd been carrying and, after some hesitation, decided to take off my shoes. Seeing this, Sin Haeryang shook his head and said.
"Jihyeok and I will go. You stay here, sir."
Of course I wanted to stay here comfortably. But I had been the one to suggest rescuing the researchers in the main building first. I had too much conscience to sit waiting while telling the two of them to swim through the water and bring people back on their own.
"Didn't you say there were five people in that room? Will the two of you be okay?"
At my words, Seo Jihyeok looked at Sin Haeryang and said.
"If there's a child or an injured person, we might not have enough hands. Wouldn't it be okay if he came along?"
Sin Haeryang frowned and thought for a moment, then glanced at the child lying on the floor and nodded. When they opened the bulkhead leading to the dormitory, Seo Jihyeok shone his flashlight below. Rising water was visible in the darkness.
I followed behind Sin Haeryang and Seo Jihyeok down the stairs and into the dark water. The moment I swaggered in, regret flooded me within three seconds—I should have stayed put when Sin Haeryang told me to. And for good reason: it was pitch black. He'd said the power was out, and there wasn't a single light. Moreover, the moment I stepped down the stairs and plunged my body into the water, I felt all my body heat draining away, and the water had risen to my neck.
I'm 175 centimeters tall, and the water was brushing right under my chin. Wondering if it was the same for the others, I looked over to see Sin Haeryang and Seo Jihyeok, both taller, with water only up to their shoulders, walking as usual. Regret washed over me. Seo Jihyeok stood at the front with a pen-sized flashlight clenched between his teeth.
Clinging to the wall, I began moving to the point where I couldn't tell if I was walking or crawling. I kept going, counting the doors down. I shoved aside floating water bottles that bumped against my face and pushed away chairs and pillows that snagged at my feet. Seo Jihyeok, having arrived first, banged on the closed door of room 77. A scream erupted from beyond the door. Hadn't they said the doors were all in an open state?
"There's someone here! We're trapped! Please save us!"
"Step away from the door."
Sin Haeryang took a deep breath and took the flat-head screwdriver from Seo Jihyeok before submerging into the water. Seo Jihyeok quickly shone his flashlight into the water. Watching Sin Haeryang's actions, I asked Seo Jihyeok.
"Why won't the door open?"
"It might not open because the power's out, or because of the pressure difference, or something might be jammed. Lots of reasons."
"Shouldn't we help Mr. Sin?"
"Help the engineer team leader? Me not helping is what helps him."
Following the beam of the flashlight, I saw Sin Haeryang strike the lower part of the door with the axe a few times underwater, then insert the screwdriver. I had no idea what he'd done, but when Sin Haeryang surfaced, the door had opened a gap about 5 centimeters wide.
"Grab the door and push with everything you've got!"
I stuck my fingers into that small gap. Six hands latched onto the door and pushed with all our might to the left. One, two, three! Hngh! The normally automatic door was so thick and heavy when forced manually that curses rushed up my throat. I was thinking, so this is what makes it airtight, when a small hand emerged from the door panel I was gripping.
When the pale, small hand of a woman from inside the dark room touched my finger, I let out a scream for a completely different reason. Uwaack! Uwaaaaack! Seawater rushed into my mouth, and my scream was swallowed by the water.
As three men the size of door panels hung from the single sliding door, it slowly slid back into the wall. Once it had opened wide enough for a person to barely squeeze through, we let go, but our grips were already spent.
When Seo Jihyeok shone his flashlight inside, there was only one person. The light swept across the face of a small-framed woman. Although my head already knew someone was there, I was even more startled when the light illuminated her. Her face was soaked with what might have been water or tears. Seo Jihyeok, recognizing her face, asked.
"What. It's only you, Gayoung?"
"Didn't you say there were five people?"
Blankly staring at the empty room, I asked, and Kim Gayoung whimpered.
"...I'm the only one. I'm sorry."
"Let's go back."
Hurry. As if to say they couldn't delay any longer, Sin Haeryang urged. Then he snatched the waist of Kim Gayoung, who had been precariously standing on a chair, and hoisted her onto his shoulder. The water had already risen past his chin to the corners of his mouth. Seo Jihyeok, Sin Haeryang, and I started back toward the stairs in that order.
To be precise, I was falling further behind than Sin Haeryang, who was carrying someone. No matter what, a woman had to weigh at least 60 kilograms. How was he walking so well in the water while carrying a person? Was he a robot? Suspecting the true nature of Sin Haeryang, who was walking about five steps faster than me, I desperately clung to the wall and pressed on.
Walking with a gait somewhere between swimming and jumping, treading heavily, I would swallow mouthfuls of seawater whenever I mistimed my breathing. With the water up to my mouth, I had to tilt my head back to walk, and it was agony.
When I get out of here, I'm not going to the beach for ten years. Damn it. When Sin Haeryang shouted something, Seo Jihyeok, who had been leading, turned around and grabbed my collar, tugging it lightly. My nose, which had been about to go under, barely broke the surface. I was so, so jealous of his height, well over 190 centimeters. The only one on this rescue team with a light, Seo Jihyeok mumbled around the flashlight in his mouth.
"Doctor, why are you drinking all the seawater?"
"I'm trying to drink it all to get rid—blergh!"
Trying to joke back at Seo Jihyeok's laughter-laced voice, I was suddenly hit by nausea and vomited.
"Uwah! Why did you do that!"
I was really sorry for vomiting on his arm, but it wasn't intentional. I guess drinking a bowlful of seawater made everything in my stomach come rushing out. Sin Haeryang, who had been wading through the cold seawater over 175 centimeters deep in the darkness, finally stepped onto the stairs and set Kim Gayoung down.
Then he turned his head toward me. At that moment, Seo Jihyeok, who had been gripping my collar as if pulling me up, stepped on something and tumbled straight forward. The flashlight beam vanished in an instant. A person shot into the dark water, and with my collar caught in his grip, I was dragged down and plunged into the water with him.