Setting aside whether I'm capable of killing someone, if there are people I don't like, why would I have to kill them? I can just avoid them and go my way.
What do the Church of Infinity believers think human lives are? Do they hope their own believers will be saved while thinking it's fine if others end up however? How can there be bastards like this.
The moment I understood Elizabeth's words, heat surged into my head. My head felt like a pressure cooker. While you're having such selfish thoughts, the people at the research center are going crazy trying to survive somehow! But the moment I saw the gun Sin Haeryang was holding, the steam in my head rapidly escaped.
Do they have my personal information? They probably do. Then what on earth did they see to think I could kill anyone I don't like? Did they conclude my personality is psychopathic?
If not that, is my body physically changing? I'm not a combat soldier trained professionally like Sin Haeryang. It doesn't even need to get to me versus Sin Haeryang. Even though Joseph is tied up after being beaten like that, if I fought Joseph with a gun, Joseph would win a hundred percent.
"You're speaking as if I possess the ability to kill anyone at all."
[You will come to know in time.]
Elizabeth answered over the radio, as if certain. It's not like combat ability I never had would appear over time, or my muscles would swell up like instant noodles. Elizabeth added in a smooth voice.
[The undersea base is a space the Savior may use as you please. If you wish, we will send everyone in the base to the surface. When shall we begin?]
The Church of Infinity believers are sending the people in the undersea base to the surface? When they unexpectedly accepted the offer I thought they'd refuse, joy surged powerfully in my chest. What else is there to say. Quickly! As quickly as possible! Afraid Elizabeth might go back on her words, I answered swiftly.
"Right now. Immediately."
[Yes. Understood.]
...Really? Are the Church of Infinity believers really putting the people in the undersea base on the elevator and sending them outside? Then later, me too! I'll be able to get out too, right?
While inwardly shouting "Nice," I threw a punch into the air with my right hand that wasn't holding the radio. Unlike excited me, Sin Haeryang listened quietly to the radio from beside me, then drew an X over the forced and excessive request with the pen he was holding. And then he spoke in a low whisper.
"It is a lie."
"Huh?"
Beyond Sin Haeryang's voice, the radio voice was heard again.
[Things will be handled as the Savior wishes. However, the Church of Infinity believers make a few exceptions for the Savior's safety.]
"Huh?"
The moment I heard the word "exceptions," a foreboding premonition struck me. It felt like I hadn't yet heard the important details of an insurance policy. I felt every hair on my body stand on end. A small noise came from afar. It was Jeong Sanghyeon's trembling voice.
[W-wait! You just said you'd send us up! You said that over the radio, right! You just said you'd send us to the surface while talking to Bak Muhyeon!]
Elizabeth answered coldly toward Jeong Sanghyeon's voice.
[We will send you to the surface. Because we promised to spare only your lives.]
After that, a scream rang out over the radio. Jeong Sanghyeon's high-pitched scream was heard along with sawing sounds. Over the radio, it sounded almost like a female soprano, distinctly different from the crying sounds heard before. No gunshots were heard. It just sounded like something being sliced or sawed.
[Savior. This is the first gift we give you today. The blasphemer's hand.]
Elizabeth's voice sounded joyful. Jeong Sanghyeon's scream rang out again before suddenly, no sound could be heard anymore.
Turning my head blankly toward the radio, it wasn't broken; Sin Haeryang had turned it off. My heartbeat thumped wildly in my ears. My heart rate must have risen enormously.
My body stiffened in shock, but my head remained calm, listening to the screams and thinking. What on earth did they do? Did they really cut off his hand? If he could scream, doesn't that mean he's still alive? If they had shot him in the head, those screams wouldn't have been heard. Sin Haeryang, who took the radio from my hand, gave me an order.
"Go to the infirmary and bring a glass of water."
"Huh?"
"Bring a glass of water and come back here."
Was he thirsty? I staggered up in the darkness and entered the infirmary holding a penlight. The floor was slippery, and when I shone the light on it, it was covered in blood. Parachute cords were cut here and there on the floor, and clothes were torn. Had Sin Haeryang performed first aid inside the infirmary?
After going inside, filling a disposable cup in the corner with water, and returning, my heart rate had decreased somewhat. I thought I had filled the cup to the brim, but by the time I brought it back, only half remained. Sin Haeryang looked at me entering the consultation room like a zombie and spoke.
"Drink it or pour it over your head."
"...I'll drink it."
If I pour water here, it won't be manageable. I at least have that much sense. As I slowly drank the water I brought, a sigh finally escaped. Just shoot him with a gun! Shoot! What kind of dog-like act is this. It would have been better to receive a call from a drunk lunatic spewing curses. Did you just make me listen to a pseudo-religious cultist slicing a person with a knife in real time?
When I looked at Sin Haeryang, my mouth went dry. I spoke to the expressionless engineer team leader.
"My condolences."
"I steeled myself from the moment the voice came over the radio."
His team member was being sliced to death with a knife? I barely swallowed the question trying to burst out. Sin Haeryang held the radio himself and spoke.
"The radio cut off in the middle. Is Jeong Sanghyeon dead?"
After a moment of silence, an answer finally came.
[Who is this?]
"The hostage-taker."
To Sin Haeryang's simple self-introduction, Elizabeth answered.
[He is alive. We have gathered all the severed limbs and placed them on a silver tray. The one called Gim Jaehui is a Church of Infinity believer, so we have spared him for now, but could you relay how he should take responsibility for the 5%?]
5 percent? For a moment, I remembered the broadcast Jeong Sanghyeon had made. Don't tell me they're asking this because Jeong Sanghyeon said Gim Jaehui had a 5 percent stake? Elizabeth definitely doesn't seem sane. Putting Jeong Sanghyeon aside, if I told them to kill him, would they kill Gim Jaehui too even though he's a fellow Church of Infinity believer?
What severed limbs? How much did they cut? What are they going to use them for that they did such a thing? Why. Why are they doing this? If he did wrong, tell him to offer a sincere apology. Why are you people doing things no one ordered and making a fuss? I didn't tell you to cut him. Why are you cutting off perfectly fine arms and legs? Are you saying that if I die, I'll come back whole anyway?
To Elizabeth's question, Sin Haeryang answered without asking me.
"He says to leave him be. He's telling you to let everyone going to the surface live with their bodies intact."
I'm very thankful. If Sin Haeryang had asked which part of Gim Jaehui's 5 percent to chop off, I would have grabbed the back of my neck and collapsed. So there's at least one sane person here. ...Was Sin Haeryang a sane person?
[Please relay that we will handle it as stated.]
Elizabeth's voice was no different from when she talked to me. Speaking as if she were giving a routine business report, she made me feel even stranger. Sin Haeryang spoke toward Elizabeth.
"Do you think the Savior will remain safe after touching my team member?"
[The Savior likely already knows. That even if he dies, he will revive. If even one more gunshot rings out in Deep Blue, no matter how many casualties there are, we will suppress it by force and rescue the detained Bak Muhyeon.]
Elizabeth continued.
[I do not know what time you began coughing today, but you must be hungry, Savior. Since you seem to like Medic, we will provide a meal through Medic.]
Sin Haeryang said it was unnecessary, but the radio cut off. No one spoke for several minutes after the final transmission. Silence descended upon the consultation room of Deep Blue along with the darkness.
Sin Haeryang was originally a person who didn't speak much, but it seemed he had spoken a lot because of what happened today, and I didn't have the strength to open my mouth. Just holding the radio and saying a few words had completely drained my energy. Joseph, who had been quiet, chattered because he couldn't stand this silence.
"Any religion cannot tolerate blasphemy. Still, our religion handled it more generously than others."
I couldn't tell if he was trying to comfort me, who looked depressed, or trying to make me angrier. Joseph began explaining with various examples. Some religions stone people to death; some cut out their tongues and behead them. There are also religions that hand down sentences of dismemberment. He kept saying things like our religion is very lenient for blasphemy. With every word Joseph spoke, sighs lodged deep in my lungs spewed out like vomit.
I'm the savior of a religion like this? Joseph seemed to think me slightly strange for not being happy about the punishment the Oriental who sold him out was suffering. No, really. Did you dare touch me? Good job! Make it more painful! Thank you for punishing that trash in my place! Did he think I'd say that?
Ugh. Scary. How can there be bastards like this. It was already scary, but the more I learn about the Church of Infinity, the more it seems like an insane religion.
From afar, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star began playing in Korean. It seemed Medic was coming. Sin Haeryang waited with his gun aimed, tense as before. Medic repeats songs in eight languages unless set separately; it seemed someone had set it to Korean.
Medic, which had been wailing in front of Deep Blue's door, opened the door with its two legs and walked in leisurely. Looking at its body, someone had hung a basket on it. After Sin Haeryang carefully opened and checked the basket's contents, he scanned Medic's body and spoke.
"There's food inside."
I had no desire to eat anything. However, looking inside the basket, there was a considerable amount of food. There were signs of effort to make things people could pick up and eat, assuming those inside Deep Blue had their hands bound.
There were six kinds of sandwiches and mini hamburgers, rice balls, and as if to show they knew a Korean was trapped inside, there were also three kinds of gimbap. There were canned drinks, carbonated and non-carbonated, to suit preferences, as well as water and coffee. How did they make food when all the cafeteria workers must have fled on escape pods? ...It seems there are Church of Infinity believers among the chefs too. Steam was rising from what looked like freshly grilled chicken skewers.