Including the two Medics that had visited Deep Blue and the one that had been beside the central elevator, a total of three Medics approached the elevator. Through their AI, Medics determine for themselves the most efficient method of transporting patients. Apparently, they had decided that using the central elevator was the most efficient option. Elizabeth, however, was trying to get me into the elevator before the Medics.
The believer holding the elevator drove off the impatient Medics as if shooing away annoying flies. The Medics played their singsong tones as though in protest, but unable to withstand the believer’s harassment, they slowly backed away. Elizabeth took my hand and led me toward the elevator as she said,
“There is nothing more to handle at Undersea Base Four. Let us move to Undersea Base One. Savior, have you ever visited Undersea Base One?”
“No. ......Let the Medics on first.”
Only then did Elizabeth look at the Medics as though she had just noticed their existence, then nodded. When we yielded the elevator to them, the Medics quickly gathered, exchanged opinions with rapid whirring, and then only one of them boarded the elevator.
The people riding on that Medic’s back were probably not dead, and in urgent need of immediate medical treatment. The central elevator was extremely spacious, so I had expected all three to board at once, but this was unexpected. Was it programmed so that Medics had to ride one at a time?
As the Medic carrying only the injured passed beside me, I heard groans and the sound of breathing. I tried to step into the elevator, but in that instant, a sense of rejection seized me as if someone had grabbed my foot, and I stopped. In particular, several of the people aboard the Medic were constantly groaning softly that it hurt.
When I stood frozen in front of the elevator as if caught in a giant’s hand, the two believers supporting me and Elizabeth’s escorting me practically dragged me in, and only then did I manage to board.
Only one believer holding a gun and guarding the elevator, David Knight—who seemed to have just arrived from Deep Blue—and the two white-haired people boarded the elevator. The rest of the believers stood still, apparently intending to take the next elevator, waiting only for the doors to close.
The central elevator waits with its doors open for a long time in order to take on as many passengers as possible. Since it closes automatically, mashing the close button is useless. Kim Jae-hui, with a relieved expression, gave me a small wave and moved away from the elevator.
Beside me, Elizabeth said while holding my hand,
“If there hadn’t been interruptions along the way, we would have moved long ago, but we are only going now.”
So the Infinite Church had made their base at Undersea Base One. The Black man glanced at Elizabeth and me, but said nothing. The white man, however, looked at David Knight and began to get irritated. When he said, “Do you know how much money we paid to hire you, and this is all you can manage?” David frowned and shot back that, in the first place, it made no sense to give him equipment like this and tell him to work. Mm. You guys get along well.
David’s opinion—that did they think it was easy to secretly train believers who had never even held a gun before and enable them to seize control of the entire undersea base on the day itself without any major problems?—clashed with the white man’s opinion—that then why hadn’t he properly taken control of Undersea Base Four, wasting all this time, and wasn’t it because he was incompetent? Yes. Keep fighting like that in front of me. Don’t just fight with words; you guys should fight with guns too.
While I waited for the elevator doors to close, fatigue swept over my body like a tidal wave. The noises around me sounded like a lullaby. As if my brain could no longer accept any more information, my eyes closed on their own. As I looked around at the people nearby with eyes drooping like an exhausted office worker’s, Elizabeth lightly rubbed the back of my hand and woke me.
“You must have many questions. What sort of place the Infinite Church is, why this ritual is necessary, and what must be done to end this miracle.”
At Elizabeth’s final words, my eyes flew open. I stared at her like a farmer watching rain fall on parched land.
“How can it be ended?”
“I will tell you the details once we arrive at Undersea Base One.”
This loop could be ended? Then all I had to do was end it and leave at a favorable situation and timing! With that one sentence, the hope that had been dying lifted its head. Thankfully, despite the name of the religion, it wasn’t infinite. Thank goodness.
As I exhaled deeply, Elizabeth looked at me as though watching a fish that had taken the bait, then said gently,
“You have not been with the company long. Have you visited the botanical garden? (No.) The aquarium and botanical garden of Undersea Base One are exceptionally beautiful. In particular, the place with the finest view is the coffee shop [Taiga] in Undersea Base One. As soon as we arrive at Undersea Base One, I will introduce our believers to you one by one. We have also prepared your initiation ceremony there.”
She was going to introduce the believers? Ah. I see. No one had actually told me their name separately yet. Aside from Elizabeth, who had explained herself over the radio, and David Knight, who seemed to be an outsider, none of them had introduced themselves. I thought of someone who had left a strong impression on me and asked Elizabeth,
“By any chance, what is the name of the woman with short brown hair, wearing a leather jacket and jeans, and carrying a blue rifle sling?”
I could not forget her. In my palm, I could still feel the sensation from when I had grabbed her ankle. Elizabeth looked at me as though intrigued and said,
“Anna Garcia. She handles guns extremely well. She was looking forward to meeting you, Savior. Unfortunately, she was martyred in this life. I am certain you will be able to meet her again in the next life.”
......I would rather never meet her forever. Honestly, I was terrified because nothing good had ever happened when I met her. As I was thinking about the slaughter that had taken place in the elevator, I heard someone’s voice.
“Hey. Park. What are the distance and time of this miracle?”
I didn’t even realize he was talking to me. Mister Park! I guess I’m the only Mister Park here. When I looked at him, not knowing what he meant, the white man frowned at me and said,
“I mean the range and time of the miracle. How many feet and how many minutes?”
Was he talking about the distance over which this loop persisted? It was information I had learned while attempting to leave through the escape craft, but if the distance I could not leave was considered the range, it was probably around 3,000 meters. As for time, around eight to ten hours? The time was a little vague. Beside me, Elizabeth was glaring at the white man as if telling him to shut up.
“......Why should I tell you?”
As soon as I finished speaking, the elevator grew quiet as if submerged in water.
“Unless the Infinite Church hands over the information it has, I won’t share the information I have either.”
The white man looked at me as though surprised I was capable of saying such a thing. Then he gave a nasty smile, took a step back, and said mockingly,
“We shall see how long the Savior can maintain that attitude.”
At the same moment, the elevator doors began to close. Then something struck my forehead hard. At the same time, I could see nothing. Darkness rushed in like spilled water.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
The two believers supporting me were screaming in my ears. An enormous amount of strength began to enter the hand of Elizabeth, who was holding mine.
“Stop the elevator!”
David shouted. I felt the vibration of the elevator continuing to rise without stopping. What? What just happened? The people around me were screaming wildly, but I couldn’t see anything at all. Was it a blackout? I couldn’t see anything.
Stay calm. First, don’t move recklessly; I have to stay still. But...... my body would not move at all. It merely felt as though my body was tilting and lying down on the floor, while my ears filled only with screams and sounds of chaos.
What is happening?
“Who the hell fired!”
“Aaaaaaaaagh! Blood! A gun!”
Even amid the chaotic situation, Elizabeth’s calm voice could be heard.
“Do not make noise in front of the Savior.”
“He got shot! Shot! Can’t you see?! Are your eyes not working?!”
“What a commotion. Truly pathetic.”
“A person was shot right in front of us! If you got shot, you wouldn’t say something like......”
The white man’s voice gradually trailed off. Perhaps Elizabeth had been shot in her younger days. Unlike the white man making a fuss and the believers who had been supporting me, the voices of the Black man, Elizabeth, and David were utterly calm. I heard David’s low voice, as if he were grinding his teeth.
“They aimed precisely at the forehead and fired. They timed it for the moment the elevator doors closed. That’s no ordinary skill.”
“Do you believe it is a gunshot wound from which he could be revived at Daehan-do Hospital?”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous, Beth. Look at his head. It’s already over.”
Only at the Black man’s voice did I barely recognize my condition. I was shot? So it wasn’t a blackout; I was the only one who had been shot. ......I couldn’t feel anything. Elizabeth, still holding my hand, was asking someone,
“Does an external force capable of opposing our church exist inside this undersea base?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know who it is, but their skill is extraordinary. Even though the number of believers has been reduced because of the hostage-taker, everyone within a 200-meter radius was still a believer of the Infinite Church.”
“I had thought that hostage-taker, Shin Haeryang, was one of the variables, but to think there is another such person.”
I heard the white man speak in an irritated voice.
“That Shin bastard is strange to begin with. Engineers at this undersea base should be nothing but low-educated idiots who go around smearing themselves with oil! I checked most of the undersea base personnel’s resumes, and they were all people with no connection to firearms whatsoever. That hostage-taker’s employment documents said he was a guy who specialized in interior design! He shouldn’t be someone capable of putting eighty percent of armed believers into the emergency room by himself!”
David Knight spoke as though he found the situation pathetic.
“Listen. What you people requested of me was the seizure of the undersea base through the believers and securing Elizabeth’s safety. If you had told me there was someone here who could pull off the stunt of sniping a person’s head with an assault rifle from over 200 meters away through a gap less than five centimeters wide, I would have brought different equipment from the start. Or you should have just requested Park Mu-hyeon’s protection as a separate job.”
And then I heard nothing at all.