From the ceiling, the connecting corridor leading to Xuanwu Block was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the corridor itself had been completely blocked off by a massive wall descending. Upon the black barrier was a picture drawn in flashy graffiti: a dark, deep-green snake raising its head and decorating the wall here and there.
From the snake’s waist down, it was submerged in the water, and only a small head—whether it belonged to a turtle or tortoise—peeked above the surface. They seemed to have drawn the Xuanwu in gold, black, white, and all shades of green spray paint.
Kim Jaehee, who had been vomiting seawater for quite some time, asked Jeong Sanghyeon weakly, slumping in exhaustion.
“Sanghyeon. How long were we underwater?”
His voice came out like gravel scraping in his throat. Perhaps because of all the vomiting, Kim Jaehee’s voice was completely hoarse. Jeong Sanghyeon frowned and spoke.
“Not long. About three minutes. Why?”
“...I feel like I spent about a minute drinking nothing but water. I think I’ll be vomiting all day today.”
Kim Jaehee spoke with the look of someone about to faint at any moment. Well, that’s what happens when you lie still, giving up on life and gulping down water. Jeong Sanghyeon glared at the water’s surface and let out deep sighs.
“The team leader told me to count the time from when you and that dentist were submerged. He said to tell him if it took more than four minutes to get you out.”
Kim Jaehee asked Jeong Sanghyeon weakly.
“What kind of time is four minutes?”
“You think our team leader explained every little thing about this situation to me? He just yelled ‘Time!’ at me earlier, so I only reported the time like an alarm, okay? ...I should’ve just run away. Instead of pointlessly climbing onto the ceiling and making a fuss. I might have escaped well like Jihyeok-hyung or Aeyeong.”
“...I think it’s probably because the probability of resuscitation changes depending on how long you’re submerged.”
When I answered like that, both of them looked at me. I don’t really know how many minutes it takes to die for sure after falling into water, but I wish never to know. Now that I think back on swimming when the escape pod suddenly opened, I can’t even tell how many minutes it was. It felt like three minutes, yet also like thirty minutes.
From what I saw, Sin Haeryang seemed to have acted according to the best choice available to him. Even if Kim Jaehee or I ran quickly, how fast could we really run? Watching Seo Jihyeok run, he was practically treading on air, bounding along. It wasn’t a speed I could match.
Kim Jaehee coughed several times, then shook the rope tied around his waist and spoke to me.
“What would’ve happened if we were underwater for more than four minutes? Would the team leader have abandoned us?”
“I don’t really want to know.”
Sin Haeryang was nowhere to be seen. I carefully lifted the collar of my completely soaked shirt and checked my skin. My right shoulder, arm, and chest were all bruised. Ow. It hurts every time I breathe. There was nothing I could do, so I simply wrung out the water from the hem of my shirt.
It was fortunate that the undersea base had high ceilings; had this been an ordinary home, it would already be completely submerged. Hanging from the ceiling materials and lighting fixtures and looking down, all sorts of objects were floating on the water’s surface. The pitch-black water moved slightly in time with the vibrations of the undersea base, which was somewhat frightening. Kim Jaehee checked me and his own body once, then asked Jeong Sanghyeon.
“You got a pad?”
“I dropped mine while running.”
“You didn’t go pick it up?”
“If I’d picked it up, I would’ve died twice. The team leader told me to give up on it, too.”
“Then what about the loaker pad?”
“Aeyeong probably has it.”
Kim Jaehee furrowed his forehead and spoke.
“The water level isn’t rising anymore. Someone must have isolated the entire Central Block through the system. Where is the water leaking from? Zhuque Block? Is it leaking from Qinglong Block, too?”
“I wish it were Qinglong Block. I hope all the other engineers drowned. Ah. Except Takahashi.”
Suddenly, the ventilation unit Jeong Sanghyeon was hanging from creaked and made a dangerous noise. Jeong Sanghyeon stared at the ventilation unit, frozen. Kim Jaehee smiled and spoke.
“Try to keep your thoughts kind.”
“...Why should I? They probably wish other people would die, too. When accidents like this happen, I hope a lot of people die.”
“That’s why the ventilation unit hates you, too.”
Hearing Kim Jaehee’s words, Jeong Sanghyeon spoke in a voice full of spite.
“As if this hunk of metal would hate me just because I said a few words...”
Screeeech! The ventilation unit began making a terrible sound, as if it could no longer bear Jeong Sanghyeon’s weight. Kim Jaehee coughed and hacked, then spoke.
“See what I look like? I’d rather beg that ventilation unit to save me than fall in that water and swim.”
Seeing me and Kim Jaehee completely soaked, Jeong Sanghyeon made a disgusted face and tried to stretch his legs toward where we were. However, the distance was too far for Jeong Sanghyeon’s leg length to reach. Kicking his legs about in the air while hanging from the ventilation unit, Jeong Sanghyeon spoke.
“Shit. A man ought to stand by his word! (Screeeech!) ...I was wrong! Please save me! Team Leader Shin! Team Leader Shin! Team Leader-niim! Why are you never there when I need you! You’re no help! (Screeeech!) Ah! I said I’d be good! Ventilation unit! Save meee!”
Kim Jaehee burst out laughing, his whole body shaking despite coughing. I, too, laughed at the absurdity. The rope wrapped around my waist came loose easily when I pulled it in the opposite direction. I shook the parachute cord that had been tied around me toward Jeong Sanghyeon and spoke.
“Can you grab it?”
“Euh! Uuuh!”
“I’ll throw it on three.”
“If you don’t throw it and you’re just lying...”
“One, two, three! Catch!”
Jeong Sanghyeon let go of the ventilation unit and jumped to grab the line I threw, but at that moment, the metal shutter part of the large ventilation unit he had been hanging from fell downward. The moment Jeong Sanghyeon grabbed the parachute cord I threw him, he slipped down rapidly because of his own weight and lost his grip. Aaaaaaaaack!
A splash rang out simultaneously with screams for help and sounds of swimming. Kim Jaehee watched this series of events coolly, then smiled at the corners of his mouth and spoke to me.
“Isn’t this fun?”
“...You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
“Ah. Sanghyeon. He’s our team’s comedian.”
Then he leaned his body back, stretched, and let out a big yawn. Kim Jaehee rubbed the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand and began speaking slowly.
“Since Sanghyeon is his parents’ one and only precious son, he was raised with lots of pampering, so he has no manners, he’s mean-spirited, and he can’t distinguish between what he should and shouldn’t say. And perhaps because he doesn’t trust other people, he doesn’t believe others’ actions at all.”
Jeong Sanghyeon was seen splashing about as he swam, then struggling to climb onto a wooden bookshelf floating nearby. Kim Jaehee watched the sight and spoke.
“I heard he caused a lot of accidents at school and didn’t leave his house for about five years.”
“How did he get hired, then?”
“I don’t really know. From what I’ve seen, he somehow extracts MARIS materials or gets information from somewhere, so I guess he’s good with computers.”
Then Kim Jaehee asked me—hanging next to the light fixture—as if feeling somewhat sorry for me.
“Do you experience this flood mess every morning?”
“No. This is my first time, too.”
Kim Jaehee, coughing again, looked around the flooded Central Block and spoke.
“If you think we’ll face a fire, please let me know in advance.”
“What do you plan to do if I tell you in advance?”
Was there any particularly good solution? How do you put out a fire in an undersea base? Do sprinklers activate? Or do they cut off the air? There was plenty of seawater around, so putting it out probably wouldn’t be an issue. Kim Jaehee shrugged his shoulders and spoke.
“Nietzsche once said this. [The thought of suicide is a great comfort. It is thanks to that thought that one endures countless painful nights.]”
“...He said that, too, huh.”
It was the first time I’d heard it. My own pitiful humanities background aside, so Nietzsche said things other than “God is dead.” No. Why is that gentleman so gloomy? ...Why is Kim Jaehee so gloomy, too? Is he saying he’ll kill himself if a big fire breaks out? I spoke to ease the anxiety that must be scattered throughout Kim Jaehee’s mind.
“I’ve been to many places in the undersea base, but I’ve never personally seen a large fire.”
“That’s a relief.”
Kim Jaehee nodded and answered. Feeling that Kim Jaehee was genuinely relieved, I felt strange. A Muhan Church believer and the so-called savior of the Muhan Church began talking about the Muhan Church while stuck to the ceiling.
“Why did you join the Muhan Church?”
“I think I’ve told you several times already.”
“Do the Muhan Church people know that you experienced the anomaly of dying and coming back to life?”
Kim Jaehee looked at me for a long time, then widened his eyes.
“Did I tell you before? The Muhan Church probably doesn’t know. I joined as an ordinary lay believer pretending to know nothing. ...When I first joined after searching hard on the internet, my heart was pounding. It felt like infiltrating a pseudo-religion while hiding my own secret.”
“How was it after you joined?”
“Most pseudo-religions demand money. Or labor, or that you devote your body and mind to the religion, right? The Muhan Church wasn’t like that, so it was quite fascinating.”
Then Kim Jaehee admired the submerged undersea base and spoke.
“Up until yesterday it was boring, but today is rather exciting. I’ve been bored for about a year straight. Have you been to the First Undersea Base?”
“Not yet. What on earth is there?”
Kim Jaehee looked into the distant air and spoke.
“I heard they’re installing an altar there. I don’t know if the installation is complete since I haven’t been, but you know how it is these days. It doesn’t take long to install or build anything.”
I had never had occasion to hear the word “altar” in my life. I think this is the first time since hearing it once or twice during history studies. It somehow sent chills down my spine.
“What do they offer at the altar?”
“Well. From what these people say, it’s a Greenland shark, but I don’t really know what they’ll offer. I’m a lower-tier lay believer. But seeing as they say they need to sharpen blades, whatever is offered there probably won’t be very happy about it.”
Kim Jaehee grunted as he untied the parachute cord around his waist, then pointed with his fingertip toward the distant water’s surface. Sin Haeryang, who had clearly ridden a multi-purpose vending machine sliding toward Xuanwu Block, was coming out from the Qinglong Block side.
Sin Haeryang was walking around with several bundles that looked like people loaded on top of a large soda vending machine.