“You might not understand now, but later you’ll realize it’s better to save only a few people you like. That starting fresh is easier, too. And you’ll come to understand our feelings as those who long for a savior.”
Kim Jaehui said, staring at me fixedly.
“You must want to help others with a kind heart. I understand. But some people aren’t worth saving. Even if you help them, they probably won’t even remember it properly. And when you need help, they’ll pretend not to know and run away, too busy saving themselves. Right now you might feel pity and compassion, but later you’ll only find them annoying. And you’ll regret wasting this time and opportunity like you are now.”
When I opened my mouth, Kim Jaehui leaned her upper body toward me to hear my voice better.
“That might happen. I’m an ordinary person, and if I repeat the same things countless times, I won’t know what choice I’ll make until I’m in that situation. But let’s not do that today. Today, run away with the others. Think of it as acting special just for today.”
Shin Haeryang spoke to me and Kim Jaehui.
“We’ve rested enough. Let’s get up now.”
Kim Jaehui let out a sigh and sprang up from her spot. Though we had only rested for a few minutes while drinking tea, she had wanted to lie on that sofa forever and never get up.
Why must living be so arduous? Why does the mind interfere with the body’s comfort? And even if you call it the mind, isn’t it ultimately just the flickering of brain synapses? I was thinking I wanted to sit and rest just five seconds more, but the kids in worse condition than me were already up. ……These youngsters are so diligent. They’ll survive no matter what.
Shin Haeryang steadied himself with one hand on the sofa and barely stood in place, saying nothing. He wore an expression that looked like he was about to commit murder, so I asked about his condition.
“Can you move? If you need support, I’ll support you.”
“……I think I can walk around.”
“What about you, Ms. Jaehui?”
Kim Jaehui said she needed support and clung to me.
“I have no strength in my toes. And my ears are ringing like crazy, and I feel like I’m going to vomit. My stomach is upset too. I can’t see properly in front of me, and I can’t hear well, so I missed more than half of what you said, Savior. But I definitely heard you say you’d save me.”
“Don’t toes lack strength by nature? I didn’t say that, so don’t worry about it.”
Walking with my left arm around Kim Jaehui’s left shoulder to support her, the sight of Shin Haeryang walking ahead was strange. Previously someone who walked in a straight line toward his goal without a single wasted movement, now he was walking almost in a zigzag. He slowly walked to the right, then seemed about to fall to the left, then walked to the right again. Watching from behind, it looked like he was making an effort to take the longest possible route to his destination.
……His condition must be really bad. Mentally he probably wanted to walk in a straight line, but his body wasn’t cooperating.
Shin Haeryang told me to support Kim Jaehui and bring her to the submersible port entrance, so I dragged her there almost pulling her along. What had she been eating to be this heavy? She looked incredibly skinny on the outside. I dragged her to the submersible port entrance almost at a run and gasped for breath.
Right in front of the submersible port entrance was a person who had died from gunfire. I placed Kim Jaehui on the floor at a distance where she wouldn’t touch the pool of blood, almost throwing her down. Kim Jaehui lay prone on the bare floor and complained weakly.
“Savior. Aren’t you treating me too roughly?”
At least her mouth still works.
“Huff, huff. Stay…… still…… and wait here. Huff. I’ll bring Mr. Haeryang.”
Because of double vision, three Shin Haeryangs seemed to be staggering away in the distance. I closed one eye to make him into one person and ran toward him. Then I supported the now-staggering Shin Haeryang. Maybe because of the height difference, it felt less like I was supporting him and more like I was being used as a walking stick, but at least I could stop him from veering sideways.
“We need to go that way.”
As Shin Haeryang said, I went around the lounge and found another room that could be opened with a passcode. I entered by pressing the passcode as he called it out, and inside were gathered various gas tanks—a place where one could refill various gases needed for the submersible, including large air tanks and oxygen tanks, helium gas and nitrogen gas.
In a place covered with all sorts of caution signs, Shin Haeryang went inside staggering, leaving the door wide open from the start. I followed him in and asked.
“It’s not like there’s anything worth stealing, so why is it locked?”
“Partly because the chances of an accident due to lack of attention are high, but actually, it’s locked because the nitrogen and helium gas could be used by employees to commit suicide.”
Shin Haeryang lightly opened his left hand, and Baek Aeyeong’s knife sprang out like flowing water. Supporting Shin Haeryang, I tore out the wires or pressed buttons to turn off what looked like gas-related measuring instruments and alarm devices. Shin Haeryang looked at the valves in the place filled with gases like oxygen, nitrogen, helium, and carbon dioxide for a moment, then moved about opening them halfway or fully. What on earth is ozone gas used for? It seemed colors were designated for each gas, as the valves and pipes were all different colors.
“What should I help you with?”
Shin Haeryang squinted as if he couldn’t see well, then used the knife to make holes here and there in several extremely thick-looking hoses and pipes, grabbed the hose he had just slit, and asked.
“Is the hose I just cut connected to the oxygen tank?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Panic-stricken by those words, I was looking for the parts connected to the hose when Shin Haeryang, sweating like rain, smiled faintly and said.
“It’s a joke. There’s not much you can help with.”
Kim Jaehui and Shin Haeryang are both teasing me. I should just leave them behind. Supporting Shin Haeryang by holding his waist, I quickly scanned a large caution sign written in English on the wall and realized Shin Haeryang was doing every single thing prohibited for safety when charging high-pressure gas.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“It’s not to the point that I can’t move.”
He answered, his face deathly pale. If Shin Haeryang says he’s in a state where he can’t move, doesn’t that mean he’s dead?
The two of us thoroughly wrecked the high-pressure gas charging room and got out. Surely this is too much. Isn’t it going to cause a huge fire? Looking at what he was doing, it seemed like he was trying to blow up the entire submersible port, not just the gas charging room. Shin Haeryang heard my worry and said.
“The fire won’t be that big, but a situation threatening enough for the terrorists to feel endangered will occur.”
“Where on earth did you learn something like this?”
“If we get out alive, I’ll tell you.”
In the distance, Kim Jaehui lay on the floor exactly as I had laid her down, grinning and waving her hand at us coming from afar. Shin Haeryang, having sheathed and put away the knife, spoke while walking, gripping my shoulder.
“We were at 21 atmospheres for at most 1-2 minutes. If we had stayed longer than that, our bodies wouldn’t have endured it and would have burst.”
By “burst,” he literally meant death, right? Come to think of it, the wound on Kim Jaehui’s forehead opening up might not have been from hitting something, but rather the existing wound tearing further due to pressure differences. Did we enter the Second Seabed Base faster than I thought?
“Everyone is in critical condition after just 1-2 minutes of exposure. ……Ms. Jaehui was asking me to save her, but don’t you need saving, Mr. Haeryang?”
“I will handle my own affairs.”
Kim Jaehui, wanting easy salvation, lay on the floor leisurely watching us strut toward her, waving her hand as if to tell us to come this way. With each step, I was moving further from the gas charging room and closer to Kim Jaehui at the entrance.
When Kim Jaehui’s expression became visible, Shin Haeryang rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a worn-out Zippo lighter. It was practically junk. It had countless scratches and scuff marks, and was smooth and shiny from being handled so much.
On the Zippo lighter, so old that even a junk dealer wouldn’t take it, words were engraved in Korean. It said, “Revenge is easier than forgiveness,” and since I had never seen Shin Haeryang use a lighter, I asked, half-guessing who the owner was.
“Whose lighter is that?”
Shin Haeryang looked toward where the gas charging room was and spoke. His voice was so quiet it was barely audible.
“It’s Jihyeok’s. He gave it to me before boarding the escape pod.”
So both Seo Jihyeok and Baek Aeyeong had given high-fives to their team leader, passing something along as they went. Baek Aeyeong gave the knife, and Seo Jihyeok gave the lighter, it seemed. Shin Haeryang dragged the ankle of the person who had died from gunfire, placing them perpendicular to the distant gas charging room, and said.
“Lie face down. Support your upper body with your elbows on the floor, cover your ears and eyes with your hands, and open your mouth. Then make an ‘ah~’ sound.”
His voice was so quiet I couldn’t hear it properly, but Shin Haeryang pointed his chin at Kim Jaehui and looked at me. I caught his meaning, assumed a similar posture to Kim Jaehui’s, and lay down right next to her.
I didn’t care about the hygiene of the floor one bit. Instead of covering her own ears, Kim Jaehui grabbed my ears with both hands. Then she stared at me with vacant eyes. Before I could say anything, I covered Kim Jaehui’s eyes with my hands.
Shin Haeryang opened and lit the Zippo lighter that looked like it was about to break. The inside was well-maintained, so it lit properly. Holding the lighter, he swung his arm back and threw it with all his might toward the distant gas charging room.
The Zippo lighter flew through the air still lit. Shin Haeryang quickly lay face down next to the blood-soaked corpse. I thought an explosion would occur. However, several seconds passed and no sound came.
A minute passed, and now two minutes were passing. I whispered toward Shin Haeryang.
“Excuse me. Team Leader Shin. How long do we have to lie on the floor like this?”
Boom!
A huge roar echoed, enough to make the floor shake violently for a moment. Covering Kim Jaehui’s eyes with my hand, I looked toward where the explosion had occurred, and flames and smoke were billowing out tremendously.
Didn’t you say there wouldn’t be a big fire? I could feel the floor shaking, perhaps from people running in the distance. The submersible port entrance burst open and four people poured inside. Kim Jaehui’s hands, which had been covering my ears, covered my eyes.