I slowly bent over while keeping the person on my back exactly as they were. Then, rustling in the darkness, I opened the sack of potatoes. And I drank the bottle of water in my hand right then and there. The other bottle of water I put in my pocket for later.
During this series of actions, my luck was atrocious, and the back of my hand got scraped by a metal meat skewer. Feeling the stinging back of my hand, I hoisted the unconscious Sin Haeryang back onto my shoulders and began climbing the stairs.
With every step, I wanted to sob my heart out. But strangely, not a single tear fell. As I climbed the stairs in pitch-black darkness, my brain replayed what had just happened on repeat.
I understand. Thinking of walking up 50 floors in this darkness with strangers must feel hopeless. If 10 floors are hard to walk, what are 50? I estimate it to be about 50 floors now, but I won't know if it's actually 50 or 70 until I climb up.
Besides, the one who looked the most trustworthy among us three had completely passed out. There was no telling when he would come to. Right now I am carrying him, but I might have been thinking of asking to take turns later.
Plus, with three perfectly functioning elevators right there, how crazy must I have looked suggesting we take the pitch-black stairs. And if I had to go to a dark, unknown place with no guarantee of safety alongside two suspicious-looking men, I might have refused too, choosing to stay in a bright place and look for another safe spot.
Let's look at the bright side. That person didn't harm the unconscious Sin Haeryang, at least. There are more than one or two people in this undersea base who want to beat him to a pulp. And they had waited next to Haeryang to go with me, and even brought water bottles to drink together.
A sigh spilled out from the turmoil. ...I'm not a good person either. When the other person started talking about jewels or solutions, I guessed they had no intention of coming along and ended up using them just to check for ash.
Did I have something stolen from the exhibition hall in my pants pocket? I didn't lie to that person about stealing jewels, but my actions were unmistakably deceptive. That I'm not someone who would try to steal jewels in such a dire situation. If I had spoken honestly, maybe the other person would have trusted me more.
Thinking about why I had treated the other person like that when I don't usually act this way... I suppose I was angry in that moment. In a situation where I had to run away immediately with an unconscious person, they had asked about money or an easier way.
At this age, I still haven't managed to kill my temper. Is it because I'm tired, hurt, and exhausted? Still, I shouldn't have treated them like that. They were terrified too. They had a look on their face that said they were scared and didn't know what to do. I should have been kinder.
While slowly climbing to the 2nd floor, I brooded over my actions and reflected on myself. By the time I passed the 3rd floor, I couldn't continue my distracting thoughts any longer.
With every step I took, I felt nothing but the urge to throw off what I was carrying on my back right this instant. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. I can't. Let's leave it here and go. ...No. I can do it. I've climbed more stairs before. There was an injured person then too. Since I've done it once, I can do it a second time even more easily. I can't. I can't. Kill me. Just kill me. Why is it so heavy. Let's dump it here and go.
With every step up the stairs, the battle with myself continued. This bastard was supposed to be 105kg, but isn't he actually 150kg? Didn't Celloni weigh him wrong! Can actual weight and perceived weight be different? Why does it feel so hard I could die?
Carrying an unconscious 105kg up the stairs, it was so hot that my body boiled as if it had become a blast furnace. Sweat poured down in sheets like rain. Every three seconds, every curse word imaginable came to mind.
Thinking about how I had been frozen stiff like a pollack in the 1–2 degree cold inside the submersible just a while ago, it suddenly occurred to me that I should have carried Gim Jaehui or Sin Haeryang on my back back then.
Before I even reached the 4th floor, I was drenched in sweat and began breathing like someone with a hole in their lungs. And the moment I reached the 5th floor, I slowly slumped down on the stair landing and carefully lowered Sin Haeryang to the floor. In my heart, I wanted to drop him with a crash, but if he broke, all the effort I'd put in until now would turn to foam.
And with a thud, I collapsed onto the floor. Fortunately, the floor was only covered with small concrete fragments, trash, and dust. The cold floor cooled my streaming sweat and boiling body temperature. Groans burst unbidden from my mouth.
"Huff! Huff! Huff! Hah! Huff! Huff! Huff! I'm gonna die! Hah! Hah!"
My head, shoulders, knees, feet, knees, feet—they all feel broken. If Sin Haeryang doesn't wake up here, I have to do this nine more times now. While gasping for breath, philosophical questions like why I am alive came to mind. This is not the time to think about that.
I stared quietly up at the ceiling, which was too dark to see the end of. Carrying Sin Haeryang up seems ten times harder than supporting Seo Jihyeok and coming up. Most of that is probably because I'm carrying him alone while moving, but an unconscious person doesn't shift their center of gravity for the carrier or gather their flailing arms and legs. It would have been five times easier if he were conscious.
After catching my breath a bit, I checked Sin Haeryang's pulse and breathing again. I wanted to slap Haeryang's cheeks right there to wake him up and make him walk on his own two feet. But what if I beat him until his cheeks disappeared and he still didn't wake? What if he collapsed and passed out again while we were running? What if he was swept away by the urge and fear to go alone?
I judged that we had to evacuate quickly to a safe place. And the moment I decided, I immediately put it into action. If Sin Haeryang had been a 105kg jewel, I wouldn't have even tried to carry him.
Now we are in a safe place. The air is clean, the fire doesn't seem likely to spread immediately, and smelling the air, there was no sign of smoke coming in. I thought it would be okay to rest here a bit before going.
I, who had become one with the floor, hoisted myself up limply. Sin Haeryang's clothes seemed too tight, so I unzipped the zipper on his back halfway, turned him over, and laid him facing the ceiling. Then I lifted only his two legs and placed them on my knees as I sat on the floor.
It was first aid for an unconscious person. His two legs were so heavy that I felt the temptation to drag him near the stairs and drape his legs over them. It seemed this bastard didn't have a single light part on him. I lifted his legs so that the blood flow would overall head toward his head, and waited for a moment.
What if he doesn't wake up. ...Then I'll have no choice but to carry him up 45 more floors. I tried to forget all the anguish and pain I had suffered climbing the 5 floors. It was while I was thinking things like whether my lazy attitude of not exercising normally was coming back as karma like this.
When I came to my senses, I was pinned to the floor with my neck being strangled. The back of my head was pressed against the floor. My right hand wouldn't move at all. Only my left hand flailed about wildly, but it was too dark to see anything ahead. In the pitch-black darkness without a single point of light, my neck was being squeezed with all its strength, and I couldn't make a sound.
Had Sin Haeryang's necklace slipped down from inside his clothes? A blue light flickered in the darkness. My windpipe, locked tight like a faucet, opened instantly. Sin Haeryang immediately stepped back.
"I'm sorry."
"Cough! Cough! Hack! Hack! Blegh! Hack!"
While I was prone, coughing endlessly, Sin Haeryang crept up and started patting my back. You damned bastard. Now you try carrying me up five floors. Why is my luck so rough and hard today.
As the coughing gradually subsided, Sin Haeryang rummaged through my clothes as he pleased, tore a water bottle from my pocket, and fed me water. Now it was him laying me down on the floor in turn. I wanted to spring up and beat him senseless. But I couldn't so much as twitch a finger. I was too exhausted to do anything. About five minutes passed with nothing but the sound of breathing.
"I'm sorry."
A voice came flying from afar. Sin Haeryang, having apologized again, kept talking to me—whether because he felt sorry, wanted to check if my airway was functioning normally, or to acquire information. Probably all three. He asked if my throat was okay, if I could speak, and where we were now.
"How long was I unconscious?"
"...I don't know."
"How high is this from Undersea Base 3?"
"Around... the 5th floor? I arbitrarily calculated the distance between Undersea Base 2 and Undersea Base 3 as 50 floors."
A brief silence fell in the darkness where Sin Haeryang was before an answer came.
"It is probably similar to what you calculated, sir."
"...Why did you pass out?"
"I was sitting for a moment, and after that I have no memory. What happened to the fire?"
"A carbon dioxide alarm went off, so I carried you, Haeryang-sshi, straight up five flights of stairs."
After a brief silence, Sin Haeryang spoke.
"...You must have gone through a lot. Thank you."
Silence fell again. Sin Haeryang had stopped asking questions, and I had closed my mouth because I didn't have the strength to talk. Only after some time had passed did I think of the person who had left us and ask.
"Haeryang-sshi, you were with a woman with long brown hair by your side."
"Nora Stang. She said she was in charge of food supply management at Undersea Base 2. What happened to her?"
"...We decided to act separately."
"I see."
After a brief silence, Sin Haeryang hesitated and asked me.
"...Is Jaehui the same?"
It seemed Sin Haeryang had wanted to ask about Gim Jaehui the entire time and had only been holding back until now. He had probably been guessing since I returned alone. I felt at a loss as to how to explain Gim Jaehui to Sin Haeryang. The voice saying, 'Let's run away together. Leave Team Leader Shin behind,' echoed in my head. The tone that said she was sick and tired of 'ordinary, selfish people.'
There were so many things I wanted to ask Sin Haeryang. Is it true what your team member Gim Jaehui said, that you've killed people before? Seo Jihyeok and Baek Aeyoung too, is it really true? Questions like these rose to my throat. He might not answer about the other team members, but he might answer questions about himself. Your team member Gim Jaehui told me to betray you. She asked me to go with her. I wanted to tell Sin Haeryang everything that had happened with Gim Jaehui. I let out a sigh.
"We've decided to head to Undersea Base 1 first. I'm afraid you'll have to act separately from Jaehui-sshi."