After hesitating, Baek Aeyeong entered the nearest storage room, punching in the passcode first. The moment we stepped inside, an oil smell of some kind hit us. The storage room we had hidden in was piled with all sorts of tools; it seemed the engineers at the undersea base kept their shared tools here and used them communally.
There were hammers of every kind on the wall. I had no idea what they were for, but each one looked ever so slightly different. Including rubber mallets, there were close to twenty different hammers. The only one I could barely recognize was a small claw hammer, the same kind we had at home.
There were about ten monkey wrenches hanging there too, all different types and sizes, and an absurd number of nippers. Nearly twenty of them were hung up, and at the very end of those nippers, a small nail clipper dangled as if it belonged there. Did engineers sometimes cut their nails with nippers or something?
Off to the side were several things that looked like electric grinders, along with small hand drills and bits that could be fitted into them, sorted by number. All I’d done was enter an engineers’ storage room, yet for some reason it felt familiar. It reminded me of being at the dentist.
There were around twenty shovels, and pickaxes were neatly hung on the wall in the corner. On the shelves and in the drawers, bolts and nuts were stored in containers by type, with their English names and numbers written in large letters. Various kinds of springs, wires, and wrenches were also organized by number. Water pump pliers hung on the wall, and all manner of tape was stored by type in a large drawer. Looking at the assorted pipes and hoses, I felt as though I had walked into a hardware store.
Beside them, various oils were stacked by type. I was surprised by how much more neatly everything was organized than I’d expected. I’d assumed engineers would just use things without putting them away properly. When Baek Aeyeong saw me looking around the meticulously arranged storage room, she gave a brief explanation. It’s because there are a few people who are obsessive about organization. Apparently, if you live without keeping things organized, accidents happen easily.
“People carry their own expensive tools around with them, and only the shared ones are gathered here.”
Once inside the storage room, Baek Aeyeong closed the door first. Then she let out a sigh and asked me.
“I noticed earlier that the central elevator is still operating even in this situation. It’s supposed to stop, you know.”
“There are a few elevators that have stopped. I think the Infinite Church side forced only a few elevators to keep running for their own convenience.”
“Among the memories you have of dying and coming back, have you ever died while using the central elevator?”
I had, but I wasn’t sure how to answer that. After thinking for a moment, I replied to Baek Aeyeong.
“I didn’t die because there was a defect in the elevator. I was shot to death.”
“Is there anything in that backpack that could be used as a weapon?”
“No.”
“Muhyeon, have you ever hit or killed someone in your life?”
“……I’d like to know the intention behind your question.”
“There are a few things I want to say to you.”
After saying that, Baek Aeyeong perched on top of an unopened delivery box. I also sat down on the delivery box beside her. In an instant, I became as uneasy as someone suddenly summoned for a private meeting at work. When Baek Aeyeong took out her ankle knife, my anxiety doubled.
“All I have on me is this one measly knife, and I think it’ll be nearly impossible for the two of us to overpower armed groups with it and escape the undersea base without taking any injuries.”
Baek Aeyeong took out the ankle knife and spoke as she skillfully spun it. The blade whirled in circles in her hand. She called it one measly knife, but considering how I’d seen her take people down with it, that sounded extremely modest. I nodded to Baek Aeyeong.
“Yes. I think so too.”
“If our team leader or even the idiot were here, it might have been easier. But in this situation, even protecting myself is a struggle.”
Was the idiot Seo Jihyeok, by any chance? I was afraid of what Baek Aeyeong would say next. Was she going to suggest surrendering to the Infinite Church believers? That we should quietly let ourselves be taken hostage, or perhaps that she wanted to hand me over and survive? Or was she going to say we should go our separate ways from here?
Baek Aeyeong might find it more convenient to move alone than with me. In truth, what was I to her if not a burden? If she were alone, she might be able to escape faster.
“If you’re going to move with me, there’s something you have to do, Muhyeon. I don’t think we can spend the whole day avoiding those fanatics and running away. From what you’ve told me, whether it’s because I make a mistake or they get lucky, it seems like we’ll end up running into them at least once. They’ll probably move in groups of at least two. While I deal with one person, you need to deal with at least one other. If that’s impossible, then at the very least, you need to face them down and somehow buy time so they can’t attack me.”
Baek Aeyeong slowly looked me over from head to toe, then furrowed her brow.
“To be honest, I don’t want to ask this of someone I’ve only just met, especially when you’ve never even used your fists before. What do you think about my opinion, Muhyeon?”
“I think it’s something you have every right to ask, Aeyeong. I’ll do my best to fight and pull my own weight.”
Truthfully, I had no idea whether I would be of much help. Most likely, while Baek Aeyeong was beating one person up, I’d be clinging to someone else to stop them from attacking her, rolling around on the floor with them. Baek Aeyeong stared at me and asked again, sounding unconvinced.
“I’m not saying you just watch me fight. I’m saying that while I take care of the guy in front, you have to stop the other guy from attacking me. You do understand that, right?”
“Yes. I understand.”
After hesitating, Baek Aeyeong spoke in a small voice.
“If you don’t like what I suggested, or if you don’t like me, you can go separately.”
“Aeyeong…… if you don’t like me, or if you dislike me, you can go separately too.”
“I’m fine.”
“Then I’m fine too.”
Baek Aeyeong spun the knife round and round, then stopped with a sigh.
“Right now, I desperately need someone I can trust, someone I can fight alongside. If we want to get out of here, we have to fight together. Those people won’t show us any mercy.”
At those words, I felt as though I had glimpsed Baek Aeyeong’s anxiety for the first time. I felt the same way. I needed someone I could trust in this undersea base too. I needed someone who would try to get out of the undersea base with me. Not someone who said they would stay here instead of leaving. After looking at Baek Aeyeong’s profile for a moment, I made a proposal of my own.
“If you’re going to move with me, there are a few things you need to abide by too, Aeyeong.”
“What are they?”
“Please avoid violence as much as possible in situations where it can be avoided. If we can get through something by talking without fighting, that would be best. And if I’m captured by the Infinite Church believers, or badly injured, please prioritize your own escape over me.”
Baek Aeyeong’s gaze brushed over me, and after a few minutes, she nodded.
“You’re not telling me to protect you first no matter what it takes.”
Was there someone who would? If Baek Aeyeong were facing off against two or three Infinite Church believers, I think getting shot would feel easier on my conscience than standing there with my arms crossed and watching.
“Who am I that you should protect me like that, Aeyeong? If you manage to escape alone, please send out rescue requests all over the place and tell them I’m being held here.”
A very brief smile passed over Baek Aeyeong’s face. Then she pointed at the engineers’ tools.
“Let’s take a few as weapons before we go. I recommend a hammer or a monkey wrench.”
“How do you even use a hammer or a monkey wrench?”
“You hit every visible part with it. Throwing it is fine too. Especially if you aim for the head.”
My eyes naturally went to the hand drill hanging on the wall. Maybe it was because it was at least a little familiar, but when I imagined fighting someone, it was the worst possible weapon. Where would I stab someone with that? Just imagining it made me feel like throwing up. Besides, to use a hand drill as a weapon, I’d have to get extremely close, close enough for it to touch flesh, and before I could even use the hand drill, I would already have been shot to death.
When I thought of taking something as a weapon, half of me didn’t want to take anything at all, and the other half thought that I had to take something, if only to scare an opponent into backing off. It also felt like it might be useful someday. This was depressing.
Baek Aeyeong was picking up something like a hand hammer. She held the hammer in her right hand and swung it to the side several times, and I thought I could hear whoosh, whoosh sounds. After swinging the hammer through the air and deciding it was decent, she took one. If Baek Aeyeong were dealing with people who could be reasoned with, I doubted she would even think of taking something like this.
While I stood there unable to choose anything, looking at the tools and quietly sighing, Baek Aeyeong came over to my side.
“I never thought I was living under the protection of the state or the law, but now that I’m in a situation where I have to survive on my own survival skills alone, it feels incredibly primitive.”
As I said that while holding a monkey wrench, Baek Aeyeong gave a small laugh and replied.
“Really? I’ve never once felt protected by anything in my entire life. How fascinating.”
“Didn’t you feel a little reassured when you were in Korea?”
“Not at all.”
Baek Aeyeong handed me the monkey wrench and told me to swing it through the air. I swung it about five times, imagining there was someone in the empty air. Baek Aeyeong watched the way I swung it a few times, then sighed. It seemed she didn’t particularly want to recommend it.
Baek Aeyeong brought over a saw about the size of a person’s arm from farther away. Then she told me to swing it sideways. After watching me swing it, she told me to stop. Perhaps deciding the saw wasn’t it, she brought over a hammer. At first, she brought a sledgehammer and told me to make a big swing with my right arm. I carefully swung it two or three times so it wouldn’t hit the wall or ceiling, but apparently unsatisfied, Baek Aeyeong frowned and scratched her chin.
“No matter how generously I try to look at the way you swing, Muhyeon, you’re way too clumsy. If you mess up, it feels like it’ll be taken from you just like that. And your opponent will be able to tell right away that you’re a complete beginner. Have you ever taken someone down with a weapon before?”
“I’ve shot someone with a gun before.”