Baek Aeyeong hadn't even kicked me hard. She had simply hooked my calf lightly and pushed me away with her foot, yet I rolled forward through the grass. Because of my left hand, I fell to the ground, catching myself with my right arm. The scent of torn grass enveloped my entire body.
Baek Aeyeong was firing her gun back in the direction we had come from, and I wondered what she could be shooting at. My right palm, which I'd used to brace against the ground, was covered in dry dirt. After checking that my left hand was unharmed, I instinctively crouched low where I stood.
The grass had grown so tall that it rose well past an adult man's face, making it impossible to identify anyone even if they were chasing us. Yet Baek Aeyeong seemed to be aiming precisely at a target, as if someone were persistently following behind us.
At first, I thought Baek Aeyeong might have mistaken the grass swaying in the wind for pursuers. Occasionally, the sea wind blew with tremendous force, shaking the weeds so violently that the grass moved like a tidal wave. Rough stems and sharp leaves bent every which way in the wind, scraping harshly against the skin of anyone passing through the field. The louder the sound of the wind brushing through the grass, the more I felt a human presence, along with the sense that someone was chasing us and the tension that came with it.
"Are they really people? It could just be animals from here or the wind."
Baek Aeyeong ordered me in a single word.
"Hide."
I looked toward the sound, but Baek Aeyeong was no longer beside me. She seemed to have leaped into the undergrowth. Even if I had wanted to follow or help her, I couldn't see where she had gone. How could she vanish like an invisible person?
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!
Even from a great distance, I could hear gunfire aimed in our direction. Then, moments later, bullets rained down above my head as well. Had I ever dodged gunfire in a grassy field before? There was absolutely no cover nearby to hide behind.
I barely managed to keep from screaming. Why weren't there any large rocks anywhere? Ah. The mowing robots had to move around to cut the grass, so they had already cleared away all the big stones.
I had two main options: run like the wind and cross the field like a cheetah to find large cover that could shield me from bullets, or lie flat on the ground and make myself as small a target as possible, praying not to get hit.
Recalling Baek Aeyeong's words, I chose the latter. Rather than running toward some heavy equipment storage building I had never been to and getting hit by a stray bullet, I chose to lie still on the dirt and wait for the shooting to stop. If running had been the better option, Baek Aeyeong would have told me to flee or run.
At first I lay facedown, but worrying that my left hand might get contaminated by the dirt, stones, and crushed grass, I flipped over onto my back. With my back against the dirt, I could see the sky. White clouds sparsely embroidered across the azure sky drifted by as if nothing were happening. Only the sky could be so peaceful. Even when I had been wailing and swimming frantically through the sea, the clouds over Daehan Island must have drifted peacefully, and the seawater must have surged peacefully.
As if intent on shredding the calves or thighs of whoever was moving through the field, bullets occasionally whizzed by barely a handspan above my head. Bang! Bang! Bang! The resounding gunshots and the thwick! thwick! thwick! of bullets slicing through grass stems were the only human malice I could feel from the dirt ground.
If I had chosen to run and escape the field, I would already have been shot in the knee or thigh, screaming and writhing on the ground. I let out a low sigh and waited, gazing at the blue sky.
I wanted to get out of the field, but I had no idea which direction to go. If I stood up and raised my head, I would be able to see where the buildings were, but I would immediately become a target for a rifle. Conversely, if I panicked and fired indiscriminately into the field, there was a risk that Baek Aeyeong, who must be somewhere out there, would get shot.
The initial gunfire continued intermittently before suddenly ceasing. I kept waiting, but heard nothing. Only the sounds of grass swaying and bending in the strong sea breeze reached my ears.
Sssssssss!
The wind whipped through the field in several gusting circles, seeming to carry the scent of blood from somewhere, but I couldn't tell where.
I lay still, surrendering my body to nameless grass bugs and the earth. Thinking I should move once the gunfire had ceased even slightly, I raised my upper body. At that same moment, the grass at my feet rustled violently, and a figure burst out with the sound of footsteps.
I thought it would be Baek Aeyeong, but the one who leaped out was Anna Garcia. The moment I saw someone I never expected to face in the field, I gaped in shock, my mind going blank. Anna, whose left leg was covered in blood, aimed her gun at me, looked me up and down, and asked.
"Are you Bak Muhyeon, by any chance?"
"...Yes."
For a moment, I felt the temptation to say I was someone else, but Anna looked so menacing that if I answered I wasn't Bak Muhyeon, she seemed ready to blow my head off immediately.
Upon hearing my answer, Anna made a slightly disappointed expression, then aimed her gun and ordered.
"Take off your gun and throw it on the ground."
Anna seemed to have judged the rifle hanging on my body as dangerous. The moment I saw her, I felt like I was standing before a massive carnivore. There was no way to escape.
Could I draw and fire the gun one-handed with my right hand faster than her? By the time I shot at Anna, she would have already emptied about ten rounds into my vital organs and would still have time to sing songs and hula dance while dodging my shot.
Trembling violently, I lifted the gun with my right hand and set it on the ground along with the sling. It was my only weapon, but the moment I laid down the dumbbell-like rifle weighing over 5kg, my body felt so light I might float away; yet I didn't dare think of fleeing into the grass. My whole body felt frozen solid.
What had happened to Baek Aeyeong? She couldn't be dead, could she? Had she escaped? Please, I hoped she had gotten away safely.
"Raise your hands above your head and stand up."
I slowly obeyed the command and rose awkwardly from my spot. I couldn't feel the soles of my feet touching the ground, so I felt like I might collapse at any moment. Anna, who had been scrutinizing my face closely, asked me with a displeased expression.
"Can you take me to the past?"
It was a voice brimming with distrust. I had the feeling that if the answer wasn't what she wanted, she would shoot me dead on the spot. The pounamu gemstone hanging from Anna's rifle sparkled, reflecting the midday sunlight. I was so terrified of Anna that I wanted to lie my way out of this situation. Yet strangely, the face that came to mind was Gim Gayeong's.
Trembling inwardly, I answered honestly.
"I cannot take you to the past."
"Really? In the Muhan Church, they say that you, the savior, can grant the wishes of the believers."
"However, I am a dentist, so I can provide treatment."
"Completely useless."
I just said there was something I could do! I could treat your teeth! But I wasn't someone with the nerve to repeat myself to a person pointing a gun at me, so I kept my mouth shut. Anna directed her gaze to my left hand, which was wrapped in cloth, and asked.
"What happened to your hand?"
"I was injured on the way here."
"I heard your fingers were cut off. Where are the severed fingers? Do you have them by any chance?"
"...They're in my pocket."
Anna glanced at my pants pocket while keeping her gun trained on me.
"Take them out of your pocket slowly. And throw the fingers to me."
Judging by her tone and manner, it didn't seem like Anna was doing this to heal me with all her might. Since she was threatening me with a gun, it felt like some kind of bizarre finger robbery.
Since I might die here anyway, and the thought that my fingers would be openly seized if I stayed still crossed my mind, I somehow grew bolder, and questions began to flow out.
"Why... why are you trying to take my fingers?"
"Because I need them."
"But these are mine?"
"Not anymore."
I had thought for a long time that Anna was someone you couldn't reason with, but I never imagined it was to this extent. I knew that if I didn't take out the fingers, Anna was the type to shoot me and take them anyway.
When I slowly pulled out the plastic bag from my pants pocket with my right hand, Anna told me to quickly throw it at her feet. I didn't want to give it to her. No. What would she even use this for? I'm the one who needs these fingers. I'm going to have them surgically reattached to my hand. You crazy person.
"What are you going to use them for?"
"You don't need to know."
"No. Still. These are my fingers! You can at least tell me that much."
I asked, hiding my right hand that held the plastic bag behind my back. Anna showed annoyance at my action and spoke in a tone that suggested she was restraining herself from riddling me with bullets.
"I have to offer them at the altar. I need your flesh and blood."
"Ah."
The knife prepared beside the altar suddenly came to mind. I remembered everything: the Muhan Church believers who had stood idly by, merely watching when Anna had waved a knife around saying she would catch me, and even Jeong Sanghyeon's dreadful actions. My insides felt like they were twisting, though I couldn't tell if it was from the smell of blood on Anna's leg or the disregard for human life characteristic of pseudoreligious cults.
"Hurry up and hand it over."
Anna demanded the fingers as if she had entrusted them to me for safekeeping.
"I... By any chance... Have you ever considered taking me to the altar and offering my flesh and blood? Instead of just taking my fingers."
Anna wiggled the gun barrel up and down, then said to me.
"If I were going to drag all of you there anyway, I'd much rather comfortably take just the fingers."
This was insane. Right. Anna was always this kind of person.
When I threw the plastic bag at Anna's feet, she bent her body down while maintaining the same posture. Yet the gun barrel remained fixed on me. She briefly picked up the plastic bag with only her left hand and slowly straightened up. I had been thinking that if Anna turned her head even for a moment, I would dive into the grass, but she didn't give me the slightest opening.
Anna touched my fingers through the plastic to verify they were real, then unleashed a complaint toward me.
"Because of your broadcast, both the undersea base and Daehan Island are a complete mess right now."
"What about my broadcast?"
"Some of the personnel who were guarding the hostages to get the diamonds rushed into the exhibition hall. Then some other believers were asking what this was all about, whether they had been deceived. Saying they didn't want to kill the hostages. It's all because of you."
That wasn't because of me; it was simply the problems already present in the Muhan Church coming to a head.