Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Chapter 24

If you turn around the back of the convenience store, a straight bridge leading to the East district appears. I only visited the East district once, when I first arrived at the underwater base to see what was there. As I turned around the convenience store building, I lightly tapped on Baek Ae-young’s shoulder, who was trailing at the very end.

“I’m going into the convenience store. I’ll grab some water too.”

The footsteps of the people walking behind began to slow, so the person leading the group, Seo Jihyuk, stopped. Shin Hae Ryang, who had contemplated for about three seconds, nodded in agreement. Both Baek Ae-young and I were carrying backpacks, but upon seeing the two backpacks behind me, Seo Jihyuk spoke up.

“Give me a backpack. I’ll be back soon.”

It was hard for me to decide which bag to give him, the one with the snake or the one with the cat. Furthermore, the snake was a very small garter snake, whereas the cat weighed about 6 to 7 kilograms, filling up an entire backpack. If I gave him the bag with the snake, there was a chance he could get bitten. Of course, considering I hadn’t been bitten yet, the creature could be docile, not prone to biting, or possibly dead. It could be any of the three. But I couldn’t give a backpack in this state to someone else.

“Let’s go together.”

Surprisingly, Seo Jihyuk readily agreed, nodding his head. Baek Ae-young, Seo Jihyuk, and I quietly entered the convenience store. As Baek Ae-young walked in, she began counting softly. ‘One, two, three, four.’

The convenience store was filled with goodies. There were Choco-Bana¹ snacks, candies, chocolates, and high-calorie items gathered together. All of them were free. They could only be eaten inside the 4th Underwater Base.

First, I went to the beverage refrigerator and opened the backpack with the snake in it to get a few bottles of water. It was only now that I realized the snake was inside a pouch on the backside of the backpack. The snake was curled up in a ball, and I carefully put two 1.5-liter bottles of water in the bag. Then, while drinking a bottle of water, I grabbed as many candies, Choco-Bana, and chocolates as I could and almost tossed them into my bag.

Everyone else did something similar. Baek Ae-young put two bottles of sports drinks and one bottle of water in her bag, and Seo Jihyuk put two bottles of water in his bag and filled the rest of the space with Choco-Bana and nut bars. Baek Ae-young also crammed puddings and fruit cups into the remaining space in her bag, while counting,  ‘Fifteen, sixteen.’

While Baek Ae-young was counting, Seo Jihyuk, who was keeping an eye on her, suddenly pushed something in the very back of the beverage fridge and pulled something out. I thought it was a beverage, but it turned out to be a bottle of Ballantine’s 50-year-old whisky ². A 50-year-old vintage, something I’d never seen before in my life. The liquor was older than me. Struggling with the bag’s zipper because the two bottles of water and the 50-year-old Ballantine’s wouldn’t fit in the backpack at the same time, Seo Jihyuk and I were quietly yelled at by Baek Ae-young who had been counting.

“Let’s go!”

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“Hold on a sec!”

“What do you mean hold on a sec! We have to go now!”

Annoyed, Baek Aeyoung dragged Seo Jihyuk out. Following them, I stopped upon seeing something collapsed about 10 meters away from the convenience store. There was a person lying there.

“Huh?”

I thought I had stopped for a moment upon seeing that person, but before I knew it, Seo Jihyuk, who had returned, grabbed my forearm and dragged me away. His strength was such that I was practically dragged along with my feet barely touching the ground. Shin Haeryang, who had been waiting behind the convenience store building, moved right away as if waiting for the two of us.

Strangely enough, I kept hearing a sound like popping popcorn or some large footsteps. Until we moved far away from the convenience store and completely left the Central district, Baek Ae-young continued to send us signals for silence. From the way she was gesturing here and there with her hands, it seemed like she was warning us to keep our mouths shut or risk getting them ripped open or our tongues pulled out. As soon as we stepped onto the bridge leading to the East district, leaving the Central district, Shin Haeryang looked around at everyone and spoke, “You all can speak now.”

Relieved, I breathed out at his words.

After seeing the armed man, Yoo Geum-yi looked anxious, repeatedly glancing behind herself before speaking, “Phew, that was scary. But, I’m glad we haven’t come across anyone armed like before.”

Seo Jihyuk was about to open his mouth, but stopped when he saw Baek Ae-young shaking her fist from behind. I hesitated before opening my mouth to Seo Jihyuk.

“Earlier…there was a man who collapsed next to the convenience store.”

At my question, Seo Jihyuk answered hesitantly, “Yes.”

“Did he just faint? Or was he shot?”

From afar, I didn’t see any significant wounds. ‘Wouldn’t there be blood splattering everywhere if he was shot?’

Baek A-young shook her head. “He was shot in the back. He’s either dead, or will be soon. Do you have any medical knowledge of gunshot wounds?”

“No.”

‘If there was bleeding inside the mouth, I had confidence in handling that. But even if I try my best, the only place I could potentially treat would be the head. Of course, whether it’s the head or mouth, if it gets shot, my knowledge is completely useless. All I have is a backpack with an animal inside. What more can I do?’

“It seemed like he was shot when we were moving from Cinema 3 to the cafe.”

At Baek Ae-young’s words, Yoo Geum-yi looked at me with a bored expression. “Did you see his face?”

“No, he was face down. But… his hair was orange, short, he was a male, Asian, and had a shark tattoo on the back of his hand.”

“Hong Tao. He’s an engineer from D team and a Taiwanese,” Shin Haeryang said.

‘Could it be the same person who he once punched in the face?’

“Do you know him?”

“I only know his face and name.”

‘Oh, I guess not.’ 

Seo Jihyuk clapped his hands with a sudden exclamation, as if he knew the person. “That’s it! That guy’s… the one who stole salt from the restaurant late at night to make salted coffee and set off the alarm at 3 am.”

Yoo Geum-yi nodded, recognizing the person. “Wasn’t he the one who kept posting recipes on the underwater base’s bulletin board to relieve stress?”

‘It seems there are quite a few people relieving stress through food at the underwater base.’

Baek Ae-young, who was listening to the conversation, spoke, “It seems that a lot of engineers have survived, surprisingly…”

“But the person we saw earlier is dead, isn’t he?”

At my incredulous question, Baek Ae-young bit her lip, stressed, and shook her head. “Because they work in teams, if one hasn’t died like earlier, there’s a high chance the rest of the team is alive.”

As Yoo Geum-yi walked towards the bridge leading to the East district, she repeatedly rubbed her arm, “It’s a bit chilly in the East district. The indoor temperature seems lower.”

“That’s right.”

I didn’t feel particularly colder now because I had been in the water twice, losing much of my body heat. But hearing Yoo Geum-yi’s opinion, I suddenly felt a chill. It seemed like the adrenaline that had been pumping from tension was all spent as we left the Central district. Seo Jihyuk, who had been strolling through the underwater base, suddenly looked serious. He scratched his head while looking at the pad.

“You’re right. I’m not really affected by heat or cold, and our team’s suits have some protective functions against such conditions, so I didn’t notice. It seems like the life support system has broken down. Normally, the temperature is maintained at 24 degrees, but it’s currently 21 degrees.”

Something very important seemed to have broken. Just by the name, it sounded fatal.

1. Actual name is Choco-Banana. A very popular Korean snacks made by Lotte (company)[↩]
2. A well-known, scotch whiskey[↩]