Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

The chilling realization that people might split up not for rescue efforts but for other goals truly sent a shiver down my spine. Gazing at the child carried on Kang Soojung’s back, I nodded in agreement. That person must also have thoughts about escaping. However, there was a problem. I am a dentist, and Geum-i is a marine biologist. We are individuals of no use in unlocking closed doors. Wouldn’t we need at least one engineer to facilitate a rescue?

“Could we possibly take an engineer with us? I have no idea how to open the doors.”

As I said this, I looked at the three individuals. Lee Jihyun glanced at Kang Soojung, and Jung Sanghyun also looked at her. Kang Soojung eyed me strangely before nodding. Perhaps it’s because Kang Soojung is the deputy team leader of the engineering team. Jung Sanghyun spoke to Kang Soojung.

“I’d like to go along.”

“Why?”

“I want to do something good.”

Lee Jihyun, walking beside Jung Sanghyun, exclaimed in surprise.

“Did you eat something wrong?”

“Ah, noona, really. I can do good deeds too.”

Kang Soojung looked at Lee Jihyun and Jung Sanghyun before replying.

“Jihyun, you go.”

“I said I’d go, why are you leaving me out? Deputy team leader, you’re being too much.”

“Are you okay with getting completely soaked? We might have to swim to escape. I would have sent you first if I knew you could swim. I would have sent our Sanghyun first, for sure.”

“Ah, I said I’m okay with it.”

“After the rescue, I’ll post on the bulletin board. If the East District evacuation pods are all gone, please write a post. It seems like phones are completely out of service.”

As Lee Jihyun said this, she took the child from Kang Soojung and carried him on her back. Lee Jihyun’s pace started to slow down slightly. Kang Soojung called out to Sophia, who was walking ahead. Sophia stopped and waited expressionlessly. As we caught up to Sophia, Kang Soojung asked,

“Does your team have even one tablet?”

“No.”

“What about phones?”

“Phones are dead.”

Kang Soojung logged out of her tablet and handed it to Sophia.

“It seems the intranet is working if posting is possible. If your team discovers anything in the North District, write a post.”

“With the team leader’s permission.”

Sophia took Kang Soojung’s tablet and ran to Vladimir, the team leader, seemingly to explain something. Vladimir didn’t even look at Kang Soojung but waved his right hand over his shoulder. Kang Soojung sighed while looking at Vladimir’s blonde hair. Jung Sanghyun whispered to Kang Soojung,

“Why give your tablet to that nutcase?”

“If I had told you to give yours, would you have quietly handed it over?”

“Why are you trying to mess with my tablet?”

Jung Sanghyun hugged his tablet protectively. Kang Soojung sighed while looking at Jung Sanghyun. Lee Jihyun, with Henry hoisted on her back, spoke up to Kang Soojung.

“It might have been better if the team leader stayed. It’s not that your capabilities as the deputy team leader are lacking. It’s just that among the teams, those guys are the most decent, aren’t they? We’ll have to deal with even more uncooperative people, so why stress yourself unnecessarily?”

Kang Soojung glanced at Lee Jihyun’s back, then at those walking ahead, and said,

“That might be true. But can people always live like that?”

Then, stretching herself, Kang Soojung turned to me and Yoo Geum-yi with a smile.

“Prioritize getting on an evacuation boat in the South District. If the South District Research Center is safe, you can use the elevator inside, but it seems the center is completely gone. (Yoo Geum-yi’s face darkened) As for those trapped in the South District, I don’t know who they are, but try to rescue them if it’s feasible; otherwise, give up. In such situations, it’s hard enough to save oneself. With the water so high, opening the doors might be difficult, and by the time you arrive, the people in the quarters might already be dead. And if escape from the South District seems impossible, come to the East District. We’ll be putting in our efforts there.”

“How should we take the child with us?”

When Yoo Geum-yi asked Kang Soojung, she nonchalantly rolled her neck as if it were no big deal and replied,

“Sanghyun and I can take turns carrying him.”

Jung Sanghyun was taken aback and shook his head.

“What? No way. Why me?”

“You said you wanted to do something good, didn’t you?”

“It’s hard enough to save one’s own life, why should I take a child that’s not even mine?”

“Well, by that logic, he’s not my child either. Who knows? The parents might be tycoons.”

“Why would a tycoon’s parents leave their child in the 4th underwater base!”

“Hmm. I think so too.”

Jung Sanghyun gestured towards me and said,

“Let the person who saved him take care of him! That should solve it!”

Kang Soojung crossed her arms and nodded in agreement.

“Right, right. That’s a good point. But if we take the child with us, Moohyun-ssi and Geum-yi-ssi might be able to rescue more people faster. Hey, how did five people end up trapped in the South District quarters? Were they playing poker or Go-Stop? What do researchers do for fun during their downtime?”

“Huh? Nothing much, just playing Monopoly and video games.”

Jung Sanghyun energetically protested on the spot, but Kang Soojung paid him no mind.

We kept walking non-stop and entered Central District. The last incident I experienced in Central District in my dream was a shootout. Even though it didn’t happen in reality, just thinking about the gunshots and screams made my heart pound. Kang Soojung looked at Jung Sanghyun, who was hugging his tablet with both arms and turning his body away, and said with disbelief,

“Ugh, seriously. Such a small fry. I could take it by force, but I, being of good character, will refrain.”

“Deputy team leader, you hardly ever use a tablet anyway!”

Kang Soojung, who borrowed a tablet from me, checked if there were any new posts or comments on the previous post searching for the child’s parents, then quickly wrote a new post. The username was lifeboat.

___

Title: People are heading towards the South District quarters.

Content: For rescue purposes, please provide accurate information about the number of people trapped and their identities.

___

It seemed Kang Soojung didn’t believe that five people were trapped in a room in the South District. After posting, she browsed the board list and paused. While scrolling through the posts, Kang Soojung handed the tablet to me and asked,

“Where did you find that post? I can’t find it anymore.”

“I’ll look for it.”

I tried to find the peculiarly worded post among the sea of posts requesting rescue from being trapped in the South District, but it was nowhere to be found. Why was it missing? The post about being trapped in the East District submarine had completely disappeared from the board. It was definitely there before, wasn’t it? I wasn’t the only one who read it. Did they delete the post because they managed to escape on their own?

The incidents that had occurred in the East District escape pods came to mind. The sound that had been knocked twice and the terror I felt then. I thought of Ha Yoon from the engineering team and suddenly wondered if these people could be in the East District submarine. While Kang Soojung looked up at the ceiling, pondering for a moment, she borrowed the tablet again and wrote a new post. The username was Angry Boxer.

___

Title: No one at the East District escape pods port? Are you sure?

Content: Why were you working alone near the escape pods and ended up like that? If I go there and find out it’s a lie, will you be ready to face the consequences?

___

As Kang Soojung used the term “escape pods” instead of “submarine” in the post, causing me confusion, she pressed the confirm button to check if the post was uploaded properly. Then, facing me filled with questions, she explained,

“The person who wrote it must have deleted their own post. They must have decided it shouldn’t be seen by others. Or maybe they managed to escape on their own and deleted it. But you know, it’s rare here. People thinking, ‘Oh, what if someone kind-hearted reads my post and comes to rescue me only to be disappointed? I should delete my post to indirectly let them know not to come for me.’ Most people here would forget they even made a post after escaping. Suddenly deleting the post? Someone must have decided it shouldn’t be read by others.”

“······What if someone who saw the previous post goes to the submarine?”

“We’re going towards the escape pods anyway. If there are no escape pods, we’ll head to the submarine. We’ll likely meet them. It seems better to write it incorrectly than to emphasize again that someone is stuck and can’t move in the East District submarine. Well, if the person who wrote the post sees this and doesn’t like it, they’ll probably tell me off in the comments.”

Then she passed the tablet back to me. In the middle of the Central District, the engineering team, D-team, began walking towards the North District, and Nikolai and Carlos, who were at the end of the group, waved at us. Yoo Geum-yi, Lee Jihyun, and I waved back at them.

We were passing by the first restaurant in Central District, Oran. In my early days at the company, I thought the first restaurant, named after reindeer, was for vegetarians and spent half a day eating there until I saw meat being served at the second restaurant, and started eating there instead. Both places had decent food. Kang Soojung said to Yoo Geum-yi and me,

“Let’s part ways here.”

Then, with a nod to Lee Jihyun, she signaled her to approach Jung Sanghyun, who recoiled in horror and stepped back, exclaiming,

“Agh! Do we really have to take that kid with us?”

“Then you wake the kid up and make him walk.”

At Kang Soojung’s words, Jung Sanghyun grimaced and pinched the arm of the child lying on Lee Jihyun’s back with three fingers, twisting it 90 degrees. I gasped in shock, and Yoo Geum-yi shouted at him,

“Why would you pinch a child?!”

“He might be pretending to be asleep!”

Jung Sanghyun yelled back at Yoo Geum-yi, but Henry remained unresponsive. I didn’t agree with taking the child but didn’t expect such behavior. As concern flooded in, Kang Soojung, seemingly unsurprised, lifted the child from Lee Jihyun’s back and placed him on Jung Sanghyun’s back. As soon as the child was on his back, Jung Sanghyun’s knees buckled then wobbled before straightening. Holding Jung Sanghyun’s tablet, Kang Soojung suppressed a laugh and said,

“Hey, don’t tell me you can’t carry a 20kg kid? Sanghyun can handle that, right? I mean, even Jihyun, who’s as thin as a reed, managed to carry him here.”

“Hey, what do you take me for, deputy team leader? I’m Jung Sanghyun! I could fly around carrying a kid like this!”

“Yeah, yeah. I know our Sanghyun is strong. I’ll take over after we pass the East District elevator. Hang in there until then.”

Kang Soojung, speaking soullessly, watched Jung Sanghyun walking unsteadily towards the East District, then turned to Yoo Geum-yi, Lee Jihyun, and me, saying,

“It would be best to take an escape pod from the South District, but if that’s not possible, I hope you escape safely by any means. Write down everything, good or bad, on the tablet. I’ll head there or avoid it accordingly.”

Lee Jihyun shook hands with Kang Soojung and left her with a word of caution. Yoo Geum-yi gave a respectful nod.