CH 24

Behind the convenience store, there was a straight bridge that led to Cheongryong-dong. I had only been there once before to see what was in the initial underwater base. As we turned around the convenience store building, I lightly tapped the shoulder of Baek Ae-young, who was at the back.

“Let’s go inside the convenience store. Let’s grab some water too.”

As the footsteps of the people walking behind us slowed down, Seo Ji-hyuk, who was at the front, stopped. Shin Hae-ryang, after three seconds of contemplation, nodded his head. The backpacks were with me, Baek Ae-young, and Shin Hae-ryang, and upon seeing the two backpacks behind me, Seo Ji-hyuk spoke.

“Give me one backpack. I’ll go and come back.”

It was difficult to guess which backpack, the one with the snake or the one with the cat, would be better. Moreover, the snake was a very small grass snake, while the cat weighed around 6 to 7 kilograms, filling up an entire backpack. Giving the backpack with the snake could have resulted in a bite. Of course, since the snake hadn’t bitten me yet, it was either gentle, didn’t bite people much, or was already dead. It seemed to be one of those three possibilities. I couldn’t give away a backpack in this state.

“Let’s go together.”

Surprisingly, Seo Ji-hyuk nodded his head obediently. I, Seo Ji-hyuk, and Baek Ae-young quietly entered the convenience store. Baek Ae-young began counting in a low voice as soon as we entered.

The convenience store was overflowing with provisions. Choco bars, snacks, candies, chocolates, high-calorie items were all gathered there. They were all free. They could only be eaten inside the Fourth Underwater Base.

I went first to the refrigerated drinks section, opened the backpack with the snake, and tried to grab a few bottles of water. Now that I looked, the snake had gone into the inner pocket of the backpack. It was coiled up in a circle. I cautiously put two 1.5-liter bottles of water in the backpack. Then I opened one bottle of water and drank from it while sweeping chocolates, candy bars, and chocolates into the backpack with my hand.

The others were doing something similar. Baek Ae-young put two bottles of sports drinks and one bottle of water in her backpack, and Seo Ji-hyuk put two bottles of water and filled the remaining space with chocolate bars and nut bars. Baek Ae-young pushed pudding and fruit cups into the empty spaces in her backpack. Fifteen. Sixteen.

Watching Baek Ae-young count and noticing her expression, Seo Ji-hyuk suddenly pushed the back of the refrigerated drinks section with his hand and pulled out something. I thought it was a beverage, but what he pulled out turned out to be a 50-year-old Valentine whiskey. Fifty years old. I had never seen it before in my life. It was older than me. Since two bottles of water and the 50-year-old Valentine whiskey didn’t fit in the backpack at once, Seo Ji-hyuk struggled with the backpack zipper. Baek Ae-young, who was counting, quietly shouted to me and Seo Ji-hyuk.

“Let’s go!”

“Just a moment!”

“What do you mean, just a moment! Let’s go!”

Baek Ae-young became annoyed and dragged Seo Ji-hyuk along. I also followed them and, as I was walking, I stopped when I saw something collapsed about 10 meters away from the convenience store. There was a person lying there.

“Huh?”

I thought I had paused to look at the person, but Seo Ji-hyuk, who had returned, grabbed my arm and pulled me away. He was so strong that my feet were lifted, and it felt like I was being dragged. Shin Hae-ryang, who had been waiting behind the convenience store building, immediately moved as if he was waiting for us.

For some reason, there was a continuous sound like “dadada!” or something that sounded like the loud noise of popping corn. As we moved away from the convenience store and completely left Jungang-dong, Baek Ae-young kept sending signals for us to stay silent. From the way she was gesturing with her hands, it seemed like she would tear her mouth apart or pull out her tongue if she didn’t close her mouth. When we arrived at the bridge towards Cheongryong-dong, Shin Hae-ryang looked around at the people and spoke.

“You can talk now.”

At those words, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Ever since seeing a person armed with a gun, Yu Geum had been glancing nervously behind her, but now she spoke.

“Oh dear, that’s a relief. At least we haven’t encountered the person carrying the gun face-to-face until now.”

Seo Ji-hyuk started to say something but fell silent when Baek Ae-young shook her fist behind him. Hesitating for a moment, I opened my mouth, looking at Seo Ji-hyuk.

“Earlier, there was a person collapsed near the convenience store.”

In response to my question, Seo Ji-hyuk answered with a troubled expression.

“Yes.”

“Was it just a fainting spell? Or did they get shot with the gun?”

From a distance, there didn’t seem to be any visible wounds that could be recognized as gunshot injuries. Wouldn’t blood be splattered all over if they were shot? Baek Ae-young shook her head.

“They were shot in the back. They’re either dead or going to die. Sir, do you happen to have any medical knowledge about gunshot wounds?”

“No.”

If there were a bleeding wound in the mouth, I knew how to handle it diligently. But what good would it do even if I knew how to treat it? At most, I could only deal with injuries to the head. Of course, whether it’s the head or the mouth, my knowledge is utterly useless when it comes to gunshot wounds. I only have two backpacks, one with animals and the other with nothing.

“It seems like they were hit when we were coming from Theater 3 towards the café,” Baek Ae-young said.

Upon Baek Ae-young’s words, Yu Geum made a disgusted expression and made an impression with her fingers as she spoke to me.

“I saw their face.”

“No. They were lying face-down. Well… They had orange hair, short hair, and they were a man with an Asian appearance. They had a shark tattoo on the back of their hand.”

“Hong Tao. He’s an engineer and Taiwanese,” Shin Hae-ryang said. Perhaps he had previously given me a face massage with his fists.

“Do you know him?”

“I only know his face and name.”

Ah, I see. Seo Ji-hyuk suddenly exclaimed and applauded, shouting with excitement.

“That’s it! That guy… He steals salt from the restaurant and eats salt coffee, setting off the alarm at 3 a.m.”

Yu Geum also nodded, indicating that she knew the person.

“That person used to post recipes on the underwater base forum just to relieve stress, right?”

It seems there are quite a few people at the underwater base who relieve stress by talking about food. While we were engrossed in the conversation, Baek Ae-young said,

“More engineers seem to have survived than expected.”

“But didn’t that person die earlier?”

In response to my perplexing question, Baek Ae-young pressed her lips, stressed, and shook her head.

“When working, teams move together. So if they didn’t die like that person earlier, there’s a high chance that the rest of the team is still alive.”

As Yu Geum walked across the bridge leading to Cheongryong-dong, she rubbed her forearm with both hands several times.

“It’s a bit chilly around Cheongryong-dong. The indoor temperature must be lower.”

“That’s right.”

I hadn’t thought it was colder now since I had already been immersed in water twice. But upon hearing Yu Geum’s opinion, I suddenly felt a shivering cold. It seemed that all the adrenaline that had been pouring out due to tension had been completely exhausted as soon as I left Jungang-dong.

Seeing Seo Ji-hyuk’s face stiffen, who had been walking around the underwater base as if taking a stroll, he looked at his pad and scratched his head, saying, “That’s right. I don’t really feel hot or cold, and our team’s suits provide some insulation against the cold and heat. I didn’t notice it, but it seems like the life support system is malfunctioning. Normally, the temperature should be maintained at 24 degrees, but now it’s 21 degrees.”

Something crucial seemed to be malfunctioning. Just hearing the name sounds deadly.