Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Chapter 112

I quickly put on socks and hiking boots. As I pocketed my phone, which had become more of a watch than its original purpose, I thought: What time was it when I woke up in bed before? It must have been around 7 AM then too.

Since it was a holiday and water suddenly started leaking, I was so flustered that I couldn’t remember at all what time I woke up. I was about to blame my careless past self, but realizing there was no point in beating myself up, I rationalized instead. You don’t count time on holidays anyway. You just lie around lazily all day without thinking, eat something when you’re hungry, and then lie down again to pass time.

It was around 4:30 PM when I died in the elevator, wasn’t it? ……Let’s start recording the time from now on. It’s not too late for anything. I can start now. I woke up at 7:02 AM this morning. While giving myself a tiny bit of comfort, I tossed my backpack onto the bed.

This time too, I stuffed all the towels I had into the backpack. Unlike last time, I didn’t even bother putting my wallet or phone charger in the backpack. Clean cloth always comes in handy in any situation.

What else should I pack? I definitely need a flashlight. As time passed, power outages in the undersea base became more frequent. Light is necessary not only to see ahead but also for psychological reasons. In darkness, even the tiniest spark of light can be so comforting to the mind.

What else? Wherever I go, if I see any sturdy, long rope, I should definitely grab it. Considering how Team Leader Shin Haeryang used parachute cords, and how I regretted not having a rope when the South District Research Center had a blackout, it’s bound to be useful this time too.

I should also grab any painkillers I find along the way. It’s nearly impossible for a person to achieve anything while continuously feeling pain. Whether it’s mental or physical pain, it inevitably scatters your concentration.

The human body wasn’t originally designed to endure pain, so what can you do? It’s amazing how people who normally wouldn’t even look at a dental clinic come running so quickly when they get a toothache. What else, what else? I should avoid getting injured as much as possible. And if I come across water, I must take it.

……This time should be better than the last. I don’t want to see people dying anymore, and I don’t want to die either.

After pondering for 5 seconds, I decided not to take the family photo and whale plushie this time. Instead, I packed an extra pair of pants and swept all the candy and chocolate from the table into the backpack.

As I zipped up the waterproof backpack, I thought. Even if dying sends me back to the past, I don’t know how many times I can go back. What if this is the last time? What should I do if I can’t go back to the past anymore?

Now, even the time to think was precious. I came to a simple conclusion.

What else? I should live diligently as always, just like I’ve always done. Without regrets.

Let’s not believe that we can go back to the past infinitely. How do we know if those Infinity Church bastards named their cult wrong and it’s actually the 3-Times Religion or 5-Times Religion? How can we trust the naming sense and work of these cult bastards? I took one deep breath. I was fully dressed with my backpack on. I could run out of the room at any moment.

Instead of leaving the room, I quickly opened the undersea base guidebook to find the broadcasting section. If this guidebook wasn’t in Korean, I wouldn’t have dared to open it in this situation.

Flipping through the pages, I briefly saw that the first escape method listed was the escape pod. I could only find the broadcasting section after turning quite a few pages, and skimming through it quickly, I saw that emergency broadcasts could also be made through the pad. It stated that broadcasting was possible if you had authority equivalent to or higher than an assistant team leader engineer within the undersea base.

Even during my 5-day shift here, there were broadcasts made once for each base. There were announcements about engineer shift changes, charging and repair times for mining robots, requests to return borrowed items or find people, and often broadcasts about what time to come out if you wanted to board a helicopter or ship from a certain country.

How much authority do I have? I know I can open other people’s doors with my fingerprint because I’m designated as medical staff. So what about broadcasting? Do I have the authority to make broadcasts? Does my authority equal or exceed that of an assistant team leader engineer?

I turned on the pad and entered the undersea base program. Even the 1-second wait for the program screen to turn on felt agonizing. Then I spent a few more seconds fumbling through the program to find the broadcasting section. Another part of me was screaming in impatience, saying there’s no time for this nonsense and that I should run out of the room right now.

I tried to calm my anxious self. I’m doing this to get better. I’m doing this to live a better life. I’m not wasting time! Be patient!

As I soothed my trembling fingertips from the urgency, I finally found the broadcast screen. When I pressed the broadcast button, it turned from red to green, activating. Cute dolphins and sailfish started swimming all over the screen. Can I broadcast like this? I asked the pad as if talking to it.

“Is this how I speak?”

[Is this how I speak]

As soon as I spoke to the pad, my stupid voice immediately flowed from the corridor speakers. I didn’t even have time to breathe a sigh of relief. I immediately started speaking into the pad.

[This is Park Moohyun, a dentist working at the 4th Undersea Base, Deep Blue. If anyone is hearing my voice right now, do not board the escape pods! I repeat, do not escape through the escape pods! Currently, the escape pods have been… uh… intentionally sabotaged by unknown individuals to prevent them from leaving the mesopelagic zone (-1000m). Even if an escape pod looks fine on the outside, you must not board it. For those trying to escape the undersea base, please abandon the idea of escaping via escape pods.]

If you don’t want to die, don’t take the escape pods! You bastards! What else? I recalled every bit of knowledge I had.

[And I don’t know who they are, but someone has attacked the South District with torpedoes. At minimum, the Rare Earth Center, and at maximum, the South District Research Center, is being flooded with seawater.]

How much information should I give? ……I don’t know? How should people who hear this broadcast survive? I was about to ponder but realized I didn’t even have time to think.

What I’m doing might be a complete mistake. Maybe no one will believe me. It might be a stupid waste of time. ……But someone might survive because of this!

I decided to provide everything I knew to the people listening to this broadcast. Monopolizing information about the future and trying to benefit alone would only end up producing corpses.

[In the East District, Engineer Team (China) is armed with firearms and indiscriminately attacking people, and Engineer Team (Japan) is also roaming around the Central Zone armed.]

I licked my parched lips once and said.

[Also, escape through the central elevator is impossible. A crazy religious group wearing black hats and Greenland shark patches has occupied the other undersea bases except for the 4th Undersea Base, armed. The number of followers of this religion called the Infinity Church is estimated to be between 20 and 60. They are armed with rifles, and if you try to go up using the central elevator, you will inevitably encounter them. They aim to turn back time, and for some reason, they worship Greenland sharks. They are very hostile and do not want the staff residing in the undersea bases to escape.]

What else was there? I knew I was spouting nonsense that even I couldn’t understand as I spoke. Who would believe the Infinity Church story? I might be treated like a lunatic.

[Especially, absolutely! Absolutely! Do not board the undersea cable car connecting the 2nd Undersea Base and the 1st Undersea Base! And don’t take the South District cargo elevator either! The undersea cable car is likely to collapse along with the undersea base as time passes. And if you board the South District cargo elevator, due to continuous power outages, it moves up like a slug, and from the moment you board, there’s nothing you can do except scream and pray!]

Having experienced being eaten by a shark and shot to death, my impression is that other people don’t need to experience this. Let’s share bad experiences to prevent more victims. Did I miss anything? I hesitated as I was about to end the broadcast and added one last thing.

[The undersea base is currently facing an unprecedented situation. At this moment, we must put aside our selfishness and try to overcome this disaster by helping those around us as much as possible. We cannot survive alone. Don’t calculate gains and losses or rationality. To survive, we must help each other without expecting anything in return. ……Let’s stay healthy and get out alive.]

If people who heard this broadcast asked where they should escape to, I had no answer. I’ve never successfully left the undersea base either. But one thing I can be sure of: You need to cooperate with the people you meet inside the undersea base. It’s hard enough just dealing with these insane fanatic terrorists!

I blurted out the last words and ended the broadcast. Then I immediately pressed the emergency alarm on the pad.

[Beep beep beep beep! Emergency situation! All personnel in the 4th Undersea Base, please evacuate through escape pods, elevators, etc. Emergency situation! All personnel in the 4th Undersea Base, please evacuate through escape pods, elevators, etc.]

The now-familiar voice echoed throughout the White Tiger Zone. It was the button Vladimir had pressed before. I heard the doors of the White Tiger Zone opening simultaneously.

Although I had expected it, as soon as the door opened, water rushed into the room like a wave. Just seeing that made my heart rate skyrocket from stress.

……Calm down. You can do this. You’re doing this for the third time now. You’re completely used to it. You’ve become an expert. Don’t worry. You won’t be late. You can do everything on time. You haven’t wasted anything. There’s no need to be hasty.

Watching the water rise to my ankles, I immediately ran out of the room.

Carlos and Yoo Geum-yi were already in the corridor. The two were struggling to walk through the water-filled corridor. The sight of Yoo Geum-yi floundering as she walked through the water-filled corridor was so welcome. I shouted at their backs as I splashed through the water.

“There’s a cat in room 64! Please take it with you!”

“You want us to save a pet in this situation?! Are you crazy?”

Carlos retorted incredulously. I could see Irina running down the corridor, and Vladimir dragging Nikolai out of his room.

“Vladi-mir!”

I shouted his name at the top of my lungs as I passed room 36. The Engineer Da Team leader turned his head towards me as he was looking at his drunk team member.

“Dmitri is sleeping in room 80! And there should be a snake in room 76, I think!”

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