Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Already, several people had gathered near the escape pod. Nikita, who had been running, Yoo Geum-yi, the missing Carlos, and the Russians were all together.

I walked, wringing the water out of the hem of my worn-out shirt. I wished I could take off my damp clothes in a corner where no one could see me, wring them out, shake them off, and put them back on. As I thought this, a black-haired man sitting next to the escape pod dock turned around.

I was at a loss for words as soon as I saw his face. I thought the fair-haired and chiseled-jawed Vladimir was handsome, but this was a different level of good-looking. A few strands of his wet hair covered half of his smooth forehead, and even though his black hair covered more than half of his forehead, he was stunningly handsome at first glance.

If I had that face, I would probably have made a living just by sitting in the middle of a busy street and showing it off. Passersby would be so convinced by that face that they would willingly pay money just to see it. Like how one is touched when they look at a cute puppy or kitten, I realized for the first time that when you look at someone incredibly good-looking, your mind goes blank. For a few seconds, my mind went blank, and I just stared at the man as he sat down and then stood up.

As he approached, his face became clearer, and I was amazed by his features and jawline. It was as if he had the precious golden ratio that needed to be preserved for future generations. The man, who had scanned me from head to toe, spoke:

“My name is Shin Hae-ryang. Are you hurt anywhere?”

His fairly low voice resonated.

Wow… even his lips and teeth are good-looking. How could God be so unfair? Then again, if God were fair, He wouldn’t have buried a man like this 3km under the sea.

I stared blankly at the man of the rumors and then answered, “No, I’m not. I’m Park Muhyun. …Why haven’t you escaped yet?”

“You must be the new dentist. We were contemplating what to do because all the functional escape pods have been deployed.”

…That was the third most chilling thing I had heard in my life. It was creepy.

I looked around, and there were quite a few people: Shin Hae-ryang, Seo Ji-hyuk, Baek Ae-young, Yoo Geum-yi, the five-member Russian team, Carlos, and even a young child. Were there no escape pods capable of carrying these people? Forty-two deployed escape pods were soaring toward the surface like missiles.

I stared blankly at the monitor and asked, “What about the non-functional escape pods?”

“There are 13 broken escape pods, but it seems better to move to another residential area than trying to escape using those.”

Viktor, who was over 2 meters tall, had been covering the child so much that I couldn’t tell if the kid was there or not. When he set the child down on the dry floor, everyone’s expression, excluding mine, was priceless.

“Does anyone know who brought the child?”

The gaze of Shin Hae-ryang, who asked the question, was cold. No one answered. Judging by the atmosphere, it was clear that there was no unspoken agreement that a minor could live in the underwater base—something I, a newcomer to the base, didn’t know. As I cautiously searched the bag with the cat inside, I took out a plastic pill bottle. Yoo Geum-yi, who approached, read the English on the bottle and frowned.

“It seems to be a sleeping pill.”

“A sleeping pill?”

“I think you came from West District last, which room did you bring him from?”

“He was sleeping in room 80.”

Sophia, who used to use a room around room 70, said with a slight smirk., “That room is empty, though.”

The atmosphere went cold. It wasn’t because we were wearing clothes soaked in cold seawater, but it felt as if a Siberian wind had swept through the room. Minors were not allowed in the underwater base. In this atmosphere, there was no telling how chaotic things would get if I pulled out the two unauthorized pets I had.

I discreetly moved the two bags I was carrying to my back. Hoping that the snake and the cat wouldn’t make any noise. So far, they had been quiet enough to stay undetected in their accommodations. I hoped they would keep it up.

Shin Hae-ryang floated a 3D blueprint of the underwater base on a pad and pointed to it with his hand. “My team and I will move to the nearest North District and try to find an escape pod from there.”

A total of 75 escape pods in North District were displayed on the screen. Then, Vladimir pushed the blueprint aside and pointed to another accommodation.

“Seeing how it was flooded earlier, North District is probably submerged in water too. How about going to Central District instead?”

Engineer Baek Aeyeong shook her head. “Going there is dangerous.”

“Why?”

“Our team was repairing the exterior wall outside and saw Central Research Center completely disappear.”

“How can Central Research Center, the largest facility in the 4th underwater base, just disappear?!”

Upon hearing Baek Aeyeong’s response earlier, Yoo Geum-yi, a researcher who practically lived in the Central District, bit her lip and said, “How about taking the central elevator up to the surface? Including those under construction, there are a total of 14 elevators. Can’t we just take one that’s in good condition?”

Shin Hae-ryang, who was listening, objected, “If we experience another shock like the one 20 minutes ago or encounter a problem while riding the elevator, it’s game over. Escape pods are much safer.”

As people discussed various escape methods, I stood with my arms crossed and watched. I knew nothing about the underwater base anyway. Even if swimming out was the best option, I had no grounds to argue. Engineers who had been here for years would know the underwater base well, not a dentist like me who had only been here for a week.

I stood a bit away from the conversation, listening to the engineers’ stories. Next to me, Baek Aeyeong was watching her team leader like an Pokemon that had been released. I quietly asked Baek Aeyeong.

“Erm, Ms. Baek Aeyeong, I have a question about something that came up earlier. I’m sorry, but could I ask you about it?”

“Uh… go ahead.” She furrowed her brows as she listened.

“Can’t we just take the central elevator that moves directly up, like Yoo Geum-yi mentioned earlier? Isn’t the central elevator the fastest way to escape to the surface?”

Fortunately, Baek Ae-young didn’t ridicule me for being clueless. She simply looked at the escape route position in the North District area that Team Leader Shin was pointing at and then turned her head to look at me. “You do know we are 3,000 meters under the sea right now, right?”

I nodded, and Baek Ae-young hesitated for a moment, as if she was trying to figure out how to explain it to someone who knew nothing. Then she slowly said, “There are a total of 14 elevators built to go from where we are, at ~3,000 meters, to the sea level at 0 meters. Only two of them move directly up. One is the central elevator, and the other is a cargo elevator located within the main research center.”

I had only used the central direct elevator to enter and exit the underwater base. It made sense, considering I had only been here for five days, and it was challenging enough not to get lost while navigating between West District, where the accommodations for the 4th underwater base were, and the central area where the dining hall and dental clinic were located.

While the central elevator required a wait time of about 10 minutes or more, it saved much more time compared to taking a subway or bus. Moreover, being in front of the elevator provided opportunities to meet various people, which was not a bad thing for exchanging greetings, memorizing names, or engaging in casual conversation.

Baek Ae-young explained further, “Instead of traveling the entire 3km distance in one go, the other 12 elevators are divided into sections. So, there are three elevators that move from 0 meters to ~50 meters, three from there to ~200 meters, three to ~1,000 meters, and three more to ~3,000 meters. There is also one elevator under construction at the deep-sea base.”

It’s easy to remember. Three elevators from Daehan Island on the 0th floor to the 1st underwater base, three to the 2nd underwater base, three to the 3rd underwater base, and three to the 4th underwater base. So there are a total of 14 elevators, including the two that travel the entire distance. Is this a lot of elevators or a few? I’m not sure.

Seeing my confused expression, Baek Ae-young explained more simply, “Imagine we were not underwater, but rather on the rooftop of an extremely tall building. You would know whether it’s safe or not to take an elevator down during an earthquake or similar event, right?”

I nodded in agreement, making an affirmative sound as I listened to Baek Ae-young’s explanation. Normally, elevators move at 600 meters per second, but it seems that the ones here do not. It takes about 10 minutes just to go down to the 4th underwater base at -3,000 meters. From the perspective of someone riding the elevator, it feels incredibly slow.

So, in this situation, taking the central elevator would expose you to a potentially life-threatening risk and fear for 10 minutes, right? Or even death. Of course, stairs would be much safer in that case.

If I were living in a 250-story building on land and experienced some kind of shock or an earthquake, I would choose to take the stairs to escape rather than the elevator.

However, when the height reaches around 3 km, it becomes a Herculean task to walk down that many stairs. It would be less dangerous if there were more elevators that moved directly. Can’t we just take a less broken-looking elevator? Is the escape route safer?

I cautiously asked Baek Ae-young again, “Please consider this as a question from someone who knows nothing. When building the underwater base, couldn’t more elevators have been built?”

Baek Ae-young laughed softly upon hearing this. It was the first time I saw her smile, but it didn’t seem to be a smile from happiness.

“Why are there only 14 elevators in a base 3,000 meters under the sea when even a 1,000-meter high-rise building has at least 60? Is that your question?”

Instead of saying my question was foolish, Baek Ae-young simply answered sarcastically, “Building elevators underwater isn’t easy. And it’s not cheap either. This underwater base was originally built for mining purposes, not for people to live in. Nowadays, they pour astronomical amounts of money into developing underwater bases, calling them the first Pacific undersea base, Earth’s last hope, and the last frontier excluding space. But when construction started, before environmental pollution became visible, there wasn’t much capital. The base was primarily built to send drilling equipment and mining robots. It’s been less than eight years since they started trying to create a more human-friendly environment.”

I hadn’t expected the cost to be an issue. I recalled an article I had read when I was applying to work at the underwater base.

“I saw that Canada alone had invested at least 50 trillion won, is that not enough for elevator expansion?”

“This is already an expansion. Everything used underwater is expensive. If you knew the cost of that dental clinic, you would be shocked.”

It seemed to be much more expensive than regular clinic setup costs. Standing was making my legs hurt, so I sat on the floor. I wasn’t the only one sitting; Ae-young was lying on the floor, and a man named Nikolai was also sprawled on the ground, but nobody seemed to care. Sitting on the floor made me realize that my tailbone hurt from the impact when I had fallen off the bed.

I suddenly recalled the situation when I had woken up and asked, “Do you think this situation is due to an earthquake?”

As Baek Ae-young was about to speak, Nikolai, who was half-raised from the floor, pointed at Baek Ae-young, Shin Hae-ryang, and Seo Jihyuk with his fingers, and then pointed at the escape pod. “How about fixing those? There are three sober engineers here right now.” Then, with a drunken finger, he whipped the escape pods with red warning lights indicating that they had malfunctioned.

Baek Ae-young coldly responded to the half-lying Nikolai. “Why don’t you fix it?”

It seemed that not all Russian engineers could fix everything in sight. One of the three engineers, Seo Jihyuk, shook his head, “The hull is warped or there’s a problem with the depressurization system, that’s why it’s letting air in. All I have right now are my bare hands, so I can fix it just~enough, but by the time we reach the surface, Nikolai’s here will have turned into a dead body.”

It seemed that they knew each other well, as Nikolai and Seo Jihyuk exchanged friendly middle fingers.