Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea - Chapter 80

As Kim Ga-young opened the laboratory door, the red glow illuminating through my eyelids disappeared. Opening my eyes to adapt to the darkness, everything was pitch black, and I couldn’t see anything, so I had to trust and follow Lee Jihyun’s hand in front of me. It took some time for my eyes to barely make out Lee Jihyun’s silhouette. Yoo Geum-yi behind me was probably in the same situation.

There was almost nothing visible. Not even emergency lights. Wouldn’t the rest of the marine life die if the power was cut off like this? Would there be an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) here? If so, the lights would have come on, right? I don’t know.

As I thought about the recent past, I began to regret my stupidity. I should have grabbed a rope earlier. Then we could have tied our waists or arms together to walk, and we could have used both hands freely. I remembered how resourcefully Shin Haeryang used the parachute cord in my dream. I should learn from others’ good examples, but I haven’t changed at all. Let’s say others are like that. I had already experienced a similar situation. How progressive and wise of me. Damn it.

Kim Ga-young stood as close to the lab door as possible, and thanks to thinking about how to move before the lights went out, we could leave the lab without any interference. We walked in a line through the dark corridor, relying on each other’s hands. We tried to minimize the sound of our footsteps.

Even the slightest sounds we inevitably made while walking made me flinch and look around. Lee Jihyun’s palm holding mine was damp with tension. Maybe I was just as terrified? I gripped Yoo Geum-yi’s hand a little tighter, then loosened my grip slightly, fearing it might hurt. I was scared when I put too much strength into my hand, and I was scared when I loosened my grip.

What would happen if I accidentally let go of this hand and got separated from the people ahead?

Was the hand I was pulling really Yoo Geum-yi’s?

Was the hand pulling me from the front really Lee Jihyun’s?

A chill ran down my spine as if someone was about to snatch the back of my head. Were we dragging that man from earlier? What if Lee Jihyun in front of me, Yoo Geum-yi holding my hand, or Kim Ga-young leading the way to the Deep-Sea Pollution Center had switched places with the murderer? Were we going the right way? Such groundless, terrifying thoughts kept popping into my mind.

However, I tried to suppress my fears with Lee Jihyun’s silhouette, which I caught a glimpse of with my eyes adapted to the darkness, and Yoo Geum-yi’s faint breathing behind me. Rather than screaming and running alone into the darkness like a madman, I pressed my lips tightly and swallowed the saliva gathering in my mouth from the tension, despite my fear.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed from the corridor next to where we had just walked. What was that sound? The hand that grabbed and pulled me as I stopped was the person in front. The sound of slippers dragging came from far away. As we walked, ignoring the sound behind us, Kim Ga-young seemed to have found the stairs leading from the 2nd to the 3rd floor.

Lee Jihyun’s hand scratched the back of my hand twice, startling me, but as her arm suddenly moved upward, I realized the area in front of me was stairs. I also scratched the back of Yoo Geum-yi’s hand twice with my nails, took two steps up the stairs, and gave Yoo Geum-yi a few seconds to understand the situation. We climbed the stairs as quietly as possible.

As the four of us turned around the landing and went up, another bang and the sound of slippers dragging came from far down the corridor. Yoo Geum-yi’s hand gripped mine tightly. Wow. Come to think of it, this person was also timid, and she was walking at the very end in this situation. I wanted to say things like “stay strong” or “should we switch places,” but I swallowed all the words and focused on my steps.

As we left the stairs and walked three steps onto the 3rd floor, Lee Jihyun’s body swayed. I quickly grabbed Lee Jihyun’s arm with one of my arms to keep her from falling. Lee Jihyun and I were close enough for our shoulders to touch, and her silhouette was flailing and searching for something in the darkness. Did she lose Kim Ga-young? Seeing Lee Jihyun’s arms and hands swinging freely enough to make a whooshing sound, I was convinced she had lost Kim Ga-young.

I linked arms with Yoo Geum-yi, and with our free arms, we waved them in the air and on the floor together to find Kim Ga-young. Lee Jihyun’s hand and mine simultaneously found and grabbed someone’s hand on the floor. The hand was too cold, firm, wore a ring on the fourth finger, and was as big as mine. Lee Jihyun flinched and shook off that hand, and I also let go of it a few seconds later, as if brushing it off. To suppress a scream, I forcibly inhaled deeply. My heart began pounding in my ears.

A man was lying on the floor. Based on his condition, he seemed to be a corpse, likely one of the researcher bodies we found in the 3rd and 4th-floor corridors. Kim Ga-young must have stepped on the dead man and tumbled over him as she entered the 3rd-floor corridor. Lee Jihyun and I found this man’s hand while searching for Kim Ga-young in the dark. Yoo Geum-yi tried to sit on the floor while linking arms with me. As Yoo Geum-yi sat down, I was forced to sit with her, my arm locked with hers. It seemed that among the two of us, only Yoo Geum-yi, who hadn’t experienced this, wasn’t shaking like a leaf.

In this situation, having a calm person next to you who doesn’t panic is incredibly helpful. Feeling Yoo Geum-yi’s hand, which was linked with my arm, tap my arm twice, I searched for Lee Jihyun’s trembling arm and linked arms with her. The three of us sat side by side on the floor for a few seconds, inhaling and exhaling.

As Lee Jihyun’s heavy breathing subsided, Yoo Geum-yi unlinked her arm. Then, holding my hand, she waved her arm downward as if sweeping the floor. When I held Lee Jihyun’s hand and followed Yoo Geum-yi’s actions, a few seconds later, the three of us could barely walk forward while sweeping the floor with our hands, as if using a broom.

We found Kim Ga-young within three steps. Kim Ga-young was sitting on the floor, waving her hand in the air, so my fingers touched hers. Soon, Kim Ga-young grabbed my hand. As the four of us held hands again, I let out a big sigh inwardly. Someone made a faint sound of swallowing mucus. There was also a sound of panting in pain.

I supported Kim Ga-young, followed by Lee Jihyun and Yoo Geum-yi. Despite suppressing painful groans, Kim Ga-young’s limping gait began to stabilize and quicken, much better than on the stairs. Ah. She must have commuted back and forth dozens or hundreds of times from the main control room dormitory to the 3rd-floor Deep-Sea Pollution Center via the 3rd-floor Deep-Sea Creature Center. She could probably walk with her eyes closed, I thought.

“Aah!”

A scream came from behind, accompanied by a thud. Looking back, I couldn’t see anything. Lee Jihyun, who had let go of my hand, shouted.

“Run!”

Lee Jihyun turned on a flashlight she had somehow obtained and illuminated the corridor. A man in the corridor was lifting a chair above his head. That crazy bastard was throwing metal chairs while coming!

While some think it’s beneficial to hit anyone while walking in the dark and throw chairs down the corridor, others willingly make choices that could lead to their death to save others.

The man, illuminated by Lee Jihyun’s flashlight, looked like a giant monster due to the shadows created by the darkness and light, his tall stature, and the height of the chair. Seeing that sight, an instinctive fear rushed in, making me want to flee immediately. And a conviction also surged that if I ran away right now, I might be able to escape unharmed alone.

Among my group, I was the least injured, so I could get out of this situation the fastest. Although lacking in exercise, I was the tallest and probably stronger than these three women. The fear approaching like a tsunami kept sending messages to run away and survive.

Kim Ga-young? She could barely walk. Lee Jihyun had also exhausted her stamina in the water of the main control room dormitory, so she wasn’t much different from Kim Ga-young. Yoo Geum-yi seemed to have been hit directly by one of the metal chairs the opponent had thrown earlier. Lee Jihyun told us to run, but no one except me could run properly. Walking was all they could do.

Could I escape safely alone if I left them behind? Would my chances of survival increase significantly if I abandoned them? Could I be free from guilt for leaving people behind? If Yoo Geum-yi hadn’t taken that chair hit for me, it would have hit me or the backpack on my back. I did the exact opposite of what I heard. Gritting my teeth, I charged toward the opponent.

Lee Jihyun did the same. Being the closest to the man, Lee Jihyun had to block the chair swung by the opponent with both arms as soon as she rushed in. Blocking the chair with her arms and grabbing it with her hands, Lee Jihyun followed the chair’s movement as if being dragged, resisting the opponent’s strength. Lee Jihyun’s flashlight swayed erratically, following her movements. However, overpowered by the opponent’s weight and strength, Lee Jihyun tumbled backward with the chair as the man threw it behind him.

During the moments illuminated by Lee Jihyun’s flashlight, I noticed an object resembling a water gun tucked into the man’s pants, which seemed to be the problematic microbial gun. My goal was to seize it and subdue the opponent. You only die once, not twice!

I charged at the same speed I had run and struck the opponent’s torso with my elbow. A shock that felt like my elbow was shattering rushed in. A gasp was heard, as if he hadn’t noticed my sudden appearance in the darkness. The man and I rolled on the floor side by side.

My hand tried to find the gun tucked somewhere in the opponent’s waistband, but even though I grabbed the man’s belly, there was no water gun-like object. I panicked and clung to what should have been the man’s right arm. He had already drawn the chemical gun tucked into his waistband with his right hand.

I hung onto the man’s right arm and right hand with my entire body, preventing the muzzle from pointing at me. I thought it was a good decision. The man couldn’t shoot me. The problem was that the opponent was a human with two arms.

Suddenly, stars flashed on the right side of my face. The opponent had swung at where my face would be with his left hand. His left hand began to wildly beat my right side, right shoulder, and right face without stopping. The strength in my arms and hands holding the man’s right side began to fade. After being hit in the face three times, I was dazed, but only one thing remained in my mind.

If I let go of this man’s right arm, I would die.

It’s not just me who would die.

Everyone here could die.