Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Chapter 87

Yoo Geum-yi looked at the cat for a moment, then she also took off her shoes, put her socks inside her shoes, rolled up her forearms, and folded up her pants. While I was looking at the snake curled up tightly in the small pocket inside the bag, Canu, who had knocked and entered the room, picked up the cat walking around the room.

Whose cat is this?

I dont know the owner.

Its quite heavy. My familys cat is much lighter than this one. Its well-behaved. Gentle. Look. Its staying still even though I, a stranger, am touching it.

Canu, barefoot, skillfully touched the cats face and chin. The cat was calmly letting itself be touched. Its interesting that its doing that even when a stranger is touching it. Ive always wanted to raise a pet, but I couldnt because there wasnt enough space at home. How intelligent are cats? Are they smart enough to understand this situation? What about snakes? I wonder if Canu knows a lot about snakes too.

Have you ever seen anyone raising a snake inside the undersea base?

No, why a snake?

Theres one inside the pocket of my bag. I brought it out of a room in a hurry.

Did you bring it because youre confident in raising it?

Suddenly, I was at a loss for words. Uh-oh. I shook my head and said,

No. The water was rising, so I didnt even have time to think about that. I was going to ask around and try to find the owner if I saved it and took it out.

Its staying still even when I touch its paw. It doesnt bite either.

While watching Canus hand petting the cat, I asked in a fluster,

Do cats bite?

Even though I had touched the cat several times while taking out a towel or candy, it didnt bite me. Right. It has teeth even though its small, so it could bite. Then how is it different from a snake? That its not venomous? How many bacteria are in a cats mouth? Humans have about 100 million, so if it has as many bacteria as a human, it could easily kill me with a bite, right?

I really dont know anything about cats. Ive seen a lot of photos of the ones my friends raise. Canu stroked the cat, then lifted it and handed it back to me.

Cats bite too. You really havent raised one before. Put it in the bag before it hides somewhere. If the cat hides, you wont be able to find it.

Hearing those words, I quickly took the cat and put it back in the bag. I checked several times to make sure the zipper was closed well. And I carefully put the bag down in the corner of the floor. Stay put while Im gone.

I looked to the side and saw Ga-young taking off her shoes and tossing them into the corner, then flinging her socks next to her shoes. Then she started lightly stretching, twisting her body here and there. I left the room to see how many people had gathered.

Quite a lot of people were gathered in the hallway, more than I expected. In fact, because I had no expectations after the previous conversation, I thought it would be a lot if more than 2 people were waiting, but there were a total of 5. Not only Sam and James but also three unfamiliar men were gathered and waiting.

One wearing a hat was one of the group who had been watching Jihyun speak earlier, and I saw the other two faces for the first time. They came down from the upper floors. I dont know how many more people are on the other floors anyway. As I opened my mouth to greet the three men with a smile, the person closest to me spoke first, as if preempting me.

Ill be frank, Im not very happy to meet you. Lets only cooperate on escaping and not pretend to know each other.

Clear hostility. The man with a very poor dental condition said that. What did I do to deserve that? I was at a loss for words with my mouth open. Rejection always feels bad. But you have the right to reject me too. With a sigh, I erased my smile and said,

Im not particularly happy to see you either. But now we have a common goal, and well be moving together for that goal, so theres no reason for us to start off on bad terms. I dont know who you are. I have no idea what you did for a living or what thoughts you had. But from now on, Im going to work with you to survive. Im Park Moohyun, the only dentist in this undersea base. Nice to meet you.

And I held out my right hand. If you dont like it, dont take it. No one can hurt me without my permission. What a solid statement. People hurt and get hurt just by breathing next to each other. The man, frowning, looked at my hand and my face for a few seconds, then answered without taking my hand.

Logan.

He spoke so softly that it took me a few seconds to realize I had heard his name. As I nodded my head and was about to withdraw my hand, the man next to him grabbed my hand, shook it, and revealed his name.

Im Benjamin.

Having shaken hands with Benjamin in the spur of the moment, I nodded. Then the man wearing a hat revealed his name and asked me.

Im Carter. Are you close with the women who came with you?

Why is he asking about my relationship with those people? Well, among the three, I met Jihyun and Ga-young for the first time today. Ive seen Yoo Geum-yi since the first day of work, but thanks to walking around together for the past few hours, my intimacy with those three people has already reached the level of a 10-year friend in my heart. But they might not feel the same way about me. I might be the only one who thinks were close.

I was about to say were close, but realizing that I objectively dont know much about them, I hesitated to answer. How well do you have to know someone to be considered close? For Carter to judge for himself, I answered with just the facts.

Its been 5 days since I started working here.

Then the three men looked at each other and turned their gazes to Jihyun, Yoo Geum-yi, and Ga-young, who were just coming out of the room. The 9 people gathered in a circle with Jihyun at the center. While Ga-young stretched out fully, Jihyun took her eyes off the pad and looked at the people, saying,

First, as I mentioned before, we plan to attempt an escape through the elevator stopped on the 1st floor. I just blocked the deep sea pollution center and the deep sea creature center with a bulkhead. I dont think any of you here will try to go to another research center anymore. First, those of you here will need to reach the small valves located in the corner walls of the 1st floor by swimming.

Jihyun explained while showing a 3D map of the 1st floor through the pad. When Jihyun selected the valves, about a dozen drain valves located on the 1st floor were simultaneously marked in green.

When you reach the valve, grab the valve handle and turn it all the way in the opposite direction to expose the covered drain. The drains on the floor are currently maintained in a state covered with lids. If you turn the valve all the way, tiny nail-sized holes will appear on the floor 3m away from the valve. Thats the drain, so if youve removed the lid, dont go near the drain and just move back here to the 3rd floor.

Jihyun looked at peoples faces once and said,

I will designate one valve to each of you. Just swim to that location and turn the valve. Any questions up to this point?

Sam raised his hand high. When Jihyun pointed to Sam with her chin, Sam asked,

What should we do if the valve doesnt turn or we fail to open the drain?

Then just leave it and come up to the 3rd floor. Any other questions?

I raised my hand, and when Jihyun gave me a chance, I asked,

Once Im done opening my assigned valve, can I go open valves in other locations?

There are more than 10 valves. It would be best to open as many drains as possible. Jihyun thought for a moment and answered,

That would be good, but it will be hard to find the valve youre assigned to while diving in the water. Once all of you here arrive on the 3rd floor, I will activate the automatic drainage system. How much drainage will occur is unknown. I dont know if the drainage system will function properly in this situation. But if the water drains and the elevator becomes usable, it will be a golden opportunity to escape. Lets all do our best.

I nodded at Jihyuns words and lightly stretched to loosen up my body. Ive had to unwillingly enter or fall into water before, but its been a while since I had to swim so clearly like this.

Jihyun walked around with Roakers pad and designated which valve on the 1st floor each person should open. I was also assigned a valve I had to open, which was a place I had to swim quite far to reach. It was a valve next to the wall of Laboratory 120. Im not sure exactly where it is, but looking at the 1st floor map on the pad, I checked where on the 3rd floor I should enter the water to reach that valve in the fastest and most efficient way.

The water had already completely filled the entire 2nd floor. Would it be dangerous to dive straight from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor? It would be dangerous, right? I was more worried about not knowing what might be in that water than diving straight into the water from the current height of about 7m.

I couldnt forget the pain and memory of the bed sliding in the water and hitting my calf. Even now, wooden tables and office supplies were floating on the surface of the water. Its not that Im good at swimming.

Since I only knew how to swim enough to not drown, all sorts of worries began to arise as I looked at the dark blue water. I had to swim down from a height of about 6-7m and then come back up. Do I really have the stamina for that? Do I have the lung capacity to hold my breath without issue while moving that distance? When was the last time I swam a distance of over 15m in my life? The conclusion I reached was one. I was mentally beating myself up, asking why I hadnt exercised regularly.

When Yoo Geum-yi asked if she could borrow the pad if I was done looking at the map, I readily held out my pad. Looking around, everyone with a pad had the 1st floor map open and was looking at the location they had to go to. Yoo Geum-yi frowned as she looked at the 1st floor location she was assigned on the map. Seeing Yoo Geum-yi holding her waist, submerged in her thoughts, I abruptly spoke to her.

Can I take a look at where youre going?

Huh? Sure.

The distance was as far as mine. But it seemed that if we just picked the right spot to vertically descend from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor, the distance each of us had to travel would be all similar.