Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

The elevator, enclosed on three sides by the dark sea, is lavishly decorated with hologram stickers of various marine life. More frightening than the bizarre luminous creatures were the six curious eyeballs of people just like me. It feels like I’ve been thrown into a fish tank. Shin Hae-ryang spoke to me lightly.

“If you’re uncomfortable answering my question, you don’t have to.”

“Okay.”

I can remain silent? Didn’t I just witness someone getting shot in the leg? I thought Shin Hae-ryang’s interrogation technique would be something like punching until the truth comes out, but it seems that’s not the case. Is this another benefit for fellow nationals? …No. People shouldn’t resort to violence when having a conversation in the first place. I need to get a grip.

“Is everything you broadcast true?”

“Yes. Is there any reason I should lie?”

“I thought that telling people not to use the escape pods and central elevator itself might be providing false information to restrict their actions.”

…Why would I do such a thing? I don’t understand. Shin Hae-ryang looked at my face and said simply.

“Think about the guys trapped in West District because of my broadcast.”

“Ah. …I see. Then why did you believe my broadcast, Mr. Hae-ryang?”

“If there really was a problem with the escape pods, using them would be extremely dangerous.”

Seo Jihyuk smoothly interjected.

“As soon as Jung Sanghyun left, Vladimir came carrying a sleeping child, asking the team leader if you ordered him to mess with him, saying that the Korean dentist had played with him.”

Shin Hae-ryang didn’t seem to want to mention that incident. Was there such an incident before I came? …Shin Hae-ryang seems to omit too many words. Ignoring Seo Jihyuk’s interruption, Shin Hae-ryang said.

“You already knew there was a sleeping child in Room 80. And that they were in a situation where they couldn’t escape.”

“There’s also a cat and a snake.”

Baek Ae-young added from the side. Then the heads of all three turned towards Tumanako simultaneously. Tumanako, who had been resting in the corner of the elevator as far away from the four of us as possible, flinched at their gaze and looked around nervously, asking “What? What’s wrong?” I did come to the escape pod port with Tumanako.

“I met Tumanako for the first time today.”

At my answer, perhaps judging that we were having an insignificant conversation, Tumanako’s expression brightened a little. Then I turned my head towards John Doe and said.

“I’m meeting Mr. John Doe for the first time today as well.”

“Hey, why do you keep me tied up? That Tumanako guy and this dentist aren’t tied up. I won’t do anything, so untie me.”

John Doe, lying on his side with his head on the floor, raised his bound wrists. Then he spoke to Baek Ae-young with a pitiful look. He seemed to be pleading with Baek Ae-young, probably thinking that Seo Jihyuk and Shin Hae-ryang would never untie him. In my opinion, Baek Ae-young is even less likely to untie him.

Baek Ae-young scanned the knots on his wrists with eyes like glass beads and pretended not to see his plea. Then she approached Tumanako, who was sniffling in the corner. Watching John Doe gazing wistfully at Baek Ae-young’s retreating back, I said with a sigh.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve met Mr. Shin Hae-ryang. And in the current situation, all questions are uncomfortable. Can’t I answer after we leave the undersea base?”

…To be honest, I’m desperate to get out of here now. After seeing Sumire give up on escape and stay behind, and Zhu Shi’an getting shot, I’ve reached my mental limit. I’m sick of witnessing the repeated deaths and corpses of people, and scenes of direct violence.

I couldn’t bear the situations where I was terrified with every breath anymore. Like a long-starved beast left with only instinct, I couldn’t think of anything but wanting to leave this undersea base by any means necessary.

Coming this far, I envied so much the people who were escaping on intact escape pods. When Shin Hae-ryang told me to use an escape pod to escape, the only reason I didn’t immediately throw myself into an escape pod saying “Thank you” was because of a single thread of reason left and the crumbs of human decency remaining beneath that.

However, if time could be turned back just 30 minutes, Kang Soo-jung would not be able to leave the undersea base. Because I would have taken an escape pod, even if I had to lie on the floor crying and wailing. I lost the luxury of putting on airs a long time ago.

But considering only the current conditions, now is the best time for escape. First, there are the Engineering Team D people who are favorable to me just because I’m Korean, and three people who I could never catch up with in terms of force even if I died and came back to life, who are completely uninjured. Moreover, many of those who came with me successfully escaped to Daehan Island on escape pods. I didn’t wander in the water trying to rescue Kim Ga-young, and since I just sat in Ophion, I might have been able to conserve more energy than before.

And haven’t we already isolated the armed engineers and been armed with three guns even before coming up to the Third Undersea Base? The best opportunities for my own escape are now arranged around me.

I can’t waste this precious opportunity. It’s best to leave the undersea base somehow on this chance. So I didn’t want to broadcast to the whole neighborhood that I was experiencing strange phenomena in this golden situation.

The subject of this bizarre phenomenon I’m experiencing is clearly the product of an experiment created by a crazy cult religion, and I don’t want to be associated with Infinity Church even as much as a small tooth. I want to quietly leave the undersea base and return to a peaceful daily life without any problems.

Thinking back on what Kanu said in the elevator, if the Infinity Church believers find out I have this ability, I’ll probably end up as a corpse right away. Or become a lab rat. Recalling the story of the space station survivors, it seemed like I would continue to be under unpleasant surveillance even after escaping.

And it’s a sad reflection, but if I reveal my secret here, the Engineering Team D people, Tumanako, and John Doe have no obligation to keep my secret. The people here have no sense of responsibility or emotional bond related to me. It’s bitter to think about. …Jihyun sold herself out to protect me even in front of a gun barrel.

Whatever the Engineering Team D people want, I can’t say anything in front of John Doe, an Infinity Church believer. And I don’t know how these people would use my secret either. Let’s talk later. There will surely be an opportunity. We can talk after we get out of here, right? Shin Hae-ryang watched me quietly and then said one thing.

“I can make the situation a bit more comfortable. …Though you probably won’t like it, Doc.”

“How?”

Shin Hae-ryang made a few simple hand gestures. At a glance, it looked similar to brushing dust off the back of his hand. It was a movement I’d never seen before, and I couldn’t understand it at all. Shin Hae-ryang got up from his sitting position on the floor.

John Doe, who had been sending desperate looks to Baek Ae-young, brightened up when Shin Hae-ryang approached. He probably thought he was going to untie his wrists. Baek Ae-young was taking out a sugar-free candy she had received but hadn’t eaten from her pocket and handing it to Tumanako.

When Shin Hae-ryang lifted John Doe’s bound wrists up to his chest level, John’s eyes lit up wildly. John Doe, with his head on the floor, spoke to Shin Hae-ryang while lying down.

“Yeah! I won’t do anything. I’ll stay quiet and still. After all, the one who tied should untie…”

Shin Hae-ryang pressed the skin of John Doe’s neck and near his ear with his other hand. It happened so quickly that my brain couldn’t properly process what had occurred. If pressed like that, blood can’t reach the brain! Grabbed by the large hand around his neck, John, with his carotid artery compressed while lying down, slumped without making a sound.

“What, what are you doing?”

I approached to remove Shin Hae-ryang’s hand from John Doe’s neck, but Shin Hae-ryang withdrew his hand faster than I expected. Then he laid John Doe on the floor as if accustomed to it and turned his head to the side. Shin Hae-ryang, half-kneeling, unbuttoned a few buttons constricting John Doe’s neck and said in a low voice.

“I made him unconscious.”

I can see he’s unconscious! I feel nothing but shock. Looking around, I saw Seo Jihyuk and Baek Ae-young amicably blocking Tumanako’s view. Don’t worry too much. Next time we find an escape pod, we’ll make sure Tumanako gets out. How should I dye my hair to make it look pretty? Baek Ae-young’s voice was followed by I want to dye my hair a different color from the great white shark too. When we get out, I’ll give you a cool ride on the used boat we got today! Such voices were heard. The bodies of the two were ingeniously blocking this scene.

“How can you knock someone out so brutally?”

“Then should I hit the back of the neck or head hard instead? …That was a joke just now.”

Tumanako glanced our way while rolling the sugar-free candy with his tongue, but John Doe was lying peacefully. Once again, Shin Hae-ryang was sitting on the floor, and only I was standing, glaring at him.

Hitting someone on the back of the head hard enough to knock them out can kill them. It’s not unconsciousness, it’s instant death. How do you have such an excellent talent for irritating people? I understand why these broken or missing guys come to the dental office and curse Shin Hae-ryang. Seo Jihyuk knocked people out by punching them in the solar plexus, and Shin Hae-ryang deliberately induces a stroke.

“Is this what you call making it comfortable? Then what happens when you make it uncomfortable? …Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

I’m afraid to know more. In my imagination, Shin Hae-ryang was drilling a hole in the elevator floor and throwing people down through it. No way. Surely not. When Shin Hae-ryang glanced towards where Tumanako was, I shook my head vigorously.

“Let’s not do that. Don’t do it.”

“…Alright.”

Then there was silence. As Shin Hae-ryang, sitting on the floor, quietly raised his head to look up at me, I hesitantly sat down on the floor.

“There are too many suspicious parts.”

“People usually have one or two suspicious aspects in their lives.”

As I said that, I felt a tickle in my throat.

“There are parts that can’t be explained by such words.”

Navigate to Other Chapters

• BLDS Chapter 0
• BLDS Chapter 01
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• BLDS Chapter 11 Part 1
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• BLDS Chapter 12
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• BLDS Chapter 61
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• BLDS Chapter 67
• BLDS Chapter 68
• BLDS Chapter 69
• BLDS Chapter 70
• BLDS Chapter 71
• BLDS Chapter 72
• BLDS Chapter 73

• BLDS Chapter 74
• BLDS Chapter 75
• BLDS Chapter 76
• BLDS Chapter 77
• BLDS Chapter 78
• BLDS Chapter 79
• BLDS Chapter 80
• BLDS Chapter 81
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• BLDS Chapter 83
• BLDS Chapter 84
• BLDS Chapter 85
• BLDS Chapter 86
• BLDS Chapter 87
• BLDS Chapter 88
• BLDS Chapter 89
• BLDS Chapter 90
• BLDS Chapter 91
• BLDS Chapter 92
• BLDS Chapter 93
• BLDS Chapter 94 - Elevator (3)
• BLDS Chapter 95 - Elevator (4)
• BLDS Chapter 96 - Elevator (5)
• BLDS Chapter 97 - Elevator (6)
• BLDS Chapter 98 - Elevator (7)

• BLDS Chapter 99 - Elevator (8)
• BLDS Chapter 100 - Elevator (9)
• BLDS Chapter 101 - Elevator (10)
• BLDS Chapter 102 - What One Wishes For (1)
• BLDS Chapter 103 - What One Wishes For (2)
• BLDS Chapter 104 - What One Wishes For (3)
• BLDS Chapter 105 - What One Wishes For (4)
• BLDS Chapter 106 - 19% (1)
• BLDS Chapter 107 - 19% (2)
• BLDS Chapter 108 - 19% (3)
• BLDS Chapter 109 - 19% (4)
• BLDS Chapter 110 - 19% (5)
• BLDS Chapter 111 - What Needs to be Done (1)
• BLDS Chapter 112 - What Needs to be Done (2)
• BLDS Chapter 113 - What Needs to be Done (3)
• BLDS Chapter 114 - What Needs to be Done (4)
• BLDS Chapter 115 - What Needs to be Done (5)
• BLDS Chapter 116 - Value (1)
• BLDS Chapter 117 - Value (2)
• BLDS Chapter 118 - Value (3)
• BLDS Chapter 119 - Spark (1)
• BLDS Chapter 120 - Spark (2)
• BLDS Chapter 121 - Spark (3)
• BLDS Chapter 122 - Spark (4)
• BLDS Chapter 123 - When Unharmed (1)

• BLDS Chapter 124 - When Unharmed (2)
• BLDS Chapter 125 - When Unharmed (3)
• BLDS Chapter 126 - When Unharmed (4)
• BLDS Chapter 127 - John Doe (1)
• BLDS Chapter 128 - John Doe (2)
• BLDS Chapter 129 - Preemptive Strike (1)
• BLDS Chapter 130 - Preemptive Strike (2)
• BLDS Chapter 131 - Preemptive Strike (3)
• BLDS Chapter 132 - Preemptive Strike (4)
• BLDS Chapter 133 - Escape (1)
• BLDS Chapter 134 - Escape (2)
• BLDS Chapter 135 - Escape (3)
• BLDS Chapter 136 - Escape (4)
• BLDS Chapter 137 - Escape (5)
• BLDS Chapter 138 - Escape (6)
• BLDS Chapter 139 - Escape (7)
• BLDS Chapter 140 - Escape (8)
• BLDS Chapter 141 - Compassion (1)
• BLDS Chapter 142 - Compassion (2)
• BLDS Chapter 143 - Submersible Port (1)
• BLDS Chapter 144 - Submersible Port (2)
• BLDS Chapter 145 - Submersible Port (3)
• BLDS Chapter 146 - Submersible Port (3)
• BLDS Chapter 147 - Submersible Port (4)
• BLDS Chapter 148 - Engineering Team D (1)

• BLDS Chapter 149 - Engineering Team D (2)
• BLDS Chapter 150 - Engineering Team D (3)
• BLDS Chapter 151 - Interrogation (1)
• BLDS Chapter 152 - Interrogation (2)
• BLDS Chapter 153 - Interrogation (3)
• BLDS Chapter 154 - The Third Undersea Base (1)
• BLDS Chapter 155 - The Third Undersea Base (2)
• BLDS Chapter 156 - The Third Undersea Base (3)
• BLDS Chapter 157 - The Third Undersea Base (4)
• BLDS Chapter 158 - The Third Undersea Base (5)

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