Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Chapter 132

Before becoming a dentist, I had no idea people injured the insides of their mouths so frequently. The most common injuries were biting the inside of the cheek or the tongue. People would accidentally bite down, mistaking it for food. Splitting lips from falling was also common.

Personally, I think that if we were to evolve for bipedal locomotion, we should have first solved the issue of an unstable center of gravity. Walking on two legs is far more dangerous than walking on all fours. Considering the large body that must be supported by the small surface area of two feet, it’s a wonder that this unstable structure manages to move around without constantly falling over. The plump cheeks and lips must have been designed as cushions to prevent all our teeth from shattering when we inevitably fall.

It’s also common for people to burn the roof of their mouth by eating hot food too hastily without cooling it down. Many people come in with their mouths cut up from sharp objects like crab or clam shells. Those who come in after biting their pens or thumbs are the easy cases.

There have been cases of people piercing their cheeks with chicken skewers, puncturing their tongues with forks, or creating multiple holes in their tongues while trying to eat fruit directly off the knife they used to peel it. Some have fallen on chestnut burrs or cacti. All of these are unfortunate accidents.

…Feeding someone needles is not a common occurrence.

“This is the third time it’s reached my ears. Isn’t that lunatic tired of such antics yet?” Shin Hae-ryang said coldly, looking down at the person.

Third time? I only opened the dental clinic after I came here; there wasn’t even a dental clinic in the underwater base before. Tamaki was the victim, but Shin Hae-ryang was the one talking. Just hearing about it made my forehead heat up. An immense wave of stress washed over me. How could a person do such a thing to another human being?

“Why on earth would someone do that? Why put needles in someone’s mouth?” I asked, dazed.

Only after asking did I realize that the very act of asking such a question was an attempt to understand the perpetrator, even if just a little. Surely they would give an answer that could be comprehended by common sense? Sumire’s face contorted with discontent as she shouted at me.

…I don’t think I could ever understand this person, even if I were to be reborn. My brain refuses to process it. I felt like I might spew a torrent of curses if someone were to poke me right now. I didn’t even want to know what kind of promise it was. The mere thought made me want to vomit.

“So you forcibly put needles in someone’s mouth because of that?” I asked.

Sumire turned her head to the side, pouting as she spoke. “You don’t know anything! This is Tamatama’s first time!”

“Then what about the other two times?”

“…Other trash.”

“Other what?”

I wondered if my translator was malfunctioning. This is maddening. Baek Ae-young sneered at Sumire and said, “I think those are the ones Japan announced as accidental deaths. There were also some engineers from Na’s team who suddenly retired on sick leave. Were those really accidental deaths? Or were they suicides?”

When there was no answer, Baek Ae-young nudged Sumire’s foot with her toe, causing Sumire to move her leg in irritation. Kang Soojung sighed deeply and asked, “What kind of promise was broken?”

“…You don’t need to know! You ugly hag!” Sumire glared at Kang Soojung before answering.

…She seemed to answer other people’s questions properly, but Kang Soojung, who was insulted, just laughed helplessly as if she couldn’t believe it. However, Sumire suddenly stiffened, her eyes widening. Screams burst from her open mouth at intervals of a few seconds. Wondering what was happening, I saw Seo Jihyuk picking up a dumbbell next to Sumire’s left calf.

“Oops. Sorry. My hand slips when I hear bullshit.”

“Huaaaaaah! Aaaaaah! Aaaaaah!”

At Sumire’s screams, Yoo Geum-yi covered Henry’s eyes and ears with her whole body. She herself had her eyes tightly shut. …I want to close my eyes too. I want to go home, forget about this underwater base. I’ve seen several instances of violence while in this underwater base, but I never get used to it no matter how many times I see it. …When I saw such scenes in action movies or heard about them in news articles, it wasn’t this horrifying, but witnessing it directly makes me want to run away from here immediately.

“Even if you’re angry, try to use words as much as possible. There’s a child here right now.”

At my words, Seo Jihyuk made an ‘oops’ expression. Lee Jihyun was watching the situation expressionlessly while hugging her pad, and Seo Jihyuk was saying something like it really slipped. Sumire’s calf, injured by the dumbbell, looked fine on the surface for now. But it would probably start swelling terribly soon. Yoo Geum-yi and Henry started walking to leave this place first.

I hesitated a bit before speaking to Kang Soojung. The reason for my hesitation was simple. Kang Soojung had been frowning since the mention of needles and was now gripping a kettlebell tightly.

“Since we’re heading to East District anyway, how about we take that person with us?”

I feel like I could emotionally understand if Kang Soojung were to hit me with the kettlebell, saying what nonsense I’m talking about. Baek Ae-young, who had been staring at Sumire, only rolled her eyes to look at me at those words. The gun barrel was still aimed at Sumire’s head. Kang Soojung made an expression that showed even more disbelief than at the earlier random insult and said to me:

“Didn’t you just hear about what she and her team have done? I think the charge of insulting me would probably carry the lightest sentence.”

“We need to safely get out of the underwater base before we can put her in jail or receive an apology, right?”

“Don’t you think leaving her here in that state is punishment for her crimes?”

“…I don’t think so.”

Even if she’s a crazy serial killer psycho bitch, let’s talk after we get out of this underwater base first. Besides, even if we leave her here with a broken leg, would she ever realize her wrongdoings even once before she’s on the brink of death?

I don’t fully know about the crimes this person or her team have committed. Hearing about Tamaki made me think I should collect all the information about what’s happening in the underwater base as quickly as possible. Whether it’s about someone I really hope survives or about a person I can’t empathize with at all. I can’t live in ignorance anymore.

…If I had noticed earlier, could I have treated Tamaki better?

Whether it’s Muhangyo, armed engineers, or torpedoes, I keep getting confused every time I get new information because I don’t know anything.

I thought of the people who were in the South District Research Center and are now submerged. …No. Stop thinking about that. The inside might still be intact. I need to do what I can here now.

We need to escape the 4th Underwater Base with as many people as possible. That way, when we meet the cult followers in other underwater bases, we’ll at least have strength in numbers to deal with them. Or at least cause more confusion.

Sumire, who had been screaming, began to sob and curse at Kang Soojung and Seo Jihyuk in Japanese as the wave of pain subsided. She didn’t curse at Shin Hae-ryang when she was hit with the barbell on her thigh though. Kang Soojung stared at me blankly before shaking her head with an iron-like expression.

“I think I told you once when we were going to get Gayoung in South District. I’ve already decided who I’m going with. Even if more people are added, it won’t be her.”

She had said we should only escape with Koreans. It was because of Team Leader Shin Hae-ryang that Tumanako and Henry were added.

“John Doe was added too, wasn’t he?”

Kang Soojung looked the Muhangyo follower up and down. It seemed there wasn’t a single part of him that she liked. The Muhangyo follower, under Kang Soojung’s planer-like gaze, took a few steps back with his free legs before being unable to move further due to his wrists. Kang Soojung frowned and said to me:

“The cultist’s brain might be rotten, but at least his legs are fine. She seems to have both a rotten brain and now rotten legs. Besides, who’s going to take her along and how?”

“John Doe can take her.”

“What?”

“John Doe can carry Sumire on his back. Let’s just have him carry her to East District first. An adult woman weighing about 60kg…”

“No. It’s 42kg.”

Sumire, who had been crying tears of pain, suddenly looked at me with a serious face and said. Surprised, I quickly corrected myself and said:

“It shouldn’t be difficult to carry someone weighing around 42kg on flat ground. If we’re lucky enough to find a medic on the way, we can put her on that too.”

Thinking back to previous iterations, I hadn’t seen a medic on the way to East District. But who knows? Maybe it’ll be different this time. Besides, even if we don’t find a medic, it’s possible to climb stairs high enough to go over two mountains while supporting 96kg.

Kang Soojung sighed and turned her head to the side. I also turned my head to the side. Receiving the gaze of both people, Shin Hae-ryang opened his mouth. John Doe was shaking his head vigorously and making sounds like “Mmmmph!”, but everyone ignored him. Shin Hae-ryang looked at the two of us and asked me without changing his expression:

“Can we abandon her on the way?”

“There’s something I want to experiment with. Let’s go together as much as possible.”

“Not her… Shin Team Leader. You can carry me if you want.”

Kang Soojung said that the young one seemed quite impressively crazy as she lifted Sumire from behind. Then she placed Sumire like luggage on John’s back, who had been caught trying to escape.

Like a horse loaded with unwanted cargo, John caused a commotion, and Sumire was unceremoniously thrown to the ground twice. Now Sumire started pouring out a torrent of curses at John Doe. “Can’t you do it properly?! Die, you trash! You’re my keep-kun! You’re just legs!” Mmph! Mmph! Mmmmph! John also seemed to be cursing openly at Sumire.

When it looked like they would delay for more than 2 minutes, Seo Jihyuk muttered a few words into John and Sumire’s ears, the gist of which was that if they didn’t cooperate, his hand might keep slipping onto their insteps or heads.

Both of them had to either carry or be carried by the other with their wrists tied in front, but Shin Hae-ryang seemed to have no intention of tying John’s wrists behind his back or untying them. By lowering John’s tied wrists as much as possible and placing Sumire’s legs, who was piggybacked from behind, between those arms, the two had no choice but to become a forced community of fate.

Every time Sumire struggled, complaining that her leg hurt, she bit and chewed on John’s ears and shoulders in her typical manner, and each time, John would fall backwards with Sumire on his back.

Just as Sumire was about to calm down after nearly cracking her skull hard on the floor, John suddenly collapsed to the side. Sumire, who was on his back, had given her upper body momentum and swung to the side like a pendulum.