Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Kim Ga-young’s eyes widened as if struck by lightning, and she began writing. Three cafeteria staff, research assistants, office workers, security guards… The man spoke as if he was wronged.

“That bastard Belial Riley sent out the young kids and the disabled ones first.”

Kim Ga-young, who worked at the Deep-Sea Pollution Center, glanced at my expression and quickly scribbled on the paper. Belial Riley, Director of the Deep-Sea Pollution Center. Upon hearing those words, Yoo Geum-yi spoke expressionlessly towards the door.

“So you’re saying you’re a man with fully functioning limbs who couldn’t board the escape pod first. Was the cargo elevator not usable?”

“It stopped. Answer my question first. Why did you come here?”

Lee Jihyun wrote a note to Yoo Geum-yi, saying she had a good idea and to stall for time. Then she searched for something through Roarker’s pad. Yoo Geum-yi looked at the three of us and smiled slightly. Then, turning to the metal door with a straight face, she answered.

“Do you know what was in the empty cylindrical tank next to you? Jellyfish. Team 11 has been researching them for 30 years. The empty rectangular tanks behind you were also studied by over 200 researchers for 40 years, investing money, intelligence, effort, and their lives.”

Yoo Geum-yi stretched her stiff shoulders and neck before beginning her explanation.

“Originally… most jellyfish have a lifespan of less than a year. But some jellyfish live forever. After discovering several species of jellyfish that revert to a younger state before reaching the end of their lifespan due to unfavorable external conditions or aging, people judged that these characteristics could help extend human life. Even now, there are many people suffering from intractable or incurable diseases. If there’s a way to return them to an infant state before the disease, immortality isn’t just a dream, right? I couldn’t just leave 6,000 jellyfish that may have lived with Earth since 4.6 billion years ago to die here because of actions I didn’t take, knowing they would all perish. They live forever. If I hadn’t released them, those creatures that would have lived immortally would have died just because they were trapped here.”

Yoo Geum-yi spoke with a heavy heart, looking at the metal door.

“The team right next to us was also researching coral reefs to enable them to grow even in severely polluted ocean conditions. I saw a researcher from that lab lying dead in the 4th-floor corridor. I can’t open their lab door to enter, but I can access my lab and this one. Even if our efforts are trivial, future generations may someday thrive on them. In 50 years, no, 100 years after I die, the ocean may appear blue and transparent again. So many people, so much money, and so much time have been invested here. I came here because I didn’t want it all to go to waste.”

Yoo Geum-yi sighed and continued.

“People like you probably won’t understand what I’m saying. In a situation where there’s no immediate benefit, and your life might be at risk, you may think I’m wasting precious time locked up in a lab just to release some jellyfish. Or you may believe that the life of one human is more important than the lives of hundreds or thousands of animals.”

Lee Jihyun flinched upon hearing those words but showed no further reaction.

“You may think I’m wasting my life for resources and welfare that my generation won’t be able to enjoy. I don’t want to waste my precious time convincing people like you. I’d rather spend that time doing what I want without worrying about others. I’m done answering, so now I’ll ask. Why are you trying to enter this lab?”

The man exhaled shortly, as if annoyed.

“This bitch, that bitch, all of you have no sense of reality. The mindset of doormats like you makes me sick the more I hear it. If you wanted to live like that, you should’ve had a kid and spent your life volunteering. Why did you come to the deep-sea base and bother decent people?”

It was unclear whether he was cursing at Belial, Angela, or Yoo Geum-yi. Lee Jihyun looked at Roacker’s pad, sighed deeply, and wrote that she couldn’t find it. The programs displayed on Michael Roacker’s pad were likely different from what a regular engineer like Lee Jihyun used, as they were for authorized personnel. Lee Jihyun gestured to me, asking for another pad, and I quickly took out my pad from my bag and handed it to her.

As I checked on the condition of the cat and snake in my bag, Kim Ga-young was writing a list of names on her notepad. She even removed the translation earpiece from her ear and crossed out the names one by one from the top, tilting her head. Yoo Geum-yi answered the other person, bewildered by their words but steadily looking at us.

“I volunteer a lot. Especially teaching basic science to adults. Surprisingly, there are quite a few people over 30 who want to study science. And you still haven’t answered my question. Looking at the 3rd and 4th floors, you’ve harmed many innocent people. There’s no need to enter this lab. My research can’t help you right now. It’s not attacking you.”

Lee Jihyun finally failed to find what she was looking for on Roacker’s pad. Muttering, “If there are no teeth, live with the gums,” she logged out of my account on my pad and logged in with her own. Lee Jihyun entered the engineer system, submitted a vacation request on behalf of Shin Haeryang, her approver, and approved it through Michael Roacker’s pad, sending Shin Haeryang on a same-day vacation.

What was she doing? Now, Lee Jihyun was submitting an approval request for the electrical system of the Deep-Sea Creature Center under her name. With the approver Shin Haeryang absent, she could directly send the approval request to Michael Roacker. Lee Jihyun wrote her approval request document very concisely. However, the electronic requirements listed below were extensive.

Approval Request: a

Approval Reason: a

Writing the request like that, a window popped up, requiring at least five characters, and Lee Jihyun seemed to be silently cursing at the pad. Clenching her jaw, Lee Jihyun rewrote the request.

Approval Request: aaaaa

Approval Reason: aaaaa

As the approval request was sent to Michael Roacker, Lee Jihyun now used Roacker’s pad to press the approval button for the document she had submitted. Once the approval was properly processed, Lee Jihyun sighed and checked the approved details on my pad. The man spoke to Yoo Geum-yi in an annoyed voice.

“I thought you came from the main control room. I figured if you got in, there would be a way out.”

I looked at the sulfuric acid bottle between Kim Ga-young and me, pondering whether I could put it in my bag. I considered the benefits of taking it and attacking someone with it. However, I didn’t even want to think about the terrible consequences if it were to break, so I simply thought about it and gave up.

At some point, Kim Ga-young narrowed her eyes and circled one person’s name multiple times with her pen. Then, looking at me, she wrote.

[I think it’s this bastard.]

Arthur Goodman. Kim Ga-young, who had been writing and deleting numerous men’s names, put the translation device back in her ear. Then, she wrote with a shaky pen.

[He works in the lab right next to ours. White, with curly brown hair, tall and skinny but average-looking. He’s probably doing waste-related research like us.]

Lee Jihyun glanced at what Kim Ga-young wrote but immediately turned her head back to Roacker’s pad. Biting her lip, Lee Jihyun wrote on the notepad with a pen.

[I can turn off all the lights in the Deep-Sea Creature Center. And I can raise the barrier leading to the 3rd-floor Deep-Sea Pollution Center. If the conversation is clear, there probably won’t be an escape pod. Wouldn’t it still be better to take the elevator? Taking the elevator is an extremely dangerous choice, but probably no one will operate it.]

[I trust you!]

Kim Ga-young wrote, blocking Lee Jihyun’s pen with her own. Lee Jihyun looked at me once, then at Yoo Geum-yi, and nodded. Lee Jihyun then pressed the barrier section on Roacker’s pad.

[Do you want to open the closed barrier?]

It was a message I had seen before. We had selected it when entering the Deep-Sea Creature Center from the main control room. Lee Jihyun, who pressed the [Yes] button, confirmed the disappearance of the barrier on the map screen and pressed her finger on the pad again.

[Do you want to close with the barrier?] The [Yes] and [No] buttons appeared, but Lee Jihyun turned off the pad screen without pressing anything. Lee Jihyun was now looking at the buttons located below the document approved with aaaaa on my pad. I put my bag on my back again. Kim Ga-young wrote one last note.

[There will be a power outage. Come to us then!]

I showed it to Yoo Geum-yi. When Yoo Geum-yi nodded, Kim Ga-young hurriedly gathered the notes and pens and scattered them back on the researchers’ desks. Yoo Geum-yi took a deep breath and spoke leisurely to the other person.

“From our conversation so far, you know my personality. I’m not the type of person who weighs profit and loss when acting. And even if I could help you, I don’t think I would help someone who kills people in this situation.”

“Don’t you think you should kill more in this situation? You can kill the ones you didn’t like or the things you didn’t like on a regular basis. If the deep-sea base collapses, the fish will eat the corpses anyway. Don’t be hypocritical and think carefully. You must have had people you didn’t like, right?”

Yoo Geum-yi frowned. Then, putting strength in her belly, she shouted.

“Hey, you selfish bastard. I’m different from you! That’s why you’re trapped here! Because when others reach out, you only look for opportunities to bite their fingers! Angela lowered the barrier and broke the pad while dying, so you can’t get out?! When the remaining researchers here risked their lives to find their labs, you only thought about killing them!”

The man on the other side of the metal door fell silent for a moment. I held one of Lee Jihyun’s hands. Lee Jihyun then placed a pad on her forearm and spread my fingers to press the buttons of the approved contents. Turning off the power for a research center didn’t seem to be an easy task.

Kim Ga-young held one pad. Kim Ga-young, Lee Jihyun, and I stood in a long line in that order. I closed my eyes and reached out towards Yoo Geum-yi. The man’s annoyed voice was heard.

“I don’t need you anymore.”

I felt a hand grasp mine in the darkness. It seemed he had unfolded his arms.