Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Tumanako and I helped Sumire and John, who had fallen, back to their feet. Lee Jihyun, who was walking behind us, sighed as she watched this scene and said slowly:

“I thought I’d met many strange people in my life, but the world really is wide… Amen.”

Tumanako chuckled lightly as she watched Lee Jihyun make the sign of the cross. Seo Jihyuk put his hand holding the dumbbell behind his back and approached Lee Jihyun, asking:

“Tell me about the strange people you’ve met.”

“Why?”

“Just curious… Especially focus on what kind of harm you suffered from them.”

Baek Ae-young came closer to me, quickly checked the wrists of the two, and then fell back to the rear of the group. She probably thought their fighting like this was one of their attempts to untie the ropes on their wrists.

I’m not sure how Shin Hae-ryang tied their wrists with the parachute cord, but no matter how much they struggled to devour each other, it didn’t loosen at all. John, with his mouth still tied, was huffing and puffing, barely catching his breath through his nose as he walked while carrying Sumire. It seems like we should untie his mouth at least so he can breathe properly.

As soon as I had that thought, John suddenly jerked his head back. He used all his might to smash the back of his head into Sumire’s forehead with a thud. It was the kind of sound you’d hear if you accidentally dropped a watermelon the size of a head on the floor.

John seemed shocked by what he had done and stumbled greatly, unable to walk properly. I, walking beside him, was horrified by this action. …Didn’t she get a concussion?

The two, one carrying and one being carried, collapsed again to the side with a thud. Lee Jihyun, who was watching this scene in a daze, said to Seo Jihyuk beside her:

“…Come to think of it, compared to these guys, the ones in Korea were nothing.”

Seo Jihyuk paid no attention to the two fallen people flailing their arms and legs like crabs. He just looked at Lee Jihyun and answered gently:

“Even if it’s just a drop of blood, it’s still blood that was shed.”

I quickly approached the two to check if they were conscious first. When I shook their shoulders and called their names, both of them groaned and spewed out curses.

…Thankfully, they’re conscious, but when I tried to check for external injuries, they wouldn’t cooperate so I couldn’t see. I tried to check for symptoms of concussion like whether there were external injuries or if their pupils were shaking, but forget about pupils. They were both shaking their heads and limbs wildly trying to hit each other.

“Stay still, will you!”

As the group that had been walking well stopped again, Shin Hae-ryang at the front and Baek Ae-young at the rear rushed over. Then, looking at the two fallen people, Shin Hae-ryang said to Baek Ae-young, who was holding a gun:

“If they fall again, shoot them both.”

“Yes.”

Then he went back to the front without giving me a chance to speak. Shin Hae-ryang’s expression didn’t seem much different from before, but it didn’t seem like he was joking. Kang Soojung looked at the two as if she was sick of them and left. Baek Ae-young looked down at the two on the floor and said:

“Hey. Even two bullets are too precious for you. Try to hold your breath and die.”

Humans can’t die by holding their breath. Tumanako seemed dumbfounded by this impossible request and looked at Baek Ae-young while still looking at the people on the floor. Baek Ae-young met Tumanako’s eyes and corrected herself:

“Was I being too stingy? I should be more generous, right?”

Tumanako said to Baek Ae-young with a sigh:

“I’ll give you 10 dollars as soon as we get out of here.”

Baek Ae-young stood still in her place, watching the two. I guess this is now the rear of the group. Trying to grab and lift these two constantly irritated adults is not an easy task either. Seeing how much John hates carrying her, I think it might be better if I carry Sumire myself.

Sumire, whose nose was bleeding profusely, suddenly started sobbing on John’s back and began to cry pitifully.

“Why do I have to suffer like this! What on earth did I do wrong! This is too much! You’re not even human! Why are you doing this to me?”

“Mmph! Mmph! Mph! Mmph! Mmmph!”

John also started speaking as much as he could with his mouth blocked after hearing Sumire’s words. Baek Ae-young glanced at the line of people walking ahead and said quietly to the two:

“Be quiet. Before I get annoyed and knock you both down and shoot you.”

They immediately quieted down at her particularly annoyed tone and strange charisma. I whispered to Baek Ae-young nearby:

“Are you really going to shoot?”

“Do you think I would fake shooting?”

…No. I’m not sure about Seo Jihyuk, but Baek Ae-young and Shin Hae-ryang don’t seem like the type to joke about this kind of thing. If I had met Baek Ae-young for the first time, I might have thought she was joking or just trying to scare them.

“No.”

Baek Ae-young looked at the cultist walking and the sociopathic engineer on his back, then hesitated before saying to me:

“Human nature doesn’t change. Even if you wash them in prison for years and take them out, trash is just trash. I don’t think people like that can change. She’ll probably spend her whole life just cursing her victims, right? She’ll never understand what she’s done. Don’t pity them. They easily take advantage of such feelings.”

“I’m not suggesting we take them along because I like them.”

While my head thinks we should take them, my heart has already imagined throwing them to the sharks several times. And I felt guilty for imagining such extreme things. Baek Ae-young lowered her gun barrel and said:

“I know you’re moral and polite. But those crazy ones don’t have any of that, yet they take advantage of it so well. …And according to the broadcast, everyone we’ll meet from now on will be like that too.”

I remembered that woman I met in the elevator. That eerie smile. She didn’t hesitate at all to kill people. It was as if a localized hurricane or tornado had hit the inside of the elevator. Even now, it doesn’t seem real. It’s not easy to accept the fact that people without conscience or shame exist in the world. It’s even harder because it’s something I take for granted.

I review whether my words and actions go against my conscience. And I worry about whether the other person will be hurt when I say certain things. Isn’t it natural to live thinking like this? Of course, when I’m tired and exhausted, that self-checking system sometimes malfunctions. But conscience is always my reliable compass. It not only keeps me from getting lost anywhere but also helps me sleep with a clear conscience.

Occasionally, among people I’ve met by chance, there were those who completely lacked the filter of conscience. But such people weren’t many. Are all those kinds of people gathered here specifically?

Baek Ae-young, looking at the back of Sumire’s head with a cold voice, said:

“Soon she’ll start crying, saying she’s in pain and tired, that she’s reflected and is sorry. I’m going to shoot her as soon as she says those words.”

“Maybe she really has changed, don’t you think?”

“I’ve never seen people like that truly repent. Who knows. Maybe they’ll reflect a tiny bit while seeing their life flash before their eyes right before death.”

Baek Ae-young’s words randomly reminded me of Benjamin. No, what on earth was he thinking when he protected me? No matter how I think about it, he was cunning, evil, and ignorant of social order. Judging by his actions and words, he didn’t seem to like me either. What wind blew his way? Did he want to do a good deed before dying? Or did he hit his head without me noticing?

That bastard probably doesn’t even worry or agonize over these things. Doing one good deed after living badly a hundred times doesn’t change how people evaluate you. But knowing that I’m the only one who remembers what happened then made me feel a bit queasy.

Remembering Kevin Roy, whom I met at the research center, somewhat eased that feeling. …Even the person walking around with an axe covered in blood turned out to be quite alright after all. Is it right to judge someone based on rumors or appearances and leave them to die when you’ve known them for less than 30 minutes?

I also understand the judgment of the people in Engineering Team A. They must have experienced such things many times before.

Whenever I try to judge something, I feel afraid, hesitant, and uncertain, and I’m not sure if what I’m doing is right. …It was easier when I was just worrying about teeth. I only had to look inside the mouth then.

Baek Ae-young seemed to subtly want me to suggest abandoning those two or dealing with them under the guise of an accident. …Not yet.

Watching the two somehow walking while hitting each other, I quickly walked towards Yoo Geum-yi.

Yoo Geum-yi, who had her hand on Henry’s shoulder with an exhausted expression, saw me approaching and asked:

“How about the people in the back?”

“They’re coming along more or less well.”

Kang Soojung, who was beside me, burst into a dispirited laugh at my words. Henry asked me as if he had been waiting:

“What is that lady keep saying?”

Hearing that question, Yoo Geum-yi confessed to me:

“I told him you’d come and explain.”

Henry doesn’t have a translator in his ear. When I or Yoo Geum-yi explain things to Henry, we do it in English. When we talk among ourselves, we mix English and Korean. So it seemed he couldn’t understand at all what Sumire was saying in Japanese.

What should I say? That she tormented others for her own convenience, killed several people, and endangered the lives of countless others? How do I explain that to a child? After thinking for a moment, I said:

“She says she wants to go home. That she misses her mom and dad.”

“Why is an adult throwing a tantrum like that? She’s not a 1-year-old.”

I’m at a loss for words. Sometimes when I meet kids, there are times when I can’t find an answer.

“That’s right. Adults are often worse than children. Adults should set an example, you know.”

Henry was wearing a thin short-sleeved shirt and shivered. Is he cold? As I stroked Henry’s forearm, I realized we had just entered East District and frowned. The temperature is much lower than I expected.

“It’s colder than I thought, isn’t it?”

Shin Hae-ryang and Kang Soojung, who heard my words, didn’t seem to feel the cold. Yoo Geum-yi, who was beside me, shivered slightly and said:

“You’re right. It’s too cold.”

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