Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Chapter 104

Carter glared at Emma, then looked around at the people in the elevator. He glanced at where Kim Ga-young and Yoo Geum-yi were sitting, looked at where Kanu and Sam were sitting, then muttered,

I cant die in a place like this. You trashy bastards may not know well, but a talented person like me shouldnt die meaninglessly in the deep sea like this!

Hearing those words, Kim Ga-young laughed, saying haha. It looked like she could only laugh because it was such bullshit. Jamess voice resounded throughout the entire elevator as he spoke to Carter,

Hey, Im embarrassed. Are you trying to embarrass me?! Am I the only white guy who knows shame right now?

Logan shouted from behind, Are you purposely excluding me right now?! Huh?! Benjamin was grinning and looking at Carter and the others with an amused expression. I swallowed a bursting sigh and said to Carter,

Lie on the floor.

What?

Lie on the floor. Because thats the safest when the elevator falls.

How can I trust your words?

A friend of mine is an orthopedic surgeon, and it came out in their magazine. What is the safest posture that maximizes the survival rate for an orthopedic surgeon on a falling elevator? I was reading that while waiting for him to finish treatment in the waiting room. Try lying straight.

At my gentle but commanding words, Carter hesitated, then obediently lay straight on the floor. When he lay on the floor, I flapped my arms like wings as if demonstrating and said,

Flap your arms.

Like this?

Yes. While lying down. As if making a snow angel while lying face up. Yes, like that. Faster. A little faster.

L-like this?

Yes.

Carter flapped his arms while lying on the elevator floor as if trying to fly away. Seeing his arms flapping greatly, Kanu and Sam burst into laughter, and even though Yoo Geum-yi quickly covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes were completely crescent-shaped. Kim Ga-young laughed while holding her stomach. Kevin smiled with the corners of his lips. I said to Carter softly,

You can go to hell like that.

What? What did you say?

Carter asked while flailing his arms. Benjamin kicked Carters arm from the side. You stupid asshole. Stop it.

Theres no way to survive from this height except by flying.

Are there crazy bastards like this?! Were you just messing with me?

Carter got up from lying on the floor. His face and neck were bright red. I pointed at Carter with my palm and said,

This was a trashy survival lecture given by the first and last dentist of the underwater base. Please give a round of applause to Mr. Carter, who personally demonstrated.

Clap clap clap clap clap.

Applause burst out from all around. Sam and James in particular shouted fervently,

Flap some more! Ill kick you until your butt flies off!

With your personality, youre going to hell even if your arms fall off from flapping. You bastard!

Lying straight on the elevator floor does increase the survival rate in case of a fall. The problem is that even if the survival rate is high in a situation where an elevator built 3000m under the sea falls, youll just be a smashed corpse.

Carter approached me with loud stomping footsteps. Then he glared at me for a long time in front of my nose, then backed away and said,

I owe you one from earlier, and you should know youre alive because of Mr. Shin.

Who is Mr. Shin?

You just looked at me and left, but did I die and come back to life? Why am I surviving because of someone I dont even know?

When I asked Carters retreating back, Carter said as if anger had reached the top of his head while stomping his feet,

Shin Hae-ryang! That fucking bastard!

When the elevator shook a little from him stomping his feet, Emma shouted at Carter, asking if he really wanted to die by her hands, and the loud stomping sound noticeably decreased. Why Shin Hae-ryang? Jihyun said to me, who had a stupid expression,

It seems like its because Team Leader Shin said before that the people from the underwater base who contact Koreans will all have to meet with him.

Kim Ga-young asked Jihyun in surprise,

He still does that?

Hes gotten much better since becoming team leader. When former Team Leader Cho was there.

Jihyun inhaled and bit her lip. Then she said with a sigh,

I was just thinking of quitting here. Thinking about this situation now, it would have been okay to quit then and go to Korea. Do you know that we cant give up our nationality while working here?

Jihyun asked me. I tried to recall the contract I had definitely signed 5 days ago in terms of time. I clearly wrote the contract 5 days ago, but psychologically it felt like 50 days ago.

What reason would there be to give up nationality while living? Especially while providing dental treatment. While reading the documents, I signed that paper without much thought, thinking wouldnt it be scarier to become stateless while working mixed with people from 8 countries?

I remember filling out such a document.

When you stay at the underwater base, immigration offers come in from the other 7 countries. The more famous you become for doing a good job, the more and better offers come in. Thats why the former engineering team leader ran off to the US. Leaving behind his wife and daughters in Korea. He kept talking nonsense every day that he was a stud

Jihyuns tone was full of unresolved feelings. Its a story Im hearing for the first time. I recalled Priyas slow voice saying there were recently added documents regarding immigration for Korea and to read them carefully. I was busy looking at the salary, work hours, and vacation.

At that time, we were almost doormats to the US kids. If the US team said something, from the team leader down, theyd say yes yes without any self-esteem and suck up to them. We were doing the work they were supposed to do. They were drinking beer in broad daylight. Suddenly barging into our room. Telling us to get their permission to go on vacation. Jesus wont forgive you either, really. Plus, we found out late that all sorts of personal information about our Korean team was completely handed over. It seems like for them, like those three in our team, if they obtain information about the underwater base people and report it to their country, they gain something. There was a big fuss because Ji-hyeoks health information and family details were on the US team leader Davids pad. Ji-hyeok said he would kill Team Leader Cho Dong-hee, so Team Leader Cho stayed in the US teams area, East District.

Its a mess. Its a fucking mess. Jihyun looked far away, trying to recall the past, and said,

He probably said he received about 80,000 dollars in cash to go over. At that time, he was bragging to the team members. He was talking nonsense like hed rather go to the US than Japan even though Japan said theyd give him 100 million won if he came over, so Team Leader Shin asked Sato if what I said was true. Sato sneered and said they dont accept such traitors. After that, all the remaining people signed a contract saying they wouldnt give up their nationality while working here.

Its a fucking mess. Its fucking embarrassing. Why am I ashamed when its someone elses business and something from the past? One of the contracts I signed was created for that reason. After listening quietly, Yoo Geum-yi said to Jihyun,

It doesnt seem like such offers come to researchers.

Is there a country you want to go to?

At my question, Yoo Geum-yi scratched the hangnail of her index finger and said while plucking it,

I do want to go to Australia or New Zealand. Or a marine research center in Europe. Korea doesnt invest much in marine life research. The reason I came here is because the underwater base research center forcibly provides research funding with money extorted from each country. Our team itself may disintegrate and disappear at any time.

What about you, Ga-young-ssi?

If I say Im changing my nationality, about ten elderly people and my parents will come here by helicopter wearing durumagi. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Its already a headache getting calls every day telling me to get married. Ill live in Korea without a headache. Have you ever had the dream of immigrating, Moo-hyun-ssi?

Not even once.

I also just found out now that you can sell your nationality and turn it into money. What giving up nationality when my mom and younger sibling are in Korea?

Suddenly, a lightning-like realization brushed my mind. Lets think about it the other way, because my family is in Korea, they may have selected and placed someone who would stay in Korea for this underwater base dentist position.

The employee at the Jeju Island Naval Base said I was chosen with a 1 in 1000 probability. Because I expected there would be many applicants due to the high salary, I never thought I would be accepted for this position until I received the acceptance notification.

Perhaps, perhaps someone separately selected an atheist dentist specialist who needs money because they have family? There seem to be quite a lot of people with those conditions. If you throw a stone with those conditions, wouldnt all the dentists walking on the street get hit by the stone?

While I was lost in thought, Carter was simultaneously grabbed by the collar by Logan and Benjamin. Carter intentionally stomped his feet to see Emma have a fit, but when the elevator shook, Logan and Benjamin next to him simultaneously jumped at Carter.

Ill kill you!

Okay, I wont do it. Let go.

Ill beat you even while the elevator is falling. You bastard. Ill beat you until you die. I swear Ill beat you into a pulp even if your arms and legs are all broken. Try jumping one more time. Ill completely destroy your ankle.

Emma looked at Carter with her eyes visible between her curly hair, then snorted and said mockingly,

You act like your life is the most important, but Im the one who cant die here. Even if you put together the heads of all the people gathered here, theyre inferior to me.

Surprisingly, no one denied that. I cant say anything because I dont know much about the research center side, but seeing Carter unable to refute, it seemed Emmas words werent a lie. Carter raised the veins in his neck and answered, trying not to lose to Emma,

Do you know how important my research is to the deep sea environment?!

I think there will be someone to replace you and do that research even without you.

Carter ground his teeth and shut his mouth. As the inside of the elevator quieted down, Emma curled up her body again with a sigh. Kim Ga-young asked Emma, who had her face buried in her knees,

I was locked in my room crying and whatnot, but what the hell were you doing that you couldnt get on an escape pod?

I dont really want to talk about it.

Emma said in a gloomy voice. After that, complete silence fell. Only the elevator kept going up.