Beacon of Light in the Dark Sea

Chapter 126

After thinking about the broadcast content, Kang Soojung, still finding it unbelievable, said to Shin Hae-ryang,

“I knew you went around punching troublemakers. In fact, I’d have to be blind not to know. A guy who was bitching at me suddenly disappears for a month and then gets dental implants. Gets tooth regeneration. Keeps slipping in and out of Hawaii for whatever reason. I know there are guys who won’t listen no matter how much you try to persuade them with words, but you never shared with me that you were destroying things.”

“…I told you it was handled well, didn’t I?”

Seeing Shin Hae-ryang looking flustered, which was unusual, it seemed he hadn’t told Deputy Team Leader Kang Soojung specifically how he had handled things.

“Ichida, was it? You said he voluntarily provided his laptop?”

“Voluntarily… he left it at the cafe.”

“You said you persuaded Suzuki well with words. Was that getting rid of his car entirely?”

“…He’ll behave until he buys a new car.”

“What about the helicopter? This is completely new to me. Wasn’t that an accident due to poor piloting skills?”

In between, Seo Jihyuk was stomping his feet at the team leader’s curt answers. He tried to interject his large body between the two to support the team leader, but was pushed back by Kang Soojung’s large hand on his face. (Ugh!) Kang Soojung thought for a few seconds after Shin Hae-ryang’s answer, but then frowned and asked again,

“What was the need for that?”

Kang Soojung seemed unable to think of any reason why people needed to be rinsed in seawater. I, listening from the side, felt the same way. Is there a need to put people in seawater after destroying a helicopter? Shin Hae-ryang answered simply,

“We needed to destroy their electronic devices.”

Watching Shin Hae-ryang answer expressionlessly without any apparent guilt, Kang Soojung sighed and asked wearily,

“Were the actions you mentioned related to the safety of Engineer Team A?”

“Yes.”

“…I’ll save additional questions or reprimands for when we’re back in Korea.”

“Thank you.”

Shin Hae-ryang checked the time on Michael Roarke’s pad, then started accessing the video section through the engineer program. Kang Soojung, watching Shin Hae-ryang’s actions, began the same access on Shin Hae-ryang’s pad. Then, as if recalling past events, she fell into thought and occasionally snapped her fingers. Snap!

“No wonder! Suzuki was going crazy, jumping up and down asking me where I hid his car, and I thought he’d gone mad and kept telling him off for asking us about his car.”

Ah! As Kang Soojung let out a sigh-like groan, Seo Jihyuk, who was next to her, put down the dumbbell and stretched both arms to the sky, saying to Kang Soojung,

“That bastard. He won’t be able to do his hand gestures again while claiming to give people rides at the airport.”

“The result is too extreme. …I recommended mental counseling to Suzuki, thinking he had paranoia.”

“Deputy Team Leader, you need to know nothing so that when someone asks later, you can answer with certainty that it wasn’t our doing.”

“Are you kidding?! I never thought our team members would go around committing such criminal acts! I even thought the assaults were too much!”

“…Please continue to act like you don’t know.”

Seo Jihyuk slightly turned his head away from Kang Soojung’s glaring gaze. Baek Ae-young took her eyes off the door and approached slowly. The people in front of the door seemed to have already disappeared during the broadcast. With no one trying to enter Ophion, the tension eased a bit. Tumanako and Yoo Geum-yi, who had been half-standing, were now sprawled on the floor. Baek Ae-young approached Kang Soojung and said,

“Deputy Team Leader, you’re not good at lying, it shows on your face. Also, it’s partly to ensure you’re not involved if there’s a problem later.”

“…Thanks. Really. I’m moved to tears by such great consideration.”

Despite Kang Soojung’s sarcastic words, Baek Ae-young didn’t care. Sitting on the floor next to the deputy team leader, Baek Ae-young grinned, unable to suppress the rising corner of her mouth, and said,

“I’m revealing this so the team leader doesn’t take all the blame unfairly. I did Wei Qi’s boat. It was quite a struggle to deal with it right before the typhoon.”

“…Why did you do that?”

Kang Soojung asked, looking at Baek Ae-young with a tired voice.

“He picked a fight with me first when I was minding my own business.”

Hearing Baek Ae-young’s confident answer, Kang Soojung laughed weakly and replied,

“…Right. Well done. Really. Well done. How about you?”

Her tone wasn’t praising at all. When Kang Soojung looked at Seo Jihyuk, he glanced at Lee Jihyun once and then shook his head vigorously.

“I behaved well and nicely.”

“Don’t lie.”

“I have such a timid personality that I behaved the most quietly among the three of us.”

“Your words are the least believable.”

“Boo-hoo. That’s too harsh.”

Seo Jihyuk pretended to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. Kang Soojung rubbed her face with her hand. She seemed quite surprised to confirm the immoral behavior of her team members who had sunk through the floor.

I was more surprised that Kang Soojung, who I heard was a former boxing champion, wasn’t going around punching people with them. Well, she did say she tried to resolve things through dialogue as much as possible. When I told Kang Soojung about my thoughts in the most polite way possible, she replied as if feeling wronged about her image,

“Boxing has rules, mouthguards, and gloves. I don’t beat people with bare fists like our team leader.”

“Ah… That’s right. Indeed! It’s not easy to cause an impact strong enough to knock out teeth.”

Come to think of it, if you hit the jaw or mouth with a mouthguard and gloves on, teeth don’t come out like that. Most of the time, it’s just one or two teeth breaking or cracking.

I once had a brief conversation with a boxer who came to the dental clinic, and he said that the reason for wearing mouthguards and gloves is not only to protect one’s wrists and fingers but also to protect both the opponent’s and one’s own face. Swinging fists without gloves is just fighting, he said. I see. I vaguely suspected at first that Shin Hae-ryang might be a criminal, but he’s just… actually a criminal.

Thinking about it, front teeth are like glass compared to molars. Moreover, since the cheeks, which act as a sponge, are much plumper than the lips, front teeth are more vulnerable to external attacks compared to molars. And from a dentist’s perspective, it’s easier to perform root canal treatment on front teeth. Front teeth have one root, while molars have three. Also, problems with front teeth are immediately visible to people, so they have to come to the dental clinic quickly.

While not directly life-threatening, front teeth are a troublesome area when damaged. Does Shin Hae-ryang know this and target them intentionally?

Kang Soojung seemed to have confirmed that CCTV access was impossible with Shin Hae-ryang’s pad. Michael’s pad showed real-time CCTV content. Seeing this, Kang Soojung immediately started drafting an approval request document for the West District barrier wall, with Michael as the approver. Shin Hae-ryang saw Kang Soojung’s actions and nodded lightly.

Approval Request: West District Closure

Reason for Request: Right now, quickly

As soon as the approval request was submitted, the content of the document Kang Soojung had submitted for approval appeared on Michael’s pad that Shin Hae-ryang was holding. Shin Hae-ryang processed the approval immediately without even looking at it. Michael’s pad showed CCTV footage of people moving from the Central Building to the West District. Several men were running towards the West District with guns, harboring tremendous hostility.

Kang Soojung was waiting with the [Do you want to close with the barrier wall?] [Yes] [No] buttons displayed. While looking at Michael’s pad, I asked Shin Hae-ryang,

“Don’t people try to be more patient or make more rational judgments in disaster situations like this?”

No matter what, falling for such provocation doesn’t make sense. Be it laptops, cars, or yachts. Even if I had a gun, I should be able to consider the possibility that rushing in might be a trap. Shin Hae-ryang, watching a few men who had sprinted from the East District and were quickly passing through the Central Building, said,

“It seems there’s some reward for living diligently.”

The CCTV footage followed their movements. As soon as the men passed through the corridor connecting the Central Building to the West District, Kang Soojung sighed heavily and pressed the [Yes] button.

As the barrier wall started to descend rapidly, the men in the CCTV began to panic and turn back. However, the barrier wall closed faster. Watching the CCTV, I became curious about the situation in the South District research center and asked Shin Hae-ryang,

“Can we check the situation in the South District through CCTV as well?”

“We can see everything except the research center.”

“Why can’t we see the research center?”

“It seems there have been multiple discussions about privacy invasion and overstepping authority. Only the research center directors can view that CCTV.”

Kang Soojung, looking at the pad her team leader had stolen, asked the thief,

“Why did you need CCTV access at night?”

“…”

Shin Hae-ryang, who had been speaking without hesitation until now, closed his mouth like a clam and remained silent.

“It’s okay. You can tell us.”

When Baek Ae-young answered with furrowed brows, Shin Hae-ryang looked at her once and then slowly said to Kang Soojung,

“Some bastard pulled Ae-young’s hair, and there was a quarrel because of that. It happened below the CCTV angle, they say.”

Kang Soojung gently asked Baek Ae-young. It was completely different from how she spoke to Shin Hae-ryang and Seo Jihyuk.

“Were you up at night?”

“…I couldn’t sleep, so I was on my way to see the night sea.”

“Is your head okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“My hair is fine, but I beat the crap out of him.”

Kang Soojung smiled and patted Baek Ae-young’s back, saying as if she was proud. Well done. When Kang Soojung looked at Shin Hae-ryang, he answered slowly,

“When I checked to delete the footage, I found that almost all engineer team leader authorities in the underwater base had been revoked. There was no separate notice about it either.”

“So you swiped the pad as soon as you met the head engineer.”

“That white supremacist wasn’t someone who would be wandering around at that time in the first place. And…”

“And?”

“…He seemed strangely tense when he saw me greeting him and kept glancing at me.”