Episode 474:
Drop, drop.
Blood dripped from my hand.
“….”
The blood that fell gently seeped in without any recoil, gradually staining the glass-smooth water surface red. Song In-myeong looked at it as if it were unrealistic.
The drops of blood falling regularly were like an alarm clock. It is an alarm clock in which the hour and minute hands move forward at a set time and eventually make a ringing sound at a set time. What happens after all the blood, which drips in a bizarrely consistent manner, is pulled out?
Song In-myeong held his fingers in his eyes in excruciating pain.
“…Why…”
he questioned.
“….”
Why?
‘Why did you bite me?’
It’s difficult to explain precisely because it was a fleeting moment, but what kind of creature was it that left a deep scar on Song In-myeong’s index finger? A creature that attacks people in the other world is definitely a monster. But that raised a question.
The monsters of the other world rarely attacked Song In-myeong.
“…Um….”
“…What is it? “Are you hurt a lot?”
“no.”
Although it had been eaten to the point where almost the bones were visible, Song In-myeong thought that it was natural for the bones to be visible since the fingers had very little flesh. I was aware that the bleeding was severe compared to the scale of the injury, but it was not a major problem.
If there was a problem, it was the bottom of the water.
‘It’s so white and bright that you can’t see the inside and you can’t see the waves on the water, so you have no idea where the monster is.’
Normally I would have just shut up and rushed forward, but since my finger was bitten, I had to be a little more cautious.
At the same time, I once again wondered, ‘Why did the monster attack me?’
‘…I didn’t even make a big move?’
Even Song In-myeong could not be completely free from the monster’s hostility. However, unless there were special rules, they were not attacked for making eye contact like other survivors. If Song In-myeong didn’t attack first, didn’t most of them pass by quietly?
It was the first time I was attacked just by inserting my finger like I was now.
‘…are only the monsters in this theme zone or aquarium a bit aggressive?’
As Song In-myeong was trying to organize his thoughts, he suddenly felt that he was quite tired.
“….”
To be precise, I was paying too much attention to these minor injuries and idle thoughts.
Song In-myeong frowned and asked without looking back.
“Hey, are you having a hard time?”
“…yes?”
“I feel more headaches and frustrations now than when I was active in the underworld.”
“…Oh no? “It seems similar to a park or Eonhak High School.”
“okay?”
So why am I like this?
“….”
“…What’s really going on?”
“No, there is not.”
With his uninjured hand, Song In-myeong rummaged through the pocket of his hooded zip-up and took out a bandage. Park Da-young looked at the bundle of white bandages and admired it in a tired voice.
“Do you also carry bandages?”
“Oh, don’t snoop around. “I’ll lend it to you if you get hurt, so just be quiet.”
“No, I’m not asking you to borrow it, I’m just asking why you’re carrying it around….”
“They said you never know when you might get eaten by the underworld. “I took it with me just in case.”
Song In-myeong sat down a little bit from the bottom of the water and cut off the bandage with a jackknife. It was a standard-sized bandage, so it was too thick and wide to be wrapped around a finger like this. Song In-myeong cut a bandage to the size of his finger and wrapped it around the wound on his finger to stop the bleeding.
However, even after 5 minutes, the bleeding did not stop.
“…Normally, the bleeding should stop around this time, right? weird.”
“…I guess it’s because it’s a wound inflicted by a monster from the other side of the world.”
Song In-myeong nodded at Park Da-hoon’s words.
“That could be possible. “Something like a monster that causes wounds that can’t be stopped.”
“I’m sure they won’t flock to you when they smell blood, right?”
“I think the possibility is high. Why did they bother to create a trap where the waves cannot be seen? “We didn’t make it so that even if monsters flock to see the blood, we can’t check.”
“Who makes this crazy aquarium?…”
“Why could God have created the other side of the world?”
I don’t know what kind of god it is that has such great hobbies.
“Is this the theme that tells you to cross? It’s going to spin, really. “If you see this division as soon as you put your hand in, it doesn’t look like there are only one or two of them inside… I don’t even know the depth.”
Song In-myeong looked back at the students.
“Hey, I’m asking in advance. Are you going to go inside to see your real uncle?”
“yes.”
“There was no immediate response. “If anything happens, I will jump out, so just know that.”
“I’m just thankful that they don’t suddenly turn around and attack us.”
“You speak so beautifully.”
Song In-myeong scratched the back of his head and stood up and looked around.
“What are you looking for?”
In response to Seo-ah’s question, who was quietly observing the situation, Song In-myeong glanced at the handsome child and answered.
“Something like a long stick. “The longer and harder the better.”
“why?”
“Look how deep the water is. If that thing came up on my thigh, I’d fucking jump. You can get attacked even above your thighs, but it would be crazy to just go over. “Wow, that’s cruel.”
At that moment, Park Da-hoon nodded with an empathetic face.
“Oh, that’s right….”
“What? “What are you empathizing with?”
“If you’re a man, you can’t help it.”
“…ah.”
Dayoung Park also acknowledged it. It may be Song In-myeong, but I couldn’t see my family’s precious younger brother being cut off.
Although they say they will recover when they return to reality, being attacked up to their thighs would not be a very pleasant experience for men. It might be a big difference if she were a woman, but since Park Da-young was a woman, she couldn’t complain about the pain she didn’t even know about.
Instead, she was worried about the kindergarteners who couldn’t even fit around our waists.
“If it’s too deep, I’ll have to take the kids with me.”
“Even if it’s shallow, I have to carry it. Even that sturdy person is bleeding because his finger was torn off…”
“That’s right.”
I wanted to hide the children in a safe place and then move, but there seemed to be no such place. Would it be safe even if the cafe on the street corner is private? But unfortunately, there were no cafes around here.
In any case, at least it cannot be left where it is now or at the entrance connected to the ‘Underwater World’ theme zone.
‘I don’t know if it’s safe even if I leave it outside the aquarium, and even if I go back in the first place, I wonder if I can go out to the entrance…’ Each
building in the other world had its own rules, and there was a clear distinction between ‘entrance’ and ‘exit’ and the aquarium. I was worried that it might not be related to the rules. So, this meant that even if you go back to the ‘entrance’ where people come in, you may not be able to leave unless you are at the ‘exit’.
Moreover, the ‘underwater world’ was full of resistant water.
To get to the entrance, you had to pass through a waterway, and regardless of whether you could swim or not, you couldn’t tell how long the ‘underwater world’ that had turned into a hidden world would last. I could have died in the middle because I was short of breath. Especially if it’s young children.
‘So that means I have to take her in the end.’
Park Da-young, who was contemplating the future schedule and difficulties, heard Song In-myeong’s voice.
“Oh, there is.”
“I found it.”
“Uh, mop.”
What Song In-myeong brought with him was a long mop that could also be seen at the Park siblings’ school.
As if Song In-myeong didn’t feel like talking any more, he walked to the bottom of the ‘Stream Friends’ water, grabbed the sack, and soaked the mop in it.
“oh.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t deep. At most, it reaches up to a person’s ankles.
“Why are you so nervous for no reason? “At this rate, I can just pass by…”
Song In-myeong was repeatedly poking the mop into the water as if he were having fun soaking the mop in water. My body stiffened as I heard a strange sound.
“….”
“…That’s deep. “It’s so deep.”
“…It didn’t even touch the floor.”
“Oh, it’s Eva.”
Park Da-young and Song In-myeong looked at the mop with pale faces. Song In-myeong swallowed his saliva and slowly put the mop in, and it was only when he reached the area where Song In-myeong was holding the handle with his hand that it clicked. It reached the floor. Song In-myeong, who steadily pulled out a mop from the bottom of the water, compared the wet area with his own height.
“…Are you kidding me? “It comes almost to the solar plexus.”
“Wait.”
“Goodbye, guys. “I’m going to jump.”
“Wait a minute. Be persistent. And try poking other places too.”
“ah.”
Song In-myeong decided that this was a valid point and looked here and there carefully. After checking all the parts that could be checked with a mop, Song In-myeong rubbed the back of his neck and muttered as if he were embarrassed.
“…I think there is a separate path with shallow water…”
“Is there a path?”
“I’m not sure, but it feels like it’s connected, with a gap in the middle. “If you remove all of this white water, you will see a connected road.”
“Then I guess we can just pick that part carefully and go?”
“But at least I’ll have my feet torn off, right?”
Song In-myeong and the Park siblings were all wearing sturdy sneakers, so I thought they might be able to withstand the monster’s attack a little.
‘…If you keep biting it with this intensity, it won’t be long before you’ll have holes in your shoes.’
Song In-myeong took a quick look at the wound that was still bleeding and continued speaking.
“and.”
Song In-myeong tapped a certain spot with a mop.
“There is often a real bottom that is not water, as you can see now.”
“uh…?”
“The water is all fluorescent, opaque white that hurts the eyes, and the surface is as smooth as ice, so you can’t tell it apart with the naked eye. huh? like this. “There are some parts where you don’t have to dip your toes in the water.”
Tap tap In-myeong Song nudged a spot far from where he was standing with the mop. In that part, the mop didn’t go in like it would on a really white floor. The linen part of the mop hit the floor and the threads spread out in all directions. Park Da-hoon blinked.
“Then shouldn’t we just go that route?”
“Well, that’s fine. First of all, I guess all the flesh will be torn on the way before I even get to the floor I just found? Look, it’s far. The floor looks too slippery to jump to the landing and land, and if you fall and your whole body falls into the water, you’ll look really red. “It will be tattered.”
Song In-myeong nodded as he checked the waterway with a mop a few more times.
“…It’s one of the two. “You either find an invisible path and move to the other side in the shallowest possible way, or you move through the sparse bottom, even if it means risking a little pain.”
Dayoung Park summarized her words briefly.
“Is it a question of low risk low return or high risk high return?”
“It’s good that you understand quickly.”
“But we don’t even know what the road looks like…”
At that time, Seo-ah tugged on the hem of Park Da-young’s clothes.
“huh? why?”
“Over there… sister over there.”
“excuse me?”
When I turned my head following Seo-ah’s gesture, I saw the paper Minhong was holding.
“…uh.”
A mini-game board in which you fill up the number of stamps by stamping each theme on a map made of thick, shiny paper. Minhong, who was looking at it intently, tilted his head and then handed the map to Park Dayoung and Park Dahoon.
“huh.”
“See?”
“huh.”
“Oh yeah. “I’ll borrow it for a moment.”
Sensing something, Song In-myeong also came over and looked at Choi Min-hong’s map. He pointed at the ‘underwater world’ with his finger, which had not yet stopped the bleeding. I moved next to it and pointed to the location where ‘Friends by the creek’ was written.
There is a round seal with a fish drawn in the center. Alphabets were lined up along the circular outline of the stamp mark.
“…alphabet?”
“It’s the alphabet. AQAADO C… What is this?”
Dahoon Park asked Minhongi.
“Has this happened before? Before coming to the other side….”
“Ugh.”
“No. “Then I think it’s a hint that has something to do with the current situation.”
“Hint…”
Park Da-young muttered, looking at the bright white water bottom of ‘Friends by the Stream’.
“….”
“What do you think you know?”
“Come here.”
“Oh, don’t give orders.”
“a little. “This is not the time to complain.”
“It’s annoying…”
Park Da-young, who dragged Song In-myeong right to the bottom of the water, said, pointing to the bottom of the water.
“You just said it seemed like there was a path. But it seems like it stops in the middle.”
“yes?”
“When you hit it with a stick, can you tell the difference between the bottom and the open water? If you think that the connected floor is a line and the disconnected part is made of one dot…”
“Oh.”
Song In-myeong looked at Park Da-young and asked.
“Are you talking about Morse code? “It’s made up of lines and dots.”
“…Yes, that is. It might be a little strange, but…”
“No, no. It’s persuasive. “The path I took just now… maybe about…”
Song In-myeong, who was muttering, adjusted his grip on the mop bag and started wiping the bottom of the water again. Deep. Toouk. Deep. Sigh. Tap tap tap… Song In-myeong, who had been waving around the mop for a while, opened his mouth.
“…R A… G? Or M or Q Z….”
Park Da-young responded to Song In-myeong’s muttering.
“Do you know crazy Morse code?”
“…Did you ask me this now, thinking I wouldn’t know?”
“What kind of person lives by memorizing Morse code….”
“Oh, I’m not even human?”
“No, I thought there was a note with Morse code here somewhere. “In the hidden world, there are often hints to these puzzles.”
“You should think that I am smart and will have an easy time.”
Song In-myeong, with a frown on his face, said as he retrieved the mop he had stretched out.
“After RA, is there anything that starts with G or MQZ? It’s not possible if you don’t have it, so answer quickly. “Because it can be replaced with another alphabet.”
The section that Song In-myeong identified was dot-line-dotted-dotted-line-line-line…
R is dot line dot in Morse code. A is a dotted line. And alphabets starting with two lines were G or MQZ.
Of course, unlike the symbols depicted with neat dots and lines, it was a guess based on actual protruding objects, so it could have been wrong. Because there was no friendly spacing like dotted line, dotted line, line, etc.
Fortunately, Da-Hoon Park nodded.
“there is. RAQAADOC C… Shall I read more?”
“No, it’s okay. “I was lucky enough to find a good starting point.”
“I’m definitely lucky. I feel like things are going smoothly.”
“That’s right.”
And suddenly they realized.
“…Then shall we go?”
“…prepare your mind.”
I got along well with people who were smart enough to meet each other.
That was very hurtful to both sides…
(continued in the next episode)
