Chapter 184
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Under the Black Water (2)
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Joanna blinked up at the ceiling. Her red-rimmed eyes grew calmly wet.
“It doesn’t feel real. Even though over ten million people will die soon, it feels like something happening in another world.”
A deep dampness clung to her long, sighing exhale. Sorrow mingled with a hint of self-loathing. Shouldn’t I be suffering more than this? Why am I so calm? Complex emotions weighed down the agent. That human side of her touched Winter’s heart.
“We’re weak, that’s why.”
Winter’s words came quietly, like a gentle caress.
“We want to grieve for every tragedy we should grieve for, we want to take responsibility for all the world’s misfortunes... But we’re too small and fragile for that. Our own pain always feels the biggest, we have to do our best just to get through each day, and even saving the people closest to us is overwhelming. We don’t even have the capacity to grieve properly.”
After shaking his head, Winter affirmed her.
“Being weak isn’t a sin. But it would be wrong not to do what we can. So, Anne, I think we should just do our best within arm’s reach.”
That’s the limit, and anything more is a dream. The words the boy swallowed were conveyed through emotions beyond speech. In response, the FBI agent pressed her fist to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. I shouldn’t be like this. The monologue leaking through her dry lips was a self-flagellation.
“I’ve shown you an unsightly side.”
She paused once, then hardened her resolve.
“Yes, now we need to focus on what we can do. The human experiments are bad enough, but the existence of a rogue faction operating independently within the Intelligence Agency is a huge problem in itself.”
Having shaken off her turmoil, the agent quickly laid out her prepared plan.
“At 15:00, there’ll be a brief disruption in the power grid. It’ll be restored in seconds, but that’s enough to reset the CCTV switch cycle. As you know, there are far more CCTV cameras than monitors in the situation room. If we move in sync with the screen changes, we can reach the lowest level without being detected.”
She showed him her notebook. Pages of work logs and handwritten notes flipped by, ending with a ship diagram. It meticulously marked the predicted movement path, camera positions, and screen display intervals in neat handwriting. 「Map Reading」 absorbed the information swiftly.
Winter was impressed.
“You’ve prepared thoroughly. This should work.”
The CCTVs had motion tracking—automatic movement detection—but it wasn’t used during daytime hours when people moved around a lot. With withdrawal imminent, the settings would be the same. No one would bother fine-tuning amid the bustle.
Joanna’s expression darkened.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into this dangerous mess, Winter. But I had no one else to rely on.”
“Sorry? I’m glad, actually. That I can help.”
“...Thank you.”
A faint smile brushed the FBI agent’s lips.
“How about pulling in the strike teams?”
Winter suggested.
“With White Skull, quite a few people know me. Anne, you might not like Captain Fowler, but he’s not a bad guy at heart. He’s an excellent soldier. If he hears about human experiments not ordered by the government, he’ll cooperate for sure. He might even convince the other teams...”
A Marine’s stubbornness became a foundation for trust in times like this.
“Even if not, having a Force Recon company help would make things much easier. We could even take the situation room by surprise. More than anything, isn’t this something you can request as supervisor?”
Joanna looked regretful.
“Good idea, but I already considered it. The incineration protocol is the issue. It’s an emergency self-destruct separate from other systems. I looked for a way to disable it personally, but no luck. Meaning Team Leader Chadwick can erase evidence anytime.”
“You think too many people would backfire?”
“Yes. I want to avoid raising detection risks. Above all, there’s no guarantee Chadwick doesn’t have sympathizers in the strike teams. Those kinds of rogue groups often expand through personal contacts and recruitment. Regrettably, plenty of agents have unstable mental states.”
I’m going through this hell because of the Chinese bastards. As the operation dragged on, some agents darkened like this. No replacements, so they’d marinated too long in the rotten sea.
‘Easy to shake or persuade. Special forces value makes them worthwhile.’
The more Winter chewed on the agent’s concerns, the more valid they seemed. He nodded.
“You’re right. I was short-sighted.”
“No. It was a natural suggestion.”
In the end, sticking to the original plan was best.
“Mind if I borrow your notebook?”
Winter took Joanna’s notebook, copied some parts, and memorized what he needed.
There was still time left. Winter deliberately showed his face outside. Staying away too long would arouse suspicion. Chatting with various people here and there was a shallow trick for when someone came looking for him.
“Oh, Lieutenant Han Gyeowol? Think I saw you at the mess earlier?”
The same response echoed in various voices.
Time to take photos in the controlled zone and return: estimated under an hour max.
On the way back, he avoided eyes. With 10 minutes to spare, Winter leaned against the bulkhead in a cluttered storeroom, waiting. Tap, tap. The small sound of boot heels clacking. Joanna, leaning beside him, was lightly tapping her feet. Her indifferent gaze down at her toes. Her controlled breathing was likely a habit to suppress tension.
Zzzt.
The lights flickered out instantly. The signal for exactly 15:00. Under the humming fluorescent bulbs relighting, Winter and the FBI agent nodded to each other.
They opened the door and stepped out. The corridor was naturally empty. Five seconds until the front CCTV fed to the situation room. The two sprinted full-tilt into the camera’s blind spot. Crouching right under it, they checked watches. Tick, tick. Five seconds again on the monitors.
They ran again, covering the corridor’s remaining half. They quickly opened the pressure door, slipped into the first visible cabin. Time to wait here: 3 seconds, 2, 1.
Bang! They kicked the door open and charged out. No people around, so noise didn’t matter. Echoing boot steps in the narrow space. Breathing growing rougher bit by bit. More from the agent than Winter. Given the tension, elevated heart rate and breathing despite the exertion was inevitable.
No elevators. Besides CCTV, elevator movement showed on separate screens. Operating one in a cleared zone would look suspicious.
The emergency stairs clanged loudly all the way down. Even more so in the silence.
They paused briefly on a mid-level landing. Needed to conserve stamina. Plenty of full-sprint sections left.
Even resting, vigilance couldn’t slack. Narrow blind spots meant Winter and the agent leaned back-to-back, muzzles aimed opposite ways.
“Doesn’t seem like... we’ve been spotted... yet.”
Her voice trembled through her full back. Her panting breaths came with it.
Winter thought of his sister urging him to sing. Not the time. The boy gave an involuntary wry smile. Guess I miss her that much.
“Let’s move again.”
Who knew when or why someone might come from above. Better to save time.
From upper to lower controlled zones, they stopped only once on the long stairs. Thanks to pre-calculating camera cycle times.
‘Seven seconds here, pass this... another seven.’
While running, he checked the notebook and watch constantly. Every move cut to sub-second precision. Dodging CCTVs felt like dominoes. Following the switch sequence extended exposure time indefinitely.
Then, a sinister skree- of something sliding.
“Ugh-!”
Leak somewhere? Floor was wet, agent slipped. Clattering roll. Like on the April Pacific, she covered Winter’s rear, speed difference meant he couldn’t grab her in time. Spinning with momentum, Winter eyed the camera down the corridor.
Run backward. Four seconds till this view hit the situation room, 3, 2...
He yanked open a side cabin door, pulled the agent in with superhuman strength. A bit late already. No time to control force—she slid straight into a metal cabinet, head smacking.
Winter slammed the door shut and quickly checked Joanna.
“Anne! You okay?”
She clutched her head, crouched, groaning long. Bloodstain on the cabinet edge.
Moments later, swallowing moans, she barely straightened her torso. But a trickle of blood ran down her face. Her stance wobbled unsteadily.
“Let me see.”
Winter checked the wound. Wiping blood with a handkerchief revealed a tear above her forehead. Flesh swelling. Likely to bruise soon.
‘Doesn’t feel like broken bone... Concussion maybe?’
Joanna, eyes narrowed, waved him off.
“I’m fine. Vision normal, no dizziness.”
Better safe. Winter lit a lantern, shone it in her eyes. 「Emergency Treatment」 guideline. Light sensitivity was a concussion sign too.
The agent batted the lantern away.
“Really fine. Just hurts. What about the camera?”
“A little late. Probably exposed for about a second.”
“Fuck.”
Self-recriminating curse didn’t stop at one. Winter said quietly.
“Calm down. It’s just one screen out of many? Only a second. Think they saw? Situation room’s busy with withdrawal prep. Might be slacking.”
“...Guess we can only hope.”
Worrying bad possibilities was pointless. No fix now.
Still, avoid rear ambush. They shifted to another cabin, waited for pursuit sounds. Joanna needed rest too. Injury aftereffects could hit late. Head wounds demand caution.
Five minutes passed, then ten. Silence dragged on.
If someone was coming, they’d be here by now. At that thought, the agent lowered her muzzle. Wiping blood and sweat, murmuring low.
“Haa. Lucky... Thank you, God.”
They resumed. Restricted zone was close now. Just two more cameras after restarting, then a circular pressure door appeared—bigger than previous ones. Lock took card or code.
After the door camera’s turn passed, Joanna pulled an ID card from her pocket, slotted it. Electronic beep, door unlocked. Winter asked.
“Where’d you get that?”
“Borrowed it briefly.”
Owner unaware. Winter chuckled lightly at her addition. They slipped in quickly, manually bolted it for safety.
“Useless even if they know. First sub departed on the first sub. Underwater phone won’t reach here... Post-op, no one’s fussing over lost keycards. Borrowed a bunch from restricted zone folks—first one hit.”
Another door inside. Side: presumed security room. CCTV screens on table, mics, mystery consoles. Empty weapon racks suggested decent armed guard once.
‘Couldn’t link secret zone surveillance to upper situation room. That place has unaware personnel coming and going.’
Thinking this, Winter nodded toward security.
“Better check inside from here. Might be live infected still.”
Joanna agreed. Low chance, but possible restraints failed post-evac.
============================ Author's Notes ============================
#Q&A
Q. infe: @Sudden thought, but has anyone in this game seen the ending?
A. Of course. Mostly S-rank subscribers. Heavy spending makes anything possible.
Q. Carpis: @If it's sentient with personality... does that include HAL9000 or T-1000 types?
A. In my view, humanity is defined by sociality. So the human condition is any coexisting sentient. Your examples are fine humans.
Q. Kaif: @How long for Chairman-level wallet to clear?
A. Hmm. Never thought that far...
Q. LewdDemonF: @Not seeing comment shoutouts lately. Story progress satisfying, though.
A. After this chapter.
Q. LewdDemonF: @You said titles always reflect content, so "Under Black Water" means polluted sea bottom sub giant nuclear sub blasts big or US nukes it. If sub's a MacGuffin sunk by third country while we chase shadows, I'll buy 3 books at bookstore.
A. Saying if prediction right/wrong is spoiler too. Future chapters answer instead.