“Aaaaaahk!”
“Uwaaah! Save me! Help me!”
Jo Gyu-Min was in a panic.
‘Crazy sons of b*tches!’
The aquarium instantly morphed into the scene of pure pandemonium. The whole building seemed to rock precariously as a massive explosive noise deafened him. And then, panicking people flooded out from the deeper parts of the aquarium and rushed toward the exit like a horde of zombies!
With so many people running in panic, the whole building seemed to be shaking and trembling from their feet stomping on the floor.
Screams of people and shrill siren noises assaulted Jo Gyu-Min’s hearing nonstop. And it felt like a powerful gush of hot air blew right into his face.
He suddenly had an epiphany just then. He now understood why more victims than necessary always accompanied large-scale disasters.
People died in their droves because they had failed to see the obvious exits and didn't respond rationally. As a bystander, Jo Gyu-Min struggled to understand why that was. By staying calm and responding appropriately to the unfolding situation, all those people could have survived the disasters. So why did they act so irrationally? He couldn't figure it out.
But now he knew.‘Keep what cool now?!’
How could anyone stay calm in this situation?
Jo Gyu-Min was quite some distance away from the location of the disaster, yet he still had a torrid time holding on to his sanity. Even though he knew something terrible was about to happen, he still felt lost and unsure of what to do.
In that case, what about these people? People who were figuratively hit by the bolt of lightning out of the blue? How could anyone expect them to maintain their rational minds!
‘You stupid f*ck!’
If it was possible, Jo Gyu-Min was tempted to shoot his past self in the head for subconsciously looking down on those victims.
An observer would never understand. Unless one had personally experienced it, they would always be oblivious. Unfortunately, this world saw so many events that fit those two descriptions too perfectly.
Jo Gyu-Min forcibly suppressed his heart pounding at an unbelievable rate and calmed his heavy wheezing, then urgently turned his head to scan his surroundings.
‘Where are the kids?’
Jo Gyu-Min finally sobered up. And that reminded him of what his job was supposed to be. He had already done what he could for the aquarium's visitors, so he should shift his priority back to safely evacuating the kids.
Just as he urgently scanned the area, a new wrench decided to throw itself into his plan. Just as the panicked crowd rushed past him to obscure his view, the lights illuminating the interior started flickering on and off.
‘Lights are shorting now?! You… sons of b*tches!’
To think these bastards were careless enough to allow the aquarium’s electrical fittings to get exposed to water! Jo Gyu-Min should’ve suspected something like this while estimating how much money the constructors might have skimmed off the top!
Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to hurl all sorts of insults in the direction of the aquarium’s operators. Jo Gyu-Min gritted his teeth and threw himself into the fast-moving walls of human bodies.
The kids must be up ahead somewhere! Since Jo Gyu-Min sent the kids ahead before triggering the fire alarm, they should be near the exit somewhere!
Splash!
As he moved, he sensed cold water splashing against his legs. Before he had the time to notice it, water was already up to his ankles. To make matters worse, he could sense the water level rapidly rising higher and higher with every step he took.
Initially, the cold wetness was below the ankle bone, but within the span of a few steps, the water had risen past the bone!
“Son of a…!”
The water was rising in the figurative blink of an eye!
Jo Gyu-Min reflexively looked back. He could see the water level had risen up to the knees of the crowd desperately fleeing the aquarium's interior. He could instinctively tell the water level would rise even faster from now on.
‘What the f*ck?! Even though Mister Jin-Ho is blocking the water?’
When Jo Gyu-Min thought about it, though… This outcome should’ve been obvious.
That main fish tank had to be several stories tall. So, imagine all that water gushing through the narrow passageways of the aquarium. Without someone blocking the water flow, the rapid onslaught of water would've already reached this place to sweep everyone away, and the water level would have reached the ceiling.
In that case… What about swimming? Holding breath underwater?
‘Don’t make me laugh!’
If doing that was enough to survive, shouldn't those people getting swept away by the rapids during the heavy rainy season just hold their breaths and swim back out after reaching the calmer waters? Unfortunately, that wasn't how reality worked. The rapids didn't drown you. It pummeled you to death!
The water pressure was one thing, but the debris and things getting swept up by the water would destroy the person’s body first.
However, would an aquarium have things like that? Of course it did.
‘Look at all these people!’
If so many humans got swept into the rapids at once, they’d get entangled underwater and kill each other. Human skulls would crack other skulls, while arms and legs would get into messy tangles and twisted knots.
“Goddamn it!”
Jo Gyu-Min pushed aside the panicked people in front of him while making his way forward. It wasn’t easy, though. The visitors would’ve grumbled but still stepped out of the way not too long ago, but now? Who would do that in this crazy situation?
Jo Gyu-Min’s mouth went dry. His innards were burning in anxiety!
Stomp!
“Aaaaaaahk!”
Suddenly, Jo Gyu-Min cried out in pain while losing his balance before collapsing on his face. Someone had stepped on his Achilles’ heel! His legs lost all strength, and he crashed headlong into the dirty water below.
He only had enough time to realize he was falling before ‘that’ happened in the blink of an eye.
“Ouch! Aaaaahk!”
Jo Gyu-Min was being trampled on!
Even though the person in front of them had fallen, the people behind didn’t seem to care and trampled on that person’s legs and back. Unfortunately, that person happened to be Jo Gyu-Min this time!
“Aaaahk!”
Jo Gyu-Min tried to push himself off the floor, only for someone’s boot to ruthlessly crush his hand. Then, someone stepped on his head to jump over him!
‘I… I’m going to die like this!’
Jo Gyu-Min was overwhelmed by the extreme sense of crisis as he glared at the dark water beneath him. Falling completely into the water would mean he’d get trampled to death, unable to even raise his head! If not, he’d probably drown!
Either way, death was the only likely outcome. The only difference would be how he'd begin his one-way trip to the netherworld!
“You… You son of a…!”
Another angry curse exploded out of Jo Gyu-Min's mouth. He must've bit his tongue somewhere because the acrid metallic taste of blood stung his palate next.
He couldn't afford to die here!
Adrenaline rushed in to ease his body's pain.
“Uwaaaaaaaah!”
Jo Gyu-Min gritted his teeth and forced himself back up to his feet. He could vividly feel someone attempting to step on his back losing their balance and crashing on the floor instead.
That person would soon experience the same thing as what Jo Gyu-Min had gone through. However, there was no leeway to worry about that unknown person. Doing so would only lead to Jo Gyu-Min's own demise!
‘Where are the Seongsim kids?!’
Jo Gyu-Min's body was obviously not in good shape. Most likely, it must be heavily injured. However, he didn't care about looking after his injuries and focused on finding the orphans.
Even a grown-up man like him had a near-death experience just now. In that case… How bad must it be for much smaller kids? High school-age boys were physically large enough to endure most situations, but what about the girls? They shouldn’t be able to withstand this highly stressful situation.
“F*cking hell! You sure know how to bring out the worst in me, don’t you!”
Jo Gyu-Min gritted his teeth and pounced forward. With his eyes completely bloodshot, he quite literally jumped on top of the walls of human bodies that extended as far as his eyes could see.
He stepped on those who foolishly had bent forward. He practically dived over people's heads. He trampled and yanked at anything and everything that blocked his way to continue 'swimming' forward!
“Come down, you son of a b*tch!”
“Get down here! Now! I’ll kill you, you f*cking…!”
Curse flew at him from every direction. A hand shot out and angrily pulled at his leg. A hand with sharp fingernails tried to tear into his face. Someone even punched him in the gut and stomach. Even so, Jo Gyu-Min still overcame all sorts of obstacles in his quest to find the Seongsim kids.
He did slip and crash to the floor one more time, but…! Jo Gyu-Min shoved aside the incoming fist and resumed climbing and jumping over the irate crowd. Unfortunately, that set off an even worse chain reaction.
People at the back witnessing Jo Gyu-Min's actions began jumping on other people as if they were in a competition. In the blink of an eye, waves of humans crashed and roiled on top of each other to create an unholy mess.
“I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die! Didn’t you hear me, you motherf*ckers!?”
“Uwaaaaaah! Get out of the way!”
Hell on Earth had unfolded in this place.
These people could've stayed rational for longer if the danger had encroached on them more slowly. They could've calmly thought of a way to escape. They could've analyzed what they should give up on and found the best solution to the current problem.
However, this disaster happened way too fast and without any warning.
The shrill siren going off, the lights flickering on and off, and the powerful vibrations and crashing noises coming from somewhere behind all conspired to ruthlessly rob everyone's ability to think rationally.
“Aaaaaahk?!” Jo Gyu-Min cried out in pain after someone had bitten his leg. He angrily kicked whoever it was, which wasn't just one person, then continued pushing forward step by step.
“It’s Chief Jo!”
“Chief Jo! Over here!”
That was when Jo Gyu-Min heard someone calling out to him. With his expression distorted to resemble a terrifying monster, he turned his head and finally discovered the Seongsim kids waving their hands at him. Jo Gyu-Min urgently changed his direction and waded past the unruly crowd to get to the children.
“A-are you okay, Chief Jo?”
“H-he’s bleeding! Chief Jo, you’re hurt!”
“No, I'm fine!” Jo Gyu-Min hurriedly stopped the kids from fussing over him.
They simply didn't have the leeway to ask about each other's health here, never mind confirming how terrible he looked to these kids. Jo Gyu-Min thought his arm must be broken from how horrifying the pain was. The stinging aching on his thigh was severe enough to make him clench his teeth.
Unfortunately, he also didn't have enough time to stew in his pain!
Jo Gyu-Min hurriedly asked Han Jin-Seong, “Is everyone here?”
The boy stuttered, “I-I’m not sure.”
“Hurry and confirm it! See if anyone’s missing! Raise your hands! Hurry!”
The Seongsim kids hurriedly raised their hands. Jo Gyu-Min and Han Jin-Seong quickly did a head count.
Han Jin-Seong cried out, “Everyone’s here!”
“You sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure!”
“Good!” Jo Gyu-Min grabbed the back of Han Jin-Seong’s neck and pulled the boy right up to his face. “Jin-Seong!”
“Yes, Chief Jo!” Han Jin-Seong replied almost in a yell.
“Men must bring up the rear. Meaning, you will follow the group from behind to make sure everyone is accounted for! You hear me?"
“Yes, Chief Jo!”
“When we get out of here in one piece, I swear I’m gonna treat you to a good meal, okay? So, you better not miss anyone, okay! Got it?”
“Yes!”
Jo Gyu-Min's bloodshot eyes locked into Han Jin-Seong's for a second or two. Then, the older man gritted his teeth while urgently turning his head away to scan his surroundings.
‘We need to get out of here, somehow!’
Maybe the smartest decision here was to wait until people at the front escaped first. No, wait. It was not a maybe—waiting here was the right decision. It wasn't as if the water level had risen up to Jo Gyu-Min's waist, anyway. Losing his crap like this didn't make any sense at all.
However, his mind and his heart had a disagreement on this one.
It felt like his heart was sending him the urgent warning sirens. It screamed at Jo Gyu-Min to escape from here right away. To escape from here as soon as possible!
“Okay, let’s go!”
Jo Gyu-Min took the lead and charged forward. He shoved aside people desperately struggling not to get pushed away, then kept moving forward one step at a time. Even while doing that, he didn’t forget to turn his head several times to confirm the presence of the children behind him.
“Stick close to me! Hold on to my waist, okay!” Jo Gyu-Min cried out. “Grab the waist of the person in front of you! And keep that person up on their feet, no matter what! If you fall, you will die! Understand?”
“Yes, Chief Jo!”
Children replied in unison. Even in this noise-and-scream-filled space, their voices registered clearly in Jo Gyu-Min’s hearing.
‘Okay, I need to remain calm!’
Jo Gyu-Min grimaced while wiping the blood off his face. He remembered someone trying to grab or scratch his face earlier. That must be when his skin broke.
‘Stay calm, Jo Gyu-Min! Stay calm! We’re almost at the exit, right? Yes, we must be close. So, stay calm! Rushing too fast can only hurt the kids instead!’
Two thoughts dominated Jo Gyu-Min’s mind right now. One, ensuring that every Seongsim kid would escape from here. And two, ensuring that none of them would get hurt!
‘People up ahead must be evacuating like a flood right now. For all these people to leave and make enough room… At most, five minutes? In that case, maybe waiting five minutes could be a…’
Just as his thoughts reached that far…
RUUUUUMBLE!!!
A loud thunderclap went off somewhere.
‘No! That wasn’t a thunderclap!’
The entire aquarium building seemed to shake ominously before all the flickering lights went off all at once. Almost at the same time, decorations on the ceiling came loose and began falling to the floor… to mercilessly smash into the heads of the panicked people below!
“Kkyaaaaaahk!”
Jo Gyu-Min’s eyes shot open as he hurriedly jerked his head up.
‘C-could it be?!’
Was this building… collapsing?!
“F-f*ck! Couldn't you stay up for a couple minutes longer?! Uwaaaaaaah!”
Despite the darkness, Jo Gyu-Min’s eyes vividly witnessed the sight… of the ceiling coming down on him and on everyone else!
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