Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Yoo Geum-yi looked at the cat for a moment, then she also took off her shoes, put her socks inside her shoes, rolled up her forearms, and folded up her pants. While I was looking at the snake curled up tightly in the small pocket inside the bag, Canu, who had knocked and entered the room, picked up the cat walking around the room.

Whose cat is this?

I dont know the owner.

Its quite heavy. My familys cat is much lighter than this one. Its well-behaved. Gentle. Look. Its staying still even though I, a stranger, am touching it.

Canu, barefoot, skillfully touched the cats face and chin. The cat was calmly letting itself be touched. Its interesting that its doing that even when a stranger is touching it. Ive always wanted to raise a pet, but I couldnt because there wasnt enough space at home. How intelligent are cats? Are they smart enough to understand this situation? What about snakes? I wonder if Canu knows a lot about snakes too.

Have you ever seen anyone raising a snake inside the undersea base?

No, why a snake?

Theres one inside the pocket of my bag. I brought it out of a room in a hurry.

Did you bring it because youre confident in raising it?

Suddenly, I was at a loss for words. Uh-oh. I shook my head and said,

No. The water was rising, so I didnt even have time to think about that. I was going to ask around and try to find the owner if I saved it and took it out.

Its staying still even when I touch its paw. It doesnt bite either.

While watching Canus hand petting the cat, I asked in a fluster,

Do cats bite?

Even though I had touched the cat several times while taking out a towel or candy, it didnt bite me. Right. It has teeth even though its small, so it could bite. Then how is it different from a snake? That its not venomous? How many bacteria are in a cats mouth? Humans have about 100 million, so if it has as many bacteria as a human, it could easily kill me with a bite, right?

I really dont know anything about cats. Ive seen a lot of photos of the ones my friends raise. Canu stroked the cat, then lifted it and handed it back to me.

Cats bite too. You really havent raised one before. Put it in the bag before it hides somewhere. If the cat hides, you wont be able to find it.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

Hearing those words, I quickly took the cat and put it back in the bag. I checked several times to make sure the zipper was closed well. And I carefully put the bag down in the corner of the floor. Stay put while Im gone.

Jihyun looked at peoples faces once and said,

I will designate one valve to each of you. Just swim to that location and turn the valve. Any questions up to this point?

Sam raised his hand high. When Jihyun pointed to Sam with her chin, Sam asked,

What should we do if the valve doesnt turn or we fail to open the drain?

Then just leave it and come up to the 3rd floor. Any other questions?

I raised my hand, and when Jihyun gave me a chance, I asked,

Once Im done opening my assigned valve, can I go open valves in other locations?

There are more than 10 valves. It would be best to open as many drains as possible. Jihyun thought for a moment and answered,

That would be good, but it will be hard to find the valve youre assigned to while diving in the water. Once all of you here arrive on the 3rd floor, I will activate the automatic drainage system. How much drainage will occur is unknown. I dont know if the drainage system will function properly in this situation. But if the water drains and the elevator becomes usable, it will be a golden opportunity to escape. Lets all do our best.

I nodded at Jihyuns words and lightly stretched to loosen up my body. Ive had to unwillingly enter or fall into water before, but its been a while since I had to swim so clearly like this.

Jihyun walked around with Roakers pad and designated which valve on the 1st floor each person should open. I was also assigned a valve I had to open, which was a place I had to swim quite far to reach. It was a valve next to the wall of Laboratory 120. Im not sure exactly where it is, but looking at the 1st floor map on the pad, I checked where on the 3rd floor I should enter the water to reach that valve in the fastest and most efficient way.

The water had already completely filled the entire 2nd floor. Would it be dangerous to dive straight from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor? It would be dangerous, right? I was more worried about not knowing what might be in that water than diving straight into the water from the current height of about 7m.

I couldnt forget the pain and memory of the bed sliding in the water and hitting my calf. Even now, wooden tables and office supplies were floating on the surface of the water. Its not that Im good at swimming.

Since I only knew how to swim enough to not drown, all sorts of worries began to arise as I looked at the dark blue water. I had to swim down from a height of about 6-7m and then come back up. Do I really have the stamina for that? Do I have the lung capacity to hold my breath without issue while moving that distance? When was the last time I swam a distance of over 15m in my life? The conclusion I reached was one. I was mentally beating myself up, asking why I hadnt exercised regularly.

When Yoo Geum-yi asked if she could borrow the pad if I was done looking at the map, I readily held out my pad. Looking around, everyone with a pad had the 1st floor map open and was looking at the location they had to go to. Yoo Geum-yi frowned as she looked at the 1st floor location she was assigned on the map. Seeing Yoo Geum-yi holding her waist, submerged in her thoughts, I abruptly spoke to her.

Can I take a look at where youre going?

Huh? Sure.

The distance was as far as mine. But it seemed that if we just picked the right spot to vertically descend from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor, the distance each of us had to travel would be all similar.