Chapter 040: What Must Be Done (9)
The angel read Hee-soo's thoughts and answered directly into his mind.
"I am a cat."
"This isn't the will of an angel."
"It's entirely the cat's will."
"Why haven't you gone yet?"
Hee-soo turned back to the site manager.
"Where is the entrance to the construction site?"
The site manager answered with a pleasant expression.
"Over there."
"See that door?"
"You can enter using this key."
It was an electronic door key.
Hee-soo took it and ran toward the door.
Captain Gu and the other firefighters remained behind, almost entranced as they crouched around the angel and petted it.
Hee-soo could hardly believe what he was seeing.
But he had no time to waste there.
He ran to the entrance and touched the key to the electronic lock.
The door opened.
Dust and toxic gas filled the air so heavily that he could barely see ahead.
Even without going farther, Hee-soo could tell visibility inside would be terrible.
Visibility is worse than I expected.
I could actually get lost like this.
The underground area was filled with construction equipment and support pillars.
With visibility almost nonexistent, it was like a dangerous maze.
He could barely tell where the path itself was.
"I need to develop equipment that can restore visibility as soon as possible."
"If things stay like this, even ten lives wouldn't be enough."
Hee-soo carefully moved toward the markers shown on his phone.
Several times he almost tripped, but managed to regain his balance.
His protective suit was chemically resistant, so it could stop most toxic substances from penetrating.
Even so, every time he stepped into an unknown liquid, he felt a chill.
Worse, unknown liquid also dripped from above, soaking his shoulders and helmet.
As the two markers drew closer, the conditions became worse.
The path gradually disappeared.
Steel beams had tilted over and blocked the route.
He had reached the main collapse zone.
Hee-soo began to feel genuine fear of death.
If I want to survive, should I turn back right now?
He had been memorizing the route behind him using only his sense of direction.
Human senses aren't something you can completely trust.
I should've added a tracking function that records the route I've walked.
Damn it.
As he struggled with the decision and continued forward, he caught his foot on something and fell.
Thud.
The noise echoed through the underground space.
But the sound that returned was not only an echo.
"H-help me!"
It was the weak, hoarse voice of a young boy.
Hee-soo could tell the child was squeezing out the last of his strength to call for help.
The boy had heard Hee-soo approaching and was desperately forcing his voice out.
Hee-soo responded immediately.
"I'm coming!"
"Where are you? Keep making noise!"
"What's happening where you are?"
The moment the boy heard Hee-soo's voice, his own voice became tearful.
"H-here!"
"T-there's liquid running over the ground, and it's bubbling..."
"Don't touch it under any circumstances!"
"Who's the other person with you?"
"There's nobody else here."
"You're alone?"
"Yes."
"Got it."
"I'll be there soon, so don't touch that liquid."
"Understand?"
"Yes!"
The hesitation inside Hee-soo instantly disappeared.
His mind switched completely toward moving forward.
The collapsed section in the middle was not only filled with flowing toxic substances, it also blocked the route to the child.
Vapor from acidic and alkaline substances mixed with dust, hiding everything from sight.
He had no choice but to open a route almost entirely by touch.
Let's trust that these boots can block acids and bases.
That's what they were made for.
I specifically told them they needed to endure at least two hours.
The protective suit itself also had acid-resistant and alkali-resistant specifications.
Even so, Hee-soo did his best not to let the substances touch his body.
After feeling around and finding a route through, he barely made it past the obstacle zone.
Once he did, visibility improved slightly.
The child no longer seemed able to shout.
Instead, he was striking a steel structure.
As the sound grew closer, Hee-soo shone his light toward it.
He saw movement.
The situation was dangerous.
Scaffolding had collapsed into a tangled mess.
A steel plate had fallen over it.
The child was desperately clinging to the unstable scaffold.
It was barely holding together.
If even a small impact struck it, the steel plate looked ready to crush the child.
If a steel plate weighing several tons fell on him, he would certainly die.
Hee-soo carefully approached.
A stream flowed beneath them.
The stream gave off a toxic smell and heat.
That's not ordinary water.
It's a stream created by all those chemicals flowing together.
The child was standing between gaps in the collapsed support structures.
When Hee-soo approached, relief appeared on the boy's face.
But Hee-soo hesitated.
What do I do?
I don't think we can escape that way.
The moment hesitation entered his mind, the supports began vibrating.
The beam beneath the boy tilted further.
The boy began to slip.
"Aaaah!"
At the child's scream, Hee-soo had no time left to hesitate.
He stepped directly into the stream and grabbed the child.
Fortunately, the stream was not deep.
But it was deep enough to cover his insoles.
The child burst into tears from shock.
He looked like a first or second-grade elementary school student.
Fortunately, he was light.
Hee-soo carried him to a safer place and immediately calmed him down.
"You're okay now."
"You just need to leave with hyung. Got it?"
The child sniffled and nodded.
Hee-soo immediately put an auxiliary breathing mask on him.
Then Hee-soo became troubled.
What do I do?
Should I send the kid through first by himself?
The child refused to leave Hee-soo's arms and wrapped both arms tightly around his neck.
For the moment, Hee-soo followed the small stream back toward the obstacle area.
The stream he had crossed earlier had become deeper.
Now it looked deep enough to cover his calves.
Because of that, the available space had become even narrower.
There was no way he could pass through while carrying the child.
The child's weight was also significant.
Because the boy was gripping his neck so tightly, Hee-soo could barely move his head.
Hee-soo also kept the child tightly against his body.
It was not only to keep from dropping him.
By holding him tightly, Hee-soo could stop himself from constantly worrying about the child's position.
Hee-soo's thoughts began racing faster and faster.
What do I do?
At that moment, the radio made a beep.
It felt like a ray of light descending from heaven.
"This is Hee-soo."
