Chapter 71
According to the investigation based on the last CCTV footage showing the tunnel and other evidence, fifteen people were currently trapped inside the tunnel.
They weren't all together, and with more than half of the 3.3-kilometer tunnel collapsed, a firefighter appearing on the broadcast was briefing that they were likely trapped in different places throughout it.
-Wow... What do we do...
-I heard an entire family was buried.
-They were on their way home from visiting their grandmother in the countryside... That grandmother must be going out of her mind...
The people in the chat were also frantically expressing their sympathy for them.
And then their attention turned to me.
-Hyung. Is there no way?
-Can't you do something somehow?
"Hmm... Well, it's not that there's no way. I'll end the broadcast for now."
-Huh?! Are you going to step in?
-Wooow!! As expected of Noah hyung!
-We knew we could trust you!!
As soon as I ended the broadcast, I picked up my phone.
I called Kang In-jeong.
-Ah. Teacher. What is it...
"It's about the Dundae Tunnel collapse."
-Ah... Our police are being dispatched there for crowd control even as we speak. I have a lot to do on this end too, so I wasn't able to go myself...
"Is there anyone among the rescue workers at the scene whom you could connect me with?"
-A rescue worker at the scene?
"Yes. I did a reading, and I saw a few things."
I was able to confirm a few things through the person who had given the briefing earlier.
Of course, that alone wasn't enough to know everything.
After all, he was only a spokesperson for the National Fire Agency.
To see things properly, I had to check the future of an actual rescue worker.
-...Yes. Someone I know is working there. I'll have him call you right away.
"If possible, please ask him to make it a video call."
-Understood.
The call with Kang In-jeong ended.
I sipped my drink while examining the tunnel shown on YouTube.
It was truly a complete disaster.
-Vroooom!!
A little while later, my phone rang.
It was an unknown number, but it was a video call.
"Hello."
-Uh. I got your number from Detective Kang In-jeong. My name is Jo Man-seong.
The person visible beyond the phone was a male rescue worker with strikingly thick eyebrows.
Rather than looking as if he trusted me through the screen, his expression seemed to say, 'I'm busy enough to drop dead, so why are they making me deal with this annoying thing?'
"Yes. My name is Kang Noah. We don't have much time, so I'll get right to the point."
-Yes. Go ahead.
"A young child and his father are buried near Exit 4. Rescue them first."
-What? Wh-what are you talking about...?
"A secondary collapse will occur. It will happen tomorrow at 9:08 a.m. You must rescue them before then."
I saw it in Jo Man-seong's future.
The bodies found at the site of the secondary collapse.
The father who had tried to protect his child with his own body, desperate to save the child at least.
Jo Man-seong sobbing uncontrollably as he looked at them.
I had to change that future.
"The ventilation-shaft area is blocked, and there is a risk of collapse, but breaking through there won't cause one. So break through and rescue them as quickly as possible."
-Uh... Wh-how can I trust that?
"Mr. Jo Man-seong."
-...Yes?
He was cautious.
But this was a time when trust was needed more than caution.
"Do I really have to tell you that the AV you watched last night was Hatano Ichigo's 'My Husband Isn't Coming Home Tonight'?"
-......
"And do I really have to mention that you confessed to someone on your high school field and got brutally rejected?"
-...P-please stop...
"And that you're planning to confess to Go Ye-seon among the paramedics..."
-Ah, all right! I understand!!
It took only a few words to earn his trust.
He looked at me with trembling eyes.
-Really... Is he really there?
"Yes."
After hesitating at my firm answer, he nodded.
-Understood.
***
Jo Man-seong gritted his teeth.
When Kang In-jeong, with whom he had worked before, suddenly called and told him to contact someone named Kang Noah, he had wondered what the hell this was about.
But after taking the call, it was as though he had been bewitched.
'There's no way he installed a CCTV in my room...'
He had even guessed the title of the AV he had watched alone at night.
Not only his embarrassing high school past, but even the person he currently liked.
Someone like that...
[A young child and his father are currently buried near Exit 4. Rescue them first. A secondary collapse will occur tomorrow at 9:08 a.m. You must rescue them before then.]
He felt that those words might be true.
'Whew. Let's go.'
Somehow, he had to save them.
He decided to trust Kang Noah.
"Everyone, follow me!"
"Huh?! T-Team Leader Jo!"
"We're tackling this area first!"
"But we still haven't received exact instructions..."
No proper instructions had even been issued yet.
If he acted arbitrarily and something went wrong, how would he take responsibility?
"The internal CCTV analysis isn't finished yet!"
"Going by the most recent information, we shouldn't have been able to reach Emergency Exit 4...!!"
His men were flustered, but Jo Man-seong spoke firmly.
"I'll take responsibility!! I'll explain it to Captain Go too! Hurry!"
"Yes!!"
Together with his subordinates, he began tackling the collapsed ventilation shaft.
They cleared away chunks of fallen concrete.
They removed the wire mesh.
They chopped away iron pipes and anything else blocking the way.
Each piece was heavy, so it wasn't easy.
The reporters demanded to know what they were doing and what grounds they had for digging there, but he ignored them.
And then.
"...Team Leader!! We've found someone calling for help!!"
He had found them.
Thanks to focusing desperately on the ventilation shaft alone.
The father and child trapped there.
They had been unable to enter through the emergency exit, which had collapsed from the middle onward.
The father, clutching his child tightly near the ventilation shaft and trembling in fear.
"We've found the people calling for help!!"
They really were there.
Just as Kang Noah had said.
Really.
They were really there.
Then there was no reason to hesitate anymore.
As Jo Man-seong watched blankly while the rescued father and child were carried away, he picked up his phone.
They had to find the others too.
So just as he was about to call him—
"You don't need to call."
The young man he had seen through the screen.
Kang Noah had arrived at the scene.
With his hands in his pockets, he surveyed the scene with an impassive expression.
"H-How did you get here...?"
"I drove. There."
Where he pointed, a midsize car was parked.
Hesitating, Jo Man-seong let out a heavy sigh.
"Mr. Kang Noah. It was just as you said."
"You rescued them, correct?"
"Yes."
"Then hurry and get everyone out."
"What?"
"That spot will collapse within an hour."
"But it's not even 9 a.m. yet...?"
"You accepted my advice and saved those people, didn't you? That changed the future."
...!!
"The consequences of disturbing things here to carry out the rescue will occur soon. Get everyone out."
"....!!"
A secondary collapse.
The rescue workers could be caught in it too.
At Kang Noah's words, he hurriedly shouted.
"Tell them to get out!!"
"What?! But, Team Leader! We might be able to go farther inside through here!!"
"Get out!! Get out!! There's a risk of a secondary collapse!"
"It's fine! Given the current geological conditions...!!"
They could rescue other people through the area they had entered.
Jo Man-seong had no choice but to crush his subordinates' hopes.
After all, hadn't the man who had pinpointed the trapped people's location over the phone said that a secondary collapse would occur?
In the end, he shouted until his voice broke and forced the team members who had gone inside to come back out.
When they emerged looking displeased, a rescue worker of similar rank to Jo Man-seong openly frowned.
"Hey! Jo Man-seong! Have you lost your mind?!"
"It's good that you saved the victims!! But that was way too reckle—"
-Rumble rumble rumble...!!
Those who had been angrily confronting him froze.
A horrible sound came from inside.
A faint vibration could be felt beneath their feet.
It was gradually.
Growing louder.
"Everyone, fall back!!"
Someone let out a desperate shout.
At the same time, a massive tremor spread through the area.
"Aaaah!!"
"Kyaaaah!!"
The ground shook.
Dust burst out, and the vibrations spread.
The secondary collapse had begun.
Jo Man-seong stared blankly at the access route filled with dust.
If he hadn't followed Kang Noah's words?
What about that father and son?
And the rescue workers who had gone in there?
He slowly turned his head.
Kang Noah was standing there.
Despite being proven right, there wasn't even a trace of excitement on his face.
He merely looked at it as though the obvious was simply obvious.
"...Mr. Kang Noah."
"Thank goodness. Now, before we get to the next thing, let's clear the area around here first."
"Clear the area...?"
"Yes. You'd better move the vehicles over there first."
He was pointing at the area where the fire engines and ambulances were parked.
Why was he suddenly telling them to move those vehicles?
After thinking for a moment, Jo Man-seong asked with a grave expression,
"Will that area collapse too?"
"Yes."
It wouldn't be a collapse nearly as severe.
But the shock of the tunnel collapse would affect the surrounding area as well.
And in the process, the area where the vehicles and equipment were located would collapse too, hampering the rescue efforts.
At Kang Noah's calm words, Jo Man-seong stood there with his mouth hanging open.
"Let's move quickly."
"Ah. Uh. Yes!! Understood!"
He moved hurriedly.
He warned them of the risk of additional collapses around the vehicles and rescue equipment, then relocated them.
When Jo Man-seong returned after finishing, Kang Noah gave him a broad grin.
"Then shall we go meet the person in charge here?"
"...A-Are you sure? He's... a rather rigid person."
Kang Noah might be impressive, but he had no scientific evidence or anything of the sort.
In the worst case, the person in charge might disregard Kang Noah's proposed course of action even more.
But he merely smiled leisurely.
"He'll definitely believe me."
It was a declaration without even an inch of doubt.