[North Busan -Shin's Gym – Nightfall]
Rain pressed against the gym windows in long, steady lines. Inside, the lights flickered once before holding. The air stank of sweat, damp clothes, and hot plastic from the overloaded projector.
On the far wall, a hand-pinned city map stretched across plywood. It looked like a crime scene—string-webs, red tags, printed photos, burner scribbles in Sharpie.
Jace stood back with arms crossed, chewing on the plastic tip of a marker.
Jace: "Feels like we're prepping for a heist or a funeral. Not sure which."
Samuel didn't respond. He leaned in close to a marked zone in the northeast—Hanjin Power Facility—a CTRL9-affiliated site. His fingers hovered near it for a beat too long.
Seojun stepped in, kicking off his wet sneakers.
Seojun: "Two of the runners who defected? They didn't make it. Found them under the Gwanak overpass. Mouths duct-taped. No teeth left."
Shin looked up from his phone. The room went quiet.
Shin: "They weren't sending a message to them. They were sending it to us."
Samuel (flat): "No. This isn't a warning. It's a cleaning. CTRL9 doesn't start fights. They erase variables."
Jace (dry): "Sweet. Glad we qualify as variables."
Seojun walked toward the map, wiping rain off his buzzed head with a gym towel.
Seojun: "You've been staring at that Hanjin zone for twenty minutes. What's there?"
Samuel didn't answer right away. He just pressed a thumbtack deeper into the pin.
Samuel: "That was the last place I saw Yeojin alive."
Everyone froze. Even Jace stopped chewing his marker.
Samuel: "Two years ago. We tried to take out a mid-tier CTRL9 exec—he'd ordered the kill job on Yeojin's family. Ryun and I were supposed to back him. We thought we were ready."
He gave a dry laugh. Not amused—just tired.
Samuel: "They were waiting for us. Yeojin didn't make it out. We did. Barely."
Jace (soft): "The same Ryun?"
Samuel: "Yeah. He was caught. Except… he wasn't. He stayed."
Seojun (quiet): "He was one of us."
Samuel: "He still is. Just not on our side anymore."
A long silence hung between them. Outside, thunder cracked once and left the world wet and still again.
Samuel looked at the wall—specifically at a small photo: Yuji Kim, taped under the "Missing" column. It was old. She was smiling.
Samuel (barely audible): "We find her. That's the mission."
No one said anything for a moment.
Seojun: "We will."
Samuel finally turned to face them all.
Samuel: "Map's done. Crews will start moving. Icebelt's poaching. Dagger Chain's stalling. CTRL9's bleeding rats. We lock positions tonight, or we lose everything."
Jace snapped his fingers and pointed at the city's southern edge.
Jace: "Then let's draw some lines."
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[Underground Teahouse – Midnight]
Dim paper lanterns cast flickering shadows across the cracked wooden floor. The smell of old jasmine and wet boots filled the space.
Baek Yuri sat with her back straight, twin blades folded behind her, eyes unreadable. Two Dagger Chain lieutenants flanked her like statues.
Samuel entered with Shin and Seojun.
No bows. No greetings. Just weight.
Yuri: "You wanted a meeting. Make it worth the tea."
Samuel didn't sit. He pulled a flash drive from his pocket and slid it across the table. She didn't touch it.
Samuel: "Safehouses. Syndicate-backed gyms. Black transport routes. All verified."
Yuri: "You think I need you to see blood?"
Samuel: "No. But I think you're tired of scrubbing it off your streets."
She finally reached for the drive.
Yuri: "I'll protect civilians. I'll warn kids. But if you fall, I'm not following."
Seojun stepped forward.
Seojun: "You really think CTRL9's gonna let your girls stay neutral when the street goes red?"
Yuri (cold): "And you think threatening me gets you anything but another scar?"
Shin raised a hand between them, calm.
Samuel: "We're not pushing for a flag. Just an understanding. You watch your line. We'll hold ours."
Yuri stared at him for a moment. Then stood.
Yuri: "Don't mistake mercy for weakness, Samuel."
Samuel: "Don't mistake silence for surrender."
She left without looking back.
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[Icebelt Warehouse – Later That Night]
A freezer door slammed shut. Jung Raejin wrapped tape around his knuckles, standing shirtless in the warehouse's center. Frost coated the walls. His crew circled him — half-defectors, half-disciples.
One kid, probably sixteen, stepped forward.
Defector: "There's talk CTRL9's deploying another Class-Zero. One that… talks. Messes with your head."
Raejin didn't stop taping.
Raejin: "Let him talk."
He threw a punch into a concrete post. Dust fell like snow.
Raejin: "I'll talk with my fists."
Behind him, two lieutenants marked new territory with chalk on a wall map — right between Dagger Chain and Gupo turf.
Icebelt wasn't staying neutral. They were expanding.
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[Rail Tunnel – 4:43 AM]
The smell of seawater and piss hung thick.
Red Grove, a CTRL9 loyalist crew in red windbreakers, moved fast through the tunnels — hunting a single runner trying to defect.
They found him near the end of the line. He didn't have time to beg before a boot went into his ribs.
Then Seojun arrived.
Seojun: "Pick on someone who fights back."
Behind him: Jace, and two Gupo bruisers — one tall and tattooed, the other stocky with a brass mouthguard.
Fists flew fast.
Jace's rhythm was unpredictable, like he was fighting to a beat no one else could hear.
Jace (grinning): "What happened? CTRL9 not handing out cheat codes anymore?"
One of the Gupo men got stabbed in the thigh — collapsed.
Seojun saw red.
He tackled the attacker, slamming him against the tunnel wall over and over until his hands dripped blood.
The runner was saved. Red Grove retreated.
But on the wall, someone had spray-painted:"LENS_REJECTED"
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[Rooftop – Sunrise]
Keum Ryun sat barefoot on a rooftop rail, sipping soda, hoodie half-zipped. The city glowed pink and blue beneath.
A younger Class-Zero stood behind him, silent.
Ryun: "You ever hear of a guy named Yeojin Kim?"
The kid shook his head.
Ryun: "Didn't think so. He believed in justice. Thought he could stop the system by yelling louder than it."
He sipped.
Ryun: "We were friends, once. Samuel, me, and him. Tried to change the world. All we did was burn for it."
Recruit: "What about the girl?"
Ryun smiled.
Ryun: "Yuji? She remembers. Somewhere, she remembers it all."
The city buzzed below — violence rippling like heatwaves.
Ryun: "Let them draw their little lines. We'll blur them soon enough."
He crushed the soda can and dropped it off the edge.