[Morning – Outside Death's House]
Soft morning sunlight bathed the village where everything appeared calm and normal, but beneath the surface, change was stirring.
The sound of running footsteps came from the front gate. Death, who was sitting outside sipping his morning coffee, looked up to see Teek running toward him with purpose—not just casual jogging, but movement filled with determination that showed in his posture.
"Death! Death!"
Teek called out loudly as he sprinted straight over, then stopped to catch his breath slightly.
Death studied Teek's face, noting an expression he'd never seen before. His gaze dropped to Teek's clenched fists, suggesting serious intent.
"What... what's going on?"
Death asked calmly, unsurprised—he'd known this moment would come.
Teek took a deep breath and spoke with conviction:
"I want to train... train to be a fighter like you." He gestured toward Death. "I want the ability to protect people who matter... I want them to have confidence in me!"
Death looked at Teek without surprise or confusion. He'd expected this young man would ask about this eventually.
"If that's what you want... you better be ready, Teek..."
Death said quietly, his tone filled with understanding.
Teek nodded firmly.
"I'm ready... please train me!"
Death stood from his seat, giving Teek a slight smile.
"Good... but if you're going to train, you train hard. Strengthen your mind alongside your body. Don't waste time."
"I promise!" Teek replied, his voice full of determination.
Death nodded in understanding.
"Then follow me..."
Death turned and began walking forward, with Teek following eagerly behind.
[Training Ground Behind the House – Later That Morning]
Sunlight struck the dry earth. Death stood in the center of a wide clearing, his long-sleeved shirt draped over the wooden fence, revealing countless scars that told stories of his past. In front of him, Teek stood ready in casual clothes, his eyes filled with purpose.
Not far away, Alice and Mell stood under a large tree, watching silently.
Death pulled his short knife from its sheath and planted it in a nearby log, then spoke in a level voice laden with power:
"Teek..."
"What I'm about to teach you isn't ordinary martial arts."
He walked closer to Teek, staring directly into his eyes.
"It's the 'art of killing'... not for hunting or showing off, but killing that exists to protect."
Teek swallowed hard. He wasn't afraid, but he knew Death's words weren't casual.
"Killing to protect... isn't that contradictory?" Teek asked.
Death laughed softly.
"Yes, it's contradictory if you still see the world in black and white."
He walked back to pick up the knife, holding it up before Teek.
"But this is the real world—where sometimes if you don't stand up to protect, what matters to you gets 'killed' instead."
Alice, watching from behind, clenched her fists. She knew the weight of Death's words because she'd faced the same choice herself.
[Training Ground – Same Day]
After finishing his speech, Death began circling Teek while speaking slowly:
"Start with your stance... don't stand like you're waiting for a bus. Stand like a warrior."
"Feet shoulder-width apart, one foot back slightly, weight on the balls of your feet."
Teek followed awkwardly.
"Not like that. You're standing like you're about to fall over. Don't force yourself to look tough... real toughness starts with stability."
Alice's soft laughter came from the corner under the tree.
"Looks like our student doesn't understand the 'essence' yet."
Mell laughed along.
"But he's trying hard. Look at his eyes... he won't give up."
Seeing this, Death nodded slightly and stepped forward.
"Teek, ask yourself... what do you want to protect most?"
Teek fell silent, his gaze drifting to where Mell stood before speaking softly:
"The person who makes me laugh... even on days when I hate myself most."
Death was quiet for a moment... then spoke slowly:
"That answer will be the foundation of your fighting."
He picked up a stone and threw it at Teek without warning—*thud!*—
Teek couldn't dodge, taking it full in the chest and falling down.
"Hurt, right?"
Teek gritted his teeth and nodded.
"Good. Remember this feeling. Someone who thinks of protecting others has to be willing to hurt a hundred times more!"
Death then had Teek practice stance, dodging, breathing over and over until sweat soaked his body. The hand gripping the short knife trembled slightly, but his eyes no longer wavered.
Alice turned to Mell:
"He might become a good fighter someday..."
Mell smiled and nodded.
"If Death's teaching him, I believe Teek can definitely do it."
[After Training – Late Afternoon]
Teek collapsed, breathing heavily, sweat soaking his entire body. He looked up at Death, exhausted but with something sparkling in his eyes.
"Thank you, Death... I won't let myself go back to being weak again."
Death handed him a water bottle.
"Good... if you don't give up, I won't stop teaching."
[Evening – Under the Tree Near the Training Ground]
Teek sat resting, breathing heavily and exhausted, his hands trembling slightly from the hard training. Death leaned against a nearby tree while Alice quietly walked over and sat beside Teek.
Alice: "Don't think training just today will make you stronger immediately... but training every day without backing down is what creates real fighters."
Teek listened quietly.
Alice: "Anger can be power if you control it... but if it controls you, you're no different from a wild animal."
She narrowed her eyes, looking down at him.
Alice: "Don't be just a kid who wants to fight because of emotions... be someone who knows what they're fighting for."
Light footsteps approached...
Mell: "Wooooow!! Teek, you're amazing!!"
She ran over and hugged Teek from the side, full of cheerful positive energy. Teek's face immediately turned visibly red.
Mell: "You still look clumsy but I think you look cooler!"
Teek (softly): "Uh... thanks..."
Death turned to look at the pair before cracking a small smile while Alice raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Alice: "Hmph... looks like there's some extra motivation now, kid."
[Meanwhile – Inside a Luxury House on the Hill, Downtown]
A large library illuminated by chandeliers. Jake stood with arms crossed before his father, Colonel Thanannont—a high-ranking, influential police officer with a sharp, cold face.
Jake: "Dad... that crazy country kid dared to hurt me. You can't let him get away with it!"
Thanannont (speaking coldly): "What's his name?"
Jake: "I don't know, but he lives in the same house as Mell... and there's another guy named Death. Dad... he's scary. He's not like normal people..."
Thanannont picked up a file from the desk, revealing CCTV photos and information on "Death"—just a name and face on a classified list.
Thanannont: "This kid... someone once reported intelligence... but no one dared confirm his identity..."
Jake: "So what do we do?"
Thanannont slammed the file shut with a loud bang, then picked up his phone.
"Activate secret plan—off-system sweep zone. Deploy special operations team 'GRAY ZONE.'"
He turned to look at his son.
"Anyone who dares touch my son... disappears from the map."
[Back at Death's House – Night Begins to Fall]
Death was quiet for a while before speaking softly to Alice:
"Tonight... we need to stay alert."
Alice nodded.
"I feel it too... it's about to begin."
The scene cut to a pair of mysterious eyes watching the house from a distance in the darkness...
[Late Night – 1:13 AM]
The silent stillness of the small house in the forest was broken by the sound of stealthy footsteps. The GRAY ZONE team in camouflage moved through the darkness like wolves hunting prey.
Team Leader (voice over radio): "Target is in that house. Team A surround, Team B breach from the rear... don't let the kids get hurt—target is only the 'man named Death.'"
[Inside the House – Death sat leaning against the wall, eyes closed but breathing perfectly still]
The faint sound of distant footsteps made him slowly open his eyes.
Death (murmuring): "...Here they come."
He pulled his signature short knife from under his shirt, then gently tapped on Teek's bedroom door.
Death: "Get up... tonight you'll get a lesson not found in any textbook."
[Teek jerked awake – confused before his senses returned fully]
Teek: "Wh... what's happening?"
Death: "Stay quiet. Follow me."
They moved silently down from the house, hiding behind the low wall at the edge of the back garden.
In the distance, gunmen began infiltrating one by one, armed with military-grade weapons.
[Surveillance Point – Jake's father watched monitors in a control van]
While watching drone footage, Colonel Thanannont's face gradually paled as the camera captured "Death's" face clearly.
Thanannont (voice trembling slightly): "...No... impossible..."
He raised his hand to his forehead forcefully, his body slumping into the folding chair weakly.
Thanannont: "That's... 'Shadow 0'... the assassin from the classified operation six years ago...!"
Subordinate in the van: "Sir! Should we abort?"
Thanannont (softly): "We... messed with someone we shouldn't have... withdraw the team now... or no one's coming back..."
[Behind the House – Death's Performance]
The first assassin who burst through the window was silently dragged into the shadows. His body collapsed into the darkness without a sound.
Death (turning to him): "Watch carefully, Teek... the art of 'killing to protect' isn't about anger, but knowing where to stop."
The next assassin appeared around the fence corner. Death moved his body in just one motion—his knife flashed down to the other's wrist, making the gun drop before grabbing the shirt collar and throwing him to the ground in one smooth motion.
Teek (thinking): "Too fast to follow... this is..."
[Cut to Jake's Father]
The drone feeds went black one by one.
Voice over radio: "We're losing contact... we're being hunted!!"
Thanannont: "...Jake... Dad's sorry. I shouldn't have brought him back..."
He sat pale and powerless, cold sweat dripping from his temples.
[End Scene – Death signals Teek to collect the criminals' guns]
Death: "The first thing you need to learn is 'never trust silence' and 'don't use power if you don't understand it yet.'"
Teek nodded, covered in sweat but with more determined eyes than ever.
[Light rain began to sprinkle – the night ended quietly... but everything was just beginning]
[Next Morning – 7:45 AM / In Front of the Wooden House in the Forest]
The sound of a black SUV slowly pulled up and parked. Jake's father—Colonel Thanannont—got out with only two subordinates, hands raised empty, his face grim and body looking exhausted as if he'd been through battle all night.
Thanannont: "...I came alone. No weapons, no traps..."
Death stood leaning against a tree beside the house, arms crossed, watching silently. His face remained as stern as ever. He didn't speak, but just looking into Thanannont's eyes nearly left the old man speechless.
Thanannont (swallowing): "I... apologize... for letting my son's anger lead everything into the abyss..."
Death (coldly): "And?"
Thanannont: "I'll withdraw from everything involving you and your family... including sending Jake to naval military school. He needs to learn discipline, order... and that hurting others doesn't make anyone respect him."
Death (watching silently for a moment): "..."
Suddenly the front door opened slowly. Alice walked out in light-colored pajamas, her eyes fixing on Thanannont with cold indifference.
Alice (calmly): "How much can we believe?"
She stepped close enough to make eye contact, her face showing no emotion.
Alice: "Because last night... I saw everything from the bedroom window. You sent your men to die because of your own son's fears, and now you want to say... 'sorry'?"
Thanannont looked away, unable to answer.
Death (speaking softly): "If Jake doesn't learn from defeat... he'll drag many more people to hell with him again."
Thanannont (voice shaking): "I... won't let it happen again. I give my word."
Death stepped closer, stopping uncomfortably close before speaking softly but with pressure:
Death: "Remember... this isn't a second chance, but the last one."
Alice (softly): "...And if it's just a lie... I'll be the one to come find you."
Thanannont looked up at the small woman in front of him. That voice was colder and more bone-chilling than any bullet he'd ever heard.
Thanannont (murmuring): "...Understood..."
He turned back, slowly walking to his car with final words through the open window:
Thanannont: "Goodbye... Death... I hope you never become what I once saw in the past again..."
[Death stood still, Alice sighed before turning to look at him]
Alice: "You're getting more serious about that kid every time."
Death (slight smile): "Because he's walking the same path I once walked... but I won't let him end up the same way."