December 18th, 2023, 18:45 (New China Time 17:45)

  Headquarters of the external network server room, President’s Office, City Hall District, Beijing, New China

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who cautiously reached the floor just below the roof through the emergency stairs, looked at the X-K02 terminal screen on his left arm anxiously. He had 10 percent of battery remaining to keep him in TCS mode.

  He had wasted a lot of time going up the emergency stairs to get to where he was. There were barrier gates installed throughout the stairwell and the staff here occasionally used the stairs, which had caused him a lot of time.

  Now, the last obstacle Director Yoo Ha-yeon had to overcome was the elevator going up to the roof. Strangely, there were no stairs that led up to the roof, just an elevator, which was on the other side of the long hallway.

  Just in case, he once again observed the entire hallway by using the SG-TAR shield glasses. However, the passage leading to the roof could not be seen.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who had no time to spare, made up his mind and immediately began to move. After opening the locked door using the X-K02 terminal, he put his back to the wall and stepped forward.

  Just as he was walking down the 15-meter long corridor while holding his breath, the door right in front opened and two staff appeared out of nowhere.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who stopped as his heart began pounding. Luckily, the two employees were talking among themselves and continued walking along the hallway to the other side, and then went into another office.

  It was a dizzying moment when he realised to could be caught at any time1.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who wiped the droplets of sweat on his forehead with his sleeve, hurriedly began walking again. When he finally arrived in front of the elevator, he faced the problem of opening the elevator door without being detected.

  If the elevator doors opened when no one was there, the elevator could be noticed by the security guards. However, there was no time to wait for people to use the elevator.

  After thinking about it for about a minute, Director Yoo Ha-yeon made up his mind to go up to the roof as quickly as possible and escape.

  He turned around and looked around the hallway again, then operated the X-K02 terminal with quick hand movements to call the elevator to the floor.

  The elevator that was on the third floor started heading up. After a while, the elevator arrived on the tenth floor and the doors opened. Director Yoo Ha-yeon quickly got onto the elevator and pressed the button that would take him to the roof.

  The doors closed and the elevator slowly moved up toward the roof. Suddenly, the elevator stopped and began shaking.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon sensed that something was wrong and tried to operate the elevator again using the X-K02 terminal. However, the elevator was turned off and from the hallway on the tenth floor, the sound of security guards running could be heard. They were even communicating in front of the elevator.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who thought he was stuck, immediately activated the vision mode of the SG-TAR shield glasses and looked around the dark elevator.

  Laser monitoring devices were visible on all sides of the elevator. In other words, even when hiding in TCS mode, the laser lights could easily detect him.

  There was a feeling of regret but it was already too late. An alarm rang out from the X-K02 terminal to alert Director Yoo Ha-yeon that he had only about 5 percent of battery life left. He looked up at the ceiling of the elevator and figured that the only way to make it to the roof was to climb the cables in the elevator shaft directly up to the elevator ceiling.

  From below, he could hear the sound of security personnel forcing the elevator’s exterior door open. He couldn’t delay making a decision any longer. Director Yoo Ha-yeon jumped on the wall on one side of the elevator, pushed the small square emergency door open with both hands and squeezed through the small square gap. Then, with all his might, he climbed up the elevator. The elevator, which was not moving at this time, turned on and began making its way back down going to the 10th floor.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon grabbed one of the cables and hung on to it. Then, as the elevator went down, he was suspended in the air. Director Yoo Ha-yeon held on to the cable with all his might and started going up. When the elevator went back down to the 10th floor, the security guards shone their flashlights through the ceiling’s emergency door.

  However, all they could see were the swaying cables with no one in sight. At this, the security guards murmured one word at a time.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who groaned and held onto the swaying cables with all his strength, put his hand between the exterior doors of the rooftop elevator and tried to open it while his feet which were the gap between the inner walls kept him steady.

  The elevator’s exterior door opened slowly, and perhaps because it was a life or death situation or the adrenaline rush, Director Yoo Ha-yeon managed to find the strength to open it wide enough for his body to pass through. Just then, as the battery power of the X-K02 terminal was exhausted, the figure of Director Yoo Ha-yeon was revealed.

  Then, the security guards, who were looking through the elevator ceiling’s emergency door, automatically pulled out their pistols and began firing as soon as Director Yoo Ha-yeon appeared.

  Several gunshots echoed through the narrow elevator shaft. Fortunately, Director Yoo Ha-yeon was able to escape through the external doors that were opened just enough for him to pass through before the bullets could hit him.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who rolled out of harm’s way and landed on the cold roof floor, hid behind a ventilator and immediately attempted silent communication.

  “This is Alpha Two Again to Alpha Four! Come on Alpha Zero! Over! This is Alpha Two Again to Alpha Four! Come on Alpha Zero! Over!”


  “This is Alpha Zero! Alpha Two Again Four! Are you okay? Over!”


  “This is Alpha Two Again to Alpha Four! I’m okay. However, as I climbed up to the roof, my identity was revealed. The current Location is the rooftop! Measures should be taken so that I can escape immediately. Over!”


  “This is Alpha Zero! The Skybus will arrive in less than two minutes. Over!”


  “This is Alpha Two Again to Alpha Four! I will wait. Over!”


  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who hastily finished the silent communication, put his head out and looked at the external doors of the elevator. He heard the elevator working and it seemed that the security guards were coming up to the rooftop in the elevator.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon took out the CS5-C1 laser pistol from his holster.

  It looked like that would be a gunfight before Director Yoo Ha-yeon could escape! After gently cocking the CS5-C1 laser pistol, Director Yoo Ha-yeon turned the safety clip and got ready to shoot.

  At that moment, a fair strong wind blew from above the rooftop and a gentle mechanical sound could be heard.

  Then, as he turned his head and looked up at the rooftop, the face of Director Yoo Ha-yeon turned a bright color. The Skybus, which was in a transparent state through the shield glasses, had the side hatch open and was slowly making its way down.

  Just then, gunshots rang out, sending sparks flying over the top of the ventilator that Yoo Ha-yeon was hiding behind. Security staff who had made their way to the rooftop via the elevator got out and immediately opened fire while they quickly moved around the rooftop.

  Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who was about to counterattack, changed his mind and ran to the SkyBus to get them to land right away.

  Bullets rained down with a pounding sound that cut through the air and sparks splattered on the floor around Director Yoo Ha-yeon who was running toward the Skybus.

  About the same time that he had reached the sky bus, Director Yoo Ha-yeon felt a hammer-like impact on his back and the pain pierce right through him. It was as if one of his bullets had hit him in the back. However, Director Yoo Ha-yeon got back on his feet again after rolling forward, clenched his teeth, and ran to the Skybus. He then boarded the Skybus and got away. The Skybus, which was waiting for Director Yoo Ha-yeon to board, soared into the sky and flew away.

  On the other hand, the security guards who were shooting glanced around the rooftops looking as if they had been possessed by a ghost when Chief Yoo Ha-yeon suddenly disappeared into thin air. The Skybus with Director Yoo Ha-yeon rose to an altitude of 1 kilometer in an instant, then turned toward the direction of the safe house and flew away.

  “Wow! Our Director Yoo is amazing!”


  The Foreign Intelligence Unit 1 main team’s Assistant Manager Oh Seok-jin, held out a bottle of water as he approached Director Yoo Ha-yeon, who was sitting on a chair breathing heavily.

  “Don’t talk about it. Anyway, what will we do since I got caught just before I could escape?”


  Director Yoo Ha-yeon seemed worried that this operation might have been ruined because of him.

  “What can you do? They might not even know that you are affiliated with the National Intelligence Service. You did a great job. Do not worry!”


  At this time, the urgent voice of Chief Yoon Tae-jin was heard through silent communication.

  “This is Alpha Two! Director Yoo are you okay? Were you hurt?”


  “Yes, Chief, I am fine. I don’t have any injuries.”


  “Ah! I worried a lot. Well done, Director Yoo! You performed a hundred times better than the three of us!”


  “Did the rest escape safely as well?”


  “Yes! We escaped safely. We are currently on our way to the safe house. See you later!

  “Yes, alright. See you later then.”


  “Okay.”


  Chief Yoon Tae-jin and the other two team members who infiltrated the Black Tiger headquarters 20 minutes ago completed a scan of the interior of the building by walking around the building and then escaped safely through the front door. Although they did not achieve much compared to Director Yoo Ha-yeon, if they had to infiltrate the building again, they could easily do so with the internal scan information they had captured.

  * * *

  December 18th, 2023, 19:30 (New China Time 18:30)

  Secret House of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, Huairou District, Beijing City, New China

  Chief Yoon Tae-jin and Director Yoo Ha-yeon had escaped safely, and the special security team had stolen a significant amount of information from the internal security server of the president’s office by using the WCA. Now it was time for a dinner party. It was all about drinking soju and eating pork belly.

  As the atmosphere reached its climax while they were seated in a circle in the living room, grilling pork belly, and clinking each other’s soju glasses, Manager Lee Ja-seong raised his soju glass high and shouted proudly.

  “Everyone worked hard. In particular, a toast to our manager Namgoong-won, who planned this operation, and Director Yoo, who risked his life to carry out his mission perfectly!”


  “Wow! Cheers!”


  At this, the agents cheered and drank soju while toasting, almost to the point of breaking a few glasses. Then, Chief Yoon Tae-jin, who was chewing pork belly, raised his hand and shouted with an unjust expression on his face.

  “Why are you not mentioning the rest of the team and me in your toast? Are you trying to make us sad?”


  “Ah! okay! okay! Applause to our Chief Yoon, the rest of the assistant managers, and Assistant Manager Oh, who infiltrated the Black Tiger’s building!”


  “Wow! Clap clap clap!”


  They were loud and happy! While they were out having a fun dinner to relieve the stress that had been accumulated over the years, Manager Lee Ja-seong poured Namgoong-won a glass of soju, tapped him on the shoulder, and said.

  “Manager Namgoong-won! Say something!”


  Namgoong-won emptied his soju glass and shook his head, waving his hand as if embarrassed.

  “Hey! Kid! Just say a word!”


  When Manager Lee Ja-seong urged him once again, Namgoong-won opened his mouth. All the agents’ eyes were focused on him.

  “I don’t know anything else and it was a very dangerous mission, but I am just grateful that everyone followed without complaints and made the mission a success. We still have the final goal of recovering or disposing of the leaked plasma core technology, so let’s all unite to the end to complete our mission and return to our homeland.”


  “Yes, Manager!”


  “Haha! Our manager, Namgoong-won is so serious.”


  “Oh! It is so cool.”


  Agents of the Foreign Intelligence Unit 1 cheered and clapped at Namgoong-won’s words. In this way, their dinner continued in a friendly atmosphere until late in the evening.

  Meanwhile, the headquarters of the server room dedicated to the president’s office that operated the best security system was in a state of chaos due to the intruder.

  A search operation was carried out throughout the entire building, and all CC cameras in the building were analyzed in detail…… As this information was reported to President Wang Jing-wi, trouble began to brew.