The silence after Rae injected the serum was suffocating.

She didn’t scream. She didn’t fall.

She just stood there—eyes wide, breathing shallow—as the liquid surged through her veins like liquid lightning.

Rin was frozen, syringe still in her hand.

"Rae? Say something."

Rae’s fingers flexed. Then curled into a fist.

"It burns," she whispered. "But it’s... like waking up again. Like my body just learned a new language."

Then she dropped to one knee, clutching her chest.

Rin rushed to her. "You shouldn’t have gone first! We didn’t even know the—"

Rae looked up, and her irises flickered—just for a second—with a faint silver sheen.

"I’m okay," she gasped. "Better than okay. It’s like I can hear my own heartbeat—every molecule vibrating."

Rin looked at her own vial.

She didn’t speak. She just stabbed the needle into her arm.

It hit Rin differently.

She didn’t feel heat. She felt clarity.

Every calculation, every memory, every instinct—snapping into place like puzzle pieces. Her pulse remained steady. Her breathing even.

"Well," she said calmly. "That explains the twin split theory. You're the fire. I'm the circuit."

Rae chuckled weakly. "I’ll take that."

They stood together, side by side, stronger than they’d ever been.

The corridor lights shifted green. A new doorway opened ahead of them.

They entered a chamber filled with holographic displays and surveillance logs.

And standing in the center of the room, arms folded, was Yun Ji Woo.

"Congratulations," she said. "You passed. Not just the exposure test—your loyalty test. To each other. To the legacy."

Rae stepped forward, fists twitching. "You set us up."

"I prepared you," Ji Woo corrected. "Because soon, Mi Na won’t be offering options. She’ll be taking them. And the world will follow her unless you show them something stronger."

Rin narrowed her eyes. "Why help us now? You were part of this."

Ji Woo nodded. "I was. Until I realized the experiment was never about strength. It was about control. And Mi Na? She never planned to stop."

She walked to the central console and entered a passcode.

"I’ve been monitoring her next move. She’s not just building soldiers anymore. She’s building leaders. And the first of them is ready."

A 3D projection lit up—an enhanced subject profile.

Codename: Chimera. Status: Active. Target: Seoul.

Rae’s eyes darkened. "Then we end this before it begins."