Underground Lab – Seoul Subway Extension

The lights overhead buzzed to life as Do Rin and Kang Jae stepped into the chamber beyond the vault.

The room was circular, lined with mirrored panels and old tech monitors. Dozens of flickering screens displayed images of Rin’s past—training footage, combat recordings, even childhood videos she never knew were recorded.

“What is this?” she whispered.

Kang Jae scanned the room. “A digital echo chamber. Mi Na built this to simulate your decisions. It’s been running predictive models of you… for years.”

“Why?”

A screen lit up with Mi Na’s face. Not a live feed—just a message.

“If you’re watching this, then I’m either dead… or done waiting.”

“Rin. You are the inflection point. Not your mother. Not your sister. You.”

“One of you will redefine strength. The other will destroy it. But neither of you knows which side you’re on yet.”

Rin’s jaw clenched.

“You think you know me, Mi Na?” she said to the screen. “You built a simulation. I lived the real thing.”

The message ended. A slot in the floor opened, revealing a sealed black case.

Jae stepped forward. “She left you something.”

Rin opened it carefully.

Inside: a neural pulse gauntlet. Sleek. Incomplete. Built for her bio-signature. With it—a note.

“You’ll need this when you face the version of you I couldn't finish.”

Rin stared at the gauntlet.

“She didn’t just simulate me,” she muttered.
“She made a copy.”

Meanwhile — Yongsan Shipping Yard

Do Rae tracked the source of the synthetic enhancer vials to a busted warehouse tagged with the symbol of a tiger and a circuit.

She kicked in the door. Inside: chaos. Boxes, wires, broken vials—and two guys scrambling to escape.

She grabbed the first mid-run, slamming him against the wall with a single hand.

“Where are you getting this junk?”

“I don’t know!” he stammered. “We just drop it off! Guy in a van! Tattoos on his neck!”

She narrowed her eyes. “What kind of tattoos?”

He hesitated. “Two red circles. And an hourglass.”

Rae’s stomach dropped.

That symbol wasn’t from Blue Star. It was from a long-dead gang.
One she took down years ago.

They were back.

Behind her, a familiar voice:

“Didn’t think I’d see you here again, Trouble.”

She turned.

Jin Seok, slightly out of breath, grinning—and holding a small case with the gang’s mark on it.

“Looks like someone missed you.”

Back at HQ

Rin stood alone in the sparring room, staring at the gauntlet.

She slipped it on.

It hummed to life, reading her neural output.

A tiny voice from its speaker echoed Mi Na’s words:

“Let’s see if you’re better than my version.”