The faint glow of Jiwon's laptop screen illuminated the team's tired faces as they huddled together in the safe house. The tension from their encounter with Hyunwoo lingered in the air, each of them processing the confrontation in their own way.
Seojin stared blankly at the flickering cursor on the laptop. Her mentor's words echoed in her mind: "You're already part of it." She clenched her fists, unsure whether the rage bubbling inside her was directed at Hyunwoo or herself.
"Anything?" Dojin's voice cut through the silence.
"Not yet," Jiwon muttered, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "The files we recovered are heavily encrypted, but there's a pattern to them. It's almost like…" He trailed off, narrowing his eyes at the screen.
"Like what?" Seojin asked, snapping out of her thoughts.
"Like it's a message," Jiwon replied, his tone cautious. "But it's hidden under layers of false data."
Hours passed as Jiwon worked, his focus unwavering despite the fatigue weighing on the team. Finally, a notification pinged, signaling a breakthrough.
"I've got something," Jiwon announced.
The team gathered around as a decrypted document appeared on the screen. It wasn't what they expected—no names, no plans, just a series of symbols and coordinates.
"What the hell is this?" Dojin asked, scowling.
"It's a cipher," Jiwon explained. "The symbols represent letters, but the coordinates… those are locations. And look at this." He pointed to a faint watermark on the page: 'The Phoenix Rises on the Eclipse.'
"The eclipse," Minji murmured. "That's in two weeks."
"Which means this isn't just a puzzle—it's a countdown," Jiwon said grimly.
Seojin studied the symbols carefully, her mind racing. "If these coordinates are accurate, we need to figure out what's there before the eclipse. The Phoenix isn't waiting around—they're planning something big."
Dojin crossed his arms. "We don't even know what we're looking for. This could be another trap."
"Then we'll spring it," Seojin said firmly. "We don't have time to second-guess ourselves."
Later that night, as the others slept, Seojin sat alone in the safe house's living room, staring at the symbols on the laptop screen. Her mind drifted back to Hyunwoo, to the man who had once been her mentor and now stood as her enemy—or was he?
She wanted to believe that there was still good in him, that he hadn't fully given in to the Phoenix's ideology. But his actions and words left her questioning everything she thought she knew about justice and loyalty.
"You're already part of it."
The phrase echoed in her mind again, this time laced with a chilling undertone. What did he mean? Was there something in her past, something she had overlooked, that connected her to the Phoenix?
The next morning, the team regrouped, determined to crack the code. Minji studied the symbols while Jiwon worked on mapping the coordinates.
"These symbols… they look familiar," Minji said, frowning. "Almost like something I've seen in historical texts or old manuscripts."
"Could they be tied to Hyunwoo's past?" Seojin asked.
"Possibly," Minji said. "If we cross-reference them with historical archives, we might be able to figure out their origin."
Jiwon suddenly straightened in his chair. "Got it! The coordinates point to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Seoul. It used to belong to a shipping company, but it's been out of use for years."
"Then that's our next destination," Seojin said.
Before they left, Jiwon uncovered one more detail hidden in the cipher—a warning: 'The closer you get to the truth, the more dangerous it becomes.'
"Hyunwoo's warning us," Jiwon said.
"Or taunting us," Dojin added.
Seojin stared at the message, her resolve hardening. "Whatever his intention, we can't stop now. If the Phoenix is planning something during the eclipse, we have to figure out what it is."
End of Chapter 46