“Talk?” Yi Yeonjun smiles and kicks me on my abdomen.
The impact is irresistible. I am flung backward and land on a blue portal, sending me to another place. This is the situation I am trying my best to avoid. The Chameleon Troupe’s means outweigh what we are capable of doing.
I acrobatically turn in the air and land on one knee. I stand up and check on my surroundings. I am inside an abandoned factory desolate of anything, but a few rubbles of machinery.
My eyes shake in utter shock. I see a crucified man some distance away from me. It is Khalifa, the Seat of Blue of Chameleon Troupe. Through my , I can see that he is dead.
Yi Yeonjun comes out from the blue portal. “Oh, do you want to admire my art? This fool dared betray me, so I sacrificed him to my God and obtained his Gift. You see, it is because I believe in God that is why I am blessed. You should do the same.”
“You madman…” I crouch a little, preparing for combat.
“I like your spirit. But you are an unknown variable. Too unknown even for my God. What the hell!? Who even are you? Even the Book of Revelations has no information about you! I would like to deal with you, but unfortunately, I have somewhere else to go.”
Yi Yeonjun summons a portal.
“You are not going anywhere.” I cast to chase him, but mid-travel, something suddenly springs from the ground. Silvery threads of dangerous sharpness rise like waves. I dodge them with ease, but I have to let Yi Yeonjun go in exchange.
Yi Yeonjun leaves through the portal with a few words of encouragement for his subordinates. “Kaita, Setryn, Arashi, and Kyunghwan… I will leave things here to you guys.”
Four silhouettes appear to surround me: they are the seat of indigo, silver, turquoise, and brown.
Isn’t that just amazing? “I am flattered.”
***
Kim Hajin is worried. It has been five minutes, and there is no reply from Hyon. “Yeonha, how is Hyon?” He scurries to a corner to address Yeonha via intercom.
“He is talking with the disguised Jain,” Yeonha replies.
“Let me see.” Hajin checks on his smartwatch what Yeonha is seeing. “It is fake, we are compromised,” Hajin concludes through his [Observation and Reading] Gift that Jain’s Gift is working on their video feed.
Hajin runs off to the restroom with Suho following after. And then Nayun and Rachel follow discreetly. They run off to the restroom with no Hyon Hyung.
“The GPS,” Suho advises, and Hajin immediately checks on his smartwatch, but Hyon Hyung remains missing as if vanished.
“There,” Rachel sees Hyon Hyung’s figure from the crowd and runs after him.
“Be careful, it might not be Hyon!” Yeonha warns the team through the intercom, reminding everyone of Jain and her disguising abilities.
“Stop,” Hajin grits his teeth, and decides to stop chasing the supposedly disguised Jain. “We came here as Cube Cadets. Act normal. It seems there is something more to this.” That is when Hajin receives an email.
[To: Kim Hajin
From: Chameleon Troupe
Veranda. East side.]
It is an invitation. Hajin looks around. He feels as if he is being watched. How much does the other side know about them? How much disadvantaged they actually are? Will it be always like this? Is it always them who will be on the receiving end?
“Calm down,” Nayun holds his hand. “We prepared for this, thought up as many countermeasures as we could think of, and what we only need to do is to trust that we have prepared enough.”
Similarly, Rachel receives a message.
[To: Rachel
From: Old Guard
Veranda. West side. I will be waiting for you, milady.]
Rachel tenses. They are being attacked. She looks at her comrades and feels tempted not to share this. But she has to. The word 'Old Guard' strikes an old memory in her. She is reminded of Alex Lancaster.
If Lancaster is involved, then it can only mean that Devils might be involved.
With difficulty, she shares about the message of the ‘Old Guard’ with her comrades.
But it seems to just never end. Yeonha’s voice comes out desperately from their intercom. “We are under attack!” And then her voice is cut off.
Chills are sent down on everyone’s spine.
“W-what do we do?” Rachel panicky asks for a solution.
Suho and Nayun looks at Hajin.
“We separate. Suho, return to Cube. You should be able to use your abilities despite the narrow space there. Rachel, deal with the Old Guard. Nayun, go and get your grandpa. If you cannot, go and assist Rachel. I will take care of the Chameleon Troupe members.”
“Why can I not assist you?” Nayun wants to stubbornly quarrel, but with one look, Hajin is able to dissuade her.
Hajin explains to her. “Rachel’s side reeks of a dangerous trap. Moreover, I have the best survivability among us. I have a 29% draw rate from Hyon’s simulated data so I can take care of myself.”
***
From [Under Cube], an absolute thrashing is occurring. Yi Byul, Cheok Jungyeon, Jin Yohan, and Droon. These four are making their way deeper and deeper to [Under Cube]. They stomp and destroy whichever dares to block their path.
The security features of [Under Cube] are torn apart from their destructive invasion.
The alarms of [Cube AI] are going haywire, and it is sending its best machinery golem constructs to defend itself from the invaders. It is able to buy time for itself that way, but it is futile as with Yi Byul’s lead, they continue to penetrate the defenses of the facility.
Jin Yohan’s spear wildly thrashes and destroys the giant golems on its path with a few moves.
Cheok Jungyeon sends a single fist of explosive power to disassemble a single golem with a single blow.
Yi Byul simply defends herself from the attacking metal golems with her eldritch shadow tentacles of terror. She walks forward with an easy pace, taking her time to proceed so that she may systematically check each room from their path.
Droon stands beside Yi Byul to be protected. He is a special kind of fighter, thus not involving himself in the current fights. “It is a mystery how Boss learns of this place. I wasn’t even able to detect any of this place’s traces from the outside. I can only say that this place is real because I am now on the inside.”
Jin Yohan playfully twirls his spear and places it on his shoulder. “Well, the Boss has always been mysterious. Do recall the method of his recruitment, he just came out of nowhere offering us aid… and then we became his subordinates…”
“Don’t talk bad about our boss.” Yi Byul scolds Yohan.
“I am not talking bad…” Jin Yohan is miffed for being wrongly accused. “You tell him, Gyeong!”
“I am happy as long as I can fight.”
“You battle junkie.” Jin Yohan irately dodges debris from a golem, a result of Jungyeon’s messy fighting style.
The four proceed forward, and slowly, the resistance are getting weaker and weaker. They arrive at a large training ground with strong steel from all sides. From the other pathway, a single silhouette appears.
It is Shin Jonghak carrying a single spear. “You weren’t invited, get out!”
***
In far North America, Chae Joochul is observing a destroyed Cathedral. He feels like being misled, but he is fairly certain of the information he has. “Khalifa… Did he betray me? Or something else happened?”
Chae Joochul has a new subordinate by the name of Khalifa. He wants to use Khalifa as a means to destroy Chameleon Troupe, an old hunting dog that should have been put down a long time ago.
Apparently, Khalifa wants out of the criminal life and comes to Chae Joochul begging him to help him be free from the Chameleon Troupe.
Khalifa is burdened with heavy guilt from the severe crimes their Troupe is committing and wants to be absolved. He sees no way out from the Troupe except through the help of Chae Joochul.
Chae Joochul can fairly remember his chance encounter with Khalifa when the latter was trying to assassinate a politician from Eastern Europe. Joochul coincidentally is being offered a rare collectible artifact by the said politician when the assassination happens.
“This is Joochul. Tell me more.” He demands through the untraceable flip phone.
From the other side of the phone is Yoo Jinhyuk.
The Yoo clan has been dogs of the Chae Clan for generations. They are reliable hunting dogs for Chae Joochul. Yoo Jinhyuk is especially useful with his ability to experience the past.
“It is difficult, but I managed to get something more definite finally. This Khalifa. He is already dead. I cannot tell the exact location yet, but I am trying.”
“If you don’t want me to destroy that village you have built, you better hurry,” Chae Joochul emotionlessly puts down the phone.
This time, another phone call comes through, it is from his granddaughter, Chae Nayun.
“Gramps! I need help! The gala is under attack by the Chameleon Troupe!”
Chae Joochul frowns at the new information. “This is convenient…”
When he is about to set off to come to his granddaughter’s side, the ground abruptly starts trembling. Rising from underneath the earth is a gigantic Djinn enshrouded with a black fog. Chae Joochul estimates its strength to be on par with the Nine Evils.
“Who are you!?” He angrily demands an answer, but the Djinn is unintelligible and only attacks on instinct. “I have lately killed one of the Nine Evils! You are nothing to me!”
Thunder falls from the sky and strikes the risen foe.
“Talk?” Yi Yeonjun smiles and kicks me on my abdomen.
The impact is irresistible. I am flung backward and land on a blue portal, sending me to another place. This is the situation I am trying my best to avoid. The Chameleon Troupe’s means outweigh what we are capable of doing.
I acrobatically turn in the air and land on one knee. I stand up and check on my surroundings. I am inside an abandoned factory desolate of anything, but a few rubbles of machinery.
My eyes shake in utter shock. I see a crucified man some distance away from me. It is Khalifa, the Seat of Blue of Chameleon Troupe. Through my , I can see that he is dead.
Yi Yeonjun comes out from the blue portal. “Oh, do you want to admire my art? This fool dared betray me, so I sacrificed him to my God and obtained his Gift. You see, it is because I believe in God that is why I am blessed. You should do the same.”
“You madman…” I crouch a little, preparing for combat.
“I like your spirit. But you are an unknown variable. Too unknown even for my God. What the hell!? Who even are you? Even the Book of Revelations has no information about you! I would like to deal with you, but unfortunately, I have somewhere else to go.”
Yi Yeonjun summons a portal.
“You are not going anywhere.” I cast to chase him, but mid-travel, something suddenly springs from the ground. Silvery threads of dangerous sharpness rise like waves. I dodge them with ease, but I have to let Yi Yeonjun go in exchange.
Yi Yeonjun leaves through the portal with a few words of encouragement for his subordinates. “Kaita, Setryn, Arashi, and Kyunghwan… I will leave things here to you guys.”
Four silhouettes appear to surround me: they are the seat of indigo, silver, turquoise, and brown.
Isn’t that just amazing? “I am flattered.”
***
Kim Hajin is worried. It has been five minutes, and there is no reply from Hyon. “Yeonha, how is Hyon?” He scurries to a corner to address Yeonha via intercom.
“He is talking with the disguised Jain,” Yeonha replies.
“Let me see.” Hajin checks on his smartwatch what Yeonha is seeing. “It is fake, we are compromised,” Hajin concludes through his [Observation and Reading] Gift that Jain’s Gift is working on their video feed.
Hajin runs off to the restroom with Suho following after. And then Nayun and Rachel follow discreetly. They run off to the restroom with no Hyon Hyung.
“The GPS,” Suho advises, and Hajin immediately checks on his smartwatch, but Hyon Hyung remains missing as if vanished.
“There,” Rachel sees Hyon Hyung’s figure from the crowd and runs after him.
“Be careful, it might not be Hyon!” Yeonha warns the team through the intercom, reminding everyone of Jain and her disguising abilities.
“Stop,” Hajin grits his teeth, and decides to stop chasing the supposedly disguised Jain. “We came here as Cube Cadets. Act normal. It seems there is something more to this.” That is when Hajin receives an email.
[To: Kim Hajin
From: Chameleon Troupe
Veranda. East side.]
It is an invitation. Hajin looks around. He feels as if he is being watched. How much does the other side know about them? How much disadvantaged they actually are? Will it be always like this? Is it always them who will be on the receiving end?
“Calm down,” Nayun holds his hand. “We prepared for this, thought up as many countermeasures as we could think of, and what we only need to do is to trust that we have prepared enough.”
Similarly, Rachel receives a message.
[To: Rachel
From: Old Guard
Veranda. West side. I will be waiting for you, milady.]
Rachel tenses. They are being attacked. She looks at her comrades and feels tempted not to share this. But she has to. The word 'Old Guard' strikes an old memory in her. She is reminded of Alex Lancaster.
If Lancaster is involved, then it can only mean that Devils might be involved.
With difficulty, she shares about the message of the ‘Old Guard’ with her comrades.
But it seems to just never end. Yeonha’s voice comes out desperately from their intercom. “We are under attack!” And then her voice is cut off.
Chills are sent down on everyone’s spine.
“W-what do we do?” Rachel panicky asks for a solution.
Suho and Nayun looks at Hajin.
“We separate. Suho, return to Cube. You should be able to use your abilities despite the narrow space there. Rachel, deal with the Old Guard. Nayun, go and get your grandpa. If you cannot, go and assist Rachel. I will take care of the Chameleon Troupe members.”
“Why can I not assist you?” Nayun wants to stubbornly quarrel, but with one look, Hajin is able to dissuade her.
Hajin explains to her. “Rachel’s side reeks of a dangerous trap. Moreover, I have the best survivability among us. I have a 29% draw rate from Hyon’s simulated data so I can take care of myself.”
***
From [Under Cube], an absolute thrashing is occurring. Yi Byul, Cheok Jungyeon, Jin Yohan, and Droon. These four are making their way deeper and deeper to [Under Cube]. They stomp and destroy whichever dares to block their path.
The security features of [Under Cube] are torn apart from their destructive invasion.
The alarms of [Cube AI] are going haywire, and it is sending its best machinery golem constructs to defend itself from the invaders. It is able to buy time for itself that way, but it is futile as with Yi Byul’s lead, they continue to penetrate the defenses of the facility.
Jin Yohan’s spear wildly thrashes and destroys the giant golems on its path with a few moves.
Cheok Jungyeon sends a single fist of explosive power to disassemble a single golem with a single blow.
Yi Byul simply defends herself from the attacking metal golems with her eldritch shadow tentacles of terror. She walks forward with an easy pace, taking her time to proceed so that she may systematically check each room from their path.
Droon stands beside Yi Byul to be protected. He is a special kind of fighter, thus not involving himself in the current fights. “It is a mystery how Boss learns of this place. I wasn’t even able to detect any of this place’s traces from the outside. I can only say that this place is real because I am now on the inside.”
Jin Yohan playfully twirls his spear and places it on his shoulder. “Well, the Boss has always been mysterious. Do recall the method of his recruitment, he just came out of nowhere offering us aid… and then we became his subordinates…”
“Don’t talk bad about our boss.” Yi Byul scolds Yohan.
“I am not talking bad…” Jin Yohan is miffed for being wrongly accused. “You tell him, Gyeong!”
“I am happy as long as I can fight.”
“You battle junkie.” Jin Yohan irately dodges debris from a golem, a result of Jungyeon’s messy fighting style.
The four proceed forward, and slowly, the resistance are getting weaker and weaker. They arrive at a large training ground with strong steel from all sides. From the other pathway, a single silhouette appears.
It is Shin Jonghak carrying a single spear. “You weren’t invited, get out!”
***
In far North America, Chae Joochul is observing a destroyed Cathedral. He feels like being misled, but he is fairly certain of the information he has. “Khalifa… Did he betray me? Or something else happened?”
Chae Joochul has a new subordinate by the name of Khalifa. He wants to use Khalifa as a means to destroy Chameleon Troupe, an old hunting dog that should have been put down a long time ago.
Apparently, Khalifa wants out of the criminal life and comes to Chae Joochul begging him to help him be free from the Chameleon Troupe.
Khalifa is burdened with heavy guilt from the severe crimes their Troupe is committing and wants to be absolved. He sees no way out from the Troupe except through the help of Chae Joochul.
Chae Joochul can fairly remember his chance encounter with Khalifa when the latter was trying to assassinate a politician from Eastern Europe. Joochul coincidentally is being offered a rare collectible artifact by the said politician when the assassination happens.
“This is Joochul. Tell me more.” He demands through the untraceable flip phone.
From the other side of the phone is Yoo Jinhyuk.
The Yoo clan has been dogs of the Chae Clan for generations. They are reliable hunting dogs for Chae Joochul. Yoo Jinhyuk is especially useful with his ability to experience the past.
“It is difficult, but I managed to get something more definite finally. This Khalifa. He is already dead. I cannot tell the exact location yet, but I am trying.”
“If you don’t want me to destroy that village you have built, you better hurry,” Chae Joochul emotionlessly puts down the phone.
This time, another phone call comes through, it is from his granddaughter, Chae Nayun.
“Gramps! I need help! The gala is under attack by the Chameleon Troupe!”
Chae Joochul frowns at the new information. “This is convenient…”
When he is about to set off to come to his granddaughter’s side, the ground abruptly starts trembling. Rising from underneath the earth is a gigantic Djinn enshrouded with a black fog. Chae Joochul estimates its strength to be on par with the Nine Evils.
“Who are you!?” He angrily demands an answer, but the Djinn is unintelligible and only attacks on instinct. “I have lately killed one of the Nine Evils! You are nothing to me!”
Thunder falls from the sky and strikes the risen foe.
