It had been a few days since Taeha left to handle some family matters. Jaemin didn't ask much. He figured Taeha would return when he was ready.
Alone again, Jaemin spent most of his time reviewing classified files Gyeongmin had sent—schematics, logs, and incident reports—everything centred on an underwater Coreborn chamber. The same one he was meant to visit today.
He got dressed—something simple, a black tee, a jacket, grey pants, and sneakers.
He then stepped out.
Waiting outside was a sleek black limousine, tinted windows and polished to a mirror's sheen. As he approached, the window slid down.
"We've been waiting for you."
Gyeongmin said from inside.
Jaemin opened the door and got in.
"Sorry for the wait."
He said.
"Don't be."
The limo eased into the quiet morning roads.
Jaemin glanced at Gyeongmin.
"So… what even is this chamber? No one's figured out where it came from?"
"No. No origin. No record. No match with any known Coreborn tech."
"And it's sealed?"
"Completely. No one's been able to open it."
Jaemin's brow furrowed.
"Then why am I being dragged into this? I agreed to help you with the Lapis Chamber, not some unknown bunker."
"I know."
Gyeongmin's voice was calm.
"But think of this as a… test. To see if you're a worthy asset."
Jaemin's eyes narrowed.
"Worthy asset?"
He leaned forward, tone flat.
"Are you keeping things from me?"
"No."
Gyeongmin said.
"Simply put—we found you there. After the multi-tiered rift incident. Just… lying there. Still breathing. Blood everywhere."
Jaemin didn't respond at first. His eyes shifted slightly, but his face remained unreadable.
"That rift... was on land."
He finally said.
"Far from any coast. How could I possibly end up underwater?"
"We don't know either."
Gyeongmin replied.
"Which is exactly why I'm trying to get to the bottom of it."
The silence in the car thickened. Jaemin leaned back in his seat, staring ahead.
He didn't speak again.
His mind was already racing—this wasn't just about a rift anymore. Something else was in motion. Something deeper.
Something... personal.
****
A while later, the car rolled to a stop at the edge of a high cliff.
Below them, the sea stretched wide and endless. A small weather-beaten cabin sat near the base of the cliff, tucked between jagged rocks. Docked beside it, a medium-sized black boat rocked lightly in the waves. But further out—almost blending with the horizon—stood a towering rig-like structure. Steel. Dark. Not for oil.
Gyeongmin stepped out of the car first. Jaemin followed.
They made their way down the narrow path to the dock. The wind carried salt and silence.
"Is that... an oil rig?"
Jaemin asked, eyes fixed on the distant structure.
"No."
Gyeongmin replied without looking back.
"That's just the cover."
Jaemin raised a brow.
"The last thing we want."
Gyeongmin continued as they boarded the boat.
"Is the public knowing there's something beneath the sea that the Association can't explain. One headline like that? Chaos. Panic. Conspiracy theories. We've had enough of that during the Cataclysmic years."
Jaemin didn't respond. His gaze was locked on the rig as they cut through the waves.
The closer they got, the more unreal it looked—too industrial for fishing, too fortified for drilling. It stood alone, like a sentinel hiding something beneath it.
And Jaemin could feel it.
Something deep.
Something waiting.
They reached the structure.
No words were exchanged.
Jaemin stepped off the boat, eyes narrowing as the sea mist curled around his boots.
Whatever this place was, it wasn't manmade. Not entirely.
And it wasn't meant to be opened.
They disembarked from the boat in silence.
The rig was massive—easily the size of several football fields—but hauntingly empty. No workers, no sound, no lights. Just sea mist, rusted metal, and the creak of waves hitting the lower decks.
In the middle of the structure stood a small control centre and a lone telecommunications tower. Sparse. Functional. Dead.
"So…"
Jaemin looked around, one hand tucked into his pocket.
"Where's the chamber? I don't see anything up here."
Gyeongmin kept walking toward the control centre.
"That's because we're not underwater yet."
Jaemin's expression barely changed, but his steps sharpened as he followed.
They entered the control room.
Dim lights flickered overhead. Old concrete walls, reinforced bulkheads. The design screamed Coreborn Association, but the feel was different. Wrong.
Gyeongmin stopped at a lift embedded in the far wall.
It opened with a slow hiss.
They stepped inside.
No floor buttons. No panel. It moved on its own, descending deeper and deeper into the sea with a low hum.
Silence filled the lift.
But something felt off.
There was no metal inside. No steel panelling, no reflective glass, no chrome. Every surface that could reflect—even the smallest glass screens—was covered in long, deep red cloth, pinned and sealed. Some looked freshly tied.
Jaemin glanced at them but said nothing.
No one else questioned it either.
And maybe that was the most unsettling part.
He stood still, gaze locked on the numbers descending on a small cloth-covered monitor that flickered faintly through the fabric.
They were going deep.
No words.
No breathing.
Only pressure.
Only questions.
And none of them were being answered.
Not yet.
The descent finally stopped.
The doors opened with a soft hiss.
White.
Blinding, sterile white.
Walls, floors, ceiling—seamless and pure. Not a single seam or fixture in sight. It wasn't light. It was an absence. No shadows. No sound. Just… white.
It stretched out endlessly.
This kind of silence could rot your mind if you stood in it too long.
Jaemin stepped out, steady, but alert.
"When did you find this place?"
He asked, voice low, sharp in the dead air.
"Or even this bunker?"
Gyeongmin walked ahead, his steps unnervingly calm.
"A few years ago."
He said.
"Scuba divers discovered a cavern, miles beneath the surface. A cave, where water didn't enter, despite being fully submerged."
"That shouldn't be possible."
Jaemin muttered.
"It wasn't."
Gyeongmin didn't stop walking.
"Inside that cavern… they found the bunker. Sealed shut. No way in. But outside, it was a man. Unconscious. Barely alive."
Jaemin's pace slowed.
"You."
"…Me?"
"You were that man. Blood all over you. Barely breathing. We didn't know how you got there, or why the rift "malfunction" sent you underwater… But there you were. Not a single Abyssal in sight. Just you."
Jaemin's jaw tightened. His eyes scanned the white. The silence pressed harder.
"How long did you hide this?"
"Since the day we pulled you out. The Association poured billions into sealing it off, erasing the story. This whole rig… all of it… is just a cover."
Jaemin stopped walking.
"This chamber isn't a research site, is it?"
Gyeongmin turned slowly.
"No. It's a hatch. And if we're right… You're the key to opening it."
They walked.
Hall after hall—white faded to dull grey, then darker. The air thickened. Cold. Damp. The sterile light above gave way to flickering candles, lined along carved stone walls like makeshift sentinels. Shadows danced. Time warped. Every step echoed like they were descending into something forgotten.
Then finally—
They stepped into a vast cavern.
A dome-like chamber, carved from rock and reinforced with layered metals. The air was wet, heavy. Candles burned on iron sconces, dripping wax onto the ground. At the far end, embedded into the stone like a seal to another world, stood the bunker.
A blast door.
Massive. Circular. Ancient yet impossibly advanced. Wide lines ran across its surface like veins. Faint red pulses beat slowly along its frame, like a sleeping heart.
"We're here."
Gyeongmin said quietly.
Jaemin walked forward.
"So… this is where you found me?"
His voice was barely above a whisper, carried by the chill air.
He stepped onto a worn pedestal in front of the door. His eyes narrowed. Something about it felt… familiar.
Like a word stuck on the edge of his tongue.
A red beam flashed from above, scanning him from head to toe.
A smooth, emotionless female synthetic voice echoed through the chamber:
"Initiating identi-scan…"
Jaemin tensed slightly.
"Error: Genesis Registry corrupted. Identity cannot be confirmed. Entry denied."
The red light flickered, then vanished.
Silence fell again.
No clicks. No response. Just a wall—closed shut.
Jaemin stared at it. The door stood there, unmoved, as if mocking him with its silence.
Gyeongmin said nothing. He just watched.
Something in Jaemin's chest tightened. He didn't know why, but the rejection felt personal.
He stepped back from the pedestal, jaw locked.
And the candlelight kept flickering… waiting.
A long sigh broke the silence.
"…What just happened?"
Jaemin asked as he stepped down from the pedestal, his voice low—bothered but steady.
Gyeongmin's eyes didn't leave the sealed door.
"I don't know."
He replied calmly, though even his tone had a slight edge to it now.
"But it's different from before."
Jaemin turned to him.
"Different how?"
Gyeongmin finally looked back.
"This time… the door responded."
A pause. The air felt colder now. He continued.
"You can go through that door, Mr. Han. Whatever's on the other side… It's waiting. But right now, you're still locked out."
Jaemin's gaze returned to the door. The pulse of red along its frame had dulled again, faint but alive.
He didn't speak.
"Genesis Registry…"
The words lingered in his mind. It meant nothing to him on the surface, but it echoed like a memory trying to surface.
"Why was it corrupted? What was being verified?"
He clenched his jaw slightly.
"Let's head back."
Gyeongmin finally said.
"We've got the department meeting to attend."
His tone was back to usual—controlled, practical.
Jaemin nodded quietly. He followed as they turned toward the long hallway, their shadows stretching behind them in the flickering candlelight.
But his mind—his thoughts—they stayed behind.
On that door.
On those words.
"Genesis Registry corrupted...Entry denied."
"Just what the hell does that even mean…?"
The blast door loomed behind them, unmoved. Watching.
Waiting.