The silence after violence is always the loudest.
Min-ji had been suspended for three days.
It wasn't an expulsion. It wasn't even permanent.
But to the Grey List, it felt like the first domino tipping over.
> "They got what they wanted," Dae-hyun said.
The team sat in the AV room, the projector off, the lights dim. Rain tapped the windows again. It always seemed to rain when things went wrong.
> "They knew her limit," Chan-mi muttered. "Knew where to push."
> "Then we push back," Sun-woo said, fists clenched.
But no one replied.
Because the enemy they were fighting now wasn't fists and bruises.
It was a ghost who whispered destruction.
---
Scene 1: Tracing the Phantom
Tae-yul took over the tech work. He was quiet but brilliant when it came to hardware—an unexpected talent.
> "This isn't about hacking school systems," he said. "Bishop 4 doesn't operate inside firewalls. They ride between them. Anonymous relays. Temporary logins. Digital fingerprints that vanish after use."
> "So how do we catch that?" Dae-hyun asked.
Tae-yul leaned back in his chair.
> "We stop looking for what they send."
He turned his laptop toward the group.
> "We look for how they send it."
---
Scene 2: The Pattern
It started small.
Every time a rumor appeared online—about Min-ji, about the Grey List—it came from a new ID.
But Tae-yul traced the device patterns. MAC addresses, system tags, wireless pings.
> "It's all the same laptop," he said. "Someone spoofed different user profiles, but the physical hardware remains unchanged."
> "Whose laptop?" Dae-hyun asked.
> "That's the hard part. It never pings from the same location twice. But there's one common node every time…"
He clicked.
> "The broadcast tower behind the music building."
> "So the sender is nearby," Sun-woo said.
> "Or... they're bouncing the signal from there."
> "Either way," Dae-hyun said, rising, "we're going hunting."
---
Scene 3: Rooftop Surveillance
That night, they set up on the roof of the adjacent building, overlooking the tower.
Hae-rin joined them—quiet as always, uninvited but not unwelcome.
> "You don't trust me," she said, watching the lights below.
> "You earned a trial," Dae-hyun said. "But not loyalty."
She nodded. "Fair."
Two hours passed.
At 12:13 AM, a flicker. A figure in a grey hoodie approached the base of the tower. Small build. Quick steps.
They held a thin laptop. Stopped. Plugged something into the tower panel.
Sun-woo grabbed binoculars.
> "Can't see their face."
> "That's Bishop 4," Dae-hyun whispered. "Has to be."
> "Let's move."
But by the time they reached ground level—
The ghost was gone.
Only one thing was left behind.
A single red chess piece, placed on top of the electrical box.
A rook.
---
Scene 4: The Old Club Room
They reconvened inside the unused Debate Club room—dusty, silent, but soundproof.
> "So the Bishop isn't just a strategist," Sun-woo muttered. "They're using school infrastructure."
> "Means they have staff-level access," Chan-mi said.
> "Or they're working with someone who does."
Hae-rin took out a notebook. "What about the chess piece?"
> "Rook," Dae-hyun said. "The defender. The wall. Or the ambusher, if you castle."
> "Then this wasn't a clue," she muttered. "It was a move."
---
Scene 5: The Missing File
The next morning, Chan-mi didn't show up to class.
Not in homeroom. Not in AV. Not on the roof.
Her phone was off. Her dorm was locked. No one had seen her since the night before.
Dae-hyun's gut twisted.
> "She wouldn't vanish," he said.
> "Unless she was taken," Min-ji said, returning early from suspension, eyes red but steady.
They searched everywhere—library, infirmary, even the Hollow.
Nothing.
Then Hae-rin opened the Debate Club room again.
Something was on the table.
A second chess piece—this time, a black knight.
Next to it:
> A printed photo of Chan-mi, tied to a chair, eyes covered. No bruises. But no expression.
And one line scrawled beneath it:
> "One wrong move, and she topples." —B4
---
Scene 6: War Room Reset
Dae-hyun slammed his fist into the AV wall, cracking the plaster.
> "They got to her," he said. "They took her."
Min-ji picked up the knight piece.
> "Bishop 4's playing chess with us."
> "Not chess," Tae-yul said. "Shogi."
They turned.
> "Japanese variant. You can reuse captured pieces as your own."
> "So what?" Sun-woo asked. "They're going to use Chan-mi against us?"
> "No," Dae-hyun said, cold. "They're going to test us."
> "Then let's stop reacting," Min-ji growled. "Let's break the board."
---
Scene 7: The Hacker's Gambit
Tae-yul proposed a plan.
> "We set up a decoy data breach. Something juicy. Something fake. We leak it through a mock server—and trace the trace. They won't be able to resist."
> "What's the bait?" Hae-rin asked.
Dae-hyun smiled grimly.
> "A file labeled 'Operation Rebirth: Division 0 Protocols.'"
Min-ji raised an eyebrow. "Does that even exist?"
> "No. But if they're scared enough, they'll try to destroy it."
So they built the lie. Planted it. Waited.
Within four hours, it was accessed from inside the teacher's lounge.
And a minute later—deleted.
But the trace was caught.
One access point. One ID.
Staff-level.
Park Jae-min. Guidance Counselor.
---
Scene 8: The Counselor
Park Jae-min was known for two things: being too friendly and always wearing an expensive watch.
He had no disciplinary history. No gossip. No one had ever even raised their voice at him.
Which made him perfect for a ghost.
The Grey List confronted him during lunch—subtle, in the courtyard where no one watched.
> "We traced a file deletion to your system," Dae-hyun said.
Jae-min smiled kindly.
> "I don't know what you're talking about."
> "Cut the act," Sun-woo growled.
Jae-min sighed and turned his back to them.
> "Do you know how long I've watched you all?"
He looked over his shoulder.
> "Do you think you're the first rebellion? The first spark?"
> "Then why try to snuff us?" Min-ji asked.
> "Because sparks become wildfires."
He reached into his pocket.
Pulled out a red USB.
> "You want her? Win her back."
He dropped the drive and walked away.
No fear. No hurry.
Just like a ghost.
---
Scene 9: The File That Changed Everything
The USB was locked.
But Tae-yul cracked it within an hour.
Inside: Surveillance footage. Hundreds of clips. Meetings. Conversations. Even Grey List discussions from weeks ago.
And at the end—a live feed.
Chan-mi. Still blindfolded. Still tied to a chair.
> "Where is she?" Dae-hyun demanded.
> "Timestamp says today," Tae-yul said. "But the IP is bouncing."
> "Listen to the sound," Min-ji said. "Hear that echo? That's a gym."
> "Not Daejin's," Hae-rin added. "This one's smaller. Older."
Sun-woo stood.
> "Abandoned athletic complex. East side of town. Closed after a fire last year."
> "We go tonight," Dae-hyun said.
> "All of us?" Tae-yul asked.
> "No," he replied. "We bring only three."
> "Why?"
> "Because that's how chess ends," he said. "With a final sacrifice."
---
End of Chapter 12