Monday – 6:02 AM
Crimson Division Archives, Sub-Basement Level 2
Ji-woo's final act before vanishing was unlocking the door no one had ever dared open.
She called it The Well.
A private elevator inside the Crimson building's east wing—a place where no cameras worked, no Wi-Fi reached, and even the teachers refused to speak of.
But now, guided by Ji-woo's decrypted key, Dae-hyun, Min-ji, Sun-woo, Tae-yul, and Chan-mi descended into the silence.
> "There's nothing on the blueprints about this place," Tae-yul whispered.
"That's because it was never meant to exist," Chan-mi said.
The elevator doors opened.
Concrete corridor. Steel doors. No windows. No sound.
This was Division Zero.
---
Scene 1: Founders and Ghosts
They reached the end of the corridor.
A steel plaque above the final door read:
> Daejin Experimental Division – Phase Zero
Dae-hyun pressed Ji-woo's keycard to the scanner.
The door hissed open.
The room beyond was clinical. Sterile white walls. A large circular table. Black chairs surrounding it.
On the walls: portraits. Eleven of them.
Old school photographs. Mostly men. A few women. All with stern eyes.
Min-ji pointed at a brass plate beneath the first.
> "Chairman Lee Hyun-ki. Daejin High Founder. Division Creator."
"These are the originals," Dae-hyun whispered. "The ones who designed the Division hierarchy."
"But they're not students," Sun-woo said. "They're… adults."
Chan-mi exhaled.
> "Division Zero isn't a rank. It's a boardroom."
---
Scene 2: The Files
On the table were thick black folders, each with a number.
Tae-yul opened the one marked #04 – CLEAN LIST STRATEGY.
He read aloud:
> "Targets selected based on psychological fracture points, economic instability, and social expendability. Purpose: test tolerance thresholds and refine elite behavior filters."
Min-ji grabbed another: #09 – Bishop Development.
> "Subjects recruited between ages 11–14. Preferably orphans or disciplinary transfers. Trained in infiltration, influence, and emotional manipulation."
She slammed it shut.
> "They built Bishops like weapons."
Chan-mi pulled the thinnest file.
#11 – The Kraken Protocol
Inside: only one sheet.
> "In case of rebellion by multiple Divisions, activate embedded sleeper agents within each campus. Terminate 'Grey Cell' using emotional triggers and targeted guilt collapses."
> "Grey Cell?" Sun-woo asked.
Dae-hyun nodded slowly.
"That's us."
---
Scene 3: The Vault
Behind the table was a hidden vault, unlocked only after inserting Ji-woo's card, scanning Dae-hyun's retina, and entering a voice code she'd recorded for them.
Inside: surveillance drives.
Dozens.
Footage from every hallway, AV room, locker, club room, and rooftop since five years ago.
> "They've been monitoring every Division. Every movement," Tae-yul said.
"This is more than control," Chan-mi added. "This is social engineering."
"And blackmail," Min-ji whispered.
She'd found a folder marked Staff Compromise. Inside: photos of teachers, financial ledgers, and proof of manipulated grading.
Sun-woo picked up a smaller box. It contained seven red chess pieces.
> "Bishops," he said. "Each tied to a Division collapse."
Only four were scratched at the base.
> "So three haven't been used yet," Dae-hyun said. "They're waiting."
"Or already embedded," Tae-yul muttered.
---
Scene 4: Surveillance Intercept
Back in the AV room, they watched archived footage.
One clip made them stop breathing.
It showed a staff meeting—last month.
In it, the Vice Principal was speaking.
> "The Grey List has become self-aware. Activate Phase Omega. Authorize Division Zero for public deployment if necessary."
"But what about PR?" a teacher asked.
"We frame them as hackers. Foreign-influenced radicals. A school threat."
"And if they resist?"
The Vice Principal looked straight at the camera.
> "Then we release the Kraken."
---
Scene 5: The Kraken Revealed
Ji-woo had left one last file on the USB: Subject Omega.
It contained psychological evaluations, training footage, and a dossier.
Name: Ryu Ha-jin
Alias: Kraken
Status: In Stasis – Wake if Phase Zero is compromised
> "Who is this guy?" Sun-woo asked.
"He was a Division 1 prodigy," Chan-mi said, pale. "Expelled for killing another student in a sanctioned duel."
"Expelled?" Tae-yul asked.
"That's what they told us," she replied. "But this file says otherwise."
She turned the screen.
Video footage showed Ha-jin strapped to a chair, wires in his arms. A voice spoke from off-screen.
> "Ha-jin. Wake up."
The boy's eyes opened.
Empty.
Hungry.
> "Execute Phase Omega."
---
Scene 6: Counterplan
Dae-hyun stood slowly.
> "They made a monster."
"He's not a Bishop," Min-ji said. "He's a detonator."
"Then we detonate first," Sun-woo growled.
"No," Dae-hyun said.
He looked at the board. At the folders. At everything they now held.
> "We don't detonate."
"We expose."
They all turned to him.
> "The next school-wide assembly is Friday. We get the files to every student, every teacher. We broadcast their own system against them."
> "What about Kraken?" Chan-mi asked.
> "He'll come."
Dae-hyun clenched his fists.
> "And when he does… I'll face him."
---
Scene 7: One Last Message
That night, Dae-hyun received a message on his phone.
Unknown number.
One line:
> "You broke the board. Now the ocean floods in."
Attached: a live video.
Vice Principal Kim speaking to the school's disciplinary committee.
> "I recommend immediate action. Daejin's future depends on eliminating the Grey List."
The camera panned.
At the table beside him sat Ha-jin.
Not strapped.
Not silent.
Smiling.
---
End of Chapter 14