[Scene change]: Meanwhile, outside...
The flashing lights of the patrol cars bathed the streets in red and blue.
It was as if North Gangbuk was enveloped in a perpetual siren.
The raids were not silent. Nor were they meant to be.
They were public cleanups, carried out by the police. And everyone was recording them.
In front of the 24-hour Project Bloom café, the outdoor tables were filled with murmurs.
Some customers left their half-finished drinks, pointing their cell phones at the street.
From there, a group of students could be seen being handcuffed next to a convenience store.
"What the hell is going on?" muttered one of the baristas, drying his hands on his apron.
"Are they... students?" asked an elderly woman, huddled in her coat.
In the background, a television showed live coverage:
"...the so-called Operativo Escudo Norte has deployed more than 200 officers simultaneously. The list of detainees has not been confirmed, but several are high school students linked to an extortion ring..."
The image changed.
A rooftop, streets with flashing lights, a sidewalk full of teenagers lined up, handcuffed, while photographers pointed their cameras at them and took pictures.
The people in the café stopped talking.
They simply watched as if it were a show, while sipping their cups of coffee.
"It's the boy who comes in the mornings wearing a blue uniform," said a gray-haired customer, pointing at the screen.
"That one? The one who always ordered coffee with two sugars?" murmured another.
"Yes... What's he doing involved in that?"
Meanwhile, a few blocks north, in front of a small park, dozens of reporters pushed against the security barriers.
"Why are they arresting so many students?"
"What's going on with North Gangbuk?"
"We want an official explanation now!" shouted one.
"Is it true that they infiltrated high schools?"
"We demand answers!" said another.
"Are the detainees minors?!"
But there was no response. The officers just walked with their heads down and their faces hidden.
The atmosphere felt charged, between morbid curiosity and collective panic. Several civilians were filming from the corners, and rumors were spreading like wildfire.
On social media, clips exploded by the minute:
#GangbukOnFire
#NorthShield
#WhoIsBehindIt?
#TheFallOfTheNorth
#Students?
And on the top floor of a building, a young man in a robe leaned out the window.
He saw the illuminated street, the groups of police officers, the murmur of chaos.
And high above...
a black silhouette floating. A drone.
He didn't know it then, but he was seeing the shadow of someone who didn't want to be seen.
"This... is not just humiliation," he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.
And he was right.
Because meanwhile, inside an abandoned building... the real battle was about to begin.
[Scene change]: Inside the abandoned building – Second floor
Hyeondong took a step toward Choyun, pointing his wooden sword at him, but something didn't feel right... his eyes narrowed.
Too late.
Choyun vanished from his sight like a distorted shadow.
A sharp buzz, a dark blur, and then—
"WHAT—?!"
A blurred fist flew through the air straight toward Hyeondong's face.
But just before impact, a figure threw himself in the way.
"Hyeondong, back!"
It was Gukja.
The blow hit him squarely in the chest. The impact echoed like a dull crack, and his body was thrown several meters backward like a sack of concrete.
"GUKJA!" everyone shouted.
The back wall shook as Gukja crashed into it. Dust and concrete fragments fell on his back, leaving him half embedded in the wall, his arms hanging down.
The floor vibrated for a moment.
Silence.
Hyeondong's expression froze. His hands were shaking. He lowered the wooden sword.
Gukja didn't complain.
But blood slowly trickled down the corner of his lips.
From across the room, Choyun exhaled slowly, shaking his arm as if he had just stretched his muscles.
"One down," he muttered.
Tension shot through the rest of the group.
Daniel clenched his teeth.
"Don't underestimate Choyun... he's not even close to being exhausted yet."
Choyun moved like a weapon without pause.
His movements were clean. Too technical. Every sweep, block, and strike was executed with precision.
As if he had memorized every martial art in existence... and was now reproducing them one by one.
Capoeira. Judo. Wing Chun. British boxing. Wrestling. Kyokushin karate. Aikido. TaeKwonDo. Muay Thai. Jiu-Jitsu...
He mixed everything effortlessly.
In an instant, he spun on one foot and launched a downward kick that Haru barely managed to block with both forearms. The impact dragged him across the floor.
At the same time, he deflected Hajun's punch with a shoulder imbalance, using the momentum to throw him toward Jaeha, knocking them both down.
Jihyeon tried to cut him off with her wooden sword. Choyun caught it in midair, broke the weapon in half, and threw the hilt at her face.
Yugyeom approached silently from behind, aiming a blow at his lower back.
But Choyun dodged it by barely turning his torso and buried his elbow in his ribs.
"Damn... he's like a robot!" Jaeha spat, getting up with blood in his mouth.
"He's too technically clean... he doesn't make any mistakes," Hajun growled, dusting himself off.
But Daniel didn't take his eyes off him.
He was beginning to understand.
Yes, Choyun was an almost perfect machine.
Too perfect, but almost...
Every counterattack was textbook. Every step, mechanically precise.
Combination, memorization. Control.
"He moves as if he knows every technique in the world!" Hyeondong shouted from the sidelines as he tried to help Gukja up.
"But there's something strange!" Haru shouted. "He's reacting to everything! He doesn't anticipate, he just responds."
Daniel frowned. He watched every step, every blow. And then he said firmly:
"Yes... he knows a lot. But he has no real fighting experience."
Everyone turned to him.
"What do you mean?" asked Hajun, breathing heavily.
"He fights well, too well. As if he's memorized everything. But he doesn't think instinctively, he doesn't adapt. He just responds to what he sees."
Jaeha spat to the side and stood up with a crooked smile.
"Then we have to get him out of his comfort zone."
Daniel nodded.
"Let him make mistakes. We're going to force him out of there."
Choyun turned toward them.
"Mistakes? You're the ones making mistakes by thinking you can stop me."
But for the first time... his tone sounded more hurried.
And Hajun smiled.
"Then we're going to teach you how to fight in the real world."
The seven of them stood up almost at the same time.
Minutes later.
The blows were no longer measured. The floor was cracked, stained with blood.
Pieces of concrete flew with each impact. Choyun was no longer in control.
"We're beating him!" Jihyeon whispered between gasps.
Hajun spun around and landed a spinning hook to his ribs. Haru took advantage and delivered a direct kick to his jaw.
Choyun's body staggered backward.
Jaeha showed no mercy. He put on brass knuckles. One blow. Another. Blood splattered the cement.
"Come on! Where's the great leader of the North?" he shouted with contained fury as he slammed him against the wall.
Choyun coughed. He spat blood. He tried to get up, but Yugyeom crushed his arm with his knee.
"You have nothing left... Choyun. No one is following you anymore, just give up," said Daniel, his voice firm. "You're strong... but you have no experience. You were just imitating what you saw."
Choyun tried to speak, but Haru interrupted him with a knee to the chest.
And then it happened, his body shook.
[System]: Choyun's potential has begun to reveal itself.
Those nearby instinctively stepped back.
A purple line glowed in his left eye.
[System]: Choyun has achieved mastery.
An unexplained wind swept away the dust.
Choyun's body stopped moving for a second... and then sat up as if nothing had happened.
The bruises disappeared before everyone's eyes.
His back cracked as he straightened up.
"What... is this?" Gukja muttered, still recovering from the previous blow.
"That... isn't normal," said Jihyeon, taking a step back.
Choyun looked up. His face was expressionless.
Just... empty.
"Now I understand," he said calmly. "This is what it means to be perfect," murmured Choyun, looking at his hands.
Choyun walked forward without haste, a confident smile on his face.
[Choyun]
Height: 194 cm
Weight: 102 kg
Strength: AX
Speed: BX
Potential: S (Mastery)
Intelligence: S
Endurance: BX
One by one, the executives fell.
Hyeondong lay unconscious on the floor.
Jaeha tried to close the distance, throwing a straight punch with his brass knuckles. Choyun dodged it without even looking at him and broke his arm with a single upward elbow strike. The bone cracked like a dry branch.
Jaeha screamed in pain, but Choyun had already turned. His leg rose in a perfect spin and smashed his face into the ground. The cement was stained red.
"Jaeha!" Haru shouted, running toward him.
Choyun intercepted his movement. He grabbed his ankle in midair, slammed him against the wall, and threw him like a doll at Hajun.
Both hit the ground violently and didn't even get up.
Yugyeom wanted to stop the massacre from a blind angle, but Choyun was already waiting for him. He grabbed him by the neck, lifted him up, and threw him across the room as if he weighed the same as a chair.
Only two were left standing.
Jihyeon and Gukja.
The girl was trembling. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her face was bruised, her clothes torn, and her breath was ragged. But she didn't back down.
Choyun walked toward her. His shadow covered her like a tombstone.
Jihyeon raised her fists... they were shaking. But they were steady.
"You're not going to touch anyone else," she said in a hoarse voice.
Choyun didn't answer. He just raised his hand.
One blow.
Jihyeon flew backward and crashed into a column.
Gukja saw her hit the ground, fall. Her body didn't move. Everyone had fallen...
And her chest exploded with something she didn't understand.
Rage, guilt, and horror. All at once.
He looked at all his friends and then looked at her... at her.
The girl who always teased him. Who told him to stop insisting. The girl he had always liked.
"No..." Gukja whispered.
Choyun approached Jihyeon, his fist raised again.
Gukja ran toward her.
"Don't you dare..." he growled.
Something was throbbing inside his chest, spreading like a flame.
Choyun raised his arm.
And then—
[System]: Gukja has received a potential boost.
[System]: Condition met. Unlocking hidden potential...
[System]: User Gukja Yang is beginning to evolve.
A loud bang echoed through the air.
The ground beneath his feet cracked. The temperature seemed to rise suddenly.
Gukja was changing.
His muscles tensed, his breathing became heavy but controlled.
Sweat ran down his forehead.
And in his eyes... there was no fear.
[System]: Gukja has achieved Mastery.
"Choyun... If you touch her again..." he said in a low voice, charged with a different tone.
"...I'll rip your arms off," he said as he stood in front of Jihyeon to protect her.
[Gukja Yang]
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 78 kg
Strength: AX
Speed: AX
Potential: SS (Mastery)
Intelligence: B
Endurance: SX
Gukja's eyes changed.
His pupils turned, disappearing into absolute white.
A dark glow spread from his inverted iris, as if his vision pierced Choyun's very soul.