Hunter Association Transport - Highway 46 North - 7:12 AM
The vehicle's engine hummed with the kind of steady mechanical confidence that came from military-grade engineering, suspension absorbing bumps in the road with barely a shudder, and through the tinted windows Seoul's outskirts blurred past in streaks of gray buildings and morning traffic that had no idea what was happening beneath the surface of their ordinary world.
Yoo sat in the rear compartment with seven unconscious bodies arranged like cargo, Zhao's head still resting in his lap because there wasn't enough space to lay everyone flat, and his injured leg had gone numb in a way that suggested nerve damage rather than simple exhaustion but he couldn't afford to care about that right now.
Ji-yeon stirred beside him, eyelids fluttering as consciousness tried to return, and when her eyes finally opened they were bloodshot and unfocused like someone waking from fever dreams.
"Where—" Her voice came out as a croak.
