In the Korean Guardians Corps, inside President Lee Min-wan's office, silence enveloped the room—broken only by the ticking of an old clock hanging on the wall. The president sat behind his large wooden desk, reviewing some files, when a soft knock echoed on the door, followed by the hesitant steps of Kim Jung-soo entering.
Kim stood in front of the desk and bowed slightly out of respect, then spoke in a tone that blended seriousness with hesitation:
"Sorry to bother you, Mr. President, but there's a matter I wanted to discuss."
Lee Min-wan raised his gaze from the papers and stared at Kim with a sharp look before replying calmly:
"What's the matter?"
Kim hesitated for a moment, then gathered his courage and said:
"It's about Rakan… We all know he disappeared years ago in that incident, and that the agency is still searching for him to this day, and… with my own funding."
There was silence for a few seconds, but the president didn't respond immediately. He continued to stare at Kim, as if trying to read what he was hiding behind his words. Then, in a sharper tone, the president said:
"If there's something you've been hiding and haven't said before… say it now."
Kim swallowed hard, looking visibly tense as he prepared to speak.
Tension filled the office after President Lee Min-wan's decisive question. Kim Jong-soo took a deep breath and said, his voice tinged with a hint of regret:
"In fact… in that incident, Rakan died. I myself couldn't believe he was dead, and when we got out of the maze, I still couldn't accept it. That's why I asked the agency to open an investigation about him. And when you were about to close the case… I decided to fund the investigation myself."
The president raised an eyebrow slightly, and a heavy silence filled the room, accompanied by a slight shock visible on his face. Then he spoke slowly, staring directly into Kim's eyes:
"Is there anything else… you're hiding from the agency?"
A short silence followed, during which Kim felt the weight of the president's gaze on him. Finally, he responded in a quiet voice:
"No."
The president calmly closed the file in front of him, then said in a decisive tone:
"Then, withdraw your funding… and we will close this case. To avoid raising suspicions and to keep the public from paying attention, we won't announce Rakan's death. Instead, we'll announce that the budget doesn't allow us to continue the investigation, so… we'll close the case here."
Kim bowed his head and then said in surrender:
"Alright…"
He walked slowly toward the door, then turned slightly and said with a hint of regret:
"I apologize, Mr. President, for the wasted time."
He left the office quietly, leaving behind a heavy silence and news that was not easy for anyone.
Kim Jong-Soo descended to the first floor with hurried steps, tension visible on his face, as if his chest was suffocating from the weight of what had just transpired in the president's office. As he exited the agency's building, a sleek black luxury car was waiting for him at the curb.
He approached without hesitation, opened the back door, and calmly sat down before closing it behind him. As soon as he sat, the car smoothly started moving, and across from him sat a large-built man, wearing black sunglasses that cast harsh shadows on his face. His name was "Tae Hyun."
Tae Hyun stared at Kim with a fixed gaze, clearly reading the signs of anxiety on his face. He then asked in a stern tone:
"Did you complete what I sent you to do?"
Kim answered nervously, his eyes avoiding the gaze of the man sitting across from him:
"Y-yes…"
Tae Hyun didn't respond immediately. Instead, he leaned slightly forward and said in a low voice, but one laced with threat:
"Be careful… If any information about the incident leaks… the organization will not show mercy. Do you understand?"
Kim quickly nodded and replied with uncertainty:
"Understood…"
At that moment, the car came to a brief stop. Kim exited calmly, and the car immediately drove off in another direction.
Inside the car, Tae Hyun pulled out his phone and made a call, then spoke in a calm yet decisive tone:
"I'm on my way… I'll meet you at the hospital."
In the corridors of the hospital, where silence reigned except for the whispers of nurses and the sounds of machines, Tae Hyun walked confidently toward one of the rooms. He opened the door without knocking, then exclaimed in a loud, theatrical tone full of cheer:
"Hello, my beautiful stepdaughter! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
The room was quiet. Inside, a girl with white hair and blue eyes sat in a chair beside a bed where a woman lay unconscious. This was Elena, the Russian with calm features, despite the exhaustion that her eyes concealed.
She looked at him coldly and said in a sharp tone:
"What do you want this time?"
Tae Hyun smirked sarcastically, taking a step forward:
"It seems you're not too thrilled to see your stepfather, are you?"
Elena responded clearly, without any pleasantries:
"Just tell me what you want from me."
He raised his hand as if surrendering and said:
"Alright, alright… since you're so eager about the topic, let's get to it right away. Do you know Kim Jong-Soo?"
She answered quickly:
"Yes, I know him. We've been on many raids together."
Tae Hyun nodded and then spoke slowly, observing her facial expressions:
"I want you to get close to him."
Elena's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she said sharply:
"What?"
He responded with a cold smile:
"I didn't ask you to single-handedly finish a raid on the spider maze… I just want you to observe him. Gain his trust."
She looked at him warily and asked:
"Why do you want me to get close to him?"
He took another step closer, his voice dropping as if revealing a secret:
"I think he's hiding something…"
Elena clenched her fists and replied with angry sarcasm:
"And if I don't agree… what will you do?"
Tae Hyun laughed contemptuously, a short but heavy laugh, like poison, then moved closer to her mother's bed and stared at her, saying:
"Then… your mother won't get treatment. She'll die. Even you rich people won't be able to treat her here. Not in this country, nor abroad."
Elena froze in fear, and rage flashed in her blue eyes. Her voice quivered as she spoke:
"You bastard…"
But she found herself with no other choice. She fell silent, her eyes filling with tears, before she reluctantly whispered her agreement.
Tae Hyun turned, a cold victorious smile on his face, then left the room without looking back.
As for Elena, she remained staring at her unconscious mother, tears silently streaming down her cheeks, carrying a pain she couldn't bring herself to express.
Deep within the maze, inside the deep cave whose walls seemed to breathe darkness, Joseph lay slumped against the cavern's sides, lost in a heavy sleep, exhausted from an unrelenting fatigue. Suddenly, strange sounds filled the air—sounds that hadn't been present in the place before. It wasn't the familiar voice of the entity he had grown used to, nor the growls of monsters, nor even the sound of trickling water that disturbed the stillness. It was the voice of a woman, a familiar voice with a distinct tone, as though she knew him well.
"Joseph… my son… can you hear me?"
Joseph struggled to open his eyes, his eyelids half-lidded, his mind unable to grasp what he was hearing. He began to focus on the voice, which at first was unclear. It was a strange sound, yet it carried something of longing, something of hope.
"What is this sound?" he wondered to himself, trying to focus, as the bleeding from his shoulder had stopped, but the pain still clung to him strongly.
The voice continued to echo in his ears, as if she were whispering to him, urging him to step out of the darkness.
"Joseph… my son… can you hear me?"
His body was exhausted, but he gathered the last of his strength and began to rise slowly, dragging himself with great difficulty. The pain from his wounded shoulder burned, but he didn't care. His hands trembled as he tried to move toward the source of the voice, as if something inside him demanded a response.
The closer he got to the sound, the clearer it became. The words reached his heart as if they were threads of hope woven through his deep darkness.
"I've waited for you for so long, my son."
Joseph paused for a moment, startled by what he heard. He looked around, as if his heart refused to believe what was unfolding in his mind. He whispered to himself, his voice barely audible:
"Mother… is that you?"
He then continued his steps toward the voice, as if his heart were leading him without thought. All his pain and suffering faded in an instant before this familiar voice that seemed to lift him from the eternal darkness.
Joseph's progress quickened. The closer he got to the sound, the clearer it became, as if it was guiding him to a specific place. His voice was weak and tired, but he didn't stop. His mother's voice echoed in his ears continuously:
"Joseph… my son… haven't you missed me?"
The voice was now more insistent, battering his thoughts and igniting mixed feelings of hope and fear in his heart. With each step he took toward the voice, his heartbeat quickened. It felt as if her voice was drawing closer, as if the distance between them was shrinking rapidly.
Finally, Joseph reached the source of the light and stood before a sight he had never expected. In front of him was a large pool of water, shimmering in the faint light filtering through a small hole in the ceiling. A fresh, cold breeze flowed through it, filling the place with a new vitality. The scene was mesmerizing and tranquil.