The night wind pierced the cold to the bone, but Min stood tall on the rooftop of an old building—a location known only to a select few in the underworld. Before him stood an old man, wearing round glasses and a shabby white coat. His face was wrinkled, but his eyes remained sharp and calculating.
"It's been a long time, Mr. Min," the old man said, his voice hoarse yet filled with conviction.
Min nodded slowly. "I need your expertise once more, Mr. Baek. It's time to bring about the real downfall—from within."
Mr. Baek, the former chief strategist of Hwang, smiled faintly. "The quietest wars are often the most destructive. I'm ready if you're serious."
Min didn't say much. Everything had already been planned in his mind—who would fall first, who would be taken down from within, without them even realizing who the mastermind was.
At the dojo, Jung Kok stood for a long time in front of the strategy board, which was now covered with notes ranging from concern to confusion. His eyes and mind were in turmoil. Too many shadows hunted his thoughts. Min, his brother, their father, and even himself.
"I… don't know who I can trust anymore," he said softly.
Hana, sitting beside him, tried to offer comfort, but the tone of her voice couldn't hide the anxiety. "We're here, Kok. We won't leave you."
Tae simply nodded, but his gaze remained sharp, directed at the note about Min hanging in the corner. "But honestly... I feel like he's slipping further away. There's something about Min that... is hard to predict now."
Jung Kok closed his eyes for a moment. His heart rebelled against the reality that was unfolding. Yet, his instincts couldn't be denied.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Jung Joon stood by the glass window of his office with Rina. The city's neon lights flickered outside, but inside the room, only silence filled the space.
"Min... lately, I feel something's off," Jung Joon said quietly.
Rina turned to him. "What do you mean?"
"He's too... slippery. His movements seem intentional, designed to confuse. It's like he's playing everyone."
Rina thought for a moment before nodding. "If that's the case, we need to investigate him from the root. I'll use all my contacts—if there's anything off about his past, I'll find it."
Jung Joon agreed, though in his heart, he began to feel something deeper—that Min was not just a small player in this game.
That very night, at the now quiet dojo, Jung Kok received an unexpected visitor. Hwang stood at the door's threshold, still clad in his black jacket, his aura as intimidating as ever.
"Father?" Jung Kok jumped to his feet.
"I don't have much time," Hwang said in a low yet firm tone. "Those symbols... they're not just warnings. They're signals. The old shadows have reactivated."
"Old shadows?"
Hwang stepped closer. "When I built this empire, I didn't do it without enemies. But they never died out, just hid—now they're back. And they're using Min."
Jung Kok's face changed. "Min...? But he—"
"Your enemy isn't just human, Kok. It's the legacy of revenge."
The next day, shocking news arrived via a call that vibrated through the phone. Hwang's key informant—Pak Mun—had gone missing.
Not long after, his body was found in a narrow alley in Shinsadong. On his chest was the old symbol—an intersecting circle with four red dots, a sign used only by Hwang's old enemies.
Beside his body, a note was left.
"Release the legacy, or you will lose it one by one."
Jung Kok held the note with trembling hands, his breath coming in shallow gasps, unable to believe that all of this was happening.
That night, as he rummaged through his father's secret study—filled with old files and evidence stored for years—he found a dusty file.
Its label was worn, but still legible:
"Min – Special Surveillance Subject since 2007."
He opened the file slowly. Inside were notes, photographs, secret movements, psychological records—all about Min.
At the bottom of one sheet: "Potential threat if not monitored closely. Alpha-level potential."
Jung Kok's face went pale. The world around him seemed to freeze.
"Min... who are you really?" he whispered with a shaky voice.