{[31]} For Our Amusement

A day after Ryujin's birthday and the mini-concert at the settlement, everyone got a little bit busier, because the plan that Minhyuk and the others were trying to finish is finally complete.

Now, it only needed Ryujin's intel to finally cement it. Having adjusted to the settlement's way of living, and now feeling well-rested, Ryujin was invited for the final meeting to discuss the intel she has, and compare it to the plan at hand in order to finally rescue Sana.

April 18, 2023, 8:11 pm, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.

Ryujin arrives at Minhyuk's office after taking a long nap. She quietly knocks for a while, awaiting a response from the other side as she exhaled.

Miyeon opens the door slowly.

"Oh... Hi, Ryujin. Good evening."

"Hello, Miyeon-unnie. Sorry, I took a while." Ryujin said. "You all must've been waiting long, I overslept..."

"It's okay. I've been there. I sleep like an absolute log all the time and no one can wake me up. Hehe." Miyeon said as she giggled.

"Is everyone here?" Ryujin asked.

"Yes, yes. Jihyo-unnie and Minji just went out for a snack 30 minutes ago, while the rest of us stayed here, just listening to Hangyeol rant about K-pop." Miyeon replied.

"Must be an interesting conversation..." Ryujin replied.

"I wouldn't call it that, Ryujin. Come inside, please." Miyeon scooted away from the door and she allowed Ryujin to enter.

She sees Minhyuk busy drawing some blueprints, Hyungwon sleeping on the corner, and Hangyeol was talking to Zeke, not noticing Ryujin enter the place.

"...a BANGTWICE collaboration would be nice. I mean, it will even improve the k-pop industry further as a whole! Think about it Zeke, if they did---"

Hangyeol has been rambling to Zeke about why would a BTS and TWICE collaboration be the best event in South Korea ever for the past fifteen minutes, non-stop. Zeke was just standing there, trying to endure the whole conversation as he just looks at him unenthusiastically. Sure, he was a K-pop fan, and he knows a lot of Korean idols and how the industry works, but he wasn't as invested as Hangyeol.

Especially when it comes to BTS and TWICE.

"Good freaking grief, the dedication this man holds discussing the benefits of a k-pop collab... I'm not even that interested, and it feels like he's been talking for hours." Zeke said to himself as he took a deep breath.

"Hi...?" Ryujin suddenly said.

Hangyeol, Zeke, and Minhyuk stopped at what they've been doing and looked at her.

"Oh... Ryujin-ssi! Hello, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" Hangyeol said.

"Hi." Zeke smiled and waved.

Jihyo and Minji enter the office, their hands full of assorted snacks.

"Oh, you're finally here!" Jihyo smiles as she sees Ryujin. "We can now officially start the meeting."

Hyungwon slowly wakes and stretches, hearing that the meeting was about to begin.

They all fixed themselves up as Minhyuk went upfront and placed the map of Daegu on the table. Everyone soon gathered around.

"I'm proud to inform you that the plan to save Sana and the other survivors, dubbed as Operation: Shiba, is now close to completion," Minhyuk said.

"Operation: Shiba?" Miyeon asked. "As in, the dog, Shiba Inu? Why?"

"Well, Minji suggested it because she said Miss Sana looks like a Shiba Inu. I mean, when I saw a screenshot of her in Minji's phone, she does look like one..." Minhyuk said as he tried to remember that particular screenshot:

"Hehe. True." Jihyo remarked.

"Anyway, Minji will discuss the final details of the plan, as well as know Ryujin's information regarding the amusement park," Minhyuk said as Minji went center and placed a drawn map of what seemed to be E-World Amusement Park.

"So... To begin... We finally have a map of the area! Well, sort of. You said that the fog was giving you limited visibility, right?" Minji said.

"Approximately 50% visibility. We can still see at least 10 feet around us, but further ahead is just all fog." Hyungwon replied.

"And it's a few blocks away from the actual park," Hangyeol added.

"I see. Hold on. Miss Ryujin has gotten inside, right? So she might have an idea on what the enemy base looks like." Minhyuk said as he turns to Ryujin.

"Um... well... The park isn't the actual base. It's just the outskirts of it where a few Koul'ins are, scavenging for resources and things to use, like water The real base lies within the E-World Observatory Tower."

"The observatory tower... That place is one of the most advanced buildings in the city, plus, it has a vantage point that has an overlooking view of the park itself for monitoring supply caravans and scavenging supplies. Of course they would use that to their advantage..." Minhyuk said. "What's it like in their base, then?"

"Well... There was no fog in the area.. but I only caught a glimpse of the place. The Koul'ins are primarily stationed out on the rides, collecting stuff like metal and other things..." Ryujin said.

"Hold on. There weren't any fancy walls or stuff that protects the observatory tower building?" Hyungwon asked.

"None at all," Ryujin replied. "Which surprised me. I guess the fog was a good enough of a wall?"

"But why would they try to hide like that?" Jihyo asked. "Surely, putting solid walls would be most ideal as it protects them from outside threats, right?"

"That's true, or maybe... they could be hiding something more important than what we've intended for," Zeke said.

They all look at Zeke.

"That makes sense, Zeke. Because when you're trying to hide something important, you don't want to stand out. It all comes down to detectability." Minhyuk said. "If you want to show off and assert yourself to a particular area, you try to be as visible as possible. Like, you know. Turning a destroyed park into a lavish base. But if you don't want to be seen, you try to blend into your environment. Like, keeping the architecture of what you're planning to make as a base, and using a thick fog to shroud it. This makes it easier for them to keep enemies out because they'll think that the area is too dangerous to enter because of the fog, and when they get in, it's just a destroyed park. It's not worth the trouble."

"It's also probably because they might just be starting to build their base," Ryujin said. "When I raided a caravan, there were high-tech construction materials in there, too."

"It seems that we are in luck, then. We should strike them before they build up." Minhyuk said. "Since there are no walls to hinder us, we could go in quietly, just like Minji planned."

"Whoa, Minji?!" Zeke widened his eyes. "You planned for this?"

"I'm not a self-proclaimed events organizer for nothing, Zeke-nim. I can also apply my planning skills elsewhere, you know! Even in times of disaster." Minji grinned.

"Care to fill us with it, then?" Hangyeol asked.

"ABSOLUTELY! Ok ok ok ok ok.... so naturally, I thought we'd be going head-on frontal assault inside the base trying to rescue Sana-ssi and the others... This would be a huge disadvantage since we could lose a lot of men if we did. But then, with Ryujin-ssi's info, we can do a quieter rescue with a few people."