Zeke, Jihyo, and Hyungwon go play baseball! Or so they thought.
It took Hyungwon's team at least a week to fully prepare for the mission at hand. He helped organize the actual plan, and explained it detail by detail to Zeke and Jihyo. Then, Minhyuk and Hangyeol helped him set-up the guns they'll be using--- some high-caliber rifles that can pierce through enemy armor.
Jihyo mentally prepared herself for the battle as she trained with Zeke for a few hours each day. She also had the time to visit Miyeon multiple times over a few days, telling her about her Manifest, her recent adventures, and Zeke.
Zeke on the other hand, was too shy to show his face to Miyeon, despite Jihyo's invitation.
He knew was never going to get accustomed to meeting new idols without being embarassed or anything of the sort.
April 15, 2023, 6:21 am, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.
It was a cold, early morning.
Zeke and Jihyo came out of their makeshift apartment, refreshed and ready, for today was the day they'll execute the mission theyve planned over the course of several days.
Jihyo was wearing a newly washed short but thick black coat with a white, turtleneck top, and a new, black-colored jeans she got from the tailors. Zeke on the other hand, was sporting a plain hooded t-shirt with the words "Orenji" with a small orange at the letter "O". He also wore navy blue jeans.
Jihyo just looks at Zeke as she applies lip balm, seemingly looking weirded out.
"W..what? Why are you looking at me like that?" Zeke asked.
"You're wearing a short sleeve t-shirt this time." Jihyo replied.
"What about it?" Zeke replied.
"Well, you know... it's a very very cold weather and... you're wearing a t-shirt. Aren't you shivering? Because even if I'm wearing this coat, I still feel a bit cold."
"Ah, I see. When I wielded the Phantasm, my body temperature permanently rose so I no longer feel cold..."
"Must be nice... Brrr..." Jihyo muttered as she shivered a bit in cold.
Hyungwon arrives with his tools all packed and ready.
"Ready when you are, Jihyo-ssi. Zeke-nim." He said.
Zeke and Jihyo nods, and they make their way toward the truck.
April 15, 2023, 6:55 am, Daegu Civic Stadium Baseball Field, Daegu, South Korea.
They soon arrive on the baseball field, and they immediately went to action.
While Hyungwon and his team set up the cube and other tools on the field, Jihyo notices Zeke was just standing there, seemingly looking at the sprawling baseball field in front of him.
"You look so fascinated. What's up?" Jihyo asked.
"It's just that... I've never been to a baseball field before." Zeke said to Jihyo. "There aren't many baseball fields in Manila, and I'm not a sports fan either, so.... this is my first time actually seeing one." Zeke said as his eyes roamed around the stadium.
He sees the baseball field blanketed with snow. And just like in the picture, there were shimmering areas in it that were definitely crystalline cubes: containing the power to summon snowmen at a slight misstep.
"So this is a baseball field... Wait... before we begin, what's the plan again?" Zeke asked Hyungwon. "Sorry. I have a memory span of a walnut."
"It's okay, Zeke-nim. I was planning a recap of what we're going to do, anyways." Hyungwon said. "So... you'll have to fight the snowmen around the field while I'll set up the cube in front of the stage right there. Then, when the Koul'in arrive, we'll surround and ambush them immediately with these guns. You will help as well."
"Alright, alright, that sounds like a simple plan." Zeke said.
Zeke and Jihyo walked toward the middle of the field as the crystalline cubes around them begin to glow slowly, one by one, and snowmen start to form.
"Are you set, Zeke?" Jihyo smiled as she readies her Manifest.
"Ready when these snowmen are." Zeke replied, wielding his Manifest and pipe wrench as well.
The snowmen soon lunges towards Zeke and Jihyo as they unleash their attacks.
Jihyo looked graceful while fighting, as if she's just dancing to and fro while the snowmen around her get destroyed with a few slashes.
Zeke, on the other hand, was emitting a fiery aura that already melts the snowmen around him, rendering them incapable of moving swiftly as he decimates them with both of his Manifest and pipe wrench.
"Jihyo, on your right!" Zeke said, alerting Jihyo of multiple snowmen that have missed her line of sight.
"On it! Crystalline Blanket!"
Jihyo unleashes a blanket of crystallized slashes that dampen the snowman's attacks, while slashing the raging enemies in the process.
"There's more behind you, Zeke!" Jihyo exclaimed.
"Okay!" Zeke replied as he immediately strikes the Phantasm toward a snowman, creating a rocket seal on it's torso.
"Fly away, you bastard!"
The rocket seal then bursts a concentrated stream of fire that sends the freezing enemy flying towards the other snowmen, destroying them all in the process. The rocket seal soon bursts, damaging more snowmen in it's wake.
The fight continues, and a mere 12 minutes has passed.
The two wielders were soon done wiping out the snowmen when Hyungwon notices the cube starts to glow, and the intricate mechanisms inside it started whirring. He then sees the metal clamps on the icy core fasten, and the icy core begins glowing. Soon, the cube beeps.
"Zeke-nim, Jihyo-ssi!" Hyungwon shouted. "The cube is starting to activate! Team, get behind the cube and ready your weapons! We attack the Koul'in as soon as it arrives!"
Zeke and Jihyo prepared as they all surround the cube.
But... no one comes out. They just wait, and wait... but still, no Koul'in comes out of the core.
Suddenly, an eerie, female voice emanated from the it.
"I'm actually impressed that you figured out how to activate our cryostine cube. No human has ever done that before... But... If your plan is to try to draw one of us out with this, then you have greatly failed." It spoke. "These cryostine cubes are intricate quick-transportation devices with fail-safe properties, and we'll know if they're tampered with. In other words, we'll know if our destination is an ambush or not."
"If you know, why don't you come out? We have what you need, right?" Jihyo muttered. "Come and get it."
"Oh, I'm not an idiot to know that you're all surrounding me once I arrive and attack me, anyways. Those were Vesper and Shintel's mistake. They always respond to conflict whenever they feel something big is up, thinking there are always wielders on the battle scene. A waste of cryostine cubes, honestly. But I'm not like them. I'm an overly cautious subordinate, and I don't jump into fights I dont know anything about."
"..." The team remained silent.