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.
"...I wonder why are you going lengths just to get to meet a Koul'in when normally, you should evade us..." The voice spoke. "Maybe you want to know vital information about us? Or maybe... we have someone important that you're trying to rescue..? We do have a diverse set of prisoners here, after all. We have some guards, children, and this very cute person here that we just captured a few days ago! And the other prisoners here seem to know her very well too! Must be a famous person, hmm...?"
Zeke's eyes widen. "Could that possibly be...?!"
Jihyo's grunts as she held her Manifest tightly.
"If you do anything to her I will definitely make sure you're going to perish." Jihyo said a threatening tone.
"Ah! So we DO have someone here that's important to you! Well.. too bad... you'll never know where we are. Such a shame you wouldn't get anything but vague information from this futile attempt... However, I still commend you for trying, so a consolation prize is on the way!"
The core shakes violently as it seemingly emits a brighter, bluish light, and the portal widens.
"Be alert and stay back." Hyungwon said as they began retreating from the core.
Suddenly, a seemingly giant disfigured figure appears. It looked like a smaller Scraper, and it was seemingly armored. It had glowing metal scraps all over it's back, as well as it's arms, seemingly made from pieces of car parts, metal accessories, jewels, and other metal equipments. A small, round ball made of solid iron was slightly buried on it's upper chest. It's overall physique slightly resembles that of an armadillo.
"I'm a Koul'in well known for creating Scrapers that adapt to certain enviroments. I have made this one out of boredom, but frankly, I feel it's one of my best creations." The voice exclaimed. "I seriously hope you... have a ball with it! HAHAHAHA! See you, wielders, if you ever get to live!"
The voice fades, and core stops shaking, it's energy depleted as it falls to the ground. The armored Scraper roars as Hyungwon's team points guns at the creature.
The Scraper goes on all-fours, as it launches itself, curling into a ball as it tumbles toward the group. Hyungwon's team begin to open fire, but the bullets surprisingly bounce off the creature's metallic parts as it rolls faster towards them.
"Here it comes! MOVE!" Zeke exclamed as the team each jump off the path of the rolling enemy, barely dodging it. One of his men got caught in the attack, his leg severely damaged by the creature.
"GYAH!" The man screamed.
"Shit...! It's too fast!" Hyungwon exclaimed as the rolling enemy slams the benches, completely demolishing them.
"That destructive power...! Hyungwon and the others are in danger!" Jihyo said to herself.
It retreats, and goes again for another charge at Hyungwon's team.
But Jihyo was already there to intercept the attack.
"I got you! Skyscraping Light...!"
Jihyo swings her blade full-force in an upward motion towards the incoming enemy. The blade collides with the tumbling monstrosity, but it quickly overwhelms Jihyo's strike as she is forced to retreat.
"Ngh...! Those reinforced metal scraps...they are too tough to break into...!" Jihyo said.
"Let me try to smash it in!" Zeke said.
He glows in fiery power as the rolling creature returns to attack the team after rolling around the stadium.
Zeke moves his Manifest to the side. Rocket seals burst out of his weapon, radiating with power as he swings with all of his might.
"Five-Star Strike!"
Zeke strikes the enemy with all his might, the rocket seals on his Manifest erupting even more flames. The enemy slows down a bit as Zeke pours more energy to his swing.
"Zeke's power... Has he always been like this?!" Jihyo said to herself as she watches in awe of his attack.
The rolling creature slightly tilts due to the force of the attack, but it doesnt break form and soon bounces off Zeke's path. He was launched backward as a result.
"What...!" Zeke said in surprise. "I poured alot of strength in that attack, and even that doesn't leave a dent?! Damnit... you dumbass Sonic the Hedgehog knock-off...!"
It continues to tumble yet again as Zeke and Jihyo were forced to engage it to protect Hyungwon and his party.
"Damn it. Fire and pressure doesn't even faze this creature. It's metallic areas are damn tough, and it's gyrating power is unparalleled... What could it be it's possible weakness...?" Hyungwon thought. "Think critically, Hyungwon... Zeke and Jihyo already have enough firepower to deal with this, it all just boils down to tactics and physics..."
While Zeke and Jihyo were fighting the armadillo-like Scraper, equations, figures, and other ideas started forming on Hyungwon's mind. He tries to remember the exact physiology of the creature as it first appeared, as well as how it's rolling attacks work, and what patterns it usually moves.
He remembers the iron ball on the Scraper's upper chest. He then correlates it to it's rolling movement.
"I'm sure it can't roll on it's own for an extended period of time... that iron ball must be the weight that creates a centrifugal force, causing the enemy's whole body to spin indefinitely without further external forces..." Hyungwon thought. "If I were to stop a rotating entity like that one... I must strike it in a place where it would disorient the centrifugal force. It's weakest link should be in..."
"ZEKE-NIM!" Hyungwon suddenly shouted. "Strike it at it's side, right smack at the center of it! It should either stop it in it's tracks or slow it down!"
"How do I even do that?! It's moving so fast!" Zeke shouted back.
"I'll try to slow it down, Zeke!" Jihyo suddenly said. "I'll clash with it head-on so you could land a clean hit!"
"Are you sure you can do it?!" Zeke replied.
"Of course! I'm not TWICE's Park Jihyo for nothing." Jihyo smiled, her face oozing with confidence. "Let's do this! Wait for my signal, and take your best shot!"
Zeke nods as Jihyo charges towards the rolling Scraper, taking a defensive stance. She takes a deep breath as she conjures a crystalline shield to dampen the force of whatever was coming at her.
"Okay, Jihyo... relax. It's just like catching and stopping a ball..."
She looks at the rolling, steel-plated entity charging toward her at blinding speed.
"...a very very big, deadly ball..."
The enemy collides with Jihyo's crystalline shield as they struggle. Jihyo manages to slow the enemy a little, but soon, she starts getting dragged backwards by the sheer force of the enemy's rolling manuever.
Zeke had his eyes set on slamming the area where Hyungwon told him to hit. Two rocket seals formed behind his back, ready to launch his whole body towards the enemy at Jihyo's signal.
Jihyo keeps on struggling, crystal shards flying around as the rolling enemy whittles her shield bit by bit. It was a difficult task, after all, as she uses all of her strength to slow the creature down. And sure enough, the rolling enemy slows down further, and Jihyo was now gaining the upper hand.
"Yes...! Zeke, now!" Jihyo shouts.
"Alright... here I go!"
Zeke bursts forward, the rocket seals om his back emitting a stream of fire as his whole body blitzes towards the enemy at breakneck speed. He readies his pipe wrench and his Manifest as they burst in powerful flames.
"Rocket-powered... Five-Star Strike!"
Zeke slams his weapons full force at the center of the enemy's mass, creating a massive burst of flame that razes the enemy. As Hyungwon predicted, it loses it's spinning power, and the Scraper flies towards the benches due to Zeke's attack.
The Scraper barely stands as it limps, its right waist slowly melting due to the heat of Zeke's attack. It roars once again as it fully stands, ready to curl up to a ball again.
"What...?! It can STILL keep going?!" Zeke exclaimed as he fell on the ground exhausted.
But before it can curl again, a volley of bullets begin striking the iron ball on it's chest. Zeke and Jihyo turns as Hyungwon and his team open fires, intending to destroy the iron ball on it's chest to prevent it from rolling again.
"Oh no you don't. Team, strike it down!" Hyungwon said as leads the rifle-powered assault. Zeke and Jihyo just watches him bravely and calmly approach the beast. Soon enough, their bullets manage to destroy the solid iron ball, shattering it to big chunks of broken metal. It also leaves a hollow hole on the armored Scraper's chest where the ball was supposed to be.
The Scraper roars as Hyungwon gets closer and grabs a live, gold colored grenade from his waist. He then chucks the said grenade onto the Scraper's hollow chest, pats it, and looks at the enemy with glaring eyes.
"With this, you'd be rolling in your grave, quite literally." Hyungwon said.
He then turns as he walks away, not looking at the raging enemy.
Soon enough, after a few seconds, the grenade explodes inside the Scraper, causing it's whole body to rupture and burst into smithereens. The metal scraps on its back and arms fall onto the ground as the remnants of the fallen Scraper slowly melt away due to the heat of the grenade.
Zeke and Jihyo were just sitting on the snowy ground, their mouth slightly agape in amaezement at Hyungwon's cool demeanor.
"What the hell? He's... so cool!" Zeke was amazed as Hyungwon's brave advance.
"The enemy is finally down." Hyungwon remarked as he helps Zeke and Jihyo stand up.
"You were AMAZING!" Jihyo exclaimed. "You're so calm and all, even in front of that monster! Wow. Just... wow."
Hyungwon blushes.
"Yeah! And that grenade... what the hell was in that? It was so powerful." Zeke said.
"Just some M67 grenade I've modified over the past few weeks, Zeke-nim. Deals incredible, concentrated damage to a select target. Perfect for tight spaces." Hyungwon smiles.
"I would NOT want you as an enemy, for sure." Zeke said as he chuckled nervously.
Jihyo turns to his team. "He's like this everytime?" She asks.
One of this men nods. "We learned how to be calm under his leadership. Honestly helps, even outside of combat. I used to be a cranky individual, but now I'm as calm as the sea." The man replies.
"That's wonderful..." Jihyo said.
She then sits on the snowy ground as she exhales an exasperated sigh.
"You okay?" Zeke asks.
"Well, we won again, and we have vague ideas on where Sana is but... I feel we're still stuck with no paths to actually follow..." Jihyo said.
"Not quite.." Hyungwon said. They all turn to him. He was already back where the Scraper has fallen, investigating the pieces of metal it once wore. "I think I know where Sana-ssi is."
"You do?" Jihyo stands up. "How?"
Hyungwon points at one scrap of metal.
It was a worn out placard with a word that says, "...sement Par...".
"Huh...? "Sement Par..."? Where is that? A cement factory?" Zeke asked.
"No, no.. It's just a part of the actual word, Zeke-nim. It's clearly meant to be read as "Amusement Park." Most of these scraps seemingly came from amusement park rides too."
"Oh, right, right... Hehe. Sorry. Ran out of braincells ages ago." Zeke replied.
Hyungwon scavanges the remains and identifies each one of them.
"This one is a railing from a carousel, and this one came from a handle at a sky drop ride... The enemy is definitely at an amusement park, and there is only one major amusement park here in Daegu..."
"...E-World." Jihyo said, looking at Zeke.
Zeke sees the fire in Jihyo's eyes. It was a familiar look. He has seen this before, even way before they became friends.
It was the same eyes that he saw in her choreography videos. The same eyes that he saw when she performs on stage infront of millions. The same eyes in her music videos.
Those eyes.
The eyes of determination.
At this point, everyone around Jihyo got the hint that she was raring to go right now.
Her Manifest started sparking and glowing faintly in power, cementing the idea that she was really, really ready to go.
But Hyungwon knew preparations had to be made yet again. Bigger ones. Zeke shares the same thought.
"Jihyo..." Zeke spoke. "We can't go for now. We have to prepare for this."
"..." Jihyo just looks at him, the worry in her eyes growing every second.
"Zeke-nim is right, Jihyo-ssi." Hyungwon said. "We havent barely explored that area yet. E-World is big and we will require more preparations than before. It's not yet time to go."
"But when will it be...? It's been months. I understood that I had to train, that I had to be stronger during those times..." Jihyo rambles. "But now... we already have the opportunity."
"What's your plan, then?" Zeke asked.
"I... I dont know. We just have to go back to base... gather more weapons and we can storm the place, find Sana and destroy the enemy, that's it!"
"That's not a plan, Jihyo..." Zeke replied.
"If you're worried about the Koul'in attacking, I'll protect you all!" Jihyo exclaimed, desperation slightly showing through her voice. "I'll tank the hits, I'll take all the damage from whoever is there. I can take it. As long as I find and rescue my best friend---"
"Jihyo--"
"Zeke, we can take it. We have Manifests, we can do this right? We'll fight these aliens and save Sana, right now. You'll help me, right?"
"Jihyo, hey--"
"It's also going to be a learning experience, and we'll know more about the enemy as we find them. It's risky but we can do it---"
"JIHYO, please, listen to me!" Zeke raises his voice, much to Jihyo's surprise. She soon falls silent.
Zeke takes a very deep breath. "I know you want to go. You're the adventurous type, you like to engage in adrenaline-pumping activities, and you're an absolute risk taker. I've seen that many times over the course of our friendship these past three months, and even way before when I watch you as a Korean idol. However... we cannot afford going in there right now. If we don't plan this thoroughly, one misstep can prove fatal for not just us, but for everyone. It's just... too much of a risk."
Jihyo takes a deep breath.
"....I know that." Jihyo said as she looks down. "I just... really want to save Sana as soon as we can... I mean... we're close, Zeke... I can feel we're so close to her."
"Look... I promised you we will save Mina.. and that also goes for Sana. And I will keep that promise. But we gotta do it in a way that involves not dying. Okay?" Zeke said in a reassuring tone.
Zeke was right, and Jihyo contemplated on it.
There wasn't any choice for now. Even if the settlement had capable people, and an arsenal of good weaponry, it still wasn't enough if there isn't any concrete plan.
If there's any consolation to this, at least they now have a concrete idea on where Sana actually is.
Jihyo looks at Zeke, Hyungwon, and his team, then seemingly looks in the direction of the Amusement Park with worry in her eyes.
"Sana, my best friend... I'm sorry... but you're going to have to wait a bit longer... but I promise, I'll come rescue you! Please... stay safe..."