12 years had now passed since Minhyuk’s first encounter with a November meteorite.

He was playing catch outside one cold day with his best friend Hakyeon when the small piece of rock had come hurtling out of the sky. The impact probably would’ve killed him if it weren’t for his baseball glove and quick instincts. But despite his narrow escape from death, Minhyuk still considered that day the most important turning point in his life, for it was the day that he discovered his special affinity for the red crystal within the meteorite.

Hutazite he called it. In its raw form the crystal only gave him a small boost of energy, but as he got older, he began experimenting with Hakyeon to find a way to concentrate its strength. Eventually, the two developed a way to extract and refine the Hutazite so that its effect on Minhyuk became exponentially greater.

Now with just a small quantity in his possession he could outrun and outmaneuver any human. This was a huge breakthrough for Minhyuk and soon he began taking on the country’s most wanted criminals and con artists, often tangling with law enforcement and intelligence along the way.

All the while, Hakyeon was continuing his experiments with the Hutazite. He discovered numerous technological applications for the substance, but as hard has he tried he could never figure out why Minhyuk was the only person who seemed to be able to draw on its energy. With only a small amount to work with from their original samples, he realized he needed to obtain larger quantities. And so from then on, he would leave every November to travel the world in search of meteorites containing Hutazite.

Then one year came that fateful trip to the Gobi Desert from which Hakyeon failed to return. Minhyuk waited for days that soon became weeks and then months but still he received no contact from his best friend. Even more mysteriously, Minhyuk was unable to trace Hakyeon’s GPS signals due to a critical satellite failure. Still he tried everything to track down even the smallest clue which might offer some explanation for Hakyeon’s disappearance, but to no avail.

With a heavy heart, he was eventually forced to give up hope for Hakyeon’s return. Though he knew it was foolish to believe his friend could still be alive, Minhyuk continued to send him messages, particularly during the month of November. But of course, there was never any reply.

As time went on Minhyuk began to find the life of a solo vigilante increasingly difficult. It was hard to keep up with all the roles of fighting criminals, hunting meteorites, tending his own injuries, and keeping out of sight from the authorities all on his own. He needed allies, a support system. People who he could trust to have his back so he could put more focus into what he loved doing most, which was to take down those bringing evil into the world.

It started with Seo Eunkwang, a junior meteoricist who was struggling to find funding for his research. While Eunkwang didn’t have the same brilliant mind as Hakyeon, Minhyuk found his sense of ethics to be appealing and soon came to trust the man almost as much as he’d trusted his old friend.

Together, Minhyuk and Eunkwang began to build what would become ZONE Inc. The first new recruits were Lee Changsub, a savvy gray hat hacker, and Yook Sungjae, an unorthodox and rather experimental doctor. Then came Im Hyunsik, former elite military, and Peniel Shin, an engineer with a knack for designing weapons and gadgets.

As the organization started growing however, the risk of being exposed also increased, which led Minhyuk and Eunkwang to the conclusion that they needed to hide ZONE Inc. And what better way to hide than in plain sight. It was at this point that ZONE Inc. launched as a legitimate tech innovation enterprise with Jung Ilhoon as the head of industrial operations.

As far as the public was concerned the business belonged to Ilhoon. This gave Minhyuk and his team the freedom to operate in secret with ample protection and resources to carry out their missions. From that point on, things ran smoothly for Minhyuk at ZONE Inc. as he continued to use the power of the Hutazite to complete one successful mission after another.

That was until November of 2019.

And that is where this story begins.