Na Hyun thanked God she was even able to say 3 sentences without getting shot.

This… is going to take a while…

But it’s not impossible, and that’s all that matters.

1:00 AM

“Sir! Sir! Incoming call from the Professor!”

All generals, scientists and the army leader assembled in the lab area of the Safe Zone

AL- “Professor Woo?”

“Yes. This is me. I have to whisper, but please bear with me…”

“I have much to share, so please listen carefully and take note of everything I’m about to say.”

7:00 AM

“Everyone please get up and head to the assembly area.”

The morning bell rang throughout the Safe Zone; today was the final day of training.

Once again, the boys were given a separate training regimen.

Today was simulation day-

preparing them for what they will be doing later at dawn.

They arrived in the simulation room. The room is divided in 2 parts: there was another room within, while outside there were controls and a screen.

The boys entered, while the soldiers, scientists with them and the army leader remained outside to handle the controls and navigate their progress through the screen.

The room could remind you of a video game. When you enter, the manipulators manage the controls—making it seem like the room you just entered, isn’t a room at all. It could be some place else, depending on the commands encoded. In order to experience this, the boys wear virtual-reality helmets. They can also experience the pain when you are shot or other forms of harm, without getting hurt in reality. The room is also bullet proof and was made for this kind of simulation—it was sturdy and well-built to withstand the pressures of war. It was used to train new recruits of the army.

AL-“ Have you all got your weapons?”

“YES SIR!”

“And the special device Prof. Woo created for you?”

“YES SIR!”

“Very well. Put on your helmets, and let the training begin.”

The boys wore their helmets.

Suddenly they were in a helicopter.

They were given the command to jump, which they did one by one.

And this was a no parachute jump. Parachutes could quickly catch the enemy’s attention.

The boys were trained to quickly grab onto trees and stealthily climb down.

When they arrived on the ground, they saw themselves outside a worn-out shack which seemed to be in the outskirts of the country, very-well hidden by the forestation it was surrounded in.

Doo Joon- “Sir where are we?”

Army Leader- “You’re currently outside the laboratory of the enemy. Prof. Woo contacted us this morning—being brought there by the enemy gave away many secrets. We were able to pinpoint this hideout; although it looks harmless, don’t be fooled. There’s more to it than you think. Go on and enter.”

The boys enter the shack, and sure enough it still looked like a normal abandoned structure. Spider webs hanging on the aged walls with holes, a broken lightbulb on the ceiling, dust covering every surface.

“There is a hidden entrance to the lab somewhere in this shack. We know where it is and how to get to it, but we want you to find it yourselves. Go and give it a try. Show us why the professor chose you.”

The boys scatter; groping the walls, inserting their fingers in holes, and stepping on wooden floor boards. There were quite a few materials there—an old closet of clothes, an old mini-fridge, a dusty table with 2 books, what can be distinguished as a lamp with no lampshade on the floor and 3 empty picture frames on the right wall.

Dong Woon, looked in the closet—

nope, just a regular closet with 2 old shirts neatly folded, color fading because of how long it’s been there, with a rusty padlock and a deck of cards sitting on top.

Hyun Seung checked the mini-fridge—

nothing, just empty, broken and stinks a bit.

Gi Kwang examined the lamp with no lampshade, in other words a bulb with a stand—

he pressed the switch hoping it would reveal something, but it merely gave him a shock when a cockroach appeared from the other side of the lamp, causing him to drop it.

Doo Joon inspected the 3 empty frames on the wall—

he looked at it from every side. He checked the front, the back, and even opened the frame. He then tried rearranging them in different formations, hoping it would help them uncover something—anything. But they were only met with the mocking silence of the shack, which they proceeded to interrupt with their small sounds of rummaging again for any lead to the hidden entrance.

Yo Seob took a look at the small dusty table with 2 books.

He took the books and placed them on the ground as he lifted the small table to examine it—no switches, no buttons, no clues. He then went on to scan the contents of the books; pages so old, he was cautious not to tear it at the slightest touch. The first book was a journal—handwriting in cursive, still a little legible though ink fading. It was about how a young man was going through his days roughly, clumsiness evident when he was young, but getting to be better as the pages go by. Something was strange though, the journal wasn’t complete—the last entry was about the man’s love for … what came next, Yo Seob couldn’t make out. The writing was completely faded. He thought he saw a little bit of the letters “S” and a “C” maybe? But the rest of the pages after that entry were blank.

The second book was a book on anatomy—correction, a teared up book on anotomy. There were hardly any pages left—only the title page, table of contents and Index remained. “Funny”, Yo Seob thought, “with only 3 pages, who would need a bookmark?” True enough, Yo Seob saw a small bookmark in between the title page and table of contents page. He held it out to get a better view of it.

Good things come to those who wait… the bookmark said.

It sent shivers down Yo Seob’s spine; though being manly enough to die for his country and the love of his life, still he was just a teenager and was undoublty a little scared.

Ok well, maybe more than a little.

Actually, you know what? Let’s just say he’s scared and leave it at that.

He gulped and checked the books and bookmark a little longer—looking for any traces of what could be a clue on how to open the entrance to the lab.

A while passed, but they still haven’t found anything. And the shack was pretty small—they’ve already searched every nook and cranny by now and not a single hint.

As Yo Seob was starting to give up, he decided to close his eyes as he faced the ground.

I can’t stop now…

I can’t stop yet…

For the country…

For my family…

For my friends…

For Na Hyun…

Not yet…

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his names’ sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,

For you are with me;

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:1-4

Yo Seob gathers some strength and opened his eyes, holding the bookmark before him.

Good things come to those who wait…

A bit creepy in context since he was up against a psychopath who wanted to turn every human into a robot, and he didn’t want to wait around until it happened; but inspirational at the same time since he needed patience, because if they couldn’t even get pass finding the entrance during this simulation, it meant the end of the coutry in the actual scenario later at dawn.

Head still face to the ground, Yo Seob noticed how the wooden floor boards looked dark, old and had few holes—as was the state of this entire shack. Seriously, where could a lab be hidden in such a place?

He was about to return his gaze back to the bookmark, when from the corner of his eye, he saw a hole on the ground with a distinct shape. He narrowed his eyes as he kneeled down to the ground where the hole was.

He looked back and fort between the hole and the bookmark—

the shape was the same.

It could be really embarrassing to think a bookmark on a floorboard hole would solve all their problems, because that downright sounds ridiculous and unheard of, but what did he have to lose?

Yo Seob decided to place the bookmark on the hole.

It fit in perfectly.

He waited for a reaction.

Anything.

But to his dismay, nothing happened.

Yo Seob sighs heavily and runs his fingers through his hair in frustration.

He felt really flustered that it was taking so long just to enter the lab, he thought he’d better just make the description of the bookmark his mantra.

“Good things come to those who wait.”

After he spoke those words, the floorboard where the bookmark was placed popped open revealing a key.

“Hey guys! I found something!”

The boys gathered to Yo Seob, and he discussed to them how he found the key.

The only thing left to do was find the hole the key belonged to.

They immediately searched all the walls and the floor for what could be a keyhole.

After thorough investigation to no avail, they learned that they were going to have to think outside the box this time.

Placing a bookmark on a hole wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to figure out, so they had to look for holes where there might not be any.

DongWoon then remembered the rusty padlock he saw in the closet.

He called the guys and asked for the key.

The key fit.

He turned it resulting to the padlock unlocking.

Suddenly the ground rumbled. All the floorboards moved to the sides, revealing a staircase downwards.

Army Leader- “Congratulations boys, it took you a while but you found the hidden entrance. Tricky wasn’t it? You’ll be surprised what other tricks Prof. Lee has in his lab.”

Hyun Seung- “Sir, how did you get so much detail about the lab and even what it looks like?”

Army Leader- “All because of Professor Woo. He secretly took pictures of every part of the lab and sent it to us. We were able to connect each picture to reconstruct the totality of the laboratory. So this simulation is absolutely the real deal. Everything you will be experiencing will be approximate, if not exactly what will happen to you later. Now please, continue with the mission and enter the lab.”

The boys nodded at each other to go down the staircase. Yo Seob took the bookmark and kept it in his pocket, just in case they’ll need it. Dong Woon kept the padlock and the key, along with the deck of cards in the closet.

Gi Kwang- “You’re even bringing the cards? (-_-)”

Dong Woon- “You’ll never know hyung (^_^) Since apparently this place is anything but predictable.”

Gi Kwang- “… Do you think I should bring the lamp and the cockroack too?”

Dong Woon-  “Uh… Bring the lamp if you want, but bringing a cockroach is just ridiculous. (-_-)”

Gi Kwang quickly brought the lamp with him and put it in his backpack. As the boys got lower down the staircase, the padlock automatically locked itself and the entrance closed; hidden again.

The boys continued to go down.