The precinct reeked of stale coffee and paperwork. Gin Chan sat at his desk, badge number 3127 clipped to a neatly pressed uniform that didn't quite fit his soul. He was Officer Jin Myung now — a man with no real past, no family listed, no friends, and no questions asked. Fresh transfer. Quiet demeanor. Impressive resume. Just enough history to be accepted, but empty enough to stay beneath suspicion.
Perfect for a ghost.
He had lived seventeen lives.
And in this one, he would burn something down.
---
He blended well with the others. Took coffee breaks. Nodded to superiors. Smiled at receptionists. He filed reports on counterfeit cases and illegal vehicle imports, but his real eyes — those from the past — scanned deeper.
The Syndicate's name still pulsed in his memory: Nexcore Initiative.
And one man danced behind the veil of memory and whispers: Minjae.
Gin spent nights sifting through encrypted networks, offline archives, hidden police databases. He followed cold trails through cyber trails, bribed data technicians in the dark. Days of silence. Weeks of pattern.
Then, a slip.
One encrypted email, marked as archived from seven years ago. It referred to a government transport shipment diverted to an unknown warehouse. Cleared by a man named Minjae R., under a pseudonym with high-level authorization.
The ID? Untraceable.
The alias? Used only twice in recorded history.
But that was all Gin needed.
---
He tracked Minjae like a shadow watches its source. A face here, a name in whispers. He was Syndicate second-in-command, but rarely seen. Whenever Gin got close, the man would vanish, like smoke before wind.
Until a routine operation brought a high-end limo into impound. Drugs suspected. But Gin recognized the emblem beneath the mud.
Not a logo.
A thread.
---
Minjae arrived personally to clear the vehicle the next morning. Wore a grey suit, black gloves, and dark shades, flanked by silent bodyguards.
Gin was watching, waiting for an opportunity to strike with his face close and disguised that even up close you won't recognize him.
Until an opportunity came, where some of the bodyguards left to clear the routine that was when Gin struck
Minjae was still giving orders not knowing that Gin was in the back waiting.
Disguised as a technician.
He moved like memory. Struck like instinct. Three guards fell to sleep darts. Minjae didn't even scream. Just wide-eyed surprise as a needle hissed into his neck.
All he saw before fall on the ground was a technician holding his body and moving forward before he fell unconscious.
---
Few blocks before the police station in an area where a tale is not told
There a lonely warehouse stood waiting for the day to be demolished
This warehouse has long been abandoned, forgotten by the city's registry.
A middle man is seen dragging a body in, after that,he secured chains to the support beams,as the floodlight is clicked on,at the right hand side of the warehouse,a table filled with unspoken devices can be found.
The middle man is Gin Chan and the dragged body is Minjae
Gin after tieing Minjae with the chains pours him water to wake him up
"Uhmm"
Minjae groaned awake.
The first thing he sees is a mask man standing in front of him
"You're dead," he muttered.
Gin stepped into view, face masked, eyes burning.
"Not yet."
The interrogation wasn't immediate. Gin started with silence. He circled. Observed. Let fear ferment.
"Do you know how many times I've stayed in the shadows watching your filth operate?" Gin whispered.
Minjae sneered. "You think you're special?"
Not even showing fear, still as arrogant as always
"No. I'm a mirror. You just don't like your reflection."
"I'll be asking you talk, hear me"
"Hahaha" Minjae laughs
"(Spat on the floor),do you think you have what it is to make me talk, pathetic" Minjae says
"You never know until the end"
Electric probes. Truth serum. Knives. Hours passed in a haze of cruelty. Gin didn't smile. He didn't rage.
He extracted.
---
Day 1
Minjae is still keep mute and is not saying anything
Meanwhile Gin Chan,in order to keep himself clean of the news that broke about the kidnapping still goes to work, kissing boots and pretending that nothing is happening
Day 2
Minjae's determination has started waving as the torture has increase and he felt like the only salvation is death
Minjae broke after the third day.
Not with tears. But with laughter.
"You think killing me changes anything? Nexcore isn't just a Syndicate... It's a belief."
"Then let's burn the scriptures," Gin hissed.
"Hahahaha,You want names right? You want your God?"
Minjae looked up, blood caked to his lips.
"His name... is Kang Seo-Yul. He calls himself The Veiled One. Says he's a god made flesh. Loves watching people die in front of him hahaha, funny right?."
Gin didn't speak.
"Guess what? Your own precinct? The deputy commissioner? He's one of us. We own the police... the courts... even the media, we're invincible, we're not a gang, we are the city,a greenhouse like you can't stop us."
He laughed again.
"You're a pebble against a mountain."
Gin leaned close.Holding the chain that connected to the neck of Minjae.
"Good. Mountains cast shadows. But all shadows need light to exist."
And pulls the chain as hard as he can
Making Minjae undergo temporary loss of oxygen
---
The chains rattled one last time. A gurgle. A breath ended.
Minjae was gone.
Gin stepped back.
Unrolled a red thread. Tied it around Minjae's wrist.
Gin Chan Walked away not without making a call with a stolen phone about a certain body
---
The body was found the next morning.
Tied. Tortured. Red thread coiled around his fingers like a curse.
The police tried to cover it up. But someone leaked a photo. It hit the net. A whisper spread:
> "A red thread marks the judged."
> "The Red Trace has struck."
> "An assassin is among us."
The Syndicate went on alert.
And Gin?
He walked past his precinct commander as usual greeting him without any suspicious act and not been noticed, though he noticed that the precinct commander was tense and pale as if he was sick
Now he knew.
"They are scared ". He whispered to himself
---
That night, Gin stood on a rooftop, city lights flickering like ghosts below.
"One thread down," he whispered.
And vanished into the dark.
Waiting for who will be the next victim of Red Trace.
End of Part 2