Return as Mafia
Part V: The King's Game
Chapter 28: The Island of Secrets
The flames at Busan Marina burned until sunrise.
Firefighters battled the blaze for hours while police sealed off the area.
News channels described it as a warehouse explosion caused by illegal fuel storage.
Kang Tae-hyun watched the broadcast in silence.
The Council had done what it always did.
It turned truth into rumor.
Rumor into fact.
And facts into forgotten history.
---
Inside a private hospital...
Park Dae-sung was alive.
The sniper's bullet had narrowly missed his heart.
Doctors successfully removed it after emergency surgery.
Kim Eun-woo sighed with relief.
"So the old man survives."
Kang Tang nodded.
"He still has a role to play."
Min-jae smiled.
"The Council will be disappointed."
"They already know."
Kang Tang looked toward the hospital window.
"Their real objective wasn't Park."
"It was the key."
He opened his hand.
The small brass key reflected the morning sunlight.
On its side...
One number was engraved.
47
---
Meanwhile...
Deep beneath Seoul...
The Hidden King stood before a giant digital display.
One advisor bowed.
"The witness survived."
"I know."
"The Dragon escaped again."
The Hidden King remained calm.
"Expected."
Han Soo-jin entered the room.
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Kang Tang holding the brass key.
"He has Locker 47."
The Hidden King studied the image.
"Then Phase Three begins."
Another advisor asked quietly,
"Should we destroy the locker before he reaches it?"
"No."
The Hidden King's answer came instantly.
"I want him to open it."
The room fell silent.
Even Han Soo-jin looked surprised.
"You want him to find the notebook?"
"I want him..."
"...to find part of it."
---
Two days later...
Black Dragon's private jet landed on Jeju Island.
Cold sea winds swept across the runway.
The island looked peaceful.
Tourists wandered through markets.
Couples took photographs by the ocean.
Children laughed near the beaches.
A perfect place to hide dangerous secrets.
Sometimes the safest hiding place was the one filled with ordinary people. Humans were excellent at ignoring anything that didn't interrupt lunch.
---
Jeju Station...
The railway building was old but well maintained.
Passengers came and went without noticing the four figures entering quietly.
Kang Tang.
Eun-woo.
Min-jae.
And Director Kwon.
Locker 47 stood at the end of a narrow corridor.
It looked ordinary.
Old metal.
Faded paint.
A simple lock.
Kang Tang inserted the brass key.
Click.
The door slowly opened.
Inside rested a weathered wooden box.
Nothing else.
Min-jae carefully lifted it out.
"After nineteen years..."
"...this is it."
Back at their safe house...
They finally opened the box.
Inside lay a leather notebook wrapped in oilcloth.
Beneath it rested an old cassette tape.
And one sealed envelope.
The envelope was addressed to only one person.
To the Dragon Who Refuses to Kneel
Kang Tang froze.
"How..."
Park had never known him as the Dragon.
The letter had been written decades earlier.
He slowly opened it.
---
The handwriting was elegant.
«If you are reading this, then the Council still exists.
That means I failed.
I do not know your name.
I do not know your age.
But if you chose to open this box instead of selling it...
Then you still believe this country can be saved.
Do not trust heroes.
Do not trust governments.
Trust only those who are willing to sacrifice power after obtaining it.
The Council's greatest weapon is not money.
It is memory.
They erase people...
Then replace history with lies.
If you wish to destroy them...
Find the Second Ledger.
The notebook ends here because someone is already coming for me.
May your will remain stronger than theirs.
Signed,
Professor Han Ji-seok»
Silence filled the room.
Director Kwon whispered,
"I've heard that name."
"The constitutional scholar who disappeared thirty years ago."
"They said he committed suicide."
Kang Tang quietly closed the letter.
"No."
"They made the country believe he did."
---
Eun-woo opened the notebook.
Every page contained names.
Secret bank accounts.
Bribery records.
Military contracts.
Election manipulation.
The Ashen Shadow Council had documented everything.
Until...
The final twenty pages.
They had been ripped out.
Min-jae cursed under his breath.
"They took them."
Kang Tang shook his head.
"No."
"The professor removed them himself."
"Why?"
"So no single person could possess the whole truth."
Director Kwon pointed toward the final page.
A single sentence remained.
The Second Ledger sleeps beneath the stone that never casts a shadow.
---
Night fell over Jeju.
The team gathered outside the safe house.
Each interpreted the clue differently.
"A monument?"
"A cave?"
"A temple?"
Kang Tang looked toward Hallasan Mountain in the distance.
His memories searched desperately.
Then...
He remembered an article from his previous life.
An ancient volcanic pillar near Hallasan.
Locals called it...
The Shadowless Stone.
"It's a landmark."
He smiled.
"I know where we're going."
---
At that very moment...
Inside a luxury hotel overlooking Jeju's coastline...
Han Soo-jin stood by the balcony.
A gentle sea breeze moved her hair.
Her assistant entered.
"The Dragon has the notebook."
"As planned."
"He'll find the Shadowless Stone."
Han looked toward the dark outline of Hallasan.
"Yes."
"And waiting for him..."
She paused.
"...is someone even I cannot control."
Her assistant looked alarmed.
"You mean..."
She nodded.
"The Raven."
The name alone emptied the color from his face.
"They released him?"
"They had no choice."
Far away...
On the slopes of Hallasan...
A lone man stood beneath the moonlight.
A black raven landed on his shoulder.
His long dark coat swayed in the wind.
His face was hidden behind a silver half-mask.
Around him...
Several elite Council operatives lay unconscious.
Not dead.
Defeated.
He hadn't even drawn the sword hanging at his side.
He simply watched the lights of Jeju City below.
Then he smiled.
"So..."
"The Dragon is finally coming."
The wind carried away his quiet laughter.
For the first time...
Even the White Fox felt uneasy.
Because the Council had unleashed the one man whose loyalty belonged to no king.
Only to the outcome of the hunt.
End of Chapter 28
