The book of life

Kim Yoon Suk finished her coffee and was ready to leave. It had been a long day for her. She payed for her coffee, left a 5000 won tip as usual, and headed outside. Suddenly, the skies started pouring. Unfortunately, she wasn't carrying an umbrella. "Stupid weather," she cried as she tried to find other things to blame for her day rather than herself. "Taxi!" she yelled amidst all the noises of shouting and running and water pouring down. Miraculously, a taxi stopped in front of her. "Gangwon Province please," she said. As the taxi sped past all the people and the buildings, Yoon Suk stared out the window and then dozed off.

When she awoke, she looked at her watch. She had been sleeping for 2 hours. "Sir," she asked, "We should have arrived at Gangwon Province about an hour and a half ago. Are you sure you know where you are going?" The driver didn't respond. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Still no response. "That's it, I want out of this car. Could you pull over and let me go?" The driver ignored her and kept going. This time, Yoon Suk had a feeling she was being kidnapped. "Help, somebody!!!" she screamed at the top of her voice. However, there was no one to help her. As she tried to open the door to jump out, the driver realized what she was about to do and locked all the doors. Suddenly, he pulled out a gun and shot her in the neck. She pulled out what was thought to be a bullet, only to realize that it was a tranquilizer dart. "Oh...crap..." Then everything became blurry and she fainted.

Soon, she awoke from her slumber, her brain still processing what just happened. As she was regaining back her sight, she realized that she was tied to a chair inside a warehouse, with tape over her mouth. She tried to call for help but all that came out was muffled screams. All of a sudden, the door in front of her opened and a man walked in. He took off the masking tape that was covering her mouth and she inhaled a big breath of air.

"Why are you doing this to me? I don't even know you!" she pleaded.

"You might not know me, but I certainly know you," He replied. "You are the last living descendant of Jang Yeongsil, the great inventor, right? Now, tell me where the Jade Map is and you will be able to walk out of here safe and sound."

"What are you talking about? What's a Jade Map? I think you guys kidnapped the wrong person. Now, please untie me, and I swear I'll pretend none of this ever happ-" BANG! A shot was fired and a bullet pierced Yoon Suk's right arm. She started crying in pain and fear.

"Don't think you can play games with me. So tell me where the map is and you can go home and live your petty little life. Or you can keep stalling and die. Your choice."

"Then promise me that you will let me go safely if I tell you," she asked. The man stared her in the eyes and with a deep, dark tone replied, "I promise..."

"I only know where one half of the map is. It is stored in a jar made of jade. The jar is buried 9 feet under the grave of King Sejong the Great. However, you can't just open the jar like a jar of mayonnaise; you need a key. That's as much as I know. I have no clue who has the other half and what the key is, I swear. Now, just as you promised, can you untie me so that I can go home safely?"

The man looked at her and said, "Didn't your mom tell you to never trust strangers? Now, I'm going to be the only one with the knowledge of... well... half of the Jade Map." As he turned around to leave, he took one last look at Yoon Suk and waved, "Have fun in the afterlife". As he closed the door, Yoon Suk noticed a detonator being pulled out of the man's pocket and set off. She looked around and saw that what she thought were just ordinary crates were actually time bombs. The time she had left: 5 minutes.

She knew what she had to do for the last 5 minutes of her life.

She jumped around until her phone dropped onto the floor. When she succeeded, she took off her shoes and her socks and with her toes, navigated through her contacts. She found the name she was looking for: Kwon Yuri. She pressed call. "Please pick up, please pick up..." she hoped desperately. Unfortunately, it went straight to voice mail. When the beep was sounded, she only had 30 seconds left before the explosives brought down the warehouse.

"They're coming for you. For the map. Protect the secret with your life." She pressed the end button. She prayed that Yuri would get her message. "Well, I guess you weren't the only one that lied," she cursed at the man to herself. The timer had 3 seconds left. "So long, cruel world..." She closed her eyes.

All hell broke loose.

Chapter 1

".... and thank you so much for all your support! We couldn't have come this far without all you fans' efforts and contributions! Thank you!!" Taeyeon exclaimed, as the girls finished up their concert and headed to their house. The limo pulled out of the driveway and into the main street. "Hey girls," Yuri asked, "How about we celebrate this one with some Korean BBQ!" The girls all nodded their heads in reply, with excited faces gleaming like light from heaven. The limo pulled into a large and expensive Korean BBQ restaurant. As the girls all partied inside, Seohyun brought up a glass of soju and said, "To a great career, a great future, and a great life. Gunbae*!" "Gunbae!" they all replied.

Suddenly, police started rushing in to the restaurant and two men wearing overall coats walked over to the girls.

"Hi, we're from the KNPA** and we would like to just borrow Kwon Yuri for a minute. Don't worry, all we want is just 10 minutes of your time. By the way, congratulations on your concert! You guys were terrific!" one of the men exclaimed. The girls just sat there, frozen to their seats, not knowing what to do or how to react.

"Don't worry you guys, it's only going to be 10 minutes. I'll be right back. You guys just continue eating without me," Yuri said, trying to calm them down. As the two men stepped outside with Yuri, she asked, "How can I help you officers?"

"We have a question regarding national security," the officers continued with grim in their eyes, "and I believe you are one of the criminals."

Yuri then became nervous and broke down. She kneeled down, grabbed one of the officer's leg, and pleaded, "Please forgive me! I promise I won't do it again! So what if I illegally downloaded 10,000 songs- okay, fine 20,000- but everyone does it right? It's not like I'm the only one right?"

"Ummm... what?" the officers asked purplexed. "Oh, you weren't here for that?" Yuri laughed nervously. "Oh then...ummm... you know I'm in acting school and..ummm...I usually do some, you know, freestyle acting like what you saw and... ummmm...none of what I said was true and..."

"Do you by any chance know a 25 year old female named Kim Yoon Suk?" one of the two officers asked.

"I'm sorry? Kim Yoon Suk? Hmmm.... no I'm sorry officers. That name doesn't ring a bell," Yuri replied. "Oh, we're sorry to have interrupted your party then," the officers apologized. "We'll be on our way. Oh, and if somehow that name does ring a bell, make sure you call us." They handed her a business card. Soon, the police cars left and the night returned to its original state.

Strange, Yuri thought. She then returned to the restaurant to finish celebrating with the girls. "What was that all about?" Jessica asked. "Oh, they accidentally took me for someone else. Now, who's ready for some galbi?" Yuri replied smiling. But somehow that name kept bugging her; there was something about the name Kim Yoon Suk that she couldn't quite grasp. Ignoring those thoughts, Yuri ate until she thought her stomach would explode. The trip home was like heaven.

* * *

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! Yuri looked at her cellphone/alarm clock to see what time it was. 7:30. Exhausted from last night, she grudgingly climbed out of her bed, washed up, and made herself breakfast. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! Oh yeah, she thought, I forgot to set off the alarm. As she turned the alarm off on her cellphone, she noticed she had one voice mail. "Wonder who it's from?" She clicked on her voice mail list. Kim Yoon Suk. The name was placed above all other names. "Kim Yoon Suk... wait, could it be the same Kim Yoon Suk that the officers last night were trying to look for?" She pressed the name and her message was heard loud and clear:

"They're coming for you. For the map. Protect the secret with your life."

"Wait, what map?" thought Yuri. "Who is this?" Puzzled, she hurried to her room and dug through her pockets. She at last found the business card. Yuri grabbed her phone and called the number. No reply. She tried again, but still no reply. I guess I'll have to drive there myself, she thought. As she was about to leave, she remembered that she didn't know how to drive, because all the driving she left up to her manager! And the taxi was nearly impossible at this time of the hour. I guess I'll just walk there, she thought. Just as she was about to leave...

"Where are you going?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, I'm gonna head towards the police station. Urgent business came up."

"More urgent than making us breakfast today? Remember, it's your turn to make breakfast and you're not getting away with it this time."

"Please," Yuri cried, "Sica, you have to trust me on this one. It's urgent."

"Oh alright. But don't tell any of the girls that I helped you. By the way, how're you getting to the police station? You know the limo service isn't available till 8 and taxi is-"

"Oh, Sica! You have a driver's license don't you? Can you drive me there? Please, please, please....." Yuri whined. "Fine, we'll take my scooter bike." Sica replied.

Soon, they reached the police station, a building that inserted fear and, at the same time, comfort into the people's hearts. "I'll wait for you here," Jessica said. As Yuri walked inside, all the policemen's faces turned to her. After a while, some men returned back to their work while others were waxing their hair or putting on a pair of shades. One policeman walked past Yuri, wearing a cologne. "Oh my God," Yuri exclaimed, "What's that smell? It smells like baby fart mixed with curry or something!" "Aw man, 150,000 won for nothing..." the policeman replied.

Just then, the two officers who approached Yuri last night greeted her. "Hey, look whose back! Miss us much?" they asked.

"Oh, I just came to tell you about the Kim Yoon Suk you asked me. I wanted to tell you that she left me a voice mail. That's all I know about her. I don't know how she got my phone number but she left me a crazy message, something about a map. I don't know the full details, but it sounded as if she was warning me about something. What do you think?" Yuri asked.

The officers listened to the message for about 5 minutes. "Can you come over here for a second?" they asked. Yuri followed them through a long hall and down the stairs into what looked like an underground research laboratory. "Here," one of the officers continued, "this way. This is where we attempt to recover damaged files from electronics ranging from computer hardrives to microchips. Now, one of our units heard an explosion at approximately 1900 hours yesterday. Turns out to be a warehouse in Hwaseong. In the crime scene, we were able to recover a cell phone that, we assume, belongs to her, Kim Yoon Suk. Although the phone is badly burned, we were able to recover some data, such as the fact that the last person she ever called was you, Yuri-ssi***. Now why would she of all people call you? She could have obviously phoned 119 or her family, but she chose to contact you. Why?"

"I already told you officers, I do not know anything about this woman. What part of I-Don't-Know-Anything do you not understand?" Yuri screamed, utterly confused and upset. Immediately, one of the forensic detectives came up to the officers. "Hey Hyo Joon and Tae Kyeon! What brings you down here- oh my God, is that Yuri? Haha, I've never been close to an idol before, let alone a beauty like you. My son's a very big fan." Yuri bowed her head and thanked him. "Hey, I retrieved some new data from the hard drive we uncovered last week. Here, I'll show you."

The officer named Hyo Joon said, "Thank you for bringing us this significant message. I hope we can track down who caused the explosion as soon as possible. I hope you have a great rest of the day." He then led her back upstairs and into the sunlight. Yuri got in to the scooter with Jessica and headed back home. "So how'd it go?" Jessica asked. "How did what go?" Yuri replied half-jokingly.

"That officer back there was pretty cute, huh?" Jessica said.

"Sica, stop talking such nonsense. Besides, he's like at least 10 years older than me and he's so totally not my ty-"

BANG! A gunshot went off and Jessica's scooter went nuts. The bullet had pierced through the rear tire, causing her to pull over to the side. "Hey, what's your problem?!" Sica shouted.

Then all of a sudden a black van pulled over to the side as well, right behind Jessica's scooter. Four men jumped out, put a bag around Yuri's head, covered her mouth, and dragged her into the van. While Yuri was trying to let out screams of help which only came out as muffled screams, Sica tried to fight the four men with all her strength. However, her strength wasn't enough as one of the guys pushed her away. The van then sped through the streets, causing massive traffic chaos.

"Oh crap..." Jessica thought.

Chapter 2

Jessica watched helplessly as her sister/friend Yuri was being kidnapped. Just then, she did what she thought was her only option. She stopped a nearby car, opened the door, and pleaded the driver to help her catch the van. "Are you crazy?!" the driver replied, "I'm in the middle of an important business meeting!" and with that he slammed the door and sped off. "Fine, meanie!" she said as she stuck out her tongue. Then, she stopped another nearby car but this time, she opened the door, knocked the driver out, and pulled her out the car. "Sorry," she apologized, "I'll give it back to you as soon as I can." She slammed on the accelerator and began to chase after the black van. While speeding at over 95 miles an hour, Sica reached inside her pocket for her cellphone and dialed 1-1-9.

"This is 1-1-9 emergency. How may I help you?"

"My friend has been kidnapped and is inside a black Kia Sedona! I am currently trying to chase them down. This is the Gyungbo highway just outside Yeouido* and the van's license plate is 90?9909."

"We will send a unit down there as soon as possible." And with that, she hung up.

Five minutes of dodging past various traffic, she finally caught up with the van and now it was time to think about how to get Yuri out. Just then, police cars came in alongside Sica. "The driver in the black Kia Sedona, you have been convicted of kidnapping. Pull over to the side. I repeat, pull over to the side." However, the driver paid no heed and kept driving faster. Suddenly, the back trunk door opened and three men with assault rifles started firing at the police cars. Two police car exploded and rose 3 feet in the air before crashing upside down onto the ground. One police car went crazy and crashed into other passing cars that were in the highway. The police opened fire at the Sedona. In the midst of all this shooting, Jessica still kept chasing after the van.

"Three police vehicles are down and many officers are injured. We need backup, I repeat we need backup!"

A police helicopter roared overhead and started to chase after the van. "Do not shoot, I repeat do not shoot! We have an innocent civilian inside the vehicle!" The one shooter started firing at the chopper, but the bullets just ricocheted off the metal. Then the sniper inside the chopper shot at all four tires of the van, causing it to swerve like crazy and collide with the highway divider. The shooters became seriously injured and fell onto the floor. However, the driver, with a bleeding face, limped outside while holding Yuri by the hair and pointing a gun at her head. Tears of panic fell out of Yuri's eyes as she kept screaming for help.

"Everyone drop your weapons or I pull the trigger and this little girl dies! Now I want a car and no one follows me! If I suspect that anyone is following me, I swear on my life, I will- AAAHHHHHH!!!" the driver screamed in pain. Yuri turned around to see why and noticed that Jessica managed to sneak behind the guy and shove a pen in his knee. As the guy was about to point the gun at Jessica, Yuri kicked the pistol out of his hands. Sica grabbed the pistol and pointed it at the guy's face. "Shoot me and end this!" he yelled.

"I would, but that would make me a killer." Then Sica smiled and untied Yuri's hand. Yuri grabbed Sica and hugged her tightly with tears coming out of her eyes. "Thank you Sica, thank you so much! I knew you'd come. Let's finally go home."

The police grabbed and arrested the driver as well as the shooters. Suddenly, two officers came out of a police car and approached Sica and Yuri. "Oh, you're the officers I met down at the police station! Thank you for helping me!" Yuri cried.

"Oh, don't thank us. Thank your friend Jessica. She was the one that called us and notified of your kidnapping. Don't worry about all this, we'll handle the situation. For now, just go home and take a nice long rest. You'll feel much better." Then all four of them walked away, returning to their business. Jessica hailed a cab and let Yuri sleep.

Back home, Sica laid Yuri on her bed. She looked at the clock in front of her. 1:37 pm. Fany and Yoona approached Sica and asked, "What's wrong with her? She didn't get much sleep last night? Oh by the way thanks for the breakfast, it was really goo- oh wait, we didn't have any because somebody was supposed to make it but decided to-"

"Shhh. You guys, let her sleep. This really isn't the right time. Here, I'll make lunch." As Sica was closing the door, Yuri let out a drowsy whisper, "Sica...my phone... check voice mail..." and then returned to fantasyland. Sica grabbed Yuri's phone from her pocket and headed outside.

"Was it a fan who kidnapped our Yuri?" Yoona asked angrily. "Nope," Sica responded, "it was definitely not a fan. They looked more like mercenaries to me, but I don't know. Now, why would she ask me to check her voicemail?" She turned on Yuri's phone and went to the voice mail section. Kim Yoon Suk. Who the hell is that? she thought. She pressed play and Yoon Suk's chilling voice came out of the speakers as clear as day: They're coming for you. For the map. Protect the secret with your life.

What the hell? was the first thought that came into Sica's mind. She laid the phone down on a nearby table and headed toward the kitchen to make lunch. Sunny's cute laughter could be heard throughout the house, along with Sooyoung going "Hey, you cheated! If I catch you cheating again, I'm not gonna play with you ever again!"

So many questions filled Sica's head, so many questions without answers: Why would anyone want to kidnap Yuri? Who were those people? Who was this Kim Yoon Suk? What map and what secret? "Ow!" she cried as she accidentally cut herself while making lunch. She turned on the water to clean her finger. She prayed nothing like this would ever happen again, that none of the girls would ever face danger ever again. But deep inside, she knew that the danger was far from over.

* * *

"Do you guys know how many years you guys will be spending in prison?" Officer Hyo Joon asked. As the police finished cleaning up the mess, Officers Hyo Joon and Tae Kyeon handcuffed the four men and put them inside their car. "Officers, we will be heading towards the police station now. Make sure all of this is cleaned up. We wouldn't want the press coming here now would we?" And with that they drove off into the city.

Inside the car, silence took over. After about 10 minutes, Officer Hyo Joon broke the silence.

"Oh, by the way, Bruce sends his regards. Since you guys messed up on that simple order, he wants you guys dead, not that it would have mattered since he was going to kill you guys even if you succeeded." Suddenly, Officer Tae Kyeon pulled out four needles and stabbed the four men's necks. Immediately, he injected hydrogen peroxide into their bodies, ultimately killing all of them. After committing cold blooded murder, he opened two bottles full of antidepressant pills and scattered the pills on the floor of the car along with the bottles. After driving for about 20 minutes, the car reached a cliff. Officer Hyo Joon placed a stone on the accelerator and, with Officer Tae Kyeon, jumped out of the car, rolling on the floor like tumbleweeds. The car flew off the cliff and plunged into the river below.

Both officers took a last look at the remains of the car and then walked back to the city. Hyo Joon's phone rang. "Yes sir, all four of them are down. Yes... yes.... got it." He hung up.

"Tae Kyeon, you have access to the police database, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Once we get to the station, look up her address."

"Who's her?"

"Kwon Yuri."

Chapter 03

6:25 pm. Yuri stood upright in her bed, tired but still awake. What happened in the morning started to come back to her faintly. She walked over to the fridge to get a cup of orange juice and noticed a note left by the girls. All of us went to the park to play. Will be back at around 7! Love, the girls. With that, she lied on the couch and turned on the tv. Kim Yoon Suk. That name kept bothering her every minute. She heard that name before but couldn't remember where or when. Was it a fan? she thought. Then, Yuri went over to her room and grabbed her personal diary, a diary she had ever since she was a child, thinking it might help recall the name.

As Yuri started flipping to the pages, she started to remember the glorious days of childhood when she didn't have to worry about monthly bills, heavy schedules, maintaining her beauty, things like that. Just then, the name appeared in one of the diary entries. Yuri jumped up surprised. Curious, she started to read the entry:

September 09, 1995

I met a girl in the playground and she was building a sand castle. She looked like she

was about my age, maybe a little bit older. I said hi to her and she said hi back. She

told me her name was Kim Yoon Suk. We talked about many things like our favorite

Disney movies and how boring and tiring school was. I had so much fun! Soon, we

became really good friends.

Yuri started to remember now, her childhood friend. Suddenly, Yuri realized that she was supposed to have a meeting with her tomorrow. Yoon Suk had called her three weeks ago to go on a friendly date with her, the first time she had called in 15 years, but since both their schedules were full for three weeks, they agreed to meet when they found an empty slot. Now, Yoon Suk was dead. Yuri put a hand over her mouth and cried, blaming herself for her death. I can't believe how stupid I was, she thought to herself. 'How could I have forgotten a friend I've known for 15 years?'

She kept reading page after page out of curiosity. Just then, she came up on an entry that startled her just as much:

September 15, 1995

I went to the playground again to play with my best friend Yoon Suk. She was

playing with the swing all by herself so I decided to join. As we rose high above

everyone else on our swings, we stretched our arms out far in to the sky. We

started laughing. When we were done with the swings, she told me she wanted

to share a secret, a family secret. But first, she made me promise not to tell anyone.

I thought it was a joke so I just played along. Then I noticed that her face became

serious. She told me that her great-great-great-great-.... grandfather worked for

King Sejong the Great. Of course, I didn't believe her. Then she went on with something

about a Jade Map, or something like that. The secret of the Jade Map was in her family

for generations. That was all she could tell me. I didn't understand anything but being

a good friend that I was, I nodded in reply. Soon, we acted as if nothing happened. We

played tag and rock-paper-scissors and had so much fun....

Yuri set down her diary on the nearby coffee table. It took a while for her to return to the present, fifteen years later. The Jade Map. Maybe that was the map she was referring to in the voice mail she left me, Yuri thought. But why would she tell me to protect the secret? It's not like she gave me the location to the map, right? Her brain started to scream in pain with everything that was happening, from her schedules the next day to her childhood friend. Suddenly, she knew what to do. She looked at her schedule and noticed that she had 4 hours until her next event came up. She grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down 'Went to Royal Museum in Deoksugung. Be back around 10:30. Love, Yuri' Immediately, she changed, went outside, and hailed a cab.

The cab dropped her off in front of the majestic Royal Museum of Deoksugung, with its dancing lights and admirable brilliance persuading citizens and tourists alike to check out the beautiful history and culture of Korea. Yuri stepped through the doors and walked over to the reference desk. "Excuse me. Where can I find the museum coordinator Park Seo Chun?" "Oh, he is currently on duty over by the Experience Space," the lady replied. She walked upstairs and over to the Experience Space where she found Seo Chun giving a tour guide to a group of elementary students. When Seo Chun noticed Yuri, he gave her a friendly wink and continued with the tour guide. "Hey assistant, can you lead this tour for just a minute?" he asked. Then he walked over to Yuri and they exchanged hugs.

"Yuri, long time no see! What brings you to the museum?"

"Hey, Seo Chun-ssi. Ummm, there is something I need to talk about with you privately. Do you think that could be arranged?"

"Sure. I get off in, like, twenty minutes so just wait a little bit. I'll meet you in the cafe downstairs, alright?" Yuri thanked him and he went back to the tour guide.

Twenty minutes later, Seo Chun walked in to the cafe and joined Yuri in a small table. Luckily, Yuri ordered two coffees instead of only one for herself, thus saving time. "So, you wanted to see me privately? What seems to be bothering you?"

"What can you tell me about the Jade Map?" Yuri asked. Seo Chun just laughed and replied, "Oh Yuri... you're twenty two now, practically a lady, not a girl. Don't tell me you still believe in fairy tales, now." But one look at the seriousness and contempt at Yuri's face was all it took for Seo Chun to cease laughing and realize that she was not joking in any sense.

"Sorry," he apologized, "ummm... the Jade Map, right. So the story goes like this:

"In 1438, there was a man who was in the lowest of the social class, whose name was Jang Yeong Sil. He was a brilliant man I tell you, a Thomas Edison of his time. Soon, King Sejong the Great noticed his talent and brought him in to the Royal Court. Jang Yeong Sil was later appointed as the Royal Scientist and Engineer, despite many opposition from the Royal Court. From then on, whatever King Sejong wanted built, Jang was able to build it. In fact, contrary to many beliefs, almost all the inventions that King Sejong was credited with were built by Jang, including the water clock, the celestial globe, the metal printing press, and even advanced weaponry.

"However, tragedy befell him in 1442. King Sejong asked for him to build an elaborately decorated gama* but, out of respect for the king, Jang tried to build him an advanced gama, one that would tell him how much time he had left until he reached his destination, kind of like a modern day GPS system. Unfortunately, as the king was riding his gama, it broke and fell apart, causing injury to the king. Of course, Jang was held responsible. Now, a normal king would have automatically executed Jang, but King Sejong was different; he questioned Jang and realized it was a simple mistake. But to the rest of the royal court, it was a huge flaw and Jang was viewed as a pimple in the royal staff. They tried to banish Jang but King Sejong refused it. Later, Jang returned the king's kindness by presenting him with a book that has been in his family for generations, the Book of Life. It was this book that taught Jang how to build all those inventions and Jang explained that the gama was just a simple miscalculation that could have easily been avoided.

"But Yuri, this part is going to surprise you the most. This Book of Life is said to have originated from the ancient civilization of Atlantis, and that is why it is also known as the Heart of Atlantis. It is also the same book that gave rise to the great Egyptian civilization, taught the Moses how to control nature to bring about the ten biblical plagues and how to split the Red Sea, taught Joshua how to bring down nations with one lousy army, and taught prophet Daniel how to interpret dreams. It is the same book that taught the honorable Archimedes of Ancient Greece how to build revolutionary inventions and weapons that conquered nations, and it was even considered the second most holy and sacred book by the legendary Library of Alexandria, second to that of the original Holy Bible. The book then spread through the Persian Empire, famous for their invincible military system, and then through China during the Han dynasty, the greatest of all dynasties that is credited for great advances in many areas of the arts, sciences, and engineering of the Chinese Empire. From there, all traces of the book was lost until Jang presented it to King Sejong.

"Now, a kindhearted, yet greedy, king that he was, he took the book from Jang, called the imperial guards, and lied to them by saying that Jang was attempting to steal a sacred book from the royal library. Jang was immediately banished from the royal court and no one knows what happened to him since. Now with the book in his possession, he started to read and discovered something interesting: how to make a perfect language system. This, obviously, led to something that King Sejong actually did invent and is honored for: hangul. Seeing how powerful the book was, he wanted the power all to himself and so he gathered his private construction workers and had them build a labyrinth somewhere here, in Korea. After that, with the information from his book, he carved two jade stones and made one a lock to the entrance and the other a map of the labyrinth, thus they're called the Jade Map. He placed the two stones in separate stone jars locked with a combination lock and placed the Book of Life in the labyrinth. Ever since then, the location of the stone jars has been lost and the location of the labyrinth is still unknown. Today, the story is only a myth, a legend. I highly doubt that there is such a book, let alone a labyrinth. What do you think Yuri?"

Yuri was at a loss for words. The Book of Life... the Jade Map.... she wished she was dreaming, that all she had to do was pinch herself and everything would just return to the way it was. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:00. "Hey Seo Chun, do you know Kim Yoon Suk by any chance?"

"Oh, you mean Yoon Suk-ssi? Yeah, she dropped by the museum a week ago, said there was something she wanted to check out. By the way, she said she was going to meet you tomorrow. Is that right?"

"She died in an explosion in a warehouse two days ago," Yuri replied tearing up. She still couldn't stop blaming herself for her death.

"Oh I'm sorry for you loss."

"Hey, what did Yoon Suk want to check out last week, anyways?"

"Oh, the water clock we have outside. Come on, I'll show you." He led Yuri outside and showed her the water clock replica, created and working just as it did 600 years ago. Yuri cast her eyes at the bowl filled with water and the two pillars that stood in front of it. As she stared at the pillars, something strange caught her eyes. Just then, Yuri realized why Yoon Suk wanted to check out this water clock. "Hey Seo Chun, I have to get going now. Thanks for all your help."

"No problem, just come anytime! Oh by the way, great job at the concert yesterday!"

Yuri ran out the front entrance and quickly called a cab. When she reached home, she ran the flight of stairs all the way to her door. Suddenly, she noticed something strange: the front door was open slightly. The strange thing was that the girls never did that; they always made sure the door was closed. Yuri cautiously stepped inside. She tried to turn on the switch but the lights weren't working. She took out her cellphone and used the light from it to navigate through her huge dorm. "Hey girls, where are you? If you guys are trying to surprise me, just do it already. Besides I don't get surprised easily." She headed into Sunny's and Sooyoung's room and fell back in horror. All the girls were tied up with tapes over their mouth, screaming to Yuri for help.

Yuri hurriedly went over to Jessica and ripped the tape out of her mouth. "Yuri, get out! It's a trap!" As Yuri turned around, a shadow appeared and shot Yuri in the neck. Her eyesight started to fail her and the last thing she knew, she was being carried across the floor, down the stairs, and into a car.

Then, everything turned black.

Chapter 4

"Bravo team, this is Alpha. How long until you are done?"

"This is Bravo. We'll be done in 3...2...1! Mission success. All communication lines are offline, including the police-emergency system, and we have set up a radius that prohibits incoming and outgoing of wireless communication. Although we can prevent communication of the outside with the inside, we can't prevent communication of people in the inside with each other."

"Copy that, Bravo. Alright, everyone put your gears on and get ready for serious combat."

The Alpha team put on their bulletproof vests, camouflage uniforms, and ski masks. Then they grabbed their assault weapons and loaded themselves onto a vehicle disguised as a large tour van. The van stopped in front of the gate to Yeongneung*. "Bravo, meet me in front of the gate in five minutes with gears and weapons equipped. Operation Yeoju starts now." Five minutes later, Bravo team loaded in to the van and the vehicle headed towards the main entrance. One of the security guards appeared and said, "I'm sorry but this place is closed. Please visit tomorrow."

"But we are here by the order of the head of the Korean National Police Agency," and the driver showed his forged badge. "I'm sorry," the security guard replied as he was closing the gate, "but no one is allowed to enter during closing hours."

"Oh," the driver responded, "I'm sorry. Have a nice rest of the day," and with that, he took out a Glock pistol with a mounted silencer and shot the guard. Blood splattered like a fountain out of the security guard's head. Three men came out of the van to open the gate and the vehicle started moving towards the tomb. Another guard located inside Yeongneung saw the van and grew suspicious of it. "Hey, what are you doing in here?! It's closing time!" Then, both Alpha and Bravo team came out of the van and started firing at the guards with sub-machine guns and assault rifles. The guards were shot and killed like bugs. This time, more guards became alert with the danger and ran towards the chaos with pistols. However, the pistols were no match for the devastating SMG's and the AK-47's. One guard tried to press the police-emergency button, while another tried to call the law enforcement for back up. Both guards realized that their efforts were futile and were ultimately shot and killed.

As the last of the guards were finished, the driver of the van started to drive to the front of the tomb, with both teams following him. Soon, the driver reached his destination point and got out, along with two other associates, a male and a female. "Here we are: the tomb of King Sejong the Great. Smell the environment: the old pine trees, the fresh grass, the aged stone pillars. Isn't it wonderful?" admired the driver.

"Hey Bruce, are you sure the girl didn't lie to us?" the female asked. The one named Bruce replied, "Yeah, I'm positive that she wasn't lying. I saw the seriousness in her eyes as she saw that her life was in danger. Okay, Bravo and Alpha teams, guard us and watch for any signs of suspicious movements. Shoot anything that moves. Vanessa and Jacob, bring out the shovels and help me dig." Immediately, they started digging next to the mound where King Sejong was buried.

Forty minutes into digging, the three finally reached nine feet below the level where the sarcophagus of King Sejong is located. Then they started digging horizontally until they hit something hard. Carefully, Bruce dug a little bit more and pulled out a wooden chest. Covered in mud, the three climbed up the ladder and came back to the surface, bringing with them their new find. Bruce went to the van and came back with a hammer. He smashed the lock on the chest and opened the lid to find a single jar made of jade. He turned it around in his hand to appreciate the craftsmanship. He noticed that on the bottom was a six-letter combination lock, with the letters being in Hangul, the Korean alphabet. "You said that you needed a key to open the jar, right? So where's the key?" Vanessa asked.

"The question is not where the key is, but what," Bruce continued, "The jar is locked with a combination lock, not a pin tumbler, and the 'key' is the word combination. We just need to find what the word is."

Suddenly, police sirens were heard overhead. "Sir," one of the Alpha members cried, "It seems that the police have found out about us. Probably one of the guards' family became worried and called the law enforcement. What is your order sir?" But before he finished asking, Bruce and his two associates got back in the van with the jar and the chest and started speeding across the lawn. The SWAT teams rushed to where the Alpha and Bravo teams were and a full-out battle enraged with bullets flying everywhere. Both sides started losing major numbers, but apparently, the law seemed to be winning. "Pull back, pull back!" yelled the head of the Alpha team, and Alpha and Bravo started rushing towards the van with significant amount of injuries. About ten minutes later, both teams were wiped out by SWAT officers.

Meanwhile, the van tore through one of the entrances to the tomb site and entered the main street, where cars started braking and crashing because of surprise. Soon, the van was followed by numerous police vehicles and two armored SWAT trucks. "Charlie team, this is Alpha! Get the chopper ready and meet me in front of the cliff!" and with that, Bruce entered the freeway. A SWAT truck pulled next to the van and was about to ram it when all of a sudden, Bruce rammed the armored truck first, causing it to lose balance and crash into other cars, creating a huge explosion and a massive pile up; a couple police cars were caught in the chaos and exploded. Vanessa opened the backdoor of the van and shot an RPG rocket at a police vehicle, and the car burst into flames and flew; as it landed, it caused a chain reaction that resulted in other police cars crashing into each other. One SWAT armored truck left. Vanessa fired another rocket at the truck, but the truck dodged it, resulting in the destruction of innocent cars. Just as the driver of the truck was about to shoot the tires, Bruce quickly took an exit and veered off the road. The SWAT truck followed. Vanessa tried again but still missed.

After about 15 minutes of a cat-and-mouse chase, the van neared the edge of a cliff. "You guys get ready!" Bruce exclaimed. Immediately, he placed a brick on the gas pedal, turned open a door that led to the ceiling of the van, climbed up along with the two others, and waited patiently for the van to jump off. Soon, he heard what he was desperately trying to hear: the whirring of the helicopter's rotors. As the chopper rose higher, a person inside shot a rocket at the armored truck and it hit. The truck blew apart and shards of metal and rubber flew everywhere.

"Get ready to jump!" The front tires of the van finally left the ground and soon, the rear tires followed. The three jumped towards the helicopter with their arms stretched out. Bruce and Vanessa made it, but Jacob unfortunately missed his mark and grabbed onto the floor with only one hand. "Bruce, help me up! I'm dying here." Then Bruce approached Jacob and smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry my friend, but your usefulness wore out. In other words, I won't be needing you anymore. So long..... Jacob." He smashed his foot on Jacob's hand and pushed it out the chopper. Jacob screamed as he fell to the depths of the cliff.

"You're so reckless as usual, Bruce," Vanessa said.

"Hey, you're lucky I didn't push you off. Besides, now we won't have to split the book three ways. Now... I wonder what the key is."

He grabbed the wooden chest and opened it. The jar was still intact. As he picked up the jar, he noticed a note that was inscribed in Korean on the bottom of the wooden chest: What walks on four in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening? "The answer to the riddle must be the key," he realized. He noticed that the lock had blank spaces as well as the letters and figured out that the key didn't have to be six letters but up to six.

"That's a pretty easy riddle for a great treasure such as the Jade Map. They must have thought it was challenging back then. Now let's see, what was the Korean word for 'man'? Oh yeah," Vanessa exclaimed as she took the jar and turned it towards the bottom so that the lock faced her. She put in the six lettered combination, including the blank at the end: ?-?-?-?-?- **. She tried opening the lid, but the lid wouldn't budge. Bruce attempted to open the lid as well, but his luck wasn't any better. "Why won't this freakin thing open?!" Vanessa yelled in frustration.

"There's a reason why it won't open: It's because it's obviously the wrong combination. Try a different one."

She then put in the other word for man: ?-?-?-?-?-?**. Six letters. Still, the lid wouldn't budge. "Screw this! I'm gonna grab a hammer and freaking break this lid open myself!" she suggested. Bruce automatically grabbed her arm to stop her. "That isn't a good idea because this jar works like a cryptex. Inside the jar, there are small electrical wires and explosives all around the Jade Map and those wires are connected to the walls of the jar, with electrical signals acting as nerves. If we were to break the lid open, those electrical signals will activate the explosives and it will be goodbye to the map and the book for all eternity."

"Wait, this jar runs on electricity?! Then just find the source of energy, separate it from the jar, and voila!"

"Ummm... that could pose a bit of a problem," Bruce continued, "You see, the energy source of the jar is the jar itself. In other words, the jar produces its own energy. I know that it defies the laws of physics here, but this is the power of the Book of Life. Legend has it that King Sejong built these jars through instructions provided by the book, so you know it's going to be literally impossible to open the jar by force. And seeing as how the combination word 'man' is not opening the lid, I guess we haven't found the answer yet. Strange, I always thought the answer for the riddle of the Sphynx to be 'man'. Must be an alternate answer." With that, he placed the jar back in the chest. Soon, his phone in his pocket rang.

"Yes?"

"Sir, we have the package in the building and are awaiting your orders."

"Great. Is everything prepared according to plan?."

"Yes, sir."

"Great." Bruce hung up the phone.

'Kwon Yuri, looks like you and I are going to be having fun for awhile,' he thought to himself. As the chopper headed into the night sky, it left behind a trail of smoke, fire, and terror.

End part 1

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