Chapter 10

"Officer Hyo Joon?!"

Yuri thought she was seeing things but apparently, the face that laid before her was definitely his, the very same man that tried to help her locate her childhood friend's murderer. Even if it is him, a friend of Chang is an enemy of mine, she thought. Immediately, she reached into her back pocket and took out a needle that she stole from the medical cart in the hospital. It was filled with the same transparent liquid that Jessica used on the nurse. With a tight grip, Yuri stabbed Hyo Joon's neck with the needle, causing him to let her go and reach for his neck. Just as she was free, Yuri ran toward the bathroom door, but stopped halfway when she heard a faint plea coming from Officer Hyo Joon's mouth.

"Yuri? it's not what you think?"

With that, Hyo Joon's eyelids closed, his whole body gave way, and he drifted to sleep. Yuri was confused as to how to react. She was curious about what he tried to tell her, what he tried to warn her about. She kept shaking his body to wake him up, even if it was only for a couple seconds, but it was as if he died: no response. Well it doesn't matter anyways since I'm going to be out of trouble for now, Yuri thought.

She opened the bathroom door and walked into the elevator, toward the ninth floor. Jessica must be worried sick, she told herself. With the key in hand, she found her room number 909 and slid the card to find herself in a disastrous room. The sight would have churned anyone's stomach: overturned chairs, broken tables, shattered television, ruined paintings, two trashed queen size beds, and a bathroom with toiletries spilled everywhere. Only one thought came into mind: Jessica. The luggage dropped onto the floor. Desperately, Yuri searched the room for any clues, any hints, that might tell her where Sica was. Then, to her dismay, she found blood on one of the bed sheets. "No? it can't be? she couldn't have died?" Yuri kept telling herself. Under the bed, she found a card key to one of the rooms. The number was 711.

She grabbed the card, along with a nearby shard of broken glass, and strolled out of the room and into the elevator. Seventh floor. Ding. Each and every step she took beat her soft heart even faster. Soon, Yuri reached the dreaded room 711. She slid the card and took one step in. Click. Inside, she heard the sound of a pistol cocking, which was enough to stop her dead in her tracks. The next thing she heard was the cold voice of Satan himself.

"Yuri, I was going to call you but you saved the trouble. I thank you for that. Don't be afraid, you can come inside. I won't bite you, I promise."

The light in the room filled her eyes, but the light was soon replaced by the image of Jessica wrapped in ropes and a piece of cloth that was suffocating her. The next thing that came into her sight was the man that was pointing his loaded pistol at her. Officer Tae Kyun. I should have known, Yuri cursed at herself. "Chang, you've done enough damage to me and my members. You got your two stones that you threatened to kill me for, so why are you still doing this?!" Yuri demanded.

"Well, after I took the stone that you had, I found out that yours was the map while mine was the key. Yours revealed the labyrinth itself as well as the location to the labyrinth. Turns out that it was hiding here, in Mt. Hallasan, all along. And not to mention, specifically, in Gwaneumsa*, the oldest Buddhist temple in Jeju. However, the problem is that in order to get inside the labyrinth, you have to put in a six letter combination and I have a feeling that the combination is the same combination you used to open the stone jar."

"So why don't you just look at the bottom of the stone jar that you snatched away from me and insert in the same answer?"

"Well, we all make mistakes, don't we? Right after you opened the jar, I threw it away, thinking I wouldn't need it anymore. Now I need you to come with me to Gwaneumsa and unlock the combination lock that is separating me from my treasure."

"Come with you?! You must be out of your mind! Why don't I just tell you what the answer is and let Sica and I go, while you go to Gwaneumsa by yourself?"

"Tsk, tsk? only if it were that easy. I'm suspecting that the combination lock is but only one of the many challenges that I will be facing during my journey and I need you to help me get through the maze."

"You destroyed my place, almost murdered my members, kidnapped me several times, and now, you're taking Sica hostage. With all that in mind, give me one good reason why I should go along your fantasy adventure?"

"Hmmm? good question. Let's just say that I have connections inside the very hospital that your friends are getting treated. Oh by the way, you might want to drop that shard of glass that you are trying to hide. If you're going to silently kill someone, try not to make it so obvious. And even if you succeeded in killing me, my friend over here would have killed you, so that would have been a suicide mission. So? what do you say?"

With a sigh, Yuri dropped the only weapon she had and surrendered. "Fine? when do we start?"

"Oh good. We start tomorrow at seven in the morning. And just so you don't get smart with me, Jessica stays here. Until then, good night and sweet dreams." Chang blew her a kiss, but Yuri ignored him and returned to her room with a heart full of grief and revenge.

* * *

Bang! Bang! Bang! Half-asleep, Yuri looked at the alarm clock that was next to the bed; it was the only thing within a 10 foot radius that wasn't smashed or broken. The LED lights flashed 6:45 am. "Hurry up and get dressed! We're about to leave!" said the voice outside the door. The sight in her room still made her eyes sore as she imagined what could have possibly happened in here. As she changed into her casual clothes, there was something that was bothering her. Last night, in Chang's room, she didn't notice any form of injuries anywhere on either Sica nor Tae Kyeon. Even stranger was the fact that if her only weapon was so obvious, why hadn't Tae Kyeon, a member of the KNPA police force, noticed it first before Chang did? Yuri erased those questions out of her mind and focused only on her main objective: how to get Sica out, get revenge on Chang, and leave Jeju.

When she opened the door to leave, two men dressed in black escorted her out the grandiose hotel and into the parking lot where a black Mercedes S-class was waiting for her, the same car that she saw right before her apartment exploded. The chauffeur opened the side door and helped her in. Chang sat next to her, with Sica tied up in the middle. Tae Kyeon sat across both of them with a bag over his shoulder, polishing his handgun. Chang gave the signal to start and the car pushed forward.

"Care for some wine, Yuri? It's made from the finest grapes in Italy. Cost me a fortune to get these bottles." Yuri didn't respond.

"Of course... you're a member of Girl's Generation, renowned for its members' innocence. Alcohol is too..... mature for you, I guess. However, if you ever want any during the trip to Mt. Hallasan, help yourself."

All Yuri did was stare at Sica's fearful eyes, as if she could figure what what Sica was trying to tell her, what was going on her mind. The noises of traffic and people chatting outside were drowned out amidst the dark aura inside the vehicle. A couple of minutes later, the car stopped in the parking lot just outside the Gwaneumsa trail. Chang untied the ropes that bound Jessica to create less suspicion, but Tae Kyeon immediately put his gun on her back, at the same time hiding it, to create no means of escape. "I just love the fresh morning air, don't you?" Chang cried cheerfully.

All around, Yuri saw families with beaming smiles on their faces and children gleefully laughing. She looked like the only one with a serious face, with no smile and no emotion. The salty air from the ocean caught in her nose. Yuri had to admit, the sight was breathtaking. All around were great boulders that reached towards the heavens, flowers of various colors and scent, mountains that looked more like art than nature, lakes that gave off vibrant sparkles. Even the dirt beneath her feet looked beautiful. The sky was clear and bright. If it wasn't for the current situation, it would have been a beautiful day.

"We're here," Chang announced. The four finally reached Gwaneumsa temple in Daegu, the oldest and most respected temple on the entire island. Tourists flocked around the building and the area around it, even when it was this early in the morning. Yuri followed Chang into the main temple. She noticed the monument next to the building as a memorial for the old building before the 1964 fire. A guard in front of the entrance to the temple stopped them. "I'm sorry sir, but this building is not open to the public. Please step down the stairs." Immediately, Chang flashed his forged KNPA badge. "Us four are here because of national security reasons. When we step in, please close the doors for private matters." The guard obeyed and let them in, closing the door to the entrance.

"Alright you two, come out," Chang demanded and two men came out from the wardrobes. Their faces were covered with bandanas and their head with caps, and they both were armed with a pistol in the holsters hanging off the side of their pants. Other than that, they looked like regular tourists. Inside the temple, the room was pretty small, almost the same size as an average living room. In the front was an altar with incense, a Buddha statue, and offerings to the spirits of the ancestors. From the right of the room, Yuri noticed Chang retracing his steps from the last time he was here. "....7....8....9! Here it is. Let me get this floor covering off.... there." When a part of the wooden floor was taken out, it revealed a hidden steel door, the one similar to those used in movies where characters opened it from the floor as a backdoor to escape. Yuri grabbed the iron handle and pulled it. The door creaked open.

They all climbed down the straw ladder that led them into a dark underground stone chamber. A strange smell suffocated Yuri's nose; the smell of oil. Tae Kyeon, without releasing Sica, grabbed a flare from his bag, struck it, and lit the oil. The chamber lit up like a flashlight and both Yuri and Sica stared at the walls in awe. The stone walls were all covered in paintings similar to the one Yuri found carved on the pillars of the water clock: a dragon rising from the earth and a phoenix coming down from the heavens, both chasing a samjokgo trapped in a stone, with citizens bowing down to all three divine creatures. The ceiling revealed an ancient painting of the night sky, with various celestial beings and constellations that were discovered several hundred years after King Sejong.

In the front of the chamber, Yuri saw a large jade statue of the Buddha crossing his legs and smiling. One of its two pupils on the eyes was missing. The pupil was the same size as the Jade Map. Chang placed the key stone inside the eye. Then he faced Yuri and pointed at the statue's heart. "It's your turn, Yuri." She walked towards the heart that turned out to be a six letter combination lock. Just as she thought, there was a hidden slot next to the lock which revealed to be the place to insert the seventh combination letter. She began to insert the exact same word that she used to open the stone jar: ?-?-?-?-?-?-?.

"The crow," Yuri said, "The animal revealed to be the representation of the samjokgo. It walks with its wings and legs when it is born, and it walks only on its two feet when it reaches maturity. About the 'three legs in the evening', in Korean mythology, the crow is believed to enter heaven as the samjokgo, the three legged bird, after it dies." Thank God I paid attention in history class, she thought. Just then, the earth around them shook violently and the Buddha split in half. It turns out that the statue was the entrance to the labyrinth. Chang took out the stone that once belonged to Yuri, along with a flashlight, and a hologram of the labyrinth appeared. The maze was a complicated one.

"Let's go," Chang ordered. All six walked into the depths of the darkness that laid before them. Yuri had a feeling that getting through the maze was going to be the least of their problems.

Chapter 11

Chang, Yuri, Jessica, Tae Kyun, and the two henchmen stepped into absolute darkness, the only light coming from the entrance opened by the jade Buddha statue. Drip... drip... The sound of underground water echoed through the vast stone halls. As the last person stepped from the light and into the shadows, the earth shook. Yuri thought it was a miniature earthquake but realized it was worse than that when she turned around. The only light source, as well as the only exit to the outside world, was closing shut. Yuri started to scream in panic and, with all her strength, tried to keep the door from closing, but she had no luck. In a matter of seconds, darkness enshrouded all six.

Chang was the first to speak. "Well, there goes our only exit. I guess there is only one way out: forward." He took out a flashlight and turned it on. "Now let's see, I'm positive that Sejong didn't walk through this way without any light to guide his path. Everyone, try and search for any sign of oil on the walls." Yuri and the two men felt the walls with their bare hands, not knowing what could be on the walls of a labyrinth that hasn't been used for 600 years. Suddenly, Yuri felt an object stick out of the walls; it felt like a lever, a kind of switch. She pulled down on it with all her might. In less than a second, her eyes were blinded by the brilliant light that drove away the darkness and revealed a long stone corridor that seemed to stretch forever. Yuri looked up to see where the light was coming from, and gasped in surprise.

A depiction of a similar stone corridor.

The walls of the corridor were lined with electric wires and ancient light bulbs, similar in form to modern day light bulbs. But the strange thing was that there was no electric outlet anywhere, nor were there any kind of a generator to produce the electricity needed to make thousands of the bulbs shine as bright as the sun itself.

"Oh, it seems as though someone was already here before us and installed electric wiring and light in this dark place for future visitors. I bet they took the treasure as well. And we came here for noth-" Yuri was interrupted by Chang.

"No. These bulbs that you see were all invented and installed by King Sejong himself."

"Wait, that's not possible... Are you telling me that King Sejong the Great invented the light bulb 500 years before Thomas Edison did, and knew how to produce the same, if not better, light quality than today's bulbs?!"

"Yuri, I present to you exhibit A of the power of the information attained in the Book of Life. Now come one, let's get moving before we all die of old age..."

Chang placed the Jade Map on his flashlight, where a miniature map was produced. Footsteps were finally being made. Sighing, Yuri looked up at the ceiling out of old habit as she was walking. Just then, she stopped in her tracks. Nobody noticed her stopping. There were words inscribed in hangul on the ceiling, which puzzled Yuri just as much as everything that was happening. The words read: "???? ??? (Obey the Eightfold Path*)". The Eightfold Path? Yuri thought. Soon, she came into focus and realized how far she was from the group. She sprinted towards them and caught up. The rest acted as if nothing happened and carried on.

* * *

A couple of minutes later of following the map, a wooden door appeared before them. Chang grabbed the knob with his free hand and turned it. The door led into a massive cavern with huge stalagmites growing on the ceiling and a giant cliff facing them. The six were standing on one cliff and the other cliff was separated by a deep, bottomless trench. It was hard to believe that one second, they were traveling along a tight stone corridor and the next, they were standing still in awe in an immense chamber, on top of a spacious cliff where the bottom was literally not there. The exit was clearly visible on the other side of the chamber, on a whole different cliff. The trench was too wide to jump across and there were no signs of bridges anywhere.

"Everyone, spread out and try to locate any kind of bridge that is long enough to get us across. Tae Kyun, you can let go of Jessica now; she poses no threat anymore." Tae Kyun slid the pistol that was threatening Sica into his holster and looked around to spot a bridge. Twenty minutes later, after exploring the whole cliff, the group didn't turn up with anything. Chang drew the map back onto the flashlight to see if he was on the right path. He was. Then, the map disappeared and came out a single word: "?? (The Right View)". Just as the word suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it disappeared and was replaced by the map. "The right view?" Chang asked. "What the hell does that supposed to mean?"

"There is no getting across. I mean, there may have been a bridge since ancient times, but wood rots and corrodes so it must have wore down and dropped down to the depths below. We're just going to have to find another way out," Sica replied. They all agreed and headed towards the door. But Yuri didn't follow. "Eightfold path... the right view... where did I hear that before?" Yuri kept asking herself. Just then, her memory came back... her memory of the world history class she took in high school.

"Today, we will look at Buddhism and its influence throughout not just Asia but Europe as well. Now all of you, take out your textbooks," the teacher ordered.

Another dull day of school... she couldn't wait to hear from SM Entertainment that she auditioned for two months ago. Sooyoung, who auditioned as well, was picking her nose and throwing dried boogers at the student sitting across from her. There was also Soon Kyu (or Sunny), another one who auditioned, playing Go Stop with her friends, betting money at her age; she seemed to be winning the most money. Yuri was staring blankly at the teacher whose mouth produced words that went in one ear and went out the other.

"... and Karma is the force that drives the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. Now who can tell me what the Noble Eightfold Path is?"

The class representative stood up and replied. Yuri stuck out her tongue at the Rep, jealous of her intelligence and beauty. Well at least she cant beat my record of 9 boyfriends that I've had, Yuri told herself smiling.

"The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the stop of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is composed having the right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration."

"Thank you, Class Rep. Now, as she said, the Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of Buddhism. It brings harmony to the world and-"

One student interrupted the teacher. "I'm sorry but when are we ever gonna use this information in our future? I mean, businesses and corporations won't ask if you know the Eightfold Path or Buddhism. Besides, I'm Christian. I tend to disagree with this religion in many ways."

The teacher replied in a moderate tone, although she showed a little frustration at being interrupted, "Buddhism is not a religion, but rather, it is a philosophy, a way of life. Also, I hope you are not learning this just for the sake of your future career. Buddhism should make your life better and teach you about self righteousness and awakening. In fact, legend has it that Jesus of Nazarene, now known as Jesus Christ, became a Buddhist monk during his missing years*. Now, as I was saying, Buddhism has many characteristics, one of which are...."

The Eightfold Path... the right view... Buddhism... it all started to come back. Yuri walked towards the edge of the cliff and looked down at the darkness below and how far away the other cliff was. Then, an idea came into mind. The right view... if she was correct, she would be able to get to the other cliff without any trouble. Without thinking, she closed her eyes and set one foot off the edge of the cliff and into the air, where just the fact that she was literally "jumping" off the cliff sent chills down her spine. She didn't feel anything supporting her foot, but still having faith in herself, she lifted the other foot into the air and placed it next to her foot that was already in the air. She still didn't feel anything at the bottom of her feet.... but she didn't feel like she was falling either. Carefully, she opened her eyes and looked down. Out of joy and disbelief, she cried from the bottom of her heart.

Kwon Yuri was flying in midair.

Determined to go further, she took another step forward and still she wasn't falling. Only air supported her, nothing else. "EVERYONE, COME QUICK! I FOUND A 'BRIDGE' THAT WE CAN USE TO CROSS!" At the sound of her voice, the six people flooded out of the door and into the cavern again only to find Yuri standing still in midair. Chang couldn't believe what his two eyes were displaying to him. "Yuri, what did you do?! Was there a switch or something?!"

"No, I didn't do anything. All I did was step on to the trench and the next thing I knew, I was flying."

Everyone rushed to the edge of the cliff and stepped off, having complete faith in what Yuri said. Soon, they were walking on air, walking towards the other cliff where the next door awaited their arrival. "Amazing," Chang admired, "Anti-gravity, one of science's greatest mysteries... Brilliant." In a couple of minutes, they stepped onto the other cliff and headed toward the door. Tae Kyun opened the door and they were once again walking through a long spacious corridor lined with electric light bulbs.

"How did you know what to do Yuri?" Jessica asked amazed.

"The 'right view', the right way of looking at nature and the world as they really are. I figured that what we were looking at was only an illusion, according to the hint, and I acted out of instinct."

The maze seemed to never end. After walking for what seemed like forever, they reached another door. "Door number two you guys... get ready." The door was opened and it led the six people into what seemed like a king's chamber. The ceiling was decorated with crystal chandeliers with dragons sculpted on the structures. Everywhere the head turned, there were priceless golden idols, countless pieces of precious gemstones, and exquisite jewelry and pottery. Even the room itself was painted gold. Across the room was the exit. Again, the map disappeared and was replaced by "?? (The Right Intentions)".

"How much do you think all this treasure is worth? I would say more than $900 million worth." One of the two henchmen was about to run at one of the golden idols when he was stopped by both Yuri and Chang at the same time. "Didn't you see the words 'right intentions"?! Everyone, listen up! Do not touch anything, do not grab anything! We head to the exit as planned. If you're ever tempted to grab at one of the treasures in here, you better pray that you won't be sent to hell after I send a flying bullet through your head. Let's go..."

Although the distance across the chamber wasn't very long, it seemed arduous to Yuri, as well as everyone else. Every second that passed, it was as if all the priceless jewelry and stones called out to her, and told her that they were the key to riches and fame. Turning her eyes away was even harder than trying to resist the temptation. Still, she focused on the real treasure up ahead, the Book of Life, and continued on.

Immediately, the floor of the room shook violently.

"What's going on?" one of them cried. Chang turned around and saw the same man who tried to run for one of the idols taking a gold diamond necklace from his bag and returning it to a pile of gemstones nearby. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!" Chang exclaimed furiously. Just as he was trying to take out his pistol from his jacket, all six noticed from the corner of their eyes that the floor was starting to break and disappear. Bricks, along with the valuable treasures, fell into the darkness below. Before any of them had time to think, the floor beneath their feet cracked and broke apart.

They all fell, awaiting their death that was only a couple hundred feet away, a distance that quickly decreased as seconds went by.

Chapter 12

Bitter, cold darkness was all Yuri could see in front of her eyes, as the wind swept fast her. Her life literally flashed before her eyes: her friends from school and various variety shows, how much fun she had as a member of an idol group, all the pillow fights and food fights in the dorm, sharing laughs and tears with her 8 other sisters... Bear Taewoo....

Snatch! Just then, she felt someone grab onto her wrist, holding tight so as to not let go. Yuri looked up to see who her guardian angel was. Jessica's smiling face beamed down at Yuri's pearl eyes. She was holding onto Yuri with one hand and with the other, barely holding onto a boulder that was stuck on the side of the cliff.

"Jessica..." Yuri said in relief.

"Yuri, you see that rock over there to your right? Now, I'm going to swing you over and you have to jump onto that rock. Then immediately grab onto that branch right there to keep yourself from slipping."

"Sica, I don't know if I can-"

"Yuri, I swear on my life, if you say that you can't, I'm going to freakin let go!" Yuri focused on the rock that was barely sticking out, which would soon become her lifesaver. I can do this, she assured herself.

"On the count of three! One... two... THREE!"

With all her strength, Sica swung Yuri forward and let go of her wrist. Yuri flew like a bird, gliding in the air, and onto the edge of the stone. However, she lost her balance and control, and fell from the only thing that was supposed to keep her alive. "YURI!!!!!" Jessica cried out.

Suddenly, Yuri noticed a tree root protruding from the wall and aimed her hands toward the target. Her hands caught the wood and grabbed onto it with her dear life. "Jessica, I'm alright!" Her voice echoed against the walls around her. Pulling herself up, she moved onto the nearest stepping stone she could find and stood up, looking above. There she saw Jessica pulling herself up with one hand onto a surface. She looked around and saw the other survivors: Tae Kyun was holding onto a rock, with Chang hanging on his leg; and one of the two henchmen was laying down on a surface. She tried to look for the other guy that almost led all of them to death, but couldn't find him. Soon, she realized that he was the only one who fell to the depths, into hell below. That's what you get for not following orders, she said to herself. The next priority on her mind was escape.

"Sica, any luck finding out how to get out of here?" But Sica was one step ahead of everyone else. With her bare hands, she began to scale the wall upward, careful as to not slip. Then Tae Kyun began to follow, grabbing onto any piece of rock that he could find and climbing upward. In a matter of minutes, the two had reached the top, or what was left of it. Immediately, Tae Kyun pulled out two long stretches of ropes, tied each one to a nearby stone pillar, and threw it down for others to climb up. Yuri was the first to grab the rope and pulled herself upward.

Each step that she took climbing, each hand that grabbed the next piece of the straw rope, reminded her of her elementary PE class, where other students kept laughing at her when she tried to climb the rope, calling her a "chocolate belly" and "useless beauty". If only they could see me now, Yuri thought. When the last hand grabbed onto the surface, Jessica helped pull her up. Next came the masked man, the last henchmen, who came up without so much as trying. Last came Chang. Just as Chang was about to reach his safe haven, his hands slipped and let go, and being caught off balance, fell. However, Yuri jumped to where Chang was and grabbed his hand at the nick of time.

"Oh my God, when was the last time you worked out?! I can't pull you up alone so move your fat @$$ and try to scale the walls with your legs!" Yuri cried as she tried pulling him with both hands and into safety. Chang laid there on his back, breathing a heavy sigh.

"Whew, I almost died there.... thank you Yur-"

"Shut up! This doesn't change anything..." Yuri growled fiercely.

"Well, I had a feeling you would say that... well we can't stand here and grieve about the guy who almost killed us all, now can we? Let's move on."

Again, the stone corridor greeted them with a glaring, threatening look. With an exhausted mind and body, all five went straight ahead, following the jade hologram which was their only source for the exit. Left...right...left... it seemed as though this maze had no end, leading them around in circles, as though an ancient spirit wanted to play around with them. Finally, an entrance came into view. As they got closer, they realized that, unlike the other entrances, this one had no door. This next room was a perfect circle all around, not too spacious but not too closed either. Positioned right on the wall was an identical water clock that Yuri observed in the museum not too long ago. As the last person entered the stone room, the entrance slammed shut. It caught everyone by surprise. "What happened?!" Sica asked in surprise. Then, unlike the previous times, the stone flashed three words instead of one: "??(Right Speech)", "??(Right Action)", "??(Right Livelihood)"*.

"Okay, so how do we get out of here?" Tae Kyun asked.

Yuri noticed an air slit shaped like a door, possibly an exit. She tried to push on it, thinking it would open like a revolving door, but her efforts were futile. Just then, by luck, Yuri accidentally pushed one of the rocks and she heard gears turning inside. Smiling thinking she found a method of exit, her smile quickly disappeared as a small wooden chest popped out from the floor. She opened it and noticed a brass key. She looked back at the exit she thought she found and discovered a keyhole etched into the wall. "Hey everyone I think I found our exit!" she exclaimed. Everyone rushed over to her side. She slid the key into the hole and turned. As expected, the wall opened wide and revealed a large passageway. Yuri was about to walk out when, suddenly, Chang grabbed her and stopped her from taking another step.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Yuri asked furiously.

"You see that white cylindrical stuff on the sides there? I have those too... well, a modern version of it. It's a weight displacement lock. It's set to a specific weight and I'm 99.9% sure that those ancient turrets over on the passageway's ceilings right there, the ones that are equipped with .50 caliber bullets, are designed to knock out anything and everything in sight after the displaced weight steps out. In other words.... four of us are screwed."

Clang! Just then, a loud vibration was heard above, with more gears turning. All five heads looked up, and there was no one in the room who wasn't horrified by the sight. What Yuri had thought were a bunch of stalagmites growing on the ceiling turned out to be countless number of steel spikes ready to crush all those who come in contact with it. Drip... drip... On the wall, the water clock automatically activated and Yuri noticed that each water drop that fell signified each time the ceiling lowered itself.

"Holy mother of God..." Sica whispered under her breath. "Only one of us goes through, and the rest of us dies, right Chang? Who's gonna go through?"

Then, Chang drew out his pistol and aimed at everyone in sight. "I'm going to go through and no one can stop me! If anyone other than me steps out of this room, I swear I'm going to pull this trigger!"

"Chang, you don't have to do this. I'm sure there's another way out."

"You and I both know that that is complete bull! Now... it was nice knowing you all. Say hello to afterlife..." Chang bid his farewell and headed for the passageway.

"Right action, right speech, right livelihood.... it doesn't make any sense... unless.... SICA, STOP CHANG FROM STEPPING ANY FURTHER!!" Without question, Sica grabbed Chang by the neck, pushed him down onto the floor, locked his arm with her hands, and kicked the pistol out of his hand. The ceiling lowered another couple of inches. "Are you crazy Yuri?! Would you rather have all of us die here than-" but Chang was soon interrupted by Yuri.

"Shut up for a sec! Everyone be quiet and listen to this!" Now, everyone's ears were trying to focus on an alien sound, a sound that only Yuri noticed. Soon, they all heard it. Whoosh... The sound of air escaping. Yuri stepped closer to where the sound was coming from and realized that it originated behind the ancient water clock. "Sica help me push this thing!" Yuri exclaimed. With her help, they both arduously pushed the water clock to the side, revealing a small, but manageable passageway exit. "Alright, let's get moving!" Chang cried joyfully. However, Yuri stopped him again.

"Now, what?!"

"Don't you remember the word that the map displayed to all of us?" Yuri continued, "'Right livelihood'... also known as the 'right path'. We have two paths here: one leading to salvation, the other to destruction - the 'right path'. The question is.... which path do we take?"

Chapter 13

Creak... By now, the death trap of a ceiling was barely inches from their heads. Right now, it was literally a decision between life and death. 'Right action, right livelihood, right speech? hold on- they all have something in common,' Yuri realized. She remembered a plaque hanging on Tiffany's bedroom wall, one that kept disappearing from Fany's room and ending up in her own room somehow, and on it was inscribed an inspirational quote Yuri just couldn't get out of her head:Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.*

"Everyone, take the small passage, the one behind the clock, quick!" Yuri exclaimed, "Don't ask questions, just hurry!"

Creak... This time, the ceiling came so low that she had to crawl on her stomach to catch up with the rest. At last, everyone else managed to escape and it was her turn. Before leaving, she took one last look at the clock and at the alternative exit, praying that she was right. When the final water drop was on the verge of dropping, Yuri kicked her legs and jumped in time, sending dust and earth into the air. Boom! The sound of barely getting out alive was like music to her ears.

As footsteps echoed throughout the hall, each head kept turning around, anticipating any bit of attack or disaster in case Yuri made a wrong choice. Tae Kyun felt the soil beneath their feet and noticed it was damp. "We must be near the shore," he noted, "That means we traveled about 60 miles in the last... 10 hours. Interesting." After one final right turn, the group was led out of the corridor and into a bare room about 15m wide, 20m across, and 100m high. The stone room was literally empty, and there was nothing in sight except for a circular object hanging on the opposite wall.

"Careful people," Sica warned, "Don't let your guard down just yet... I have a bad feeling about this room."

The stone didn't flash any words yet. As Chang took one step forward, the earth around them trembled. "Is it an earthquake?" one of them asked. When the trembling ceased, parts of the walls on either side of the room opened up and out came 10 self-controlled golem statues, walking similarly to how a modern day robot would, that was carved in the exact image of ancient Korean military warriors. The statues were all equipped with miniature automatic canons on their arms, with munition loaded into each stone body. On their eyes were laser optics that enabled almost-perfect accuracy. On the chest of the statues was carved the samjokgo. One of the statue's eye took a scan at all five scared faces.

"Facial scan: not recognized... Voice scan: not recognized... Body scan: not recognized... Final report: no evidence of Sejong. Commence termination." Suddenly, the chests started to grow bright blue, and so did their canons. One canon ball slid into the canon and fired at the five people.

"DUCK!!!!" the masked henchman exclaimed. Everyone avoided the attack just in time as the ball flew above their heads and crashed into the wall behind, causing massive shards of stone toppling down. Suddenly, Yuri heard multiple canon balls being loaded into the canon, and statues taking aim at them like an eagle looking down at its prey. Still crouching, Sica whispered under her breath, 'God, I hope this works...' Immediately, she stood up, but as she was standing up, her left arm reached for Tae Kyun's holster while her right arm grabbed at Chang's jacket. In a flash, Sica grabbed both pistols into her hands and took aim at the statues.

"Sica, its no use! The bullets will just bounce off the stone armor and-"

"Shut up and stay behind! I know what I'm doing!"

With that, Sica rushed at them with full speed. One statue fired at her, but fortunately, she rolled to the right, barely dodging the flying ammunition. Finally, she found her chance. Sica cocked the gun, and screaming, aimed and pulled the trigger. With a flash and a bang, the lead bullet sped through the air and struck the opening that she had been looking for... the statue's "throat". It pierced through countless gears and wires, sending electric sparks and pieces of metal into the air. Her perfect shot was all it took to bring down the unrelenting statue, as its eyes started to fade and its body to collapse onto the bare floor.

"One down, nine more to go..."

She noticed two of them taking aim at the rest of the group. Sica ran and jumped sideways, then pulled the triggers of both guns in midair. Each of the two shots hit both statues on the target point. Three down so far. She ran forward and shot at another one, but she missed and hit the stone armor. As she was about to make a second attempt, another statue loaded its canon and got ready to fire at Sica. Realizing this, Yuri got up and rushed at the statue. In a split second, she jumped onto its back and, with both her hands, blinded it. The attacking statue threw shots everywhere at random locations. Suddenly, realizing its nemesis was on its back, it reversed its canon arm and aimed down where Yuri was. However, Yuri was quick to thinking and jumped off just as a canon ball fired out of its arm. Instead of hitting Yuri, the ball pierced through the statue's back, causing it to destroy itself. By the time Yuri finished her heroic deed, Sica took out three statues. She gave her a thumbs up.

"How many left?" Yuri asked.

"Three more! I'm starting to run low on energy... only if there was a faster way to-"

"YURI.... SICA.... GET AWAY NOW!" a voice behind them cried. Both heads turned to see Tae Kyun holding a frag grenade in one hand, and a ring stuck on his mouth. Without thinking, both Yuri and Jessica grabbed each other tightly and jumped to the side, into one of the rooms that the statues came out of. Tae Kyun threw the grenade at the group of the warrior statues who were on the point of firing three canon balls at once into the crowd. A huge explosion occurred inside the room and Yuri and Sica could feel the intense heat the explosion created. In a matter of seconds, the whole room was ablaze and the three remaining statues were torn apart, with wires and metal melting in the extreme heat. Dazed, both girls stood up and limped across the room to join the others.

"Why the hell didn't you use that in the first place?!" Sica asked furiously, "It could've saved me some trouble!"

"I only had one in my bag and I was saving it until I thought was the perfect time. Too bad we won't be able to use it anymore." Tae Kyun responded.

Through the still remaining fire and the piles of metal debris, the five walked across the room to the opposite wall. Soon, they realized that the circular figure they noticed in the beginning was actually a bronze carving of the Dharma Wheel*.

The Dharma Wheel

The bronze was starting to corrode and bushes of moss and fern were beginning to grow on it. Yuri grabbed one of the eight spokes and brushed the dust off. After six hundred years, she could still see her innocent, yet dark, reflection on the surface. She observed the hub, or the center, of the wheel which displayed the same carving that the present-day Korean flag was inspired by. As she grabbed the handles of the wheel, she noticed that on each handle was a jade stone embedded into the bronze. Curious, she counted the stones and noticed to her surprise that there were only seven stones.

One was missing.

"Chang, hand me the stone," Yuri demanded. Before he could say a word, she snatched the stone from his hand and inserted into the empty space on one of the handles. Immediately the wheel slid back and gave one full 360 degree spin before coming to a halt. After that, everything went back into dead silence. "Now what? Don't tell me this is it... that we went through all that just to stop here..." Chang cried enraged. Yuri gave another spin on the wheel. Her face lit up and she put her ears against the wall as she turned the wheel again. A smile formed on her lips as she realized that she wasn't hearing random things. What brightened up her day was the fact that the sound she heard behind the wall was the sound of gears turning and clicking.

"What is it Yuri?" Tae Kyun asked.

"I knew it! This wheel itself is a combination lock. We just have to turn it the right amount and I'm guessing that the wall in front of us will open."

"So.... what's the combination?"

"If I knew that, don't you think I would've put it in by now?!" Yuri replied annoyed.

However, no matter how much she thought, she couldn't think of any combination and not even the slightest bit of information came into her mind. 'Alright so what do I know about the Dharma Wheel?' she thought to herself, 'The eight spokes represent the eight noble paths.... the hub represents discipline.... the circle represents the perfectness of Dharma teac- THE CIRCLE!' She faced the wheel with an idea in mind. With a piece of metal on the ground, she marked the top circle as a starting point so as to now how many full turns she made. Then, she began to insert in the combination.

"3 turns to the left.... 1 turn to the right... 4 turns to the left... 1.... 5.... 9.... 2.... 6.... done. The first eight digits of pi, a number that defines a circle. I just hope King Sejong knew of it..."

When she made the final turn, the wheel slid into the wall and rose about 50m. What happened next blew everyone away. From the ground, a stone dragon literally rose up from the bottom and slithered next to the wheel like a great serpent, its intimidating mouth opened wide as if to swallow the wheel whole. Next, a stone phoenix flew down from the top, with its long feather-like tail brushing the stone, and landed right next to the wheel, opposite the side of the dragon; its mighty beak also opened wide as if to swallow the wheel. After that, a straight line ran through the immense wall, cutting it in half. The earth shook once more and the two halves pushed each other on opposite ends, opening like an automatic door. A brilliant light shone through the opening and everyone had to cover their eyes so as not to blind themselves. When they regained their sight, the view in front of their eyes was just breathtaking.

The room was a vast chamber built out of pure gold. Statues of the samjokgo lined up the walls in place of gargoyles, and jade pillars supported the crystal ceiling that was at least 100m high. Right in front was a staircase shining with radiant light from multiple fluorescent bulbs that lined up on the handles. Piles of gold, silver, white gold, emeralds, and rubies were scattered throughout the room. About 40m away was a magnificent waterfall pouring down from the ceiling and into a fresh, clear pool in the center of the room. A bridge connected the room to a piece of circular land in the middle of the pool. On that land lied a single crystal stand, but on top of the stand was the very treasure that almost got Yuri and everyone she knew killed for: the book of life.

"Finally... my whole life's work less than 50m away from me!" Chang cried excited. Without thinking, he rushed down the staircase and ran toward the pool. Then out of nowhere, a powerful gust of air blew at his face and he stopped dead in his tracks. "What in the name...?" As he tried to back up and go back the flight of stairs, he was stopped by an invisible wall. "What's going on?" he asked worriedly.

"What's going on? Why isn't Chang coming back to us?" Yuri wondered.

Realizing that going back wasn't an option anymore, Chang decided to move forward, but was stopped by another invisible wall. Thinking he could probably escape to the sides, he tried to move left and right, but no luck. Now, it was literally a death trap. Whirr... A sound was heard from the ceiling and he looked up to see what it was. Exactly above where he was standing, a hole opened up and everyone witnessed a tiny drop of what looked like liquid metal. Chang turned around to face the rest of the people with a horrified look and kept punching and kicking the wall in the hopes of breaking out.

"Aw damn, I have to get Chang out!" Yuri exclaimed. As she was about to step forward, Sica stopped her.

"What do you think you're doing?! The same thing might happen to you! Besides, why do you want to save Chang? Have you forgotten that he almost killed seven of our closest friends, friends who we now consider equivalent to our own sisters?!"

"How could I ever forget what that ******* did to our members?! There is a reason why I want- no, I need- to save him!" and just as Yuri pushed Sica's arms aside to help him, the tiny drop of liquid metallic substance fell on Chang's head. Immediately upon contact, the whole room gave out a blinding light and an intense wind that blew everyone away. When the light subsided and Yuri's eyes slowly turned normal, she stood up and looked around the room to see where Chang was. He was nowhere in sight. She tried to call for him, but to her dismay, no response. The book still laid on the stand motionless. It was decided: Chang had vanished into thin air and disappeared forever.

"Wait, how could that be? How could he just-" Yuri began.

"Anti matter*," Tae Kyun replied, "One gram of the substance could vanish an area the size of Seoul. It's a highly sophisticated, yet deadly, technology."

This time, the masked henchman collapsed on his knees. He pulled off his mask and threw it across, cursing himself. "Damn it! Damn it! I was so close!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Jessica snickered. "I had a feeling the face behind the mask was yours...... Hyo Joon."

Chapter 14

"I had a feeling the face behind the mask was yours...... Hyo Joon."

Officer Hyo Joon, the same man who tried to drug and capture Yuri the day before, clenched his fist and struck the ground, sending small pebbles flying in the air. There was just Hyo Joon, Tae Kyun, Yuri, and Jessica left to escape out of this game of death. Amidst everything that has happened, Yuri stood there dumbfounded, with so many questions running through her head waiting to be answered.

"Officer Hyo Joon?!..." Yuri struggled to put her words together, "But... how... I drugged you in the bathroom... in the hotel before you tried to take me away... the drug was supposed to have a 36-hour effect... how did... also how do you know Sica?... or Sica, how do you know him?"

As Yuri finished sputtering random words, both Tae Kyun and Hyo Joon stared into Sica's nervous eyes. It seemed as if they were trying to send a telepathic message to her: We should tell her. Hyo Joon stood up and Tae Kyun stepped closer. Sica's eyes flashed and immediately they all seemed to have gotten the message. The sound of the waterfall in the golden treasure room was the only noise that was being heard. Sica was the first to break the dreading silence.

"Alright fine. Rock, paper, scissors, only one game. Loser tells Yuri the truth."

"Wait, what truth?!" Yuri demanded, but no one seemed to be listening. All three glared at one another and each put one hand behind their back. "On the count of three," Sica continued, "One... two... THREE!" Both Hyo Joon and Tae Kyun formed a rock, but Sica formed scissors. In a second, she was the only one in the room besides Yuri who wasn't smiling.

"Good luck," Hyo Joon told her and both men stepped away.

"So what are you going to tell me Sica? How do you know Hyo Joon, and how the hell did he survive the drug? And it seems to me that Tae Kyun knows you personally as well... care to explain?"

"Yuri sit down, this story is going to take awhile."

The current situation felt very awkward. They all sat, their backs leaning against one wall, the two girls' eyes staring at each other, one set flowing with curiosity while the other with nervousness. Sica looked at Hyo Joon for help, but all he did was turn his head the other way, pretending as if she wasn't there, whistling to himself. Tae Kyun put his head down, playing with the rocks on the ground. Sica cursed the heavens under her breath. Then she faced Yuri and told her what she wanted to know.

"Before I tell you anything, Yuri, you have to promise me that nothing I tell you will come between us, that we'll remain sisters until the very end, and that you won't tell a soul, not even to our girls, about what I'm going to say. Do you promise?"

"To the depths of my heart," Yuri swore.

"Yuri... you know how I came from the States, right? Well, when I was eight years old, my father turned into an alcoholic and my family life went downhill from that point on. He kept mistreating my mom and one day, she couldn't take it anymore so she ran away and left me with my father, who treated me like I was his slave, never acknowledging the fact that I was his only daughter. One time, he threatened to kill me if I didn't do as I was told and so I packed my bag with what little I had left and ran away. Soon, I joined the underground world and learned how to hotwire a car, crack computers, produce various drugs, deal weapons to others, spy people effectively, assassinate, build explosives, take down an opponent,... you know those kinds of stuff, ones that your mom wouldn't be too proud of, if you know what I mean.

"Anyways, one day, one of our underground club parties was raided by the police, specifically the SWAT team. That happened when I was... nine years old? Yeah, around that time. As the SWAT team was moving in, they started firing at our group, shooting at everyone and every thing. Luckily I wasn't hit, but one of my best friends was and as he collapsed onto his face, with blood sputtering out of his mouth, I couldn't take the sight. With every knowledge I knew, I grabbed a smoke grenade near me and threw it at the police force, confusing them. When I got my chance, I jumped and landed a hard side kick at two of the officers. I knocked out about five more with my fist and legs alone. When one of them tried to shoot me, I grabbed his gun, snatched it from his hand, and fired at him. I grabbed another gun from one of the knocked out ones and fired multiple shots at the crowd, killing many officers in result. I noticed there were a couple more left before I got to the head of the unit, so I jumped and took out the rest with the skill and training that I obtained over nine months. Basically, I took down a whole SWAT team with strength and firepower alone. When I got to the police chief, he pointed his glock pistol at my face, but I disarmed him just in time, and was about to pull the trigger at him when suddenly I heard a bang behind me and everything turned black.

"The next thing I knew, I was in a chair with medical equipment all around me. I tried to leave, but I noticed I was strapped with carbon fiber into a metal chair, and believe me, the carbon was stronger than steel. I looked around and saw that there were tubes going through my veins and a heart rate monitor next to me. There was a glass panel in front of me and I saw a man dressed in black giving some sort of signal to a bunch of scientists and researchers scattered around him. The next thing I knew, I felt the most extreme surge of pain known to man. It felt like a whole army stabbed me at the same with spears and arrows. My blood felt like it was boiling and I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I thought I saw a great blinding light during the process, as if I was about to die, but my will to live was stronger and I fought the pain as hard as I could. The experience still gives me chills just thinking about it. After enduring hell for a couple of minutes, which seemed like hours to me, two scientists entered the room and one released me. When I was finally free, I kicked him to the side and started pounding at the glass as hard as I could. The other scientist immediately shot a tranquilizer dart at me. When I woke up, I was sitting in a small steel room, with sweat pouring down my head. I noticed there was another kid about the same age as me in the room, also drenched in sweat but not conscious. Little did I know that he was going to be my partner for the next seven years."

Sica looked over at Hyo Joon who looked back at her with a reminiscent glare. "Oh yeah.... I almost forgot about our little experience in the room," Hyo Joon replied. Sica carried on.

"Not too long after Hyo Joon woke up and we introduced each other like two best friends, a man dressed in a black suit with a casual white tie entered the room. He referred to himself as "The Leader" and told us that he has been watching us, that he liked the strength and knowledge of skill we displayed. Then he told us we had a choice: to go back to our worthless life living in the underground world, or join his elite special group. I asked him what the group was and what they did, but all he told me was the name, something which shocked me and Hyo together: the Junior CIA Special Forces (JCSF). With that, he left and Hyo and I looked at each other, trying to decide whether to join or get out. One week later, we were give our first mission.

"Soon, we both headed to San Francisco; I was carrying a trombone case while him a trumpet case. We were positioned on the roof of a building that looked out into the golden gate bridge, with its steel beams gleaming in the afternoon sun. Hyo opened his trumpet case, but inside was anything but a musical instrument; it was wired with a laptop, wireless satellite modem, a netbook, and various cyberhacking equipments. My trombone case, however, carried a T-76 sniper rifle. Yep you guessed it, Yuri.... we took on an EX mission*. While he was busy jamming security cameras and wireless communication, I was busy loading my rifle and equipping it with a silencer. Suddenly, we saw the family car, a Mercedes SUV. When I was notified of the fact that all the windows were bulletproof, I took my aim through my scope and shot one .50 caliber cap through the open sun roof. It was a direct hit and the driver was knocked out. Immediately, Hyo pressed the self destruct button and both equipments blew up. We escaped the police that were trying to chase us down and a senior agent picked us up in an alleyway. After that day, I was assigned a permanent home with a legal guardian in San Francisco.

"After completing a couple more successful missions together, the Leader was pleased with our work so far and transferred us to the Korean Special Forces because of our nationality. He escorted us until we arrived at the Incheon International Airport. There, Hyo and I saluted him and he bid us farewell, then left us to the care of the Head of the 707th Special Mission Battalion (SMB) of Korea's Special Warfare Command*, nicknamed "White Tiger", who was awaiting us a couple meters away. I'll never forget the tantalizing face that he looked at us with, a face that would scare any ten year old, even Hyo and I. Ten years later, that face still scares me even to this day." Sica turned her head and faced Tae Kyun who was still staring at the ground, playing with the same stone.

"Well people did tell me that I had a scary face," Tae Kyun said, "Especially when I was smiling, or at least trying to smile." He gave a weak laugh.

Sica continued with her story. "So to make a long story short, after Officer Tae Kyun, or should I say Major General Tae Kyun, brought us in to the secret SMB base in the mountains, he made our life so excruciating, it made the training in the Junior CIA look like playtime. By his orders, I was casted into SM Entertainment, and later as a member of SNSD, while Hyo was hired as a news reporter. Of course, we were both undercover agents while working, so we never forgot our first priorities. Remember, Yuri, when I kept missing out on group hangouts and when you begged me to go to the mall with you, but I kept declining the offer, saying I had appointments? Well, now you know why... So there you are, Yuri. Hyo was my partner and Tae was my boss. Any more questions?"

Yuri was now lost for words. "Wait.... so are you telling me that all these years you were-"

"Oh wait, I forgot to tell you. Three years ago, I realized how fun a normal life was and since I never really had a family before, I finally realized what having a family that loves you feels like. I looked at all eight of you girls as if you were my blood related sisters and SM was like a family to me. That is why I went to Tae and asked for resignation. He asked me if that was what I really wanted and I told him it was from the bottom of my heart. From then on, I was out of the whole secret forces life and into... into..." Sica began to tear up and she couldn't finish her sentence. Then out of nowhere, someone grabbed her and hugged her tightly. That someone was Yuri. Yuri, also in tears, hugged Sica, putting her arms around Sica's waist and laying her head on Sica's shoulder. Jessica Jung jolted from surprise but then embraced Yuri as well, exchanging the very love that she was being given, the love that bonded all nine girls for three years.

"Sica," Yuri remarked, her voice still breaking up through the emotion, "You don't have to finish the sentence. I know what you were going to say. I love you Sica, we all love you. So Nyu Shi Dae forever, right?" Both girls formed a smile, which suddenly turned into a friendly laughter. Wiping away the emotional tears that were streaming down their cheeks, both girls got up, followed by Hyo and Tae. The sound of the waterfall woke them up back into the present.

"So, Major General," Sica said, "What's your next plan?"

"To be honest, I'm out of ideas. What about you Hyo Joon?"

"I got nothing." Hyo kicked a stone into the middle of the room just for sheer fun. When the stone landed on the floor with a thud, Yuri took a closer look at it and smiled.

"Yuri, did you figure out something?"

"Oh you guys are gonna like this... this is the final room right? Well, we haven't gotten to the last three of the noble eightfold path and I believe that this room represents the last three: right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. And where do all three fit in the same category? Logical thinking puzzles. And if you look at the floor, you'll see not just any old tiles, but rather tiles with numbers imprinted on it, and these numbers don't seem to be in a particular order so that means it's a maze, a maze without visible walls. Step on the wrong tile and, like what Chang experienced, you will be trapped by invisible walls and will disappear off the face of the earth."

"So how do we know which way to go?"

Yuri counted up the numbers on the tiles and tried to form a pattern in her head. It took a while but she finally got the concept. "That's it. The Fibonacci Sequence*. Come on lets go!"

Carefully, they climbed down the marble staircase and arrived at the base of the immense chamber. The tiles were big enough to only support one person. "Everyone," Yuri yelled, "always follow me, step on the tiles that I land on! Make sure you don't lose balance and do not, I repeat, do not pickup any valuable jewelry or treasure while going through the maze! Right concentration! Hyo, can you pass me a stone from where you are?"

When she grabbed the stone, Yuri placed it down on the tile that read "0". Nothing. She placed one foot on the same tile and, when everything seemed safe, she landed her other foot. Again, she placed the stone on the tile that read "1" and waited for the clear. Still nothing, no gears turning, no tiny silver drop of the deadliest weapon in history. Being careful, she placed both feet on the tile. It took her a while to guarantee that the tile was safe. While repeating the same technique over and over, she counted the Fibonacci numbers in her head. 0...1...1...2...3...5...8...13...21...34... When the numbers reached to four digits, she was stuck.

"Okay, if my math is correct, the next number is 1597. And there are only single digit numbers in front of me. Hmm...what if..." and with that she placed the stone on the 1, then 5, 9, and 7. She raised her hands in the air in joy.

After what seemed like hours, even though they had nothing to measure time with, all four finally reached the bridge, the safe haven. The bridge was made out of pure marble and the great waterfall splashed and roared right beside their ears. The waters were crystal clear. When they all stepped off the bridge and into the small island in the center of the pool, the crystal stand holding the Book of Life greeted them. Yuri and Sica were the first to approach it and observe its magnificent craftsmanship. The book's covers were made of leather, but the leather didn't feel like it belonged to any creature a human today would recognize. The title of the book was written in an ancient unknown cuneiform, older than the Egyptian hieroglyphs or the Greek language, and possibly even older than the Sumerian language*. The pages were starting to decay, as the paper began turning dark brown and wrinkled until it looked as if it were tearing. It was a surprise that none of the pages were missing.

As Hyo Joon tried to step closer to carefully observe, he tripped over something soft. When he looked, he noticed it was a fairly heavy bag of sand. Ignoring it, he joined the crowd to stare in amazement. Yuri looked at the bag of sand gasped in surprise.

"Someone else was already here."

"Of course. Sejong had to be-"

"No, not Sejong, but someone from an entirely different century. I know I've seen that symbol on the sand bag somewhere, but I can't remember where and what it meant."

Desperate to get out of the room and onto the surface, Hyo stepped up right in front of the stand and grabbed the ancient book, removing it from its stand. "HYO JOON, DON'T-" Sica remarked but it was too late. Suddenly, a massive earthquake was felt and the ceiling started vibrating. The waterfall started to roar louder and the pool of water was suddenly starting to disappear, seeping away somewhere. The statues of the samjokgo that were lined on the walls began to fall one by one. In the next second, the whole floor of the room fell about five meters into the ground. "What was that?!" Sica asked scared.

Then, all at once, the entire floor of the chamber turned to dust and fell into the blazing magma beneath... except for the small island that was in the middle of what used to be a pool of fresh underground water. All four noticed that the island was being balanced on top of a single stalagmite; it was like balancing a cookie on a needle. They all rushed to different spots of the island so as to even out the force and not fall into the magma where they observed gold and metal melting in the extreme heat. Hyo Joon was still grabbing onto the ancient book tightly.

"Aw crap..."