The unknown group moved with precision.
Not like scavengers.
Not like a desperate small gang.
Not like Tigers.
They were organized, silent, and methodical, everything Haneul was not.
And that made them terrifying.
1. A Silent Tape
The trio gathered around the office table, the surveillance footage looping on Soo-jin's tablet.
The masked group entered a Tiger safehouse with frightening efficiency:
Two men cut the power.
Three breached the entrance without a sound.
Others swarmed the inside like a disciplined strike team.
No wasted movement.
No shouting.
No excitement.
Just cold, clean work.
Tae-min watched the footage again—and again—eyes narrowing more each time.
Sang-ho leaned back, arms crossed.
"These aren't street punks," he muttered. "Who the hell moves like that in Haneul?" Soo-jin said.
Soo-jin didn't look away from the screen.
"They're professionals." He added.
"Too professional," Tae-min said quietly.
The footage paused as one of the masked attackers stepped into a sliver of light.
Not his face, his posture.
The way he moved.
The way he aimed.
The way he swept the room.
Sang-ho felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine.
He'd seen that posture before.
Years ago.
2. A Shadow From Another City
Tae-min noticed the look in Sang-ho's eyes.
"You recognize them?"
Sang-hi hesitated.
Not because he was unsure, but because saying it out loud made it real.
"I think…" he began slowly.
"…they're from Gwangseong."
Soo-jin looked up sharply.
"Gwangseong? That city's a warzone. Nobody from there bothers with places like Haneul."
"Exactly," Sang-ho said. "Unless they're being paid."
The room fell silent.
Gwangseong wasn't just violent, it was infamous. A city controlled not by one gang but three massive syndicates that constantly fought for control.
If even one of those syndicates had interests in Haneul…
Sang-ho whistled chuckled.
"So the Tigers pissed off someone bigger?"
Tae-min shook his head.
"No. I think someone invited them here."
The air in the room tightened.
Someone in Haneul, maybe even inside the Tigers, was pulling strings far beyond the city's borders.
3. Missing Pieces
Soo-jin swiped through more surveillance sequences.
Different angles.
Different nights.
Different raids.
The masked group wasn't attacking randomly.
They hit specific Tiger safehouses.
Specific Tiger crews.
Specific stockpiles.
Each strike cut deeper into the Tigers' structure, like a surgeon removing organs instead of a butcher hacking away.
Soo-jin pointed at the screen.
"They're not causing chaos. They're shaping it."
Tae-min nodded.
"That's why our plan's falling out of sync. Someone else is moving with purpose."
Sang-ho let out a low sigh.
"So we're not the only ones trying to tear the Tigers apart."
"No," Tae-min said. "Someone wants to replace them."
"And they're doing it fast," Soo-jin added. "Too fast."
4. A Message in the Dark
Around midnight, as the city simmered with distant gunshots, the trio sat in the Skyfall Lounge's dim backroom, exhaustion creeping into their voices.
Then...
A knock.
Not loud.
Not polite.
Just… steady.
Three taps.
Silence.
Three more taps.
Like a code.
Soo-jin checked the cameras.
No one was there.
Just a small envelope on the ground.
Tae-min retrieved it cautiously.
Inside was a single black card with red lettering:
"You're not the only ones who see opportunity."
On the back:
"Stay out of the way.
Haneul doesn't need new players."
No gang name.
No emblem.
Just a symbol printed faintly in the corner:
A crimson crescent.
Sang-ho's eyes widened a fraction.
"I know that symbol."
Tae-min leaned in.
"And?"
"It belongs to the Red Crescent Brigade. One of the syndicates in Gwangseong."
Soo-jin paled slightly.
"They're huge."
"Not huge," Sang-ho corrected quietly.
"Enormous. They run arms, ports, networks. If they're here…"
He swallowed.
"…then Haneul isn't just a turf war anymore."
5. Losing Control
The trio gathered around the table again, but this time there was no confidence in their posture.
Their plan was working...
but not in the way they intended.
They had wanted the Tigers weakened, fractured, directionless.
But now?
Now someone else was moving faster, deeper, more precisely than they ever could.
Their strategy, carefully built over months, was becoming a foundation for someone else's takeover.
Sang-ho rubbed his forehead.
"We're losing control of the story."
Tae-min nodded.
"And once we lose the narrative in a city like this…"
He looked at both of them.
"…we stop being players and start being casualties."
Soo-jin sat down, elbows on his knees.
"So what do we do? Stop the plan?"
"No," Tae-min said immediately. "We're too deep in. If we pull out now we look weak."
"Then we push forward?" Sang-ho asked.
Tae-min hesitated.
For the first time since Haneul…
he hesitated.
"The next phase needs to change," he said softly. "We need to adjust to the new variable."
"Which means what?" Soo-jin pressed.
Tae-min inhaled slowly.
"It means…"
He looked at the map of Haneul, at the Tigers' fractured territories, at the locations where the Red Crescent Brigade had hit.
"…we're going to have to confront them."
6. Meanwhile, in the Streets
That night Haneul burned brighter than usual.
Two Tiger factions shot at each other near a construction site.
A Namgye crew started raiding Tiger stash houses.
A convoy was overturned on the highway.
Screams mixed with engines.
Explosions flickered in the distance like fireworks gone wrong.
Tae-min watched it all from the Skyfall rooftop.
The chaos wasn't natural anymore.
It wasn't random.
It wasn't the organic collapse of a gang.
It was orchestrated.
Designed.
Directed by someone with deeper pockets and a longer reach.
Sang-ho joined him on the rooftop.
"This city's going to hell."
"No," Tae-min said quietly. "It's changing hands."
Sang-ho glanced sideways.
"You scared?"
Tae-min didn't answer immediately.
He looked at the fires.
The sirens.
The distant echo of gunshots.
Then he finally admitted:
"…A little."
"Good," Sang-ho said, lighting a cigarette. "Means you know how real this is."
They stood in silence as the city trembled below them.
Their plan wasn't dead.
But it was no longer theirs alone.
Someone bigger had entered the board.
Someone ruthless.
Someone ambitious.
Someone who didn't mind leaving bodies behind.
And soon, the trio would have to decide...
Were they going to compete against a syndicate…
or get crushed by one?