Chapter 25: A Break in History
Another break was called.
This time the announcer's voice carried across the warehouse speakers with unusual calm.
"Fifteen minutes."
The crowd groaned and cheered at the same time. Some people rushed toward the makeshift bar in the corner. Others stayed glued to their chairs, replaying the last match in their heads.
Min stood from his seat without saying a word.
Two games to zero.
Just one more and the momentum of the night would tilt completely in his favor.
He slipped through the back exit of the warehouse and stepped outside.
The air was colder than he expected.
Somewhere down the street a car rolled past slowly, its engine coughing like it hadn't been tuned in years. Neon signs flickered overhead, half of them broken. Old advertisements hung from rusted billboards, relics from a world that had once promised endless connectivity.
Now the slogans looked almost ironic.
CONNECT THE WORLD.
THE FUTURE IS ONLINE.
The city of Mapo felt like it had been frozen in time.
When the Internet collapsed three years ago, it hadn't been a slow fade. It had been a sudden, violent silence.
At first people thought it was just an outage.
Then the outages spread.
Banking networks died first. International communications followed. Undersea cables stopped transmitting. Satellites went dark.
Soon the rumors began.
A cyber war.
Some said it started in the United States. Others claimed Europe had fired the first shot. Hackers, governments, rogue AI programs, every day a new theory appeared through grainy analog broadcasts.
South Korea moved quickly. The government locked down the infrastructure and built something smaller, safer.
An intranet.
A closed network only accessible to state systems and military terminals.
For everyone else, the world had become analog again.
Televisions returned. Radios carried global rumors through static-filled airwaves. Long-distance phone calls were rare and expensive.
And computers…
Computers became strange artifacts.
Some destroyed them out of fear.
Some hoarded them like treasure.
Others, like the crews gathering in the warehouse behind him, turned them into something entirely different.
A battlefield.
Min leaned against a cracked concrete wall and looked up at the sky.
Three years.
Three long years.
"It's been a long road," he muttered quietly.
Inside the warehouse, the world felt completely different.
Music blasted through giant speakers. Colored lights bounced across the cracked floor. The crowd moved in clusters, gamers, watchers, drifters, gang members, all blending into the strange culture that had formed after the collapse.
On one side sat the Warlocks.
Across from them, the Red Pulse.
The tension between the two groups still hummed in the air even during the break.
Chan-Sik was leaning back in his chair when three figures approached.
One of them wore a dark hood.
The other two stood slightly behind him, silent and alert.
They didn't look like spectators.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the hooded man said.
His voice was calm but confident.
"I'm here on behalf of the Gangnam Riders."
MC ORCA's eyes widened immediately.
"Of course we've heard of you," he said. "You're the biggest crew in Korea."
The hooded man nodded slightly.
"That reputation tends to travel."
Chan-Sik leaned forward.
"So what do you want?"
"Nothing," the man replied simply. "We're only here to observe."
He glanced toward the stage where Min had been playing.
"There are rumors circulating tonight."
"What rumors?" Sung-Woo asked.
"That Min might be something special."
He paused.
"A Gosu. Perhaps even a modern-day Bonjwa."
Chan-Sik smirked.
"Heh. You haven't seen anything yet."
"Perhaps not," the man said.
"But potential like that attracts attention."
He gestured to his two companions.
"We'll be watching."
The trio turned and disappeared back into the crowd just as quietly as they had arrived.
The Warlocks sat in stunned silence for a moment.
"Those were…" Sung-Woo started.
"Yeah," Chan-Sik finished.
"The biggest gang in the country."
MC ORCA nodded.
"Not just the biggest. The most connected."
"Also the most dangerous," he added.
"Their strategies break keyboards."
"And monitors," Chan-Sik laughed.
Across the warehouse, Hye-Jin and Ha-Eun sat near a railing overlooking the crowd.
The noise of the music softened slightly up there.
Hye-Jin studied the blue-haired girl beside her.
"So you really don't play any of this?" she asked.
Ha-Eun shook her head.
"No."
"You don't even own a computer?"
"I used to," she said calmly. "Just for studying."
"What happened to it?"
"My father took it away after the collapse."
Hye-Jin tilted her head.
"That must've been boring."
"I didn't mind," Ha-Eun replied. "I spent most of my time reading anyway."
She glanced down at the warehouse floor.
"But this…"
Her eyes moved across the glowing monitors, the shouting players, the roaring crowd.
"…this is fascinating."
"Fascinating?" Hye-Jin laughed.
"That's a new one."
Ha-Eun smiled faintly.
"I mean it. I never imagined something like this could exist."
She paused.
"So how did you all end up here?"
Hye-Jin leaned against the railing.
"Long story. What about you and Min?"
Ha-Eun shrugged.
"I just saw him in the park."
"Doing what?"
"Moving his fingers like this."
She mimicked the small rapid motions Min had been practicing.
"He looked like he was playing something invisible."
Hye-Jin burst out laughing.
"That sounds exactly like him."
"He looked strange," Ha-Eun admitted.
"But strangely normal."
"Normal compared to this place?" Hye-Jin asked.
"Exactly."
They both laughed.
A voice suddenly appeared behind them.
"Hey."
They turned.
Soo-Yeon stood there.
"Hi," Ha-Eun said politely.
Hye-Jin crossed her arms.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing," Soo-Yeon said quickly. "I just wanted to talk."
Hye-Jin rolled her eyes.
"You've been staring at us all night."
Ha-Eun tilted her head.
"Are you hiding something?"
Soo-Yeon hesitated.
Then she spoke quietly.
"I envy you."
"Don't listen to her," Hye-Jin said immediately. "She's been sabotaging us since last year."
Soo-Yeon lowered her gaze.
"I'm sorry about that. The world hasn't been kind to me either."
"I don't care," Hye-Jin snapped. "We all have problems. You chose your side."
Ha-Eun studied her carefully.
"So why are you here?"
Soo-Yeon looked straight at her.
"Why does Min like you?"
Ha-Eun blinked.
"I don't think he does."
"He doesn't?"
Her eyes widened slightly.
Hye-Jin stepped between them.
"Okay, that's enough."
She pointed toward the crowd.
"You should go before I make you go."
Soo-Yeon nodded slowly.
"Nice talking to you."
She zipped her hoodie up, hiding the Red Pulse colors, and walked away.
Ha-Eun watched her disappear.
"Did you have to be that harsh?" she asked.
Hye-Jin sighed.
"She's dangerous."
"How?"
"She's smart. Manipulative."
"And Min trusted her once."
Ha-Eun nodded slowly.
"I see."
"Long story," Hye-Jin added.
"Tell me sometime," Ha-Eun said.
Outside the warehouse, the fifteen minutes were nearly over.
Min was about to head back inside when someone stepped into view.
A hooded figure.
The glow of a lighter briefly illuminated his face.
Kang Do-Gyun.
The leader of Red Pulse.
He lit a cigarette and exhaled slowly.
"Those two idiots earlier were out of line," he said.
Min crossed his arms.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing."
Do-Gyun leaned against the wall beside him.
"I just want a fair match."
Min scoffed.
"That's new."
"This Best-of-Seven isn't going to be easy," Do-Gyun continued.
"It'll be a piece of cake."
Do-Gyun chuckled.
"You sound confident."
"Just like your brother."
Min's head snapped toward him.
"What do you know about my brother?"
"A lot, actually."
He took another drag from his cigarette.
"Contrary to what people think… we used to be friends."
"Liar."
"You don't have to believe me."
He smiled faintly.
"But when we were kids, your grandmother used to call him Tokki."
Min froze.
"…how do you know that?"
Do-Gyun flicked the cigarette to the ground.
"Because we grew up together."
He looked out toward the broken skyline of Mapo.
"We ran the streets. Got into trouble."
"Then StarCraft came out."
He laughed softly.
"And everything changed."
"You're lying," Min muttered.
"Maybe."
Do-Gyun shrugged.
"But tonight doesn't really matter. You're getting Mapo back either way."
Min narrowed his eyes.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I see it."
He pointed at Min's chest.
"That fire."
"The same one your brother had."
The announcer's voice suddenly blasted from inside the warehouse.
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!"
The crowd roared.
"TIME TO GET BACK TO THE MATCH!"
Do-Gyun pushed himself off the wall.
"There's our cue."
They both started walking toward the entrance.
Then Do-Gyun spoke again.
"You've been using your brother's strategies tonight."
Min stopped.
"What about it?"
"There was one he never showed anyone."
He smirked.
"Except me."
Min stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
Do-Gyun pushed the door open.
The roar of the crowd exploded into the night.
"You'll find out soon enough."
"Good luck."
Inside the warehouse the announcer raised the microphone.
"MAKE SOME NOISE!"
The crowd erupted.
The next battle was about to begin.