Chapter 3 | Initiation

"there was something emanating from it. Heat, that's what it was. Almost as if he was a bonfire on a winter night."

"What do you mean traitor?"

"I mean someone who is in the Ssaurabi that is actively betraying us, and overall just a jerk"

"I know what a traitor is, I meant how do you know there is a traitor?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets. I am the smartest in the Ssaurabi after all" Oh-Jin remarks.

10 minutes later, Oh-Jin and Yi walk back into the meeting room, while Oh-Jin has a grin the size of his ego. Yi tries to think back to what Oh-Jin told him about all the Ssaurabi. This isn't good, Yi thought it would be a fighting test, that's what he's good at, not using his brain.

7 minutes ago:

"Here is something important, the traitor is a spy from Japan. Guess who's from Japan? The Ssaurabi 'Ryu'. He is wearing a red hanbok, with a dragon emblem on his breast. He is a Joseon saram (Korean person/Joseon person), however he was born in Japan. I wouldn't rely too much on this info though, if anything you should trust your gut since this test is about you" Oh-Jin said.

Present:

Yi scans the room, and eventually lays his eyes upon a big muscular man sitting with his arms crossed, who is wearing a dark red hanbok with yellow and orange highlights. The dragon emblem layed there on his breast, and had a gold outline. He had a cape on too, that seemed almost alive with how it moved, much like Oh-Jin's seams. It was almost as if you could feel Ryu's presence in the room, there was something emanating from it. Heat, that's what it was. Almost as if he was a bonfire on a winter night. His jawline was intense, intense like the heat emanating from him, amplifying his presence. He looked too carefree compared to the rest of the Ssaurabi however, almost as if he knew he would never be caught. Something to keep note of, however I am most likely overthinking it. Yi thought.

6 minutes ago:

"Another thing you should consider is that this person is a shinobi, meaning they're significantly weaker than the rest of the Ssaurabi, maybe even weaker than you. They're instincts are much less sharp as well, just some food for thought" Oh-Jin said.

Present:

Thinking about loyalty and weakness reminded Yi of the past. When Yi was younger, just after his father passed, he had no other choice but to join a gang. That was the only way to survive in the slums. He didn't want to get mixed up in all the crime and bad stuff, but that was just the way of life there. Naturally, with how great of a fighter he was he quickly rose the ranks. He was the vice-chief of his gang, the 'Bloody Dragons', and they had a test they used to snuff out spies. The test was simple, a fighter/soldier's instincts would be sharper than a spy's since the fighter/soldier had way more reactionary training, and more experience in fights. The spy is trained for espionage, and gathering info. So the sure fire method of testing the reaction was so simple, yet always worked.

Yi stopped thinking about the past, and tried to focus more on who it could be. It couldn't be Jung-Pal since Jung-Pal was the one who brought him here in the first place, plus he was a better fighter than me. Oh-Jin wouldn't try to sell himself out, plus he seems to be at least highly credible amongst the Ssaurabi from the way they listen to him. There are 6 Ssaurabi left excluding Ryu. There is someone in a dark green hanbok, with flowers on it. There is another person with a brown hanbok, who seems to be keeping to himself a lot. There is someone with a black and white hanbok, she has a big weapon sheathed on her back, and seems very intimidating. There is another person who appears to be very nervous, constantly picking his nails. He is in a yellow hanbok. There is another person who looks calm, almost as if their body wasn't where their mind was, wearing a dark pink and black hanfu (traditional chinese clothing), and the woman in the dark purple hanbok who talked earlier. The only ones who seem to be suspicious right now are Ryu, the person in the yellow and black hanbok, and one other…

Yi was deep in thought. This is the deepest he had ever thought, and surprisingly he almost enjoyed it.

5 minutes ago:

"Just so you know, I wasn't able to find anything on these guys. Even I, the smartest person in all of Joseon and probably Asia, haven't been able to find dirt or tracks, so maybe you'll be able to find who it is with your fresh perspective. Think about what comes naturally to you, what's authentic" Oh-Jin said.

Present:

Yi has no idea how to continue, so he thinks back to the spy test. They would gather the suspect in a nice room, to make it seem like they were about to be rewarded, so that their guard was down. Then Yi and the chief of the gang would shower the suspect in praise, to make sure the suspect fully trusts them. After that, they would grab a piece of paper, which they would then conduct the final step with.

Yi looked around the room for a piece of paper, but nothing could be found. So Yi decided to do what was natural to him, improvise. He ripped a piece off of his rags-for-clothes, and rolled it into a ball.

"Eh, good enough. It doesn't have to be paper I guess" Yi muttered under his breath.

Then Yi grasped the ball, and loaded his arm back.

"Sorry Oh-Jin!"

Yi then conducted the final step of the test, getting a reaction. Yi pelted the ball as fast he could at Oh-Jin's face, to which it landed. You could see the skin fold inwards on Oh-Jin's face, and the ball rebounded, and simply plopped onto the floor.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? IS THIS FUNNY TO YOU YI?" Yelled Oh-Jin in a fit of anger.

Everyone seemed to know when exactly Yi was about to throw the ball, except Oh-Jin since he wasn't paying attention, and one other person. That one person, Yi thought to be the traitor.

"Thanks Oh-Jin, I know who it is now!" Exclaimed Yi.

"Oh really? Enlighten me" Oh-Jin remarked sarcastically.

"Them!" Yi yelled as he pointed to the traitor.

Yi then crumpled up another ball out of his clothes, and threw it as fast he could at the traitor's face. It landed on the person with the brown hanbok. Immediately the air in the room shifted. As if everyone had stopped exhaling, and for one second it seemed like no one was inhaling either. That one second, was the one second that showed Yi that this indeed was a life changing meeting. One second, was all it took. Yi blinked, and all of a sudden every Ssaurabi in the room had their weapons against the traitor's neck. They moved so abruptly, yet made no noise. No dust in the room had moved, no dust in the room had time to move. The chairs at the table were all pushed in as well. Almost as if they teleported, Yi finally knew what the Ssaurabi were. The Ssaurabi's clothes were still wavering from the movement, but their weapons were not.

"Wow, thank you Yi" Smirked Oh-Jin.

"I forgive you for that, quite rude method of snuffing him out" Said Oh-Jin.

"I appreciate it," Yi said with a bow.

"Alright, little traitor. You don't deserve to be called by name. Listen to me." Oh-Jin started to say.

"I want you to leave right now. Not just this room, nor building, I want you to pick yourself up right now and detach yourself from Joseon. Go back to Japan, tell those guys you're working for whatever you want, because quite frankly none of us in this room cares. However I have to thank you, you proved to be quite a useful asset to us because now we have someone with the potential to replace number 10. If you want, you can even ask those Japanese to attack us," Oh-Jin said triumphantly.

"Heh, you'll regret this. From what I've seen here, us Japanese are way more skilled than you are. Plus, from the information I've given them, we're making a new combat unit as we speak, you little Joseon Saram won't stand a chance!" The traitor scoffed.

The traitor then vanished, not surprisingly since he was a shinobi. However, something hinted at Yi, that maybe this wasn't over, that maybe this was in fact just the beginning.

"How did you figure it out, Yi? I mean I already knew it was him, I lied to you about that part, but how did you know?" Oh-Jin asked Yi.

"I used a test my gang in the slums had. It was a test to see if any of our members were spies from the cops or rival gangs. If spies are more accustomed and trained towards espionage and not fighting, then their reaction speed and methods would be different. Basically we would crumple up a piece of paper and throw it at the suspect, and see how and how quickly they would react. If they reacted by not dodging it, then they were a spy. It's as simple as that. However this time I decided to throw it at you, Oh-Jin, and see how fast everyone reacted." Yi responded.

Although it seems as if the man in the dark pink hanfu didn't react at all, interesting. His eyes have been closed this whole time too, even when he put his weapon against the traitor's neck. Yi thought.

"Well good job, good job. However, your test isn't over. In about 3 weeks, the Japanese are gonna come over and try to attack us. I want you to fight one of their 'new elite combat unit' members, and prove your combat skills too" Oh-Jin said.

"8, I want you to be in charge of Yi's training," Oh-Jin continued.

"Understood," Jung-Pal responded.

"Wait what? Training? I'm already far good enough to fight one of them," Yi interjected.

"You may have raw fighting skill, but that doesn't mean you're good enough to fight anyone with the status of 'elite', plus I'm excited to see what kind of style you develop when faced with formal training, heh" Oh-Jin said in excitement.

"Hmph, fine," Yi exclaimed.