Chapter 16: "Break the Silence, Burn the Map"**
> **"You can corner a lion. But you better pray it doesn't realize it's not caged—just patient."**
> — Underground Forum User: *IronTeeth*
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### **\[1] — A Map Redrawn in Blood**
Jungho stood silently in front of a massive corkboard in his room. Threads crisscrossed the map of Gangbuk, nails pinned at key intersections—schools, alley exits, underground routes. At the center: Jiwoo's name.
A small red 'X' had been marked beside it this morning.
His finger hovered over the spot.
He had waited.
Stayed quiet.
He was done waiting.
With mechanical calm, Jungho pulled down a rolled blueprint labeled **"Old Subway Maintenance Access — Restricted"**.
He unrolled it, lit a cigarette, and began drawing a new path.
A new hunt.
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### **\[2] — Jiwoo's Disappearance**
It started as a typical school day.
Then the homeroom teacher called for silence. "Jiwoo Han... hasn't arrived. Does anyone know where he is?"
Blank stares. No answers.
Suhyeon's system pinged him violently. Threat detected. Instinct flared.
Daniel gripped his pencil until it cracked.
Jungho didn't blink. But inside, the slow roar started.
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### **\[3] — Ghost Steps Through the Slums**
Jungho walked through the underbelly of Gangbuk like a shadow resurrected. The junkyard boys never returned. Rumors spread. Eyes avoided him.
This time, he didn't avoid being seen.
He wanted the rats to report him.
Wanted Baekho's eyes to follow.
He made himself bait—on purpose.
Because behind him, carefully, Jiwoo was being tracked. And Jungho had just found the trail.
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### **\[4] — Baekho's War Room**
"Sir, he's moving toward Sector 12," one lackey reported.
Baekho leaned in. "He's leading us. Not chasing."
"Should we follow?"
Baekho lit a match with his teeth. "No. Not yet. Let the spider weave. Then crush the web."
He snapped his fingers. "Prepare Subject 47."
"Subject 47?"
"The butcher. Let's see if Jungho still bleeds."
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### **\[5] — Broken Sanctuary**
Jungho found the abandoned church at dusk. Inside, three men waited.
Subject 47 was enormous. Pale. Hollow eyes. Filed teeth.
"He doesn't talk," one lackey whispered. "Just carves."
Jungho cracked his neck.
Then the door locked behind him.
He smiled.
"Three rats and a hog," he muttered. "Tiring, but I've fasted longer."
The screams inside were not brief.
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### **\[6] — Messages in Flesh**
Later, Baekho's lieutenants would find Subject 47 duct-taped to a crucifix made of rebar.
Across his chest: **"SEND MORE."**
And beneath it, in smaller writing:
> "Every move you make, I redraw the board."
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### **\[7] — Suhyeon Snaps**
"Why didn't you TELL us?!" Suhyeon slammed his hand into the wall beside Jungho.
Jungho sipped a juice box calmly. "Tell you what?"
"Jiwoo was targeted! YOU KNEW!"
Jungho finally looked at him. No anger. Just calculation.
"If I had told you," he said slowly, "you would've charged in and died. This way, I got to track them."
Suhyeon stared, horrified. "You used him?"
"I protected him," Jungho replied. "Not your way. Mine."
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### **\[8] — Daniel's Intervention**
"You're becoming everything you hate," Daniel said flatly.
Jungho leaned against the gym wall, wiping his hands.
"Correction," he replied. "I *was* everything I hate. I'm just not hiding anymore."
Daniel frowned. "And where does that lead?"
Jungho turned to him, eyes sharp.
"Where it has to."
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### **\[9] — Baekho Escalates**
Baekho poured over the footage. The cameras had caught nothing but shadows.
Jungho had erased five men from the map.
Time for nuclear options.
He pressed a button.
"Release Project Chimera."
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### **\[10] — Whisper Threads Forum Update**
> *BleedByte: It's not war. It's a black site experiment gone rogue.*
> *MystPunch: Jungho's not stopping. He's erasing blueprints now.*
> \*IronTeeth: Baekho's scared. You can see it. He's not trying to win—he's trying to *contain.*"
> *BleedByte: But how do you cage something that was born free?"*
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