CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45 - GHOST-6: EXTRACTION 01

[Few Days Later]

[Cyber Devision - Seoul]

Kim Tae-sung was in the Cyber Division basement again.

Same hoodie.

Same dark circles.

Same untouched cup of instant noodles sitting beside his keyboard.

He’d been typing for almost three hours straight, barely blinking, code running nonstop across three monitors.

This corner of the building was always empty.

No one liked being near him.

After that whole Underworld Judge case where he almost stole the spotlight, they hated him even more.

Tae-sung didn’t mind.

Honestly, he liked the quiet.

A soft ping popped on his main screen.

[ Internal Dispatch Notice ]

Report for immediate extraction.

Location: Cyber Division Basement Side Door.

Assigned Operation: Ghost-6

He stared at it, his fingers hovering mid-air.

"...Ghost what?" he muttered.

He pushed his chair back, scratching the back of his head.

He didn’t remember signing up for anything.

He didn’t even like leaving this room.

He clicked the message again.

Then again.

Still real.

His name was right there.

He let out a long exhale.

"Choi... definitely you," he whispered, frowning.

No smile.

Not even close.

He zipped up his hoodie and stepped out of the basement, rubbing his tired eyes as he pushed open the side door of the Cyber Division building.

The morning air hit his face.

That’s when he noticed it.

A black sedan parked right at the curb.

No police marks, no plates he knew.

Windows tinted dark.

Engine already running.

The rear window slid down halfway.

A man in a black suit sat inside.

Same type Choi had seen earlier — expressionless, sunglasses on indoors or outdoors, didn’t matter.

"Kim Tae-sung?" the man asked, voice flat.

Tae-sung froze.

"...Yeah?"

"Get in."

Tae-sung blinked twice.

He looked back at the building once, hoping someone might stop him.

He let out a small sigh and muttered under his breath,

"Choi... I’m going to kill you for this."

He opened the door and climbed in.

The door shut behind him.

The locks clicked automatically.

The car pulled away without a single word from the driver.

Tae-sung pushed his glasses up.

"Where are we going?"

The man didn’t look at him.

"Ghost-6 Facility."

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"You’ll see."

Tae-sung leaned back slowly, heartbeat picking up just a little.

He didn’t even know what Ghost-6 meant.

He didn’t even know if this was still police work.

But the car kept driving — past the usual routes, past the main complexes — heading somewhere hidden.

[Undisclosed Warehouse – Seoul]

The whole place smelled like wet old wood.

Four men sat around a low table, quietly checking packets and weighing them on a small digital scale.

Every few seconds, one of them looked toward the exit like he expected trouble.

Yoon Ha-rin stood with them, hood up, one hand in her pocket, the other resting on the strap of her sling bag.

Her face stayed blank — not nervous, not scared, just normal like someone who’s done this too many times.

One man tapped the scale twice.

"You sure this is the full amount?"

Ha-rin didn’t bother answering right away.

She popped her gum once, eyes half-lidded.

"It’s all there," she said. "Count it again if you want."

Before they could start another round of checking, her phone buzzed inside her pocket.

She slid it out without changing expression.

[ Internal Dispatch Notice ]

Report for immediate extraction.

Location: East Warehouse District – Gate 3.

Assigned Operation: Ghost-6

Her eyes tightened a little.

"Ghost-6...?"

She had never heard of any team like that.

And ’immediate extraction’ wasn’t a normal police word at all.

Ha-rin pulled out her earbuds and stood up slowly.

"...this is weird," she murmured, but there was a small smile on her face.

Smile she made when something interesting finally landed in her lap.

She leaned back a little, thinking.

Last week she got scolded by her senior for going undercover without permission.

Last month she got transferred again for "being hard to supervise."

And now this.

She smirked.

’Guess someone finally needs the ones everyone avoids.’

One of the men frowned.

"Hey. We’re talking to you."

"Yo, you listening?" second men asked. "We asked—"

Ha-rin sucked in a slow breath through her nose, eyes dropping a little.

Not angry — just tired.

Like she’d already had enough of them.

She lifted her chin a bit, gum clicking once between her teeth.

"Yeah," she said, tone flat. "But I’m done here."

They all froze. "What?"

Ha-rin sighed like she was tired of pretending.

Then she lifted her head — hoodie falling back a little.

Then her shoulders dropped slightly, her posture shifting.

Her expression sharpened, losing the lazy cover she’d been wearing.

"Sorry," she said. "Undercover time’s over."

She moved before they even understood what happened.

One step forward.

Her knee slammed into the first guy’s stomach.

He folded instantly.

She grabbed the second guy’s wrist and twisted it behind his back so fast he didn’t even scream — just dropped straight to his knees.

The third pulled a knife.

She kicked the table at his legs.

He tripped backward and hit the wall.

The last one tried to run.

She threw a packet at his head.

It burst mid-air, powder everywhere.

He coughed and stumbled — and she tackled him into the crates.

It took around seven seconds.

All four on the floor.

None of them getting up anytime soon.

The warehouse door burst open.

SWAT rushed in, boots pounding, guns raised.

"Freeze—!"

Ha-rin pointed lazily at the men on the floor.

"They’re already frozen."

One of the SWAT officers blinked.

"We only got the emergency alert three minutes—"

"Three minutes too slow," She brushed her sleeve like it was nothing.

Another officer jogged toward her.

"Agent Yoon! Shouldn’t you stay for statements?"

Ha-rin was already walking toward the exit.

"Got reassigned."

"The Chief didn’t mention—"

"He wouldn’t. This one’s above him."

She stepped outside.

Ha-rin walked a few steps away from the SWAT vans, checked that no one was watching, then stopped.

She touched her cheek and peeled off the fake skin piece.

The fake jawline came off with it.

Then the nose piece.

Then the skin tone patch on her chin.

Bit by bit, her undercover face vanished.

The real one stayed out of sight — the shadows and the lowered angle of her head hid everything the whole time.

She didn’t even bother to look at the mask she took off.

Just folded it once with one hand and tucked it into her sling bag.