Substitute-Chapter 24: Part 2 – The Tiger’s Den

1. Orientation

As soon as Jiwon climbed into the van, he drank the beverage the agency provided. They said it was because the destination was confidential. Having already committed to this, suspicion was useless.

Without hesitation, he gulped down the vitamin drink they handed him.

Less than a minute later, his eyes closed.

In the haze, he expected to wake up in a bed somewhere, just like in those popular dramas.

But things didn’t go as he had imagined.

When he opened his eyes, he was inside a large chartered bus.

The seats were wide and the interior was clean, like a luxury coach.

Jiwon was seated in the middle row, with the seat next to him empty.

He straightened his back and looked around.

Five other men, seated along the same row, were also stirring awake.

Including himself, that made five.

When he turned to check behind him, he saw two more.

Seven in total.

The bus wasn’t moving.

The door was open, and the deafening sound of cicadas poured in from outside.

They were surrounded by forest.

Aside from a white bus parked next to them, there was nothing but trees packed densely all around.

"Fuck, my head... What the hell did they give us?"

Someone cursed and tried to stand but dropped back into his seat, still too drugged to move properly.

Everyone was awake, but it would take another twenty minutes or so before they could move normally.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody asked names.

There was a tense, stifling silence in the air.

Once they were starting to regain control of their limbs, a man climbed onto the bus.

He wore a navy blue naval officer’s uniform with a nametag that read “Captain.”

His lower face was covered in a thick beard, and he wore sunglasses, making him look like the captain of a giant cruise ship.

"Everyone awake?"

He called out loudly.

Weak, scattered replies answered him.

"Nice to meet you. I’ll be leading you from now on. You can call me Captain."

He introduced himself in a cheerful voice.

"Now, I'm going to hand out name tags with your new names. Later, once you get closer, you can learn each other’s real names, but officially, you are to call each other only by the names written on these tags. This isn’t a request. It’s a rule and an order."

Without waiting for a response, he strode down the aisle.

Starting from the very back, he handed out the name tags.

"You’re now part of the Crew Zero unit, and you'll be working under me. The numbers on your tags are assigned randomly, so don’t waste your time wondering if they mean anything about age or seniority."

His tone was friendly, almost like a teacher talking to grade school kids.

When it was Jiwon’s turn, the tag handed to him was a simple event-style name badge.

It said:

Crew 0, Sailor 1

Once everyone had their badges, Captain returned to the front.

"You can probably guess by now. Looking at my uniform, it’s obvious. You’re all going to be sailors under my command."

He tucked the tablet he was carrying under his arm.

As Jiwon glanced down at the badge hanging from his neck, he suddenly realized that the bag he had brought was missing.

He had already thrown away his phone, but he had carried a small sling bag containing his ID, his medication — in his case, painkillers — and a few other essentials.

It was gone.

Judging by the subtle reactions around him, the others had realized their belongings were missing too. freewёbnoνel.com

But no one asked about it.

They seemed to accept it without question.

"Before we begin the real project, you’ll all undergo one final physical inspection. When your name is called, step forward and move to the bus next door."

Jiwon's throat felt dry.

Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was the remnants of the drug.

"Sailor 1. Move out."

When he heard his new name called, Jiwon pushed himself up awkwardly.

He still felt a little dizzy, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from walking.

"Careful not to fall," Captain said kindly.

The moment he stepped off the bus, fresh air hit him.

It cleared his head a little.

Standing in front of the white-wrapped bus next to them was a man in a black uniform and a black mask, like a security guard.

Following the masked man’s lead, Jiwon boarded the other bus.

He was stunned the moment he stepped inside.

It looked like a mobile medical clinic.

It felt as if someone had transplanted an entire hospital into a bus.

The masked security guard followed him in and closed the door.

Then a man in a white mask and hospital scrubs handed him a light blue medical gown.

"Undress completely in the changing room and put this on," he said bluntly, pointing to a curtained-off space at the back.

After changing, Jiwon stepped out wearing only the gown.

The security guard scanned him thoroughly with a handheld metal detector.

The device remained silent.

When the body search was over, the masked staff member gestured for him to move forward.

It was an X-ray machine — the kind used at international airports to scan full bodies.

Only then did Jiwon fully understand what they were doing.

They were checking whether anyone had hidden or implanted anything inside their bodies.

Instead of conducting invasive inspections like in jails or detention centers, they used the latest tech to scan everything.

There was no electronic device that could hide from an X-ray.

Considering the possibility of undercover cops, it was only natural for them to be thorough.

Jiwon placed his feet on the outlines marked on the machine.

The hospital worker warned him, "Don’t move."

He stood still until he was told he could step down, then was directed back to the changing area.

Even though he hadn’t smuggled anything, cold sweat soaked his body.

As soon as he left the medical bus, the next person was called in.

Jiwon returned to the original bus and took his seat.

They waited there until everyone had been processed.

When the last man, wearing the Crew 7 badge, climbed back aboard, Captain smiled with satisfaction.

"Our team is perfect," he murmured to himself.

Captain opened his tablet, scribbled something with a stylus, then snapped the cover shut with a loud clap and tucked it back under his arm.

"All inspections are complete. Let’s get moving."

He clapped his hands and gestured for them to get off the bus.

"Move it, move it! What’s with the heavy asses? Get a move on!"

His tone made it sound like whoever lagged behind would be punished.

Jiwon was the third to step off the bus.

Only now, after all the tension, did his surroundings start to come into focus.

Specifically, the faces of the other men.

The first thing that came to his mind when he saw them was "gradation."

The man from the interview, the one who had looked just like him, wasn’t among them, but they all resembled each other strangely.

Maybe it was the matching haircuts that made it more obvious.

A young man who could have been Han’s twin stepped off the bus right after Jiwon.

Han didn't make it, and this one did, he thought.

No one seemed particularly surprised.

Everyone was sizing each other up with quick, measuring glances.

All of them were around Jiwon’s height, maybe a little thinner or slightly more muscular.

Thick hair was a given.

Captain took the lead, and the seven followed at an even distance, as if prearranged.

They walked along a narrow forest trail for about ten minutes.

Strangely, the area was cool, as if untouched by the heavy summer heat.

Maybe it was the phytoncides from the trees, but the lingering fogginess from the drug began to clear from Jiwon’s head.

That much was good.

The problem was, he had no idea where they were headed.

Half the group wore anxious expressions, the other half seemed almost excited.

Jiwon was among the excited ones.

After a while, Captain suddenly stopped.

Ahead of them were two large signs.

One read:

PRIVATE PROPERTY. NO TRESPASSING.

The other:

DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE.

Behind the signs was a three-meter-tall iron gate tangled with barbed wire.

CCTV cameras were mounted on either side.

Is the gate electrified too?

Jiwon stared up at the barbed wire.

Captain pulled a radio out of his jacket pocket.

"This is Captain, this is Captain. Over."

There was a burst of static, then a reply:

"This is Gate 1. Over."

"Requesting entry for Crew Zero. Over."

A moment later, a loud electronic beep sounded, and the gate swung open.

"What are you waiting for? Get inside."

Captain stepped aside to let them through.

As soon as Captain himself stepped inside, another loud beep sounded, and the gate slammed shut behind them.

Jiwon realized he should have noticed sooner.

It wasn’t just the gate.

The barbed wire fence stretched endlessly in both directions.

There was no end in sight.

"Feels like the DMZ," someone muttered.

"It does, right? Like a military demarcation line," Captain said with a laugh.

"You’ll hear all the details during orientation, but for now, just know this: the fence is electrified.

So don’t touch it. Consider yourselves warned."

His voice was cheerful, almost joking.

Jiwon turned his head, surveying the area.

Nothing but green forest and iron fences as far as the eye could see.

Given the cooler temperature, they had to be pretty high up in the mountains.

The more he looked, the stronger the feeling grew —

once they went past that gate, there would be no going back.

But he wasn't afraid.

He had been prepared for this from the moment he decided to sign up.

The trail continued, but now it ran alongside the electrified fence, and security cameras were installed every four or five meters.

It was clear: they were being monitored closely.

Just like they had openly mentioned during the interviews —

this so-called "project" was really a sex party, one that had to be kept completely secret.

And if they had spent this much just to recruit participants, it meant the guests would be people of high status, or at least close to it.

The level of security made /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ perfect sense.

Jiwon felt his anticipation rising.

They kept walking and soon came upon another iron gate identical to the first.

Captain called it in on the radio.

The contact changed from Gate 1 to Gate 2, and by the time they passed Gate 3, the trail finally opened up.

A vast garden spread out before them.

Behind it stood a massive rectangular marble building, like a museum.

It was three stories tall.

It looked sleek in some ways, plain and boring in others, but the sheer size was overwhelming.

It was so wide Jiwon had to turn his head just to take it all in.

But the building was quickly forgotten.

Everyone’s attention was captured by the stunning garden.

There were multiple fountains spraying water high into the air, beautiful glass greenhouses, and canopies scattered among the flowers and trees.

The grass was so lush and green it felt almost criminal to step on it.

Everyone around him let out quiet sounds of awe.

Their pace naturally slowed, and the distance between them and Captain grew.

"You’ll get sick of it soon enough. Hurry up."

Captain’s voice called back lazily.

As they passed one of the fountains, a few of the men chuckled.

At the center of the fountain stood a statue — a nude male figure — spraying water from his exaggeratedly large penis.

When Jiwon looked around, he saw that every fountain had a similar statue, each one with a different pose, but all of them ridiculously endowed.

Paradise Project.

This was the blue city’s paradise.

Some of them might find their own personal paradise here.

But Jiwon had a different goal.

He was here to find his answer.

No — he was determined to find it, no matter what.

Like the others, he stood there smiling up at the giant statues.