The roof door buckled. BANG.
Fifty possessed trainees were throwing themselves against the metal. Their screams weren't human. They were digital static.
"We have five minutes before the hinges snap," Min-ji yelled, bracing her shoulder against the door. "Yoo-jin! You better have a plan that isn't 'jump and die'!"
Yoo-jin stood at the edge of the roof. The wind whipped his suit. Across the gap, the Zenith Tower loomed like a fortress of black glass.
Fifty meters. Thirty stories up.
"We need a line," Yoo-jin said. "A zipline."
"We don't have a cable!" Kai shouted. "And even if we did, we can't shoot it across!"
"We don't need to shoot it," Yoo-jin looked at Eden. "We have a drone."
Eden stepped forward. "I am too heavy for flight."
"Not you," Yoo-jin pointed to the massive promotional balloon tethered to the BK Building's roof. It was a giant inflatable pig—a leftover prop from a BBQ restaurant that used to rent the ground floor.
"That pig," Yoo-jin said. "It's filled with helium. If we tie a climbing rope to it and release it... the wind will carry it across."
"And then?"
"And then someone on the other side has to catch it," Yoo-jin said.
"There is no one on the other side!" David shrieked. "It's enemy territory!"
"Not everyone," Yoo-jin pulled out his phone. He dialed a number he hadn't used in months.
Ring. Ring.
"Hello?" A whisper.
"Director Park," Yoo-jin said.
Silence on the other end.
"I know you're listening," Yoo-jin said quickly. "I know Mason didn't upload your real consciousness. He made a copy. The real you is still sitting in that office, watching him destroy the company you built."
"Mr. Han," Director Park's voice was icy. "I am the Chief of Staff. I follow the Chairman."
"The Chairman just turned fifty teenage girls into zombies," Yoo-jin cut her off. "Is that efficient, Director? Is that good management?"
Silence.
"You pride yourself on control," Yoo-jin pressed. "Look out your window. Is this control? Or is it a glitch?"
Yoo-jin watched the window on the 30th floor of Zenith Tower. He saw a silhouette standing there.
"What do you need?" Director Park asked softly.
"Open the window," Yoo-jin said. "And catch the pig."
The inflatable pig bobbed in the wind. A thick climbing rope dangled from its belly.
"Release!" Yoo-jin shouted.
Min-ji cut the tether.
The pig shot up, caught by the updraft. The wind pushed it across the chasm toward the Zenith Tower.
"Come on, come on," Sae-ri whispered, gripping the railing.
The pig floated past the 30th floor. It bumped against the glass.
Thump.
Nothing happened.
"She's not opening it," Kai groaned. "She betrayed us."
Then, a latch clicked.
A window on the 30th floor slid open. A hand reached out. It wasn't Director Park. It was a maintenance drone controlled by her.
The drone grabbed the rope. It pulled the pig inside.
"Secured," Director Park's voice crackled in Yoo-jin's ear. "You have three minutes before security detects the breach."
"Who's going?" Sae-ri asked.
Yoo-jin looked at the team.
"I need someone fast to plant the virus," he looked at Kai. "And someone to defend the upload."
Min-ji cracked her knuckles. "Shotgun."
"I'll carry the payload," Yoo-jin took the USB drive. "You two clear the path."
"What about us?" Sae-ri asked.
"You hold the door," Yoo-jin handed her a fire extinguisher. "Don't hurt them. Just blind them if they get through."
"Go!"
Kai clipped a carabiner to the rope. He didn't hesitate. He jumped.
ZIP.
He slid across the gap, a silhouette against the city lights. He crashed through the open window on the other side.
"Clear!" Kai signaled with a flashlight.
Min-ji went next. She screamed the whole way, enjoying it.
Yoo-jin took a breath. He looked at Sae-ri.
"See you at the debut," he said.
He jumped.
The wind roared in his ears. The city spun beneath him. For a second, he felt weightless. Free.
Then he hit the carpet of the Zenith office.
"Welcome back, sir," Director Park stood by the desk. She looked tired. Her perfect bun was slightly frayed.
"The server room is on the 50th floor," she said, handing him a keycard. "Elevators are locked. Take the stairs."
"Twenty floors?" Min-ji groaned. "My leg day was yesterday."
"Move!" Yoo-jin sprinted for the door.
Floor 40. The Sirens' Lair.
The hallway was lined with mirrors. As they ran, the reflections flickered.
Three holographic women stepped out of the walls. The Sirens.
"Intruders," the Lead Siren sang. Her voice shattered a vase on a nearby pedestal.
"They're hard-light holograms!" Kai warned, dodging a swipe from a glowing claw. "Physical attacks don't work!"
"Min-ji! The fire alarm!" Yoo-jin shouted.
Min-ji didn't ask why. She smashed the red box on the wall.
WHEEP-WHEEP-WHEEP.
Sprinklers erupted from the ceiling. Water sprayed everywhere.
The holograms flickered. The water disrupted the light projection.
"Glitch!" The Siren screeched, her face distorting.
"Now! Hit them!"
Min-ji swung her wet bat. It passed through the light but splashed water into the hidden projectors in the wall.
ZZZT.
Sparks flew. The Sirens vanished.
"Water damage," Min-ji grinned, shaking her hair like a wet dog. "Classic."
Floor 50. The Server Room.
They burst through the doors. It was freezing cold. Rows of blue-lit server racks stretched into the darkness.
In the center stood the Master Terminal.
"Plug it in!" Kai shouted, watching the door. "We've got company!"
Zenith security guards—human ones—were pouring into the room.
"Upload started!" Yoo-jin jammed the USB drive into the console.
[Virus: CATHARSIS.EXE]
[Uploading... 10%]
"Stop him!" A guard raised a taser.
Min-ji intercepted. She used a detached server panel as a shield.
ZAP.
"Kai! Dance battle!" Min-ji yelled.
Kai moved. He spun through the guards, using his idol agility to dodge batons. He wasn't fighting to kill; he was fighting to delay.
[Uploading... 50%]
"Mr. Han!"
Mason Gold walked out from behind a server rack. He held a gun. A real one.
"You are a persistent bug," Mason aimed at Yoo-jin's head.
"Shoot me," Yoo-jin didn't move his hand from the keyboard. "And you destroy the console behind me. The Muse Engine goes offline."
Mason hesitated. He loved his machine more than he hated Yoo-jin.
"You think that virus will work?" Mason lowered the gun slightly. "It's just noise. My system will filter it."
"It's not noise," Yoo-jin smiled. "It's a mirror."
[Uploading... 90%]
"What?"
"The virus reverses the signal," Yoo-jin explained. "Instead of projecting your emotions onto the audience... it projects their emotions back at you."
He hit ENTER.
[UPLOAD COMPLETE.]
WUB-WUB-WUB.
The server room lights turned red. A low, terrifying sound filled the air.
It wasn't music. It was a roar.
The collective frustration, anger, and sadness of millions of Zenith listeners was flowing back into the system.
"No!" Mason dropped the gun, clutching his head. "Too loud! It's too messy!"
The screens around them exploded.
ERROR. OVERLOAD. ERROR.
Mason fell to his knees. He was feeling it all. The heartbreak of a teenager. The stress of a salaryman. The grief of a widow.
He was drowning in humanity.
"Turn it off!" Mason screamed, sobbing.
"I can't," Yoo-jin stepped over the gun. "It's live."
Across the street, in the BK Building.
The banging on the roof door stopped.
Sae-ri waited, gripping the fire extinguisher. Silence.
Then, the sound of weeping.
She opened the door a crack.
Fifty trainees were sitting on the roof, crying. Not zombie screams. Real, human tears.
Ha-eun looked up. Her eyes were clear.
"Unni," Ha-eun wiped her face. "Why am I on the roof?"
Sae-ri dropped the extinguisher. She ran to them.
"It's okay," she hugged Ha-eun. "You're back."
On every phone screen in the city, the violet light vanished. The hypnosis broke.
People on the subway blinked, looking around confused. Why were they listening to this robotic pop music? It sounded... hollow.
They took off their headphones.
The spell was broken.
Yoo-jin walked out of the Zenith Tower. Min-ji and Kai flanked him, battered but grinning.
It was dawn. The sun was rising over Gangnam, painting the glass skyscrapers in gold.
Police cars were surrounding the entrance. Paramedics were rushing in to treat Mason Gold, who was catatonic from emotional overload.
"Mr. Han!" A detective approached. "You're under arrest for corporate espionage, trespassing, and destruction of property."
Yoo-jin held out his hands.
"Worth it," he said.
The detective cuffed him.
"Wait!"
Sae-ri ran across the street. The fifty trainees followed her, a wave of grey hoodies.
"You can't take him!" Sae-ri grabbed the detective's arm. "He saved us!"
"He broke the law, ma'am."
"He broke the spell!" Ha-eun shouted.
Reporters were swarming again. Cameras flashed.
Yoo-jin looked at Sae-ri. She looked fierce. Beautiful.
"It's okay," Yoo-jin said softly. "This is part of the marketing plan."
"Going to jail is marketing?" Sae-ri cried.
"The 'Persecuted Artist' arc," Yoo-jin winked. "It polls very well."
He looked at the trainees.
"Go practice," Yoo-jin ordered. "I'll be back in time for the debut."
The police car door slammed.
As the car drove away, Yoo-jin looked back at the BK Building. The sun hit the red bricks.
It didn't look like a dump anymore. It looked like a castle.