Rain started falling before we even left the café.
Not heavy rain.
Just enough to turn the neon streetlights into blurred reflections on the wet pavement.
The city looked different at night like this.
Quieter.
But not peaceful.
More like the calm right before something breaks.
Seo-yeon stepped outside first, pulling her jacket tighter around herself.
"Well," she said, glancing at the dark sky. "If someone is going to announce the end of the world, at least they picked a dramatic night."
Tae-jun snorted behind her.
"You're taking this surprisingly well."
She shrugged.
"I'm still hoping it's just some weird prank."
Then she held up her hand.
The gold ring caught the streetlight and glowed faintly.
"…A very expensive prank."
Hae-in stepped beside her, staring at her own green ring.
"It wasn't a prank."
Her voice was soft but firm.
"That voice on the phone… it knew too much."
Dae-hyun exited the café last.
He scanned the street like someone expecting trouble.
"Phones don't get hacked that easily."
Seo-yeon raised an eyebrow.
"That's reassuring."
Tae-jun shoved his hands into his pockets.
"So… let's summarize tonight."
He counted on his fingers.
"Secret military unit. Rings glowing at midnight. Seven artifacts. A mysterious gate. And now some anonymous creep calling us."
He nodded.
"Yep. Completely normal Tuesday."
"Wednesday," Seo-yeon corrected.
We started walking down the empty street.
The rain tapped quietly against the pavement.
The café lights faded behind us.
But something still bothered me.
That voice.
And what it said.
The gate your grandmother tried to seal.
I looked at Seo-yeon.
She was staring down at her phone again, scrolling through the journal photos.
Her brows were furrowed.
"You okay?" I asked.
She didn't look up.
"There's something missing."
Tae-jun glanced at her.
"Besides our sanity?"
Seo-yeon ignored him.
"The journal pages."
She zoomed into another photo.
"My grandmother always wrote in complete sections. Stories, notes, diagrams."
She swiped again.
"But here…"
She showed us the screen.
There were several pages of drawings.
Symbols.
Ring diagrams.
Ancient handwriting.
And then suddenly…
A blank page.
Not empty.
Just… torn.
The bottom half was missing.
Hae-in whispered,
"Someone removed it."
Dae-hyun nodded slowly.
"And not recently."
Seo-yeon frowned.
"You can tell?"
Dae-hyun pointed to the edges.
"The paper discoloration."
Seo-yeon stared at the image.
"…So someone took a page from my grandmother's journal."
Tae-jun shrugged.
"Probably the part explaining everything."
Seo-yeon sighed.
"Of course it is."
We reached a quiet intersection.
The traffic lights blinked lazily between red and yellow.
Not a single car passed.
Then Hae-in suddenly stopped walking.
Her eyes widened.
"My ring…"
We all looked at her hand.
The green ring was glowing again.
But this time…
Not softly.
Bright.
Almost like it was responding to something nearby.
Seo-yeon frowned.
"Is that supposed to happen?"
Hae-in shook her head slowly.
"No…"
Then Tae-jun looked down at his own hand.
His blue ring flickered once.
"…Mine too."
A strange chill ran down my spine.
Dae-hyun's ring pulsed faintly.
Not bright.
But definitely active.
Three rings reacting at the same time.
Seo-yeon looked around the empty street.
"Okay… that's creepy."
Hae-in whispered,
"Something's close."
"Something or someone?" Tae-jun asked.
Hae-in didn't answer.
Instead…
She pointed across the street.
At first I didn't see anything.
Just a dark alley between two buildings.
Then a shadow moved.
Someone stepped out slowly.
A tall figure.
Wearing a long dark coat.
Rain dripping from the edges.
Seo-yeon muttered,
"…Please don't say that's another secret military guy."
The figure stepped under a streetlight.
And my chest tightened.
He wasn't military.
He looked younger.
Early twenties.
Black hair.
Calm expression.
But what caught my attention wasn't his face.
It was his hand.
On his finger…
A silver ring.
And it was glowing.
Hae-in gasped softly.
"The fifth ring…"
Seo-yeon stared.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The stranger looked at us calmly.
Then his eyes moved slowly across the group.
Studying.
Measuring.
Finally, he spoke.
"So."
His voice was quiet but confident.
"I finally found you."
Tae-jun crossed his arms.
"You've been looking for us?"
The stranger nodded.
"For months."
Seo-yeon blinked.
"Why?"
The man lifted his hand slightly.
The silver ring shimmered in the rain.
"Because we're supposed to meet."
Dae-hyun stepped forward slightly.
His tone cautious.
"Who are you?"
The stranger smiled faintly.
"My name is Jin-woo."
He glanced at the rings again.
"And if the legends are true…"
His eyes settled on Seo-yeon's gold ring.
"…you're the one who wakes them."
Seo-yeon raised a finger.
"Okay, I feel like everyone knows things except me."
But Jin-woo wasn't smiling anymore.
Instead, he looked past us.
Toward the dark end of the street.
His expression suddenly changed.
"…We don't have much time."
Tae-jun frowned.
"For what?"
Jin-woo spoke quietly.
"They're coming."
Seo-yeon groaned.
"Let me guess."
She pointed down the street.
"Another military convoy?"
Jin-woo shook his head.
"Worse."
Before anyone could ask—
A deep metallic roar echoed from the far end of the road.
Headlights suddenly turned the corner.
Black armored vehicles.
More than before.
But something about them looked wrong.
No military markings.
No plates.
Just a strange white symbol painted on the doors.
A symbol that looked exactly like the one in the center of the journal diagram.
The lock.
Dae-hyun's voice dropped.
"…No."
Seo-yeon looked at him.
"You recognize them?"
Dae-hyun's expression had gone completely serious.
"Yes."
The vehicles screeched to a stop.
Doors opened.
Figures stepped out.
Not soldiers.
Hunters.
Jin-woo took a slow step back.
His silver ring glowing brighter.
"I told you."
Seo-yeon swallowed.
"…Told us what?"
Jin-woo looked directly at her.
"That the military isn't the real enemy."
The hunters began walking toward us.
Five rings glowing faintly in the rain.
And for the first time that night…
I realized something terrifying.
We weren't just being watched anymore.
We were being collected.