The Players // Infinite Edition

° Prologue °

Darkness surrounds everyone as our heavy breathing creates little wisps of smoke that is barely seen to the human eye.

Our secret weapon tonight will be the element of surprise.
Crouching near my position, I watch for our Leader's signal for us to proceed.

"What is the status report?" A muffled voice asked over our electronic ear pieces. Listening to Sung-kyu, our Leader of our whole unit, who was conversing with Hoya, my partner, for further instructions.

"Our target is in sight. The building has only one way of exit or entrance and it is guarded by two men." Hoya reported as he peered through his night vision eye set that covered his dominant eye.

"Proceed to task. And remember: no casualties this time." Sung-kyu urgently warned us.

Grimacing, Hoya checks his watch. "In 03:00 hours our squad will begin."

Not having a watch to keep up with time, I watch my Leader's movements until he held up three fingers at me. Nodding my head, I reach behind me and grab a heavy flask filled with toxic gas.

When Sung-kyu reached zero and raised a fist at me, I quickly revealed my secret hiding place to the enemies in order to get a better view. Spotting my target, I carefully aimed for the window and was rewarded by the sound of shattering glass.

I saw eerie green smoke emit from the window which notified me that the gass was released successfully from the container.

The quiet night was disrupted by the sound of screaming from the tear gas. I watch as Hoya and Sung-kyu quickly jump down from their hiding places and take out the guards near the door. Holding them in a choke hold, both waited until the bodies silently collapsed from the lack of oxygen.

Quickly, I joined my leader and partner near the door and held out my gun until we waited for the door to open.

"They should be running out of oxygen by now." Hoya said impatiently as we wearily eyed the door that remained shut.

"I'm going in." I reported into the intercom as Hoya hands me a gass mask that covered my mouth and my eyes.

"Remember...

"No casualties." We said in unison as I kicked down the door and rushed inside the intoxicated room. The green smoke wrapped around me like a serpent as I looked around for any survivors. Carefully walking through the dark room, I stumble upon something to which my flashlight revealed to be one of our targets.

Holding a flashlight near my gun, I swept the light across the small room.

"Clear."

Hearing my comrades behind me entering the room, I take for the stairs. Given the distance from the tear gas bomb that I had thrown, the rooms upstairs would not be infiltrated with gas yet. This quick decision will help with visuals, but also more risk because if there were enemies, they wouldn't be paralyzed.

Finding another closed door, I didn't hesitate to kick this one down. Seeing an old mattress, I see a small girl that was blindfolded and had her hands handcuffed behind her back.

No one told me that there were hostages!

Quickly scanning the room for any lurking predators, I lower the gun when I am satisfied that there is no one in the room. The sound of shots being fired warned me that the people we were after were up and moving once again.

"I have a hostage." I reported as I knelt near the panicked girl. Removing the blindfold from her eyes, I notice that she was crying. When she saw my face, she began to scream in fear.

Ahhh, I forgot I had a mask on.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." I reassured as I held my palms up as a sign of peace.

Struggling to get away from me, she leans her body against the wall which reveals lacerations on her legs.

Refraining from frowning, I show her the silver tattoo on my neck of an infinite sign which signifies that I am part of the royal guard. With doubt in her eyes, She nods her head in permission so I could free her hands.

Once free, I tried to support her on her feet, but she immediantly collapses to the ground from not using her legs for so long. Taking my mask off, I gently place it around her face so that she wouldn't be affected by the tear gas downstairs.

"I'm not as scary as you think." I joked to relieve some of the fear in her eyes.

"What about you?" She choked out as I buckled the strap around her head.
"Don't worry, I'm invincible." I joked down at her.

Silently, I hold her princess style in my arms despite her protest and I rush downstairs.

Who knows when this building might fall in.

Hearing in my ear piece that the building was secured, I rushed down the creaky stairs and out into the cold night air.

The girl in my eyes gasps when she looks up into the night sky and sees the stars. Crystal -like tears roll down her eyes.

"Am I finally free?"

"You will be as long as I am alive." I whispered tenderly before she passes out from the shock of everything. Holding her limp body, I walk over to our leader of this covert mission.

"Were there any more hostages?" I asked in confusion.

Looking just as confused as I was, Sung-kyu removes his eye glass as he looks down at the girl in my arms. Bending over, Sung-kyu removes the gas mask from her face and gasps.

"It can't be..." he whispers in disbelief.

Sung-kyu takes the girl from my hands and lays her down onto the dewy grass. Gently brushing her long dark hair from her shoulders, a small tattoo is revealed a little above her shoulder. It was used with golden ink that could barely be seen, especially in the dark.

"We just found the sole survivor of the Royal Massacre." He said in awe as he stared down at the royal insignia engraved upon her skin.

"No...." I whispered in disbelief as I looked down at the young girl. "It can't be..."

"Princess Meera, the third daughter of our late King and the sole survivor of the royal line. They've been missing for a months. We found everyone's remains but her's.

"Does that mean...." I asked with fear in my eyes as I turned to Sung-kyu.

"You just rescued our future Queen, lieutenant Sungyeol."