Endash reached their destination at dusk. From their position, they noticed that they were on a relatively empty road near a school campus. They knew it was an educational institution as evidenced by the students exiting the front gate of the compound. While Endash was still scanning the area, five students — four females and one male — were walking in their direction while engaged in a conversation.
"I still can't believe I won the Vernal Festival singing contest last night," one of the females said.
"Oh, shut up, Hana. Even if we take your special guests out of the equation, you still killed that performance," another female voiced out.
"Aiben's right, you know. As for me, I still could not believe we successfully organized a random play dance," the only male expressed.
"Come on, Jay, don't sell yourself short. You are one of the most organized people I know. There was no way that random play dance could end up in disaster," the third female interjected. "Don't you agree, Ada?"
"I totally agree with you, Clouie," the fourth female nodded. "My grandfather told me that the random play dance received the best reviews."
Taking the opportunity, Endash cautiously approached the group of five.
"Excuse me, can I ask a question?" Heeseung expected himself to speak a different language but he was speaking normally.
"Of course. How can we help?" Hana replied in Heeseung's native tongue.
"What school are you attending? We are new to the area and we wanted to know some landmarks," Sunoo asked.
"Oh, alright. So, that over there is Hall University," Aiben responded.
"Are outsiders allowed inside?" Sunghoon inquired.
"Outsiders will need to go to the security office, state the intention of visiting, and secure a visitor's pass and I.D.," Ada enumerated. "But the university is already closed for visitors for today and tomorrow is a Sunday, so the university will be closed. You might want to try by Monday."
"I see. Thank you for the information," Endash's Jay ended the conversation.
"You're welcome. But you better hurry and return home soon," the student Jay mentioned with a knowing smile.
"Pardon our friend, Jay. He's just into suspense crime dramas these days," Clouie dragged Jay away from Endash. The rest of the friend group followed.
As the five students walked away, a thought formed in Endash's Jay's mind, "You don't think he's my version in this universe, do you?"
"I don't think so, hyung," Niki shook his head.
With the conversation, they were able to confirm that the campus was indeed one of the Premier Ten, Hall University. Their target was now in sight.
⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞
When it was already dark out, Endash made their move. They stood in front of the closed campus gate just across the road.
"So, how are we going to do this? I assume we cannot just freely walk inside. Security must be tight in places like this," Jake wondered.
"I could use my Geokinesis to cause a minor earthquake. Maybe that will shake the gates open," Jay suggested.
"No, that might cause unnecessary damage. Instead, Sunoo-hyung will teleport us to that area covered with flora," Jungwon, the leader, sprang into action. "From there, Niki will use his Umbrakinesis to cover us with darkness to allow us to navigate the campus in the shadows without being seen."
"I have the directions to the special section building. Turns out, those students earlier knew where it was located," Heeseung revealed. "I read their minds as soon as they said 'Hall University'."
"In that case, Heeseungie-hyung will lead the way for us," Jungwon instructed his team. "Let's try to make as little noise as possible."
Their execution went better than expected. Right now, they were standing in front of the locked building.
"What now?" Niki stared at the special section building.
"Jake-hyung, can you illuminate this area for a bit," Jungwon requested. Jake complied, making a small blue flame on his palm to allow their leader to survey the perimeter of the building.
"There! We can use that balcony," Jungwon contemplated for a bit. "Sunoo-hyung will teleport on that balcony and then inside the building once we have a visual of the interior. Once inside, Sunghoon-hyung will fill the building with icy mist using his Cryokinesis to deceive any security cameras. That way we can search around without worries of getting caught."
Sunoo and Sunghoon performed as instructed and they were inside after a minute. The special section building was huge. Endash split into two units, one searched the first floor and the other searched the third floor. When they found nothing, they met on the second floor and searched together. When they reached the library, the first thing they noticed on one wall were the portraits depicting the previous special sections.
"Section Aqua Pearl Gray... Section Cosmic Latte... Section Rose Quartz and Serenity... Section Purple... Section Pearl Neo Champagne... Section Silver-Gray..." Jay and the rest scanned the photos and recognized the people in each frame. "Aren't they all..."
"That's what I think as well," Jungwon was amazed as well. "They must be this universe's versions of our seonbaenims."
After discovering something incredulous, they noticed something glowing somewhere in the library. Curious, they looked for the source of the faint light, only to find it in the innermost corner of the library. On a standalone shelf, Endash found some familiar objects.
"As expected from a member of the Premier Ten, they have the full set of the second edition of Light," Sunghoon pointed.
"Isn't this Light: Hallyu's Ultimate Guide for Powers and Magical Squads? Like the first edition?" Sunoo noticed. "I know records tell us that BoA-seonbaenim created a replica of the original Light after it was destroyed during an invasion, but I cannot believe this is where she kept this copy for safekeeping."
"Since those two are Hallyu-related items, the box on the top must be..." Heeseung's attention was on a different object.
On top of the shelf was a box locked in a glass compartment containing something glowing.
"There's no mistaking it. That must be the Glinter," Jay sounded so sure.
"But how are we going to get it? It's inside a locked compartment," Niki had no idea.
"It cannot be helped. I'll use my Advanced Telekinesis to pry the lock open," Jungwon sighed. "I apologize to the school officials but we really need this Glinter."
Jungwon concentrated and true enough, he was able to separate the lock into two. With a flick of a finger, Jungwon opened the compartment as well as the box. There, glowing inside the box, was a Glinter along with some inscriptions on the back side of the box's cover.
"A valuable artifact from Adore University entrusted to Hall University ─ the ARMY Bomb," Jungwon read the words.
"This is it! We found it!" Heeseung whisper-shouted as he grabbed the Glinter carefully.
Jay closed the box and the compartment again and said, "Let's go back to Hallyu."
With the Glinter on their hands, Endash disappeared in orange spirals.
⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞
The two Kingdom Seers were the first people Endash saw after teleporting. That was how they knew they were back in Hallyu.
"Welcome back," Seunggi smiled. "You're just half an hour behind Temp Fist."
"Seonbaenim, this is the ARMY Bomb," Jungwon handed the Glinter to the Seers.
"Step back a little. We will summon the second Crest," Dongwook told Endash.
We call upon the Hallyu Crest
Whose essence in this Glinter rests
Reaching back through time and space
We summon them face to face
Smoke filled the area as a magic circle appeared. When the spell was over, seven people were standing amid the smoke.
"Always standing firm in the Supreme Six, they defended Hallyu with their blood, sweat, and tears. The impenetrable seven, Bulletproof Scouts!"