St Moritz, Switzerland, just past midnight on January 1.

In Pyongyang, it was 8 a.m. the same day. The underground office of the Reconnaissance General Bureau.

In that windowless room, Choe Myeongguk, head of the Bureau, looked over the report on his desk.

The senior colonel standing at attention across from him reported on the situation.

"A coded dispatch has just arrived from Switzerland."

"Go on."

"The three Room 214 Weapons have made contact with Kim Cheolsu."

Choe Myeongguk's hand stopped, a few pages into the report.

"Kim Cheolsu came out alone?"

"Yes. No movement by any other security personnel has been confirmed."

"And the South Chosun youth, Ha Tae-ung?"

"He is staying at Badrutt's Palace. A different hotel from Kim Cheolsu."

The plan had gone smoothly. The three Weapons selected by Room 214 had lured Kim Cheolsu outside.

Ha Tae-ung and the security guarding him had not yet caught on.

The operation was on track, yet strangely, Choe Myeongguk felt uneasy.

"Can they succeed?"

Strong confidence showed in the senior colonel's eyes.

"They absolutely will not fail!"

"Absolutely……"

"All three are the finest Weapons Room 214 now has. Everything has changed since Kim Cheolsu's day, from the training methods to the equipment."

"It is Kim Cheolsu they are up against."

"However outstanding a Weapon he was, he has been exposed to life in South Chosun for a long time. His combat instincts will not be what they were."

The senior colonel showed not a shred of doubt.

"On top of that, all three have gone in at once. He will already be subdued."

Instead of answering, Choe Myeongguk closed his eyes where he sat.

The record of an operation Kim Cheolsu had run long ago unfolded in his mind. The target at the time was the commander of the Amnok River Security Command.

He had been the right-hand man of the uncle-by-marriage who stood against the Supreme Commander. He also held his own armed force and money lines in the border region.

Around the Security Command ran three rings of perimeter defense.

Armed troops patrolled day and night, and…