Eunjang Task Force

Chapter 1: The Butterfly Effect

The butterfly effect is a funny little thing. It is the term used to describe the phenomenon wherein actions taken in the present, no matter how small, will almost always have an impact on the future. For instance, a missed phone call might result in someone missing out on a job interview that they would have aced. But at the same time, that missed phone call would have also saved that person from an unfortunate car accident on their way to the interview. Such actions, no matter how minuscule, will shape the future in various ways. The bigger the choice, the greater the change.

In one universe, Eunjang High stood alone as the sole bastion against Donald Na's Union, fighting off their efforts to destroy and induct them into the Union again and again. Five of its members would later go on to seal their name as legends in the delinquent world.

In another, Eunjang High stood alone as the sole enforcers of Donald Na's Union, enacting Donald's will wherever and whenever he pleased. The might of Eunjang High ensured that the Union would stay untouched until the day Donald died, so mighty were they that all opposing forces were simply crushed underneath their feet.

How did this happen, you ask? Well, the Butterfly Effect, of course.

In one universe, the fateful encounter on the rooftop of Byuksan Middle School resulted in the light of Gray Yeon's life, Stephen Ahn, falling into a coma. That incident caused Gray to use his extraordinary intellect to exact cold, calculating vengeance upon the perpetrators, arguably the catalyst of the legend of the White Mamba. Although Gray withdrew into himself and drifted aimlessly once more, his subsequent transfer and stay in Eunjang High saw him forge unbreakable bonds of friendship with the delinquents there, reigniting the spark within him that he once thought lost.

In another, Gray Yeon and Stephen Ahn weren't so lucky. After all, falling on your head from the top of a multi-story building is hardly a survivable ordeal. Stephen Ahn's brutal and unambiguous death completely shattered the light that he had nurtured within Gray Yeon's soul, driving the boy into a deep darkness. That void within Gray's soul could only be filled by the thrill of battle and the sensation of breaking people apart, a fact he discovered when he witnessed the brutally disfigured bodies of Bryce Oh and his lackeys cowering before his feet.

Of course, a future so radically different won't simply be achieved by changing the main actor's past and role. What of the supporting cast?

In one universe, Ben Park and Alex Go were saved from Donald Na through a timely phone call from Jake Ji, who had accepted Donald's deal. Not wishing to waste any more time on his plan to finally dismantle Manwol, Donald spared Ben and Alex, though not without a warning that he would finish the job if they ever crossed paths again. This proved to be a fatal mistake, as Ben Park and Alex Go, along with the rest of Eunjang High became severe thorns in the Union's side a year later.

In another, that phone call never came, forcing a desperate Alex to enter a deal with the figurative devil. With his plan of luring Jake Ji into the Union busted, Donald quickly settled on a Plan B. Ben Park had shown incredible bravery and physical might when fighting him and Alex Go was nothing if not tenacious. In exchange for joining the Union, Donald would let him and Ben go, allowing Alex to quickly carry his best friend to the nearest hospital to tend to his life-threatening injuries.

In one universe, Gerard Jin rushed into the rapidly burning Dorim shopping complex, hoping to retrieve the music sheets stored in one of the cabinets by his estranged friend, Hyeonjin. In his blind rush to escape the building with music files in hand, Gerard failed to notice his surroundings, resulting in him being incapacitated by a vending machine falling on top of him. Thankfully, Hyeonjin managed to save his friend before the building burned down along with Gerard. However, the hands that he used to compose and play music were severely burnt as a result. Guilty and mournful, Gerard stayed true to Hyeonjin's promise that he will never use his hands in a fight for one year.