The book of life
Kim Yoon Suk finished her coffee and was ready to leave. It had been a long day for her. She payed for her coffee, left a 5000 won tip as usual, and headed outside. Suddenly, the skies started pouring. Unfortunately, she wasn't carrying an umbrella. "Stupid weather," she cried as she tried to find other things to blame for her day rather than herself. "Taxi!" she yelled amidst all the noises of shouting and running and water pouring down. Miraculously, a taxi stopped in front of her. "Gangwon Province please," she said. As the taxi sped past all the people and the buildings, Yoon Suk stared out the window and then dozed off.
When she awoke, she looked at her watch. She had been sleeping for 2 hours. "Sir," she asked, "We should have arrived at Gangwon Province about an hour and a half ago. Are you sure you know where you are going?" The driver didn't respond. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Still no response. "That's it, I want out of this car. Could you pull over and let me go?" The driver ignored her and kept going. This time, Yoon Suk had a feeling she was being kidnapped. "Help, somebody!!!" she screamed at the top of her voice. However, there was no one to help her. As she tried to open the door to jump out, the driver realized what she was about to do and locked all the doors. Suddenly, he pulled out a gun and shot her in the neck. She pulled out what was thought to be a bullet, only to realize that it was a tranquilizer dart. "Oh...crap..." Then everything became blurry and she fainted.
Soon, she awoke from her slumber, her brain still processing what just happened. As she was regaining back her sight, she realized that she was tied to a chair inside a warehouse, with tape over her mouth. She tried to call for help but all that came out was muffled screams. All of a sudden, the door in front of her opened and a man walked in. He took off the masking tape that was covering her mouth and she inhaled a big breath of air.
"Why are you doing this to me? I don't even know you!" she pleaded.
"You might not know me, but I certainly know you," He replied. "You are the last living descendant of Jang Yeongsil, the great inventor, right? Now, tell me where the Jade Map is and you will be able to walk out of here safe and sound."
"What are you talking about? What's a Jade Map? I think you guys kidnapped the wrong person. Now, please untie me, and I swear I'll pretend none of this ever happ-" BANG! A shot was fired and a bullet pierced Yoon Suk's right arm. She started crying in pain and fear.
"Don't think you can play games with me. So tell me where the map is and you can go home and live your petty little life. Or you can keep stalling and die. Your choice."
"Then promise me that you will let me go safely if I tell you," she asked. The man stared her in the eyes and with a deep, dark tone replied, "I promise..."
"I only know where one half of the map is. It is stored in a jar made of jade. The jar is buried 9 feet under the grave of King Sejong the Great. However, you can't just open the jar like a jar of mayonnaise; you need a key. That's as much as I know. I have no clue who has the other half and what the key is, I swear. Now, just as you promised, can you untie me so that I can go home safely?"
The man looked at her and said, "Didn't your mom tell you to never trust strangers? Now, I'm going to be the only one with the knowledge of... well... half of the Jade Map." As he turned around to leave, he took one last look at Yoon Suk and waved, "Have fun in the afterlife". As he closed the door, Yoon Suk noticed a detonator being pulled out of the man's pocket and set off. She looked around and saw that what she thought were just ordinary crates were actually time bombs. The time she had left: 5 minutes.
She knew what she had to do for the last 5 minutes of her life.
She jumped around until her phone dropped onto the floor. When she succeeded, she took off her shoes and her socks and with her toes, navigated through her contacts. She found the name she was looking for: Kwon Yuri. She pressed call. "Please pick up, please pick up..." she hoped desperately. Unfortunately, it went straight to voice mail. When the beep was sounded, she only had 30 seconds left before the explosives brought down the warehouse.
