"We exist."
That single phrase was enough to shake the silence.
It meant someone—someone long presumed dead—still existed. And now, the mission was to uncover who. Who among the dead was still alive and watching from the shadows?
"Ashen! What a surprise. Did you finally start missing your old friend?"
Noah Voulter greeted him with a smirk, lounging casually in the sunlit corridor.
Noah Voulter
Age: 17
A student of business and finance at the University of Tokyo, and Ashen's close friend.
"Judging by your voice, you sound just as annoyingly fine as always," Noah added.
Ashen gave a faint smile. "You're not wrong. I need your help. You heard about the Tokyo Plaza bombing?"
"Yeah. Massive attack. But honestly… I'm shocked. You're about to say Japan's Intelligence Agency had no clue about it, right?"
"Whether they knew or not doesn't matter now. The attack happened. Hundreds are injured. Many are dead. No excuse can change that."
Ashen's tone dropped lower. "I'm here to take you with me, Noah. I need you on this."
"Where are we going?" Noah asked cautiously.
Ashen handed him a charred, reconstructed note.
"We exist."
"What is this?"
"During the investigation at Tokyo Plaza, the Agency recovered several burned fragments of paper. When pieced together, this was what we found."
Ashen pulled out a heavy box. "These are old case files. From the archives of the Japanese Intelligence Agency."
He turned to Noah. "Start from that side. I'll begin here."
"You're insane, Ashen," Noah muttered. "You really expect us to go through hundreds of case files for a stupid message?"
"Calm down. Shut up and listen. 'We exist'—that phrase implies someone still out there. Someone presumed dead. That means we're looking for an organization thought to be destroyed."
"An organization? You sure?"
"No. Just a theory. But that's all we have. We're looking for files where the case was marked closed—something declared wiped out, gone."
"...Fine," Noah sighed. "You're my best friend. And you're not just any detective. You're Aspect, the man who never fails. Let's do this."
Hours passed.
"This one's solved… this one too… ugh, I solved this one myself," Noah grumbled. "Damn it, Ashen. You've really thrown me into this mess."
They had been scanning for nearly four hours. The shelves were stacked with solved cases, one after another.
"Nothing," Noah muttered. "Wait... what's this?"
He pulled a black-covered file from the far end of the shelf. "I think this is the last one on this side. Ashen, I've checked everything—every case is solved."
Ashen walked over. "Let me see."
File Name: A Black Cover Case
Status: Solved
Year: 1925
Case: The Shadow Assassin's Case
Solved by: U.S. Intelligence Agency
Ashen's eyes narrowed.
The pieces were falling into place.