As the elevator neared the 57th floor, it made Ark look down at his right arm slightly. That made him pull down his long sleeve, revealing a watch showing the time 11:26 AM.

  Seeing that, it made him look up as the elevator chimed upon reaching the 57th floor, causing the doors to open.

  It revealed a dark corridor bathed in green light, while a short distance ahead, the path was blocked by a wall with a large, black glass pane.

  Behind it, there were square metal cabinets lined up in rows, and the wires connected to those cabinets emitted a green glow.

  The light shining through the glass to the outside made me, who had looked up slightly, step out of the elevator while my eyes shifted toward the upper right.

  A black security camera pointing at the elevator doors made me look down toward the right corridor, where I found a long wall blocking the walkway and the entrance to the back area where those metal cabinets were.

  This made me turn my whole body to the left, my eyes fixed straight ahead, and glance slightly upward without moving my head.

  Seeing no security cameras above made me walk slowly down the path, with the green light falling onto my body and the floor below.

  This caused the sound of my footsteps to echo with each stride as I walked to the corner and turned right, revealing an entrance door not too far away.

  And at the end of the wall, there was a separate square room with a glass door, and inside, a soldier was leaning back in his chair.

  This made me, walking straight toward the room, stop in front of the door and raise my right hand to knock three times, causing the person inside, who was currently watching a screen, to spin his chair around.

  He stayed silent for a moment before sitting up, moving his chair closer to the screen, and pressing a button with his hand, causing the door to open.

  Seeing this, I opened the door and stepped inside just as the soldier turned to me and spoke.

  "Time for the shift change, huh."

  He stood up while stretching slightly, which made me nod and lean my gun against the wall on the right.

  That made the soldier look to his right, pick up the gun resting on the desk, and sling it over his back before walking past me with a small yawn.

  Standing still, I turned to watch him walk away, then reached out to close the door before walking over to sit in the chair, my eyes fixing on the monitor displaying more than 20 cameras.

  Glancing down, I saw the time was 11:27 AM, which made me immediately turn my attention back to the 20 images in front of me.

  Before raising my hand to grab the mouse and moving the cursor across the different cameras until it stopped in front of a room with a sign next to the door that read: Secretary's Room.

  Seeing that, I watched it for a while before clicking on that camera and using the arrow keys on the keyboard to pan the camera around.

  This made the camera, facing away from the secretary's room, move toward the very end of the corridor, where I found a solitary room with a small sign next to its door.

  But since the camera couldn't zoom, it made me unable to read what the sign said. Seeing that, I sat in silence for a moment, then glanced at the time; there was only 1 minute left.

  This prompted me to switch to other cameras while checking different areas, until the time reached 11:30 AM, which made me switch back to the original secretary camera.

  Right then, in the hallway, Stone appeared walking down the path, led by a man in a military uniform.

  That made me get up from the chair and walk over to grab my gun before immediately opening the door and leaving the room. Heading toward the elevator, it made me press the button once I arrived, watching as the elevator made its way up from the ground floor.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  After a while, the elevator arrived and opened to reveal an empty interior. Seeing that, I stepped inside, pressed the button for the top floor, and raised my watch to look at it.

  It showed 11:33 AM. That made me look up at the doors, and within just a few seconds,

  the doors opened. A soldier stood right in front of me, making him glance at me briefly, which resulted in me standing there and looking right back at him.

  It made me walk past him while he stepped aside slightly, and I could feel his gaze staring at me from behind.

  Walking up to the secretary's door, I raised my hand, preparing to knock, while glancing back at the elevator slightly. It revealed the soldier stepping inside as the elevator doors began to close.

  Seeing that, I immediately turned back to the door and checked the watch on my wrist. It showed 11:35 AM. Seeing this, I lowered my hand, twisted the doorknob, and opened it right away.

  That made me look inside the room and find a black-haired woman in a black suit, currently stationed at her desk under the falling light.

  She looked up at me with a slight frown. As I stepped into the room and closed the door, it made her speak up.

  "Why didn't you knock before coming in?"

  I used my right hand to draw the gun from my back to the front, pointing the muzzle right at her face. Seeing that, she fell dead silent instantly and slowly raised both hands.

  This made me speak.

  "Do as I say and you won't die."

  She gave a small nod. Seeing that, I used my left hand to search my pants pocket before slowly approaching her, throwing a piece of paper onto the desk when I was only 2 steps away.

  This made her look down at the folded paper on the desk, and I spoke up.

  "In exactly 5 minutes, a truck will crash into the building and detonate. I want you to say what's on the paper."

  "Say what's on the paper."

  She glanced at me briefly, but seeing I didn't reply, it made her reach down to pick up the paper and unfold it. And that made her stare at it with wide eyes before looking up at me.

  This made me turn my attention back to my wrist briefly, finding there were only 3 minutes left. It made me turn back to her and speak.

  "Choose whether to end your life right here, or do as I say."

  "Of course, I'll do as you say."

  "Good. Then walk out from behind the desk to the door."

  I tilted my head toward the door slightly. Seeing that, she backed away from the desk and slowly walked to the door, while I aimed the gun at her, always maintaining a 2-step distance between us.

  Once she was standing in front of the door, it made me walk up behind her and lower the gun.

  "Take me to the boss's room. And don't panic, or you will definitely die before I do."

  She gave a small nod without daring to look back, before opening the door and walking forward. This made me follow behind her out, finding her standing in the middle of the hallway. It made me reach out with my left hand to close the door, my eyes fixed on her.

  When the sound of the door closing echoed, it made me step up to stand behind her and speak.

  "Go."

  She turned to the right before walking straight down the path, making me follow behind her, always keeping a 2-step distance.

  This resulted in her leading me to the innermost room. It made her stand perfectly still in front of the door, while I shifted to stand by the wall on her right side.

  That made me glance at her briefly, then raise my right hand to check my watch, finding that it was now 11:39 AM while the hand was ticking toward the final minute.

  When the time hit 11:40 AM, the watch hands kept moving continuously. Seeing that made me tear my eyes away from the watch and look at her face as she remained standing completely still in front of the door.

  And in that very second, a violent tremor shook the entire building, causing her body to sway slightly until she had to raise her hand to grab the door. Even I was affected, having to press my right shoulder tightly against the wall.

  And in that very second, the sound of an explosion followed closely behind! This caused us to freeze for a moment, while I managed to regain my balance as she stood motionless in front of the door.

  It made her turn her face toward me, so I tilted my head toward the wall slightly. Seeing that, she turned back to the door, opened it, and shouted.

  "Boss! Something terrible has happened! A large truck crashed into us, and it was carrying explosives in the back! And it just blew up our lower floors!"

  As her shout ended, a shouting reply from inside the room rang out.

  "Who did this!"

  The sound of a gun shifting on her right side rang out, making her freeze in place as she gulped and spoke, a little sweat dripping down her forehead.

  "A metal plate flew out from the truck when it exploded. And on that metal plate, it had the name Ark Morgan written on it."

  As her words ended, silence descended, but the sound of gunfire erupted just a few seconds later! This caused the sound in the room to go quiet before the faint noise of bullet casings hitting the floor could be heard, and a loud roar instantly followed!

  That caused the young woman to close her eyes while biting her lip, her left hand gripping the door tightly.

  "Very well done."

  Ark's voice rang out right next to her ear.

  This made her, who had been waiting for the gunshot, open her eyes and turn to him. And the picture she saw was Ark standing beside her, his gun that had previously been aimed at her now aimed into the room, pressed firmly against his shoulder.

  With his eyes staring intently inside, in that very second, his hand slipped into the trigger guard, and the sound of continuous gunfire roared out loudly!

  Causing the muzzle flash from the barrel to reflect right inside her eyes!