episode_0065

A week is by no means a short time.

This was especially true in a situation where the Net-Runner who hacked Hong Seo-yeon’s replicant at the instigation of Vice Chairman Hong Kwon-tae had to be found as soon as possible.

“Bro, things don’t seem to be going well.”

Ji-hoon, sitting in the passenger seat, let out a sigh while listening to Hong Gil-dong’s words.

I thought that with the information power of the Hwalbindang, they would be able to find the location of the net-runner in a week, but at least three characters of his name would be found.

It was natural for him to sigh, as he brought news that it was impossible to find, whether it had disappeared into the sky or fallen into the ground.

It was fortunate that he had spent the past week having fun with Hong Seo-yeon under his wing, so he didn’t have the strength to get very angry.

“I thought you could find it in about a week. Is there a reason it’s taking so long? Mr. Hong Gil-dong.”

“Bro, you’re sharp as always. You’re right. There’s just not enough conclusive evidence to track down the net-runners”

“Evidence? Like a name or a description?”

Hong Gil-dong shook his head silently in response to the question.

“No, there is no information that Vice Chairman Hong Kwon-tae paid money or that an unidentified person entered the future company’s building.”

“Then, no suspicious people entered the Future Company building, and it doesn’t seem like they spent any money… So who hacked Hong Seo-yeon’s replicant and hacked her bio ID so well?”

“ALL Information says so. But it’s impossible.”

What kind of fool in the world would do for free what Vice Chairman Hong Kwon-tae so desperately wants? The other party is the Vice Chairman of Mirae Enterprise. Asking him to put some money in his account is nothing.

If what happened this time was a good deed, like saving the countless homeless people living in the disco-mart, or one day hiring all the people who have fallen into poverty into a future company, it is possible that someone would have stepped forward to do such a good deed.

However, hacking Hong Seo-yeon’s replicant was nothing more or less than fueling Vice Chairman Hong Kwon-tae’s greed.

“Hmm… Shit, I don’t think a net-runner would suddenly fall from the sky… Mr. Hong Gil-dong, there’s a chance that the vice president did it himself.”

“It’s impossible”

“Let’s change that thought. Isn’t it possible that he gave you something instead of money?”

Hong Gil-dong clicks his tongue for a moment at Ji-hoon’s question and then falls into deep thought.

“If you hack Hong Seo-yeon’s Replicant, you can get a huge amount of money. It’s hard to imagine what could be worth that kind of money.”

Hong Gil-dong spoke and sent some files to Ji-hoon.

It was a file detailing where and what items Future Enterprise had sent over the past few days.

The problem was that there were just too many of them. Going through each piece of information felt like suicide.

“Fuck… This is impossible to classify…”

Although it was possible to classify using a program based on some information, it was an ignorant act to try to draw a conclusion by excluding something without thinking.

“Let’s turn this idea around completely. Mr. Hong Gil-dong, let’s just pick out the net-runners who can hack Hong Seo-yeon’s replicants and track them.”

“Interesting, keep talking. Jihoon.”

“If you can hack a damn well-made replicant, you’re a legendary net-runner. There aren’t 100 of those skilled here in Neo Seoul.”

“Yes, it’s as you said. We can narrow it down to about five people.”

“Then let’s start from those five and pick them out. When climbing a ladder, some people look down instead of up.”

At Ji-hoon’s words, Hong Gil-dong touched his chin.

In any case, it was impossible to trace clues from future companies.

It would be quicker to catch one legendary net-runner and connect him to the future company. Ji-hoon was definitely right.

“but, Jihoon, if you’re lucky, there’s a chance that the story will work out.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“And, they aren’t called Legendary Net-runners for nothing. It’s often hard to even contact them, let alone find their location.”

Hong Gil-dong said that and sent the files of about five net-runners to Ji-hoon.

The information for the five people was quite detailed.

“Hmm… I have contact information for all five people…”

But I couldn’t call all five of them and ask, “Did you receive the order from Vice Chairman Hong Kwon-tae?”

The fact that Hong Gil-dong had their contact information meant that he likely had it to get help with ‘work’ at important moments.

You can’t just call people randomly with the intention of destroying all their relationships and business methods, and no fool would answer, “Yes, that’s right, I got the job,” when you do.

“…Why is there no information about this woman? Other people have pictures of their faces and records of what they did.”

Ji-hoon, who had been looking through the files for a while, pointed to a profile with the name ‘Trinity’.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy other than the fact that she was a woman, Hong Gil-dong shrugged.

“She always asks for a lot of money and is slow to contact. Having an independent contact network is also a problem.”

“Aha… So naturally, you only have a record of working with the four people above.”

Hong Gil-dong nodded to Ji-hoon’s question. In the first place, one net-runner is enough for a heist.

There was no way that those with legendary skills would listen to the opinions or words of other netrunners. Of the five legendary ones, the one who was paid the least, worked the fastest, and was the quickest to contact was the one you could call.

So, naturally, we do not work with ‘Trinity’, which demands a lot of money and requires separate access to an independent network to contact them.

“…hmm.”

Ji-hoon strangely felt attracted to this woman named ‘Trinity’.

“Why do other netrunners do what they do?”

“Money, honor… Most of the time, that’s the reason.”

“This woman also wants money. But why does she want money?”

Even after Ji-hoon spoke, I still thought it was a very abstract question.

After listening to him, Hong Gil-dong did not answer for a long time.

Even though he had worked with all the legendary netrunners, he didn’t know exactly why or under what circumstances they did what they did.

“I don’t even know which of these people is the most skilled?”

“maybe it’s Trinity.”

“Because you are the kind of person who creates your own network and is contacted separately?”

Hong Gil-dong nodded to Ji-hoon’s question.

He held the steering wheel with both hands. It was obvious what conclusion Ji-hoon had reached in his head.

“If I were Vice President Hong Kwon-tae, I would ask the most skilled Netrunner for a favor. Let’s go see him.”

It doesn’t matter how good a netrunner you are.

Anyway, Ji-hoon could read people’s minds and had the power to hypnotize them.

“OK, just like bro said, I’ll prepare a seat.”

* * * * * * * *

The place Hong Gil-dong prepared was simple.

He was preparing a massive heist against Megacorp and was asking for an estimate from ‘Trinity’.

Hong Gil-dong said that since the job is quite big, it is common to show part of the plan in advance and save people like this.

“Will this prevent information from being leaked?”

Ji-hoon asked Hong Gil-dong about it, but he said that there are cases where estimates are made based on fake information, and that if he leaks such information, he will never be able to work in this field, so such things rarely happen.

‘Well, I guess that’s true. There wouldn’t be any idiots who would cut off their own livelihood.’

Ji-hoon, who was thinking, was sitting with Hong Gil-dong in the corner of the bar where he had prepared a table.

Even in the cyberpunk era, bars were a given. In fact, these food stores were not much different from those in 21st century South Korea.

It was a bit strange to see the androids with blue glowing temples diligently serving the food that had been ordered, but in the end, it was not much different in that the food was brought by a waiter.

“Why is that woman named Trinity coming this late?”

“haha, net-runners are usually this late. They have to move secretly.”

“Oh my, you think you’re the only netrunner in the world?”

Ji-hoon, who was always muttering, was also a net runner. The difference from real net runners was that he didn’t hack with his own brain or skills, but rather used an app on his smartphone…

“You’ve been waiting for a long time.”

The moment Ji-hoon was about to say one more word, a woman walking from afar smiled and sat down.

She had a typical Western face. She had beautiful blond hair, a large chest, and a long, slender body that looked like a Barbie doll.

‘She’s beautiful.’

It was okay. Compared to Hong Seo-yeon and Sonagi, she was so beautiful that I thought she might win by a narrow margin.

But strangely enough, Ji-hoon didn’t covet the Trinity in front of him. Was it because, on an instinctive level, the moment he saw her, he thought, ‘Something’s strange?’

An unknown emotion filled his heart, and for a moment, Ji-hoon fiddled with his sunglasses.

‘I’ll start with this woman first, and then I’ll meet other netrunners if I can.’

Once he saw the face, it was over. He wasn’t used to hacking using networks yet, so hacking someone whose face he had seen with his own two eyes was easier than eating cold porridge for Ji-hoon.

“Sis, it’s been a while.”

“It’s been a while. Mr. Hong Gil-dong, I thought it wasn’t my turn. Are you the person I explained to you last time? ”

“Nice to meet you.”

Trinity, who was speaking with a smile, naturally sat down and listened to the plausible story that Hong Gil-dong had made up.

Meanwhile, Ji-hoon sits next to her and pretends to listen to her story quietly.

There was no need to introduce him twice because Hong Gil-dong had already explained, “Our net runner will listen to the story.”

‘Her breasts are big and her body is killer… Let’s see, Trinity… Trinity… Just how killer specs does our legendary Net-Runner have…’

[Scanning]

[Scan completed]

[Barbie-2077 : 1m]

Jihoon blinked as he looked at the ID on the HUD floating in front of his eyes.

‘What, did you name it like this because you think it’s pretty?’

It’s really strange, he feels uneasy and moves his eyes to touch the profile.

[Barbie-2077’s ICE Rating: Sturdy]

‘what.’

What a strength.

The legendary Net-Runner’s ICE is sturdy? Hong Seo-yeon was indestructible? Ji-hoon bit his lip for a moment as a strange thought came to mind, and just in case, he sent a message to Hong Gil-dong.

“Sir, is there an android named Barbie?”

『Yes, it is famous. It is used everywhere in the Free State Association of America. Not in Neo Seoul, though.』

Hong Gil-dong shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “Is there a problem?” and Ji-hoon nodded as if he understood.

‘Trinity, this woman… She’s not here herself, but is sending an android to communicate remotely?’

Why on earth do we have to put in so much effort?

Ji-hoon instinctively felt a foul smell and thought that this woman, the net-runner who was remotely controlling the android in front of him, must have been the one who helped Vice Chairman Hong Kwon-tae.