Chapter 597
Chapter 597
From rumor-mongering videos slandering Seon A-hyun to the production of provocative and cruel "issue" videos featuring other famous celebrities to serve as bait.
"Lmao" and laughing emojis flooded the screen.
The people in this anonymous chat room finished their daily routine, cackling away without a hint of tension or excitement. They were just exchanging pleasant, casual banter.
And then there was one person in reality, quietly staring at it all.
“……”
Park Moon-dae.
“…So, you’re saying you’re in that room right now?”
“Yes.”
Ryu Cheong-woo was momentarily speechless.
Naturally, Park Moon-dae had no history of being deeply active in some remote community where only Seon A-hyun’s most twisted antis gathered.
‘How could I even function if I spent all my time monitoring places like that?’
Then how did he manage to access their anonymous chat room?
It was simple.
Anyone could have done it.
‘All you have to do is search for it.’
It was a task he was particularly familiar with.
Back when he was Ryu Gun-woo, he never felt a sense of belonging or a desire to participate in idol communities. His goal was strictly to sell data at market price.
Because of that, he stayed on the periphery, aiming only to grasp the core atmosphere and trends within. Naturally, he developed the ability to extract that information as quickly as possible.
‘And that’s through searching.’
Now, after living as an idol who monitors everything for about seven years, that ability had become obsessively precise.
Park Moon-dae rubbed his chin, his lips twisting.
There are ways to find things that don't even show up on search engines.
‘And these guys are using a site that doesn't even have a feature to hide from search results.’
It wasn't even that difficult.
Of course, Seon A-hyun’s antis and rumor-mongers weren't completely brainless. They routinely practiced their own version of "search prevention."
They distorted keywords and consistently deleted any hints about their activities or chat room addresses shortly after posting them.
However, an untrained person always leaves a trail.
Especially on the digitized internet.
‘When you’re doing something emotionally, flaws are bound to appear.’
Like this.
‘They mentioned the name.’
Once the derogatory nickname they used for Seon A-hyun was uncovered, the search was halfway done.
“But those kinds of posts are usually deleted.”
“Even if they delete them, search engines keep them stored.”
“…!”
Even if a page is deleted, search engines back up the content of that page as a cache on their servers for a certain period.
Quite kindly, so that the person searching can view past records.
‘They’ve been doing this to Seon A-hyun for about six months, so the cache storage period hasn't even expired yet…’
“I just have to look around those areas.”
Then it appears.
Like this.
Of course, many of the links were already dead. The first three page caches he found were all broken.
But if you search persistently…
‘Found it.’
A live link is bound to turn up.
And as for the "keyword puzzle only we would know" that they set up to filter people out—figuring that out was even easier.
‘Their psychology is obvious.’
They were simply satisfied with their own perspective, thinking, ‘This is really complex! No one but us could find this.’
But there is nothing that can't be found if you dig.
‘The question itself contains the keywords, for God's sake.’
So, after cycling through a few page addresses…
“…Okay.”
Thirteen hours after he started the groundwork—beginning with purchasing the hardware—Park Moon-dae extracted the address.
And so… he was now able to access the rumor-breeding group chat using his burner phones.
Park Moon-dae finished his brief recollection and shrugged.
“Anyone can do it in a day if they set their mind to it.”
“……”
‘There’s no way.’
Of course, being a man of great composure, Ryu Cheong-woo steadily suppressed the urge to argue.
Instead, he carefully considered another topic before speaking.
“Moon-dae. Still, you should get out of there quickly. If you used your phone number to enter, it might not be safe.”
“Ah.”
It was a matter of personal information.
There were malicious stalkers who went as far as pulling smartphone usage records of idols.
If the fact that Park Moon-dae, a fellow member, was directly inside a chat room dedicated to creating rumors about Seon A-hyun was ever discovered, there was no telling what would happen.
Ryu Cheong-woo’s brows began to narrow as he quickly envisioned the fallout, but…
“It’s fine. I used an app to generate a virtual number.”
“…?!”
“I got an American one… anyway.”
Park Moon-dae didn't explain further.
He just nodded as if to say, ‘Just know that there’s a way for everything.’
‘Of course I have to protect my own identity. That’s the most important thing.’
It was the absolute priority.
“……”
“And I’m going to let this room simmer for a few more days.”
“…You’re not going to capture it and expose it online?”
No, I told you I’m not uploading anything to the internet myself…
Park Moon-dae felt a brief moment of bitterness that he hadn't earned that much trust from Ryu Cheong-woo, but he soon shrugged.
“Public exposure like that isn't as effective as you’d think.”
—The chat room where a famous celebrity’s antis gather to plot is now being revealed!
To hardcore internet users, this was now a common occurrence, almost cliché.
Many people found it tiresome.
‘There’s a high chance it’ll just be buried as a power struggle between fandoms.’
It wasn't provocative enough.
It wasn't like this was a new phenomenon; the public isn't so easily moved by something like that anymore.
Furthermore, the same applied to the people in this anonymous chat room.
They had seen it all before, so they likely expected a leak to some extent and wouldn't be hit that hard.
‘In fact, it might even make them closer.’
The feeling of being persecuted could increase their resentment and immersion, causing them to band together even tighter and do even crazier things.
To prevent that… a more delicate method was needed.
To pull them out by the roots.
‘Let’s see…’
Park Moon-dae monitored the chat room for about a day and compiled a list.
By the looks of it, this person was the owner of the "Cyber Wrecker" account.
This one was the loudest and most attention-seeking type.
Beyond that, he had finished grasping the flow of the room.
“We just have to wait a little bit.”
After looking at the silently watching Ryu Cheong-woo with satisfaction, he turned his gaze back to the anonymous chat room on the screen.
‘The foundation is all laid.’
Time to go in.
He raised his hand and threw out the first bait.
*
The group chat had entered a brief lull after the "daily quota" was finished.
Amidst the profiles comfortably and cheerfully expressing absurd inferiority complexes and malice, a post that seemed slightly hesitant quietly appeared.
Softly.
It was a newcomer who had joined a few days ago.
Then, the profile that had been hesitating typed out a message.
It was the very Cyber Wrecker account they were operating.
It was a WeTube video uploaded two or three years before the owner of that account began running this channel in earnest.
[The insane class of the prince who used to do dance ㄷㄷ TeSTAR Seon A-hyun]
It was a video praising Seon A-hyun.
The group chat instantly went cold.
But damage control was swift.
Happy Lion replied compliantly.
Even in an anonymous space, there were power dynamics.
‘This place doesn't run without me, does it?’
"Angry Wapitch," who directly operated the account, confidently poured his anger onto "Happy Lion" and tried to label him as an instigator to get rid of him.
‘I’m the room manager!’
It was the moment he was about to taste the power that only existed here.
“…!!”
Suddenly, another newcomer started running wild.
15 million won!
The people watching the chat flinched.
They had vaguely thought that this work would generate some profit. But hearing a specific amount made it feel different.
Furthermore, didn't they have a stake in earning that money? They were the ones who manufactured the Seon A-hyun rumors!
It was a large sum of money that felt close enough to naturally and quickly spark greed.
And one final remark.
“……”
And "Angry Tubon" stopped chatting as if he had said everything he needed to say.
No, he disappeared from the chat room.
—‘Angry Tubon’ has left the chat room.
"Angry Wapitch" had banned him too late.
However, it was a counterproductive move.
It looked as if he was gagging someone because he had something to hide.
A silence where no one posted a single message.
‘Ah, fuck.’
But the Cyber Wrecker didn't open his mouth to explain.
Naturally, now that he actually had such a large sum of money in his hands, it was agonizingly hard to let go.
Why else would he have operated the Cyber Wrecker account under his own name?
‘Because the money is good!’
Even if it was different for others, for him, ruining Seon A-hyun was closer to a secondary hobby.
Seeing a rich and successful bastard get fucked over by his hands was a truly thrilling experience, but that wasn't everything.
The material coming from this free labor was more important.
‘If I try to soothe them and the conversation leads to sharing the profits, I’m screwed!’
If he divided it among all these people, there would be nothing left for him!
‘I was going to dodge it and just brush it off with some excuse, but…’
He had to do it somehow.
So, he reacted like this instead.
Then, a few people chimed in as if to comfort him. They were the types who were emotionally dependent on this place and lacked judgment.
‘Good!’
But his relief was premature.
Naturally, his brazenly angry attitude had backfired.
‘…!’
The other party’s pride was wounded.
‘Fuck!’
The account owner grit his teeth.
How could they use a word like "volunteer work" for creating rumors about a celebrity? Those bastards did it because they enjoyed it, while he was the one taking all the risks!
It was while he was seething with rage.
“…Huh?”
Explain?
‘No…’
He couldn't believe they dared to interrogate him. These were just common losers who would be nothing without his WeTube account, attacking him under the guise of greed while pretending otherwise.
‘These crazy bastards, every single one of them has their eyes flipped…’
His pride severely wounded and anxious about losing his profits, he lost his mind.
It was at that moment.
Snap.
The Cyber Wrecker finally went blank and began pounding on his keyboard.
Just like when he insulted Seon A-hyun.
“…!!”
An exposure!
And so, the group chat began to descend into chaos and a dogfight.
Money, betrayal, and all-out sniping!
—‘Cheers Podo-do’ has left the chat room.
In a healthy community, there would naturally be someone to say, "Let’s stop here and try to work it out." But there was no such person here.
Because this was a place created precisely because such people didn't exist.
The acts of insulting, interrogating, and sniping each other continued.
After dozens of messages went up in a blaze, it finally reached this point.
In the midst of that turmoil, "Happy Lion" had long since silently disappeared from the chat and returned to the position of a quiet observer.
‘Hmm.’
Park Moon-dae took his fingers off the screen and watched the group chat crumble with satisfaction.
‘Done.’
Annihilation.
Beside him lay another burner phone that had already left all the chat rooms.
The open profile on it read "Angry Tubon."
*
A few days later.
[Reporting the chilling behavior of a Cyber Wrecker account targeting Seon A-hyun (325)]
The Seon A-hyun anti-group chat was decimated.
Furthermore, a few people who were offended by the Cyber Wrecker even momentarily shifted their target of revenge from Seon A-hyun to him.
By exposing it with their own hands, they had crushed any chance of regrouping.
“Now we just have to hand over the data and quietly sue them one by one.”
“……”
The data seller wins again!