Keyboard Warrior
I pulled out my phone.
And handed it over to Hansik.
“Hansik-ah. Can you restore all the messages I deleted with this?”
It took less than a minute.
Because it was a completely intact phone, not even a broken memory chip.
And I had unlocked it for him.
So it was easy money for Hansik.
I started scrolling through the messages I had deleted.
Most of them were spam.
“Why? What is it? What the hell are you doing to my phone...”
“Found it... hyung, look at this.”
+ [Web send] (ad)
♬ This week’s sports toto special event!
★ If the outcome of the match on February 18, Mokpo FC, determines big prize money!
China Super League COMMING SOON
▼▼ More detailed info here ▼▼
http://brogod.be/vmprbd
Code: JVBE1948523
“Huh? It’s real.”
I double-checked just in case.
It was an old sports toto spam message I had deleted.
That meant Bae Hyeongsin had been sending out this message randomly.
But some of the information on the spam message on my phone didn’t match what Park Wonchang had.
“The bottom code is different. The date is also different. The message Park Wonchang received was about Incheon United, but this one is Mokpo FC.”
“So?”
I searched for Mokpo FC on the internet.
There was a Mokpo FC in the 5th division.
But there was no match that day.
This time, I risked security and opened the website address in the spam message.
[Unable to connect to the site]
“Hyung. This spam is fake. And if it’s Incheon United, it’s a professional football team, and there are no matches in December.”
“Really?”
“And Mokpo FC is the same. This seems like a signal from Bae Hyeongsin to his subordinates or colleagues. An order? A code? Something like that.”
It felt like the puzzle was clicking into place.
Tess-hyung clicked his tongue.
“Oh... I admit it... damn. Bae Hyeongsin really is a slippery bastard.”
“And look at this. The website address here. It doesn’t connect to any site. Why would a meaningless website exist? So it must mean something!”
The three of us stared at the website address.
http://brogod.be/vmprbd
“Bro god... bi...”
“Um, I’m not great with English...”
“What about Bae Hyeongsin’s subordinates too?”
I thought hard.
A flash of lightning lit up in my head.
The critical hint had come from Hyun-do.
“Bro? Hey Bro, Bradel?”
It was it.
“Bro is hyung.”
“God is shin.”
“Bi... no, be!”
“Bae Hyeongsin!”
“Bingo!”
The three of us high-fived in celebration after finding the crucial clue.
“So the spam message with this website address is a signal that Bae Hyeongsin sent it?”
“Random spam messages become information for his side?”
“That’s right! Like Park Wonchang.”
“But what about the vmprbd behind it?”
“Um.... not VIP, VMP... RBD?”
No vowels. It didn’t yield an answer even after staring for a long time.
But this alone was a huge harvest.
We had discovered Bae Hyeongsin’s signature in the spam message and the intention behind randomly sending it.
Now it was all coming together, right?
“Wait. So if Bae Hyeongsin sends this randomly, it’s not just for Park Wonchang?”
“It’s probably likely.”
“Bae Hyeongsin wasn’t alone after all. Then what, detective?”
The detective Kim Taesu meant.
I felt ashamed for no reason.
Of course, I had no intention of becoming a Hunterpol detective.
“The other information in the spam message I received and the spam on Park Wonchang’s phone must be what Bae Hyeongsin was trying to tell Park Wonchang.”
“Whoa, I don’t get anything. But Doosik-hyung really is a genius, I didn’t realize that.”
Hyun-do, who had been listening with wide eyes, let out a sigh of admiration.
“The critical hint was from you, Hyun-do.”
I shrugged and continued.
“First, the bottom code is different, right?”
I circled it.
“And the date is different, the football team is different...”
I added two more circles.
“Anything else? ... It seems like that’s it.”
“So he used a spam message to deliver three pieces of information: date, football team, and code.”
“Okay, I understand up to here.”
“I give up.”
Hyun-do sighed deeply, and Tess-hyung got closer to me.
“What is he trying to tell them?”
“A meeting place. The place Park Wonchang was trying to escape to. Here, place is...”
“Football team. Mokpo, Incheon.”
“That makes sense.”
“And the date is...”
“Meeting date, right?”
“The problem is we don’t know the date after December.”
Unfortunately, in the restored message, the part for the date said ‘[broken character]-day’. The point was what the broken string ‘[jjwel]’ meant.
“We’ll skip what we don’t know. Then this code?”
Tess-hyung, being a detective, understood quickly and was deeply immersed in the case.
“What could be happening on that date in Incheon or Mokpo that requires this serial number?”
At that moment, Hyun-do, who had been spinning in his rotating chair, said casually.
“Aren’t both Incheon and Mokpo ports?”
We looked at Hyun-do in surprise.
“Why do you think that?”
Another critical hint.
“Hyung, where was Bae Hyeongsin last seen?”
“Busan Port.”
It was also a port.
Was it a coincidence?
The probability was low.
“Hansik! Search for the usage of this serial number at the port!”
To my urgent words, Hansik and the skeleton soldiers started tapping again.
Tap tap tap tap.
The wait was extremely short, in seconds.
Hansik’s answer:
- A combination of 4 letters and 7 digits is a cargo container number.
A chill ran down my spine.
I shot up from my seat.
“Container number! Cargo container number!”
At my words, Tess-hyung jumped up too.
“Yeah! China! China Super League! Why would he write that!”
China Super League COMMING SOON
“Comming soon! It’s coming soon. Ships heading to China are coming!”
“This was a smuggling message!!”
Clap.
Kim Taesu and I high-fived cheerfully.
“It’s all here. It’s all here. Were these bastards trying to run to China?”
“But we still don’t know the date.”
“You could wait until the container arrives at Incheon Port, right?”
That was correct.
But there was something unsettling about this.
It was here, yet something felt wrong.
Tess-hyung had already put on his coat.
He was about to rush to Incheon Port right now.
“Hyung, wait a moment.”
“What if the date is today? It’s urgent.”
“If this is a smuggling message sent by Bae Hyeongsin... doesn’t that mean Bae Hyeongsin is in China right now?”
Tess-hyung stopped all his actions.
He seemed paralyzed.
“Damn... shit...”
A curse burst from Tess-hyung’s mouth.
He had been chasing only Bae Hyeongsin for five years.
He had still believed he was in Korea.
When I had asked if he had already fled to China, he had vehemently denied it.
He had just wanted to believe what he wanted to believe.
In truth, Bae Hyeongsin was not in Korea right now.
“Damn it. This damned thing!”
Thud!
Tess-hyung stomped on the floor, stomping vigorously.
It wasn’t the kind of anger that would wash away the frustration.
After stomping for a while, Tess-hyung muttered quietly.
“There’s only one way. I’ll get on that container. I’ll personally do the smuggling.”
“Hyung!”
It was madness.
Tess-hyung had lost his mind.
If left alone, he would definitely act.
“I understand your heart, hyung. But this is not it.”
“I waited for this moment for five years. A full five years... every time I thought I had missed him, it turns out I already had... Bae Hyeongsin was already in China. So what do I do? I have to go. I’ll cut off that bastard’s head.”
Tess-hyung’s eyes blazed with murderous intent.
But this was not the way.
It was almost like going to die.
Moreover, Tess-hyung was wanted by the authorities right now.
Smuggling meant he would never return.
Was it okay to ruin his life for revenge?
Was that real revenge?
“Hyung, calm down first. There’s a better way.”
“Better way?”
I poured cold water on Tess-hyung’s revengeful spirit.
Hansik, countering Tess-hyung, started writing a long content.
“Probability of catching Bae Hyeongsin if we follow Tess-hyung’s plan: converging to 0%.
The reasons are:
1. We cannot be certain if Bae Hyeongsin is on the scene.
2. Bae Hyeongsin might have been with a group.
3. Kim Taesu has a low probability of winning against Bae Hyeongsin.
...”
In 3, Tess-hyung exploded.
“That bastard again?”
They clearly bet on who was stronger, Bae Hyeongsin or Tess-hyung.
From my memory, Hansik had bet that Tess-hyung would lose to Bae Hyeongsin. They weren’t on good terms.
“I lose to Bae Hyeongsin?”
- If I could win, I would have caught him at Busan Port five years ago!
Hansik answered.
There was no time to stop him.
Because Hansik’s typing speed was monstrous.
- Since then, all Kim Taesu has done for five years is live a honey Hunterpol civil servant life, drink soju, play, eat, take bribes, be rude, abuse public power...
Hansik was about to go too far. I hurriedly blocked the keyboard warrior Hansik from the properly irritated Tess-hyung.
“Hansik, stop! Stop! Tess-hyung too. He’s a bit... you know.”
“Ha, that crazy bastard really...”
“Calm down, calm down.”
While I calmed Tess-hyung, Hansik secretly put his hands back on the keyboard.
- You can’t resist! This is pissed off! This is mad with jealousy?!
“Stop!”
To my shout, Hansik lowered his head.
“Ha... that’s real.... Doosik-ah, just leave it alone.”
Hansik suddenly raised his head and raised his hand in victory.
“Hyung, are you serious?”
But to me, there was nothing particularly wrong with his words.
It was the fact itself.
“Yeah. I’m serious.”
“If I’m angry, I shouldn’t hit Hansik.”
“You said summoning kills you even if you beat me to death?”
“That’s true.”
I nodded like a referee in the ring.
Aga-ri fight.
The match resumed, and Hansik launched his next question.
- If five years ago Bae Hyeongsin shot about 100 million Dark Bolts, considering the Fibonacci multiplication principle, his skill level should have been at least level 40. Now, if Bae Hyeongsin has become stronger in China, how much has his skill level risen? I don’t know.
Tess-hyung answered.
“... He must have raised it by at least five skill levels.”
- Then he’ll shoot 1.1 billion Dark Bolts?
At Hansik’s answer, my mouth fell open.
A difference of only five levels caused that much gap?
The power of Fibonacci...
“......”
Tess-hyung fell silent.
It wasn’t wrong.
- 1 win | O.J.?
Victory!
With a crack, the tendon bulged on Tess-hyung’s forehead. Hansik started typing on the keyboard again at lightning speed.
- Bae Hyeongsin ___APPEND___ Kim Taesu O.J.?
“Ha, that bastard really.”
Hansik’s typing speed became even faster.
- What does it mean that Bae Hyeongsin can ignore customs procedures for containers from Korea to China and smuggle people?
Second question.
“What?”
Tess-hyung showed annoyance but answered out of curiosity.
- Tsk tsk, he built a powerful organization. One that can intervene in public power and is easy to cut off from!
There was logic.
To cross borders, export containers must go through customs in Korea, then again in the destination country to prevent smuggling.
Naturally, the procedures are strict.
But unexpectedly, Tess-hyung calmed his excitement and regained his composure.
“Keep going.”
- Bae Hyeongsin may also be protected by the Chinese government!
“China... there are already many Korean Hunterpol agents going to China...”
- When all this is summed up, the hopelessly chasing Kim Taesu in the Korean Hunterpol, treated like dirt, is beaten by Bae Hyeongsin.
“That bastard!”
- It’s pissed off! It’s stupid!
Hansik immediately launched a personal attack.
I quickly intervened.
“Stop it, Hansik. You’re warned.”
But Hansik raised both hands in a victory pose.
What do you do if you’re warned?
The match was over.
Hansik had won by default.
Anyway, the goal was clearly achieved.
The moment Tess-hyung had looked ready to rush to China, he slumped into his seat.
“Have you calmed down now?”
“Calmed down? Am I the type to calm down? You crazy bastard! Hey, don’t forget. I said I’d take you as my brother when I catch Bae Hyeongsin.”
Ha, childish.
He still remembered that.
- lol
Hansik’s definite counter.
“Huu... everything is correct. Bae Hyeongsin is much stronger than before, there is an organization that has infiltrated Korean public power, and he may be protected by Chinese information. So how do we catch him!”
But there was a side effect.
Tess-hyung’s anger turned into despair.
He covered his head.
“Hyung, we have to look at this long-term. And what we should think about now is how to use the card we have in our hands.”
A gentleman’s revenge is not too late by ten years.
I had heard it somewhere.
Tess-hyung was still lowering his head.
I added.
“We’ve only just found a trace of Bae Hyeongsin. Hyung, it’s just the beginning now.”
“What’s the method?”
Tess-hyung looked up.
“What method?”
We’ll do what we can.
“We have to catch Bae Hyeongsin’s gang in Korea first. That will prove hyung’s innocence first.”
“Is there a plan?”
“Of course.”
We were using the enemy’s strength in reverse.