A Subtle Debut Through Charity
After the chilly winter of donations, spring arrived with flowers in full bloom.
Seeing the blossoms lifted my spirits a bit, but with nothing but burly guys around me, there was no one to go cherry blossom viewing with.
I was standing there blankly, staring out the window at the Han River scenery, when Athena spoke up.
Planning to head to the Han River, Master?
"Nah. Too many people—can't even find a spot to stand."
I could see families out for picnics, soaking in the spring vibe.
Heading there would definitely drain my energy and leave me dead on my feet.
"Anything fun to do at home?"
It was the weekend already, and I was bored out of my mind. Needed something to kill time.
I've prepared a few entertaining options. Pick one to check out?
What Athena displayed in front of me looked like some pretty risky content.
"...Artemis Project live stream, report on inter-nation industrial espionage. What, am I the US President now?"
Stuff that only heads of state would see, popping up right in my face. Kinda threw me off.
Compared to an eight-year term at best, Master holds the clear advantage, no?
"My life might outlast a US President's term, but wouldn't being the actual President be better?"
Comparing myself to some Earth overlord felt off-balance.
It's just that Master prefers a quiet life. If you enjoyed stepping into the spotlight, you could wield even more influence than a president.
Maybe it was my small-time citizen vibe—no SNS, keeping a low profile despite the power I had.
"Even so, if I just went wild doing whatever, how would I handle the fallout?"
That's not for Master to worry about. You do as you please, and handling the related issues is my job—and the team's.
I got what she meant. I understood, but being an ordinary guy at heart, I had no clue how to even play around with it.
"Still, at my age, running around causing middle-school-level chaos feels off, doesn't it?"
It's about who does it. When power players pull middle-school stunts, the world can't touch them, right?
All my arguments shot down, I was left speechless.
"I'm the idiot trying to debate you. Let's just eat."
Total defeat in the argument. To soothe the sting, I fired up a delivery app and ordered some food.
While eating, a question popped into my head after some pondering.
"Athena, do you want me to step out into the world and get recognized?"
Chewing over her words, it sounded like she subtly wanted that.
Just as people crave recognition from others, I'd love for Master to be praised by the world too.
I'd always thought I didn't care about that, but my companion did.
As I mentioned, I can ensure no disruptions to your daily life. Your lifestyle would shift direction, but no one will come begging for signatures.
"Hmm... I'll think it over."
It was a direction I'd never considered before, so it needed serious thought.
Munching on rice noodles in a daze, I reached a rough conclusion.
"Athena. If you guarantee my daily life stays the same... I guess showing a little to the outside world wouldn't hurt. But standing in front of crowds or seeing my name in the news? Hard pass."
If someone handed me a career survey, I'd probably write "home security guard." Not really craving fame.
It was a ridiculous request, but I trusted Athena's abilities to make it happen.
Perfect, Master. Instead of starting big, shall we build up slowly, bit by bit?
"Sounds good. Scaling up too fast from the start would get boring quick."
Got it. I'll prepare starting small.
Maybe because I'd caved to her persuasion, Athena seemed thrilled.
Found something perfect. Remember what you said about donations last time?
"...Donations? Did I say I'd donate?"
Without my parents' inheritance, I'd be the one needing charity, so it hadn't crossed my mind.
You said it after blowing money on games and regretting it—might as well donate.
Her words jogged a memory.
"Oh yeah, I remember. But why bring it up?"
You've probably seen it passing by—donations where only a tiny fraction actually reaches those in need.
I vaguely recalled it from textbooks.
Charity groups have their own costs, so none give 100% to causes. Or worse, some thugs pocket most and toss scraps like alms.
"Yeah, I know. Wanna fix that?"
Can't solve everything with current funds, but we can reach out to those who truly need it.
We had trillions, but couldn't save everyone. Just handing out cash could make things worse anyway—no plans for that.
"How about orphanages?"
I wasn't a natural orphan, but I was one technically. I lived in material abundance, but knew most didn't.
Great choice. Even if it leaks out, your background makes it a believable good deed everyone would accept.
"Oh, and show me your info-gathering process in view? Curious how it works."
Something I'd wondered about forever—time to satisfy that itch.
...It'll be dizzying. You sure?
"Doesn't matter. Been curious forever. No filtering—show me exactly what you see."
After warning me to brace myself, Athena pulled up a black screen in front of my eyes.
Starting now.
With those brief words, log data—tens of thousands of lines—started flooding from the edges of my vision, overwhelming it.
Countless lines of English data flashed into existence and vanished repeatedly.
> Query: Orphanages KR nationwide
> Parsing public WiFi signals... [10,000+ nodes]
> Cross-referencing 50M+ smartphone/server packets
> Decrypting encrypted messengers/servers... [BYPASS]
> Target locked: Hope Orphanage, Gyeonggi-do
"Ugh..."
The torrent of text flickering like strobe lights started inducing dizziness.
Now in full swing, public WiFi across Korea, signals from tens of millions of smartphones and servers—they were dissected like organs on a table, laid bare.
Encrypted messages, server comms, user chats. All stripped, sifted, and discarded under Athena's touch, extracting the needed intel.
"Without your annotations, I'd have no clue what any of this is."
She tagged the rising info, letting me grasp what was what.
This is already heavily filtered. Raw feed would strain your eyes too much.
I'd asked for no filters, but apparently my safety came first.
A few seconds later, the data torrent eased, zooming in on a Gyeonggi-do building. Screens from every camera around it unfolded.
CCTV near the "Hope Orphanage" sign, car dashcams, bystanders' smartphone cams—all under Athena's watch.
"...And who's this old dude?"
A suited middle-aged man's profile popped up in the corner of my eye.
Chairman of the foundation owning this orphanage.
With her short explanation done, the smartphone's vaunted firewall tore like paper.
Cloud photos, secret messages, call logs and recordings from the chairman and execs—analyzed in real-time, displayed before me.
I'll compile all his illegal gains from his chairmanship and hand them to the police.
Brokerage accounts, layered encrypted crypto hideaways—all mapped out, paraded before my eyes.
"Over 10 billion won? This bastard's worse than Kwak Doo-pal."
A real scumbag, stealing even the kids' meal money when there was nothing else left to take.
As the info wave calmed, detailed normalization plans for the Hope Foundation and orphanage, plus fund recovery strategies, compiled in seconds.
"...Is this the world you see every day?"
I knew her capabilities were insane from past magic-like feats.
But watching her dismantle security nets built by geniuses, corps, and nations like strolling into her own home? Gave me chills.
This is heavily throttled for your comfort... processed extra slowly.
"If this is throttled, full speed would've melted my brain by now."
Hit me anew how reassuring it was that this entity was on my side.
This guy—hand him to the police?
"Yeah. Part of me wants to bury him somewhere, but he doesn't even deserve that."
Using the team would've felt like crossing a line, so police it was.
"News headlines incoming again. They won't know it was us, though."
Still, good deed this time—should blow over in a day.
...Probably?