The Master Key
The safe was as tall as a man, with a small LCD screen and a keypad mounted on the front.
One of the scavengers said,
"Yeolchan, look at this. Doesn't this look incredibly suspicious? It's got to be something valuable..."
"Hmm, it really is a safe. The sheer volume of data within the safe itself is extraordinary. Though I have no idea what's inside..."
"It must be something important, right?"
"If it were that important, would it be sitting in a pile of junk data?"
Kang Yeolchan examined the safe closely and spoke.
"It looks like military-grade encryption was used. The emblem belongs to the Human Coalition Forces, too. But we should probably give up on it."
"Even you can't crack it, Yeolchan?"
"Unfortunately, no! Military security is ridiculously complex. I doubt even a specialist could crack it. It was probably discarded precisely because they couldn't bypass the encryption."
"No way, no way. Let's not waste our time and look for something else."
Just as the scavengers were about to give up, Kang Yeolchan spoke up.
"But according to the roster, there was definitely a former soldier among us. Is anyone here..."
"Really?"
"Who is it? Who?"
The scavengers pointed at one another, trying to find the soldier.
When everyone shook their heads, all eyes eventually landed on me, the last one remaining.
"I was a soldier, yes, but I was just infantry... I don't have a knack for hacking."
"Tsk, guess we're out of luck."
"What a waste. If it's locked in a military safe, it must be highly classified information."
One of the scavengers muttered, stroking the safe with lingering regret.
Suddenly, I recalled Kang Yeolchan's words about how the rewards varied depending on the quality of the information.
"How much is the reward for highly classified information?"
"The person who retrieved battery technology from a factory in Ochang received thirty million Maetan Points!"
"Thirty million!"
"Good lord, you could live like a king for a whole year on that!"
Thirty million Maetan Points. That was more than my salary for two entire years.
Even if I ate three hearty meals a day, I could survive for a thousand days without a single worry. Even if I splurged and ate three bowls per meal, I could live in absolute luxury for a year.
With that many points, I'd gladly pay for my meals at Garden instead of extorting them.
Sigh... Why on earth was I born into the infantry branch?
While I was silently cursing my background, Kang Yeolchan said something that got my blood pumping even faster.
"And that's not all! On top of the thirty million Maetan Points, you get a whole chocolate cake!"
"A cake?"
Confusion washed over the scavengers' faces. Why a cake?
Cake was a dessert you could eat relatively easily in Intra-Maetan. It wasn't something worth bragging about as a grand reward...
Wait, unless!
"Hehe, it's no ordinary cake."
Kang Yeolchan placed a finger to his lips.
It was the most serious expression I had ever seen on his face.
"It is delivered... in the real world."
"A cake?"
"For real?!"
Eating a whole cake in the real world.
That was practically the ultimate luxury in Maetan.
Flour, eggs, butter, and milk could somehow be obtained in Maetan if you paid an exorbitant amount of money. There were chickens and cows in Maetan, after all.
I had heard that sugar reserves were slowly running dry, but a sweetness-obsessed scientist had supposedly figured out a secret method to synthesize small quantities in a lab. It cost an arm and a leg, but you could still get it if you were desperate enough.
The real problem was cocoa powder.
This was something you couldn't obtain no matter what. You couldn't grow it, you couldn't import it, and you couldn't synthesize it in a lab. In terms of being a mythical entity, it was practically synonymous with a unicorn.
And yet.
A chocolate cake, which required a mountain of that precious cocoa powder to make.
And a whole cake at that.
This was insane. Had Maetan lost its mind? This was exactly why I couldn't help but love this city.
"But it's no use. If even a Player like Yeolchan can't do it, and our soldier friend here can't either, then we have no way..."
"No. There is still a way."
I stepped up to the safe.
"You can do it?"
"Really? I thought you said you didn't have a knack for hacking."
"I don't have hacking skills, but I've heard of something."
"What?"
"That there's a master key in the military."
Once, an administrative clerk in my unit had told me:
Listen closely, Yoon Juhyuk. I'm going to tell you the master key that grants a free pass to almost every computer in the entire military. There aren't many places where this doesn't work.
There shouldn't be one?
It shouldn't exist, but it does. Keeping a shared computer used by dozens of people perfectly secure is a paradox in itself. It's the result of a tacit agreement among administrative clerks. No one ever explicitly suggested it, but before we knew it, it became an unwritten rule everyone followed.
After saying that, the clerk had scanned the area to make sure no one was listening before whispering the password into my ear.
He was a good friend.
A thoughtful guy who would boil water for ramen in the electric kettle right when my night watch shift ended.
Recalling his voice, I placed my hand over the virtual keypad.
A combination of numbers, letters, and special characters...
1...
q...
2...
1q2w3e4r
> Incorrect password.
"Tsk, it's wrong."
"Ah, wait a second. I don't think he's done yet."
Even if it's wrong, don't give up. It's just a minor discrepancy caused by the mandatory password change every thirty days.
1q2w3e4r!
> Incorrect password.
> Body temperature: 40.5°C. Further connection is hazardous.
Wrong again? I told you, they have to change it every thirty days.
His voice echoed in my head.
Add two exclamation marks!
1q2w3e4r!!
> Authentication complete.
> Unlocking secure area.
"Oooooh!"
"He actually opened it!"
"Hell yeah! I knew you could do it!"
With a heavy, metallic groan, the safe door slowly swung open.
Revealed inside was...
A small, thin, square metal plate, its underside densely packed with tiny golden pins.
"What is this?"
As I picked up the metal plate, text hovered in the air.
The metal plate had a smooth surface and was so light it felt practically weightless.
But I had absolutely no idea what it was used for.
It looked like some kind of electronic component, but...
"May I take a look at it for a moment?"
I handed the metal plate to Kang Yeolchan as he approached, and asked,
"...Will this get me that whole chocolate cake?"
"Hmm. I can't make heads or tails of this. I'm not sure if it's protected or corrupted... I can't even read its name..."
"What? Corrupted?"
"If it's just protected, the corporation can decrypt it. Don't be discouraged, let's bring it back!"
Kang Yeolchan handed the metal plate back to me with a comforting smile.
The name hovered over the metal plate once more.
...Does this text look corrupted to Kang Yeolchan?
"...Thirty minutes have passed. We will depart shortly. Everyone, please get ready."
There was still one thing left to do before we departed.
I looked at the raccoon with a look of grim determination.
The delivery of the illegal avatars, including 'Sexy Jennifer', which Hee-cheol had requested.
I couldn't delay it any longer.
I quietly approached the raccoon and whispered the password.
"Tonight... with Munchi..."
"Pardon?"
"...With... Munchi... please... make... a heart..."
"You want me to do what?"
Ugh.
"Tonight! With Munchi! Please spend! A heart-fluttering! Night! Together!"
"...Is this sexual harassment? I'm calling security."
"My apologies."
I quickly bowed my head in apology and backed away.
How humiliating.
Hee-cheol, that son of a bitch, set me up.
There was no way the password was wrong. In that case, was there another raccoon?
"Is there perhaps another raccoon around here?"
Instead of an answer, I received a freezing glare.
"My apologies."
I bowed my head once more.
At that moment, an unsettling feeling that my eyes and ears couldn't detect struck my mind like lightning.
The password I prepared wasn't working.
As the possible variables overlapped in my head, they pointed to a single conclusion.
Maybe I was overthinking it.
But I couldn't help but doubt.
The commander who had led our unit to become the strongest in the Coalition Forces always muttered this:
The enemy is smarter than us.
So always doubt.
Assume the worst.
I recalled Kang Yeolchan's words.
They perfectly mimic the appearance, personality, and behavior of people who once existed in the real world.
What if.
What if this raccoon wasn't a resident of Sampyeong?
What if an AI was hiding here, mimicking a resident of Sampyeong?
I quietly approached Kang Yeolchan.
"Player Kang Yeolchan."
"Hmm? What is it, Goblin?"
Kang Yeolchan turned to look at me with a smile.
I spoke in a low, quiet voice.
"It's an AI."
Kang Yeolchan's smile remained frozen as he asked,
"...Where?"
"That raccoon..."
The moment I was about to speak, I shut my mouth.
Up until now, I had suspected the raccoon was an AI.
But that was too naive.
Without realizing it, I had set the limit of the "worst-case scenario" right there.
I slowly scanned our surroundings.
The residents of Sampyeong were laughing and chatting normally.
An AI disguising itself as a raccoon and hiding among them wasn't the worst-case scenario.
The true worst-case scenario was that Sampyeong had already fallen, and we were currently standing on its ruins.
Suddenly, a chilling, murderous intent pierced my back.
It was so intense that not only me, but even the ordinary scavengers noticed it and turned their heads.
Looking back, the raccoon who had just accused me of harassment was staring at us with terrifying eyes.
And it wasn't just the raccoon.
Every single person in Intra-Sampyeong, including the guards watching the Monolith Gate, was staring directly at us.
"W-what's going on...?"
"The atmosphere is getting weird."
Unease rippled through the scavengers.
Behind the raccoon, the employees of Intra-Sampyeong began to form a perimeter, surrounding us.
Kang Yeolchan stepped in front of me and spoke.
"Officer Do Woori, what is the meaning of this? This behavior is..."
Crack!
In an instant, the raccoon's arm elongated like a whip and lashed out, striking Kang Yeolchan.
Kang Yeolchan's massive frame was sent flying, crashing into a pile of junk.
"Eek!"
As the scavengers swallowed their screams, the employees of Intra-Sampyeong lunged at us all at once.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With a powerful explosion, Kang Yeolchan burst back into the fray, blowing away the Sampyeong employees in a single strike.
"Run!"
Kang Yeolchan roared.
Even before he opened his mouth, I was already sprinting toward the Monolith Gate, and the other scavengers scrambled to follow.
"Valued customer? Where were you... Wait, where did you all come from?!"
Beyond the Monolith Gate, the department store employee who had been looking for me inside the restroom tried to block our path, but we shoved him aside and ran blindly.
The moment we burst out of the restroom, a blinding flash of light erupted from within, followed by a massive explosion.
It was a blast so violent that the entire department store shuddered.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"An earthquake?! Is it an earthquake?"
The customers who had been peacefully shopping screamed and collapsed to the floor.
As we ran a bit further, we saw a gaping hole in the ceiling, likely carved out by Kang Yeolchan when he crashed through.
Flames flickered around the edges of the hole.
We pushed through the panicked crowd, sprinting toward the main entrance on the first floor.
"W-what's happening?"
"Did Sampyeong betray us? Is that it?!"
"Betrayal? Don't be stupid! Sampyeong is finished! It's already been overrun by the AI!!"
The scavengers shouted their frantic questions as they ran.
Whatever the case, now was not the time to ponder. The immediate problem took priority.
Bursting outside, I saw Kang Yeolchan pinning the raccoon to the ground.
"Haa... Haa... Haa..."
The raccoon pinned beneath Kang Yeolchan was torn to shreds, slowly dissolving into particles of light.
But Kang Yeolchan hadn't escaped unscathed either.
His entire body was covered in wounds, and his left arm had been completely torn off.
"Did... did everyone make it out?!"
"Y-yes..."
"Yeolchan, you're bleeding..."
"I'm fine! More importantly, we need to get out of here right now...!"
Kang Yeolchan froze mid-sentence, and everyone else stopped breathing in unison.
We all sensed a bizarre sensation enveloping our surroundings.
In an instant, a profound silence descended, as if all sound had been erased from the world.
The music that had been constantly playing inside the department store.
The roaring engines of the cars filling the streets.
The chatter of the pedestrians.
Even the sound of the blowing wind—everything stopped.
Everyone froze.
Every single person on the streets, inside the buildings, and in the cars stopped dead in their tracks, turning their heads to stare at us.
Kang Yeolchan groaned.
"Oh no..."
Crack.
It was the sound of something fracturing.
It sounded like glass shattering, but on an entirely different scale.
The sound reverberated from the entire sky.
Looking up, the blue sky was cracking and falling away, revealing the void beyond.
In that incomprehensible space, an infinite stream of 0s and 1s flowed relentlessly.
> Detected by AI.