Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Off to Steal Again Today
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Vanguard of virtual reality technology.
Genius programmer.
Once-in-a-century scientist, and more.
Dozens of titles clung to him.
After endless research, he birthed a self-aware artificial intelligence.
And Dr. Yong Hoseop had single-handedly designed the foundational framework for Agas.
In truth, Rover Company had merely added flesh to the skeleton he provided before releasing it to the world.
Outstanding technological prowess.
A rapid expansion of businesses built on that technology.
Thanks to it, Rover Company skyrocketed into a megacorporation overnight, and by successively launching the VR game Agas, it began wielding influence across the globe.
Endless growth.
Stock prices soaring to the heavens.
These days, it was recognized as a company of such immense value that shares rarely even hit the market.
'All of it, the collaboration between Dr. Yong Hoseop sitting right here and Chairman Lee Haseong of Rover Group.'
The fusion of technological might and capital power had birthed the Rover Group as it existed today.
And perhaps because of that.
As the game's overall director, he still enjoyed Chairman Lee Haseong's utmost trust.
In other words, he was essentially middle management.
Every report and document from each department passed through his hands.
"Coffee?"
"No, I'm good."
"Well, suit yourself."
Hoseop set down the coffee can.
The desk was already buried under a mountain of empty cans.
A thick coffee aroma wafted through the air.
He was still a caffeine addict living off the stuff.
Kwangho's gaze lingered on the scene for a moment.
But Hoseop, slouched in his chair, slowly opened his mouth.
"You came about the hidden scenario, right?"
"Yes, exactly."
"RMT-1004, EMT-1004. Headaches we've been dealing with lately. I've been pretty busy myself over the past month because of it."
This was unexpected.
He'd assumed the original designer would have some grasp of the issue, but to hear he'd been swamped for a whole month?
Honestly, it left Kwangho flustered.
But Hoseop ignored Kwangho's stare, fiddling with the coffee cans scattered across the desk.
Shaking them one by one to check for any unopened ones.
"Mm."
Unfortunately, they all seemed empty.
Hoseop turned his head with a dissatisfied look.
His gaze landed on the corner of the desk.
Where a teacup and coffee pot sat side by side.
"What you just said...?"
Kwangho asked cautiously, eyeing the scene.
Hoseop reached toward the corner as he replied.
"To cut to the chase..."
The conclusion.
"This incident..."
The conclusion was.
"A flaw in the game system..."
That very conclusion.
"An error... ugh!"
"..."
Hoseop's arm dropped heavily mid-sentence.
He couldn't quite reach the corner of the desk.
A truly frustrating sight.
In the end, Kwangho, who had been standing, fetched the coffee pot and teacup from the shelf corner himself.
"Ah, thanks."
"No problem."
Glug glug!
The teacup filled with dark liquid.
"Anyway, to get straight to the point, it's not a simple game system error."
"If not an error, then..."
"Well, we'd need more digging to pinpoint the exact cause, but for now, I'm guessing it's an issue from the detailed design phase."
That was right.
The genius programmer who provided Agas's foundational skeleton.
But he hadn't handled all the internal design alone afterward.
Rover Company's current dev team.
He had fleshed it out alongside fifteen developers.
Hoseop explained it seemed like a problem from that process, then grabbed sugar cubes from a nearby jar and dropped them into his cup.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four...
'Ugh.'
Kwangho winced slightly.
A pile of sugar cubes that looked like it could rot your teeth just watching.
He wasn't even pretending to care about his health anymore, stirring it right in.
His stomach churned.
But there was a bigger issue at hand.
"If that's the case, doesn't that mean more problems like this could keep popping up?"
"Well, technically yes. As long as that user keeps being active, anyway. Fortunately, the self-aware AI Agas has deemed it has no impact on the game's flow, so we'll just have to keep monitoring for a while."
"Can't we access the user's info? For something this serious, monitoring should be..."
"Ah, that. I was going to mention it—we got denied."
"Pardon? What?"
Kwangho asked again, wondering if he'd misheard.
But Hoseop sipped his coffee calmly.
"Upper management rejected the request. Said we can't unlock the user code lock."
"...May I ask why?"
"I don't know the reason either. It's a mystery why only that user's info is locked. Anyway, upper management's call, so we have to follow. Team Leader, until we figure out the exact cause..."
After that, there were two directives.
One: Periodically check and report on the hidden scenario's progress.
The other: Extract and compile only the altered data.
"Backup everything else and put it on hold. Otherwise, you won't keep up with your regular workload."
"Under...stood."
Kwangho nodded.
Not fully convinced, but at least some doubts were cleared.
And the exploding workload lately had lightened a bit.
'Still, is there some internal company issue going on?'
Or maybe the locked-code user was that important.
'Even this guy, who has the chairman's trust, doesn't know why...'
No, not certain.
He might be hiding something deliberately.
Genius scientist Yong Hoseop.
He'd always been a man of many secrets.
With a complicated heart, Kwangho left Hoseop's office.
"Phew."
A sigh of relief.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
'At least I can relax for a while.'
The visit he'd requested a month ago had paid off.
The employees dying from overtime lately.
They'd at least breathe easier hearing this.
'Yeah, as long as no other crazy hidden scenario pops up out of nowhere...'
Then.
Bzzzzt!
His phone rang suddenly.
Caller: Operations team staff.
'These guys, couldn't wait.'
Curious about the visit results, no doubt.
Kwangho smirked and answered.
And then.
"...What?"
His face hardened instantly.
"..."
Silence filled the room.
After Team Leader Park Kwangho left.
Alone in the underground office, Hoseop quietly sipped his coffee.
Then.
Light flickered on one of the large monitors that had gone dark late.
A face appeared on the screen.
The emoji-like face's mouth began to move slowly.
A voice clear as jade beads.
The large monitor spoke to Hoseop in a young woman's voice.
"I'm considering it. Haven't made a firm judgment yet. I'll keep observing until then."
"So, what's up?"
"Hm?"
Hoseop, who had been sipping indifferently, showed keen interest.
RMT-1004.
EMT-1004.
Two hidden scenarios had already triggered recently, and now another?
Impossible through normal gameplay.
Perhaps that's why.
Hoseop set down his cup and stared intently at the monitor.
"What scenario?"
The self-aware AI.
Agas added an explanation.
'Looks like I've gotten myself into something bigger than I thought.'
Mud-caked footprints.
White powder presumed to be bloodstains.
Traces of a struggle.
Long hair scattered everywhere.
And scraps of fabric torn from the floor, as if ripped off by someone.
It looked just like the aftermath of a kidnapping.
'Not certain, but...'
Luke reexamined the multiple footprints leading to the back window.
A total of five pairs.
Slightly different shapes, but all shared one trait: unusually large sizes.
Plus, the faint white powder clinging to the window cracks.
Just like the shattered furniture, presumed to be NPC blood.
'The path from behind the house leads into the mountains.'
The mountain near Jermi.
Bilbar Mountain.
Gazing at it, Luke formed a hypothesis.
Five intruders at Lerik's house.
They'd waited outside, then stormed in all at once when the moment was right.
Their target: Lerik's family.
They succeeded in abducting the two as planned, but the scuffle trashed the place, leaving traces.
That was Luke's guess so far.
'The question is whether to pursue.'
His real goal was Del Mark's secret map.
Just that half.
What happened to city NPCs didn't concern him at all.
'But what if Lerik's family or these intruders are linked to the map?'
Just one possibility among many, but he needed to keep options open.
'Alright, at least figure out where they went. Direction, position—something.'
Couldn't hurt to know.
"Pokopoko."
Meanwhile, Poko—who knew when it had slipped from the backpack—was scampering around the room.
"Hey, quit wandering and come here. We're moving again."
"Poko!"
"Hm? What's this...?"
Poko handed something over.
Luke assumed it was Lerik's daughter's hairpin.
"Thought it was something good. Can't even sell junk like this..."
"Poko?"
About to toss it aside.
Suddenly, Luke pondered deeply, then handed the hairpin back to Poko.
"No, hold onto it for now."
"Poko!"
"Let's go. Hop in quick."
"Pokopoko!"
Poko obediently returned to the backpack without complaint.
At the same time, Luke leaped out the back window.
'As expected, it leads into the mountains.'
He could see them.
Unerased footprints.
And bloodstains trailing deep into the mountains.
Proficiency rising in a common skill during the tracking.
No deep thought needed to guess what kind.
'Detection series.'
A common skill mainly learned by explorers, pursuers, bounty hunters.
'Got hunted down plenty by bounty hunters thanks to detection skills.'
Now, ironically, he was learning one himself.
As he raised the common skill's proficiency following the traces.
'The trail cuts off?'
Suddenly, from midway, no more footprints or bloodstains.