The Ripple Effect

It was that evening. Park Jihun had drifted off to sleep, only to be jolted awake by his alarm. He checked his phone; there were thirty minutes left until 8:00 PM.

His brow furrowed instantly. Over a hundred unread notifications had piled up on his screen.

What's this?

With a look of sheer bewilderment, he dragged down the notification bar. The senders varied wildly. There were local friends like Usik, college classmates, his video editor, and even people whose faces he could barely recall.

"What on earth is going on now?"

Jihun immediately dialed Usik. The phone barely rang before his friend picked up.

"I've been calling you non-stop! Why are you only picking up now?"

"Sorry, I fell asleep. But what is all this?"

Usik answered as if he had been waiting for the question. "Levinael won first place on the music show today, right? Well, during her live stream, Rabin openly dropped your username. She even talked about Harin's self-composed song."

Jihun let out a dry chuckle. "Really?"

"Yeah. When you turn on your stream today, you're going to get flooded with people."

"It's not like I did anything grand. I just told them what I saw." Jihun paused for a moment before adding, "Well, at least my viewership will grow."

Usik snorted. "Unbelievable. Anyway, I'm sending you a few links, so check those out first. I'm taking the night off, so I'm just going to eat some fried chicken and watch your stream."

"Must be nice. You get to just sit back and enjoy the show."

"If you're so jealous, you should take a break too."

"Cut the nonsense and hang up."

As soon as the call ended, Usik sent a flurry of links. Jihun tapped the first one. It was a trending post on a popular online community.

Inside was an embedded video of Levinael's first-place encore stage. The members of Levinael took turns holding the microphone, tearfully delivering their gratitude. Finally, Rabin took the mic. She caught her breath for a moment before speaking.

"Lastly, there is someone who gave me immense help when I was going through a truly difficult time. I don't know if you're watching this... but thank you so much."

Up to this point, it was a standard speech. The real issue was the live stream clip attached right below ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it. Rabin, wearing a casual hoodie in her dorm, spoke with a bright smile.

It was a short clip, but it was more than enough. The comment section was already thousands of messages deep.

Jihun slowly scrolled down the screen and nodded. "This is definitely enough to set the internet on fire."

It wasn't just community posts; several news articles had already been published.

Just then, his phone rang again. This time, it was his video editor, Lee Minhyeok.

"Mr. Job Seeker, how about we turn this into a special feature?"

Jihun was taken aback by the sudden proposal. "A special feature?"

"Thanks to Rabin mentioning you on her live stream, the traffic flowing into our YouTube channel is insane right now. I think it would be perfect to compile the Levinael consultation into a long-form video and cut several Shorts out of it."

"Go ahead and do whatever you think is best, Mr. Lee."

"Really?"

"Just don't add anything I didn't actually say."

"Of course not! Just weaving together what you said on stream will be more than enough to make it a massive hit."

"Then I'll leave it in your capable hands."

"Yes, sir. I'll be sure to tune in to your stream today!"

The call ended. Jihun checked the time. There were only a few minutes left until 8:00 PM.

He immediately started the broadcast.

At that exact moment, the chat window began to scroll at a dizzying speed. Normally, it took about thirty minutes for the viewer count to surpass ten thousand. Today, however, it hadn't even been ten minutes since he turned on the stream, and the room was already packed with ten thousand viewers.

And even now, people were continuing to pour in like a tidal wave.

Jihun scanned the rapidly scrolling chat before turning on his microphone.

"Hello."

Even after his brief greeting, the chat showed no signs of slowing down.

Jihun spoke into the mic.

"Today's shamanic readings will be conducted via roulette."

The chat immediately reacted to his words.

Looking at the viewer count, which had easily surpassed ten thousand, Jihun spoke up.

"Before I spin the roulette, I have one thing to say."

Jihun spoke in a calm, measured tone.

"It's fine if you recognize me in public. I don't mind taking photos or greeting you."

The speed of the chat slowed down slightly.

"However, I do not accept requests for shamanic readings in person. Shamanic readings are strictly done on stream. Please respect this boundary."

Jihun scanned the chat and nodded.

"Then let's spin it right away. If you want to apply, just type [Apply]."

In an instant, the chat window was completely flooded with the word [Apply].

Jihun closed the first round of applications and immediately spun the roulette. The rapidly spinning arrow gradually slowed down before stopping on a single username.

[HoneyCod]

The first winner was HoneyCod. The chat reacted instantly.

HoneyCod joined the Discord voice channel immediately.

"Hello."

It was a woman's voice.

Jihun took a short breath. In that instant, the light, casual atmosphere that had lingered since the start of the stream quietly sank. The warmth vanished from his eyes, and his voice dropped to a much lower register.

"What do you want to know?"

HoneyCod spoke hesitantly.

"We're planning a family trip for next year. I wanted to see if going to Da Nang would be alright, and what dates would be best."

Jihun's gaze fixed on a point in the empty air.

"It's your tenth wedding anniversary."

The woman gasped softly. "That's... that's correct."

"Da Nang itself is fine. But you set the date for the third week of August next year, didn't you?"

"Yes. We were planning to book the tickets around next month."

The chat began to stir.

Jihun's eyes narrowed.

Hot, humid air. Heavy rain lashing violently against a window. A family trapped inside an unfamiliar hotel room. A gray sky visible beyond the curtains.

Jihun spoke.

"Push it back a week."

The woman immediately asked, "Excuse me?"

"If you go that week, you won't be able to step foot outside."

"Why? What's going to happen?"

"A typhoon is coming."

The chat erupted instantly.

HoneyCod spoke hurriedly. "Understood. I'll push it back a week."

"Enough. Next."

The Discord call disconnected. Jihun scanned the chat and spoke.

"Spinning the roulette again."

The second roulette began to spin.

The second and third rounds of roulette concluded without any major incidents. Now, it was time to spin for the fourth time.

Jihun spun the wheel.

The rapidly spinning arrow gradually slowed down before coming to a halt on a familiar username.

[Neyton]

The chat reacted a beat later.

Jihun spoke in a calm, steady voice.

"Neyton, come on in."

"Hello."

It was a clean, polished voice, carrying significantly more weight than before.

Paying no mind to the chat, Jihun asked, "I heard things were going well for you. Why are you here?"

Neyton spoke carefully.

"A document came up for my approval today, but I have a bad feeling about it. Everyone else says it's fine, but I can't shake this unease. Am I just being paranoid?"

Jihun paused. His gaze, fixed on the monitor, turned icy cold.

"Don't ignore your gut. If something feels off, there's a reason."

"...So my intuition was correct."

The chat reacted immediately.

Neyton caught his breath and asked, "Then it would be wise to look into it further, wouldn't it?"

"Do that." Jihun added, "Even if everyone else says it's fine, you must not let it slide."

Neyton was silent for a moment. Then, he replied, "Thank you."

Jihun didn't say anything more.

"Next."

At that moment, a direct message popped up on Neyton's Discord.

The Discord connection was severed. Jihun nonchalantly spun the next roulette.

It was after the final roulette had finished.

Jihun clicked the stream-end button and leaned back in his chair for a moment. After catching his breath, he started a private broadcast.

Then, he placed a Discord call to Kim Tae-jun.

"...I'm here."

Jihun immediately got straight to the point.

"There were too many eyes watching, so I couldn't say it then."

"Is it the same as last time? Is my maternal uncle trying to trap me? Or is it my eldest brother...?"

Instead of answering, Jihun recalled the vision he had just seen.

A neatly organized contract. Perfectly normal-looking clauses on the surface. A list of key data lines. A new name added on top of it. A viewing window opening and closing briefly. A laptop being shut in a hurry.

Jihun spoke.

"That contract is only clean on the surface."

Kim ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tae-jun held his breath. "..."

"This isn't something that ends with a simple joint development agreement."

"...Then what is it?"

"On the surface, it looks like joint development, but in reality, it's giving them a justification to look through your data."

A brief silence fell over the call.

Kim Tae-jun asked, "Does that mean my uncle proposed this without knowing that?"

"I can't see that part yet."

Just then, another vision flashed before Jihun's eyes.

A young researcher looking around warily. Files being transferred to a USB drive. A brief exchange of text messages written in Chinese. A dark night sea. A shadow slipping past shipping containers.

"But the real problem lies elsewhere."

"..."

"There's already one inside."

"Who is it?"

"A newly hired researcher. Your uncle bypassed standard procedures to place him directly in the core data line."

Kim Tae-jun asked in a hardened voice, "Is that researcher connected to China?"

"Yeah. The clinical data for the newly successful drug. He's trying to leak it to the Chinese side."

As Kim Tae-jun fell into a stunned silence, Jihun continued coldly.

"Do you understand what the problem is now?"

After a moment of deep thought, Kim Tae-jun spoke.

"If I sign off on the approval, the Chinese side will gain the legal justification to look at the data, and the researcher sitting in the core data line will be able to move even more freely."

Jihun replied simply, "Exactly."

With an icy expression, Kim Tae-jun asked, "What if I refuse to sign off on it?"

"If you block it, they'll get desperate."

"They'll look for another way."

"Yes."

"...Is it the airport?"

"No." Jihun cut him off. "Not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the airport. I saw a harbor."

"I'll have to catch him before he escapes." Kim Tae-jun continued in a calm, calculated tone. "If I make a move too early, he'll just go into hiding. I'll hold off on the approval and set the stage so they have no choice but to move first."

"You're getting pretty good at handling things on your own now."

Before hanging up, Kim Tae-jun spoke.

"Thank you."

Jihun replied briefly.

"Now, it's your turn."