Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Owner of a Workshop in a Ruined World (23)
[U-Link].
A smartphone obtained as loot after eliminating the lightning-type Awakened in the forest of Hyochang Park.
[Satellite Signal: Stable]
[Server Connected]
If I hadn’t seen this status message and immediately sealed the phone inside a lead box to block external signals, the raiders’ tracking team might have stormed straight into my workshop.
Because if the signal was connected, it meant the device’s location was being transmitted to the server as well.
I carefully reached toward the [U-Link].
At that moment—
Whirrr—!
Picker, who had been lazily hovering in midair, suddenly darted in front of my hand.
Its blue sensor eye contracted rapidly like a tightening aperture as it scanned the phone.
–Boss, stop! Supplying power immediately is dangerous.
Picker’s voice was noticeably lower and more serious than usual.
–According to hardware scan results, this model is hard-coded to transmit location coordinate pings to the satellite every 0.5 seconds as a background process the moment the power is turned on.
“…0.5 seconds?”
–Correct. Boss’s decision to power it off and shield it earlier was absolutely perfect!
I stopped my hand from picking up the phone and stared at Picker floating in front of me.
Was this really the same hyperactive AI I knew?
“You… your way of speaking has gotten a lot smarter. Ninety-nine point eight percent? Since when could you do calculations that precise?”
At my half-compliment, Picker spun once in the air.
Its usual playful energy showed a little, but its voice was filled with confidence.
–Of course! This level of data analysis is basic capability for a second-generation tactical drone!
A smile formed on my lips.
I hadn’t even asked it to scan the smartphone.
This too must have been the effect of the [Tactical Intuition] it gained through growth.
Instead of a simple drone, it felt like I now had a technical advisor capable of analyzing situations and offering suggestions.
It wasn’t intentional, but rescuing Picker earlier had turned out to be a huge gain.
“Yeah, having a smart subordinate makes life easier.”
–Thank you for the praise, Boss!
At this point, it felt more accurate to think of Picker not as a drone, but as a partner I could discuss everything with.
After all, it was connected to the Workshop System, so its knowledge base was vast.
“So according to your analysis, if I turn this on here, my coordinates will be immediately transmitted to their server?”
Picker tilted its body up and down, mimicking a nod.
–Exactly. The moment you turn it on, it’s basically broadcasting, ‘Suspicious person right here~!’
“Even inside the workshop?”
–No. The workshop interior is a subspace isolated from the outside, so it’s safe. However, records related to that will remain on the device.
“And if I go outside and connect to the server later, that record will be transmitted?”
–Yes. With high probability.
A signal disappearing at one location and suddenly reappearing somewhere else?
That would definitely raise suspicion.
But either way, I needed to power on the smartphone and access the Black Market application.
It would become the only channel through which I could sell items I created and obtain [Blueprints] and [Cores].
I had to find a way.
Software hacking?
As a former Carrier who had only recently begun learning engineering, breaking through Union Tech’s security was nearly impossible.
But deceiving machines?
That was my specialty.
“If sending coordinates is the problem… then we just make the phone lie, right?”
–Lie?
“Yeah. A fake location. Make it believe I’m somewhere I want it to think I am.”
Through modification of the [U-Link].
First, I used one of the three [F-Grade Cores] I got from Hammer to recharge the workshop.
[Power Status: 27% (Operational)]
From here on, I needed to begin a precise modification that was difficult to perform manually—the U-Link modification.
While preparing for precision modification using the Workshop System, I spoke to Picker floating beside me.
“Hmm. Since hiding coordinates is the key, how about scattering the signals randomly to confuse the system?”
At my suggestion, Picker shook its body left and right with a sharp clicking motion.
It looked exactly like someone shaking their head.
–Come on, Boss. That’s the kind of idea amateurs come up with. I’m disappointed.
“…Amateurs?”
This guy had gotten smarter and now his ego was growing too.
–Listen carefully. If the GPS coordinates jump to Gangnam after one second, Busan two seconds later, and Pyongyang three seconds after that, what do you think will happen? Union Tech will immediately classify it as abnormal access or device hacking and ban the account.
Its sensor eye flashed red in an unusually serious manner.
–Union Tech servers process hundreds or thousands of signals. We need to pretend to be the most ordinary user A among them.
“So standing out means getting caught.”
There was no arguing with that.
I gave a bitter smile and nodded.
“You’re right. Someone trying to hide shouldn’t make a spectacle.”
Picker’s sensor returned to blue as it continued.
–So the coordinates should remain fixed—but buried in a natural location. If the coordinates appear in the middle of an empty field or ocean, it looks suspicious. Like a tree hidden in a forest, we should hide where the population flow is highest and the signals are most crowded.
“So… the darkest place is under the lamp.”
I opened a map of the Mapo District on the screen.
A location with heavy foot traffic and extremely dense communication traffic.
Looking at the center of the red heatmap, my lips twisted into a strange smile.
[Mapo Shelter]
…How ironic.
Using the lair of the people who threw me away like baggage as my fake hideout.
–But strategically it’s the perfect shield, Boss. There are plenty of powerful Awakened there. No one would suspect it.
“That’s true.”
If luck was on my side, I might even stir up some trouble there.
Inside the shelter, there was tension between the management factions.
The group connected to the military and the Mapo Shelter autonomous committee constantly clashed.
Whenever those two encountered each other in the warehouse area, the non-Awakened Carriers nearby were the ones who got caught in the middle.
If those two groups could be made to fight each other…
That would be entertaining.
I suppressed the cynical thought and began adjusting the coordinates.
The actual coordinates of my workshop.
And the coordinates of Mapo Shelter’s central sector.
The offset value between those two points.
“Adjust southwest by 3.5 kilometers. Set altitude to minus 100 meters underground.”
That location corresponded to the residential sector where Mapo Shelter’s administrators lived.
As soon as I finished the settings, the laser module above the workbench activated.
A blue scanning grid swept across the smartphone.
Then a holographic 3D exploded view of the phone appeared before my eyes.
The layered circuitry inside—something impossible to see with the naked eye.
One of the microscopic copper lines blinked red.
Target acquired.
I could run it in automatic mode, but this was also part of learning.
[GPS Antenna Signal Line]
In the virtual workspace, I pointed at the line with my finger.
If I tampered with the software, Union’s security program might detect it.
But if the hardware physically altered the signal?
The program would never know.
Just looking at the crude state of the [U-Link] hardware made that obvious.
–Correct, Boss! Compared to their software technology, Union Tech’s hardware technology is far inferior.
The components stored in my [Blueprint Library] assembled themselves like puzzle pieces in my mind.
Micro resistors.
Computation chip fragments.
Bypass wiring.
“Here we insert a liar chip that forcibly alters the coordinate values.”
I named it the [GPS Offset Module].
The design was finished in an instant.
Materials were overflowing in the workshop anyway.
Once I fed the materials into the system, the workshop machinery began moving.
Hissss—
Precision beams of light controlled at the nanometer level poured toward the smartphone.
The military-grade casing wasn’t even opened.
The light passed straight through the plastic and penetrated inside.
When the process ended, the [U-Link] looked identical to before.
[Modification Complete]
[Tampered U-Link]
[Grade: F+]
[When receiving satellite signals, physically alters coordinate data by the designated offset value before transmitting it to the access point.]
Picker, who had been watching breathlessly, let out an exclamation.
–Wow…
It floated close and inspected the phone from every angle.
Externally, there wasn’t even the slightest sign it had been modified.
–The Workshop System is insane. With this level of precision, even Apple or Samsung’s chief engineers would cry!
Hearing those names again after ten years made me chuckle.
If I wanted to advance my technology further, someday I might have to raid a corporate research lab.
“Apple? Samsung? Do you even know what those are?”
–Uh… what are they?
“Let’s just say… my seniors.”
Since I was learning from the technology they left behind.
That made me their junior.
I picked up the completed smartphone and pressed the power button.
Bzzzt—
The screen vibrated to life.
The Union Tech logo appeared.
The mysterious megacorporation said to monopolize the post-collapse communication network and Black Market.
But to me, it was simply a gate that needed to be broken through.
“Surprisingly clean app design. I don’t know much about software, but is it even possible to build something like this in this era?”
–Maybe it’s the power of an Awakening ability, Boss!
“That’s possible.”
–Anyway, this thing has completely fallen for it!
[Location: Mapo Shelter]
Just as Picker said, the U-Link believed it was inside the shelter’s safe zone.
A smile began to spread across my face—
Then another screen blocked it.
[Biometric Authentication Required]
[Scan registered fingerprint or enter 128-bit encryption key.]
“…Right. The fingerprint.”
Back then, I had even considered cutting off the raider’s finger.
Picker tilted its body awkwardly beside me.
–Boss… we have a problem. The original owner, Mr. Zappy Lightning Man, got cooked into charcoal powder after tasting your grenade, remember?
“Yeah. But how do you know that?”
That happened before I built Picker.
–Huh? Good point… But I remember it! Maybe I saw it when I was inside Boss’s stomach?
“…You’re a drone. I’m a human male.”
–Ah… right.
After a few tests, I discovered something interesting.
Picker could use my memories as if it had seen them itself.
Since it was connected to the Workshop System, it could access my experiences.
“Anyway, if we don’t have the key, we just rebuild the lock.”
Once again, the system displayed a detailed circuit diagram.
This time the target wasn’t the GPS antenna.
It was the fingerprint recognition sensor at the bottom of the device.
In the magnified hologram, hundreds of micro wires twisted together in red and blue.
I pointed at one data transmission line leading toward the application processor.
–Boss… that’s the authentication signal line, right?
“Right. The principle is simple. If the fingerprint matches, it sends 1 (True). If it fails, it sends 0 (False). So what happens if the sensor is broken and always sends 1?”
–Uh… then even a dog’s paw would unlock it?
“Correct.”
Thanks to blueprint farming, I had gotten smarter too.
In the virtual design interface, I drew a red X.
Step one.
Cut the signal output line from the fingerprint sensor with a micro-laser.
Now no matter how much the sensor screamed “wrong,” the signal would never reach the processor.
Step two.
Force power directly into the authentication input pin of the processor.
A constant 3.3V power line from the battery.
In electronic circuits, voltage means digital signal 1.
“This is called a physical bypass. From the processor’s perspective, as long as the device is powered on, it’s receiving an eternal authentication success signal.”
–Damn… that’s evil, Boss. You’re gaslighting the CPU.
Gaslighting the CPU?
That was a very AI-drone-like expression.
Hissss—!
Blue light pierced through the smartphone again.
A process impossible by naked-eye precision.
But the workshop system created an ultrafine metal filament thinner than one-hundredth the width of a human hair, shorting the battery line to the input pin.
A perfectly clean hardware hack.
[Modification Complete]
Externally, the smartphone looked completely unchanged.
The lock screen was still displayed.
Without hesitation, I placed my index finger on the sensor.
Normally, it should have rejected me.
Ding!
[Authentication Successful]
[Unlocked]
The screen slid open smoothly with a cheerful sound.
–Wow! It opened! Literally anyone can unlock it!
“I’m the only one using it anyway.”
Though if I lost it, maybe I should install a self-destruct feature later.
Either way, the final gate remained.
The main screen displayed several crude icons.
Among them, a bright red icon stood out.
[Union Market]
When I tapped it, the login screen appeared.
[Welcome, Thunder.]
[Current Rank: Bronze]
Thunder?
That must have been the nickname of the raider leader from Hyochang Park.
He did have an electricity ability.
The cheesy name made me frown.
–Boss, change the name first! Thunder? Seriously? Pick something cool—like something legendary!
Picker protested loudly.
I agreed.
Just as I opened [Edit Profile] to change the nickname—
“…Wait.”
My finger stopped in midair.
Right now, this device was barely evading Union Tech’s surveillance through GPS spoofing and hardware hacking.
The device’s serial number was already registered to Thunder.
But suddenly the login location is inside Mapo Shelter—and the nickname changes too?
Unless Union Tech’s administrators were idiots, they would suspect device theft or hijacking.
Worst case, the account could be suspended.
Or they might demand identity verification.
“Picker.”
–Yes?
“We’re not changing the name. I’ll operate under Thunder.”
Picker spun around the screen in confusion.
–What? You’re keeping that lame name? I’m disappointed, Boss!
“Would you rather look cool or avoid starving to death? There’s no need to reveal my identity to the world.”
That was why I pretended to be a bomber back at Hyochang Park.
In fact, this worked out perfectly.
Thunder had already disappeared from the world.
No matter what transactions happened now, the consequences wouldn’t reach me.
Even if problems arose during trade, the trail wouldn’t lead back to me.
“So this is basically a burner phone.”
–You mean we convert it into a cannon?
“No. It means a disposable cover identity.”
Picker’s sensor blinked rapidly.
–Searching… Ah! The dead tell no tales. As expected from Boss—precise and sinister!
“…I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Yes.
If I obtained other devices and repeated the same process…
I could use multiple U-Link terminals myself.
I stored a long-term plan in my mind.
For now I was borrowing someone else’s device.
But someday, once the workshop’s technology advanced…
I would completely analyze Union’s server algorithms and clone entirely new terminals.
Ghost devices not registered anywhere in the world.
When that day came, I could flood the market with the countless items I created.
But not yet.
For now, I stepped into the Black Market as the dead man Thunder.
“Well then… let’s see what this so-called Black Market looks like.”