Chapter 50
Chapter 50
In their world, in their way.
I had completely crushed their spirits, so they wouldn't dare to act recklessly in the future.
I signaled only to Ms. Mi and went out into the hallway first.
Ms. Mi, who followed soon after, still had a hazy gaze, her thoughts far away.
'Well, she must have recognized it since she's skilled.'
What they had just witnessed.
And frankly, even I often found it hard to believe when I looked back at what had happened in my brain.
"Leave the Reed family alone."
"...Excuse me? What did you say?"
I looked straight at Ms. Mi and repeated slowly.
"I said, don't touch the Reed family. Touching them is practically touching the country of England itself. Let me make it clear, that's not your business."
Ms. Mi blinked, still not recovered from the shock.
I raised my voice slightly.
"Mika, do you understand?"
Only then did Ms. Mi gasp, a surprised expression on her face.
"Yes, I understand what you mean. But, you know, if we suddenly disappear, it might look even more suspicious. I was wondering if we should provide something. Should I create something?"
"I'll create something appropriate and give it to them.My personal information and small past had already been exposed by the trolls anyway.
If I added a little more to that and filled it with useless information.
It would look like reliable data on the surface.
"It won't be flimsy, but it won't be satisfying either. They'll definitely hire another group or move the officials again. It's your job to defend against that."
Ms. Mi hesitated for a moment before cautiously opening her mouth.
"To be honest, I don't understand why you're trying to hire us. Your skills are far superior to our hundred people."
I deliberately furrowed my brow and retorted coldly.
"Do I look like I have that much time to spare?"
This wasn't my style, but it couldn't be helped until trust was established.
Due to the crazy nature of the animal called human.
If I smiled even a little now, they would completely forget what they had done.
Just before, they were the henchmen of the enemies who had attacked me.
And it was also true that I was a little on edge because of the sudden attack.
"Do I have to be on standby all the time because of a possible attack? 24 hours a day?"
Ms. Mi closed her mouth at my sharp response.
"That's the only reason to hire people like you."
"I misspoke, CEO. I understand clearly what you want from us. Don't worry about that. But can I say one thing?"
"Go ahead."
"People who request background checks initially look for people like us, but eventually they move people directly or seek more coercive methods. Especially these people, the Reed family."
"Are you worried about me now?"
"As you know, there's a high possibility they'll target you offline as well. We haven't heard why the Reed family is targeting you.
It's probably because of investment-related data, but if it's not that..."
Ms. Mi paused and added with a serious expression.
"I think we should be concerned about your safety."
That was it.
Ms. Mi pinpointed the exact reason why my nerves had been so sharp all along.
"That's my problem. Mika, take good care of your subordinates. Make sure the word doesn't get out that our Alpha Group employees were notorious hackers."
"Then... are we... officially...?"
"What else would you be?"
"Really? Are you saying that we are officially Alpha Group employees?"
"Officially, you are the security team of Alpha Group. The annual salary will be in line with the industry average, and depending on performance, you will be given the opportunity to participate in the AlphaMind Fund."
Ms. Mi couldn't close her mouth in surprise, then nodded.
"Yes, CEO. I will keep in mind what you have said so far and act accordingly. Thank you sincerely for giving us this generous opportunity."
Many people think that the organizational culture of big tech companies is flexible.
But from what I've seen, that's definitely not the case.
It's only flexible in terms of clothing choices and working hours.
If you look into their organizations, a performance-oriented, high-pressure culture is in place.
In this performance-oriented environment, the most important virtue is not just ability.
Just as the Street welcomes veterans because of their hierarchical mindset and loyalty, in Silicon Valley, dedication and loyalty to the organization are considered key to maintaining performance.
It's no coincidence that those who are only talented but have the wrong attitude have poor performance indicators.
In that respect, Ms. Mi was definitely someone who had learned organizational life at Microsoft.
Of course, the process of joining was not good. But the result of Ms. Mi joining is positive.
Above all, they are now in a position where they cannot betray the organization.
I asked one last question.
"Will a week be enough to wrap things up?"
"Yes!"
I was slightly surprised by the answer that came out without a moment's hesitation.
It was a short answer.
But it was full of sudden energy.
* * *
Unlike her small stature, she had the strongest personality among the quartet.
Shiva was a junior at MIT before I caught her.
And around Massachusetts, it's not uncommon for people to jump into the industry right during their undergraduate studies.
I asked about this.
"I did get a summer internship offer from Google, but it's gone now. Corona? No. As you can see, I got caught."
Shiva's tone was cynical, but she couldn't hide her excitement.
And for good reason.
Objectively speaking, that's the case.
If you grabbed a passerby and asked, the answer would be predetermined.
Whether to start as an intern at Google with no guarantee of becoming a full-time employee.
Or to start as a full-time employee at the hottest hedge fund group on Wall Street right now.
Of course, a Google internship is the starting point for a dream career in that industry.
But a degree from Massachusetts doesn't solve everything.
Every moment is a continuous competition.
Even those competitors are by no means inferior.
I could say that because I had gone through that process myself.
Moreover, Shiva had a whole family of relatives far away in India, eagerly waiting for the money she would earn, right?
So it was natural to be excited.
"The salary is calculated from today, right? Ah. Then I have no choice. I'll be back in three days. But you know, if I disappoint you?
Can I meet your expectations? Is it just getting fired, or is something worse waiting for me?
Yes. Dedication... I'm pretty good at that. Really. I'll show you properly if possible."
* * *
A young British man who had always been a leader offline but now seemed to have found his place.
Before I caught him, Phantom was already working for a leading European security company.
In such places, each employee is thoroughly bound by contracts with clients, and even job changes are restricted as standard.
I asked about this.
"...Huh?"
He still didn't seem to be in his right mind, similar to Ms. Mi's first moment, but he was one step further.
This would be the accurate way to express it.
His eyes were slightly gone.
These types of guys are what you call geniuses.
They have their own world thoroughly built.
A world that is vast but clear, colorful but orderly, and above all, a world where they are at the center.
But now, cracks had formed in that perfectly woven world.
"The packet_interceptor function..."
Even the fact that all his nerves were still focused on the Counterattack Code showed that. He was still immersed in trying to decipher the code.
In fact, at first, he just seemed like a dazed and weak guy.
Now he seems like the guy who has built a reputation in both the white hacker scene and the black hacker scene.
He's a completely different type from Ms. Mi, who has taken the elite course in the IT industry, or Shiva, who has recklessly run after money.
He's the real otaku in that industry.
"Yes. Focus. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes... The projects I'm in charge of at the company... I'll solve them all and come back for sure."
When he answered properly at the end, it was as if he would really say amen.
* * *
He looked like the roughest of the quartet, but he was the most cautious.
Sword already had a criminal record.
The large-scale data breach that occurred at the British telecommunications company TalkTalk in 2015.
In the incident where 157,000 sensitive customer information was leaked, Sword received a one-year guilty verdict as an accomplice for providing the Sniffer Code used in the hacking.
But it wasn't all over just because he had served his sentence.
No matter how great his skills were.
Since he already had a hacking record, no IT industry would hire him. As if to prove this, his appearance was the most shabby.
I asked about this.
"Yes. There was nothing I could do. Yes. I shouldn't have done that. Ah... prison... I couldn't adapt. Every day was hard. Even after I got out, life was still difficult.
The money... it's because of Kenen. That bastard took it all and ran away. We never even touched it. Yes. It's as you said."
A hacker group with a Lazarus-level reputation is penniless.
It's usually hard to believe.
But it wasn't a lie.
The past chat logs contained the situation at the time.
They planted the seeds in the first year of establishment. They started harvesting in the second year.
From then on, the Red Montage Team's wallet began to accumulate a coin called Monero.
And at one point, Kenen, an early member, took it all and disappeared.
"That coin, are you talking about Monero? Yes. It's an anonymity coin.
Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, there's no transaction record left, so at the time it was for us... Ah. Yes. That's right.
That's accurate. If I could, I would have caught him hundreds of times. Yes. Yes. The tracking itself is impossible, and he mixed it one more time there...
Yes. You're right. He was... yes. He was that kind of guy."
Kenen must have had all the plans from the beginning.
Infiltrate the team created by Phantom and Shiva, gather more talented people, and create a monetization structure.
Finally, when the targeted money was accumulated, he took it all and ran away.
The Montage members call him a son of a bitch, a traitor, but far from it.
In my opinion, the appearance that guy showed was the mechanism of hacking itself.
Infiltration. Malware distribution. Waiting. Plunder.
But as always, those guys get caught.
Unless it's an official.
"A regular... a regular job...? Me?"
Sword, uncharacteristically of his large build, choked up for a moment and couldn't continue speaking.
With that, the interview with the former Red Montage, the current Alpha Group security team quartet, was concluded.