Turning Back the Clock
Yeo Eun-ju paused for a moment, as if considering how to simplify the difficult explanation, then continued.
"A computer is basically an incredibly long document filled with nothing but 0s and 1s. You know how to write 0s and 1s too, right, Attorney? If you can do that, you can do anything with a computer."
"What? So you're saying someone pulled the hard disk out of QS Telecom's internal computers and rearranged the 0s and 1s?"
Pfft-. Yeo Eun-ju let out a small laugh, clearly amused by my bewildered expression.
"These days, who still uses hard drives? Everyone uses SSDs. What I said earlier was just a joke between us tech people. There are plenty of ways to tamper with electronically approved documents, but since you said it was done at the QS Telecom president level, the simplest method would be to roll back the entire system's clock."
This time she seemed to be explaining it properly rather than joking, since I could actually follow along.
"Roll back the system time?"
"Yes. For example, if you change the time on your computer, the in-game time in a single-player game changes too. Haven't you ever tried that when you were young?"
When I was young I lived in an orphanage—where would I have found a computer to play games on? Still, I'd heard stories like that before. Back in school, kids in my class used to whisper about it like it was some grand secret. Something about catching Pokémon that only appeared at certain times by manipulating the game's clock?
No need to mention the orphanage to Yeo Eun-ju, so I simply nodded as if I'd done it.
"So they manipulated the QS Telecom electronic approval system's time, just like changing game time?"
"Yes. Probably to avoid other employees noticing, they did it in the early morning when the office was empty. They rolled the entire intranet clock back to the exact moment the performance evaluation was written. Even the suspicious attendance records you mentioned can be fixed easily—just roll the time back to a day the person was absent and mark them present."
"Ah, so if the system's time matches the moment the evaluation was written, any later edits wouldn't leave obvious traces?"
"You can't say there are no traces at all—if you dig deep enough, the rollback will show up. But once the tampering is finished and the system time is restored to the present, the forged document you showed me would be complete."
In short, because the timestamp on electronic approvals ultimately depends on the system's clock, resetting the entire system's time allows you to change the creation date of approval documents. The world's greatest minds are supposedly struggling to invent a time machine, yet apparently it's this simple.
Hope surged through me at the thought that I could prove the performance evaluation Hwang Sang-hyun possessed was genuine while the one given to me was forged. I turned back to Yeo Eun-ju.
"You said earlier that if we dig deep enough, we could find traces of the time rollback, right?"
"Yes. No computer operation leaves zero traces. For something as large-scale as rolling back the entire intranet system's time, even just having access to the administrator account would let us locate the tampering evidence quickly."
After hearing her answer, I nodded and took a moment to organize my thoughts.
The first case I handled as head of the Central Management Division Audit Team already seemed to have a clear path to resolution. Searching the QS Telecom intranet system would reveal both the time manipulation traces and the person responsible. Interviewing that individual would confirm they acted under President Shin Ho-jung's orders to fraudulently hire Im Yu-jin. Then President Shin Ho-jung would be ousted, stand trial exactly as the verdict I had foreseen, and Professor Im Su-chan would be bombarded with questions at his ministerial confirmation hearing before being rejected.
That would be a clean resolution, but it wasn't the outcome I wanted. Even if President Shin Ho-jung was removed and Professor Im Su-chan failed to become minister, what benefit would that bring me? I was no longer some naive legal professional who got drunk on a sense of justice just from solving a case by the book. Moreover, if this incident became public knowledge in its true form, it would severely damage the company's image. Remembering how Chairman Choi Sang-sik had been framed for embezzlement by JB Construction and a land scammer, and how the story made headlines, gave me the answer. Even an incident at a minor affiliate like QS Resort had prompted Chairman Kwon Byung-do to personally intervene. A clear case of breach of trust at a core affiliate like QS Telecom must never leak outside. If it did, National Assembly members would harp on about QS Telecom endlessly during the confirmation hearing, and reporters would record every word. This carried a completely different level of impact compared to the previous QS Resort incident.
Having organized a plan to resolve the QS Telecom hiring scandal internally while securing significant personal gain, I looked at Yeo Eun-ju.
"Eun-ju?"
"Yes, Attorney."
"Can you keep what I'm about to ask you a secret?"
Yeo Eun-ju chuckled as if the question were obvious.
"Strict confidentiality is the number one professional ethic we hackers uphold. If we don't, who would ever hire us? Isn't it the same for attorneys?"
Clap! I stood up from the desk I'd been perched on and clapped my hands together.
"Then let's work on something very important together."
"Yes. I'm always happy to take on any task you assign, Attorney. It's always interesting."
The key to this case, as I had decided, was handling it "discreetly." To manage an incident of this scale in secret, as few people as possible could know. But if I stormed into QS Telecom with the Audit Team's IT experts, the matter would become official. At minimum, more than ten people—including working-level staff and the approval chain—would learn of it inside the company. Adding the inevitable noise and gossip from those who caught wind of it, secrecy would be impossible.
This was exactly where I needed Yeo Eun-ju. The matter had to be resolved by me alone as "Audit Team Leader," not by the Audit Team as a whole. However, I lacked sufficient IT knowledge.
"Finding evidence that the performance evaluation was forged by rolling back the system time—you can do that too, right, Eun-ju?"
Yeo Eun-ju tilted her head.
"Well..."
Since she always displayed complete confidence when it came to hacking, I asked again, puzzled.
"Is the task too difficult even for you?"
"No. It's not that the work itself is difficult, but we need administrator privileges for the QS Telecom intranet system. If we try to forcibly obtain those privileges from outside, QS Telecom isn't some corner store—there's no way we won't get caught. The moment we're detected, they'll block the access immediately."
Ah, so that was the issue. If it was merely a matter of privileges, there was nothing to worry about. Wasn't this the advantage of wearing the Central Management Division Audit Team Leader badge?
"I already have those privileges. You just need to lend me your hands, Eun-ju."
"Well, the privileges I'm referring to aren't legal ones—you need an administrator account that's actually been granted access."
I looked at Yeo Eun-ju and smiled reassuringly.
"Yes. As Audit Team Leader, I possess an account that grants administrator-level access to the internal systems of every QS Group affiliate. However, I'm not very knowledgeable about computers, so I need your help. Will you assist me?"
Only then did Yeo Eun-ju's face brighten.
"Really? So I can legally access the QS Telecom intranet system with administrator privileges?"
"Of course. As long as you keep the secrets you learn during the process, as I mentioned earlier."
"Absolutely! I never dreamed I'd be able to look into QS Telecom's internal system with administrator privileges. I'm really glad I moved here."
I felt pleased that job satisfaction at the law firm I had scouted was high. After our conversation, I handed Yeo Eun-ju the USB I had received during the Audit Team handover. Just as she had confidently predicted, before the night ended she brought me a thick stack of printed documents.
Glancing at the first page, it was densely packed with uppercase letters and numbers, with several sections highlighted in fluorescent marker.
"What's this?"
Yeo Eun-ju, exhausted from wrestling with the computer all day, rubbed her drooping eyes as she answered.
"Yawn. It's the log record showing that the QS Telecom intranet server time was artificially altered, like I mentioned. If you look at the parts I highlighted, it shows that on April 21st, from 3:54 AM to 4:30 AM, the time was rolled back by one year."
After hearing the explanation and focusing, I barely managed to move past the "white is paper, black is text" stage. So this column was the date, and the next one the time. Just as Yeo Eun-ju said, on the early morning of April 21st last year, the time had suddenly jumped back one year before being restored before work hours.
"Did you also find evidence that Im Yu-jin's personnel evaluation was modified, not just that the time was rolled back?"
At my question, Yeo Eun-ju smiled with slightly tired eyes.
"I found that too. It's on the next page. Just as you suspected, the electronic approval file for Im Yu-jin's personnel evaluation was overwritten exactly during the window when the server time was manipulated."
I quickly flipped through the pages and spotted a section highlighted in a different color.
Okay. I had all the evidence of tampering. Now I needed to use it to extract a declaration of surrender from President Shin Ho-jung.
Covering the flipped pages again, I asked Yeo Eun-ju.
"I can barely understand it after your explanation, but I need to show this to someone else. How can I make them grasp it quickly?"
"Who do you need to explain it to?"
"First, President Shin Ho-jung of QS Telecom, and then Professor Im Su-chan from Hankuk University."
"Both of them are IT experts. Well, there's no need for separate explanations. Just showing them this will make them understand that you have evidence of forgery."
Right. Since it was written in the language used by people in that field, I had been worrying for nothing.
After finishing work late with Yeo Eun-ju, the next morning dawned.
I deliberately went to work at Law Firm Seungbaek instead of QS Group headquarters. Today's task was meeting President Shin Ho-jung, and I planned to do it here. The reason was simple. Since the matter needed to be handled discreetly, having an affiliate president summoned to the headquarters Audit Team would feel awkward. So I called President Shin Ho-jung.
"Hello. This is Kwon Ho-gyun, head of the Central Management Division Audit Team."
- Ah, yes. What brings you to call me? I already provided a sufficient written explanation regarding the anonymous tip.
What? This lukewarm reaction, like cold coffee?