ITSN 28

Chapter 28

By now, even the servants had started to crowd in, murmuring amongst themselves. But Yoo Dong-hyuk didn’t lower his voice in front of them. He was the typical tyrannical patriarch.

“Now that you’re awake, show your worth this time!”

My worth.

Joo-hong focused on those words.

What was Yoo Hae-in’s worth, exactly?

And this time? That implied there had been other times before.

“And what if I can’t?”

Wait, whose eyes was she supposed to show that worth to?

“Will the party leader blow up this time?”
“What?”
“Do I have to die again this time?”

Joo-hong squeezed her eyes shut.

“You bastard… but there’s no need to hit me.”

True to his tyrant style, Yoo Dong-hyuk raised his hand immediately, and only after Director Lee ran in to stop him did he return to his room.

Her cheek still stung.

A virtual line blinked on the screen.

[You should activate state regeneration… even now…]

The text shrinking felt almost like a whisper in her ear.

“No. I got this injury, so I’m going to make full use of it.”

Joo-hong lifted her head and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her right cheek was bruised, the right corner of her mouth was split, and her forehead was dark purple. She had hit the edge of the stairs when she fell after being struck.

The first thing she did at that moment was turn off state regeneration.

“Since I got hit, I’m going to make the most of it.”

Joo-hong tapped on the keyboard.

“I need to study Yoo Dong-hyuk more carefully—who he’s close to, who he meets, that sort of thing.”

The problem was that with her current equipment, she could only monitor him when he was inside the house. Hacking was only possible when connected to the network she controlled.

She needed to plant a spy chip in Yoo Dong-hyuk’s phone as soon as possible…

“Why is Mr. Raccoon so slow? How long can it take to make just one of those?”

Her words triggered a response from the system.

[Why not try something else first?]

Something else?

[Shall we give you the necessary quest?]
[As we said before, it’s not that we don’t want to give Joo-hong the answer. It’s that we cannot.]
[The mafia is □□□, and □□□ makes □□□ to affect Joo-hong’s □□□. Prior to □□□, □□□’s atrocities…]

“Stop it. I don’t need to see it.”

Even if she looked, she wouldn’t understand. Too many letters were replaced with □□□, which only made it more confusing.

[We’re frustrated too.]

“Then give me the necessary quest. I’ll use it as a hint.”

[Break into InnoSystem!]

The main server of InnoSystem holds secrets you absolutely must know.

☞ Occupy the main server of InnoSystem, Yoo Dong-hyuk’s cloud.

Break into InnoSystem?

That wouldn’t work with her current laptop.

No, it wasn’t the laptop—IP was the problem.

Breaking into a major corporation’s, especially a defense contractor’s, server would inevitably trigger a trace. If she tried that here, no matter how she masked her IP, her identity would immediately be discovered. She needed equipment to prevent tracking…

“Ah, home!”

Joo-hong jumped up from her seat.

“I have to go home!”

Six years since the engagement.

Tae-jo called Yoo Hae-in for the first time.

• Hello?

His voice, heard through the receiver, was calm but slightly tense.

At the mention of Joo-hong, Tae-jo felt a sudden thirst and took a sip of water.

“What are you doing?”

There was a brief silence on the other end before a soft reply came.

• Nothing.

“Then… shall we meet today?”

The time he had obtained from Director Yeom was just one week. After that, the NIS would launch an overt operation.

Before that, he needed to get proof that Yoo Hae-in was indeed Joo-hong.

So it made sense to meet frequently and observe. Tae-jo made an offer that Joo-hong couldn’t refuse.

“Shall we go visit your mother in the hospital together?”

Yoo Hae-in would obviously refuse, but Joo-hong wouldn’t.

• Um…

Her hesitant voice betrayed discomfort.

• I can’t today.

“Why?”

• Well… I’m not in a state to go out right now.

Not in a state to go out?

“Are you sick?”

• A little.

A faint cough came through the receiver.

• I think I have a bit of a cold. So I’ll visit your mother when I’m better. Please send her my regards.

Then the call ended.

“What’s that about?”

Tae-jo finished his water and entered the dressing room, calling Seok-il-du.

• Seok-du.

Static crackled in the earpiece as the connection was established.

“Yes, boss.”

Tae-jo took a thin black turtleneck from the drawer and spoke.

“The target is apparently too sick to go out. Can you check her location?”

• Too sick to go out, location? Obviously, she’s at home.

“Don’t mess with me. Confirm it.”

He could hear a bicycle bell in the background of the voice claiming she couldn’t go out. If she had gone to a hospital, he wanted to track her there.

Keyboard typing echoed through the earpiece.

• Hmm, the target is outside.

Just as he thought.

“Confirm exactly where.”

• Do you know this is illegal? You no longer have individual surveillance authority.

Tae-jo scoffed, putting on his jacket.

“Yes, but I don’t care. Now, just do your job.”

Muttering came from the earpiece, and shortly after:

• Location identified.

“Where?”

• Gyeongnidan-gil. She keeps moving, so she appears to be in transit.

Gyeongnidan-gil? She said she was sick… why is she there?

“Tell me the final destination once confirmed.”

Tae-jo left the house.

Director Lee seemed flustered. Yoo Dong-hyuk was leaving on a four-day business trip starting today.

The bodyguards were in disarray.

Seizing the opportunity, Joo-hong left her home.

She walked up hills, left the wealthy district, entered the bustling streets, turning right and left along the path, crossing streets and alleys, until she reached her home.

The apartment she had lived in since the sixth grade of elementary school, with her parents, older brother, and herself—full of family memories.

As she walked toward her house, Tae-jo called.

It was just after 1 PM.

Having promised to call yesterday, she had been waiting for his call, though she didn’t feel particularly happy when it came.

If this man got involved with her, she could prove her worth—but Tae-jo would end up being used by Yoo Dong-hyuk. She didn’t want that.

Her situation wasn’t good either. She had already used her bruised face enough, and while she turned on state regeneration again, it wouldn’t fully heal until much later in the evening.

So today, she couldn’t meet Tae-jo. At least, she didn’t want him to see her like this.

Resolving this in her mind, she soon arrived at her home.

With the guard momentarily away, she took the elevator to the 7th floor.

Walking down the hallway, the familiar squeaky door echoed.

The hallway smelled faintly of nostalgia.

Three years had passed since she lost her family. She had defended this place alone, but now she couldn’t anymore.

Since redevelopment was recently decided, her home would soon be reorganized. She wanted to personally sort out her things before that happened.

Glancing around, Joo-hong entered the password and opened the door. And then…