IBACT Chapter 18

Devaluation (6)

Fortunately, it seemed my voice wasn’t detected.

Since I answered the phone in a hurry, my voice was still modulated.

I got lucky. I had been thinking too carelessly.

Come to think of it, spreading Han Sanwoo’s voice around everywhere wasn’t such a wise choice either.

If someone who could analyze sounds got involved, there might be people who could find evidence linking my voice to Han Sanwoo.

“Hey, can you hear me? Mr. Hansan?”

“……I’m listening. Speak.”

The voice was pitched lower than Han Sanwoo’s original voice, so it might have been better to maintain the atmosphere.

Well, when I was roaming around White Horse Mountain Street, I showed a frivolous attitude with this same voice, so this act probably won’t last long either.

“I infiltrated several factories where accidents occurred and got a rough grasp of the situation. First, there was no physical intrusion into the factories.”

“Hmm…….”

Well, it was obvious if you think about it. If intruders had simultaneously broken into all those factories and caused processing errors, it wouldn’t have been something that could be covered up as a simple accident.

But conversely, it was also quite a likely method.

The firewalls in this world are very closed. It’s a world where using internal networks is considered more natural than stepping into the vast internet world.

As a result, even hacking and cyber threats couldn’t be free from physical distance.

Even for skilled hackers, infiltrating up to the access point and then approaching from the inside was a much faster and easier way to hack.

“Our hackers are investigating this, and there were traces of external access to the computer network. This is a bit unbelievable, but…”

Doris’s voice got quieter. She must know that it sounds far-fetched even to her.

“Were there any issues with power or sensors?”

To cause machine failures, you don’t necessarily need to tamper with machine-related programs.

Though I think the possibility is low, there was a need to reduce variables.

“No. There were no issues there.”

They were unexpectedly skillful. This was a good sign.

I thought Doris’s team would only be good at beating people to death, not at analytical work like this.

They might be good at fighting but are terrible at stealth, so they always fail missions like this infiltration.

“Even we find it hard to believe, but…”

It was natural for her to show such an attitude.

I’m not sure how thorough the factory program security is, but it’s still corporate security at its basic level.

Being able to hack remotely, cleanly, and without leaving traces that the company couldn’t detect was like a weapon of imagination to anyone who knew even a little about the internet in this world.

A bomb several times more powerful than nuclear weapons, with perfect friend-or-foe identification – using such an imaginary weapon merely to ’cause accidents in food factories.’

It was unrealistic.

“Then why didn’t the corporation notice it?”

“That’s strange too. They’re hiding something.”

There were several possibilities.

From what I knew of corporations, they wouldn’t have any reason to deploy skilled hackers for mere safety accidents where people died.

Most factories didn’t even stop production.

They just cleared away the corpses, silenced people to prevent the incident from leaking out, and continued production as if nothing happened.

Factories with somewhat decent quality control might have disposed of processed food contaminated with blood and flesh, but I’m certain many factories didn’t even do that.

If Hansan hadn’t been involved in this incident, and if the gutsy journalists hadn’t risked, or rather thrown away, their lives to write articles, the incident wouldn’t have been revealed like this.

Even now, some of the journalists who exposed the incident were enduring a flood of lawsuits while receiving intense scrutiny from corporations.

Though Hansan was covering their legal fees, there really was no chance of winning.

Even corporations completely unrelated to this incident, ones that didn’t operate food factories, looked unfavorably upon the journalists.

There were occasionally fair judges who didn’t serve ‘specific’ corporations, but even they couldn’t withstand pressure from all corporations.

No matter what evidence they prepared or how they proved their innocence, their remaining lives wouldn’t be very happy.

“When we traced the signals, there was an area where they concentrated.”

“Where?”

“In Macheonpa Faction’s territory.”

Though her attitude was uncharacteristically polite, Doris’s tone still contained hatred and contempt.

In fact, this too was an exceptional situation. I hadn’t expected her to take a request from Hansan, of all corporations.

They’re practically mortal enemies. She must either be desperately short on money or thinking of ways to mess with Hansan through this route.

I had to be careful. If it came to bringing down Hansan, my method would be much faster, cleaner, and more efficient than hers.

“Macheonpa Faction…….”

Subtly, Doris was implying, ‘Isn’t this your doing?’

If someone could use such unrealistic hacking skills, at least within Stella City, Hansan would be the most likely candidate.

If this was true, it could explain why other corporations weren’t moving readily.

I had also been making quite a scene using Han Sanwoo’s name. As if waiting for this situation, I even went around appearing in the media talking about ‘why accidents didn’t happen at Hansan.’

If they thought this was Hansan’s attack or warning, observing the situation instead of quickly retaliating could be a realistic choice.

“Next time, we’re planning to investigate that area. That’s all for today.”

“……Good work.”

I couldn’t be certain that I could hire Doris right away.

In terms of ability alone, she was a mercenary without shortcomings. She could certainly meet the level of capability I expect from mercenaries.

But she was a double-edged sword.

Her ultimate goal couldn’t have changed. She would surely become a threat to Hansan someday.

Still, she belonged to the category of ‘trustworthy’ people to this extent. To build power through people beyond Hansan’s influence, there would be quite a few things to give up.

The call ended. This meant there was work to be done as Han Sanwoo.

Besides that, there were quite a few other things to do as well.

Though I went to work, there wasn’t much for me to do. I was essentially no different from an outsider.

Hansan’s obsession with family members was so great that they would attach the title of ‘president’ to someone like me and call them a family member.

The fortunate thing among the misfortunes was that Hansan Electronics’ actions were ‘relatively’ moderately received among the citizens of Stella City.

“With the president’s touch, the stalled project is just flowing smoothly. You truly have great insight.”

This old man bowing his head to me was, in terms of company management ability alone, a real expert who couldn’t even be compared to me.

Even if one grew up in a relatively comfortable and wealthy family, a position as important as this in Hansan couldn’t be reached without individual effort and talent.

Of course, he must have used office politics, conspiracies and betrayals, and other dirty tactics to climb up here, but incompetent people couldn’t even get into the ring in the first place.

Except for exceptions like me, that is.

“Well, I suppose so.”

Obviously, stalled projects had to progress smoothly after I got involved.

Members of the Hansan family and others had access to different resources.

Things that would require them to get cooperation from various departments and grease palms could be resolved as smoothly as flowing water just because I stamped my approval.

“Since you’ve worked hard, don’t you need some rest? I’ve prepared some nice girls this time…….”

“No thanks.”

Fortunately, ‘Han Sanwoo’s’ entertainment venues were relatively clean.

It’s not that he didn’t enjoy women. But considering his position as a member of the Hansan Group, he could have done more terrible and vicious things.

Honestly, buying women with money wasn’t a crime, at least within Stella City.

Considering that Han Sanwoo usually broke a truckload of laws, this was somewhat worthy of recognition.

“When we saw those food company guys get their pride crushed, it was so satisfying. Seeing your dignified appearance, I really thought you were the president…….”

“That’s ancient history…….”

“Well, our Hansan Electronics is different from those guys, isn’t it? They’re embarrassing to even use the Hansan name…….”

Hansan Electronics was like that too. There was some room for consideration.

Things like privatizing satellites made with taxpayers’ money, charging ridiculously high internet network fees, or releasing new phones with similar performance and slightly modified designs and selling them at much higher prices.

As a corporate entity combining telecommunications and electronics companies, their original sin wasn’t actually that small. Still, this was considered moderate for a Stella City corporation.

At least they didn’t directly kill people.

“Even if we forget and shake off bad things, shouldn’t we cherish good things for a long time?”

“Thanks for saying that.”

But I still couldn’t use these people.

Because the president of Hansan Electronics was here, the nominal headquarters was here in Stella City.

But in such a dangerous region, they couldn’t possibly do really important work with an idiot like me at the front.

The importance of the people and businesses here wasn’t low, but similar authorities existed in various branches around the world.

“Then, I’ll definitely invite you next time.”

“I’ll contact you first if needed.”

And the person here is the most loyal to me among them.

Ironically, that’s why I couldn’t use them. Their loyalty to me wasn’t for any other reason, but simply because I was a son of Hansan.

And I needed to overcome Hansan.

The reason I refused to meet with him despite the risk of raising suspicions about being unlike Han Sanwoo was because of this.

There was nothing to gain from increasing unnecessary contact, and they were too submissive regardless of their abilities.

If they were to choose a subject of submission with those good brains, Han Sanwoo as an individual wasn’t that meritorious compared to the entire Hansan family.

It’s not that there weren’t people who survived while standing against the family within Hansan.

With insane charisma, loyal subordinates, and the ability to maintain boundaries, it might be possible.

But I had even less than that.

Reputation, ability, character, even attitude and confidence—I was far too lacking to gather people loyal to ‘Han Sanwoo as an individual’ and build a force to face Hansan.

If given several decades, there might be a possibility, but it’s not very realistic.

The immediate reason for confronting Hansan was to stop the protagonist, and the protagonist would appear within a few years at the latest.

Then I needed to recruit people who resist Hansan rather than submit to it. Among them, people who were appropriately desperate and appropriately angry, who could negotiate with me.

“Please make sure to call me!”

“……I will.”

In my mind, I erased the option of cooperating with him.