“That fellow is also in Hong Kong.”
“Hong Kong? Then that is why Alan went to Hong Kong in the first place……”
“He must’ve made contact with the Red Man then.”
“Then you’ve decided not to catch Alan?”
“If they’ve made contact then the Red Man will probably notice if we grab Alan. Then the Red Man will cut the connection loop with Alan and move behind even more sophisticated firewalls. We know his plan is to shake Global Exos. Then he has that kind of ability. If that guy notices out movements then it will be difficult to find his trail again.”
Just like Hyun-woo and the rehabilitation members, Kim Gwon-tae and Ha Myung-woo had determined that the Red Man’s purpose was to either cheat, blackmail or manipulate the stock prices in order to raise huge revenues. If that happened then hundreds or thousands of billions of won would be moved. Then this simply wasn’t an event in the game anymore.
It was an act of global terrorism aimed at a huge business. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the Red Man was a terrorist. A large organization would be moving behind the scene. And they would’ve had contingencies for every conceivable situation. Kim Gwon-tae was sure that one of those precautions involved Alan.
“The Red Man must have some sort of safety device for Alan. He would probably hide if Alan was exposed.”
“Then we will leave Alan alone until we grab the Red Man?”
“That is the only way to catch the Red Man.”
“How much time is needed to track the Red Man’s circuit?”
“I’ve already learned Alan’s residence so I don’t need to backtrack his line anymore. If all the hackers only concentrate on the Red Man’s circuit then we can find his residence in a few days.”
“Understood. Hurry!”
So they moved on to tracing the Red Man’s circuit. After two days of staying up all night and nosebleeds, the hackers were finally able to figure out where the Red Man connected from. Ha Myung-woo immediately contacted the Hong Kong branch and dispatched security personnel to the Red Man and Alan’s hiding places. Currently the security agents were surrounding the Red Man’s residence. Of course, they were only the security staff of a private company. They didn’t have any right to search or arrest the culprit.However, Global Exos had poured tremendous funds into this project. Therefore the security agents were accompanied by the Hong Kong police, but they just watched with arms folded.
“Rush in!”
The assault crew kicked the door and rushed into the villa. And they were followed by 10 more agents.
“They’re not on the 1st floor!”
“Wait on the 1st floor for 1 minute. Enter the 2nd floor in 2 minutes!”
The security agents move quickly like a real SWAT team. The sealed each corridor and climbed to the 2nd floor while quickly searching all rooms.
“I found it. The unit for New World. But……”
After a while, the voice of a security agent stuttered with confusion. Confusion also spread over the leader’s face after he entered the room.
Wiiiiing, wiiiiing.
Heat and mechanical sounds flowed from the room. The unit was inside the room just like the agent said. And the unit was moving like it was connected to the game. But the user couldn’t be seen. Instead of a user, hundreds of cables were stripped and connected to a computer in the corner of the room? A huge circuit? The computer was connected to the unit.
“W-what is this?”
The leader looked at the other members with an astonished look. Then a system management staff connected a laptop to the machine. They typed into their keyboard for a while before saying in a freaked out voice.
“It is connected to the unit…..this computer……oh my god, it is a giant auto program.”
“Auto program?”
“The user isn’t moving directly but the program is sending orders telling the character how to move.”
“What does that mean? Is this 2010? Why are they using an auto program? And how much terabytes would the auto program need to be able to operate a character in New World? Wouldn’t it be easier for the user to move directly in New World?”
“It is unbelievable even though I am seeing it with my own eyes.”
The system staff muttered while sweating.
“This computer changes the data to brain waves and transmits it to the unit. For a program like this, millions of terabytes is used to respond to any situation. The unit has also been perfectly remodelled. An ordinary user couldn’t do this. They have to understand New World….. then……”
“Then?”
The leader asked in an anxious voice. The staff suddenly shouted in a stricken voice.
“This computer’s hard disk is empty!”
“What? Didn’t you say it had millions of terabytes just before?”
“That is certain. This computer’s hard disk had millions of terabytes worth of information. But it’s not there now. And the data…..has all been transferred to New World’s main server.
“What nonsense is this? The data was sent to New World’s main server through a mere unit? That isn’t possible!”
“Yes. It’s not possible. It is impossible…..”
The server management agent stuttered with perplexity. That’s right. It was impossible to move new data to New World’s main server. Even Global Exos had lost control of the main server and couldn’t add new information to it. Yet a mere unit had managed to forcibly transmit information to the main server? An auto program had managed something that thousands of hackers couldn’t do? It was complete nonsense. But if it was really possible……And this auto program was the data of the Red Man……
Didn’t that mean the Red Man had become an NPC in New World? The Red Man created by the auto program have evolved into a life form in New World! Even if they smashed the computer or caught the person who created the auto program, it was impossible to stop the Red Man.
“What on earth? Gather the computer and unit and contact headquarters immediately!”
The leader commanded. Then one of the crew members came in and shouted.
“Captain-nim, the Bravo Team has entered the office that Alan rented. Then……”
“Then?” What is it? Was Alan not there?”
“No, that is……”
The member hesitated before finally replying.
“Alan was connected to the unit. But he was already in a brain-dead condition when we secured him.”
“Brain-dead condition?”
“Yes, one of the staff investigated and said it was likely due to the shock caused by a backflow of data.”
The leader’s face darkened at the report.
———————————————————————————————————————-
“What is he doing?”
Timosi muttered. After escaping from Silvana, Timosi and 30 Avenger members were gathered in front of a temple.
Alan had gone inside the temple to receive an explanation from Maseutyu about the broken receiving and they were waiting for him. However, it had already been more than 10 minutes and Alan hadn’t returned. One of the Avenger members looked at the temple with a bored look.
“What are they talking about?”
“How long do we have to wait?”
Timosi shot her bow with an angry expression and declared sharply.
“Damn, if they don’t give us a good reason then I won’t leave Maseutyu and the Red Man alone!”
“I wonder what the reason will be.”
The Avenger member replied to Timosi. Timosi was glaring at the temple when she suddenly blinked. A small object was flying from the entrance of the temple.
“Eh? What is that? Hawk’s Eye!”
Timosi immediately used Hawk’s Eye. The scenery zoomed in many times like she was looking through a telescope. Timosi examined the object with Hawk’s Eye and laughed.
“Hohoho, what the? Alan’s eyeball? Doesn’t he know that I can’t stand seeing it? Anyway, it can’t be helped. It belongs to Alan so isn’t it quite cute?”
The Avenger members made expressions that said ‘no way’ after hearing Timosi’s words. Timosi was different from the other Avenger members. Most of them were chaotic users that joined after being scouted by Andel. However, Timosi had seen Alan on TV and voluntarily joined the Avenger guild. It was all so that she could ogle Alan night and day.
‘That woman seems partial to rich men.’
That was Timosi’s reputation among the Avenger members. Even so, there was a reason Alan and the Avenger members didn’t mess with her. Although Timosi was a crazy woman with a few screws loose, her skills and level made her the strongest user in the Avenger guild.
“Hohoho, is he trying to record me?”
Timosi immediately took out a mirror after seeing Alan’s eyeball. She also pulled out a cosmetics set and applied it. At that moment, the eyeball suddenly fell to the ground.
“Eh, it fell!”
“Is it because it saw Timosi’s shocking makeup?”
“Well……it certainly is fearful when looking at it in the evening…..”
“What? Do you want to fight?”