"17th floor, Legal Team waiting room, Daeyoung Medical HQ. That was the last confirmed location of her signal."
B-07’s words caused Yun-jae’s eyes to go cold and distant. A detention masked as 'special reporting cooperation.' They had chosen the most arrogant method to silence her.
[A-12: Mr. Han, Daeyoung Medical has requested additional revisions. They want the 'side-effect rates' for the new stent further diluted. You can handle this in 10 minutes, correct?]
The timing was impeccable. They were holding Seo-yeon hostage while ordering Yun-jae to write the very words that would bury the truth of her brother’s death.
Fine. I’ll give you exactly what you want.
Yun-jae’s fingers tore across the keyboard like a storm. But this wasn't a 'laundering' for the organization. It was time to trigger the most lethal of the twelve poisons he had planted.
"B-07, watch closely what I’m doing now."
Yun-jae activated a 'double-layer' in the statistics file. On the surface, the numbers were neatly reduced to 0.01%. However, if anyone ran a cross-verification with the original database, the true figure of 7.3% would scream out in a cascade of red alerts.
More importantly, this discrepancy was designed to leave the digital footprints of an 'external intrusion.'
"They won’t see this error as my mistake. They’ll see it as a 'hacking attempt' to manipulate data. I’ve designed the log patterns to be a 99% match with a real-world cyberattack."
"A data bomb," B-07 whispered.
"Exactly. And once this bomb goes off, Daeyoung Medical’s entire system will flip into emergency security mode. There will be at least 30 minutes of absolute chaos."
The moment Yun-jae hit 'Send,' an invisible spark ignited across the glass windows of the Daeyoung Medical headquarters in the heart of Gangnam.
"30 minutes. We have to get her out within that window."
B-07 handed a USB drive to Yun-jae. "Temporary access credentials. This will get you through the lobby gates. After that... you’re on your own."
Yun-jae pocketed the drive and stood up.
20 minutes later — Lobby of Daeyoung Medical HQ.
The building was in a state of emergency. As soon as the 'final report' was entered into the system, the security servers began to wail. The Legal Team was in a frenzy, trying to contain the unexpected data anomalies.
Yun-jae moved through the chaos toward the security gates. He tapped the cloned pass. A green light flickered.
Passed.
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But the real problem lay ahead. Standing before the elevator, Yun-jae checked the digital panel. The button for the 17th floor was locked in red.
[17F: RESTRICTED ACCESS – LEGAL TEAM ONLY]
Damn it.
His temporary pass couldn't take him to 17. He scanned his surroundings and spotted the exit sign for the emergency stairs.
Yun-jae began to climb. 5th floor, 8th floor, 11th floor... Security cameras tracked him at every landing, but the security team was too preoccupied with the server crash to notice a single man on the stairs.
14th floor. Yun-jae paused to catch his breath. He unbuttoned his shirt, loosened his tie, and discarded his old, worn jacket from the goshiwon over the railing.
I need to look like I belong here.
15th floor, 16th floor... finally, the 17th-floor exit.
Muffled voices and the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the door. Yun-jae took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway. He spotted the 'Legal Team Waiting Room' sign. But guarding that door were two heavily-built men, their earpieces crackling with urgent radio chatter.
[Security: All floors system down! Checking for data leaks! All guards maintain designated posts!]
They wouldn't budge.
Yun-jae slipped into a nearby restroom. He checked his reflection, refining his plan. How do I take them down?
The door swung open, and a man in his thirties wearing an ID badge walked in. [Daeyoung Medical / IT Security Team / Choi Min-ho]
Now.
As the man washed his hands, Yun-jae lunged. His training in takedowns from his days as a prosecutor took over. The man didn't even have a chance to resist before losing consciousness.
"Sorry," Yun-jae whispered.
He stripped the man of his shirt and ID badge. In the mirror, he was no longer a writer from a goshiwon. He was 'Choi Min-ho of IT Security.'
Yun-jae walked down the hall with purposeful strides. The guards glanced at him, verified the badge, and turned away.
He reached for the door handle. A guard blocked his path. "IT Security? This floor is under total lockdown."
"That’s why I’m here. Urgent orders to check for server-down-related breaches. Orders came directly from A-12."
The name 'A-12' was a weapon more powerful than any rank in this building. The guard’s gaze wavered.
"But I need to call and verify—"
At that moment, a scream erupted from the end of the hall. "The backup server is down! We've lost everything!"
The second bomb. The data trap Yun-jae had planted was causing a chain reaction. The guards' radios went wild.
[Security: All IT personnel to the server room! Repeat, all IT personnel to the server room!]
"You're IT!" one guard barked at Yun-jae. "Get to the server room, now!"
"Understood. But A-12’s specific instruction was to check the terminals in this room first. It’ll take one minute."
Yun-jae’s cold, authoritative tone broke the guard’s resolve. The door clicked open.
Yun-jae stepped inside. Seo-yeon was sitting alone in the middle of a sterile office. On the table before her was a single sheet of paper: a Statement of Admission.
I, Lee Seo-yeon, admit to spreading false information based on unverified sources regarding Daeyoung Medical, and I accept all legal responsibility...
Seo-yeon’s eyes widened in shock. "Han Yun-jae...?"
Yun-jae pressed a finger to his lips. He leaned over the computer, pretending to work, and whispered, "Are you hurt?"
"...Not yet. But they threatened to sue me for 'obstruction of business' if I didn't sign."
"Don't sign. Not a single letter."
"But how did you get in—"
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway. Yun-jae’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
[A-12: Mr. Han, where are you? We’ve detected an anomaly in your data. Respond immediately.]
They knew.
Yun-jae looked at Seo-yeon. "In 30 seconds, follow me. Stay close. Don't look back."
"But the guards..."
Yun-jae’s eyes darkened with the same chilling aura he had used to dismantle criminals in his past life. "We’re leaving. Now."
At that exact moment, the elevator at the end of the hall pinged.
A low, calm voice filled the corridor. "IT Security Team member Choi Min-ho. I was just informed that he was found unconscious in the restroom."
It was A-12.
[ Next Episode Preview ]
"Did you think we wouldn't notice the time bomb you planted?"
A-12 blocks the exit. The only way out is a window.
D-99 continues.
Question for the readers: Yun-jae still has 11 "Poisons" left in the system. Do you think he can use another one to escape this floor, or is he going to have to rely on something else?
Thank you for reading! If you’re enjoying the high stakes, please Rate, Follow, and leave a Comment!