Chapter 76: A System in Chaos

Seunghyuk?

What was he supposed to make Seunghyuk do?

What did that even mean?

Hyunwoo tilted his head, unable to understand a single thing Kwon Oh had just said.

“What are you even talking about?”

— Are you trying to play dumb? The entire L&S headquarters system has been completely shut down since earlier!

“…What?”

Startled, Hyunwoo quickly turned to his computer and accessed a major platform.

Since he had only kept the internal L&S system open, he had not realized something was wrong.

After searching, he saw articles about L&S start to appear.

People were complaining because they couldn’t access the SNS and apps serviced by L&S.

Hyunwoo blinked in confusion.

“And why would that be my fault?”

— Who else would pull something like this besides Lee Seunghyuk? Tell him to stop. Right now.

“Ah….”

So Kwon Oh thought Seunghyuk was hacking the main L&S system.

It wasn’t entirely unbelievable.

The only person reckless and skilled enough to attempt such madness was the protagonist of the original story, Seunghyuk.

On top of that, Seunghyuk and Kwon Oh had argued not too long ago.

If this was revenge, then Kwon Oh’s suspicion made sense.

But still—why?

Even if they had fought, would he really go that far?

It didn’t make any sense.

“I don’t know why you’re suspecting him, but I have nothing to do with this. If you have something to say, say it to Seunghyuk directly.”

— He’s not answering my calls, damn it!

“That is unfortunate.”

As he listened to Kwon Oh rage, Hyunwoo began to feel amused.

If this really was related to Moonseong he would be horrified, but this time it wasn’t.

It felt like watching a fire across the river.

And the burning house belonged to someone he hated.

He did feel bad for innocent employees, but he couldn’t deny how satisfying this was.

— Tell him to stop! Right now!

“Do you have proof?”

— What?

“Proof that Seunghyuk did it.”

— ………

If Seunghyuk was the one hacking, he would never leave evidence behind.

Even if there was an investigation, they wouldn’t find a trace.

If evidence could be left, then Seunghyuk would never have attempted it in the first place.

And if Seunghyuk wasn’t involved, then neither of them had anything to do with it.

Either way, Hyunwoo wouldn’t be harmed.

“You don’t, do you?”

— You think I’ll let you off easy?

“Why are you venting your anger in the wrong direction? Use that time to catch the real culprit.”

— Damn it!

“…….”

Kwon Oh hung up.

Hyunwoo stared at the darkened screen.

Was Seunghyuk really behind this?

Did he really hack L&S and shut them down?

Why?

“Heh….”

Even though the situation was serious, laughter kept rising.

Hyunwoo chuckled to himself like a crazy person.

“Director.”

“Ah… You’re here about L&S?”

“Yes. Thankfully Moonseong hasn’t been affected, but I’ll order the security team to heighten defenses.”

“Do that. If anything unusual shows up, report immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jung Hoon bowed and left the director’s office.

Because of the L&S situation, an executive meeting would likely be held soon.

“Hmm….”

Hyunwoo tapped his fingers on his desk.

If this was Seunghyuk’s doing, Moonseong would pass through untouched.

But just in case, caution was necessary until things calmed.

“…….”

He stared at his phone.

He wanted to call Seunghyuk immediately.

But if Kwon Oh escalated this legally, a record of contact might look suspicious.

So he held back.

Bzzz.

“Ah!”

His phone vibrated.

Startled, Hyunwoo looked at the popup notification and relaxed.

Hyunjin:
Hyung, wanna go here today?

There was a restaurant link below.

Hyunwoo let out a sigh of relief.

“Haaa….”

He thought something else had happened.

It was a relief, but because of the L&S situation, Moonseong could soon be in chaos.

He didn’t know when he would get off work.

He felt bad thinking about Hyunjin waiting.

Hyunwoo typed a reply.

Hyunjin, sorry. Something happened at work so I’ll be late today.

Hyunjin:
Oh… will it be really late?

Yeah. I don’t know when I’ll finish.

Hyunjin:
Ah..ㅠㅠ I get it.
Don’t push yourself too hard.
Also, good job on your exam today.
Eat something good.

Hyunjin:
Message me when you’re done!

Okay.

After ending the conversation, Hyunwoo checked the articles again.

Fortunately, the incident ended in about ten minutes.

After confirming the systems were restored, Hyunwoo murmured:

“L&S stock is going to crash tomorrow….”

Good thing he never bought any.

Truly the correct choice.

Just then, Jung Hoon re-entered the office, and Hyunwoo stood.

The executive meeting ended without any real results.

The attack was not aimed at Moonseong.

And it had ended in only a few minutes.

Still, since Moonseong had experienced hacking attempts before, the security team used this chance to tighten security.

They spoke lofty words about awareness and vigilance, but there wasn’t much the executives could do.

“If someone comes determined to break in, how are we supposed to stop them.”

Hyunwoo muttered and left the meeting room, frowning.

Then someone approached.

“Meeting’s over?”

“Yeah.”

It was Hyunseok.

Since he wasn’t an executive yet, he hadn’t attended.

But he seemed happy about that.

“I heard L&S got wrecked.”

“Don’t say that in front of other executives.”

“Hehehe, serves them right.”

“You ever consider it could be us next?”

“…Tch.”

Hyunseok clicked his tongue and looked away.

Then his eyes sparkled.

“But who did it? Alone? A group? What if it was North Korea?”

“No idea.”

Hyunwoo did know.

But he kept his mouth shut.

He looked away.

L&S officially stated it was a system malfunction.

But remembering Kwon Oh screaming over the phone, it definitely wasn’t.

It had been a professional attack.

Hyunseok didn’t believe L&S either.

A hacker strong enough to break L&S’s defenses would be a threat to major companies everywhere.

Security was already weak enough, and now things would be worse.

Not that there was much anyone could do.

“I bet they stole a lot of data. L&S runs so many apps, and their combined users are huge. Sell that info and how much would it be worth?”

“…….”

Despite being wealthy, Hyunseok always talked about money.
Hyunwoo looked at him with disappointment and turned away.

“I’m heading home. You should too.”

“What? Already?”

“It’s late. Today was Hyunjin’s exam day.”

“Oh, right.”

“We were supposed to go out for dinner….”

But useless meetings had wasted the evening.

Dinner time was long gone.

He wondered if Hyunjin had eaten properly.

Seunghyuk’s exam wasn’t over yet, so he would come home late.

Actually… that guy pulled something like this during exam period.

“Ha… what is he thinking.”

Hyunwoo clicked his tongue and walked away.

He needed to check on Hyunjin first.

He headed straight home.

“Hyung, you’re back?”

“Yeah… Hyunjin. Did you eat?”

“Yep, I ate well. I brought something for you too.”

“Thanks.”

“Hehe.”

Hyunwoo reached over and patted Hyunjin’s head.

Hyunjin smiled happily under his hand.

“I’ll go change.”

“Okay!”

After changing in the dressing room, Hyunwoo headed to the dining room.

The aroma of food filled the house.

Even though he wasn’t hungry, his stomach reacted.

Click.

“……!”

Just as he was about to enter, he heard the faint sound of the front door opening.

Hyunwoo turned, startled.

“Ah….”

“…….”

He met eyes with Seunghyuk, who had just come in.

They stared at each other silently.

“Hyung, aren’t you eating?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m coming.”

Hyunjin called from the dining room.

Hyunwoo answered reflexively and looked back at Seunghyuk.

“Did you eat?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Considering the time, that made sense.

Hyunwoo nodded awkwardly.

“Did you not eat yet?”

“No, I had a meeting late today.”

“…….”

Seunghyuk seemed to understand the reason.

Hyunwoo glanced at him and slowly opened his mouth—