Chapter 189: New Partner 1
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Doyeol was looking at the faces on the monitors, frowning. Charles Rockefeller was speaking, "Are the R-agents in South Korea not well trained? Don't you realize the damage it did to us?"
"I know that."
"The hacker is quite skilled and could seriously damage us. If we had him, he could work for us, but if he works for the opposition, he could become a hindrance!"
Doyeol sighed, and Charles turned to Elise and asked, "Don't you have the CCTV recordings from Zaira?"
"Someone erased all recordings from the CCTV cameras nearby," she said calmly.
"Do you mean someone moved before we did?"
"We hadn't expected the R-agents to fail, so we didn't check soon enough. Also, right now, Zaira is analyzing the specimen from the last battle and developing new weapons," she said. "You don't mean to tell me a hacker is more important than weapons for large-scale monsters, do you?"
Charles clenched his mouth, and the old man said, "We shouldn't just blame it on CEO Kim. The R-agents were killed, so maybe there is a novice involved."
Doyeol nodded heavily.
"There is a high possibility of that."
"You've already lost that novice from Japan. By the way, what happened to the novices that appeared in England and India?"
A blonde, middle-aged woman on the monitor spoke up calmly, "We got the novice from England, but we lost the one from India."
"Disappeared?"
The woman nodded, and the old man sighed deeply.
"They've begun moving in earnest."
Doyeol looked at the screen Elise was on.
"What power did the novice that appear in India have?"
"The power to encase people in a water bubble. Once inside, the people drowned."
"Just one person at a time?"
"Yes."
"If we find where that novice is we will get them, but it will be difficult to find them."
"By the way, Anna went over to that side, so they have two novices! We only got one novice this time. Seems we are in a tough spot," Charles said.
Doyeol doesn't speak. He had two novices working for him, but he didn't want to reveal that.
"Did you lose all of the agents? If so, we'll send more of them from our side," Charles told Doyeol.
"I'll find that hacker, so don't worry."
"Is that so?"
Charles looked funny, and the old man raised his hand up.
"The hacker gave us some problems, but CEO Kim is fighting the monsters effectively, so don't blame him so much. We trust that you will find that hacker. It's entirely up to you."
"I understand."
The old man looked at the others.
"Is there anything else in the agenda?"
Everyone shook their heads, and the screens turned off. Doyeol held his forehead and murmured, "What's happened?"
The R-agents had not reported back, and Doyeol was taken aback by that, but the recordings of the CCTV cameras around Sungtae's place were all erased. Sungtae's photos were erased as well. He was a fine hacker, Doyeol knew that, and he was able to take care of himself, but that was too much for Doyeol.
Zaira couldn't find the hacker either.
Doyeol sighed deeply and got up from his seat.
"Focus on finding that hacker."
"Yes."
The Security Chief left, and Doyeol held his forehead again. Whenever something went right, something bad always followed.
---
Eunseo sat on her automated wheelchair and looked outside. Dohee walked over and gave her a USB-drive.
"Any trace of him?"
"No."
"Everything is erased?"
"Yes, I erased everything myself."
"Just hope we aren't too late," Eunseo said and fixed her glasses. "You may leave for now."
"Yes."
Dohee left, and Eunseo inserted the USB-drive in her laptop and stared at the screen. It showed the video of two men running away in the middle of the night. She paused the video and inspected the face of one of the men. He looked cold. How did he know Sungtae and how had he rescued him?
Considering the skills of the R-agents after Sungtae, the cold-looking man had to be more powerful than she imagined.
Without letting Doyeol know about it, Eunseo had needed Sungtae to do something, and now he had completely disappeared from the radar. When she found out Doyeol had been looking for the hacker, Eunseo quickly stepped in, but she had been too late.
After Sungtae's apartment burned down, Eunseo ordered Dohee to erase all nearby CCTV recordings.
"You could help us big time."
That mysterious man, he had suddenly shown up and rescued Sungtae while taking care of the R-agents.
She fixed her glasses and looked at the man on the screen again.
---
He reported to work on Thursday, and the only thing he did was prepare for the new employees. There were no monsters, and after work, Junhyuk visited Chulho Park.
Chulho greeted him very warmly and said, "A famous person like you! What are you doing here?"
Junhyuk laughed and answered, "I have a favor to ask."
"What is your favor?"
"I need more burner phones."
"Are those useful to you?"
"When I need to keep something secret, they come in very handy."
Chulho made a call, "Tell Mr. Lee to bring me two burner phones."
Someone knocked, and a man entered. He placed two burner phones on the table, bowed and left.
Chulho handed Junhyuk the two burner phones and said, "Last time, I gave them to you for free in consideration for our relationship, but this time I must charge you. But I will give them to you for cheap. Each of them is $100. How about it?"
"Thank you."
Junhyuk handed him the $200 and took the phones. He was about to get up when Chulho asked him, "Did you hear about what happened yesterday?"
"The incident at ten in the morning?"
"Right, about the Dimensional Battlefield."
"I was at work, so I didn't really look into it."
"Yeah? There is a place called the Dimensional Battlefield, and the people afflicted by abnormal narcolepsy go there. If they survive the battles taking place there, those people can return."
Junhyuk realized that what Eunseo had done had changed people's attitude toward narcolepsy.
"Then, what do they have to do to survive over there?"
"Train with a sword and a shield? Over there, they can only fight by using a sword and a shield."
"Is that the middle ages? A sword and a shield?"
"You didn't know? Now, the internet is flooded with searches on swords and shields."
Junhyuk thought that was for the best. Minions would have a higher chance of survival if they trained with a sword and a shield. At that moment, Zaira was controlling online information about the Dimensional Battlefield, but if more people returned alive, more people would know about it.
"Then, I should practice."
"My workers are all training. You should prepare for the worst as well."
"Yes, then I will see you later."
"Right. Let's have a drink together later."
Junhyuk said goodbye, walked outside and went to the subway station. On his way home, he went in a public restroom to put on his mask.
---
He gets off at the station in Sillim and went to the motel where Sungtae was staying. Sungtae was eating Budae jjigae (sausage stew) and waved at Junhyuk when he saw him.
"Have you eaten?"
"No."
"Should I order another?"
"I'm OK."
Junhyuk gave him a burner phone and said, "Use this to make calls."
"Sure."
Junhyuk is done, but when he was about to leave, Sungtae spoke up, "Did you do it yourself?"
"Do what?"
"I was trying to erase my image and the CCTV recordings, but they had already been wiped."
Junhyuk frowned and said, "I didn't do it, which means someone else erased them."
"Then, they know my face."
Junhyuk sighed, "We should move. We'll avoid CCTV cameras. And hide your face."
"Sure."
Sungtae worked on his sausage stew. After, Junhyuk took him outside, and both of them ran down a narrow alley. Sungtae is wearing a hat and avoiding the cameras. They took the subway and get off at Seoul University Station to look for another motel.
Junhyuk rented a room and said, "If possible, don't show your face to anyone."
"Sure. But there is a limit to how much I can run..."
Junhyuk looked at him calmly.
"Tomorrow night, I will help you stay hidden, so wait."
"Tomorrow night?"
"It's just so you are aware."
He didn't explain any further, and Sungtae smacked his lips.
"They want to meet on Saturday concerning the supercomputer, is that OK?"
Junhyuk pondered a moment.
"I haven't got a building yet."
Sungtae showed him his laptop and said, "I didn't know how much you were willing to spend, but there are many buildings in the Guro District. I checked out one of buildings, it has three stories and it would house a supercomputer."
"Yeah?"
"When we set up the supercomputer, it will be good idea to do it under the pretext of establishing a new company. It will take a lot of electricity to run it, so how about a venture capital firm?"
"What will it do as a company?"
"I invented some things and haven't patented them yet, so how about developing those things."
"Do you need a supercomputer for the job?"
"We just need them as an excuse for anybody investigating from the outside."
Junhyuk thought for a moment.
"Sure. How much is the building?"
"It's a ten-story building for $40 million."
"Fine. I'll buy the building. We'll make use of all floor, so find out where you can put the supercomputer."
Sungtae had expected that answer, so he smiled and asked, "Can I name the company?"
Junhyuk remained silent and stared at him, and Sungtae scratched his head.
"I was joking."
"I'm the owner. Don't forget it."
"Yes."
Junhyuk stared at him and said, "Tell them we will meet on Saturday."
"Sure!"
Sungtae was overjoyed, but Junhyuk ignored him and walked outside. He called the company selling the building. The building was new, so whoever bought it could move in right away.
Someone picked up the phone, and Junhyuk said, "I'm trying to buy one of your buildings. Can I see it now?"
"Of course! Where do you want to meet?"
"Guro Station."
He hung up the phone and headed toward Guro Station. He will buy it in his own name, but he would pretend he was buying it for someone else, so he didn't take the mask off.
At Guro Station, Junhyuk met a bald, middle-aged man, who smiled and offered him a seat in his car. Junhyuk got in the backseat and looked out of the window.
"Do you want to see something in particular?"
"There is a newly built ten-story building. Let's go there."
"Yes, sir."
The man sounded very respectful, and that had to be because the building is very expensive. They got there, and Junhyuk looked at the building and laughed. Sungtae had picked it out. It was a fair distance from the subway station, but he still liked it. It was new, and he liked how fresh it looked.
Junhyuk hadn't expected to buy a new building in downtown Seoul, but he followed the middle-aged man inside. They got to the tenth floor, and Junhyuk looked out at the view of the skyline at night and said, "I'll buy it."