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  The screen flickered to life. The Black Tiger agents tensed, ready to find encrypted tunnels or hacking tools.

  But what filled the screen was not code. It was a grid of gray squares and numbers.

  [Minesweeper - Expert Mode: High Score]

  The agents froze. Their sophisticated expressions cracked.

  "Is... is this it?" Namgung roared, his composure slipping. "Search the file directory! Find the hidden partitions! He must have wiped it!"

  The agents frantically typed, the sound of their keyboards clashing with Team Leader Park’s ragged breathing. In the middle of this chaos, Tae-yoon casually sipped his coffee. Slurp.

  "Excuse me, Team Leader Namgung," Tae-yoon said, his voice low and calm, contrasting with the frantic atmosphere.

  "Digging through my laptop will only get you my high scores in classic games. Instead of wasting time on a middle-aged man’s hobby... why don't you check Port Number 3 on the headquarters server? It’s been blinking red for a while now."

  Namgung frowned. "What? Port 3?"

  "Yeah. The dedicated line for the Black Tiger unit."

  Namgung scoffed, but instinct made him pull out his personal tablet. He swiped the screen to check the status monitor. His eyes widened in shock.

  [WARNING: Unauthorized Data Outflow - Port 3]

  [SOURCE: Internal Intranet - Security Team Leader Terminal]

  Massive amounts of data were bleeding out of the fortress. And the source wasn't Daon Solution. It was Namgung Hyuk’s own device.

  "W-What is this?! Block it! Cut the connection immediately!" Namgung screamed, his voice cracking.

  But it was too late. The control was already gone.

  Tae-yoon took another sip of his sweet coffee, then leaned forward slightly. He whispered, barely moving his lips—a sound only Namgung could hear. It was the voice of a ghost, cold enough to freeze the marrow in one's bones.

  "Team Leader. When you come to catch a criminal, you should really watch your own back. You just stepped on a 'mine' I sent ten seconds ago."

  Zzzzt.

  A harsh static noise erupted from Namgung’s tablet. The screen flickered violently, and then, a single image took over the display.

  A pixelated, laughing skull.

  The office fell into a dead silence. Assistant Lee and Han So-hee stared, unable to comprehend the scene. Tae-yoon, however, leaned back in his chair and waved his empty coffee mix wrapper like a white flag.

  "Oops. My hand must have slipped. Team Leader, your screen looks a bit... sick. Should I give that a kick for you, too?"

  "This... this..." Namgung’s face turned the color of white paper. The tablet in his hand was emitting a bizarre, mocking mechanical laughter. The pride of Sungjin's best security expert was shattering in real-time.

  "What did you do?! Kang Tae-yoon! What did you do to my device?!"

  Tae-yoon widened his eyes, feigning innocence perfectly. "Me? Team Leader, please. I’m just a guy who drinks instant coffee. Maybe some static electricity jumped when you touched my laptop? I told you, the copyright protection on my Minesweeper records is very strong."

  "Manager... Kang?" Assistant Lee Hyun-ah stammered, staring at him as if he were an alien. "Did you... really do that? But you type like an old man..."

  Before she could finish, a desperate transmission burst from Namgung’s radio.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "Team Leader Namgung! Respond! Port 3 is completely compromised! The trace leads back to your personal ID! Sir, what are you doing right now?!"

  "What? My ID?" Namgung’s eyes trembled violently. The hunter had become the prey in the blink of an eye.

  Tae-yoon clicked his tongue sympathetically. "See? I told you to watch your back. Using unsecured Wi-Fi just because you're a 'security expert'? That's careless. When I was cleaning the break room earlier, I noticed your firewall had a hole the size of a barn door."

  Team Leader Park looked at Tae-yoon with eyes that had transcended fear and reached awe. Han So-hee was clutching her chest, her gaze fixed on the sharp, predatory glint that momentarily flashed in Tae-yoon’s eyes before disappearing behind his goofy smile.

  Tae-yoon stood up slowly and placed a hand on Namgung’s trembling shoulder.

  "Team Leader, it’s going to be hard to explain this upstairs. Let me give you a tip."

  He pointed at the laughing skull on the tablet.

  "You see that mole next to the skull's nose? Right-click it three times. The 'mine' will disarm. And if you're lucky... the address of the real culprit will pop up."

  Namgung, possessed by panic, tapped the screen exactly as instructed.

  Click. Click. Click.

  Whoosh.

  The skull vanished instantly. In its place, streams of complex log data cascaded down the screen like a waterfall. It wasn't just nonsense; it was a clear path.

  "This... This is..." Namgung gasped. "The direct line to the Executive Director’s office?"

  The real hacker wasn't outside. It was an inside job, a power struggle within Sungjin Group, and Tae-yoon had just exposed the rot.

  "Looks like my guess was right," Tae-yoon chuckled, sitting back down and spinning his chair. "Team Leader, you seem very busy now. You should go. We need to save electricity on the air conditioning here."

  Namgung looked at Tae-yoon with a mixture of terror and confusion, then turned and fled the office, his subordinates scrambling after him.

  Thud. The door closed.

  A storm had passed, leaving a deafening vacuum in its wake.

  "Manager... Kang?"

  Lee Hyun-ah broke the silence. She marched over to his desk, arms crossed, her eyes blazing with suspicion.

  "Are you kidding me right now? You solved that by 'clicking a mole'? Do you think the Sungjin Security Team Leader is an idiot? Or do you think we are idiots?"

  Tae-yoon stretched his arms, yawning loudly. He turned his monitor back on—Minesweeper was still there.

  "Assistant Lee, machines are like dogs. They have secret spots only they know about. I just tickled that spot, and the bad guys got scared and ran away. I told you, my luck is terrifyingly good today."

  "Luck? Luck doesn't happen twice in a row!" Hyun-ah’s voice rose an octave. She wasn't ignoring him anymore; she was looking at him as if he were a dormant bomb. "Who are you, really? Are you a spy sent from a competitor? Or..."

  "Assistant Lee, stop."

  Team Leader Park intervened, his voice heavy and exhausted. He leaned on his desk, staring at Tae-yoon.

  "Manager Kang... anyway... you saved this company from being dissolved into thin air. Thank you. But... did you really plant a mine in that man's tablet?"

  Tae-yoon shrugged nonchalantly. "Aii, Team Leader. What skills do I have? That skull picture? It’s an old prank virus screen saver. They just got scared of a ghost story. People should really live virtuously to avoid such frights."

  It was a blatant lie, but his demeanor was so brazen that it felt unassailable. Park let out a hollow laugh. Hyun-ah huffed, unable to vent her frustration, and aggressively pulled her chair back to her desk.

  Then, a small shadow approached Tae-yoon.

  It was Assistant Han So-hee. She held a can of premium coffee—much more expensive than the one she drank.

  "Um... Manager Kang." Her voice was barely a whisper. " earlier... it was really scary... but I was relieved because you were here."

  She couldn't meet his eyes, staring at her own shoes.

  "I believe... what you said. Whatever the method was, you protected us. Thank you."

  For a fleeting second, the cold mask of the 'Ghost' melted. Tae-yoon looked at her with a genuine, human warmth. She reminded him of someone he had failed to protect in the past.

  "Assistant Han," he said softly. "Your X-ray glasses seem to have gotten stronger. You can see right through people’s hearts. I’ll drink this well."

  Evening came. The orange glow of the sunset washed over the tired city.

  Tae-yoon packed his bag first, ignoring the complex gazes drilling into his back. He left the building and walked straight to the 'Moonlight Cafe'.

  Cling-clang. The bell on the door chimed.

  "Oh my, Manager Kang!"

  Chae Yuri, the owner, threw a dish towel over her shoulder and leaned against the counter. "You look like you just saved the world, or maybe just survived a firing squad. Did you manage to keep your job?"

  Tae-yoon sat at the bar, letting out a loud, hearty laugh.

  "Boss, what hero? I just played some Minesweeper with my toes. Today, make it a latte with three spoons of sugar. Life is suddenly getting too sweet, I need to balance it out."

  Yuri tilted her head, puzzled by his odd remark, but Tae-yoon just smiled. It was a mysterious smile, hidden in the shadows of the cafe. The air in the office had changed. The first act of the Ghost’s play was a success.

  The Next Morning.

  The headquarters of Sungjin Group was a bloodbath.

  The coordinates Tae-yoon had exposed on Namgung’s tablet pointed precisely to a secret server in the Executive Director’s office. Overnight, three high-ranking executives were dragged away by internal affairs.

  However, the sparks flew in an unexpected direction. To cover up their own internal corruption, the Sungjin executives decided to cut off the tail. They targeted Daon Solution, accusing them of 'negligent management' to use them as a scapegoat.

  "What?! Contract termination?!"

  Team Leader Park was screaming into his phone, his face pale as death.

  "No! We caught the culprit for you! Why should we pay a penalty?! Hello? Hello?!"

  Park threw his phone onto the desk and grabbed his thinning hair. Despair filled the office once again.

  "See?!" Lee Hyun-ah cried out, rummaging through papers with trembling hands. "I told you not to show off! Because Manager Kang embarrassed the main office, they’re trying to kill us to save face!"

  Her anger was directed straight at Tae-yoon. But the man in question was walking out of the pantry, chewing on a dry hardtack biscuit that was nearing its expiration date.

  "Assistant Lee, your voice is hitting a high 'Sol' again. People will think this is a karaoke bar."

  " is this the time for jokes?! We’re all going to be on the streets!"

  Tae-yoon smirked. He tossed a biscuit onto Park’s desk.

  "Team Leader, a tiger roars loudest when its tail is stepped on. The legal team at headquarters is acting like this because they’re scared. They’re afraid that traces of their internal corruption are still stuck in our server logs."

  Park looked up blankly. "What do you mean, Manager Kang?"

  Tae-yoon pulled a yellow sticky note from his pocket and slapped it onto the side of Park’s dusty monitor. Written on it were a bank account number and a specific timestamp.

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