Monday, 09:40 AM.

  Bang!

  The office door of Daon Solution flew open as if kicked by a SWAT team. But instead of armed commandoes, a sweaty, disheveled man stumbled in, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

  "Kang! Tae! Yoon! Manager!"

  Team Leader Park’s voice boomed across the office. However, unlike his usual volcanic eruptions, this shout lacked the killing intent. Every pair of eyes in the room fixed on Tae-yoon, who looked like he had just run a marathon in a three-piece suit.

  "Oh... Team Leader! Huff, huff... I am so sorry! On my way here... the spirit of Bukhansan Mountain was too strong today! I tried to commune with nature, but I got a cramp in my calf...!"

  Tae-yoon bowed ninety degrees, offering a smile so servile and pathetic that it was almost art. Park Chil-sung clicked his tongue, crossing his arms over his chest.

  "Bukhansan my foot... Hey, Manager Kang. I know you worked hard resolving the Sungjin Group issue last week. The higher-ups are singing your praises, saying we dodged a bullet thanks to you."

  Park paused, putting on his sternest 'boss' face, though the corners of his mouth twitched.

  "However! No matter how great your contribution, punctuality is basic! Basic! 9:40 AM? Does it make sense for a manager to arrive later than the CEO? Huh?"

  "No, sir! I have committed a mortal sin! I deserve to be flogged! Starting today, I will buy three alarm clocks and tape them to my ears!"

  Tae-yoon’s exaggerated remorse finally broke Park’s facade. A smirk escaped the Team Leader’s lips.

  "Alright, enough with the drama. Go sit down. And... drink this."

  Park tossed a cold bottle of vitamin drink onto Tae-yoon’s desk. Thud.

  Tae-yoon caught it, clutching it to his chest like a holy relic.

  "Team Leader... You are the only one for me! Loyalty! I will work until my bones turn to dust!"

  Tae-yoon scurried to his seat like a cockroach avoiding light. As soon as he sat down, a chill radiated from the adjacent desk. Assistant Lee Hyun-ah was glaring at him sideways, her arms crossed, tapping her foot.

  "Manager. You said you were a former Recon Scout? Do scouts not scout the time? Look at you, you smell like sweat. It's polluting the office environment."

  Her words were sharp enough to cut glass, but her hand was doing something else entirely. She slid a wrapped sandwich and a cup of iced Americano onto his desk.

  "You didn't eat breakfast, right? Your stomach growling is in surround sound. It's distracting. Eat this and work quietly."

  Tae-yoon clasped his hands together, looking at her with sparkling eyes.

  "Oh! Assistant Lee! You are truly a wingless angel! Were you Florence Nightingale in a past life? And I, the wounded soldier you nursed?"

  "Shut up. Eat and write your report before the Team Leader explodes again."

  Hyun-ah turned away, her ears turning a distinct shade of pink. Tae-yoon grabbed the coffee and sucked it down. The cold caffeine hit his bloodstream, finally clearing the fog of his frantic morning run.

  He glanced around. Assistant Han So-hee was looking at him with worry. When their eyes met, she startled and quickly buried her face in her files.

  The office settled back into its peaceful, mundane routine.

  Peaceful. Or so it seemed.

  Tae-yoon took a bite of the sandwich. Munch.

  With his other hand, he subtly opened a small, encrypted command window in the corner of his screen. He opened the file he had saved from last night's war: [Unknown_Trace].

  On the surface, he was the incompetent, late Manager Kang stuffing his face with a sandwich.

  But behind his thick, smudge-stained glasses, his eyes were cold, sinking into the depths of the code like a predator inspecting a footprint.

  ‘Hide all you want. I will find you.’

  The hot war of Sunday was over. The cold war of Monday had just begun. Tae-yoon’s hand crumpled the sandwich wrapper, his knuckles turning white.

  11:00 AM.

  The peace of the office was shattered once again.

  Wee-ooo-wee-ooo!

  An alarm blared from the main dashboard monitor. And then, Team Leader Park’s scream joined the cacophony.

  "Aaaack! What is this?! Why is the server red again?! Where is it this time?!"

  Park jumped up, clutching his monitor as if to strangle it.

  A mid-sized shopping mall client managed by Daon Solution was under attack. A massive ransomware popup filled the main screen, counting down in ominous red digits.

  "It's a disaster, Team Leader! The hacker is encrypting the customer information table! If we don't stop it now, all data will be held hostage in 30 minutes!"

  At Assistant Lee’s urgent report, Park’s face turned the color of ash. He instinctively turned to Tae-yoon, who was still chewing on his sandwich.

  "Manager Kang! Kang! Quickly! Do something! Use your toe! Use your psychic powers! Just fix it like last time!"

  Tae-yoon swallowed his bite of sandwich, suppressing a sigh.

  ‘Ah, can’t a man eat in peace? Let’s see... this isn't a script kiddie. This is a complex loop attack. A mid-tier pro.’

  Just as Tae-yoon wiped his hands to step in, a cold voice stopped him.

  "Manager. Stay seated."

  It was Assistant Lee Hyun-ah.

  She stood up, her face devoid of its usual annoyance. In its place was the icy focus of a professional.

  "Huh? Assistant Lee?"

  "I heard you didn't sleep all weekend because of company work. Look at you, you look like a zombie. Finish your sandwich. We can handle a petty thief like this."

  Before Tae-yoon could react, Hyun-ah shouted across the room.

  "So-hee! Start log analysis! I’m going to tear apart the traffic at the front end. You find the bypass route while I distract him! We finish this in 3 minutes!"

  Han So-hee, the usually timid mouse of the office, adjusted her glasses. A strange glint appeared in her eyes.

  "Yes! I'm routing the packets from Port 4 to a virtual machine. Assistant Lee, now! Strike!"

  Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack!

  A rhythmic, heavy sound of typing erupted in the office. It wasn't the slow pecking of salarymen; it was the rapid-fire staccato of experts.

  Tae-yoon sat there, mouth slightly open, holding his sandwich mid-air.

  Hyun-ah’s hands were a blur. She wasn't just blocking; she was aggressively filtering the massive traffic, slicing through the DDoS attack like a butcher knife through tofu. It was an offensive defense.

  Meanwhile, So-hee was dissecting the hacker's malware in real-time, finding the heart of the code with microscopic precision.

  ‘What the... these two...’

  Tae-yoon’s eyes widened behind his glasses.

  Hyun-ah was like a viper—aggressive, fast, toxic to the enemy.

  So-hee was like an owl—silent, observant, seeing everything in the dark.

  They weren't on the level of Tae-yoon (Phantom) or Ha-jun, but they were vastly superior to ordinary security personnel. They were hidden gems. Semi-pros.

  "Gotcha! Where do you think you're running to, you rat?!"

  Hyun-ah slammed the 'Enter' key with a satisfying Bang!

  Simultaneously, So-hee shouted.

  "Backtrace complete! IP secured! Sending the coordinates to the Cyber Bureau immediately!"

  Ping.

  The red warning windows that covered the screen vanished. A soothing green text appeared: [SYSTEM NORMAL].

  It had taken exactly 5 minutes.

  Team Leader Park stood with his mouth agape, looking back and forth between his two assistants.

  "You guys... What was that? Since when were you this good? Why didn't you do this before?!"

  Hyun-ah swept her hair back, scoffing.

  "Team Leader, we didn't step up because usually, it's just script kiddies. And before Manager Kang came, we were the ones blocking everything, remember? Maybe give us a bonus instead of yelling."

  Tae-yoon put down his sandwich and clapped. Genuine applause.

  "Wow... Amazing. Assistant Lee, Assistant Han. That was truly cool. I can't even hand you a business card compared to that. I should resign and become your apprentice."

  So-hee blushed furiously and hid behind her monitor. Hyun-ah tried to look arrogant, but the corner of her mouth twitched upwards.

  "If you know that, stop slacking off. We have high standards, so we won't tolerate incompetence."

  Tae-yoon smiled goofy on the outside, but internally, he was cheering.

  ‘This is good. Really good. I have real shields here. When I have to move in the shadows, I can trust this office to them.’

  Daon Solution was a much sturdier fortress than he had thought.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  05:40 PM. After Work.

  Tae-yoon didn't go home. He stopped by a mart to buy seasonal fruits and a cake Da-yeon liked. The cold, mechanical look he had shown her yesterday morning still weighed heavily on his conscience.

  He pressed the doorbell of Da-yeon’s apartment.

  "Huh? Oppa! What brings you here without calling?"

  "Just a surprise inspection to see if my sister is eating well. Can I come in?"

  Tae-yoon entered with a bright smile, but he noticed the subtle shadow lingering on Da-yeon’s face.

  They sat at a small table, peeling apples and chatting. He told her funny stories about Team Leader Park and the "Super Assistants" at work, trying to lighten the mood.

  But Da-yeon suddenly put down the fruit knife and looked at him intently.

  "Oppa."

  "Hmm? What's wrong? Is the apple sour?"

  "...About yesterday morning."

  Tae-yoon’s hand froze. It was coming.

  "When you were typing on that laptop... I was really scared. It wasn't just that you were focused. Your eyes... you looked like a different person. You looked like someone preparing to kill."

  Da-yeon’s voice trembled slightly. She reached out and held Tae-yoon’s hand.

  "Can you be honest with me? Are you really just working at a normal security company? You aren't... doing anything dangerous, are you?"

  Tae-yoon looked into her eyes. He had to lie. To protect her, he had to be the world's most perfect liar. But seeing her genuine worry, his heart ached.

  "Da-yeon. You trust me, right?"

  "I trust you. That's why I'm asking."

  "I told you before. There are things in this world that need protecting. And sometimes, to protect them, you have to make a scary face. Yesterday... the company was in a huge crisis. If I hadn't stopped it, my team would have been on the streets. So I guess I was a bit edgy."

  Tae-yoon patted her hand gently.

  "I'm sorry I scared you. I won't bring work home anymore. I'll only show you my smiling face."

  Da-yeon stared at him for a long moment, then sighed and nodded.

  "Okay... I believe you. But promise me. If anything happens, tell me first."

  "Of course. Promise."

  Ding.

  At that moment, Da-yeon’s phone on the table lit up. A text message notification.

  Tae-yoon glanced at it casually.

  And his pupils dilated in shock.

  [Sender: Unknown]

  [Message: Your guardian is not perfect.]

  Time seemed to stop.

  Just as Da-yeon reached for the phone, Tae-yoon’s hand moved with lightning speed. He slapped his hand down, flipping the phone over.

  "Huh? Oppa, what's wrong?" Da-yeon asked, startled.

  "Ah... nothing. A bug landed on it. A fruit fly."

  Tae-yoon forced a laugh, but cold sweat was trickling down his spine.

  This wasn't spam. This was a warning.

  ‘It’s them. They found Da-yeon’s number. And maybe... they know I’m here right now.’

  His heart hammered against his ribs. The 'Third Party' he detected yesterday, or the shadow of Sungjin Group, had brought a knife to Da-yeon’s throat.

  "Oppa, you look pale. Are you sick?"

  Da-yeon moved closer, worried.

  Tae-yoon stood up abruptly. Staying here would only put her in more danger. The target was him.

  "No, I just remembered something urgent for work. Da-yeon, I have to go. Lock the door. Don't answer calls from unknown numbers. Okay?"

  "What? Already? At least finish the tea..."

  "Sorry. I'll come back soon. Lock the door."

  Tae-yoon practically fled the apartment. The night air was freezing, but his body was burning with fear and rage. He hid behind a telephone pole at the end of the alley, watching Da-yeon’s window.

  His trembling fingers typed a message to Min-su.

  [Emergency. Hostiles approaching Da-yeon. They likely tracked my tail. Initiate close-proximity protection tonight.]

  Tae-yoon stared into the dark alleyway. He could feel the gaze of invisible enemies.

  He had confirmed his allies at the office, but his sanctuary—Da-yeon—had become the most dangerous battlefield.

  ‘Touch her, and you die. If you hurt even a hair on her head... I will burn Sungjin Group to the ground.’

  Tae-yoon took off his glasses and shoved them into his pocket. The mask of the gentle sheep was gone. Standing in the night street was the Phantom, eyes burning with a murderous cold.

  11:30 PM. Convenience Store near Da-yeon's house.

  Tae-yoon sat at a plastic table outside the convenience store, shivering slightly in the cold wind.

  Min-su arrived a few minutes later, carrying two cups of instant noodles. His face, usually full of mischief, was as hard as stone.

  "Eat," Min-su said, sliding a cup toward Tae-yoon. "You didn't eat dinner."

  Tae-yoon cracked the chopsticks. "Where's Ha-jun?"

  "At the hideout. He's monitoring Da-yeon’s phone and internet line in real-time. That text message... it came from a burner phone, but the signal hopped through three different base stations. They are deliberately cutting their tail."

  Tae-yoon shoveled noodles into his mouth, but they tasted like sand.

  "Min-su. You need to stay here for a while. Be her shadow."

  "Obvious statement. I already rented a room at the Goshiwon across the street. The window gives a direct view of her front gate. Don't worry about her. You focus on the company. Touching Da-yeon... it means they want to lure you out."

  Min-su was right. They weren't attacking Tae-yoon directly. They were poking his weak point to make him lose his composure and reveal himself.

  Tae-yoon put down his chopsticks and looked at his friend.

  "Min-su... Thank you. Really. Without you, I couldn't do this."

  Min-su shrugged, making a face.

  "Ugh, don't be gross. If you're thankful, introduce me to a nice girl later."

  Tae-yoon managed a weak chuckle. "According to my data analysis, the probability of a woman falling for you is approximately 0.01%."

  "Hey! Eat your noodles before I hit you!"

  The banter eased the tension slightly. Tae-yoon finished the soup, feeling the warmth spread through his chest.

  He looked Min-su in the eye.

  "And you be careful too. If they identified Da-yeon, they might be digging into you. If you see anything suspicious, bail out. Don't play hero."

  Min-su chewed on a piece of pickled radish.

  "Hey, Kang Tae-yoon. I'm Lee Min-su. I might not be a hacker god like you, but my survival instinct is top-tier. I know how to hide."

  Min-su checked his watch and stood up.

  "It's dawn. Go get some sleep. You have a war to fight tomorrow."

  "Yeah. I'm going. Please... take care of her."

  Tae-yoon turned to leave.

  "Hey, Tae-yoon."

  Min-su called out softly. Tae-yoon stopped.

  "Don't wear the mask too tight. You'll suffocate. If it gets too heavy, signal me. Don't carry it all alone."

  Tae-yoon raised a hand in acknowledgement without turning back, disappearing into the darkness. Min-su watched the empty alleyway and sighed deeply.

  Tuesday Morning.

  Daon Solution was buzzing with noise from the start of the workday. At the center of it was, of course, Team Leader Park.

  "Hey! Look at this! It's huge! Did you see the news? Sungjin Group's main network is still down! I can hear their stock price crashing from here!"

  Park shook his tablet excitedly. It was the aftermath of the 'Great Raid' Tae-yoon and his team had launched on Sunday. The rumor that Sungjin's impregnable security had been breached was spreading like wildfire in the industry. Daon Solution, having successfully blocked a ransomware attack yesterday, was suddenly looking very competent by comparison.

  "Team Leader, lower your voice. Are you happy about someone else's misfortune?" Hyun-ah asked coldly.

  "Ahem! It's an opportunity! Calls are flooding in asking for our security services! I'll make sure you all get a fat bonus this month!"

  Park chuckled and headed to the break room, but then he added something that froze Tae-yoon’s blood.

  "Oh, right. Rumor has it that the Chairman of Sungjin was so furious he flew in some 'experts' from abroad. They call them 'The Hounds'. Hackers who hunt hackers. Anyway, let's just make sure we don't get bit."

  ‘The Hounds...’

  Tae-yoon sat down and turned on his computer. So, Sungjin had brought in mercenaries. The text to Da-yeon was likely their doing.

  "Manager."

  Hyun-ah’s voice cut through his thoughts. She was looking at him suspiciously.

  "Did you... visit Da-yeon's house okay yesterday? You ran out like your hair was on fire."

  Tae-yoon’s heart skipped a beat, but he smiled brightly.

  "Ah, yes! She said the lightbulb in the bathroom blew out and she was scared of the dark. As a reliable brother, I had to go change it. I'm an expert at changing bulbs."

  "A lightbulb? In the middle of the afternoon?"

  Hyun-ah narrowed her eyes.

  "Ah... well... it's a bathroom with no windows! Pitch black! Hahaha..."

  Hyun-ah stared at him for a second longer, then shook her head and went back to work.

  "I really can't figure you out. Are you pretending to be an idiot, or are you actually an idiot? But strangely, your timing is always perfect."

  "I'll take that as a compliment!"

  Then, So-hee quietly approached and placed a hangover drink on his desk.

  "Manager... drink this. You look tired."

  "Oh, Assistant Han! Thank you. You're the only one who cares for me."

  So-hee smiled shyly and whispered.

  "Manager... cheer up. I... believe in whatever you are doing. Just... don't push yourself too hard."

  Tae-yoon paused. So-hee was timid, but her intuition was frighteningly sharp. She sensed something off about him—that he wasn't just an ordinary salaryman.

  "...Thank you. I'll drink it well."

  Tae-yoon took a sip and turned back to his monitor. The play was over. It was time for work.

  He opened a hidden command prompt behind his work window and began to scan Daon Solution's internal network.

  The ransomware attack yesterday... something bothered him. The attack pattern was crude, but the entry felt staged.

  ‘The IP was proxied, the pattern was messy. But...’

  Tae-yoon’s fingers flew across the keys. He dove into the deep abyss of the network—the area of 'dummy data' that normal security scans skipped.

  In the river of millions of lines of code, he found a tiny, foreign particle. Like a drop of ink in clear water.

  [Filename: Sys_Sec_Config.tmp / Created: Yesterday 14:00]

  It was created exactly when Hyun-ah and So-hee were cheering about blocking the ransomware.

  Tae-yoon carefully examined the code of the file.

  To anyone else, it looked like a temporary config file. But to Tae-yoon’s eyes, its true nature was revealed.

  It was a Beacon.

  A trap.

  If anyone opened, analyzed, or deleted this file, it would instantly transmit the user's location, IP, and usage pattern to an external server.

  ‘This... wasn't an attack. It was an implantation.’

  Tae-yoon’s blood ran cold. The ransomware was a smokescreen. The chaos was a distraction to plant this single, tiny file deep inside the company server.

  And this file was waiting for only one person.

  Someone capable of finding such a hidden, complex code.

  Phantom.

  ‘They are looking for me. They suspect I'm hiding in this company, and they are waiting for me to react.’

  If he touched it, they would know Phantom was here.

  If he left it, the file would eventually activate and start siphoning internal data to the enemy.

  It was a stalemate. Touch it and die. Leave it and die.

  ‘A live bait...’

  Tae-yoon looked at his reflection in the dark monitor. His eyes behind the glasses were cold and dead. The laughter of Team Leader Park, the typing of Hyun-ah, the footsteps of So-hee—they all faded into background noise.

  This peaceful office had already become a hunting ground.

  Tae-yoon slowly closed the command window. He wouldn't touch it. Not yet. But he wouldn't just walk into their trap either.

  "Manager? Aren't you eating? It's lunch time."

  Hyun-ah asked, grabbing her bag.

  Tae-yoon snapped out of his trance and flashed his signature goofy grin.

  "Ah! Of course! What's the menu today? Spicy Pork? I am the ghost of meat!"

  He stood up and grabbed his coat. But his mind wasn't on lunch. It was filled with the intricate chess game against the Hounds.

  ‘Fine. Let’s play.’

  Tae-yoon walked out of the office, mentally sending a declaration of war to the invisible enemy.

  ‘This isn't a defense anymore. This... is a hunt.’

  As Tae-yoon turned off the lights and left, silence filled the empty office.

  The monitors were black.

  But deep inside the server, in the digital shadows, the 'Bait File' pulsed with a faint, red light.

  Blink. Blink.

  Like the eye of a demon waking up in the dark, the red light watched the empty room. It was a trap set by the hunters, and the signal flare for the bloody war to come.

  Announcement

  Your shares and comments are what give me the strength and encouragement to create my next work.

  Your support truly means a lot to me and gives me hope.

  I sincerely ask for your support and sharing.

  Thank you very much.