Became a Dark Merchant in the Academy - Chapter 243



242 – Backboard_5

To be honest, I was hanging on because that was the only clue I had.

To tell the truth, even though more than 10 days had passed since Lee Yoon-ah disappeared, Han Sang-ik did not believe the absurd story about the back bulletin board even 90% of the time.

In addition, when someone who approached me claiming to be a user of the back bulletin board gave me the website address, I was almost 100% sure.

As expected, there is no such thing as a back bulletin board, and what I thought was a clue wasn’t a clue at all.

That was because the website address given by the so-called user was LapIace Life, which was just one letter different from Lara’s address, Laplace Life.

Are you saying that the dark site is nothing more than an internet community address and the difference between i and l?

To clarify, if you do not access the site using a special ID, a specific port, and a specific IP, you will be forcibly redirected to the original site, Laplace Life, without anyone knowing.

There was no way that the back bulletin board, which was full of dark rumors, could be completely taken over by something like that.

Also, why did you use Lara’s name?

Laplace Academy has a symbolic meaning, so you want to insult it?

The doubts grew bigger.

‘…But this is all I have.’

It was good anyway.

I deposited the money, but I’m almost 100% sure it’s a lie.

Because there was only one clue.

Han Sang-ik finished setting the IP address and port address as mentioned by the self-proclaimed user, and entered the ID he received.

After pressing Enter, the website displayed on the monitor blinked.

“…That’s true.”

Han Sang-ik unconsciously took a deep breath and let it out.

Now I could believe it.

The thing called a back bulletin board actually exists.

That would be the case, because the site that was visible now was Lara, but it wasn’t Lara.

It was a dark space similar to that.

[Don’t be so dumb. As I said before, each sequence has a time limit of about 30 seconds. So from now on, just follow what I say.]

Han Sang-ik woke up from his dazed state to the constant ringing of messages on his phone’s anonymous chat app.

It’s not over yet.

IP is only the first step, and then a second step is required.

[First, click on the main logo. Then a small pop-up window will appear…]

Han Sang-ik quickly carried out the actions according to the order.

I typed in a specific code, entered a pattern, and solved a weird problem.

[Once you’ve figured that out, next is…]

But there were many things that weren’t available on regular sites.

[Slow down, you haven’t done it yet? There’s only 5 seconds left.]

Naturally, it was bound to stutter.

No, it was strange that it didn’t stutter.

[Do it faster!]

But there was a reason why I had to do it somehow.

Sangik Han succeeded in passing the back bulletin board security sequence by concentrating intensely.

[great job.]

“Hoo…”

It was a task that took less than three minutes, but perhaps because I concentrated all my energy on it, I collapsed on the desk in a state of exhaustion.

‘…’

And while I was catching my breath, a question occurred to me.

There were so many things I had to do that I couldn’t even think about them.

I’m just chatting with someone who’s a user of the back bulletin board using an anonymous chat app.

But the instructions and orders seemed to be directed this way.

How can I know that I was successful when you didn’t even tell me whether I was successful or not?

Han Sang-ik got goosebumps for a moment.

[I see there’s no answer, so I know what you’re thinking. It’s simple. You get a notification email every time a certain action is performed.]

[…Coming?]

[The ID you are using is originally mine.]

Then it wouldn’t have been difficult to understand.

It was strange that a site with multiple layers of security like this didn’t prepare for when an ID was leaked.

Of course, I was creeped out by how he figured out my true feelings.

By the way, if that’s the case, then there’s one more question that arises.

But I jumped in right away because it was urgent.

‘What if there was a mistake in this action?’

The question was:

[If this is wrong…]

[If I’m wrong, the ID I’m using now will be permanently banned, and the people under the site administrator will come looking for you?]

[You came to find me?]

[It literally means that they will come looking for you. After that, I don’t know what happens to me. I’ve never seen the kids who were wrong again.]

[…]

you…?

No, but what about Yuna?

If she had accessed this site without any help like herself, she would most likely not have been able to get past the security sequence.

No, you wouldn’t have been able to get the ID or IP.

In that case, it was highly likely that Lee Yoon-ah would not have accessed this place.

[Anyway, there’s a time limit for access. I don’t know what it is, but it’d be better to resolve it quickly. The time you can borrow that ID with the money you gave me is the access time displayed at the top of the page.]

But this is the only clue we have.

In addition, it cost close to ten million won to access this place.

So, no matter what, I had to investigate first.

[…Thanks for the advice.]

[Don’t mention it. Well, take care. If you have any problems, don’t call me. Well, I won’t be able to call you.]

The light on my phone gradually dimmed.

From now on, all that’s left is to do it yourself.

Luckily, I had heard a little bit about this place from that guy, so there shouldn’t be any problems if I just look around.

That’s how the site research started.

“Drugs, poison, illegal weapons, gambling, commissions…”

The posts were all equally ominous.

Buying and selling drugs was the norm.

There was a poison floating around that could kill a person with just the slightest touch.

Firearms were being bought and sold, as were magic tools.

What about gambling?

At least hundreds of millions of dollars were coming and going.

Even without looking around, I knew there was at least hundreds of billions of dollars in this place.

In addition, posts with the word “request” in the header included everything from simple things like a test genealogy to requests to kill or kidnap people.

“…Is it true?”

That’s why Han Sang-ik found it difficult to believe even though he could understand and see it.

It’s just a spelling difference that the site where cadets play is home to evil villains.

“Ugh, eww.”

But the more I clicked on the posts, the more I realized that this was not a fake space.

This was because, starting with the incident briefly introduced in the news last time, several posts included evidence photos of incidents that had become hot topics.

Han Sang-ik felt like vomiting.

“Haa, haa…”

But soon I came to my senses.

Vision is limited, and if we don’t find some clues here, the case of Lee Yoon-ah’s disappearance will remain a mystery.

That’s why I kept searching through the posts again and again.

And I was trembling with fear at the truth about the various incidents I learned.

The posts were huge, especially since the site had no search engine.

Unable to delay, I closed my eyes, turned back, and opened another post.

[01:47]

How long have you been searching like that?

The time limit written on one side of the monitor was reaching its limit.

However, no clues regarding Lee Yoon-ah’s disappearance have been found anywhere.

[01:02]

I know it’s better if there are no clues on these sites.

If it’s not here either.

Where should I look for her, who disappeared without a clue?

Relief and anxiety took turns taking their place in Han Sang-ik’s mind.

[00:45]

The hands did not stop.

Once again, I’m going through the posts.

[00:32]

But I feel relieved.

[00:17]

While falling into anxiety.

[00:10]

And finally, the last post I clicked on.

One of several photos attached to it.

It was blurry, but it was clear…

“Yuna…?”

[00:08]

Han Sang-ik opened his eyes wide.

[00:05]

Then I read the contents of the post until my bloodshot eyes started to boil.

[00:03]

Auctions, slaves, experimental materials, locations, times and─

[00:00]

The monitor went dark.

**

The first thing that Cheon Yoo-seong and Lee Si-a did after they started working together to search for missing people was surveillance.

To be exact, it was surveillance of certain people.

You might be wondering why we are monitoring cadets while searching for missing persons.

Think about it, a police officer or hero who specializes in investigation and search work is searching for a missing person.

Even if we assume they are lazy, they will basically be monitoring CCTV footage and tracking movement routes.

However, given that most of the activities took place inside rather than outside, it was more likely that clues to the missing person would be inside rather than outside.

And if there were any clues inside, there were only a limited number of places where they could come from.

There was no blind spot for CCTV.

Then, even the suspicious people could be eliminated.

Unless there was a secret passage or teleportation, the number of people who were in the blind spot at the time the missing person was presumed to have gone missing was limited.

Of course, since the Laplace Academy site is so large and has many blind spots, even though it was limited, there were still a lot of them.

It is correct to view disappearance as usually being due to kidnapping or a corresponding crime, unless the disappearance was voluntary.

And even though Lee Yoon-ah is a first-year cadet, she is still a cadet of Laplace Academy.

He wasn’t someone that a normal person could openly kidnap.

Therefore, there were not many dozens of people to monitor.

To some, that number may seem like a lot.

It wasn’t a problem for Ishia.

For the only daughter of the Changcheon family, it was enough to just use the family’s servants to keep an eye on a few dozen people.

[Miss, B is moving to a suspicious location.]

[Miss, is it okay to eavesdrop on C while he’s on the phone?]

[Miss, D…]

Special vehicles armed with cutting-edge equipment were used to provide reports from employees one after another on the monitors installed inside.

The police and heroes aren’t stupid, and they would do the same things that Cheon Yoo-seong and Lee Si-a do.

While they had a limit to what they could do, this side was capable of even intensified surveillance as long as they weren’t caught.

Of course I know it’s illegal.

But it’s a matter of saving people.

Since it might be difficult if rumors spread, Isia decided to apologize later and focused on work.

[Miss, A has moved.]

It was around that time.

Among the people under surveillance, the servant assigned to the person of interest submitted a report.

A, there was news that the victim’s childhood friend, who had been locked in his room for three days in despair, had moved.

‘Did you say we were on good terms?’

Surprisingly, crimes often occur between people who are close friends.

And didn’t you say that you were the first person to report the incident?

Among the criminals, there were many who were the first to report, so they were watching them just in case.

And now it’s almost evening.

If you’re just going to a convenience store or for a walk, it shouldn’t be a problem…

“Where are you going? Do you have any idea where?”

[I don’t know. Should I follow you?]

“Yes, just in case. I’ll add Team A members as well.”

[All right.]

I hope not, since there’s no particular reason, but if he’s the culprit, then he is.

“…I guess not.”

Anyway, that’s it.

Isia sat in the special vehicle and diligently compiled the reports coming in, looking for clues.

There was the cause of helping people, but it was also because this matter had to end first in order to utilize the debt owed to Cheon Yu-seong.

‘When it’s over, should I suggest that we go to the villa together in the summer? No, that’s a bit too obvious? But since you’ve put in the effort to do this, at least…’

Happy imagination.

I blushed at the thought that it might be a bit too generous.

But that didn’t last long.

[miss…]

A sizzling sound rang in my ears.

The source of the sound was the monitor, and the owner of the sound was the servant who had gone to monitor A earlier.

“What’s going on?”

Isiah asked urgently.

From noble mtl dot com

[Find…%$^$%^$]

The sound became increasingly noisy as it went on.

“Find? What does that mean?”

[#$%#$%#%]

I asked again, but once again the answer I heard was not human speech.

“Sleep─”

[─…]

And the communication is cut off.

“…Everyone, get ready.”

I hoped it wasn’t the case.

It seemed like I found a clue.

Isia gathered the scattered servants and contacted Cheon Yu-seong.