Chapter 30
Stanley was momentarily simed.
His mind was still a bit fogaty, and it took him a moment to prosess what she said. He spun around, turned on the computer, and glanced at the game interface. What had once had only a few million users now boasted over a billion
At the same time, his phone started buzzing non–stop in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw his Hacker Alliance groupe chat blowing up with notifications.
Stanley tapped into the chat and saw the chaos unfolding
Is it true? Did that girl actually steal the game’s source code from DigitalKey Group today?!
[Wow, this is insane! You guys have no idea–the chans outside was nuts after the game got updated.)
Stanley skimmed through the messages and found out that, while they were getting wiped out left and right in the game, DigitalKey Group had reported the source code theft to the police and issued a notice telling all users to stop playing
But not long after, players started flooding the comments, saying not only could the game still be played, but it was also running smoother and was way more fun than before.
As more players chimed in, some of the hardcore fans suggested that professional eSports teams and popular streamers should give it a shot. Within two hours of the update going live, the servers crashed–everyone got wiped out and booted
offline.
That one chaotic battle turned the game into a viral sensation,
While eSports teams and streamers were stuck grinding away in a hellish dungeon, the game’s user base, once practically invisible, shot up to over a billion players.
Realizing what was happening, DigitalKey Group was completely stunned. No one was asking for a cut of the profits, Eventually, they retracted their police report and updated their website, posting a friendly invite for the hacker behind the source code theft to join DigitalKey Group.
The twist was so wild that it became the top headline on every major news platform.
Even the police, who had been played for fools, were in their office venting their frustration.
“Well, great. This time, it’s the Economic Crime Unit that got duped. A serious hacker theft case turned into a job offer,” one officer muttered, shaking his head.
“Well, serves them right. Remember how they laughed at us when we were stuck in that neighborhood dispute? Then we cracked a huge drug case. The look on their faces when we pulled it off was so satisfying!” another officer said, laughing.
Bennett, who was sitting at his desk, took a slow sip of his coffee and listened to his team gossip with exaggerated detail. Lately, he couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone had way too much free time on their hands.
Back in the day, cracking a case used to take months just to get a lead. Sometimes, they’d spend weeks in the station, doing nothing but waiting.
Take the kidnapping case with the rich kids, for example, they’d been taken all the way to the border, and the complaints at the police department had piled up, but when they got busy dealing with the case, those kids were safely returned.
Then there was that jewelry store robbery–the hostage situation at the massive mall. If that drunk guy had pulled the trigger, it could’ve triggered a full–blown panic, and they would’ve had a real disaster on their hands. But in the end, no one got hurt.
There were also drug busts and teacher misconduct cases. Every single one of them had been a headache, but they managed
Tue, 18 Mar
Chapter 30
to crack them with mind–blowing speed.
As Bennett thought back on it all, he realized there had been one person involved all along.
Π
“That border case–wasn’t Quinlyn also a victim in that one? Did she have anything to do with it?” Bennett asked, narrowing his eves as he leaned back in his chair.
“Huh? That kid“” One of the officers glanced at him, furrowing his brow as he thought for a moment. “I don’t think so. You don’t think she was the one who helped those kids escape, do you? She’s only ten. She’s not that impressive,”
Bennett almost shot back, ready to argue that he had seen Quinlyn pull off some pretty incredible things in the past couple of weeks. But then he paused. Maybe he was just overthinking it–he had been paying way too much attention to the kid lately.
“Anyway, keep an eye on the hacker situation. I’ve heard they’ve got a leader now. They might be planning something bigger, so stay on high alert. Bennett added, his voice hardening.
Yes. Mr. Youngblood, the officer replied, giving a sharp nod before turning back to his work.
Quinlyn had just become the center of attention, but she had no clue she was the talk of the town. The Hacker Alliance forum had even nominated her as the technical moderator to help protect the site from intrusions.
On her first day on the job, while setting up a firewall, Quinlyn detected several viruses attempting to breach the system. After a couple of rounds of fighting them off, she traced their IP addresses–and to her surprise, all of them were coming from overseas.
Stanley got the news right away. He grabbed his laptop and rushed to find her, looking serious. “Just got a private message from DigitalKey Group. They told me we need to be extra careful. Some international game company hired hackers to dig up your identity.”
Quinlyn stayed focused on the firewall and asked, “Why?”
Stanley leaned against the doorframe. “Business wars these days are just as cutthroat as real gunfights. “He gave her a look that said she had no idea how deep this rabbit hole went. “If they figure out who you are, they might bribe you.”
Quinlyn finished the last patch and then stared at him, confused, “Bribe me? How?”
Stanley counted off the possibilities on his fingers. “They’d offer you a better salary, tons of cash, and maybe even a green card to stay in their country… He trailed off, noticing Quinlyn didn’t seem bothered by any of it
Finally, Quinlyn just shrugged. I wouldn’t go for that.”
Stanley lifted his shoulders in a resigned way, thinking that compared to all that, a small cake would probably be more tempting to Quinlyn. “But DigitalKey Group is a huge deal. The boss personally messaged me. He wants to meet you. Should you respond!”
Quinlyn didn’t hesitate. It was just polite to reply to someone who reached out to you.
She typed a response on the backend as a friendly reminder. [Your other games have a lot of bugs. You should fix them.]
Stanley, who had been sipping water, suddenly sprayed it all over the pink lace sheets. He froze, speechless.
He couldn’t believe how harsh her reply was.
DigitalKey Group was one of the top game companies in the country, known for its top–tier graphics and fun levels. And here was Quinlyn–sitting in a chair with her feet dangling–telling them how to improve.
Stanley felt it was almost laughable.
20:33 Tue, 18 Mar
Chapter 30
But to his surprise, the boss of Digitalkey Group didn’t get angry. Instead of firing back, he kept chatting with Quinlyn for a
while.
While Stanley frantically tried to clean up the mess on the sheets, he turned to see her close the chat box and asked, “So, is everything okay? You didn’t get roped into working for him, did you?”
Quinlyn was taken aback by the question.
“No. He offered me money, and I turned it down.” Quinlyn shook her head, noticing the bed was now covered with a gray
bedsheet.
Stanley nodded, about to praise her for handling it well, when Quinlyn casually added, “He said he wanted to meet me in person, so I invited him to the banquet.”
Stanley’s mind went blank. What?‘ he thought.
He froze, his expression completely blank.
Quinlyn tilted her head, genuinely puzzled. “Is something wrong with that?”
She thought that when someone said they wanted to meet “formally, the most formal thing would be a banquet.
Stanley knew her logic wasn’t entirely wrong, but this was going to give away her identity.
However, since the boss of DigitalKey Group was asking, he thought maybe it would be fine.
He paced around the room, trying to think. After a few laps, he stopped suddenly and fixed Quinlyn with a determined look. Tomorrow, I’m taking you to buy a dress.”
He figured she needed to be dressed to impress if she was going to meet the big boss.
He couldn’t let anyone underestimate Quinlyn.
Ө
