Villain’s Programming - Chapter 257



Only Noblemtl

Episode 257 Your Name

[This letter is from England… … .]

Dojun felt relieved after reading the first line.

‘Isn’t this a real lucky letter?’

Ma Huateng didn’t delete it, so I thought it was some kind of special email, but it wasn’t.

‘Oh my. Why didn’t you delete this email and keep it? Do you have a unique hobby?’

Dojun thought so and tried to close the email.

‘huh?’

However, there were some ‘broken characters’ in the middle of the email.

‘What, is the Chinese encoded incorrectly? No, then the characters above should be broken too.’

As I looked closely at the broken letters, a strange thought occurred to me.

‘There’s no way a chain letter would have something like this. Maybe?’

Dojun scraped the ‘broken letters’ part and put it into the encryption program.

It took two hours for the encryption program to crack the password.

‘I was right. It was encrypted and hidden! What on earth was it that made you hide it in such a double, triple layer?’

Dojun carefully looked at the contents of the email.

‘Huh? What is this?’

Dojun’s mind went blank as he read the contents of the email. There were nine game names and developer names in the email.

‘Aren’t these companies all gaming companies that hit the jackpot in their past lives?’

– Supercell

… …

– Gunho

Dojun rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had seen something wrong. But he had not seen anything wrong.

‘Why are these… here? No, these are companies that shouldn’t exist!’

Many of the games on the list are still in development or have not even started development yet. Some of them do not even have a company yet.

Dojun rubbed his eyes with both hands, feeling goosebumps.

‘What happened? No way… No! It must be a coincidence.’

Do-jun tried hard to ignore the nine company names and read below. But there was something even more shocking written there.

[Ma Huateng, all of these are things you should have had originally.]

[But because of Irregular, you took all of this away.]

Dojun felt like a bomb was exploding in his head.

‘I’m sure. There is someone like me. Someone who knows about past lives!’

Dojun swallowed dry saliva without realizing it and read the next sentence.

[But because of Irregular, you took all of this away.]

That’s right. Do-jun took away many things that Ma-hwa-teng should have had in this life.

‘Then… the irregular one you mentioned here, me?’

[Mahuateng, you must find and eliminate the irregulars.]

Dojun’s body trembled. Even when he thought about it, he realized that he was an ‘irregular’ person.

‘Does Ma Huateng know that I’m an irregular?’

At that moment, Do-jun remembered what Ma Hwa-teng had said at the wedding.

– Oh, so all of your current success was achieved through CEO Hwang’s abilities.

Dojun answered ‘yes’ without thinking much about it at the time, but thinking back now, it wasn’t something that could be easily overlooked.

‘Did you leave me? I’m sure. I was just asking if you had any colleagues to see if you were an irregular or not.’

Dojun thought he was the only one who had regressed until now. But when he saw the email, it turned out that wasn’t the case.

‘What should I do?’

Dojun shook his head.

‘You can worry after you’ve read the email.’

Dojun read the following sentence.

[Don’t tell anyone about this, not even Zhang Linfeng. It’s just your secret.]

[Jang Linfeng is just a stopgap I had to go through to meet you.]

Dojun clenched his fist.

‘The person who sent the lucky letter also knew Zhang Linfeng. If this is true, the person who sent the lucky letter contacted Zhang Linfeng before Ma Huateng.’

It was such a shocking story. So many thoughts came to my mind that I couldn’t sort them out.

The only good thing was that his name wasn’t written on the ‘chain letter’.

‘But at the wedding, Ma Huateng seemed to have guessed that I was the Irregular.’

For the first time since his return, Dojun felt threatened.

‘This won’t work. We’ll have to increase security. For Sally too.’

Dojun went outside, drank a glass of cold water, and came back in to sit in front of the computer because there was still one lucky letter left that he had not read.

Dojun took a deep breath and opened the ‘Lucky Letter’.

[This letter… … .]

Dojun skipped the first part and fed the broken string into the encryption program.

After a while, a short but shocking letter appeared.

[Kim Joo-yeon, March 11, Fukushima beach.]

* * *

Sally, who returned home after finishing work, received a text from Dojun.

‘You’re going to be late today?’

Sally had gone to the market to have a delicious dinner with Dojun. Sally put the plastic bag on the table and made a regretful expression.

‘I can’t help it. I’m going to eat alone, but I don’t feel like cooking… Should I just boil some ramen and eat it?’

Sally opened the cupboard, took out a cup of ramen, and filled it with hot water.

Sally checked her schedule on her phone while waiting for her ramen to cook.

‘Oh, Marshall and Ashley are coming next week.’

Marshall and Ashley are wrapping up their work in the US and are coming to Korea next week.

‘But Marshall is also a real fool. Let’s go to Kim Joo-yeon’s grave. If I were you, I wouldn’t even want to look at it.’

Sally had asked Marshall that before.

– Of course I don’t like it. But the earthquake that day was not something that could be endured by an ordinary mind. I think it’s natural for everyone to think only of themselves. Since we ate together and talked that day, wouldn’t it be okay to leave a flower at the graveyard?

Sally thought Marshall was too kind.

‘But didn’t you say that Kim Joo-yeon passed away lonely?’

Black Cat’s accounting team leader, who was Jooyeon Kim’s lover, attended her funeral.

Dojun told Sally what he heard from the accounting manager.

‘He said that he had almost no friends at the funeral. And on top of that, someone from Baeksent came, and Kim Joo-yeon’s father said that he only thought about extorting money… … .’

Sally shook her head.

‘I don’t know if it’s bad people or bad environments that make bad people.’

Sally vowed.

‘If I ever have a child, I’ll raise him/her to be the best in the world! But… I’ll have to see him/her to get the hang of it!’

Sally waited for Dojun until midnight and closed her eyes. Then she opened them the next day.

‘huh?’

But Dojun wasn’t next to the bed.

‘What? Did you count the days?’

Sally called Dojun. Dojun answered right away.

“Dojun, you didn’t stay up all night?”

– …huh.

Dojun’s voice somehow had no strength at all.

“It must have been hard. Did you finish the work well?”

– So-so.

“Then come home quickly. I’ll make you something delicious.”

– huh.

“Oh, I have something to do so I’ll have to go out. So eat something and come back.”

– okay.

Sally smiled and started cooking with the things she had bought yesterday.

“Looking at the time, it must be lunch time. Then let’s have stir-fried pork!”

* * *

[Kim Joo-yeon, March 11, Fukushima beach.]

Dojun felt breathless after reading the email.

‘It was real! There really is someone who knows the future!’

March 11th was the day the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred.

‘He told me to go to the Fukushima beach on that exact day. This can’t be a coincidence, right?’

However, it was not known why Kim Joo-yeon was sent to Fukushima.

‘Is Kim Joo-yeon a special person? Was there a reason why she had to go?’

Kim Joo-yeon died in Japan. The accounting team leader who was in a relationship with Kim Joo-yeon went to the funeral, and Do-jun sent a wreath and condolence money.

‘Was there another reason for approaching Kim Joo-yeon other than to steal the plan from Baeksent? Why did you make Kim Joo-yeon go to Fukushima?’

Dojun thought about it carefully, but couldn’t come up with an answer.

‘Wait a minute, what if we think about this the other way around? What if Kim Joo-yeon hadn’t gone to Fukushima?’

Dojun opened his eyes wide.

‘Marshall, Marshall isn’t dead. If what Ashley told you is true, he had plenty of time to escape. So what happens then? What if Marshall isn’t dead?’

In her previous life, Marshall was dead. After Marshall died, Ashley created ‘Marshall AI Company’.

At that moment, Dojun suddenly stood up.

“Ashley won’t create Marshall AI Company. Then… Shangri-La’s AI team will disappear as well.”

At that moment, Do-jun remembered that ‘AI data’ had leaked into China from his lost memories.

‘Even if Marshall AI Company is the best AI company, there are AI companies similar to it. So what if Marshall AI Company wants to be created? Isn’t there a good reason for it? For example… deliberately giving AI data to China.’

Dojun clenched his fists. He was sure. And there was a way to confirm that certainty.

‘The last time I saw the lost memories, I ended up asking Ashley. If I watch it again, I’ll be able to hear Ashley’s answer.’

Dojun took a few deep breaths and then sank deeper into the chair.

“Morning Star, let me see the rest of my lost memories.”

After a while, everything went dark.

* * *

My eyes brightened and I saw Ashley’s face.

Dojun thought as he looked at Ashley’s sharp face.

‘I guess the email went to Ashley. But no matter how I look at it, I really can’t get used to it. Who would have thought a person could change like this?’

When Do-jun was thinking like that, Ashley spoke to Do-jun in her memory.

“Thank you, Dojun. I checked and it was indeed a bug on our side. Thanks for letting me know.”

Dojun in the memory answered with a smile.

“I thought so too. It was a bug after all.”

“Yes, I’ll tell you to fix it right away. Oh, Dojun. Who knows about this? If possible, I want Dojun to know. Actually… It’s embarrassing, isn’t it? They’re rumored to be the best AI company, and yet they have this bug.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

Ashley smiled at Dojun’s answer in her memory. However, her eyes did not smile and became colder.

“Thank you. In return, I will give you a special gift.”

Dojun in the memory waved his hand and said.

“I don’t need a gift.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

As Ashley spoke, my vision darkened and then brightened again.

‘How long has it been? You really think that’s the end of it? You idiot! It’s suspicious at first glance. Investigate it right now!’

In my memory, Dojun was opening an email in front of the computer.

‘Is that an email from Ashley?’

The email was opened when Dojun was wondering.

[Dojun went out to the street to give a gift and happened to see Sally.]

[I worried a lot about whether I should tell Dojun this or not, but I think it’s the right thing to do.]

[I’ll research it myself for a few days and send it to you.]

The email contained a photo. In the photo, Sally was seen smiling happily with a man in his fifties.

There were more than one or two photos like that. Looking at the two of them, it seemed like they hadn’t only known each other for a day or two.

‘No way… Sally is cheating on me? Absolutely not!’

In Do-jun’s mind, ‘Ashley’ disappeared. The AI ​​data being transferred to China also disappeared.

Only Sally and the man she was meeting remained in his mind. After work, Do-jun came straight home. But Sally had not come home yet.

In his memory, Dojun waited for Sally to come. It was almost 3 AM when Sally came in.

“Dojun, you’re still not asleep?”

“Yeah. I can’t sleep. But why are you up so late?”

Sally answered with a bright smile.

“Just wait a moment. I can give you some good news.”

Do-jun gritted his teeth in his memory. The good news sounded like the words, ‘Let’s break up.’

Dojun spent almost a week like a wreck.

‘It won’t work. It can’t go on like this!’

In his memories, Do-jun decided to meet the man Sally was seeing in person. Luckily, there was a day when Sally was on a business trip.

In his memory, Do-jun took a vacation that day and stood in front of the company where the man Sally was meeting worked all day.

In his memory, Dojun didn’t even know the man’s name. He only knew his face. He stood there all day, and finally met the man.

“Excuse me, just a moment.”

The man turned his head.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Dojun Hwang. I’m Sally’s husband. Do you know who Sally is?”

The man smiled brightly at Do-jun’s words in his memory.

“Ah! You’re Sally’s husband. My name is Jeremy Butler. I’ve always wanted to meet you, and here we are.”

Dojun in the memory made a bewildered expression.

“… Yes? You wanted to meet me?”

“Yes! Isn’t that why you came? Why don’t we go inside together?”

In the memory, Do-jun entered the company building with the man, Jeremy, with a bewildered expression.

“I thought you were coming with Sally. I didn’t know you were coming alone.”

“…Sally is on a business trip.”

“Oh, I see. You came at just the right time. It was finished this morning.”

In his memory, Do-jun tilted his head and followed Jeremy into an office. The place was filled with numerous machines.

“First of all, since it is a prototype, it can only be demonstrated here.”

Jeremy spoke, fiddling with the round machine in front of the equipment.

“Well, as you probably know from Sally, we’re a company that researches in vitro fertilization and human DNA.”

Dojun in the memory made a surprised expression.

“… Test tube procedure?”

“Yes. Didn’t you hear from Sally? Oh! You only heard about DNA programming. Well, that’s the gist of it.”

A light came from the round machine Jeremy was fiddling with.

“Okay. By the way, how far did we go?”

“DNA programming.”

“Oh! That’s right. Anyway, we programmed Dojun and Sally’s DNA information to create a new life form’s DNA program.”

Dojun and Dojun in the memory both opened their eyes wide.

“A new life form?”

“Yes. Well, it would be more accurate to say a child rather than a living being. Your child. Well, as you know, you wanted a child very much, right? That’s why we also ran this program.”

Dojun in the memory had a blank expression.

“Ah… this?”

“Yes. Sally wanted to have a child, but it wasn’t possible… You didn’t know that, did you?”

“The child… was given up because of his age.”

Jeremy said with a chuckle at Dojun’s words in his memory.

“Ah. It’s partly because of her age, but the test results showed that Sally wasn’t able to get pregnant. She first came to our company to find out if she could have a child through in vitro fertilization.”

At that moment, Dojun stopped.

‘What? Sally can’t get pregnant? That’s ridiculous!’

“Sally… was unable to get pregnant?”

“You didn’t know… uh, Sally?”

It was then. Sally appeared behind Do-jun in his memories. Do-jun in his memories looked back and was startled.

“Sally? How?”

“Dojun, that’s what I wanted to ask. How did you get here? I came here because I finished my business trip early.”

“Ah! That’s… … .”

When Dojun in her memory couldn’t answer, Sally snickered.

“Well, that’s good. I was going to show you when it was all done, but since it’s already like this, why don’t you just look at it now? Jeremy, are you ready?”

Jeremy answered with a bright smile.

“yes!”

As Jeremy operated the machine again, light began to stream out of the circular machine and a girl appeared above it.

“Hologram?”

“That’s right, Dojun.”

Sally approached the hologram with loving eyes.

“Dojun, do you know who this person is?”

Dojun looked at the girl. She was a pretty girl of mixed Eastern and Western descent. She looked to be about the age of an elementary school student.

“…no.”

“She is our daughter, created by combining your DNA and mine.”

Both Do-jun and Do-jun in the memory had surprised expressions on their faces.

“What… you said? Daughter?”

Then the hologram girl spoke.

“mom?”

Sally smiled brightly and said to the girl.

“Yes, daughter.”

The girl asked, pointing to Dojun in her memories with her hand.

“Is that guy your dad?”

“that’s right.”

The girl said with a bright smile.

“I have a mom and a dad!”

“huh.”

“Well, today is my birthday. I told you that the day I spend my birthday with you is my birthday.”

“Of course. Today is your birthday. And Mom has prepared a birthday present for you.”

The girl looked expectant at Sally’s words.

“A birthday present? What is it?”

“Name. I came up with a name for you. I thought about it the whole time I was on a business trip before deciding on it.”

“Okay! What’s my name?”

Sally smiled brightly at the girl and said.

“Saturday Star, your name is Saturday Star.”