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I was born from a one-night stand between my young parents at the age of 20.
What kind of responsibility could they have felt for the result of a one-night stand? Especially at the young age of just 20.
The woman called my mother abandoned me to my father as soon as I was born and ran away, and my father abandoned me to my grandmother. I should be thankful that they didn't just throw me away.
So I spent most of my childhood with my grandmother.
But actually, those were better times. We weren't rich, but we weren't lacking for much, and most of all, my grandmother raised me with love and care.
But when I was just starting elementary school, my grandmother died in a traffic accident, and my life fell apart rapidly.
My father, whom I'd see for maybe fifteen days a year, was still chasing after women.
Even though he had a kid, he was single, so it wasn't wrong for him to be chasing women, but the problem was that he had no intention of earning money even though he had me to raise.
When my grandmother was alive, she ran a real estate agency and was the pillar of our family, but when she died, our financial situation deteriorated rapidly. The inheritance she left us vanished in an instant because my father was spending the money recklessly.
If he had come to his senses and lived a decent life back then, it would have been fine, but my insane father couldn't stand the poverty. So he started hanging around gambling dens with what little wealth we had left.
The outcome was obvious.
We were kicked out of our rented room, and even after living in a slum, he couldn't forget the taste of gambling, so he hung around gambling dens whenever he had a few pennies, and when he couldn't even do that, he fell into alcoholism.
My alcoholic father started blaming me for his miserable situation when he was drunk. The father who had tried to take responsibility for me, even if he was a bit out of his mind, was nowhere to be found.
He just blamed me, and then one day he started hitting me, and that became a daily routine.
I didn't want to get hit, so I would wander outside until my father fell asleep before going home. My father's lifestyle was irregular, so he would often be drinking late into the night, and I always had bruises.
He didn't hit me when he wasn't drunk, so I didn't think about reporting him. I was young and ignorant of the world, and I didn't know that I could report him for domestic violence even if he only hit me when he was drunk. No one told me.
By the time I realized that, I was already in middle school, and I was so used to the hellish life that I was able to graduate by dodging and weaving.
And on the day I turned 17, I escaped from hell.
But outside of hell wasn't exactly paradise.
Even though I was 17 and could sign a labor contract, it wasn't easy to find a way to make a living. I needed a guardian's consent. No one would take me because I couldn't get a guardian's consent.
That's when I met Jin-ho hyung.
Jin-ho hyung, who had just opened a private investigation agency less than a year ago, was looking for a part-time worker to organize electronic documents for him because he was computer illiterate.
I saw the flyer posted on a utility pole and immediately went into the private investigation agency.
Jin-ho hyung took one look at my grimy appearance and tried to send me away, but I was already at my limit at that time, so I even knelt down and begged him desperately. I didn't want to go back, I didn't want to get hit, please save me.
Jin-ho hyung stared at me for a while and then immediately went out and found my father in the slum. And he threatened him, saying he'd take his son, and got the labor contract agreement. Maybe he was intimidated by Jin-ho hyung's huge size, or maybe it was because he wasn't drunk at the time, but my father obediently signed the agreement.
From then on, I lived at the private investigation agency. When Jin-ho hyung was there, I organized electronic documents or cleaned, and when he wasn't there, I didn't want to get kicked out, so I studied computers more professionally and taught myself programming.
Then I started studying network security, and as soon as I turned 20, I met a university student junior studying cyber security in the military and learned how to use hacking tools.
Jin-ho hyung immediately offered me a partnership when I told him that I had learned how to break through mobile security and use hacking tools.
That's how I became a third-rate hacker.
That was my whole life. I'd been living by hacking into people's phones for the private investigation agency ever since.
"Is smartphone security that easy to break into?"
"It's not difficult if the target is specific. Of course, it's hard to do it just like that. Jin-ho hyung needs to approach them and ask to borrow their phone for a moment and pretend to make a call while installing a hacking program."
"It's hard to imagine a normal person thinking that someone would install a hacking program on their phone."
"That's right. Most people think their phone is turned off or lost and lend it to us."
Ji Wi-han, who grew up under professor parents at Korea University, graduated from Korea University's Department of Political Science and Diplomacy, completed his MBA at Harvard, and was scouted by Congressman Jung Eui-yeol to work as a Grade 4 aide, listened to the life story of the bottom-tier hacker with interest. He showed particular interest in my actions after D-Day.
Honestly, I gave up on having him as my subordinate from the moment I heard his resume. If I were an elite who graduated from the best university in Korea and earned a master's degree from the world's best graduate school, I would have looked down on a middle school graduate like me.
"I've listened well."
"Yeah, well..."
I had no intention of even talking about killing people to someone I had just met, but I guess the stress that had been building up inside me was so suppressed that I blurted it all out without realizing it. Ji Wi-han was appropriately responsive, so I may have gotten a little too excited.
"Can you promise me just two things?"
"Promises?"
"First, please guarantee my safety unless it's an unavoidable situation. And second, please don't force me to be friends with anyone unless it's an unavoidable situation. I can entrust you with my life, but I don't want to entrust you with my relationships."
But what Ji Wi-han was saying was strange.
"Does that mean that you'll come under me if I make those promises? Is that right?"
"That's right. If you promise me those two things, I will serve Kang Woo-ri as my superior."
I wasn't expecting it at all, but he was saying that he would become my subordinate even after hearing everything I had to say.
Honestly, I don't know what he saw in me to make him think that way.
But if it was Ji Wi-han, I could trust even a promise that was just words a little. There's no way 「Actions Speak Louder Than Words (lv.4)」just appeared for no reason.
"I promise."
"I understand. I look forward to working with you."
Ji Wi-han politely extended his hand to me with a textbook-like stance.
Responding to that, I also firmly grasped his hand.
「Leader (lv.1)」[R]
☐ Physical ability +10%
☐ Skill effect +2.5% for every 10x increase in subordinates
☒ Can be upgraded to 「Superior Leader (lv.1)」[SR+] by using a mid-grade evolution stone upon reaching lv.10.
▶Change level: 2p
▶Transfer to storage: 2p
「Actions Speak Louder Than Words (lv.4)」[Personality]
☐ Trustworthiness during conversation +45%
☒ Skill 「Declaration」 is created upon reaching lv.10
(「Declaration」: Receives systematic assistance necessary to achieve the declared goal. Cooldown of 30 days.)
▶Change level: 4p
「Cost-Benefit Analysis (lv.3)」[Personality]
☑ Can intuitively compare the subjective values of things and actions.
☐ Accuracy of value comparison +45%
☒ Skill 「Value Gauge」 is created upon reaching lv.10
(「Value Gauge」: Can measure the subjective value of things and actions numerically. Cooldown of 5 minutes.)
▶Change level: 4p
Then, his characteristic information appeared below Ji Wi-han's characteristic list.
I looked at each one carefully. Then, the moment I saw the effect of 「Actions Speak Louder Than Words (lv.4)」, a thought flashed through my mind.
'Could it be that the reason I blurted out the story of killing people was because of 「Actions Speak Louder Than Words (lv.4)」?'
I just thought I was getting excited during the conversation, but maybe I was being influenced by the effect of giving trust.
It didn't seem like I had said anything that I really shouldn't have. It wasn't that powerful of an effect.
But there was no need to even talk about killing people. It was vaguely unsettling when I considered my personality, which was so bad that 「Fear of People (lv.1)」had appeared, saying it was because of Ji Wi-han's gentle attitude.
If I was really influenced by the characteristic, then the mental interference effect could be more dangerous than the effect of simply increasing physical abilities in some ways. It meant that I might be forced to do impulsive things without realizing it.
'I need to have a mental interference effect reduction characteristic?'
Naturally, I thought of the mental interference effect reduction, which was the effect of 「Cold-Blooded (lv.3)」stored in the storage. I intuitively knew that it could reduce effects such as being forced to lower my guard like this.
I have no intention of picking up the personality characteristics that affect my personality again, but I realized the necessity of characteristics that reduce mental interference effects.
"Have you been able to view my characteristics?"
"Yes."
Anyway, at least while I could see his characteristic information, it was proof that I had the initiative over him, so I told Ji Wi-han all about the names, levels, and effects of the characteristics he had.
"Hmm..."
Ji Wi-han listened to my explanation and then fell into thought for a moment, humming to himself.
"Does Kang Woo-ri have any intention of establishing a group?"
Then, after a while, he suddenly asked me that.
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