I pinned the badge on my shirt and picked up the case file. The reason why I suspected that the victim was also a pre-Awakened wasn’t simply because the First Evil killed him. As the prosecutor claimed, the time when the victim quit his job was around the time he added First Evil as a friend on his internet messenger. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) had given the prosecution that much information, and, like most Americans during this time, he had accessed the Internet through Gold Online (GOL) and used their online messenger program.

The internet modem placed in Jonathan's office also had the GOL logo. Jonathan walked in with a harried expression.

“I couldn’t even go to the washroom. Where have you been and what have you been doing? Your face is a mess,” he said.

“I need to know how many GOL shares you bought, the total shares held by the Jonathan Group. You started purchasing them, right?” I asked.

“Is there more good news?” he questioned.

Jonathan was mentioning GOL’s announcement that they would buy a web browser company, which was once called the epicenter of the Internet revolution. Before the world’s largest software firm started selling its own, the company GOL was buying had ranked first in the industry. GOL was trying to purchase them at a cost of up to ten billion dollars.

“Yes, there is,” I answered briefly.

After a while, the documents Jonathan asked for were sent into his office. The paper stated that Jonathan Group had bought a total of nine percent in GOL shares in a week. Four percent were from funds driven by our net worth, four percent were from pension funds, and one percent was from hedge funds in the group. It was quite a high number, and the media would be broadcasting the situation while GOL’s stock prices fluctuated.

“Brian Kim is aggressively purchasing. I’m going to promote him to the chief investment officer (CIO) of the group. What do you think?” Jonathan said.

“I agree,” I replied.

“Good. The board members think they have authority but will realize they’re wrong. Fuckers,” he cursed.

“That’s enough. How much more until we become the majority of GOL?” I asked.

He replied, “Fourteen percent. Are you going to intervene in management? We can act with what we have now.”

“Then, prepare a fake business card for me with an appropriate title.”

“It must have been bad news, not good news,” he mumbled.

“No, this is the best news. Sweep everything out in the market,” I said.

GOL was also on the special list I had given Jonathan.

“But do you have time to focus on just one thing? What kind of good news is this that makes you do all these?” he wondered.

“GOL will lead the dotcom boom, and I just want to confirm one small thing. A murder case,” I responded.

***

The man was the co-CEO and chief financial officer (CFO) of GOL at the same time. There were several other board members, but I requested a meeting with him alone. After a few  handshakes with a smile, there were only two of us in the room.

“Would you like to take a look at it first?” the man asked.

The meeting room was prepared for a visit from major shareholders, and the report that seemed to be made at the last minute explained details of the web browser acquisition. He also knew that I had come for that as it was the only conceivable reason for my sudden visit. I scanned the documents and put them down.

“I think this will work out well,” I said.

“Hmmm…So what are you concerned about? The content channel has been pretty stable with over forty million subscribers, and we won sixty percent of the North American internet dial-up Internet service providers. There’s no other reason,” he responded.

“I learned about a murder case in the suburbs of New York.” I looked at him.

“If it’s the case related to our country, it must be the poisoning incident.”

“Yes.” I nodded.

He replied, “It was unfortunate, but things didn’t go negative after that one case. Statistics prove that the number of our subscribers increased, and GOL messenger is even more popular than ever.”

I let him say everything he wanted to say.

“It’s a minor incident and doesn’t impose sanctions on the system. Also, he was acquitted,” he continued.

Now it was my turn to speak.

“It was a first-degree murder case, and even though the suspect was a thirteen-year-old, the crime was particularly brutal. The victim was poisoned and horribly beaten up.”

I took the case file out of my bag. Only the case officials could access it, but the man opened it as if it was an office note. Then, he only frowned slightly as he looked through the terrible pictures.

“If the user ‘adversity_man’ commits the same crime by using the same ID and brutal methods again, the repercussions will be out of control,” I added.

“Hmm…”

“Then, Congress will pass restrictive legislation, and we don’t need that kind of loss,” I continued.

The man looked troubled, and I’d been waiting for that expression.

“It’s a closed case from the courts and in our group. As you know, the suspect was acquitted. If we impose any sanctions on it, wouldn’t that be a problem? You are aware that it’s not just about deleting his account and blocking his access,” he said.

I nodded understandably.

“Then, I want two things,” I said.

“Go ahead.”

“If he accesses with the same ID, I’d like to receive his login information.”

“...And?”

“I’d like to see his complete relevant account information.”

“What do you mean by relevant?” He asked.

“Details of his account, chat records, list of his friend accounts, and the chat records on each account he friended,” I explained.

“How are you going to use that information?” he questioned.

“I’ll leave that to the private investigators inside my group. We’re just trying to prevent another case in secret,” I answered.

The man was silent for a while with one hand on his forehead, but the game was already decided by the fact that he couldn’t refuse from the beginning. He concluded after thinking about corporate ethics, management rights, and other numerical facts.

“Okay, I’ll let you do that, but honestly, this was unexpected. I’m beyond grateful for the Jonathan Group’s foresight in taking care of even potential future issues,” he said.

I responded, “We want to protect the assets of our investment banking group. It’s nothing more or less than that, so please don’t overthink it.”

He asked, “Did Jonathan order this?”

“Yes,” I replied.

 “I’m really looking forward to your group’s future,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll visit you one day to start an account there.”

The man asked for a handshake first.

“I’ll send someone from IT,” he said.

A senior programmer at GOL came in and started to display the information I asked for on the laptop he brought, including the First Evil’s payment card, IP, registration address, past login history, and chat history. Then, it was the friends' list, and there were two more other than the victim. The printer soon became busy churning out the paper.

***

Below was his foreboding chat history with the people he added to his friend list.

1. 「Room name: Those with a Strength class higher than F are welcome」

― m.cop has entered the room.

― adversity_man : Hi

― adversity_man : Hello?

― adversity_man : I’m kicking you out.

― m.cop : .

― adversity_man : ……?

― m.cop : Introduce yourself.

― adversity_man : I’m removing you.

― m.cop : By Strength class, are you talking about how many pushups we can do?

― adversity_man : No, the status window.

― adversity_man : Hello?

― adversity_man : Say something. I know that you’re surprised, but I just want to check if there’s anyone like me. I’m Kenneth and I'm 19, living in LA. How about you?

― m.cop : Have you ever thought that we were crazy? How’re you dealing with it?

― adversity_man : Want to meet up?

― m.cop has left the room.

2. 「Room name: Those with Strength and Health class higher than F are welcome」

― black eye has entered the room.

― adversity_man : Hey.

― black eye : Hello, who and where?

― adversity_man : Phillip and 25 years old, living in Manhattan. You?

― black eye : Are you a fitness trainer?

― adversity_man : No. A person with supernatural powers LOL

― black eye : Supernatural powers? Yo, that’s so cool.

― adversity_man : How about you?

― black eye : I also live in New York. Younger than you, and I work at a bookstore.

― adversity_man : Have you checked the room name? I’m looking for someone but not a date.

― black eye : Same, so I’m confused. Can you see it?

― adversity_man : Status window?

― black eye : OMG!

― adversity_man : There’re people I’d like to introduce you to, those who’re like us. Our age, gender and jobs are all different, but we are under one good purpose. I’m so proud of my group, and if you’re interested, send me a message.

3. 「Room name: Those with Strength, Health and Agility classes higher than F are welcome」

― red ship has entered the room.

― adversity_man : Hi.

― red ship : Hello, the room name is quite interesting. Are you gathering TRPG[1] members?

― adversity_man : Well, why do you think it’s interesting?

― red ship : It’s fascinating. Is your Strength also F class?

― adversity_man : Yup.

― red ship : Oh gosh! I think we are playing the same game, and if that’s true, this is amazing.

― adversity_man : How did you manage until now?

― red ship : So, we are playing the same game.

― adversity_man : Should we meet up?

― red ship : Yes, I’ll be there. Where are you?

1. Tabletop Role Playing Game ☜