The Yeouido office felt like a pressurized cabin just before a storm. Outside, the morning sun climbed over the Seoul skyline, hitting the glass of the Shin-Hwa building across the street.
"We have exactly thirty minutes before the 9:00 AM bell," Seo-yoon said, her fingers dancing over the keys of the Aegis terminal. "The short-sell orders are queued. If the market opens and we haven't released the leak, we'll be crushed by the buy-wall."
Kang-min didn't look at the screen. He looked at the Dividend Sight hovering over the ticker for Star Logistics.
Asset: Star Logistics (KRX: 098XXX)
Current Aura: Brittle Crimson.
Dividend Potential: -85% (Imminent Crash).
"Execute the release," Kang-min commanded.
With a single keystroke, Seo-yoon sent the encrypted files—the faked cargo manifests and the hidden ledger—to the three largest financial news portals in Korea.
9:00 AM.
The bell rang. For the first sixty seconds, nothing happened. Then, the ticker for Star Logistics flickered.
45,000 won... 44,200 won... 42,000 won.
"The news is hitting the forums," Seo-yoon whispered, her eyes wide. "The retail investors are panicking."
Suddenly, a massive buy order appeared, momentarily halting the slide. 500,000 shares. Someone was trying to catch the falling knife.
"That's Choi," Kang-min said, his voice cold. "He's using Shin-Hwa's emergency funds to keep the price above the margin-call line. He's betting we don't have enough capital to keep the pressure on."
"We don't!" Seo-yoon shouted. "We only have 40 million won. He's throwing billions at this!"
"We don't need billions," Kang-min said, activating his Insider's Whisper. He focused his mind on the building across the street, filtering through the noise until he heard a frantic, muffled voice.
—"I don't care about the laws! Transfer the offshore accounts now! If Star Logistics falls, the Audit will find the missing funds!"—
Kang-min smiled. "He's moving the illegal offshore money into the market. Seo-yoon, target the offshore clearing bank's IP. Don't hack them—just delay the transaction verification by sixty seconds."
"Sixty seconds?" she asked, her hands already flying. "That's all?"
"In this market, sixty seconds is an eternity," Kang-min replied.
As Seo-yoon deployed the lag-spike, the buy-wall suddenly vanished. Without the offshore funds to back the bid, the market was a void.
38,000... 30,000... 22,000.
The stock went into a 'Circuit Breaker' halt. But the damage was done. Star Logistics had lost 50% of its value in ten minutes.
[System Notification]
[Quest: The First Strike – 80% Complete.]
[Asset Gains: 180,000,000 Won.]
Kang-min leaned back in his chair. Across the street, he could see figures running toward the windows of the Shin-Hwa executive floor.
"The sound of a crash is quiet when you're at the top," Kang-min said, looking at Seo-yoon. "But it's the loudest thing in the world when you're underneath it."