Jeong Jungkook's personal office had transformed from an interrogation room into a command center. He and Minji were now standing side-by-side before the holographic display, the chilling realization of the plot forcing an immediate, intense partnership. Kim Tae-Hyun was discreetly managing security logistics via his earpiece, already setting up Minji's safe apartment and communications.
"If Kai is going to frame me using an account I've never accessed, that means two things," Jungkook stated, his voice now purely analytical. "One, he has a trusted mole within my inner circle or my digital security team. Two, the shell company account—the one in the Cayman Islands—must already exist and is registered under a name designed to be untraceable, but easily linked back to me later by his manipulation."
Minji pointed to the holographic map of the corporate network.
"In the novel, the source of the frame-up wasn't the Silver Key itself, but the false deposit trail," Minji explained. "The key merely provided the context. We need to find the Origin Point—the digital breadcrumb that proves Kai planted the initial funds or established the shell account. This happened long ago, possibly before I even arrived."
The Mole and the Misdirection
Minji recalled a fleeting detail from the middle chapters: a brief mention of a small security firm acquisition Dusk Industries made two years prior.
"The mole isn't in your immediate security team, CEO," Minji stated firmly. "It's a director named Lee Sang-Ho, within the Subsidiary Financial Management division. He was mentioned as being promoted unexpectedly after a small acquisition two years ago—the Archon Security Consulting firm. Lee Sang-Ho is Kai's long-term agent."
Jungkook immediately brought up Lee Sang-Ho's profile. "He handles non-core asset tracking and acquisition finance. Perfect for hiding a shell account setup."
"Exactly," Minji confirmed. "The weakness isn't the Silver Key; the weakness is the Archon acquisition. Kai used that acquisition to plant Lee Sang-Ho, and Lee Sang-Ho used his new access to create the account and the initial, untraceable deposits. We need to focus on the records related to that Archon acquisition and Lee Sang-Ho's subsequent activity."
The Critical Evidence
Minji circled the most critical piece of evidence.
"The shell account wasn't funded by Kai directly; it was funded using small, untraceable transfers laundered through the acquisition of a specific, obsolete piece of data encryption hardware that Archon owned," Minji elaborated, pulling deep from her memory of the convoluted plot. "The hardware was decommissioned, but before it was wiped, it handled the initial, coded transfer logs for the shell company. That hardware log is the true origin point."
Jungkook was now fully engaged, the urgency of survival eclipsing his earlier disbelief.
"An obsolete piece of hardware… a physical device holding the digital truth," he mused. "If this Lee Sang-Ho is the mole, he would have ensured that hardware was destroyed or locked away."
Minji shook her head. "It was logged for physical destruction, but the mole only ensured it was moved to the deepest storage archives—Sub-level 4, the 'Cold Vault'—under the guise of 'obsolete security cleanup.' He didn't destroy it because destroying physical assets requires high-level executive sign-off, which he lacked. He simply hid it where no one would ever look."
Jungkook slammed his fist softly on the desk, a wave of frustrated realization washing over him. "A perfect hiding spot. Too obsolete to be protected by current digital firewalls, too inert to flag physical security."
"That hardware holds the original transfer log that proves the shell account was established by Lee Sang-Ho, not you, CEO," Minji concluded. "If we can secure that log, we neutralize Chapter 35 before it even begins."
Jungkook turned to his security chief, his order crisp and non-negotiable.
"Tae-Hyun. Minji has identified a Level-6 threat actor: Lee Sang-Ho. Isolate all his physical and digital access now. Do not alert him. And prepare a covert team. We need to access Sub-level 4, the Cold Vault, tonight. We are retrieving a decommissioned encryption unit from the Archon acquisition files. It is now our highest priority asset."
Tae-Hyun, having listened to the entire exchange, simply gave a sharp nod. "Understood, CEO. Operation Origin Point Retrieval is underway."
Minji, watching the two most powerful men in the fictional narrative mobilize based on her knowledge, felt a thrilling mix of terror and triumph. Her first, major move was set.
The next step is the high-stakes covert mission!