S E O U L    C Y B E R C I T Y

CHAPTER 2:

THE UNDERGROUND

UNDRGRND

The Cyber Police is a total flop—because if they’re doing their job properly then pranks like these wouldn’t get pass through them! This is the exact reason why they exist. To monitor and police what’s happening inside Seoul! And yet they can’t even filter pranksters and phishing sites! Phishing sites are basically websites that exist to get personal information from you, such as passwords as well as your account numbers. 

There was this one time when I was 17—I was doing my research at p0rnhub dot com, and then all of a sudden, I was redirected into another website that says that I’ve won a trip to Beijing Cybercity. Seoul may be the first Cybercity out there, but Beijing was able to exceed Seoul—Claiming the 1st spot in the worldwide Cybercity ranking. Me being 17, slightly stupid and extremely excited at that time, filled out the necessary information that the website was asking. You know the very basic ones, such as your username, personal name, and birthdate—the very basic ones, yet if someone takes ahold of that information—you’ll be perpetually screwed. Though before I was able to hit the send button, Kai stopped me from my stupidity—then he went rambling like an old goose. 

You see there’s a reason why each individual has a username. The government ensued this to protect a user’s data privacy. In a way, a username is like a mask and everyone in Seoul Cybercity has one. Your username serves as your armor, and without it, you’d be defenseless. 

Knowing a person’s username is one thing—though knowing a person’s real name behind that username is another. Be careful who you trust—be careful who you give your name to. In my case, It’s only my Dad and Kai. But since my Dad hasn’t been showing up for a while, Kai’s the only one around who calls me by my name. 

Each individual can change their username as frequent as they want, though the price in changing your username is high—plus even if you do change your username, your records will still be intact. Right after you’re born, the government will give you a generated username—later on, you can either keep or change it when you turn 13 for free. Though you can always change it after—If you’re rich. Hence, I’m stuck with you for the rest of my life—or at least until I can afford to change it.

I slouched my back at the chair as I crossed my arms. I blinked several times as I re-read my username atop of the faux Cyber Police’ Bounty List—faux, cause there’s no way in hell that this is real—though I have to commend whoever did this. This fake site looks real, and when I first saw it earlier my heart almost stopped beating, and I even got the chills! But then again, there’s nothing to worry about—or so I thought. 

A thud came crashing in my door and I Immediately went up to my feet to see who it is. 

“Kai?” I called out as I approached the door. Another thud came in as I clenched a fist in my chest. I clicked at the tablet mounted up the wall beside my door frame using my free hand. A live video feed flashed at the screen of the tablet. I trembled at the sight as I decided to ba