Chapter 61 – Attack!!
Heavy rain battered the glass roof of SeoulPot Labs that night. Amid the rhythmic tapping of droplets dancing on the transparent ceiling, the atmosphere inside the main meeting room grew increasingly tense. The giant screen displayed a strange, erratic graph—ASTRA's core algorithm was spiking with unexplainable activity.
"This isn't just some regular bug," Haesung said, rising from his seat, eyes locked on the screen. "Someone's trying to manipulate the system from the outside."
Jiwan paused mid-bite, holding a chopstick of smuggled instant ramen. "Wait—seriously? We're under attack? ASTRA hasn't even gone public. Who the hell knows how to break into our network?"
Gevran remained calm on the outside, though his mind raced. The world wasn't ready for a breakthrough like ASTRA—an AI and robotics system built completely from scratch, with no blueprint borrowed from existing tech. But too many powerful people felt threatened by something that was too advanced.
"Choi, cross-check our network's security layers. Switch everything to independent routing. Cut all external access. From this moment on, we're locking down the entire system," Gevran commanded.
Eunwoo—who usually spent more time on his hair than cybersecurity—immediately sprang into action at the control console. "Okay, firewalls are up. Every port is sealed. But… we've got a problem."
Mi Yong stopped scrolling through Instagram. "Now what?"
"Someone's already inside," Eunwoo said, voice tight. "They're copying data. ASTRA's being stolen."
Suddenly, the room turned into a warzone. Internal alarms blared. SeoulPot's entire operations team scrambled toward the command center. Even the young engineers working on ASTRA Prototype 2 ripped off their VR headsets and dashed upstairs.
Gevran stood firm. His heart pounded, but his face remained calm. "We can't lose here. ASTRA isn't just a product. It's… the future."
---
Elsewhere – A Dark Room in Gangnam
In a dimly lit office in Gangnam, a middle-aged man stared at his laptop with narrowed eyes. His slicked-back hair, expensive suit, and the rich scent of his cigar painted the image of power.
"ASTRA, huh?" he muttered with a bitter laugh. "That kid's got guts. But he forgot—every revolution makes the old giants uncomfortable."
His name: Seo Myung Ho. The CEO of South Korea's largest tech conglomerate—and the father of Cain Seo-Jun, Gevran's long-standing rival on campus and a rising star in Korea's underground business world.
"Cain, are you listening?" he said through a secure phone line. "It's time our family erased that boy from Korea's tech history."
In his luxury penthouse, Cain Seo-Jun looked out over the Seoul skyline, his expression unreadable, his smile razor-thin. "Don't worry, Father. ASTRA will be ours… or it'll burn with SeoulPot. He thinks he can create the future without paying the price? Let's see."
---
Back at SeoulPot Labs
The crisis had hit its peak. Haesung had traced the IP behind the breach—it led to a foreign communication node.
"This isn't just a personal attack," he warned. "We're being watched. There may be multiple parties who want ASTRA to fail."
Mi Yong rose from her seat. "We can't just defend. We need to strike back. Make this public."
Jiwan nodded. "We've got connections—media, influencers, agencies. If they want to take us down in the shadows, we'll bring the fight into the spotlight."
Within an hour, the hashtag #SaveASTRA surged to the top of Korea's trending topics. Mi Yong launched a live broadcast from SeoulPot headquarters, unveiling ASTRA to the world ahead of schedule.
"Good evening," Gevran said in front of the camera, calm and composed. "Tonight, we lift the veil on the true future. ASTRA marks the beginning of a new era. And we believe technology should belong to everyone—not just those at the top of the power chain."
The broadcast exploded. Social media lit up. Citizens, students, and scientists across the country began openly discussing and supporting the project. Meanwhile, the executives of major corporations began to panic.
They knew—if these kids weren't stopped now, the entire tech industry would change forever.