TMPW Ch 12 part 1

Two weeks had passed. Today, President Min received an emergency alert from the Zurich Cantonal Bank.

“Sir, I’ve received horrible news.”

Secretary Yang entered the chairman’s office with a pale face.

“It looks like something has happened at the Swiss bank.”

“What? What do you mean?”

President Min scowled at the secretary. They were still recovering from the hacking that had taken over the company two weeks ago.

An infamous hacking program called ‘ransomware’ had infiltrated the R&K headquarters and taken the list of investors as well as a tremendous amount of data. Those bastards had even destroyed the backup data servers.

In return for the data, they were demanding 2 billion won!

He didn’t want to hand over that much money no matter what, but he didn’t know what would happen to the data if he didn’t pay up. The problem was the VIP investors. The data included information on the top secret projects they had invested in. Helpless, President Min bit the bullet and sent them the ransom money.

It was like the apocalypse. He had spent all that money on security, but they had still succumbed to that lousy program.

But now the Swiss bank?! Just what was going on with this world?

“Early this morning, someone attempted to hack into the Swiss bank systems.”

“H-Hacking?”

Haa… Those crazy bastards.

“So what happened?”

“Thankfully, the bank security system caught it and blocked it. Still, it looks like it left them pretty shaken, so they’re strengthening their security system as we speak. They’ve given anything related to the hacker over to the Swiss police.”

“Of course they should! After all that money I’ve put in that bank?!”

President Min’s face reddened in anger. He was worried that he’d lose a penny of his precious money. The money inside that account shouldn’t have any problems, right? A million worries filled his mind, but right now, he wanted to check and make sure that his money was okay.

“So what are they going to do?”

“They’re asking you to quickly head over to their headquarters in Zurich. Since this is a security issue, they want you to change your password as well as update their facial and fingerprint recognition systems. They’re saying that this can’t be done at the Korean branch.”

“What? I need to go there personally?”

“It seems that this is a serious issue. They’re saying this can’t be done at a branch office.”

“Damn it.”

President Min quickly took his phone and called his wife. What would he do if there was a problem with his account in the Swiss bank? Nothing was safe in this day and age. These days, the wicked thieves used all sorts of methods to rob people.

“Where are you? What? At a skin care facility? Why are you going there again? Get out and come here right now!”

He threw down his phone with a bang.

“Fuck!”

The curses began to come out automatically. If his son wasn’t so young, he would have divorced her already.

Whenever he thought about how his young wife had an affair with Lee TaeKyung, he was filled with rage. He knew it would happen. Every woman who saw that bastard’s pretty face began to drool. That went for all those secretary bitches as well as his wife. They were all wiped out with that bastard’s one look.

“That’s why all of them leaked out those secrets.”

He didn’t know how far Lee TaeKyung’s reach was within R&K. What he did know was that Lee TaeKyung was a wicked man who used any means necessary to get what he wanted. Only when they had almost killed that bastard WooKyung did he finally crack and tell them where the money was.

Was he now messing with the Swiss account? Thinking about how TaeKyung had made the 500 billion disappear in Dubai, President Min felt that he was up to something again.

Who helped him escape? If it was HyunJin, they would have found out everything and made a move by now. With 1 trillion on the line, they wouldn’t just sit still.

He felt that he was going to go crazy from worrying about the Swiss account. He wanted to hide it away somewhere, but there was no other place more secure than the Swiss banks.

Damn it, if it was this hard to store money away, what was he going to do from now on? He couldn’t lose a penny of it. He needed to personally go to the Swiss bank and give them a piece of his mind. He needed them to take 100% responsibility if something went wrong.

“We’ll leave today if we can, so reserve our seats!”

He fumed as he threw his phone across the room.

When President Min and Hong SeRyung had finally arrived at the Zurich International Airport, one day had passed. It was 10:30 AM in Swiss time. After getting off their first class Swiss Air flight, President Min’s face looked quite grim. The faces of all the security guards and secretaries around him looked tense.

Two limousines were standing by at the airport for them. As everyone got into the cars, they remained silent. The cars exited downtown Zurich and went onto the outskirt roads, racing southward towards Lake Zug. During the whole car ride, President Min and Hong SeRyung didn’t speak once.

President Min, who had flown into a rage after hearing about her and Lee TaeKyung, remained silent in front of his wife. Revealing each other’s private lives would be a foolish thing to do. This was because they both knew too much about the other.

The car passed by picturesque sceneries and antiquated villages. In no time, they had finally entered a town that still had preserved traces of the Middle Ages in its architecture. They approached a building that used to be the location of the salt merchants’ guild 200 years ago. They finally stopped in front of the elegant, German-style building at 11:18 AM.

Thud, right after the car door closed, a blond man came out to greet them.

The man was wearing a dark gray suit and a calm expression, seemingly a bank employee. He seemed to be in his 50’s. His blond hair was mixed with specks of gray, and he was a tall man who seemed to be of German descent. Above his head hung a sign stating that this was the Zurich Cantonal Bank.

[Welcome. My name is Hans Benerst. I’m the manager of the Zurich Cantonal Bank.]

The man spoke in English. President Min didn’t reply to him and just entered the building. He was disgusted with the way this bank was handling its security.

This bank boasted about its public confidence and defense measures, but this was all they could do? Even if they couldn’t understand Korean, President Min was thinking about pouring out a string of curses at them, but the most important thing right now was to check on his account.

“This way, sir.”

The frozen Secretary Yang politely showed him the way. It was an old building, but the entrance lighting and the transparent walls gave off a sturdy and neat impression. The manager took out his ID card to open five doors and use the elevator. They then went through the security checkpoints and entered two more doors.

They were finally at the 3rd floor of the basement. As soon as they arrived at the VIP room, the manager turned around and spoke.

[From this point on, only the account holder may enter. Ah, you cannot bring your cellphone inside either. I apologize. Any devices that can communicate with the outside is considered to be a security hazard here.]

Secretary Yang looked perplexed. President Min looked as if he was going to kill Secretary Yang.

[I apologize, but President Min needs to enter as well.]

Now the manager looked perplexed. Secretary Yang grit his teeth and spoke up once more.

[If you tell us it’s not allowed one more time, we will be switching banks.]

At this, the manager looked shocked. He slowly nodded his head.

[Then the two of them may enter. However, you will have to stay outside.]

[Ah, but who will translate…]

“Leave it. I can understand this much.”

President Min spoke with an irritated tone as he entered the room. Hong SeRyung followed after him. Secretary Yang was stood awkwardly as he was left behind. He looked like a puppy who had lost its master.

[Please take a seat.]

As soon as President Min entered the room, he glared at his surroundings. He had come here a few times within the past few years, so the room looked familiar. He dragged Hong SeRyung to the seats in front of the desk and sat her down.

On the desk, a computer system had been set up that he had never seen before. However, it was to be expected. As the times changed, so did the technology.

[Then, let’s begin with your passports…]

“What?”

Replying in Korean to the man’s English, SeRyung frowned. How dare this man ask for her passport as soon as they entered this room? She was suddenly extremely irritated, but this was a bank. It was for the sake of security, so there was nothing she could do.

Protocol was like bread and butter to these bank bastards. They couldn’t overlook checking their passports. SeRyung helplessly opened her purse and obediently took out her passport.

After that, it was just a string of boring procedures. Passport, face scan, and fingerprint scans. They also had to secretly input their password. They might have even asked them to draw blood so that they could check their DNA if they could.

Once they had passed through all of these steps to confirm their identities, President Min was finally able to check the account that was held under SeRyung’s name. He raised the written memo of the deposit amount and double-checked the bank statement.

In the span of one day, the money had actually increased thanks to the interest. Finally, President Min’s face cracked a smile.

[Now, please input your new password.]

Those words spoiled his mood, but…

President Min showed the man the new, complicated password he had already brought with him. As the account holder, SeRyung carefully punched in the password, but she wouldn’t be able to remember it. Afraid that she would memorize the password, President Min immediately put the piece of paper back in is breast pocket once she was done.

While it felt disgusting, there was nothing he could do. She should be thankful that this account was under her name. A green light indicated that the new password had been stored successfully. Once everything was confirmed, the manager’s face finally showed some relief.

[Thank you for coming such a long distance to do this.]

“Do better next time, ya bastard.”

At the manager’s polite words, President Min rudely answered back in Korean and stood up. The fact that he had to come all the way to the Swiss bank for this made him irritated the more he thought about it, but he also felt that his account was now more secure.

Finally, after everything had been settled, they left the security offices. After passing through the frustrating security checkpoints and narrow passageways, they saw Secretary Yang waiting outside the building and got in their limousines.

“Let’s go.”

At his order, the car began to move. The bulky car raced along the stone road with a vroom. After making sure all the vehicles had gone, the blond manager faintly smiled.

He turned around and went back inside the building. He went through the main entrance and got back on the elevator. He retraced his steps and went through the same motions as before. He went into the security office and saw Eri sitting inside.

“Got it?”

“Yeah.”

The manager then began to take off his silicone mask. He transformed from Hans Benerst, a German man in his 50’s, into the blond Derrick in his 30’s.

“What about Min Yuan-ssi?”

Derrick laughed as he asked.

“She’s already on her way to the bank.”

Eri’s voice was uncharacteristically tense.

The ‘Zurich Cantonal Bank’ sign above the main entrance was taken down and disappeared in an instant. The locals were told that they were shooting a movie here. Since a few days ago, they had seen actors dressed as spies shooting action scenes in front of the building that had been built to look exactly like the real bank.