I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 682 - 682 681. Crack _1

Chapter 682: 681. Crack! _1 Chapter 682: 681. Crack! _1 International hacker organizations come in various forms; some claim to be messengers of justice aiming to break into various government networks, known as “Anonymizers.” Others specialize in attacking game servers, cracking software, and releasing pirated versions—too many to count.

The organization that declared its intention to attack “Morning Star” belongs to one such group of pirates.

This organization holds a simple belief that the fundamental spirit of the internet is sharing, thus all copyrights should be void, software should not be charged for, code should be open source, and any profiteering through the internet should be stopped.

Therefore, this group is known as “Pirates,” and what they especially engage in is cracking software, from office software to games and even operating systems. In the wild growth era of the internet, it’s estimated that the majority of users have, at one point or another, used software cracked by these pirate organizations.

Of course, now copyright laws have tightened a lot, and many software companies have become savvier by using online authentication or frequent updates to restrict cracking.

However, game and game console hacking remains a major issue, as hacked consoles no longer require the purchase of games. When compared to the prices of games, the cost of the consoles themselves is akin to a small witch seeing a grand wizard—insignificant.

Later, different game console manufacturers came up with various strategies: some strengthened encryption measures to prevent hardware hacking, others directly co-opted certain hacking groups, transforming them into their employees, pampering them with good pay and treatment. There were also those who simply paid protection money, spending millions to shut up the big players and secure a few years of peace.

Naturally, these pirate groups were also very interested in the launch of “Morning Star.”

Particularly when they learned that the device would not be sold overseas and that the game didn’t even include English, these organizations felt disrespected by Lu Ban.

A game console that didn’t launch with multilingual support was a violation of the internet’s spirit of sharing!

Moreover, there was no doubt that this device would be historic, but the technology was solely in the hands of Lu Ban’s company. If the virtual reality technology used by “Morning Star” wasn’t made public, it would hinder the progress of global development.

Of course, another reason these organizations decided to hack it was because “Morning Star” was simply too popular, and no one had managed to beat “Night of Summoning Spirits” up until now.

If they could hack the device and unpack the game, their organization’s name might become known to everyone. For such hacker organizations, reputation is crucial.

Among them, there were also members with differing views.

For example, some members thought they could directly extort Lu Ban after cracking the device: if he didn’t pay up, they’d release the hacking patch. Considering Lu Ban’s financial resources, these members believed they could make a big score.

Some thought they could contact the three major console manufacturers or other companies aiming to enter the console market, or even military-industrial complexes, to sell the hacking technology in exchange for more money.

Others still believed in adhering to the original idea, releasing the hacking patches openly without profiting from them.

The leader of this hacker organization, Johnson, had his own plans, however.

He had already received some business inquiries with deep backgrounds. Despite several layers of cover and circumvention, this seasoned hacker could faintly discern the identity of the other party.

They were, of course, not some internet company looking to enter the gaming business or an equipment manufacturer, but a certain country’s military company.

Undoubtedly, Lu Ban’s technology applied to the field of gaming was an underutilization of its potential. If it could be applied to military science, that would truly be revolutionary.

However, those military companies also couldn’t stoop so low as to hack directly, or rather, even if they tasked their engineers to do it, they’d have to cover it up somewhat. An organization like Johnson’s was just a decoy. In the end, whether Johnson himself cracked it or not, the reputation of the hacker would fall on his organization.

This is just like how someone always needs to claim responsibility for various types of attacks.

Johnson was that responsible party.

In fact, aside from them, many more in the world were watching greedily.

It was nearly impossible for Lu Ban’s technology to be enjoyed exclusively.

Once the virtual reality technology was cracked, other companies could potentially mass-produce it with more mature production lines, sell it at lower prices, and offer a greater variety of games to drive Lu Ban’s venture to ruin.

Moreover, according to investigations, Lu Ban had not even filed for a patent on his device.

This was perfectly normal because filing for a patent meant disclosing the technical details of the device publicly, allowing others to illegally imitate it. Even if they didn’t sell it for money, using it covertly to enhance the military construction of various advanced nations was also very beneficial.

In the absence of a patent, if someone else managed to crack it and apply for a patent, they could even turn around and burn a big hole in Lu Ban’s pocket.

Thus, when “Morning Star” went on sale and completely ignited public opinion after a week, Johnson’s organization also got their hands on several virtual reality headsets and prepared to start hardware hacking.

Following normal procedures, they just needed to dismantle the device and analyze the circuitry, continually testing until they could roughly make out the configuration. As for cracking, with military companies backing them, they didn’t need to worry.

What concerned Johnson more was unpacking the game, for those military companies surely wouldn’t care about a single game.

However, when they opened up the helmets, the group was completely dumbstruck.

“What is this?”

Looking at the internal circuit layout, Johnson felt as if the past decade-plus of learning electronics had been in vain.

These circuits were arranged in a way incomprehensible to ordinary humans, a layout which, by all conventional wisdom, couldn’t possibly allow the device to function.

Staring at the electronic circuits, Johnson felt like a devout believer confronted by some symbol of a demon desecrating the divine, sending a chill down his spine.

The engineers tasked with cracking it were at a loss, as the circuits were far beyond their understanding.

It was as if you had just learned that 1+1=2 and 2+2=4, only to be immediately faced with a differential equation.

If such a design for electronic circuits really existed in this world, then most of the physical laws relating to electronics would need to be rewritten, shaking the very foundations of reality.

What truly terrified Johnson was not just the device’s circuitry.

Two weeks after “Morning Star” was released, and for two consecutive weeks topped the global electronics sales charts, Johnson’s organization finally succeeded in extracting the resource pack of “Night of Summoning Spirits.”

They had worked continuously for an entire week to barely complete this step.

But no one knew that at this point, Johnson’s organization was like a naive child standing next to Pandora’s box, showing off their discovery to the people around.

Unaware that the end of their fate was approaching.

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