The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

“David, why did you infiltrate a hospital?” Luca was stunned.

“The virus spread and I don’t have a say over who gets infected. These three hospitals were rather unlucky to get infected. Now don’t disturb my business. Someone from their side is here,” mentioned David impatiently.

“David, that’s a hospital. According to our agreement, they are not to be touched! It could cause deaths. It’s something utterly devoid of conscience,” said Luca.

David’s expression turned cold as he enunciated his words sharply, “Luca, you better watch that tone of yours. What I do is none of your business. It is also not under the jurisdiction of the hackers’ agreement!”

David hung up and cursed, “Good-for-nothing and a busybody at that.”

Then, David quickly typed out a row of text, “Four million US dollars and I will unlock it for you. Not one cent less. I know that your St. Mary Hospital is rich. I believe you would not mind sharing such a tiny bit of cash, right?”

“That madman. He actually infiltrated a hospital,” cried Luca.

When Smith heard that, he frowned, “That violates our agreement. When we sent the virus, we agreed not to touch hospitals or traffic-related sectors. How could he do something like that?! Lives are at stake!”

“How would I f**king know. That lunatic deserves to get shot! We shouldn’t have gotten him to help. Smith, what do we do now?” asked Luca.

“I don’t know. If we call the cops, we are finished. If we don’t call the cops, we can’t stop David.”

“Oh shit man, I wouldn’t have played this game if I had known.”

Smith ran a hand through his hair. “David is a top hacker. Among the people we know, the only person that can stop him is Ghostworm. But Ghostworm is as his name implies a ghost. We have no way to reach him.”

“Then what do you have in mind?”

“We cannot let this matter drag on. If someone really dies because of this, it would be some serious shit. We might very well end up becoming wanted internationally. I don’t want to live with that hanging over my head.” He sighed and sagged in his chair.

“The problem is how do we stop him. My computer is dead… Uh… perhaps we can contact that Chinese expert,” suggested Luca.

Smith’s eyes lit up. “Do you still remember his IP address?”

“Yea.” Luca took out a piece of paper and wrote the IP address on it…

“Having a stroll and counting the stars after dinner. Such days are good.” Fangzheng chuckled to himself after returning to the monastery. He sat under the bodhi tree and prepared to read some scriptures. Since he had nothing better to do, you could never read them too much.

When Fangzheng opened the webpage, his cell phone immediately red-screened. Fangzheng frowned and mumbled, “Here again? I wonder if it’s real or fake this time. Let me try if I can close it.”

Fangzheng figured that this was the way to test if it was a real or fake virus. If he closed it, it meant it was fake. If he could not, it was real.

Fangzheng casually tapped the X.

Smith planted the virus into Fangzheng’s cell phone and his heart tightened. Just as he was about to type, he saw the message that the infiltration had failed.

“This…” Smith was dumbfounded.

“Make sure not to forcefully attack him,” advised Luca as he was a sterling example.

Smith nodded and thought about it. He did not use a virus and instead sent a normal text.

Just as Fangzheng opened the Buddhist studies discussion board, he saw a chat window pop up. “Dear sir, hello. I am a hacker. I know that you are a true expert. I have something important to discuss with you. Please do not close the chat window.”

Fangzheng frowned and mumbled, “This window? An advertisement? That’s something new.” Then Fangzheng casually tapped the X. He needed to read Buddhist scriptures to upgrade himself.

Fangzheng opened the page with the scriptures and after reading a few lines, he received another pop-up window from the unresigned Smith. “Dear hacker sir, please do not close this chat window. What I’m talking about involves the lives of people. I beg you to finish reading what I have to say.”

If the pop-up had only appeared once, Fangzheng would treat it as an advertisement. With it appearing so many times consecutively, with the words continuing from the previous message, Fangzheng began to pay it attention. He tapped the top and realized that he could reply. Fangzheng, who wanted to explain himself, noticed the mention of how it involved lives and deaths. He paused before replying, “Go ahead.”

“I succeeded!” Smith cried in excitement when he saw Fangzheng’s reply.

Luca smiled as well but then cursed, “He’s indeed an expert and an asshole as well. He actually destroyed my computer!” He seemed to have forgotten that he had been the one who first hacked Fangzheng.

Smith quickly typed: “David William Bruce. I do not know if that’s his real name but he is well known among the world of hackers. He together with the the rest of us finished a ransomware software named Redstorm. All we wanted was to earn a little pocket money. But David hacked into a hospital of his own accord. We know well what the virus will do. It will lock all patient information and even delete a portion! If it’s an ordinary illness, then things should be okay. But if it’s a seriously ill patient, it might delay the patient’s treatment. It could cause said patients death!”

Fangzheng felt his back turn cold as cold sweat covered him. He had impersonated a hacker only to know what matter involved the lives and deaths of people so that he could report to the police. But the matter in front of him was clearly far more tricky than he imagined!

If it was truly as the hacker said, everything was too crazy and terrifying! It was an act completely devoid of all humanity!

“Truly? How could I believe you?”

“Of course it’s real. He infiltrated St. Mary Hospital in Germany, Russia’s Fyodorovskaya Clinic, and Switzerland’s Davos Hospital. But I am unable to provide you with any evidence. This is because it only just happened. The media is of yet unaware.”

Fangzheng chose to believe the man. Yet he was baffled, “Why look for me? You should report it to the police.”

“Report it to the police? I believe St. Mary and the other hospitals have already done so. We are looking for you because we believe you could stop David. We previously infiltrated your cell phone but you taught us a lesson with your skills,” said Smith.

Fangzheng was taken aback. Hacked into his cell phone? He suddenly recalled the few red pages he saw today. Did he actually get hacked? Why did it go differently than the story on the internet?

“Ding! There’s no need to doubt it. Your cell phone was augmented by the Light Opening Talisman. Although it lacks intelligence, its own intelligence is enough to deal with all sorts of viruses in this world. Therefore the virus that infiltrated your cell phone did not cause you any discomfort.”

“Really? The Light Opening Talisman has such an effect?” Fangzheng was surprised. He originally believed that it had only enhanced his cell phone’s camera.

“The unique feature of the Light Opening Talisman is to raise a particular capability of the item. After your cell phone was augmented, its processing power was greatly enhanced. If not, why do you think the cell phone in your hand feels so smooth and fluid? For a person like you that randomly enters webpages, you would have long bricked your phone because of viruses,” said the System.