Cyberpunk: I didn't cheat.

Chapter 114 Seclusion from the World

Night City, company plaza apartment room.

Valerie was in her custom-made hacker room, a space isolated from all the noise of Night City, with no extra light except for the cold blue glow of the floating holographic screens that covered the entire wall in layers.

The temperature system is kept constant in the zero-degree range, and the air is dry and cold, which is Valerie's favorite temperature when she is doing hacking work.

Valerie sat quietly at the computer desk next to the hacker chair, her figure hidden between the cold light and shadow.

Her fingertips rested lightly on the computer keyboard, her expression calm, yet the aura surrounding her exuded the restraint, precision, and ruthless absolute control unique to Arasaka's top technocrats.

Ever since being targeted by Pan Xianming, having her private data streams accessed without her consent by the security department, and having her communication records checked beyond her authority, Valerie knew that the most intense part of this struggle was about to begin.

The Counterintelligence Department, responsible for internal screening and tracing the source of external enemies, is the core of the tower's surveillance. However, the Security Department recently overstepped its authority and crossed boundaries by taking advantage of the Zhu Ying incident. It forcibly took over half of the internal network screening permissions, arbitrarily browsed personnel data from various departments, tracked private communications, and locked so-called suspicious self-identifications, which has long exceeded the boundaries of departmental authority and responsibility.

This group of armed security personnel, who are accustomed to solving problems with violence, do not understand the rules of cyberspace. They only believe in the suppression of authority and think that by controlling access control and patrol rights, they can arbitrarily manipulate technical personnel and override the order of the intranet.

They forgot that Arasaka's highest line of defense was never firearms or armor, but the data streams of Arasaka's hackers.

When the two sides' top brawlers were fighting, they targeted each other's subordinates, trying to bully the weak. They forgot that this dark network was Valerie's home turf.

Valerie wasn't one of those young mining enthusiasts sent to the old network to mine mines; she was a top genius who fought her way out of the network battles.

Valerie lay down on the hacker chair and plugged in the connection.

Without deafening offensive and defensive clashes, without flashy hacking effects, top-tier internet runners' intrusions are always minimalist, deadly, and traceless.

Valerie's virtual personal access key acted like an invisible key, silently tearing through the secondary barrier of the internal network that the security department had built without authorization, penetrating layers of encrypted nodes, and reaching the core of the other party's exclusive database.

What takes an average internet runner five minutes to break through an encryption barrier, she can do in just three seconds at her fingertips.

The rapidly scrolling encrypted code before my eyes was instantly decrypted, disassembled, and reassembled. The densely packed confidential documents shed their layers of disguise and were exposed without any concealment under the cold light.

The security department's overreaching records over the past month and a half, the unauthorized access to personnel privacy data, the arbitrary marking of "suspicious lists," and the cross-departmental monitoring logs have all come to light.

Valerie's gaze swept indifferently over the lines of data, her eyes filled with only cold scrutiny.

She precisely screened and quickly categorized the evidence, and with a wave of her virtual arm, she archived all the evidence in different categories: the security department overstepped its authority to interfere with counterintelligence screening, illegally monitored internal technical personnel, abused intranet access to investigate classified projects, and arbitrarily suppressed dissidents under the guise of maintaining stability.

Each record carries a precise timestamp, access code, and operator ID, providing irrefutable and irrefutable evidence.

Valerie also discovered some interesting information: the security team that Yoshitaka Sato had directly mobilized and commanded died along with him on Crecker Street.

Their mission was to capture a mysterious assassin known as V1 and nicknamed "Square Head," the same assassin whose gun was found stuck in Yoshitaka Sato's head when he died.

Moreover, recently, the person who took over Yoshitaka Sato's position issued a new tracking order to investigate the true identity of the square head. A hacker has already sold a piece of information to Arasaka, and Valerie downloaded a copy of the information.

Valerie switched data ports, operating on two parallel lines, simultaneously gathering evidence of internal violations while penetrating the corporate intranet firewall to precisely extract core secrets from Arasaka's various rival companies.

Countless top-secret intelligence messages flooded into her private encrypted cloud like a tidal wave, all in complete silence. The opponent's top-notch firewall, anti-intrusion system, and source tracing program were rendered useless by her technical superiority, and even the breach alarm could not be triggered in time.

She is not a street hacker who indiscriminately steals data. She is a top-notch network runner trained by Arasaka. She is familiar with all the vulnerabilities, encryption logic, and permission blind spots of the corporate intranet. Every intrusion is precisely placed in the gaps of the rules, clean, neat, and professional, leaving no trace of the source.

With intelligence gathered, the counterattack has officially begun.

Valerie retrieved the pre-compiled, customized targeted virus and named it "[Serves you right]".

This is not a mindless, explosive virus used by cyber terrorists; it will not paralyze the entire network, cause widespread chaos, or leave traceable attack traces.

This is a precision-guided kill program she specifically designed for the security systems of companies that overstep their authority; it boasts maximum stealth and is highly targeted.

Its lethality is precise and deadly.

With a flick of her finger, the virtual network avatar transforms an invisible data stream into a silent weapon, delivering data in batches to precisely target every security department member's terminal that has overstepped its bounds to verify her data or interfere with counterintelligence work.

Those who interfered in the counterintelligence department, from employees to supervisors' assistants, were all included.

The virus invades with zero delay and silently takes root.

Their system gave no warnings, and everything seemed perfectly fine.

But in the unseen cyberspace, a precise, one-sided massacre has already taken place.

The tactical equipment of the security forces began to malfunction silently: the artificial eye scanning became disordered, the enemy situation identification became confused, the communication frequency band was intermittently disconnected, and the weapon intelligent locking system frequently reported errors. The team members who went out on patrol only felt that the equipment was malfunctioning and had no idea that it was a specific virus that was eliminating them.

The office terminal of the middle-level manager was compromised. All approval records, permission logs, and work files were torn up, cleared, and altered by the virus one by one. Years of work experience were instantly ruined, and compliance records were wiped out.

The private data of security department members who overstepped their authority was precisely extracted, and the hidden evidence of their private violations, bribery, and overstepping of authority was sealed and stored separately by Valerie, turning it into a fatal trump card to control the other party.

The entire process is precisely targeted, ensuring that no innocent people are harmed and that the operation of the Arasaka main network is not affected. It is a precise strike against all security personnel who cross boundaries, overstep their authority, or act arbitrarily.

Valerie never initiates internal strife, but she also never passively suffers humiliation.

In the rigidly hierarchical and dog-eat-dog world of Arasaka, gentleness is the original sin, forbearance is the Achilles' heel, and only absolute skill and ruthless methods can secure a place.

On the screen, the fake normal logs, which had been tampered with by the virus, continued to refresh, perfectly covering up the entire purge. No one outside knew that in just half an hour, the arrogant and domineering Arasaka Security Department had been silently stripped of half of its privileges by a top hacker from the Counterintelligence Department.

Valai left cyberspace and unplugged the hacker connector from his head.

She stepped out of the dark room, her gaze fixed on the endless darkness and neon lights of the city outside the window.

"This is a counterattack, from V."