Chapter 9: The Super Hacker
Carl felt a little nervous. He was sure he had no shameful secrets, but there were other things he absolutely couldn’t let anyone—especially the police—know!
Carl wanted to stop Jennifer but knew he couldn’t do it with his voice.
He thought about sending her a message on his phone but realized he didn’t even have Jennifer’s contact information.
“I’m doomed. This must be God’s punishment for me.”
Carl was starting to despair.
By then, Jennifer had already uncovered one of Carl’s secrets.
#Carl Payne was born into a wealthy family. As a child, he loved the fairy tale of Cinderella, especially her magical dress. So at the age of five, he made a dress out of curtains and wore it—only to be laughed at by his entire family.#
Carl’s lips twitched. He had almost forgotten about that. He never expected Jennifer to dig it up.
His phone vibrated. Without even looking, he knew it was their class group chat buzzing with messages.
David: [That’s not even a secret. Every kid has done something like that—used their mom’s makeup, tried on her high heels, or played house with friends.]
Ian: [David, you’re exposing too much about yourself.]
Adam: [Haha, David, do you have secrets Jennifer doesn’t know?]
David: [I never did that! I just heard other people did! But I did wear my dad’s suit once.]
Carl didn’t care about David’s desperate attempts to explain. He prayed for Jennifer to stop snooping, but her inner voice continued.
#After being laughed at, Carl began to resent his family. From that day on, he started hiding everything—his intelligence, excellent grades, and even his cheerful personality. In front of his family, he was always cold and distant, but deep down, he had a passionate heart. He had an extraordinary talent for computers and became a hidden hacker known as “Fenrir.” Once, out of sheer disdain for a celebrity he disliked, he hacked into the person’s computer, found evidence of tax evasion, and reported it. Oh, and he also saw some interesting things in the FBI and CIA databases.#
Carl covered his face in despair. He had been exposed.
His classmates were stunned.
A hacker! That was such an incredible profession! Thanks to modern spy movies, when someone mentioned hackers, people imagined a cold, calculating figure typing furiously on a keyboard while government agencies fell into chaos. Department heads would be screaming in frustration, completely helpless.
Carl’s phone vibrated again, this time more intensely than before.
David: [Dude, that’s so cool! How did you do it? Can you check Madonna’s computer for me?]
Ian: [David, you’re disgusting. You still haven’t given up on your bedsheet obsession?]
Sheila: [Enough! Stop talking about bedsheets! I’m more curious about the interesting things in those government databases!]
Colin: [+1!]
Adam: [+1!]
Lance: [+1!]
Euphemia: [+1!]
...
Carl stared at the long string of “+1”s. His lips twitched. Government secrets seemed far more exciting to them than their classmates’ secrets.
‘As expected of my little brother. He’s a genius, becoming a world-famous hacker without the FBI ever finding him!’
Jennifer glanced at Carl with a hint of pride in her eyes.
But Carl could only laugh bitterly in his heart.
‘What’s there to be proud of? I’m just one step away from prison!’
Sighing, Carl quickly typed a message on his phone.
Carl: [It was just a bunch of encrypted files and coded messages I couldn’t understand. Even if I figured something out, I wouldn’t tell you. Sometimes, knowing less is a good thing.]
Carl genuinely didn’t want to discuss this any further. He might be assassinated if any of the things he saw were exposed!
Benjamin: [Carl’s right. Think about all those movie scenes—people who know too much always die in mysterious “accidents.” Car crashes, drownings, carbon monoxide poisoning… or even a staged suicide.]
Benjamin was Carl’s best friend and the top student in their class. His words successfully dampened everyone’s curiosity.
Carl sighed in relief and cast a grateful glance at Benjamin. The golden-haired, handsome boy smiled back at him.
‘Now that the secrets are out, let’s see what Carl’s future holds. I wonder what kind of life my brilliant little brother will lead?’
Jennifer was intrigued by Carl’s future.
Carl, too, was curious about what lay ahead for him. He wasn’t even worried about his classmates snitching to the FBI anymore.
Rachel: [I think Carl’s future should be fine, as long as he doesn’t expose his hacker identity.]
Adam: [You’re thinking too simply. Sherlock Holmes once said that evidence will always be left behind as long as something exists. Carl might get caught eventually. His best-case scenario would be getting recruited to work for the government.]
David: [Or he could be eliminated. You know, like in the movies.]
Carl read the messages with mixed feelings.
Neither outcome—being recruited or silenced—appealed to him. He loved the thrill and secrecy of being a hacker but would never enjoy it again if it became his job.
Carl sighed softly, preparing to face whatever fate awaited him. But then he noticed something strange—Jennifer’s inner voice had gone silent.
He turned to look at Jennifer and was shocked to see tears streaming down her face.
Before Carl could react, Jennifer suddenly left her seat and walked straight toward him.
Under his confused gaze, she opened her arms and hugged him tightly.
“I’m sorry, little brother! I never knew I meant so much to you!”
Jennifer’s sobs immediately caught everyone’s attention. The math teacher stopped teaching and stared at her in confusion.
Carl could guess that Jennifer must have seen something in his future. But to avoid exposing their ability to hear inner voices, he put on a puzzled expression.
“Jennifer, what are you doing? We’re in the middle of class.”
Carl tried to push Jennifer away, but she only hugged him tighter.
“I’m sorry, Carl. I didn’t know you did such dangerous things for me. You… you died so horribly!”
Jennifer’s words left the entire class dumbfounded.
Wait… someone in their class was going to die today?!