The Message from God 1

“Here’s your pass to move one step closer to God. Use your power wisely.” This KakaoTalk message from an unknown profile arrived a day after I bombed another public service examination.

The message had a short URL at the end. Normally I would never be fooled by scammy links, but this time my curiosity completely overshadowed my reason. Clicking this won’t charge me shit, I thought. Staring at the screen, I sprang out of bed and sat on the mattress. It was past midnight, and my mind was being sucked into the limitless possibilities.

Clicking the link led me to a blank page with a sign-in portal. I shrugged and almost closed the window. Then I found a tiny text area in the middle of the page. Whoa, I zoomed in with two thumbs. It said “Your name is your ID and your birthday is your password.”

Why would they bait me like this? These scammers—likely North Korean or Chinese—normally pretended to be police, banks, or mobile carriers. I moved to my desk, closed a bulky prep book, and turned my laptop on. I set the computer on the book and Googled whether there was any precedent for this website and message. I even asked GPT whether it was safe to type my name and birthday into this sketchy Web 1.0-style website.

In the search results, I couldn’t find any trace of the website. I wondered if the hacker made it accessible only through a designated IP address. Although it could never be a good idea to share my name and birthday with a stranger, I couldn’t say no to diving into the pool of uncertainty. My heart was beating so fast that my ears were ringing.

After all, my name and birthday weren’t that difficult to figure out. For years, they had been part of my email address “sinhyo0320@naver.com”. In a way, I wasn’t giving anything up. There was nothing to worry about. Not yet, for sure. I just needed to stop providing any more information after logging in.

I typed random names and birthdays to check if other combinations could bypass the authentication. Three attempts later, the website warned that two more failures would lock me out permanently. I grew more nervous because this meant these people really knew who I was. After taking a deep breath of the dusty air, I typed “Sinhyo Kim” and “19910320” and clicked the log-in button.

A pop-up message appeared.

Welcome, Sinhyo.

No one, not even myself, knows you are logged in. Follow these rules and you will be safe.

1. Do not share this site with anyone.
2. Do not target the people around you.
3. Do not try to figure out who I am.

Your friend,
Z.

I closed the message, then another message appeared.

This website allows you to hack into any computer around the world. You can search other people's texts, photos, and locations by providing the person's government-issued name and birthday. You'll be given access for a month.