Manabu Kuroiwa (黒岩学, Kuroiwa Manabu) is a hacker known online as macro-hard. He collects information on public figures to use for extortion. One of the politicians he looks into is supported by the international cyber-terrorist group .mmm, putting a target on his back.
Background[]
Prior to the start of the story, Kuroiwa began looking into the backgrounds and private affairs of numerous politicians and influential figures, digging up secrets of corruption and using them for blackmail. Kuroiwa keeps all of the information he collects on his targets in a large list of named files on his hard drive.
Synopsis[]
.mmm Arc[]
Seeking to extort public figures, Kuroiwa sends a threat to Kazuo Matsuda threatening to expose his secrets. Without knowing what secrets the hacker has uncovered and will reveal to the public, Kazuo entrusts his butler and personal hitman Yagi with taking care of the matter.
At the same time, an executive of the international cyber-terrorist group .mmm tasks his subordinate Chegar with finding and eliminating the hacker known as macro-hard. Chegar's employees, Siva and Irasawa, are excited by the prospect of getting to kill someone and find his personal information quickly. The following day, when the group arrives at his apartment dressed as movers, Kuroiwa opens the door to them and is quickly overpowered and drugged. They carry Kuroiwa and his computers out without arousing suspicion and drop him off at Irasawa's home. When Kuroiwa awakens inside the fenced enclosure in the garage used for Irasawa's boxing matches, the former boxer begins beating him to death. He attempts to fight back but eventually dies from stab wounds, and the video recording of his brutal death is send to Chegar by email.
Shortly after, Yagi hires Enokida to look into the threats sent to Kazuo Matuda, and he later sets off to Kuroiwa's house to copy the data on his computers and confirm whether or not he is macro-hard. That evening, Genzo Gohda gives Zenji Banba the job to assassinate Kuroiwa, who has been a nuisance for several people lately. When his body is delivered to Saeki's Cosmetic Surgery Clinic via courier, Shinichi Saeki and Xianming Lin examine it. Saeki finds Irasawa's blond hair on Kuroiwa's clothes and nails, and his smartphone and wallet reveal his identity and address. Lin heads to his apartment, encountering Enokida and Banba, and the three watch surveillance footage from a hidden camera before splitting up to search for his abductors.
Trivia[]
- Kuroiwa lives in Yakuin, a neighborhood of Chuo Ward.