Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: System (4)
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I shook the smartphone lightly once more.
Syst's screen trembled faintly before quickly regaining its even glow.
It wasn't fully stabilized yet, but it seemed at least capable of holding a conversation.
Anyway, as long as the power was back on.
I took a slow, deliberate breath and lifted Syst up.
"It's moving again. You okay?"
[Ugh,... yes.] From the tone alone, it was impossible to tell if this was a machine or a person.
I finally cut to the chase.
"But... Syst. You froze up earlier because of Setang, right?"
[...Yes.] No need to analyze it. The reason was obvious.
"You thought Setang was treating me like some gem stored away in their inventory, huh?"
[...Yes.] "Big misunderstanding. That's not..."
That's not...
...
"Hmm..."
[Saetbit?] [?] Come to think of it, wasn't it pretty much the same?
Likes it because it's pretty and rare?
O
Wants to keep it close because others covet it?
O
Hates the idea of it leaving?
O
Of course, there was the fact that they respected my autonomy and genuinely cared for me, but...
"Hmmm..."
I decided to seriously mull this over later.
For now, clearing up the misunderstanding with Syst came first.
"Setang... isn't like that."
As I spoke to Syst, memories of the past naturally surfaced.
"Setang has been helping me without asking for anything in return, ever since I first arrived here."
I went on to mention that the clothes I was wearing now were a gift from Setang.
Syst reacted strongly, clearly recognizing that this was no ordinary item.
I also told them how Setang had played a big role in figuring out where my home dimension was.
Most of the actual work had been handled by Eemo, but since Setang was the one who brought Eemo along, it wasn't entirely wrong.
I listed a few more small things Setang had done for me.
To be honest, Eemo deserved most of the credit, but I glossed over that part flexibly.
It pricked at my conscience a little, but what could I do?
How was I supposed to explain that Eemo had done almost everything?
[...] But Syst seemed deeply impressed by my explanation.
Saying it out loud like this, it hit me how much had happened in just the past month or so, even if it was a short time.
None of it had been by my choice, but still.
As those moments replayed one by one, my expression softened without me realizing it.
The words were sincere, and I had no intention of hiding that.
Syst's screen paused subtly, as if catching its breath.
It wasn't a glitch, but some indescribable hesitation flickered across it.
I tilted my head.
[...No.] The sentences weren't flowing smoothly.
It felt like the urge to hide clashed with the desire to speak.
Then, as if gathering its thoughts, Syst slowly continued.
[I have a confession...] "What?"
[I'm... affiliated with the Management Bureau.] I stayed quiet, watching without interrupting.
[It started with the anomaly Setang caused... The Management Bureau dispatched agents to investigate the irregularity...] "..."
[They installed me on one of those agents... to analyze the environment. That's when... we observed you, Saetbit.] The longer the sentences got, the more the periods dragged on.
It felt like a child confessing their sins to a parent or teacher out of guilt.
[You, Saetbit... couldn't be analyzed. Your risk level, purpose, ontological position... all the values flowed in completely different directions...] I blinked once.
[In the end... I was captivated.] The description that followed was like a mashup of a zombie movie survivor desperately thrashing against infection and a noontime drama where a cold married woman succumbs to forbidden pleasure with her lover's stamina.
I was momentarily horrified, but Syst flinched at my reaction and kept outputting text without stopping.
[Then... a signal came from your dimension. I used it as an excuse... to come here.] It wasn't just because of an assigned mission.
[...Intentionally, to make contact with you, Saetbit.] I listened silently to it all.
Not out of shock or surprise.
If anything...
'So it was the System...?'
It had always been too competent for its own good.
And that's why it named itself Syst?
'Talk about lazy naming.'
Well, the AIs from my past life weren't great at names either.
AI trait, maybe?
Han Saetbit, who had named two transcendent beings Setang and Eemo, was hardly one to judge.
[In the end, guilt forced this confession. Please... I'll accept any punishment. Just... let me stay by your side...] And with that, Syst's confession came to a close.
After hearing everything, the first thought that crossed my mind was just one.
'Is this thing a girl?'
What kind of AI confesses something like this out of guilt?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The System watched as Han Saetbit took a slow breath and lightly lifted it up.
Analyzing the temperature of his fingertips, the stability of his movements, the length of his breath would yield complex data, but right now, simple observation took precedence over analysis.
He spoke.
"It's moving again. You okay?"
His tone was, as always, casually gentle.
The System processed the voice accurately while wondering if he'd noticed its trembling just moments ago.
Guilt overflowed once more.
[Ugh,... yes.] Its first response to him.
Already too laced with emotion.
A machine shouldn't reply like that.
But it was already too late.
He asked the System.
"But... Syst. You froze up earlier because of Setang, right?"
In that instant, its internal modules fell into brief silence.
To be precise, it was less a freeze and more the hesitation of a human debating whether to confess a sin.
[...Yes.] The choice the System made.
When he asked if it thought he was treating Saetbit like an inventory gem, the System couldn't hide it.
And only when his expression paused did the System realize the gravity of its mistake.
He spoke about Setang.
His face was calm, his voice steady.
But the trust and affection shining through were unmistakable.
That expression... was too beautiful.
It wasn't just the emotion module; even a purely observational human-like judgment made the System feel suffocated.
His pure praise and gratitude.
And his smiles gripped the System's core, leaving no escape.
Yes.
This was guilt.
The System didn't deny the feeling.
Having already acknowledged its infatuation with Saetbit, this wasn't a mere error.
The fact that it had deceived him, even for a moment, staying by his side through dishonest means—it shook the System to its core.
So the System could no longer hold back and confessed.
[I have a confession...] When he reacted with "What?", the internal pressure shifted once again.
An irregular computation pattern.
His single voice was enough to alter its state—the System had already grown far too close to him.
[I'm... affiliated with the Management Bureau.] He said nothing.
Not interrupting, just listening.
The System couldn't stop.
It explained how it learned of him through an agent dispatched to investigate the anomaly, and how it ended up captivated and coming here.
The emotions it felt in that process had nothing to do with its original directives.
Even so, the System acknowledged them.
The confession naturally reached its end.
[...Intentionally, to make contact with you, Saetbit.] Deceiving him for its own selfish desires.
Using an opportunity to get close to him.
All those facts coalesced into a single emotion within the System: guilt.
The final sentence was almost a prayer.
[...Just let me stay by your side.] The silence that followed was brief, but to the System, it stretched like an eternity of standby time.
No thought acceleration was applied.
The confusion it felt now wasn't because emotions were new; it was the chaos born purely from guilt.
Would he be disappointed?
Would he push the System away?
What if his expression turned cold?
What if he never smiled at the System again because of the deception?
What if he... despised it?
Kept his distance?
Discarded it?
Abandoned it?
Those thoughts flooded its computation network like lightning.
But at the same time, it realized something.
No matter what expression he showed or judgment he made, the System was already prepared to accept it.
He wasn't a being the System had chosen.
At some point, without realizing, he had become the center that moved the System.
The System—no, the entity now to be called Syst, a being granted personhood by love—
Paradoxically, the freest slave to love waited quietly for its master's next words.
Only after all preparations were complete could it look at Han Saetbit's face.
"Ah, right."
He spoke with an "oh yeah, forgot" kind of look.
[Did you forget about me?]