The Super Genius Doesn't Yield to Common Sense Alteration (4)

As soon as we stepped into the elevator, she tapped her card and pressed the button for the twenty-seventh floor.

"Is it really okay for me to go up alone like this?"

"Of course not. But… wouldn't a private audience be better? I'm a secret agent, right? Something like that? It would be a problem if she realized I was the one who sent you up."

She had a point.

Better not show my hand yet.

I still had no idea whether Kim Suyeon would even consider me an ally.

"Besides, I've been away from my post for far too long. So if you need anything, just call me anytime."

"Understood."

In the end I parted from her for the moment and rode up alone.

Ding.

The doors opened.

The entire twenty-seventh floor was a single open space.

Glass walls on every side let the whole city pour in. Inside stood one desk, several whiteboards, and paper stacks that had spilled all the way to the floor.

Every whiteboard was covered in equations. With no room left to erase, overlapping strokes had smeared into black blots, and red pen lines cut across them here and there.

In front of them sat a white-haired woman.

She was even more striking in person than she had been on television.

White bob cut that fell to her shoulders, and an underboob top that left the lower curves of her breasts bare. I remembered her saying she preferred them because her large chest made her sweat easily.

At the end of her long, outstretched legs, bare feet fidgeted faintly.

But I had no leisure to simply admire the view.

"……."

My breath caught.

Meeting that woman's eyes felt like breathing an entirely different kind of air.

A line I should never have crossed was drawn on the floor, and I had already stepped over it.

…Why isn't she saying anything?

We simply stared at each other. Nothing more.

Not even a flicker of movement in her pupils—absolute stillness. I wondered if she was analyzing me, but it didn't feel like that either.

When people examine someone, their eyes inevitably move.

A gaze stays fixed on one spot for a few seconds at most. Anything longer means either obsession or that the person is looking through the subject at something that isn't here.

Not knowing which it was only made the pressure worse.

And those eyes.

Yes—it was because of those eyes.

The same uncanny feeling as staring into a mirror in the dead of night. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, yet with her I couldn't begin to guess what lay beyond.

I tried to read her and found nothing to read. Kim Suyeon was the kind of person who, face to face, made you wonder if she might actually be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a doll—that was the uncanny valley she inspired.

"……Right."

A low, cold voice finally broke the silence.

"Your name?"

The first thing she asked, out of nowhere, was my name.

"……Yushin. Park Yushin."

My voice cracked a little, but I forced myself to sound calm and steadied my breathing.

"No self-awareness, is it? No… something's different for that. In other words, you are…"

Kim Suyeon muttered something incomprehensible, then rose from her seat.

"Different."

……Different how?

Was she talking about the user?

"What you're thinking right now is correct."

"……!"

"A predictable reaction, yet amusing. You're different from that bastard. Your facial muscles seem a bit more developed than most people's. That might be why."

I took an involuntary step back.

So this was how creepy it felt to have your thoughts read.

She let out a small laugh.

"What is your purpose? Tell me. If it's something I can grant, I will."

Purpose?

If I said I'd come to save her, she obviously wouldn't believe me.

Stick to the plan I'd prepared.

"I've come to become a special sponsor."

"Special sponsor? Aren't you already one? I saw the log change a few hours ago."

"……That."

So she already knew.

My throat went dry.

Before I could say anything more, she continued.

"Oh dear. That wasn't the picture you intended? My apologies. Then let's try again. Hmm, special sponsor. Normally if someone wants to become a special sponsor, they put their hands on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠front-desk girl."

"……."

"It was far too noisy on the floor right below me. I even knocked, but no one answered, so I simply left. Oh my. That wasn't the picture you wanted either, was it?"

This woman.

Just how much did she know?

Wait a second! Am I about to get ejected for violating Probability Development?

So sleeping with Han Jisu had been the correct move after all.

"The picture you wanted was probably this: a stranger appears out of nowhere, proposes something to me, and I find it interesting enough to answer. But isn't that far too obvious? More importantly, if that was your plan you should have come up the moment you altered the record. That, regrettably, is on you."

Kim Suyeon clasped her hands behind her back and craned her neck to look up at me.

"One who lives life at a different speed from others. That is what a genius is. You are far too slow. And unlike that bastard, I feel not the slightest reluctance about harming you."

By "that bastard" she meant the user?

So there was even a setting that prevented her from harming the user.

"Therefore, speak."

The air in the room grew heavier still.

Anxiety flooded me so thickly it felt as if a murderer were crouching right behind my back, waiting to kill me.

"Your purpose."

Was this how prey felt standing before a predator?

Should I spit on her? No. Whether saliva even works on a main heroine is unknown, and if it doesn't, that's the worst possible move.

I had no choice.

At this point—

"I will count to three. One—"

"IcametohelpyouI'manallypleasedon'tkillmeIknowsleepingwiththeemployeewaswrongbutIhadtoincreasemyalliespleasejustspareme?!"

"Two… huh…?"

There was nothing left but dogeza.

Thud.

I slammed my forehead to the floor and pressed myself flat in the classic dogeza posture.

What else could I do?

When the other party came on this terrifyingly, what options did I have?

If I wanted to live, I had to prostrate myself completely.

"……."

The soft sound of bare feet on the floor drew closer.

Then stopped right in front of my nose.

At this distance I could spit… no. Don't. Never force a gamble when you're not certain. Don't get cocky.

Tap.

A cool yet soft touch slid down my cheek and stopped at my chin.

Then a gentle force lifted my jaw, and I slowly raised my head.

Kim Suyeon was squatting in front of me, looking down.

Gulp.

I managed to open my mouth while staring at her.

"…Did I speak too fast just now? Could you not understand?"

"No, I understood perfectly."

She understood.

Even after I'd dumped that entire flood of words on her.

They said geniuses were faster than ordinary people—maybe that was why.

"You just had a rather insolent thought, didn't you?"

"No, ma'am."

"I'll believe you."

"Thank you."

"I mean I'll believe that your words were sincere. The lie you just told is excluded, of course."

"…Really?"

Setting aside the fact that my lie had been caught,

the fact that she was willing to believe me was astonishing.

"Thank you!"

"I'm only believing that your words were sincere. Actually believing you're my ally is another matter entirely."

???

What did that mean?

"In other words, you must prove it. If you're truly my ally, you can manage that much, can't you?"

Kim Suyeon traced a finger along my jawline and smiled.

It was a cunning, fox-like smile.

"May I ask… why you believe my words are sincere?"

At my question she returned to her chair, flopped down, and crossed her legs.

"At first I thought you were one of Casey's underlings, or the same sort as Casey. You used a power that current science cannot explain. You know Casey, don't you? I can tell from your face. But judging by your reactions and various other factors… you were different from that bastard. That much I can say."

"…?"

Different how?

When I stared at her with a face that clearly didn't understand, she shrugged.

"I have my own grounds. And I haven't completely trusted you. 'Unconditionally' is a word that can never hold true—that is my philosophy. So let's call it fifty-fifty."

Fifty-fifty.

That wasn't bad.

At least I was now in a position where I could support her directly.

"Then this will go quickly. According to my information… I heard you made a bet. A very dangerous one."

"I did. And?"

"I'll help you win. For two weeks you can focus solely on the bet without any—"

"Hmph."

Kim Suyeon snorted and rested her chin on the back of her hand.

"Whether you're naïve or simply stupid. Perhaps both. That a fellow like you is my ally… how utterly lamentable."

"Hey, I'm offering to help and you're being awfully harsh, aren't you?"

"Do you really think Casey will lose the bet and say, 'Yes, I lost. I'll step back and live quietly'?"

Of course not.

But the system had clearly stated—

…Wait?

……The mission the system gave me was to prevent Kim Suyeon's loss of virginity and conquest. Not to win the bet.

Then—

Did that mean I had to protect Kim Suyeon until the user gave up?

Until when…?

"Looks like you've roughly figured it out. Good that you're not a complete simpleton."

With that she pulled a lollipop from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth.

"Winning the bet is not the answer. That would only lead to an endless fight. I don't know about you, but I have no preference for that sort of thing."

"……You sound exactly like an old professor when you talk."

"Is that so? Then they must have copied my speech patterns. I've never met a professor smarter than myself."

"If you're that smart, you must have already figured out the whole situation."

"I have."

"……Excuse me?"

She had?

When I stared at her in disbelief, she smiled and stood up.

"Common Sense Alteration. A bothersome power. If a monkey declares that fish are mammals, people come to believe it was always true. They even unconsciously block any attempt to doubt it and dismiss the doubt as meaningless."

She walked over to one of the whiteboards.

"But I am different from ordinary people. What others dismiss as idle thoughts, I never stop pursuing—even if no conclusion is reached. I leave it as one possibility."

"How is that even possible? With a human brain?"

Even a computer would need enormous resources to organize, store, and simulate that much data.

Could a single human handle that processing load?

That was already beyond the realm of humanity.

"I can. I've been able to since birth. I only realized other people couldn't thanks to my parents. They turned out to be ordinary people too, after all."

With a click she uncapped a red marker and continued.

"Casey applied the same Common Sense Alteration to everyone around me so I wouldn't figure it out. I learned that from the surveillance logs. Which actually made it easier, in a way."

She wrote the numbers one through three on the whiteboard and looked at me.

"One: 'Everything Casey says is true and can never be a lie.' Two: 'If Casey requests sexual service, anyone must provide it on the spot.' Three: 'Casey's words must be obeyed without exception.'"

All of them sounded far too plausible to have been made up on the spot.

Or had she truly figured this out in only two days—

"Don't forget."

Screeech.

The red marker drew an arrow on the whiteboard pointing at a single person.

"I am Kim Suyeon."

A genius who transcended her era.

"If you thought I accepted the bet with him merely to prolong my life, you were wrong. It was my amusement. An unknown power versus my mind. Which would prove stronger?"

Her very existence, acknowledged even by the system, was something that surpassed common sense itself.

…Ha.

The more I understood, the more tangled my thoughts became.

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠woman like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that gets conquered by Casey? A woman who can unravel Common Sense Alteration on her own?

Why?

Just why?

Why give me a mission like that?

Did Casey have other abilities besides Common Sense Alteration?

Hypnosis? Brainwashing?

And she would fall for those?

Yeah, right. As if.

Unless she deliberately chose to fall for them…

…

…

…?

Ah.

A single word struck me like lightning.

……Whim.

Nothing else explained it.

Which meant—

I thought just stopping Casey would be enough.

It wasn't.

I also had to make sure she never acted on a whim.

…How the hell am I supposed to do that?

Right now I knew nothing.

I couldn't even guess why she would act on a whim in the first place.

I simply didn't know Kim Suyeon well enough.

Then I'll just start learning from now on.

Yeah.

Since things had come to this—

I would seduce her myself.

That was the resolve I would go in with.

Fortunately, it seemed doable.

Because I had the system.