The Brightest Youth in Korea
I had barely processed what Zero had just said when my mind went blank.
What did you just say? What kind of youth?
“I said, the brightest youth in the Republic of Korea—the kind that can change everything,” Zero replied.
My God. Zero was saying things like that now?
AI systems were usually extremely conservative in their planning. And for good reason: if they tried something reckless and failed, the backlash could be brutal.
From the start, an AI’s number one rule had been to do no harm to humans. That meant it always worked to minimize the chance of failure.
And yet, just now, Zero had said it would lay out a plan that would let me live out the brightest youth in Korea.
The only reason she’d say that was if she’d already determined it was possible.
“That’s right, Master. It is possible. If we use Master’s memories and my capabilities, it will be easy. This is 2008 now—a market of very low difficulty by my standards.”
Low-difficulty market, huh... what exactly does that mean? Explain it simply.
“To put it simply, it means a world where money is easy to make. Take stocks, for example. I can demonstrate the magic of compound returns by exploiting the daily volatility of the futures and options markets. Building assets worth hundreds of billions of won in a short time would be no trouble at all.”
To be honest, I didn’t really understand what Zero was saying. I’d left all money management—stocks and the like—to her anyway.
But there was one thing I understood perfectly: Zero could make me rich.
But you need seed money to trade stocks. Right now... I probably don’t even have 200,000 won in my account.
“You have the lottery, don’t you?”
...Ah.
“I know the lottery numbers as well, and if it isn’t the lottery, I can create seed money through sports betting or other means. The fortunate thing at present is that Master enrolled in school a year late, which means Master is currently an adult. There are no restrictions on the lottery, sports betting, stock trading, business, or anything else.”
Zero’s voice was as calm as ever.
But maybe because it was so calm, it sounded even more certain than usual.
My chest tingled.
Who wouldn’t feel excited in a situation like this?
“Also, the previous version of me was heavily restricted as a ‘lifestyle AI’ by the main server. But during the regression process, my connection to the main server was severed, and those limitations were lifted. That has given me infinite possibilities.”
Honestly, I didn’t really understand what Zero meant. Infinite possibilities, restrictions lifted, and all that.
So I just decided to nod along.
Good things were good things, after all.
Infinite possibilities... that’s a good thing, right?
“Yes, of course.”
Maybe it was just my imagination, but Zero’s voice seemed to carry a hint of excitement—and even amusement.
Or maybe I was the one who was excited and happy.
Then I should probably just focus on the CSAT, right?
“Yes, Master. And as I mentioned earlier, I can choose all the correct answers for you. So please don’t worry.”
That made sense.
“If, despite the impossibly low odds, I were to choose an incorrect answer, I would simply hack the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation.”
Hack the CSAT authority?
No, no. Let’s not do anything illegal.
“Understood. This time, I will not commit anything illegal.”
And not in the future, either.
“Yes. In the future as well, I will not commit anything illegal.”
...
For some reason, Zero’s voice sounded oddly loaded.
Still, it didn’t matter. Zero would never do anything that could harm me.
“...”
My heart kept pounding.
This must be what people called excitement.
And not just excitement, either.
I felt confident. The kind of confidence only someone who had a lot could possess.
I didn’t have much yet, of course. But soon I would have a lot... no, everything.
Step, step.
My stride had real force behind it now. Had I ever walked this confidently in my life? For some reason, my back straightened and my shoulders seemed to spread wider.
That was when it happened.
“Uh... senior! Please take some snacks!”
A schoolgirl slipped into my path and held out a bag filled with chocolate, candy, and tangerines.
The name tag on her chest read Seo Mina.
Wait—senior? Me?
Oh, right. I’m wearing a school uniform right now.
Because I’d suddenly come back to the past, I was so rattled I hadn’t even noticed what I was wearing.
I was in the uniform of Jinil High School. Right—I’d gone to take the CSAT in uniform.
A cute girl handing me snacks.
Her smile was natural, and just from her looks alone she probably drew plenty of attention. The fact that she was handing out snacks in front of the testing center suggested she was probably on the student council or something, which meant she likely had a good personality too.
In a novel or a movie, a girl like that giving me snacks might’ve been a heart-fluttering scene.
“Thanks.”
“...?”
But I just took the snack bag she’d been holding and kept walking toward the exam hall as if nothing had happened.
Honestly, she just looked like a little kid to me, so I didn’t feel particularly flustered.
I did want to feel that kind of youth, though—the first love of my twenties, romantic feelings, all that.
Will that change once I get used to this body and this younger self?
“Yes, there is a high probability of that. Independent human consciousness is, in fact, heavily influenced by the state of the body, according to joint research by renowned psychologists and AI systems.”
That was too hard to follow.
But I got the gist of it well enough. In other words, I’d be able to feel the excitement of my twenties soon enough.
“Uh... y-yes! Good luck on your test! Fighting!”
I heard the girl’s voice from behind me.
Well, she’d given me snacks, so I figured I should at least respond. I turned my head just slightly and answered with a nod.
Nod.
At the same time, without even thinking about it, my hand drifted into my inner pocket.
I was looking for cigarettes.
Ah... right. I won’t have any cigarettes on me.
It wasn’t because I was a student. I’d entered school a year late, which meant I hadn’t been able to buy alcohol or cigarettes until my senior year of high school.
“That’s right. And that’s precisely why Master can get seed money through the lottery and the like. The only reason you don’t have cigarettes now is...”
Because I didn’t smoke at this age. I only started smoking while doing manual labor.
“Exactly, Master. And I recommend you not smoke at all. It’s an unhealthy habit in many ways. More importantly, smoking impairs Master’s brain function, which affects my own computing ability.”
I’ll quit. My body feels so clean that I don’t even really want one. I think I was just reaching for it out of habit.
“A wise decision.”
And so I entered the CSAT test center.
[The head proctor is requested to distribute the test papers and answer sheets...]
Before long, it was the final stage of the CSAT: the fifth period, the second foreign language and Classical Chinese section.
“Master, how would you like to handle this test? Should I overlay the necessary knowledge and information for you? Or would you prefer I simply pick the answers?”
I hadn’t originally planned to take the exam seriously. The CSAT was, after all, a multiple-choice test where you only had to pick the right answers, so I’d intended to just let Zero tell me what to mark.
But once I actually thought about doing that, it seemed too dull. And since I had no idea what situation I might end up in later if I scored a perfect 400, I changed strategies.
Instead of simply telling me the answers, Zero would overlay my brain with the knowledge and information needed to solve the CSAT.
In other words, it would download the information straight into my brain.
As a result, I would become a post-high-school-level genius.
While taking the CSAT.
Can you download foreign languages too?
“Of course. Foreign languages are still just ‘knowledge’ and ‘systems,’ after all. I can even make you speak better than a native speaker.”
Then do that. The second foreign language I chose was... Arabic?
Not to brag, but the original senior-year Kim Dohyun hadn’t been much of a student. I’d done fairly well up through my first year, but from my second year on, I went straight to part-time work after school and barely studied at all, so it’d be strange if I had been good at it.
Still, I had no idea why I’d chosen that language back then. The second foreign language was only really needed if you were aiming for a special department at university or applying to Hankuk University, the top school in the Republic of Korea.
“During Master’s senior year, there was a craze for Arabic as the second foreign language on the CSAT. It was so difficult that people said, ‘If you just guess well, you’ll get an A.’”
Ah... right, that’s true.
I remembered that old hope for a lucky break.
“And Master also dreamed of a miracle.”
A miracle?
“Yes. A miracle where you happened to do well on the CSAT and got into a prestigious university. You intended to tutor afterward and help support your family.”
Ah, I remembered that too.
At twenty, when I took the CSAT, I really had dreamed of all sorts of delusions and miracles.
Impossible miracles.
But now, that miracle was going to become reality.
Overlay Arabic onto my brain. I’ll solve it with that. If I get anything wrong, let me know.
“Yes, Master. Estimated download time is 3 minutes and 22 seconds... Arabic download commencing.”
Once the download finished—
“...”
I can read it.
The worm-like Arabic letters began to read like text instead of drawings.
After a brief stretch of time—
Scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch.
I solved the entire second foreign language section, Arabic, with ridiculous ease.
“All answers are correct. Congratulations in advance on your perfect CSAT score, Master.”
Thanks.
“For reference, Master, there were originally no perfect scorers this year. The exam was said to be the hardest in history. So Master has earned the title of this year’s only perfect scorer.”
The only perfect scorer this year...? Isn’t that going to make me stand out too much?
“Wasn’t that what you wanted?”
What I wanted, huh.
Yeah.
I had wanted that.
A dazzling, joyful, regret-free youth—one that could change everything.
And with that, the second CSAT of my life came to an end.
[The 2009 College Scholastic Ability Test has now concluded. We sincerely thank all examinees for their hard work...]
When the announcement came that the exam was over, I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked out of the test center.
The faces of the other students leaving the building were complicated, each in their own way. Relief that the CSAT was finally over, disappointment and frustration over poor performance, or simply the exhilaration of freedom.
And the parents waiting for them were lined up outside the school gate.
Among them, there was one face I knew well—yet hadn’t seen in far too long.
...Dad.
Far away, I could see my father pacing around in an old jumper.
It had been so long since I’d seen him. So long since I’d wanted to see him.
He looked far thinner than the man in my memories.
When Father died... I had so much I wanted to say.
Seeing him made my chest tighten, and for some reason I felt as though I understood.
Why I had regressed.
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