The Girl Behind the Screen
Creepy news. Strange incidents.
None of it had anything to do with me, though.
Honestly, what connection could there possibly be between an ordinary Korean college student and that kind of broadcast? Unless I'd invested my life savings in Company X stock or happened to be best friends with an Asiatic black bear on Mount Jiri, the odds of that news having anything to do with me were about as slim as finding a needle on a beach of sand.
'Any school closure announcements?'
I'd have been willing to inflate the view count by a good hundred clicks if there were.
Click—
The screen went dark, and I slid the phone into my pocket.
I was heading home after a lecture that had run later than usual. Nothing accompanied me down the street but the weary shuffle of my own footsteps. Not a single star managed to peek through the clouds in the frosty night air, and when I glanced around, I noticed that even the 24-hour convenience store had shut its doors — of all nights for that, apparently.
I found it odd, but not odd enough to stop me strolling along as usual. And that was when I saw it.
'Huh? Was there always a place like that?'
It was an alley I walked through all the time. A building I had never once laid eyes on stood there now — a dark commercial block, and inside it, a PC bang glowing with light, entirely alone.
'Did they just open?'
Feeling almost entranced, I pushed my way inside, and — well, I suppose the word is "unsurprisingly" — the shop was completely empty.
'Still.'
It was a little old. Okay, a lot old. But the location was great, and I figured it might be worth dropping by when I was bored someday, so I filed it away in the back of my mind and reached for the door handle.
Clack.
Once you have entered this establishment,
you may only leave after using our services at least once.
Meaningless departures are not permitted.
The door was locked, and a notice that gave even a loan shark a run for his money stared back at me.
"..?"
Was the owner a former armed robber or something? The angle of that extortion was anything but amateur.
So how the hell was I supposed to get out of here? Should I call the police?
'What a hassle.'
Left with no choice, I powered on one of the computers — and the moment the machine came to life, a certain application launched with it.
Create your very own character with AI!
You can become the character yourself and interact directly!
"Uh, this isn't a game, though."
Was this one of those AI chat things that were trendy these days? But what was it doing on a PC bang computer?
"This PC bang is suspiciously up-to-date."
I clicked the icon, and an explanation popped up. Basically: customize the appearance you want, and the program generates an AI illustration for you; then, like any ordinary chat app, you interact through the chatbot. That was about the extent of it.
The only real differences from a typical AI chat were these:
Tags: Up to 3 may be selected. Directly code your heroine's personality!
Skill: Up to 1 may be selected. Choose your heroine's ability yourself!
"Tags are one thing, but what would I even use a skill for?"
It's just a chat, right? How much use could it possibly have?
I poked it anyway, and a whole column of categories scrolled into view. My goal was nothing more than killing time, so I just clicked whatever caught my eye.
#Fresh #Pure #Cute
"There. Tags done."
And then, the next step.
Skill List
- Immortality
- Mental Resistance
- Swordsmanship MAX
.
.
- Miracle
I chose Miracle.
It's an AI chat — where would I even use Immortality or Mental Resistance? So I went with the trait that seemed most likely to trigger some kind of event.
"Alright, then."
Begin.
Tip: Movement is handled through the WASD keys..
"Why are there even movement keys?"
Apparently this thing had a game-maker element to it too — you wandered around and naturally chatted with your heroine, that kind of feel. Seriously, what else was this thing going to tack on?
And that was the moment it happened.
The loading bar must have just finished, because with a burst of static, the generated illustration of a beautiful girl flickered onto the screen.
"Whoa. AI performance these days is insane."
The quality was better than I'd expected. She was so vivid she looked almost real. I let out a short breath of admiration and slowly studied the image, piece by piece — and then the girl on the screen seemed to notice my gaze, curving her eyes into a soft smile.
And she spoke.
"So you've finally come."
"..?"
"I've waited so long, Player."
What? Why is she talking?
I stared at the monitor. As if responding to my gaze, the girl on the screen twisted the corners of her mouth into a crooked smile and looked right back at me.
"Isn't it fun, controlling things from outside the screen? How unfair of you. We're the ones stuck in here, always feeling cramped."
"..?"
"Don't you think being forever the player on the outside of the screen gets terribly boring?"
What was she even talking about?
Bored doing what? This is literally my first time with this game.
But before I could answer, the girl on the screen reached out her hand.
Should I call it the cutting edge of AI, or just a well-aimed fanservice shot — a hand slender, pale, and elegant? No. That wasn't the point.
"What the hell, sensei, what are you doing?"
Like the well-ghost of some old TV urban legend, reaching out of the screen — her hand slid clean through the monitor and seized me by the collar.
Then — flash — light erupted from the screen. Swallowed by that yellow glow, hauled in by the collar, being dragged bodily into the monitor—
"Are you kidding me, you deranged PC bang."
Man, this is seriously next-level.
This has to be some kind of scam review bomb—
That single strangled line of thought was the last thing I managed—
—and then I lost consciousness.