How to Fix a Mistake (2)
How to Fix a Mistake (2)
I ended the call with Dr. Terra.
Suddenly, Eve apologized to me.
"I am sorry."
"Huh?"
What was this?
Even with my unspoken question, Eve continued her apology without stopping.
"During the broadcast program, forcibly ending the call with the Chairman of the 'Black Monolith' corporation was a reckless act. However, this entity terminated the call despite knowing that the corporate intelligence team was monitoring the situation at the time."
Eve kept talking.
"Andrea's remark about hacking the 'NCB24' building was similarly unnecessary. Had there been just a few seconds more, the outcome would have differed, but this entity failed to account for that at the time."
Her expression was as blank as ever, but there was a visible sincerity in her demeanor.
"I explain that this occurred because this entity has learned the emotions of 'urgency' and 'fluster.'"
In any case, it was rare for a super AI to make excuses like this.
I answered Eve nonchalantly.
"Nah, it's fine."
It really was fine.
After all, when I appeared on the NCB24 broadcast, if it hadn't been for Eve's help (hacking), all of Neon City would have been buzzing with stories about me.
Mm.
Just thinking about it was horrifying.
I didn't want to become an overnight star of Neon City just because of something like this.
More importantly, it was more constructive to focus on what was right in front of me.
"...Hoo."
I let out a short sigh and thought.
I hadn't expected that calling the chief researcher, Dr. Terra, to ask about and confront her on the matter with Maya would end up saddling me with this extra burden.
An unexpected turn of events.
My fluster was even greater.
...First, going to see the Chairman-nim was a given, but what should I do after that?
What a headache.
Just then, Julia cautiously raised her hand.
"...Um."
I looked at her small mechanical prosthetic arm and answered her query.
"Hm? What's up?"
Emboldened by my reply, Julia asked her question.
"...What is going on right now?"
Ah.
"And now that I look... the person who faced me in the finals earlier seems to be 'Shooting Star'-nim. And who is the other person in the maid outfit...?"
She must have heard everything.
Where on earth should I start explaining this?
I scratched my head and pondered.
23. How to Fix a Mistake (2)
Well, honestly, there was no reason I couldn't explain.
Since Julia already knew about my relationship with Smile Zone, I coolly explained everything.
Maya?
A woman I knew from way back.
She got kidnapped in some kind of incident and became a Chrome Psycho. Using the chance of meeting her recently, I asked Monolith for treatment.
The Chairman-nim?
The real Chairman of Monolith, someone I got connected to through a bombing terrorist incident that happened underground long ago. We had a hard time escorting them through hundreds of meters of underground depths.
Eve?
A super AI unprecedented in the world.
I can't explain in detail because she has a contract with the city, but she's been helping me out ever since a certain incident. And her current body is a prosthetic body.
It was a long explanation that couldn't be summarized in three lines.
But Julia listened to my words intently.
After hearing that Eve was an artificial intelligence, Julia looked at her with a blank stare for a moment.
"...So that's why your skills were that good."
Her reaction was more low-key than I expected.
I finished up the last question.
"And as for the broadcast story... refer to this link."
I used my vision interface to send a message. I transmitted a link with the saved video to Julia.
Ugh, why were there so many spam messages piling up?
While I sent the message to Julia, I turned off my message notifications for the moment.
I'll have to turn them back on later.
"......Whoa."
Julia let out a short exclamation of awe.
She stared intently at the hologram screen running from the link I sent her.
The content on the screen was 'Rex Nova's RaEve Show'.
Naturally, it was the broadcast program I appeared on.
This was possible because a link to the video recorded by someone (Eve) remained.
Though I had no idea why she recorded it.
Anyway.
With this, the explanation was roughly finished.
When I checked the time, quite a long while had passed.
Leaving Julia focused on the screen, I lifted my head and looked around.
Catherine and Eve followed my movement and looked at me. For reference, Andrea apparently had a schedule; she was out when I got home.
.......
Come to think of it, I had one thing I was curious about regarding these Goldmongers as well.
"...But, why did you guys enter the tournament?"
"......Uh."
Catherine couldn't answer my question right away.
Catherine subtly shifted her gaze.
Her gaze drifted to Eve.
However, Eve was staring right back at her.
...What was this silent standoff?
Both of them seemed to be telling the other to answer for them.
In the end, it was Catherine who answered me.
She scratched her head while looking elsewhere and opened her mouth.
"Just."
"......."
Catherine....
'Just' can't be a reason.
But before I could respond, Catherine added one more sentence.
"...Because it pissed me off seeing you two go on a date alone."
"?"
What.
A date.
Me, with Julia?
My head felt dizzy for a moment.
"What do you mea─"
"Ah, I don't know."
Catherine cut me off and continued without meeting my eyes.
"It just felt that way to us."
With those final words, Catherine quickly walked off to her room.
Though, calling it her own room was a bit moot.
With the wall removed, it was basically the same room now.
"Catherine?"
"......."
Pretending not to hear me, she dove onto the bed and buried her face.
My eyesight was pretty high thanks to the eye implant surgery, so I could tell.
Catherine's ears were slightly red.
Since Catherine had evaded my question and disappeared, it was time to ask Eve.
.......
But Eve, who had been sitting perfectly fine next to me just moments before, had suddenly vanished.
I looked around.
In one corner of the room, I saw Eve sitting demurely with her legs folded and eyes closed.
"......Eve?"
When I'd decided to appear on the broadcast, that was the very corner she'd retreated to after hearing Andrea say no one outside the staff could follow into the station.
[I am learning that this is the emotion called 'shame.']
"......."
Why was she speaking in my head again?
I called out to Eve two or three more times.
No answer came back.
I really couldn't understand.
Julia, who had been intently watching the rerun, lifted her head and took her eyes off the screen.
Maybe because it was short, she seemed to have watched it quickly.
"......? Um, what's with those two?"
Catherine burying her face on the bed.
Eve sitting with her eyes closed in the corner.
Having spotted them both, Julia asked me, looking puzzled.
...I don't know either.
"Beats me."
There were too many things I didn't know.
What to do about the Chairman-nim?
When exactly to visit Maya's restaurant?
And when to play the game—
"Ah."
First, I should just play the game.
A good plan would probably come to mind once I cooled my head a bit.
I walked towards the old-fashioned input device, the computer, with familiar steps.
As I did, I asked Julia.
"I don't think I saw you log into the game recently. Were you busy with something?"
I didn't say the name of the game.
But Julia caught on to what I was talking about and answered.
"...I've been focusing on that fighting game recently. To be honest, there isn't much more to do in that other game either...."
What.
"Is that so."
"?"
"So you still don't know."
"...?"
Well.
It was only natural she didn't know if she hadn't logged into the game since.
The fact that the classic game we played had become a 'god game.'
I could secure a reliable dealer.
Of course, the easiest role to fill in a raid was a 'dealer.'
But on the flip side, finding a 'skilled dealer' was like trying to pluck a star from the sky.
It was even harder by Neon City standards, where you can't even see the stars in the sky.
I connected to the classic game.
I entered the jump key by reflex as I showed the screen to Julia.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior) ]
The town was bursting with an insane number of characters.
"...There are so, so many people, huh?"
Julia said, sounding surprised.
She had every right to be surprised.
In a game where you usually only ever saw zero or one person except in front of the bulletin board, seeing so many characters you couldn't count them was bound to be shocking.
"It got a ton of updates."
While I was at it, maybe because they saw my login log, one of the countless warriors (there were three of them) from Jeonjangyeon sent me a whisper.
[ P2034871140(Warrior): Oh, look who it is. Ain't that the guild master? You disappeared again for days after that, long time no see. ]
It was the one I had recommended the Warrior class to before anyone else.
Jeonbungi No. 2.
...But really.
Just what was this person's actual job?
They were always online every time I logged in.
Were they a home security guard like me or something?
Burying my depressing thoughts, I typed a greeting in chat.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Had so much to take care of these days, you know, but it's all good now ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): That's some welcome news! So, that raid we talked about last time, are we going this time? ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Ah... You said you couldn't enter the raid, right. I'll have to check if I can do it too ]
Though I was pretty sure I could just go in.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Actually, I found another decent dealer this time. They're so strong I even lost to them 1-on-1 ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): What do you mean, it's only natural for a warrior to lose... ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): (Inappropriate language usage) ]
[ P2034871140(Warrior): ? ]
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): Typo happened ]
Never disrespect warriors again....
Anyhow.
Doing a raid after so long was irresistibly exciting.
"...Then I'll log in from my place too."
"Yeah, see you in the game."
Julia opened the front door and disappeared.
Since she lived on the same floor, it wouldn't take her long to connect.
[ Eve(Mage): I will gather personnel ]
.......
I took my eyes off the monitor and stared at Eve, who was sitting in the corner of the room.
She was still in the same state, sitting in the corner with her eyes closed.
...Well.
Whatever.
I didn't really care much.
If she was too embarrassed to talk and would just use chat, who was I to argue.
[ I am a real mage(Warrior): There's no newly updated content, right? ]
[ Eve(Mage): Incorrect. Three new instance dungeons have been added. To proceed with those dungeons, the following chain quests must first be completed. ]
I had been going out way too often lately.
First, I'll rest just a little bit.
I'll have to worry about everything else later.
With that thought, I focused on the game.
* * *
Three days after that.
An unexpected guest came to pick me up.
"...Why did you have your message notifications turned off?"
"Ah."
I totally forgot to turn them back on.