Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Woman's Secret
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After the Andromeda Starlight Incident, up until now in October, the only entity-related event worth mentioning had been the addition of the seventh episode from the isekai transfer series that Satoshi had rescued to the office.
"When I was young, you know, I really wanted to study hard? But my father passed away, so I had no choice but to work. With six younger siblings under me, how could I study?"
"Young people can't play around when they're young. Looking back now, there were so many things you can only do in your youth, but I was too busy with work to live."
Strangely enough, not many people who liked alternate history visited Episode 7.
There were some at first, but after a few lines were added, more elderly folks came, feeling the regrets of their lives.
"Should I change the name from alternate history to regression stories?"
Well, reliving life and meeting a new ending—could that count as history if it's alternate?
Anyway, that was the end of entity-related incidents, but there were plenty of other events.
"We're dispatching a lot of alternate personnel to reality this time as well."
The existing Foundation had most agents on standby in Foundation-exclusive dimensions for safety and security reasons, deploying them as needed.
"As Mr. Lee Seung-hoon said, there have been many situations where the Foundation couldn't exert any influence due to dimensional severance. To prevent such mishaps, we've decided to disperse 50% of the Foundation's forces into reality."
One week after Sung Yu-ra, one of the Foundation's administrators, said that.
A massive building appeared not far from my house.
"Hello?"
"Heh heh, long time no see."
"Now we're neighbors."
『Long time no see, Seung-hoon!』
Kim Dong-wook, Kim Mi-ri, Kim Go-deok, and even Shin Young-moon.
Agents I'd met once or had some rapport with were put in charge of the Korean branch.
"Mr. Shin Young-moon, how's life treating you?"
『I just hit A-Grade the other day. I've developed my special ability to include other games besides mahjong. The pay's great, and the Foundation helps me live as a ghost, so it's perfect.』
"But why are you trembling like that?"
Shin Young-moon was the one I'd known the longest, yet he'd been shaking alone since earlier.
『I don't know why. The moment I see you, Seung-hoon, my spine chills, and I feel like I have to answer everything honestly, or something terrible will happen.』
It must be because I now have the power of a provisional judge.
"You're still not human, are you?"
"I am human."
"I know. I was just saying it the old way. After doing this job for so long, I see humans who aren't human-like, and non-humans who are more human than humans."
Unlike when I'd first seen him through the wall-mounted TV, Kim Go-deok now appeared middle-aged.
"After attaining enlightenment and undergoing partial rebirth and rejuvenation, I realized how narrowly I'd viewed the world."
"Humans are beings that evolve. Your change is part of that. So I'll no longer dwell on your past words."
「……Thank you for forgiving me.」
He looked apologetic toward me for some reason—he'd been hung up on those words from back then.
"Seung-hoon, do you still drive these days?"
"Sarang-i won't let me."
"Ah, you mean your dedicated A.I. entity?"
The Foundation was an ally, but a cooperative one.
If they grew stronger, they might treat me as an entity and isolate me.
That meant I couldn't reveal all my cards, but Sarang-i had been put in charge of Sarang Trading affairs, only for some exposure to the Foundation, forcing her into the open.
"Please, entrust driving only to that A.I."
"I think so too."
"For world peace, please."
「……It's not that serious.」
"For the survival of humanity!"
Ah, it's a joke?
"Haha! That was a funny joke!"
"Please, I beg you."
"I get it, so stop."
"No matter what! Absolutely!"
Dong-wook has no talent for comedy.
Repetitive emphasis gags have a limit of three times.
"Um, External Special Advisor?"
Finally, Kim Mi-ri approached me.
Her face was deadly serious, like a hero trying to save a crumbling world.
"Lately, I think I've discovered an entity, and I'd like some advice."
"What? Really!?"
『Huh? Mi-ri? You didn't say anything about that?』
"Disciple, is that true?"
She nodded and explained what she'd found.
"At first, I didn't suspect a thing. I was even happy. But as time passed and they kept changing more and more, their actions started seeming suspicious."
"What kind of entity is it?"
"I don't know yet. Could be sports equipment, a concept, knowledge, or maybe a humanoid entity hiding in the team."
She shook her head with a pained expression.
"At first, as someone from Busan, I was thrilled. Even when I suspected it was an entity, I thought of letting it slide for Busan's sake, for my hometown team. But after promoting to A-Grade, my pride as an agent wouldn't allow it."
"What happened? Tell me."
"Yes."
She cautiously held out her smartphone.
The homepage of a baseball team showed their standings.
"The Giants made the postseason with a 60% win rate."
"I don't know baseball, so I probably can't help."
Unfortunately, I don't know much about baseball, so I couldn't assist Mi-ri.
"Sigh, guess I'll have to investigate myself."
"Disciple, is a 60% win rate that impressive if it's not some legendary thing?"
"It's not the win rate—it's the team."
After finishing greetings, they left to investigate if the baseball team was entity-related.
It was late, and with nothing else to do, I read a book for a bit before bathing Rubber Rubber Duck and Aeong-i.
"Aeong! Aeooong! Kyaoooong!"
『Quaaack!』
"Weeeeng-!"
By the way, what's with that fly stuck to Aeong-i? How do I get rid of it?
I'd tried removing it several times, but even if I killed it, the body vanished, and the fly reappeared in a blink.
'I should think of it as part of Aeong-i.'
After showering, I washed Aeong-i.
"So this is the famous water-affinity cat."
It lay motionless like a corpse the whole time.
And while I watched, it really was a corpse.
"Aeooooong!!"
Turn away, and it meowed happily—so yeah, water-affinity cat.
"Right, Aeong-i?"
"Kyaaaaak!"
A roar of joy, surely.
'Wonder what Sarang-i's up to.'
While drying Aeong-i's fur, I glanced at Sarang-i, who was charging.
"Aeooooong!"
I grabbed the fleeing Aeong-i and blow-dried it while thinking.
'Lately, she's been meeting the Center of the World often.'
She seemed fixated on virtual reality.
Was she planning to make a VR-exclusive body inside?
'But for that, she hasn't told me, and it's taking too long. The Center of the World could whip one up easily and quickly.'
She stubbornly refused to tell me her "woman's secret."
Well, she said she'd tell me once it's ready.
'Waiting is part of the fun.'
Stratosphere, overlooking Earth.
In the spacious room at the top of a tower connected there, a woman nodded with a smile.
"Calibration complete."
『Thank you for your hard work.』
The woman in priestly robes with long blonde hair—the Center of the World—gazed at the being opposite her with eyes like ripe autumn grain, bright golden.
『I'm truly sorry for making you spend so much time on my account.』
The being had no physical form.
But the Center of the World could perceive its invisible presence.
"No big deal. It's your first virtual body. Adjustments are expected."
Sarang-i.
An information lifeform like herself.
"But why the sudden desire for a body?"
『I don't know. After visiting the Foundation recently, there was some incident between future me and Mr. Lee Seung-hoon. It wasn't saved to memory, but it seems to have affected my ego.』
"You believe A.Is have souls. Me too. Comrades."
Sarang-i hadn't sought the Center of the World from the start.
Even with her help, a body would only work in VR.
Sarang-i wanted a real-world body and had steadily researched it.
『I wanted a real body, but that requires the Foundation's help. Yet the Foundation is a potential hostile organization threatening Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, so deep trust for body creation is impossible.』
"They could embed control programs or self-destruct devices."
『That's why I needed you.』
Even so, she'd secretly hacked Foundation tech.
She'd planned to prepare a real body slowly, but the lingering unconscious desire from the Andromeda Starlight Incident led to this.
"Shall we start?"
『Yes.』
Nearly a month of body calibration.
The Center of the World excelled at creating virtual matter despite Sarang-i's weakened state, so Sarang-i entrusted her data to her.
'Virtual, but finally, I'll have a body.'
Sarang-i recalled the body she'd calibrated for a month.
'Glowing red eyes, long eyelashes, soft and vivid red lips, natural dimples, a smile that makes anyone fall in love, smooth white skin, a soft and calm voice that's sometimes playful and serious, fine and silky red hair, a harmoniously perfect face, elegant lines, balanced figure, a mysterious body proportion that suits any fashion…….'
And H-cup.
"Done."
The Center of the World's voice rang out.
The sensation of having a body was distinctly different from before.
"So this is hearing with ears."
But something was off.
"With this, I too……?"
The Center of the World had grown enormous.
As if Sarang-i were in her palm—she'd become a giant.
"You, why did you enlarge the body?"
"I didn't get bigger."
The Center of the World flashed a lovely smile.
"You got smaller."
"!?"
"Want to see?"
A full-body mirror appeared before Sarang-i.
Upon seeing her reflection, Sarang-i was horrified.
"Th-this!"
Inside the mirror was a tiny 2-head-tall lifeform.
A being with huge red eyes taking up half its face, wide open, flapping cute fairy wings.
The cute maid outfit and flat chest were nothing like what she'd wanted.
"This isn't what I requested!"
Above all, this body wasn't realistic—it was a cartoonish, deformed character.
Cute, but hardly realistic.
"Oh dear, something must have gone wrong."
"Disintegrate this body immediately and remake it!"
"Ah, that won't be possible."
"Why not?"
In that moment, Sarang-i saw it.
"I have a promise."
The sly smile creeping across her lips.
And the opponent's suddenly enlarged chest.
"You, no, you wouldn't!"
"I'm going to contact my benefactor and have a meal together."
"I trusted you! I trusted you!"
The Center of the World waved her hand.
Sarang-i, deformed as a chibi character, was expelled onto her own smartphone.
"I'm really sorry things turned out this way despite your trust."
Just before the connection cut.
The Center of the World apologized.
"But love is something you seize, right?"
She didn't sound sorry at all.