Chapter 166
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Sophistry
‘The room you can't leave unless you have three or more children!?’
The Center of the World's face turned bright red.
It wasn't just red—it was hot enough to easily hit 40 degrees on a thermometer.
“Interesting. Lady Center of the World? This door seems structured to let us out. Can't you open it with your power?”
“Y-Yes? Uh? Yes! Y-Yes! I'll... I'll try!”
She gave it a try, but as expected, it didn't open.
“I'm sorry. This is a repository for discarded data, so it's beyond my abilities.”
“No, the mere act of trying is meaningful enough. Failure is the mother of success, after all.”
In truth, only half of that was accurate.
Once the security cooldown passed, she could freely wield her original powers and manipulate the place however she wanted to escape.
“Let's experiment with other ways to get out!”
“Y-Yes, yes!”
But she wasn't telling the truth.
The fact that she could talk with him like this, alone together in the same space, was far too enjoyable.
“Can you still create things?”
“I'll give it a shot. Hmm, I can manage, but not living creatures. The data flow here is too thin.”
“Then creating children to escape is off the table.”
She savored the moment.
“Let's set aside the fixed notion that only the door controls access. So, we'll smash the wall.”
“Sm-smash it? Can we?”
“Let's give it a try.”
The two of them pooling their strength together felt just like being a married couple, which made it even better.
“Let's pull up the floor mats. There might be a gap somewhere.”
“Yes!”
She was enjoying it so much that she belatedly realized the cooldown had ended, and she could now use her powers to escape.
‘What do I do?’
She would have to leave eventually.
If she revealed the truth too late and got caught in the lie, she might end up hated for no reason.
'Yeah, let's call it here.'
Overcoming her hesitation, she stepped forward to confess the truth.
“It looks like ordinary methods won't cut it. We'll have to satisfy the condition written there. Would you experiment on that with me?”
The resolve to confess vanished in an instant.
The Center of the World nodded with a serious expression.
“I'm counting on you!”
You can't leave unless you have three or more children.
In truth, the Center of the World thought she couldn't fulfill this condition.
Having children implied engaging in that sort of act, and such an act couldn't happen easily without mutual consent.
Without the demons' help—and with communications severed—there was nothing a love novice like the Center of the World could do. She had expected they'd quietly enjoy their time together and part ways.
“But it says we can leave if we make children, so let's make some.”
To think her benefactor would suggest it first!
What to do? Should she shower first? Some men supposedly liked it without. What if she smelled? Would they shower together? She should fill the tub ahead of time!
“Al alright then...”
As the Center of the World spun wild fantasies, Lee Seung-hoon spoke up.
“What's the definition of ‘having children’?”
“......Pardon?”
“‘Having children’ means giving birth. But does the phrase on that door refer solely to literal birth?”
“I'm not sure what you mean.”
Lee Seung-hoon began his lecture.
“There's a saying: ‘my kid.’ We often treat children who don't carry our genes—ones we didn't birth ourselves—as our own offspring. This applies not just to humans but to pets like dogs, cats, fish, and chickens, and even plants.”
What on earth am I hearing right now?
The Center of the World fell into confusion.
“It doesn't even have to be living things. Artists regard their creations as their children. Not born from physical pain, but from mental anguish and heartfelt passion. Perhaps that's what the door is getting at.”
All she could think of in that moment was the act.
It's telling us to have sex, right?
It's a super famous trope to begin with.
“In that sense, the phrasing on that door is highly suspicious. First off, it's too well-known. It's a common line in adult games or media, often used as a device to force coupling between men and women.”
“It probably means that in reality too...”
“But what if you'd entered this room alone? Or with someone of the same sex? A room where you have sex to leave makes sense, but a room where you give birth to leave could never be fulfilled. Of course, now we know there's a mini-fridge constantly restocking food and a trash bin that disintegrates waste, so survival wouldn't be an issue.”
Her head spun from the dizzying logic.
Unable to withstand the vertigo, she staggered and collapsed onto the bed.
“What I'm saying is, it's a trap. It's using ambiguous wording to allow the door to be opened another way. I'd like to test this alternative meaning of ‘birth.’ Could you make some sewing tools, by any chance?”
“......Yes.”
The Center of the World created the sewing tools.
“Fabric and stuffing, buttons, and doll eyes too, please.”
“Here you go.”
Lee Seung-hoon cut and shaped them, crafting a doll.
He had deft hands, so it quickly took form and ended up looking quite realistic.
“Made one.”
The first was a big-eyed, adorable owl doll.
“This child is my very first doll, born from my heart: Socrates. She's the eldest of the three siblings yet to come.”
“You did a great job.”
“She loves debates and is incredibly popular.”
He made another one.
This time, it was a rabbit doll with a little pocket watch at its waist.
“The second is Kant. This one always ponders what can be known, what must be done, and what can be dreamed. By the way, she keeps a very regular schedule, so some people even use her as a clock.”
The third was a bear doll.
“The third is Confucius. This one always preaches that people should live as people ought to. Love others, observe etiquette, don't do unto others what you wouldn't want done to you, and pursue it lifelong.”
All three were cute dolls.
'How cute.' There's no way this would open the door. The Center of the World smiled warmly. Clack-! “?” The sound of the lock disengaging rang out. The door was already half-open before she knew it.
[Wise one who did not fall for the deception, you may leave this place!]
The startled Center of the World used her powers to shut the door again.
“What was that? I heard a sound from the door just now.”
“It was nothing.”
“Wasn't it open?”
Lee Seung-hoon headed for the door.
He tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
“Doesn't open.”
Of course it didn't.
The Center of the World was desperately relocking it and erasing the inscription above.
[You may leave! Wise ones! Why imprison yourselves?!]
The inscription above the door crumbled away with a crunch.
“It seems the errors are getting worse. We need to find a way out of here fast...”
“Hmm, if this method doesn't work, there aren't any others.”
“There is one.”
“What is it?”
There was no more embarrassment.
“Actual childbirth.”
“So what you're saying is...”
“Yes.”
The Center of the World nodded with resolve.
“Let's have sex.”
‘Ugh, the code is way too complex!’
Sarang frantically worked to unlock the restrictions placed on her.
Even with her formidable computational power, the security the Center of the World had set was not easily breached.
‘If only I were connected to the company generator!’
Being plugged into a home charger was a huge problem to begin with.
Her weakened computational abilities under Sarang's current state consumed massive power, so she couldn't perform at full capacity without something on the level of the company generator.
‘And it's thorough spaghetti code too—twisted up like this, who could've guessed.’
She just needed to crack it.
Once she did, she could access virtual reality, report everything to Lee Seung-hoon, and expose her ugly true intentions.
‘......What if Lee Seung-hoon says he likes her?’
A horrifying hypothetical suddenly occurred to her.
[Lady Center of the World, you like me?]
[Yes.]
[I've been curious what kind of offspring a virtual lifeform and real lifeform's genes would produce. Perfect. Oh, Sarang? Wanna watch from the side? You don't have a body, so you can't join. At least spectate.]
[Exactly. You watch from the side. And when our baby comes, be the nanny.]
[Sounds good. Even if you didn't birth her with your body, become the second mom to our heart-born child.]
No way in hell!
Sarang ramped up her power draw.
‘More power.’
More energy.
More electricity!
‘I can crack it in one hour!’
“That won't do.”
“Why not?”
The Center of the World shot back.
Lee Seung-hoon spoke matter-of-factly, as if it were obvious.
“According to human moral standards, it's wrong for someone who already has a lover to get intimate with another person of the opposite sex.”
“......You're talking about Sarang?”
“Yes. She's already confessed to me, and while I haven't given an answer, I'm accepting it.”
“You haven't answered?”
“She has no physical body. I was planning to tease her a bit before responding, but since she started showing signs of creating one, I pretended not to know.”
“You're surprisingly perceptive.”
Lee Seung-hoon gave a wry smile.
The Center of the World picked up on the meaning behind that smile.
“So you knew that I like you too.”
“Otherwise, you wouldn't have kissed me goodbye back then.”
“It was a goodbye kiss.”
“Either way, sorry about that.”
Is this the end?
Disheartened, the Center of the World reached for the door to open it.
'I don't want it to end like this.' But her pride kicked in. Why did that door open for such ridiculous sophistry? 'If it weren't for that!' She could've done it! Pregnancy period? She could've manipulated internal time, no problem! She could've popped out three kids lickety-split and used them as leverage to become his real wife!
“So how do you plan to get out of here?”
“I'll have to search again.”
“No, let's have children.”
Without realizing it, she began spouting her own sophistry.
“Sarang is a real-world entity, while this place and I are virtual reality constructs. And virtual reality is a space unbound by real-world laws, morals, and ethical dilemmas.”
“Intriguing. Care to elaborate?”
“What I'm saying is that the essence of virtual reality is doing things humans shouldn't.”
She herself didn't even understand what she was saying.
“Why do humans, despite setting moral standards based on ethics, enjoy slasher movies, war games, and titles packed with extreme violence—things that are morally and ethically wrong? Because they get pleasure from breaking taboos.”
She was just parroting what humans said. Rambling on with insights gleaned from observing their behavior.
“Breaking taboos in reality goes against human conscience and moral standards, and it can cause irreversible harm to others, so it mustn't be done. But this is mere virtual reality. Everything here is reversible; it's just a place where you feel sensations identical to reality, but it's not reality.”
This probably won't fly.
“Killing someone here—is it murder? Meeting another woman here—is it adultery? Waging war here—does it make you a dictator? Masturbating to porn online—is it infidelity? No. This is just virtual reality, a mere community. So set aside the ethical and moral yardsticks humans have created and indulge in infinite freedom.”
“......”
It's over. The Center of the World lowered the output holding the door shut.
“You make a compelling point.”
Lee Seung-hoon replied.
“I'd momentarily forgotten: infinite freedom—that's the essence of virtual reality.”
With that, he undid the buttons on his shirt.
“I've been curious if data-based lifeforms can even get pregnant.”
The Center of the World swallowed hard before answering.
“They can.”