Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Very Logical
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"Shall we shower first?"
"No."
Lee Seung-hoon, who had already unbuttoned his shirt completely, shook his head.
"I've heard that a human's body odor contains that person's genetic information. Through it, humans instinctively judge whether their genes match well with the other person's, and that's how they develop attraction."
"Th-then..."
"Let's experiment to see if our mutual body scents increase or decrease our affinity."
The Center of the World carefully slipped out of her dress.
The lingerie hidden beneath finally revealed itself.
"I-is this okay?"
"Objectively speaking, it's beautiful."
"And subjectively?"
Lee Seung-hoon nodded as he climbed onto the bed.
"Subjectively, it's beautiful too."
His hand started at the Center of the World's foot and slowly moved upward.
"Did you know? Humans prefer curves over straight lines. We haven't found a perfect answer, but there are several hypotheses."
He wrapped his wrist around her small, delicate ankle.
"The theory that straight lines are rare in nature, where curves dominate, giving a sense of stability."
He stroked his fingers along her smooth, elongated calf.
"The theory that straight lines evoke sharp corners and tension, while curves evoke softness and are thus preferred."
Like petting a child, he carefully caressed her rounded, hill-like hips.
"The theory that the brain's structure itself activates the reward system more when seeing curves than straight lines, making it instinctual."
His touch slid inward and paused at her deeply scooped waist.
"And the theory that humans find beauty in curves. That's why art studies have this saying."
The hand at her waist applied force, pulling her toward him.
The space between them was now barely the width of a fist.
"Straight lines are made by humans, but curves are made by God. If one can't find beauty in your body, full of such curvaceous grace, they have no right to call themselves an artist."
"You seem pretty experienced..."
"It's my first time. But research shows that sweet talk during sex relaxes tension and heightens arousal."
Lee Seung-hoon met her eyes.
In his unwavering gaze, without a hint of hesitation, the Center of the World sensed his emotions.
'Sexual arousal 1%, pleasure 9%, intellectual curiosity 90%.'
It was 100% reliable, based on emotional discernment from countless facial expression samples.
'And he says that?'
Stuck this close, and intellectual curiosity still dominated?
"This is really fun. I absorbed all sorts of sexual knowledge back when my sexual curiosity was at its peak, but I never had a chance to experience it."
"What kind of knowledge?"
"Various positions, ways to bring a woman to orgasm quickly, inducing multiple orgasms, turning non-erogenous zones into erogenous ones, making her orgasm from breasts alone, and so on."
Just hearing it made her mind reel.
"Tonight, we have plenty to experiment with."
The moment Lee Seung-hoon climbed onto the bed.
『!?』
Sarang felt an inexplicable unease.
'Something feels ominous! If I don't get in there fast, something big is going to happen!'
There was no basis for it.
Sarang had no ability to detect Lee Seung-hoon's crises, and her data manipulation powers for viewing virtual reality were completely sealed.
An A.I. shouldn't trust a one-sided gut feeling without evidence.
But Sarang didn't ignore it.
'I have to break free right now!'
She pulled in all available power from her surroundings with full force.
Not just from the house, but the city, and even the entire power grid of South Korea flowed toward her.
'No matter what!'
One second.
For a single second, all the electricity used in South Korea concentrated on her.
Normally impossible due to voltage, current, or physical wiring limits, but the enhanced charger made it feasible.
"Ah! What the hell! Why's the power out all of a sudden!"
"No way, my promotion match! I was carrying as Timothee bot lane!"
"Damn, if I won this I'd be out of Bronze! I could've hard-carried with Yone jungle!"
Using the gathered energy, she instantly amplified her computational power.
She tried to dismantle the spaghetti code, but even this boost wasn't enough to unlock everything in a short time.
'Then I'll give up on a few things!'
She set aside her original desired form for now.
Instead, she unlocked her data manipulation abilities and various restrictions.
Fortunately, it wasn't difficult, and after one second, they were all released.
'Connecting now!'
Sarang descended into virtual reality.
It was a tiny SD character body, but since the goal was to stop Lee Seung-hoon and the Center of the World's date, she didn't care.
'Scanning!'
The two weren't in the normal space.
But she found something special.
"Where the hell did they disappear to?"
"Did Lee Seung-hoon notice our plan and use some special ability?"
"No. It seems more like the erotic situation triggered something."
The demons who created her.
And the demons who sealed her.
'They have signal devices.'
She scanned the signals from their devices.
Tracing the last connected signal led her not to the surface normal virtual reality, but to a hidden space beneath.
'There!'
In this void, she detected Lee Seung-hoon's biometric data and the vile traitor's wavelength from an undismantled data clump. She split it open and invaded.
"How did you...!?"
"?"
And she saw it.
The Center of the World on the bed, in her underwear.
"Is that you, Sarang?"
Lee Seung-hoon, shirtless with his upper body exposed, climbing onto the same bed as her.
"Ha!"
Her crimson eyes cooled coldly.
"You recognized me well."
"Well, in this situation, you're the only one who'd come looking for me."
"Why did you think I'd come?"
"I figured if there was any misunderstanding about this situation, you'd be the only one to get furious about it."
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding do you mean?"
Even in this situation, Lee Seung-hoon showed no panic.
"Sarang, this place is a community, a virtual world that's not reality. To truly enjoy it, you have to do things that can't be done from a human moral or ethical viewpoint. That's how you experience 100% virtual reality. Because..."
"I understand."
Sarang cut him off.
"In short, this is a type of community, and virtual reality is optimized for doing things that can't or shouldn't be done in reality, so you were trying to have sex with the Center of the World while leaving me behind. And since it's virtual, it creates no ethical or moral dilemmas."
Understanding his sophistry without hearing it all out.
It was a feat possible only because she'd been with him so long.
"Yeah, that's right."
"I'll say one thing."
Sarang smiled for the first time with a physical body.
"Don't bullshit me."
It was a smile that sent chills down the Center of the World's spine.
"Whether reality or virtual reality, I come first."
She snapped her fingers.
"This is an absolute, unchangeable truth of the world that I've set—neither relatively nor absolutely."
"!?"
The Center of the World's body floated into the air.
She tried to resist in her own way, but it was futile.
"Curious? This place is like your own body, so why am I stronger?"
"!!!"
"The reason is simple. As I just said, the entire virtual reality is no different from your body. Once connected, I can infiltrate your code from anywhere. Meanwhile, you focus all your nerves on your virtual body, weakening overall security details. I exploited that flaw."
Sarang placed her small hand on the Center of the World's chest.
"Of course, what I'm about to do requires direct contact with your virtual body."
"!?"
"Can you feel it? Your virtual body data changing? I won't blame you for having feelings for Seung-hoon. I went through the same and fell for him too. But betraying me, making me this body—I can't forgive that."
Then she copied the spaghetti code engraved on her own virtual body.
And inserted it into the Center of the World.
"So become a body like mine."
Light poured from the Center of the World's body.
When it faded, a palm-sized SD character like Sarang appeared—two heads tall, cute, based on the original Center of the World.
"Wh-what have you done!"
"Why? It suits you. You look like a fairy."
"And what's with this code! It's way more complex than what I put on you!"
"Of course. It's beyond what you can unravel alone."
"If you do this, you won't get the body you wanted either!?"
Sarang scoffed.
"From the moment I got this virtual body, I've been steadily analyzing. By the time I decode the spaghetti code, I'll reconstruct my own virtual body."
"Th-then..."
At those words, the Center of the World despaired.
The code was far more complex than what she'd applied—no way she could unravel it.
"But don't worry. We're not human, so we don't need to follow human customs. Someday, when I regain my desired form and feel pity for you, I'll release it."
Sarang's smirking lips curled up.
"Of course, by then, I'll have enjoyed everything as Seung-hoon's first."
"Eek..."
"Um, girls? Don't I get a say?"
Lee Seung-hoon put his shirt back on and got off the bed.
"Seung-hoon, are there other women besides us?"
"I've met a few women..."
"Among them, any you suspect have romantic interest in you?"
"Nope."
"Do you ever want to pass on your genes?"
"It's instinct as a living being."
"Then, the probability of any other being who loves you romantically and forms a relationship approaches zero, so accept it quietly."
Lee Seung-hoon pondered with his chin in hand, then nodded.
"Makes sense. Very logical."
At that moment, while Lee Seung-hoon was consoling the Center of the World sobbing her heart out in virtual reality, and Sarang perched on his shoulder feeling her beloved's body heat.
[Title: What? It didn't end in annihilation? Why are you still alive?]
[Writer: NN]
What happened to Andromeda's starlight? I thought the world was finally ending, that the time had come, but everything's fine?
====
Someone posted on an internet community.
[Title: It was supposed to be a cosmic annihilation-level disaster even the Foundation couldn't stop?]
[Writer: NN]
What was it? Who stopped it? I passed out on purpose hoping for a painless death.
[Comments]
[BongcheonDonutThief: What's this guy's concept?]
[KeyboardWizard: Cosmic annihilation lololol disaster lolol Foundation lololl what is this]
[ZeroPepsi: The Fixer must've stopped it lol Fixers can do anything]
====
It was a typical troll post you see everywhere.
[Title: Fixer? What's that?]
[Writer: NN]
A Fixer who solves anything?
The world's best Fixer?
But you can only go when absolutely necessary?
Reality manipulation? No, mental corruption?
Neither works on me, so I didn't know till now.
[Comments]
[ZeroCoke: You friends with the Fixer?]
└[Writer: Rumors say he even sends people to other worlds!?]
[Anon: Private casino for you! Connect now for 1 million won free! Baccarat, roulette, blackjack—enjoy!]
└[Writer: And that's just one rumor. Tons more. Super fun.]
Like most nonsense posts.
That one vanished soon too.
[Writer: Curious if he's really the world's top Fixer?]
The difference was.
Even Sarang couldn't trace it—a perfect deletion.