Keep the Oracle Under 80 Characters
Keep the Oracle Under 80 Characters
002.
- "Eonni! Why aren't you killing that bastard right now! Why are you treating him?"
- "I received a Revelation from Him. For now, let's do as He desires. Could you wipe up the blood on the floor here first?"
"Man, this is seriously realistic."
Watching the sisters bickering on the monitor, I found myself muttering without realizing it.
Vivian, the eldest sister, treated the prisoner as I had revealed to her, then locked him in a Rice Chest-like room.
'For now, I'll let you live.'
Since it's difficult to harvest organs when someone has already lost a lot of blood, I need to feed him well and let him recover for a while.
However, right after finishing the treatment and stepping out of the room, Vivian suddenly came to a halt.
"What's this?"
While I tilted my head in confusion, [ Kneeling down and quietly offering a prayer ] popped up over Vivian at that spot.
- "Outer God-nim. Last night... thank you so very much."
"Huh?"
- "If it weren't for the trap... if that person had broken down the door and barged in... I, my younger sisters, what would have happened to us..."
Vivian suddenly started offering a confession.
- "When our village burned down, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't protect Mom either, I just ran away. But with just a single word, Outer God-nim saved us."
I stopped slurping my cup ramen midway and stared at the monitor.
- "I... I will repay you. I'll do anything. So... please just don't abandon us."
'Ah, no, wait, isn't this way too realistic?'
I scratched my head.
Dolls that hadn't spoken a single word for 16,000 hours were now thanking and begging me.
Even though I knew these lines were all made up by AI, a corner of my heart tickled strangely.
'N...no way, pulling me into the immersion like this?'
Since things had come to this, a desire to raise them well slowly crept up. After all, if I was going to run this settlement for a long time, wouldn't it be better to do it on good terms?
"Alright, I'll feed you guys super well and clothe you nicely. I'll replace your body parts with good ones, too."
To do that, I first had to do something about this complete disaster of a place. The important thing for now was the normalization of the settlement.
Only then could I check the things I had missed because of the emotional rush of encountering this mod for the first time.
'The house is a total mess.'
Could this settlement truly be called a house?
I only found out that our settlement had a Rice Chest-like space after seeing Vivian head there just now.
Whether they were hurriedly repairing some ruins to reside in, there were holes in the walls, and even the materials were all different.
"Seriously, do these kids even eat properly?"
Looking hurriedly at the inventory, it seemed they were foraging things like fruit around the neighborhood to eat.
'Haigo...'
There wasn't just one or two things that needed fixing.
Diring—.
Just in time, a pop-up appeared.
[ Quest: Food, Clothing, and Shelter Are the Basics! (3,000pt) ]
Unlike raid events, I could choose whether or not to accept this quest. I clicked on the quest.
[ Oh my! Look at our settlers, I mean, aren't they foolishly just picking and eating wild raspberries? ]
My head nodded automatically.
[ Please help them with their food, clothing, and shelter. If they can eat properly, dress warmly, and sleep comfortably, pass! The passing standard? Heheh, that's up to my whim~ ]
"Oh... it's a fitting quest just in time, but..."
The only uncomfortable thing was the evaluation of the results. But who was I? I had no confidence in losing to a mere machine.
"Alright, perfect. Time for normalization."
Even though I was wearing short sleeves, I pretended to roll up my sleeves and pulled my chair closer.
First, I needed to check what on earth had gone wrong for things to become such a disaster.
I stared intently at the monitor. The three of them began moving busily again for survival. Watching them, a sense of dissonance began to creep in.
"Hey! Let's all do what we're talented at first!!"
I scratched my head vigorously.
Looking at the settler status window in this game, there were things called 'Talents' and 'Traits'.
- "Euk... Ego, this is tiring!"
For example, Second, who was currently chopping wood while wailing, had double stars on [Shooting★★]. That meant she had a talent for shooting. But for some unknown reason, instead of hunting, she was chopping wood.
- "...Five wild raspberries, six wild raspberries."
Third, who was currently gathering berries, had double stars on [Crafting★★]. She was a key semiconductor-level talent for the future of this settlement. But she was picking wild raspberries.
And absolutely First, Vivian.
- "Eutsha! I think it turned out well!?"
It didn't turn out well at all!!
The door was a mess. Vivian had no stars in construction.
"Holy shit."
And strangely, in this mod, the 'Traits' slot was locked in a private status.
[ [???] / [???] / [???] ]
Since there were no hints, I had no choice but to experience them firsthand for now. I needed to reorganize all their work allocations first.
My remaining points?
[1,100pt].
I clicked <Give Revelation>.
- WorkallocationisamessIwillgiveeachofyoutasksbecomingofyouFirsttakechargeofcookinggatheringandloggingfromnowonSecondtakeabowandgoouthuntingitisfinetofailThirdmakeabowoutofwoodandtakechargeofconstructionforawhile
"Fuck..."
Since going over 80 characters required paying an extra 100pt, squishing it in as much as possible resulted in a piled-high bowl of rice. I had so much more to say, but I held back quite a lot.
"Ah, whatever. It's an AI, so it'll figure it out, right?"
I pressed <Send>.
[Balance: 1,000pt].
At that moment, Vivian froze.
- "Ah... Th-That Being, such a massive one all at once..."
Vivian stood still for a long time. I wondered what she was doing, but since it was impossible to tell from the graphics, I checked the status window, where [ Hastily pulling out a notebook and taking notes ] was displayed.
"What, did it work...?"
At the moment I was feeling uncertain, after doing that for a while, she called her younger sisters over.
- "Th-That Being granted us a Revelation. He provided us direction on what we should do from now on."
- "What did He say to do?"
- "First, Second, He said for you to take a bow and go hunting."
- "Eh? Eonni! Where is a bow?"
- "He said Third should make that..."
- "I don't know how to make a bow."
Just then, a pop-up went dding.
[ Reveal Basic Shortbow Crafting Method: 300pt ]
"Ah... shit... like this?"
It was an unexpected expense. Still, it was necessary.
I pressed <Approve>.
[Balance: 700pt].
Instantly, a light flashed above Third's head.
- "I know now. Then I'll make it for you."
Knowing how this was made possible, Vivian brought up [ Hastily kneeling down and offering a prayer of gratitude ] on her status window.
'Now... will things finally normalize a bit?'
Since I couldn't control them directly, I could do nothing but observe while hoping they understood well.
Fortunately, whether the AI understood the crammed instructions well, the work allocation was carried out smoothly just as I wished.
Since the prisoner also needed to be fed, high-calorie food was necessary, making hunting essential.
'As expected, talent really is...'
[ Crafting Completed: Shortbow (Superior) ]
Third pulled off crafting a Superior shortbow on her very first try, and from day one, Second quickly brought back a rabbit using it.
First cooked it together with the wild raspberries, bringing liveliness to the entire house.
"Phew."
Thus, with this, it could be said that the urgent fire regarding 'food' out of food, clothing, and shelter had been put out to some extent.
However, there was also an occasion where Third, who gave off a slightly bold impression, suddenly offered a prayer.
Usually, Vivian's prayers popped up in a window, but perhaps because Third wasn't a believer, hers didn't pop up in a window. I only found out about Third's prayer by reading the dialogue box.
- "Um, Outer God-nim, I don't know how to handle leather..."
Diring—.
[ Reveal Basic Leather Tanning: 300pt ]
"Oh, I guess it works like this too."
Well, this was also essential and quite cute, so I just pressed <Approve>.
[Balance: 400pt].
Now, once Third makes clothes out of that prepared leather, 'clothing' out of food, clothing, and shelter will also be complete.
"Euahap, awesome!"
Feeling good, I stretched, but the sun was high in the sky.
"Ah, shit. Look at the time already."
As the saying goes about losing track of time while enchanted by fun, I had pulled an all-nighter without realizing it.
Just in time, it was night in the settlement as well. After saving, I turned off the computer and lay down on the bed.
'Ha, shit. That was fun.'
Even while sleeping, my mind was filled with thoughts of nothing but the settlement.
This mod integrated with AI was insanely fun. I felt like I had truly become the god of a living settlement.
The next day.
I turned on the computer with my foot and immediately booted up the game.
<Continue>
Click.
"Huh???"
It wasn't the part where I had saved yesterday. Yesterday, where I saved was night. But the settlement was in daytime, and they were already going about their lives.
I hurriedly searched for the load button, but there was only a single save file. I loaded it again, but it was at the exact same progressing point.
'What's this? Does the AI progress the time too?'
Curious about what the kids had done while I was gone, I hurriedly observed.
Just in time, that Long-term Service Unit 1 guy was awake. It meant serving for organs. He was talking to Vivian.
- "Why did you wenches keep me alive? Is it that you need a man? Khe-khe-khe."
The conversation was strangely unpleasant. I didn't expect the AI to know how to create such weird dialogue too.
- "Keeping you alive was His will. There are no other intentions."
- "Khe-khe, liar. I'm absolute murder in bed. Was that what you needed?"
Seeing Long-term Service Unit 1 talking nonsense like that, it seemed his organs were well-ripened and it was time to harvest.
Out of the three sisters, the one with at least some talent in medicine was Vivian with [Medicine★], one star.
Since the settlement was in its early stages, there was no leeway to rip out his kidney, rip out his lung, and rip out his liver, so for now, I planned to harvest just one expensive item from Unit 1 all at once and dispose of him.
I clicked <Give Revelation>.
- Vivian, the time has come to harvest his heart, you see? It's fine if you fail, so do you want to try ripping it out?
I pressed <Send>.
[Balance: 300pt].
"Huh?"
However, Vivian suddenly began to tremble profusely. The graphic showing Vivian was trembling visibly.
'What's up with her again?'
[ Panicking. ]
She was flustered again. I wondered if it was because I told her to slice open his stomach.
Diring—.
Right then, the monitor screen suddenly swished dark.
Text came crashing down from above with a ttang.
[ Discovered Vivian's Trait! (2,000pt) ]
"Oh, wh-what's with these effects!"
And then, suddenly from somewhere, the chik-chik-pok-pok sound of a train could be heard.
A giant card engraved with a question mark embedded on the side of the train came chik-chik-pok-pok extravagantly from the right.
With the card placed in the center, the train came to a stop.
Soon, fireworks exploded with a peoperpeobang, and with a ttang sound, the card flipped over.
[ Respect for Life - This settler is extremely reluctant to kill living beings. Instead, EXP gain for medicine training is increased by +150%. ]
"Wh-What is this."
There was no such thing in the base game, nor were there such flashy effects. There wasn't even a trait like this. I was thinking that I couldn't even tell whether this was good or bad, then paused.
Thinking that it must be good since it was so extravagant, I reread it.
'Wait, 150%... isn't that double-star level?'
The math clicked in my head.
Right now, Vivian has [Medicine★], but with this trait, she's practically [Medicine★★★].
I slammed the desk with a ttang and stood up abruptly.
"Ahhh... Is that how it is? Now I've completely figured out this mod."
I discovered one of Vivian's hidden traits, earned 2,000pt from it, and traits could appear that were different from the original game.
In that case, I needed to change strategy for now.
I quickly clicked <Give Revelation>.
- No. Vivian, don't tremble. Then let's clean up his ruined right leg and attach a wooden peg leg! You can do that, right?
I pressed <Send>.
However, Vivian was still [ Panicking ].
'Oho, man, this AI is insanely detailed.'
It seemed as though the AI was reacting while assuming her to be an ordinary girl who had suddenly entered medical practice one day.
I clicked <Give Revelation> again.
- Only if you handle living human flesh now can you treat your younger sisters when they get hurt. I'll cheer you on. Let's give it a try.
Then, Vivian's panic abruptly snapped off.
Directly following that, Vivian anesthetized the prisoner with the herbal medicine they had gathered.
And then she seemed to be doing something, and when I looked at the status window, content like [ Grinding down the prisoner's protruding bone. ] appeared.
"Ugh... Even this kind of thing is detailed. So that's why there's a panic setting."
However, all that was visible to my eyes was the rising surgery gauge. Soon the surgery ended cleanly, and a wooden peg leg was successfully attached to the prisoner's severed leg.
Just in time, since it was herbal medicine, the lightly anesthetized prisoner woke up right away.
- "Ugh, this pain... Ah, n-no, I, I tried to kill you all, but did you attach a peg leg for my sake?"
Reading that, I snorted.
"What the fuck is this guy talking about."
I clicked <Give Revelation> again.
- Vivian, now let's take off that peg leg.
By repeating taking it off and attaching it, we need to raise our Vivian's medicine level.