Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: The Victoria Chernakoshka Incident
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[ Hwarang: I've sent in the request to lift your account suspension. I've also loosened up the arousal system settings quite a bit. ]
[ Sukka: Thank you. But I really am innocent. I was just sweating because it was hot. ]
Hwarang had basically disabled Sukka's arousal detection system.
It was special treatment just for her, but he'd decided to trust her innocence.
However, it seemed Sukka's arousal detection system had been set far too sensitively.
It appeared to have been customized in a childlike manner under the 'total innocence' user setting, preventing arousal from her own character.
Given how sensitively it had been configured like that, it wasn't unreasonable for her to think it was a bug.
After all, it was something that could easily happen if blood circulation improved slightly along with a bit of excitement.
In short, it was as good as proving Sukka's purity.
Of course, there was no bug in the arousal system itself—it was just a misunderstanding because she was so small.
[ Sukka: And there was another bug. ]
With the misunderstanding cleared up, Sukka tossed him another task.
Hwarang replied in a resigned 'if I have to pull an all-nighter anyway, might as well enjoy it' frame of mind.
[ Hwarang: Yes, please tell me what bug it is. ]
[ Sukka: An NPC in the armory called me Chernakoshka. ]
[ Sukka: As you probably know from checking my info, my name is Victoria Chernakoshka. ]
[ Sukka: The NPC explained it was due to accumulated nickname reports, but no matter how I think about it, being called by my real name doesn't make sense. ]
It was a report that an NPC had called her by her real name because her nickname Sukka was a Russian swear word.
But it was a bug even Hwarang had never seen before, so he couldn't fix this one right away.
If a user's nickname is inappropriate, NPCs are supposed to use the honorific 'Operator.'
Moreover, Sukka's nickname was in Korean Hangul, so it wouldn't have been detected as a swear word anyway.
It seemed a bug had cropped up during the AI update.
Judging as much, Hwarang decided to look into it in detail and sent a reply.
[ Hwarang: I'll look into it and get it fixed. It's definitely a bug, but I don't know the cause yet. ]
[ Sukka: Should I change my nickname then? ]
[ Hwarang: No, there's no need for that. It's not in Cyrillic—it's Hangul. It doesn't get flagged as a swear word in-game. ]
[ Sukka: Thank you. It was a problem because my name got exposed on stream. ]
[ Hwarang: I'm truly sorry about that. Is there anything else you'd like to ask? As an apology, I'll resolve anything for you. ]
Hwarang asked one last time if there was anything else she needed.
It was about time to get back to work, so if there were no more requests, he planned to end the conversation.
But Sukka seemed to take Hwarang's polite courtesy at face value.
She made a somewhat out-of-left-field and tricky request.
[ Sukka: Then, could you make two NPCs invincible? ]
[ Hwarang: Pardon? Invincible? ]
[ Sukka: Yes. I want Irina Morozova and Yelena Morozova to not get hurt. ]
[ Hwarang: You mean make them essential characters. ]
Essential Character.
In other words, she wanted specific NPCs set so they couldn't die in the game.
It seemed Sukka had come to genuinely like and follow the NPCs added in this update, treating them like real people.
Since the AI had been updated to human-like levels, it was a reaction being seen from many users lately.
But even if it was a VIP's request, it was hard to grant something like this.
Hwarang had no choice but to send a regretful refusal.
[ Hwarang: Unfortunately, I don't think I can grant that request. It's not that I doubt you, Sukka, but there's a high chance it could be abused. It would ruin the game's balance. ]
[ Sukka: Yelena is just a ten-year-old child now. Even if she's a game NPC, you have to protect kids. ]
[ Hwarang: I find it hard to understand too, but these days games are okay with it. It's a trend to use it to show the horrors of war. ]
[ Sukka: Liar. You said you'd resolve anything. And you said there was something you needed to formally apologize for last time. Please make Irina and Yelena invincible. ]
But Sukka showed no intention of giving up.
When told no, she even brought up past incidents.
Without being able to read tone or expression, it just made him feel guilty for no reason.
Moreover, Hwarang owed her a debt, which made it even worse.
Of course, Hwarang wanted to grant Sukka's request if he could.
Besides, essential NPCs weren't that rare—making two special wasn't a big deal.
Figures like Hitler or Stalin, along with war heroes recorded in history, were mostly essential NPCs.
But since it could lead to serious bugs, this request was too much for Hwarang to decide alone.
"What are you doing? Not heading home?"
"Ah! Tech Director!"
Just then, Han Jin-tae, the technical director of Frontline Archive, called out to him.
He was nagging about going home in his annoying way, but in reality, he'd been living at the office for days too.
Even so, to Hwarang right now, he looked like the most reliable boss ever.
Hwarang pointed to his chat with Sukka and made the request to Han Jin-tae.
"Director, can we add just two essential NPCs to Frontline Archive's frontline mode?"
"Huh? Why all of a sudden?"
"Sukka reported a bug, and then suddenly asked to make two NPCs invincible."
"Sukka? The user with the weird data you showed me last time?"
"Yeah, she's still super unique. A total VIP user."
"Hey, I told you just to monitor—why are you giving her special treatment?"
"W-Well, it hasn't hurt balance or anything..."
Hwarang trailed off with an awkward smile.
It was true he'd been giving Sukka special treatment.
At that, Han Jin-tae smirked and started reading Sukka's messages.
He seemed to mistake her for his subordinate's favorite streamer.
But as he read the chat, Han Jin-tae's expression turned to shock.
When Hwarang asked what was wrong, Han Jin-tae pointed at the monitor.
"Victoria Chernakoshka? This user is Victoria?"
"Yeah, she said an NPC called her by name. Another bug on top of being swamped already."
"You idiot! Why didn't you say this sooner—oh, you didn't know."
"W-Why are you suddenly so scary?"
Hwarang freaked out and backed away from Han Jin-tae.
Instant coffee was spilling from the paper cup in his hand.
Han Jin-tae set down the cup and started tearing at his hair.
Whenever he reacted like this, overtime was guaranteed—and even knowing that, fear came first.
"Hwarang, you know where the AI we applied in this update learned from, right?"
"H-How would I know? You told me I didn't need to."
"It's data from a victim of the Eastern Battlefield incident. Data learned from Sergey’s device, who died during testing."
"Really? Do normal companies use data from dead people? Are we really insane?"
"Yeah, seems we're thoroughly insane. But do you know the name of the character Sergey was testing?"
"No idea."
"Victoria."
"Pardon?"
Hwarang showed the maximum level of bewilderment he could muster.
Then, Han Jin-tae, who had been the overall director for Eastern Battlefield, continued with a teary expression.
"Victoria."
"Ah...."
"Victoria Chernakoshka."
"......."
"Victoria was one of the player characters! This user is the real-life model for that character! The kid whose life got ruined by the universe is playing our game!"
"D-Director! Calm down!"
Hwarang desperately held back the freaking-out Han Jin-tae.
The nearby developers were starting to froth at the director's outburst.
But as a developer himself, Hwarang couldn't help being affected.
A vivid picture of the overtime hell awaiting him formed in his mind.
"Director, can I just quit?"
"Hwarang, in Eastern Battlefield, Victoria was the only character made from a real person. That's why we excluded her when reusing Eastern Battlefield characters this time."
"I don't know anything about that. Please don't drag me in."
"The data used for AI training came from Victoria, right? And now Victoria's real-life model shows up in front of the AI? Plus, she barely did any customization."
"Don't ignore me? I really don't want to get involved."
"You know what this means, right? Huh? Hwarang, you know too, don't you?"
"......."
Hwarang could only sigh as he looked at the teary-eyed Han Jin-tae.
As a competent game developer, he'd instantly grasped the severity of the situation.
He was dead certain the AI's training data was hard to alter, so they'd used it as-is.
And since Sukka had done minimal customization, the NPCs had a very high chance of recognizing her.
In fact, hadn't the waiting room NPC called Sukka by her real name, not her nickname?
That meant a fatal bug had already occurred due to Sukka's participation.
"Yeah, I get it. It'll be a bug that's hard to clean up."
"If Frontline Archive's frontline coincides with Eastern Battlefield's timeline... NPCs might mistake Sukka for Sergey... And she's even streaming... If a bug happens, it'll spread worldwide...."
"And that's not all. She's collabing with that famous Ttalgwi. Thousands of viewers easy— this update's doomed."
"H-Hwarang! Let's ask our Victoria to play something other than Frontline Archive!"
"Ugh, is that something a person says? Her acting career got ruined by the universe, right? We even gifted her an expensive 5th-gen device as a company. Can you tell a kid like that 'get out of our game'?"
"......."
Moreover, it was hard to kick out Sukka, the source of the bug.
She'd done barely any customization and was guilty of nothing.
But they couldn't leave a ticking time bomb in the game—one that might explode anytime and couldn't be defused.
At the very least, they had to warn Sukka something like 'you're actually a bomb, so be careful.'
It wasn't just Hwarang thinking that—Han Jin-tae hurriedly pulled out his smartphone.
What followed was calling an emergency meeting with everyone involved in the incident.
"Hwarang, you bring Victoria here."
"That's too heavy an order for me. Can't you ask her, Director?"
"I'll call ops, marketing, everyone. Please just bring Victoria. I'll somehow get a 5th-gen device ready. I'm begging—save me this once."
"Sigh... Fine...."
If they couldn't fix the bug, they had to exploit it.
It wasn't a bug from sloppy planning—they had to pass it off as an intentional feature.
That left only one option.
They had to recruit Sukka, the model for Frontline Archive's character, as an Eastern Battlefield actress.
"No way! Shouldn't we have notified Sukka about this beforehand?"
"I called her when gifting the VR device! She said she never wanted to see games again and to do whatever! She definitely said she wouldn't play ours!"
"You should've made a contract, not just a call! That's not like you, Director!"
"I was busy apologizing too!"
Who does he think he is, yelling like that?
Hwarang was utterly fed up with office life.