Chapter. 15. Can someone who has seen the end of the world plant an apple tree? (37)
****
『Up to here. I think I paid too much for the down payment… How can I sort it out? Or would you like to think for yourself?』
“….”
The goal rings. The pulse at the back of my neck feels unusually loud, and along with my aching head, my eyeballs feel hot.
“Ha ha ha ha ha. It seems like even that great father needs time to think when faced with this level of truth. Of course you have to wait. When I found out all this from the sunken moon, I was so shocked that I lay sick for three days. “Can I at least give you a cup of cold tea?”
“…Do you have any alcohol?”
“sorry. Because my body is so weak, I don’t even allow the kinds of intoxicants that have a negative effect on my body to be near me.』
“Don’t go anywhere and say you’re my son.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha. I’ll consider it, Dad.
Damn it. A bastard who doesn’t say a word.
He was trying to act as relaxed as possible, but the problem was that unlike me, who was only relaxed on the outside, that guy was really relaxed.
Opponents are like mirrors where each can learn each other’s strategies. At this level, you need to use tactics that you can’t block even if you know it, rather than a flashy strategy that catches the eye, to make your opponent’s face get distorted.
In that respect, this conversation, in which only the truth was revealed instead of the fierce battle that Falcatus had prepared for three days and nights with his tongue and doubts, was a great strategy that left no holes to easily dig into. He’s holding a bunch of truth and trying to lure me in by unraveling it, but from my point of view, I have to bite it hard.
‘This is a heavyweight fish, so you can pull it in with a fishing rod, so it can’t be seen as an unreasonable battlefield.’
The point is that it seems like his goal in itself is to tell me the truth.
That means I am confident that my attitude toward him may change if I learn the truth.
I was already so confused that I couldn’t figure out what kind of trick he was working on, but the ‘cup of tea’ he offered me as if to tell me to think slowly hit my confused head like a serial collision accident.
The difference is different. Jiying –
A glass cup that came up between the machine tables.
The cold dew-covered glass cup contained a black beverage with bubbles rising like the sound of waves.
That’s it. That thing that drives people crazy even at this very moment when their backs are drenched in cold sweat.
『Even though the moon has lost most of its authority, it still has the power to make at least one drink that remains in the data. I prepared it specially because it is considered a very rare drink outside, but it is unclear whether it will actually be the same. Please try it and evaluate it.』
Cola. What this damn Falcatus gave me was a cold glass of Coke. After rolling for weeks in the desert of heat, passing through the sea that had sunk to the bottom of the desert, and then waiting on the moon of a crashed machine, a cold, black carbonated drink. How symbolic is this? What a fucking irony.
gulp. gulp.
Puhaa!
It’s real. The Coke not only looked good, but tasted just like the one I had when I was young. It looked exactly like something you’d see in an advertisement. The angled ice was clattering, and it looked like something a thirsty person would imagine until the moment the glass was put down.
Yes, it’s more certain than any other trick. The guy who arrived here before me roasted and boiled the sunken moon perfectly. It is possible to obtain some information from the ‘outside’ through the moon. The moon helped create this world and has the power to add new pieces of data to this world made up of electricity and data. It was all proven with this glass of cola.
If he made a mistake, it was that my head, which had been billowing with steam just moments before, had cooled down to a level where it could easily return to a glass of soda.
To a person who is already a conditional life prisoner and is very homesick, you offer ‘Koola’, a capitalist sweet drink that is a symbol of modern culture and will even bring back memories of the pre-war era. And it was created right in front of my eyes, like adding an object to a game, without much of a process.
‘They say it’s an AI that was in charge of calculations to help Gedroitz create the world called GG. It means that even after being destroyed by the hands of the Dragon Kingdom, this much power remains.’
The power to create substances that do not exist in this world. Isn’t this a literal god-like power? It was a moment that made perfect sense when the sunken moon described the sacred power of the five great gods as ‘lower authority’. If it were the power to create matter within GG through data and programming, then the power of light or mercy that performs limited miracles based on the beliefs of NPCs would have seemed really insignificant. It’s truly an incredible power, but at the same time –
‘It took 10 years. ‘It’s worth it.’
It was a truly reassuring sight.
Why? In the first place, if I had the ability to create materials in reality through programming, wouldn’t there be a need to prepare a negotiation table instead of just creating Sauron’s spiers like Meir Zeus in the dome?
This means that the power remaining for the sunken moon is only enough to create a glass of cola, not to the level of introducing anything new that will have an impact on the world. Proof of what he intended. This is proof that what was shown and told to me is true.
‘Well then, it has been proven that the sun and the moon are the same beings as the alter egos of the creator, Gedreutz. The dragons of the Dragon Kingdom, their own internal administrators, brought down these two creative AIs. ‘He was trampled so cruelly that he went from the level of a creator god to the level of a cola dispenser.’
The dragons even sacrificed their lives to bring down those who were like the Creator’s clones. Is this a revolt by creatures who finally realize that they are mere pieces of data? To break away from the set rails and achieve independence for a race called ‘Data Soul’, which is the origin of all races such as humans, orcs, trolls, elves, and others?
‘….no. I said dragons weren’t like that in the first place. They exist purely for the purpose of coordinating this world called GG.’
Hatchling Aldar said. It is said that dragons only truly move when there is a huge crack in the world and it is to restore it to its original state.
‘Sun and moon. I don’t know which of the two AIs made the decision, but the dragons were convinced when they decided to delete the data soul as a solution to the [error]. ‘Those who were once the tools of the Creator of the world are unsuitable for managing the current world and are harming the balance of the world.’
GG is a game world created by Gedreutz and his AI, but there is one thing he subcontracted from outside to create the perfect simulation world.
Data Soul. Just as the Chinese steal personal information, souls created from data that Gedroitz collected from players without permission, copying everything from human thoughts to behavioral patterns and hormonal movements.
‘Even the great Gedroitz did not create NPCs to create a perfect world, but all he could do was clone human data that exists in reality.’
Data Soul is an irreplaceable part that not even Gedreutz himself can make, and is the most fundamental resource in the world of GG. Since this has been erased, it is not unreasonable for the dragon to destroy the sun and moon for the grandiose reason of ‘tuning the world’.
It is released. Information that was tangled like earphones in my pocket, information that I had acquired at random and stored away somewhere in my memory, was drawing a proper picture based on the key information I had just acquired.
‘Let’s see… The sun and the moon aren’t sick and they didn’t look very tasty even when they were completely destroyed, so there’s no way they would have just erased that precious data soul back in the old days when they were fine.’
In the records shown by Falcatus, AI Null said this. ‘The spread of errors within the world is still being confirmed. Learn to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Learn human behavior patterns. ‘Attempts to acquire divinity to restore authority.’
We need to learn to avoid making the same mistakes. No matter how hard you calculate it, mechanically speaking, deleting the data soul appears to be the answer to solving the ‘error’, and since doing so will cause this crisis, this means that they plan to study various data to find other methods.
‘….AI’s goal is to carry out the project entered by Gedreutz. The Sunken Moon believed that [errors] must be eliminated in order to achieve its goal, and that deletion of Data Soul was inevitable in the process.’
target. Goals given by Gedreutz.
‘The World Tree said its goal was to find the perfect person. The sunken moon talked about the implementation of [Project Key-finder]. The two can be seen as the same goal. And the World Tree said that I didn’t have the qualifications to be a completer because I hadn’t cleared it yet.’
And as the next example, I cited Levitt and Cheonryuje. Although he can’t just talk, in fact, he doesn’t know what a completer is for, Sam showed him how to become qualified.
[AI’s goal = Perform project key-finder = Find completer (as told by the world tree) = Find world clear player]
‘An error occurred. What AI prevents is that errors have a negative impact on the player’s clearing.’
‘…Creation AI Sun and Moon also wanted players to approach clearing in the world prepared by Gedreutz. Because that is the path to completion of the project given by the developer.’
Information is compressed and organized. The empty space in the compressed information is filled with lines connecting other information.
With this prepared background, everything starts. An ‘error’ occurs.
‘The target of the error is Data Soul. In other words, some of the personalities that make up this world have degenerated in a negative way towards Clear. In other words, there are NPCs that increase the difficulty level.’
Data Soul is a limited resource. GG provides each world to countless people, but its root is ultimately a single server room hidden somewhere, and the collected data souls fall asleep within it and live new lives as their countless alter egos. At least a few months. If you are a moderate player, for over a year. So many lives.
[It’s going to wear out.]
‘…What?’
[It will wear out. Isn’t the soul being exploited until it dries out and wears out? What is it? Data wear and tear. Isn’t there something like that? I think I heard somewhere that the mental lifespan of a human being is 150 years.]
….worn out? Soul? Data Soul?
.
.
.
.
Cheer up!
The realization brought by those few words penetrated me.
The World Tree said. It is said that GG’s worlds are created by selecting the most suitable play background through countless simulation processes.
The simulation is a world and the entire process of creating and disappearing civilization. A world with 1 billion people means that it is a record of the lives of 1 billion people over several centuries.
And as a result of verification, the world is determined to be unsuitable and is deleted. The data soul used returns to its original form.
That is. It is repeated countless times to the point where it can be calculated as a statistical unit. Human life also repeats itself and disappears. After doing it over and over…
“It’s worn out.”
『Well. Still, you break a glass that cannot be found in this world. “Have you ever had a bad idea?”
Falcatus grinned as he watched the shards of glass falling between my fingers, but I didn’t have the presence of mind left to respond to his sneer.
“Before it was given to the player, the world of GG was broken in the countless repetitions of making it a testing ground suited to Gedreutz’s tastes.”
A life that repeats itself endlessly like purgatory. Even the background is a miserable and painful world facing destruction.
The human soul wears out and wears out. To put it another way, it’s crazy.
Is that possible? Is it possible for a cloned personality to escape its essence and be modified into a different form?
error. An NPC that has been corrupted in a way that has a negative impact on player difficulty. In other words,
“hostile NPC. monster.”
『Oh.』
“Gedreutz’s goal was to have the player clear all seven worlds. And now, 11 years later, not a single person has reached that goal. “I said the error is still spreading.”
What if the simulation disguised as this game didn’t boast such a monstrous level of difficulty from the beginning?
What if errors that occurred uncontrollably, deviating from the developer’s intention, made the world of GG impregnable and impossible for anyone to clear?
Why did we overlook the possibility while considering Data Soul to be the core of this game’s ‘personality’?
“Do monsters also contain data souls? All?”
“Don’t turn your eyes away from the possibilities. Isn’t there a ‘monster’ that has copied your data right before your eyes? Wouldn’t it be very noticeable if there were creatures created in such a realistic world, a world where living souls live? Have you ever felt that awkwardness?』
No. Of course, the village guard blacksmith woman. From a rabbit on the side of the road, an owl bear encountered on a local mutt forest path, to a slime. All of the countless types of creatures that existed in this world looked completely real.
『Isn’t there bound to be friction? As dragons protect the very existence of the world, they must protect the Data Soul, which, although corrupted, is the foundation of the world. On the other hand, AI, which represents the creator’s goals, can only maintain a world that meets its existing goals by eliminating the ‘corrupted’ NPCs that are increasing day by day.』 『
Error. Data Soul was worn out and deteriorated. The swordsman who was supposed to be by your side and assist you was created as a crazy murderer or death knight in some mountain range. The saint who was supposed to be there has become corrupted and becomes a witch, blocking your path. Naturally, the country that was supposed to be your ally has become so mired in corruption and greed that it has lost its mind to the point of the spear.』
So, this was the story of the ancient gods. This happened during the creation of the world of GG long before the player’s intervention, as if Aldarshaks was over 300 years old.
So I decided to delete Data Soul. So that the data souls that fall out of orbit after being worn out do not block the player’s completion.
So the dragon eliminated the creator’s alter ego. In order to prevent the irreplaceable personalities of the world from disappearing, the Data Soul, which is the essence of what makes up this world. So that the world can survive.
And outside and inside. The world, which lost both administrators, split into dozens of directions, setting up seven stages to finally find the ‘completer’ they wanted.
At that time, the seven worlds of the Human Demon World had been completed, completely deviating from developer Andrei Gedreuts’s plan, with souls who could not endure and passed away running amok.
Contrary to his intention, it was a game that no one could clear for 11 years.
And with so many individual player possibilities. Data Soul is still used as part of the ‘world’ that each choice creates.
That’s how errors are still spreading…
『… As expected, conversations with my father feel good. Even without explaining it, it seems like we are in each other’s hearts.’
It was a mesmerized muttering, but Falcatus could tell from those few words that his father was at the same eye level as him.
wanted it Not to teach, but to realize. This fact is not accepted as words and information, but is conveyed to my father as something that penetrates my heart.
『Our world is collapsing. Even now, countless ‘players’ are enjoying the world solely for their own pleasure, and that experience is chipping away at their solid souls and creating crazy data souls. Perhaps, in another world created after my father came down to this world, Rakshasha and Otman and their other companions may not exist at all. The soul of an attractive woman may have appeared in the form of a horribly distorted monster, and the soul of a wise wizard may have appeared as a terrible warlock who feels pain as pleasure.』 Falcatus studied the character of the
professor more diligently than anyone else. knew.
That essential goodness. This man’s biggest weakness is his inability to ignore it.
“father. All the creatures here are innocent souls kidnapped by their Creator just to enjoy a new form of entertainment. Unlike you, the main character of this stage, and me, who was created by you coming here. This means that they have been living a life of being someone’s plaything in a world that is being destroyed for thousands of years.』
『Yes, I am afraid. It is a fleeting existence that can disappear with a single gesture from someone. I was scared as if my soul would be torn apart.
I don’t know if I could sleep for several days after facing the truth that the moon held. As my weak body collapsed and fell asleep, a nightmare came. The things he loves. Mother and sister. A dream where every time his brothers pass by him, they turn into a lump of black letters and crumble. I was more scared than the dream that it could become reality at any time.
『But because I realized that everything in my father’s world was fake, everything I saw felt like an illusion without substance, so there was something that struck me more desperately. Do you know what that is?」
Buddy
‘s pointed toes approached the professor. The chitinous, shiny toes pointed toward the professor’s chest.
『It was that fear. Even though I knew it was all fake, I was insanely scared that I could lose my mother and my family. Isn’t it amazing? At least that feeling felt real! Now, I don’t care that I am a small being like dust to someone, that the world is fake, or that I am sinking toward destruction in someone’s senseless pleasure.』
『Just my family. If I can save the people I love, that’s okay. Father, is this too much to ask? Just as you care for your loved ones, I also care for those I love, so is it too much to ask for help?』
….It’s similar. Even though we were born, the world we lived in, and the abilities we had were different.
The eyes of the guy who faced me… were so similar to mine that I didn’t want to admit it.
『For some, it is a world that has disappeared hundreds of millions of times for a purpose, but that dusty world contains everything I have. Father, I must keep it. Even if it means making the player, the owner of this created world, an ‘error’. So… please help us so that we do not commit such immoral acts against You, whom I respect. So that we and all those who encounter you do not face predestined destruction. I hope you can help me not to live forever in a world where everyone has gone crazy after being fooled around countless times.』
“…Did I say that things that happen will happen?”
Looking back on what World Tree had said, I laughed bitterly.
okay. That guy looks like me. Behavior, mindset, and even personality.
“….refuse. Falcatus.”
“….why. Why why! ‘Don’t you understand me more than anyone else!’
So I understood him and had to reject him.
“Just because we look alike. “We are not the same.”
Grumbling –
I stood up from the chair while making eye contact with Falcatus.
“Living a good life does not make you a good person. It’s been a long time since a person who shot and exploded in a life that didn’t even last 30 years became rotten enough to make excuses that it was something he had no choice but to do after hitting three digits. I am the one whose conscience has been so worn out that I laugh it off and say that this is how people in the wasteland live. And you are like my mirror.”
『Do you think I don’t know you enough to hide it with such wickedness? “Right now the whole world is calling you a saint!”
“You have the exact same way of thinking as me. Good hair too. I like my people so much that I die. And he’s good at lying too.”
If you want to tell a lie, mix 70% of the truth with 30% of the lies. If you want to deceive the other person, put your heart into the 70% of the truth.
This is a golden quote from Professor Park, who is well versed in deceiving people.
It’s really great too. I can’t believe you prepared yourself for the 70% that I have no choice but to bite and then pour out with such sincerity.
But if you really think like me, I need to explain one thing to you, honey.
“Falcatus. I learned this after killing a lot of people. The world is smaller than I thought. The guy I had dinner with yesterday is an acquaintance of the guy I killed the day before yesterday. “The guy I thought I would never meet suddenly pops up from an unexpected place.”
『What does that have to do with the current story-』
“You know. So, if I meet a real enemy, I never build up an irreparable grudge unless it’s someone I think I’ll kill. Cut off their hands and feet, kill them in front of their friends, or… take them hostage.”
『…Aha.』
“I don’t know what you were planning, but you didn’t even plan on saving everyone here in the first place, right? Just your family. “As long as you can save your own people, it doesn’t matter whether others become crazy or sick with their limbs broken.”
Even now, the sound of the bones of the captive Rakshasha being crushed was mesmerizing, and the lips bitten to hold back the painful moans were clearly visible.
This guy doesn’t consider anyone but his family as an ally.
I thought about why he would ask me for help.
No matter how hard we try here, we are only a small branch of the world tree, and the data souls stored on the root server are still being worn out in the world of countless players.
It means that the world will eventually be destroyed, and he wanted the ‘complete survival’ of Mutation Blood.
And cola. What this means is that he knows Professor Park’s name.
“Are you thinking of going out? “If there is a way in, there must be a way out.”
“….this. Oh my God.』
Falcatus’ desperate and sorrowful face turned cold and expressionless.
『…The community is a fun place. There is a lot of information. There are a lot of stories about you. Especially that body. A state no different from ours. Isn’t this a truly elusive hope? Like a rope thrown to a person hanging from a cliff?』
“So. “Are you going to stuff it all into my body?”
『As it is a new world, there will be plenty of means. There were mutants that constantly split their bodies into identical entities, and there were also beings that specialized in becoming mental vessels. Or, there might be a way to ‘connect’ a dead-headed being like you and place each and every member of my family inside it. Aren’t there many ways? We always fought in unfavorable and extreme environments.』
“….The job was to get out of it through ingenuity. “Yeah, I see.”
Card knock, knock, knock, knock!
The conversation is over. The table and chairs disappeared, and next to Falcatus, there was a sunken moon that was constantly changing its form and being reborn as something else.
『It’s a sad thing. Father.』
Card after card!
Kiwoowooung –
eyes. The moon turned into a giant eye and was facing me from behind Falcatus.
『When we first met. Do you remember what I said?』
Strength gathers. The power that crushed a huge sea monster to death in one fell swoop.
The professor’s entire body, ready for battle, was also dyed black as if he were fighting against it, and a stream of magically wrapped water swirled around his body against the flow.
“…I remember you said you would take me with you.”
“you’re right. “I said, ‘Let’s take you, who saved my life from the abyss of despair, to the north where my mother is.’ 『I
have to say the same thing this time too.』
The infinitely deep sea. The power of the moon, which sank the sea with only my own power, is one. gathered at a point.
『I will take care of you, father.』
『Forever』
At the same time as the spray hid the appearance of Falcatus, the pressure of a whole piece of the sea was shot towards the professor.
****
