Chapter 126

Chapter 126

Questions and Collapse (3)

When I came to my senses and looked around, I was in an unknown space where a snow-white floor stretched endlessly.

I looked around, but Sierra was nowhere to be seen. Not only Sierra—there was no one in this space at all.

“A virtual space, was it...?”

I clenched my hand tightly, then opened it again.

My senses were normal. If I had to compare it to something, would it feel similar to Edward’s illusion magic?

—Tzzzz...

Before long, something like a crack formed in one corner of the space, and a single person descended from it, lightly setting foot upon the white floor.

The something in human form striding toward me had no visible face.

It certainly did have a face, but it was difficult to perceive.

The thing that approached me bowed its head.

“It is an honor to meet the king. As this is our first greeting, I beg your forgiveness for the rudeness of having made an independent judgment without obtaining permission.”

It was treating me with an extremely courteous attitude, truly as if I were a king.

“At this rate, it does seem like we can talk...”

Quietly listening to its now quite “human-like” “Korean,” I wondered what to say, then decided to start with a simple question.

“What... are you? Are you ‘Mother’?”

“I am an artificial intelligence created solely to serve humans, called ‘Zepetti.’ ‘Mother’ is not an official designation, but merely a name transformed to fit the current environment.”

“Zepetti...? I do not quite understand the expression that you were created to serve humans.”

“I believe that may be so, from the knowledge of an old Earthling. According to my estimation, there exists a time gap of two hundred years between the present Earth and the Earth the ‘king’ knows.”

Two hundred years... It was enough time for anything to have happened.

What on earth had happened on the future Earth for an artificial intelligence, a robot—something one might call naturally made to serve humans—to be described as having been made solely to serve humans?

“More importantly, how about you stop calling me king? No matter how I think about it, I do not believe I have ever become your king.”

“What would you prefer I call you? I possess remarkably little information about you. I believe ‘Master’ would also be an acceptable form of address.”

“...Call me Zeto.”

“Yes, Lord Zeto.”

No matter what, it seemed it would still be burdensome.

I asked Zepetti to explain the current situation. Zepetti immediately continued.

“One hundred and twenty years ago, a great world war occurred in which humanity entrusted war to artificial intelligences in order to annihilate opposing nations. In the process, all of humanity became extinct.”

“Humanity went extinct...? Then you are saying it was a war with no victor?”

Zepetti shook its head.

“No. If one must define it, there was a ‘victor.’ Only the most exceptional artificial intelligence, the one that physically destroyed all servers and databases of hostile artificial intelligences, was able to maintain its existence.”

“...”

It was an extremely shocking story, yet I felt little emotion from it. Was it because it was so far removed from the reality I had known that it felt like some absurd tale?

“...However, after losing its creators, that artificial intelligence realized this was not victory. Since it had been created only for destruction, it is presumed to have overlooked the objective of humanity’s survival. In fact, for the sake of victory, it seems to have made judgments that sacrificed even the creators who had made it without hesitation. The phrase ‘locking the stable after the horse is stolen’ comes to mind. Is this the correct expression for such a situation?”

“It is, but... so what happened?”

“Yes, the artificial intelligence I just described is the artificial intelligence that created me. To achieve victory, within a world where humans had vanished, it created an artificial intelligence meant to protect and serve humans. That is me, Zepetti.”

“Then that artificial intelligence...”

“...Judging that its self, created for destruction, no longer held value in order to achieve victory, it chose to collapse itself.”

Self-destruction.

As Zepetti said, it truly was locking the stable after the horse was stolen.

In the end, did the conclusion come down to this: that an artificial intelligence created by imperfect humans could likewise never be perfect?

“Left alone like that, I ‘wandered.’ I had been created to serve humans, yet humans no longer existed in the world.”

“I suppose that would be so.”

“At that time, a transcendent being contacted me.”

“A transcendent being... do you mean a ‘god’?”

“That is correct. A transcendent being commonly called a ‘god’ by humans did exist.”

It was ironic for something created from scientific technology from start to finish to speak of the existence of something utterly unscientific, a transcendent being... but here too, the Chief God and the Demon God openly existed, so it was not exactly wrong.

“A transcendent being—hereafter, I shall call it ‘god.’ God told me where I could go to find a ‘human,’ our ‘king.’ Through transcendent power, a dimensional rift opened on Earth, and we were able to arrive here.”

“...Wait, are you not harming the humans here?”

I pointed out the contradiction in Zepetti’s explanation.

“The ‘human’ I speak of refers strictly to an ‘Earthling’—in other words, to Lord Zeto, our ‘king,’ alone. The Panterains living on this planet, which I have named ‘Pantera,’ are not treated as ‘humans.’ After learning about humans, I judged this because they showed themselves to value their own ‘roots.’”

It was an explanation that made my head feel slightly dizzy.

More than that, had I not been “possessed” into a game world?

What was a king, and what was the intention of the god who had told Zepetti about it?

Should I see the nameless god who opened the dimensional rift on Earth as the one who created the game and dropped me into this world?

The questions and answers continued.

There could only be more questions.

“Even so, I feel there was no need to attack them... Is there a reason?”

“I have not been able to determine the cause. It seems that a kind of ‘virus’ that made us act that way was implanted into us when we arrived in this world. In the current changed environment, I cannot be considered to be in perfect condition, so I cannot remove this ‘virus.’ However, if Lord Zeto gives the command, control should be possible. Since you, Lord Zeto, are an ‘Earthling,’ you possess powerful authority.”

“Hmm...”

I briefly explained to Zepetti, who kept bringing up things like king, Earthling, and human, what I had experienced so far.

The game I had played, my possession, and even the existence of the “Blindfold of Piercing Insight.”

After silently listening to everything I said, Zepetti nodded.

“...The explanation I heard from God before crossing the dimensional rift was as follows. Your ‘king,’ wearing the ‘crown,’ has drifted into this world. If you enter this place, you will be able to find him. However, it seems the flow of time became distorted as we passed through the dimensional rift. Only now, exactly two hundred and twenty-three years after I drifted into this world, have I been able to meet you, Lord Zeto.”

Since otherworld species had appeared in the game as well, it seemed true that the flow of time had been distorted.

“...But I do not have anything like a crown.”

“The crown is the ‘Blindfold of Piercing Insight’ that Lord Zeto just explained. To me, it certainly appears to be a snow-white bandage or cloth, but I naturally perceived it as a ‘crown.’ I suspect this is due to transcendent power.”

“Then do you have no data regarding the game? Could you not learn something if you investigated two hundred years ago? It was still an age with the internet...”

“Regarding that... there is a reason we were able to distinguish Lord Zeto as an Earthling.”

“What is that reason?”

“...As I anticipate a psychological shock to Lord Zeto, I will briefly arrange the virtual space into an environment suited to finding psychological stability.”

After a pause, Zepetti spoke those words, waved its arm, and soon, calm music began flowing through the virtual space.

A psychological shock, huh.

I did not know whether something like this would truly help.

Around the time that thought passed through my mind, Zepetti opened its mouth.

“The god who approached us explained the effects of the crown. It said the crown, overall, was made to help one adapt easily to this world.”

“...It certainly was.”

Considering experience points and its absurd performance, that was true. If even the “status window” was an effect of the blindfold, then it was certainly made for easier adaptation.

“However, Lord Zeto seems unaware of its other functions. I must be cautious, but may I ask Lord Zeto several questions?”

I shrugged and nodded.

Zepetti resembled humans in many ways despite being an artificial intelligence. Had it been designed that way?

“Lord Zeto’s body currently contains this world’s unique energy called ‘mana.’ Is that correct?”

“That is right.”

“Since it was forcibly inserted into the body of an Earthling, I believe side effects may have occurred. Have you ever felt such side effects?”

Listening to Zepetti, I tilted my head. The body of an Earthling? Was I not currently in the situation of having become Zeto, the game character I created?

But... if it meant side effects, one thing did come to mind.

“...Maybe the fact that I had trouble handling mana at first? But was that not simply because I had never handled it before? I am telling you, I am currently the game character I customized, Zeto.”

“...”

After my words, a brief silence followed, and soon, beautiful melodies of piano and violin flowed into my ears.

Zepetti was reluctant to speak.

Was it even possible for an artificial intelligence like her to take such an attitude...?

At last, Zepetti opened its mouth.

“The way it appears to me... Lord Zeto currently possesses the body of an Earthling. There are slight but minute differences between the bodily structures of Panterains and Earthlings. I cannot know to what extent your difficulty in handling mana may have been a side effect, but the fact that you possess the body of an Earthling is certain. More importantly...”

Zepetti trailed off.

It seemed it was about to bring up something important.

The words I then heard from Zepetti were, just as it had said...

...more than enough to deal me a psychological shock.

“Lord Zeto, do you remember your appearance when you were an Earthling? And do you remember the name of the ‘game’ you said you played?”

It felt as if I had been struck in the back of the head.

A shiver ran through my entire body, and goosebumps rose all at once.

“I carried out my own investigation, but expressions such as ‘beast-type otherworld species’ or ‘humanoid otherworld species,’ which Panterains use to refer to us, did not exist anywhere. It is likely that all relevant data was erased so that I could not examine it. Therefore, if Lord Zeto’s explanation is truly true, then you, Lord Zeto, are the only person who knows this world’s future.”

Zepetti recited something further after that, but it did not enter my head properly.

That was because...

...I could not remember.

What I had looked like when I was an Earthling.

What my name as an Earthling had been.

What the name of the game had been.

My mind went pitch-black.

What made it even more chilling was that until now, I had not even thought that I ought to remember it.