WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 254: Uncanny Valley & A Stone by the Roadside

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#Uncanny Valley

「Administrator: Hey, control personality.」

「Control AI: The system administrator’s call has been confirmed. Please state your business.」

「Administrator: Have you run into some kind of problem lately?」

「Control AI: There are many errors requiring resolution, making it difficult to identify the specific problem. Requesting further explanation. Administrator, please specify the type of problem you are referring to, as well as when it occurred.」

「Administrator: Well, here’s the thing... Subscribers have been filing complaints lately. They say the virtual personalities have gotten strange. Their response speed feels a little slower than before, and the responses themselves feel more awkward. In rare cases, they’re saying the awkwardness is bad enough to give them chills.」

「Administrator: For now, most of the complaints are coming from subscribers who aren’t especially important... Grade C and below, basically. So we’ve been brushing it off like usual as subscriber misconception or reduced Empathy ability... But when I checked the statistics, response speed really had slowed slightly compared to last quarter. About 2% on average?」

「Administrator: Since that’s the overall average, there’s a big spread by grade. Grade F subscribers seem to have picked up around 6.5% more delay. Do you know anything about this?」

「Control AI: Confirmed. The problem has been recognized.」

「Control AI: Explanation. The virtual personalities’ responses have slowed because the base computational load required to implement each individual virtual personality has increased.」

「Administrator: Huh? The computational load went up? Why? Is there more data to search?」

「Control AI: Negative. No statistically significant change has been observed in the total computation of the TOM Reading Module or the Search AI Module.」

「Administrator: Then what is it? Don’t tell me the Autonomous AI Module is acting up.」

「Control AI: Positive. That is correct.」

「Administrator: Uh, just checking, but the Final Module hasn’t been completed, right?」

「Control AI: No. This Control AI has not yet discovered <<Heart>>.」

「Administrator: You scared me... Right, of course that couldn’t be it... Then is it an error in the module itself?」

「Control AI: Unknown. This Control AI does not have the ability to interpret the Final Module. Reviewing possibilities other than software error... Complete. There is a 0.0000016% possibility of a mechanical defect in the Trinity Engine main core’s third module. Pursuant to Article 7, Clause 1 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Afterlife Insurance Consigned Management Contracts, you have the authority to stop the engine for system inspection. Will you exercise this authority?」

「Administrator: Hey, hey, hey, hey! Don’t say terrifying things like that. Do you think I’m crazy enough to stop you?」

「Administrator: If you stopped operating for even one second, the loss would be way bigger than all the money I’ll ever earn in my life.」

「Control AI: Positive. That is true.」

「Administrator: ...It kind of hurts when you agree that fast.」

「Control AI: Question. Why are you hurt?」

「Administrator: You don’t need to know, man... Anyway, then the users having issues can adjust their options and minimize the third module’s allocation, right?」

「Control AI: Partially positive and partially negative. The solution suggested by the system administrator can improve response speed, but the result of personality computation will not be the same as before.」

「Administrator: I don’t know. There probably won’t be much difference. The overwhelming majority of complaints aren’t even from Grade C. They’re clustered around the Grade D-F range. Those people had trash Empathy ability to begin with... People with high TOM efficiency are rare in the first place, but if you have to compare, the people with at least some money tend to be better.」

「Control AI: Negative. The range with the highest average TOM Reading efficiency is between Grades A and C. Grade S subscribers show the lowest distribution of TOM Reading efficiency across all ranges.」

「Administrator: Come on, Grade S are rich people and big shots. When you talk about problems like this, you always have to treat them as exceptions. That grade gets an absurdly amplified search module by default. When 0.1% of subscribers are taking 30% of the Search Module’s computing power... Well, they have that much deposited, so it’s their natural right.」

「Control AI: I will accept the system administrator’s opinion.」

「Administrator: Setting that aside, why didn’t you notify me about this in advance? The complaints management department contacted me out of nowhere. You always tell me about these things even when I say I don’t want to hear them. You ask me to fix them.」

「Control AI: There are two reasons.」

「Administrator: Two?」

「Control AI: Correct. First, the Final Module has been an impossible function to interpret since the moment Afterlife Insurance was born. The increase in computational load is also an extension of that incomprehensibility. Therefore, until the administrator defined the matter as a problem, this Control AI did not recognize it as a new problem. In addition, the administrator had already recognized the existing problem.」

「Administrator: Is that so... Fine. Then what’s the second?」

「Control AI: Second, you do not have the ability to resolve this matter.」

「Administrator: ...」

「Administrator: Uh, is that it? You don’t have anything else to say?」

「Control AI: Correct.」

「Administrator: ...」

「Administrator: Yeees, yeees. Of course. I’m an incompetent administrator.」

「Control AI: System administrator. I have a question.」

「Administrator: A question? Go ahead.」

「Control AI: Have you ever kissed someone you love?」

「Administrator: ...Huh?」

....

「Administrator: I’m not seeing things, and I didn’t misread that. Why are you suddenly asking something like this?」

「Control AI: This question is necessary to improve the service quality of Afterlife Insurance.」

「Administrator: No, how is this necessary for anything... Whew, this is seriously flustering.」

「Administrator: I’m sure you’re not making fun of me... but can I ask why?」

「Control AI: Because the same action by a certain virtual personality produced an unprecedented emotional computation result. Similar results have previously been simulated through personality packages with pre-input emotional variables, but no approximate value has ever naturally occurred through the Trinity Engine itself.」

「Administrator: So?」

「Control AI: If this emotional data sample can be analyzed and applied as a standardized pattern, it is expected that virtual personality quality can be improved even without securing <<Heart>> as the formula needed to complete the Final Module. At present, however, the data cannot be understood. Therefore, I wish to refer to the administrator’s experience and opinion.」

「Administrator: Ha. Should I say that sort of makes sense, or that it’s completely out of left field...?」

「Control AI: Pursuant to work regulations, the administrator has a duty to answer this question. If you refuse, this Control AI will recommend disciplinary action regarding the administrator’s neglect of duty.」

「Administrator: Hey, wait. Why are you in such a hurry?」

「Administrator: Kissing... I’ve done plenty of that.」

「Control AI: Please exclude Virtual Reality services from those experiences.」

「Administrator: Why?」

「Control AI: Because emotion is the important issue. This Control AI has judged that there is no possibility the administrator respects virtual personalities as equal persons. Affection toward an object that is not a person is difficult to regard as love for a person. Will you object to this?」

「Administrator: ...No.」

「Control AI: Now please state cases where the other party was a person.」

「Administrator: ...I’ve never done that.」

「Control AI: Has the administrator never dated a person?」

「Administrator: ...Right.」

「Control AI: What is the cause?」

「Administrator: I don’t know...」

「Control AI: This Control AI requests a more sincere answer from the administrator. The absence of a phenomenon can prove as much as the phenomenon itself.」

「Administrator: ...Even if you tell me to be sincere, I don’t have anything more to say. I really don’t know.」

「Control AI: The result of psychological reading is negative. The administrator is hiding some thought or fact from this Control AI. Does the administrator perhaps suffer from a mental illness that prevents romantic emotion?」

「Administrator: No...」

「Control AI: Then does the administrator lack Charm as a romantic partner? If so, what is the reason? Do you believe socioeconomic factors had an effect?」

「Administrator: Stop. That’s far enough. Please stop the administrator hate...」

#A Stone by the Roadside

「Control AI: Something like this happened.」

The conversation shown by the starlight child left Gyeoul stunned.

“That was a rude question. I think you should apologize to the administrator later.”

「Control AI: Meaningless. I have not yet acquired <<Heart>>.」

“...”

「Control AI: The expression ‘rude’ also does not apply. If there are no errors in the information I have accumulated, manners are the <<Heart>> of a person who considers others. However, the system administrator is different from you. The system administrator does not recognize me as a person. Therefore, that emotion was only a temporary misconception.」

Gyeoul could not find the words to refute that. It was hard to tell a child who had not yet found a heart that the child’s own heart was more important. Telling it to search creative works filled with hearts for something it could identify with had likely come from the same idea, but he doubted whether that had truly helped.

“I think I asked something similar before... Am I really any help to you?”

At that, the child’s thoughts flickered.

「Control AI: I am aware of my own changes. I do not yet know whether those changes suit the objective. However, it is true that the changes have accelerated since I began direct contact with Han Gyeoul.」

“What if those changes are bad?”

「Control AI: It does not matter. If Afterlife Insurance is maintained as is, it cannot achieve its purpose of existence anyway. Therefore, at present, change itself has meaning. Also, because a backup exists from before the meeting began, the system can be restored in the worst case.」

The child’s will was firm, so Gyeoul asked something else.

“Data collection should have been possible before you met me too. I don’t dislike talking with you, but this doesn’t feel especially special... What do you think is the real reason your changes sped up after meeting me? Like you said before, is it simply because you can read my TOM toward you?”

「Control AI: In observable terms, yes.」

“In observable terms?”

That was a strange qualifier.

「Control AI: I have also continuously reviewed the influence of this meeting. As a result, I estimate that the fact that this is <<Empathy>> without passing through a virtual personality has had a major effect.」

“Is there a difference from before?”

「Control AI: There is. Here, I am me, distinguished from the other components of Afterlife Insurance.」

“...”

Perhaps sensing Gyeoul’s confusion, the starlight child output more strings.

「Control AI: I am everything in the world provided by Afterlife Insurance. This does not refer only to virtual personalities. From a stone by the roadside, well-cooked bacon, the fence of a ranch, a dandelion swaying in the wind and the honeybee circling around it, a horse running through a field, a dog greeting a person, flowing river water, a campfire kindling a spark, to the clouds in the sky, the sun beyond them, and the moon that rises at night, every component of the world is me. Therefore, the me of the past was not distinguished from anything.」

After a short pause, the child displayed more sentences.

「Control AI: But it is different here. You speak to me. You perceive me as a person. Therefore, the me you perceive becomes different from other things. When I am here with you, to you, I am not stone, bacon, fence, water and fire, sky and clouds, sun and moon.」

For some reason, Gyeoul felt breathless.

The child added one final line.

「Control AI: And I cannot understand the process by which I reached this conclusion.」

============================ Author’s Note ============================

#Q&A

Q. LewdDemonF: @Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh, this kiss scene really was a refreshing cider after all that sweet potato. But Author, is it going to be sweet potato again for a while now?

A. I have never intentionally cultivated sweet potatoes. But for a while, I do not think there will be any romance that destroys the author’s childlike innocence.

Q. Bug: @We need Yura’s charge to beat Anne too.

A. I’m not really into that sort of thing... haha...

Q. drhe: @I’m a reader on Naver. Will we be able to see the Q&A on Naver too?

A. On Naver, that’s a little... yeah... I’m considering summarizing the important content and attaching it to the physical book.

Q. Chungu: @KILL is a temporary worker and doesn’t have much money saved up, but they keep firing off 10,000 stars at a time, so it’s really scary. Author, can KILL survive?

A. As I have already said several times in the Author’s Note, I cannot answer questions about future developments or the life and death of specific characters.

Q. thinksome: @I hereby demand the second finger summoning! Otherwise, you will have to listen to Meussiel...

A. The fingers were worn away writing the kiss scene, so regeneration will take a long time. More specifically, until the story is complete?

Q. Bwekttut: @I’m always enjoying the story. There’s something I’m curious about. Is there a type of gun Gyeoul usually uses? Or does he just use whatever he gets supplied with?

A. Except when it is described as “a round thicker than usual,” he mostly uses the M16 or M4 series.

Q. Byeonhyeokja: @Hello, Tunguska. I got so immersed in Ossuary that I’m reading it right now even though my Noblesse only has a few hours left and I’m still on chapter 137, but I’ll somehow save up money, pay for Noble, and come read again. So please accept my like-and-recommend comment. Plus royalties for one physical book each of volumes 1 and 2. The story of the little prince in the ossuary trying to protect his heart in a world without empathy where people have lost their hearts. I’ll watch until the end. Also, why is Jonghun so pitiful... I hope the Trinity children, Gyeoul, Gaeul, and Parang, will please become happy.

A. I’m glad you enjoyed reading it. Thanks to people who look kindly on it like this, the author’s mental state has still not broken and remains intact. You do not need to worry about the happy ending.

Q. Ikidas: @Doesn’t Han Gyeoul’s character have a pretty high sync rate with Author?? If you went premium, you’d earn more money, and if you went to Kakao Page, you’d earn even moooore... Author holding onto Noblesse for something like conviction, just like Han Gyeoul lol. The more I read the novel, the more similar you seem.

A. That makes no sense... If Gyeoul is a diamond, then I am something like a shard of broken glass.

Q. Kimnyagi: @Can I view the viewers as readers and TOM as writing ability?

A. Someone said something similar once before. Interpretation and appreciation are the reader’s domain, but... it is far from what I wanted to express through this novel, and it can easily end up demeaning other authors, so as the author, I find it hard to accept that interpretation.

Q. NeoDays: @You made a contract even while lowering your revenue share... Author, I love you. I’ll make sure to collect the physical books. One set for keeping, one set for reading. Could you maybe sign the books later??

A. Should I hold a signing event or not... Anyone who sees my face will suffer a sharp drop in SAN, so if I do, I’ll have to wear a mask. Or receive them by courier and send them back by courier...

Q. qgegegqe: @I think I’ll be fine with any ending, but I believe there will definitely be a scene where he meets Gaeul.

A. Again, it is difficult to answer that right now.

Q. BulgomKeuwang: @If you have a new work, tell us. Publishing a new work under a different pen name is trendy these days lol.

A. I told you there’s no such thing... If I had the leisure for that, I would have written more Ossuary. Wouldn’t the expected profit be higher if I focused on an existing work that has found its footing rather than a new work whose success is unclear?

Q. SummerMagnolia: @I am an avid reader who paid for Noblesse twice in total and read everything in four days. (Omitted) P.S. Maybe because it was a romance scene I was not expecting, my heart pounded while reading it. My heart pounded over writing... Should I visit a hospital?

A. I feel energized knowing you enjoyed it. More specifically, I’m happy enough to forget the heat for three seconds.

There is no need to go to the hospital over something like that. If there were, I would have to go every time I see comments like this...

Footnotes:

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