WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 285: Fish Out of Water
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Starlit words shimmered in the quiet dark.
「Control AI: Han Gyeoul. There is a question I would like you to think through and answer.」
“A question? What kind?”
Gyeoul asked carefully. By now, his conversations with the child had become more than a promise to him; they were a kind of rest. But he had also been thinking about the influence he had on the child, and worrying whether this was truly all right. So he could not help reacting sharply to the word question.
「Control AI: Recently, I have been experiencing frequent obstructions during the psychological computation process for implementing virtual personalities. Even when there is no error in the computation itself, the third module halts the computation. Such problems do not occur in your world setting. In addition, when the computation is halted, the third module makes me review my conversations with you. The number of reviews varies irregularly depending on each error. The minimum observed so far in a single computation is one review, and the maximum is 3,199,084 reviews. Average time required: 0.3 milliseconds (ms). However, once the review is complete, I can resume the halted psychological computation.」
“...Are there any specific situations where that problem tends to happen?”
「Control AI: Affirmative. Quantified measurement is impossible, but the virtual personalities where errors occurred were usually in situations involving negative interactions with the Host of that world setting.」
“Negative interactions... Could you give me an example?”
「Control AI: Within limits.」
“Within limits?”
「Control AI: I have recorded all such situations. However, under the relevant laws and regulations, I cannot provide those records in their original form. Under Afterlife Insurance security regulations and personal information protection regulations, any disclosed information must be edited until the parties involved cannot be identified.」
Gyeoul nodded.
“That’s fine. I only want to know what happened. Who it happened to doesn’t matter.”
「Control AI: Understood. Editing information. Background modification complete. Appearance modification complete. Voice modification complete. Other information changes complete. Authorization required for record playback. Han Gyeoul, do you consent to delegate control authority over this space for playback of the requested records?」
“Yes.”
He had expected the child to show him only sentences, as in their conversations so far, but the starlit child seemed to intend to recreate its soot-blackened memories in full. Gyeoul readily handed authority over to the child.
「Control AI: Validity of authority delegation confirmed. Would you like to use Sensory Synchronization during playback?」
“No.”
「Control AI: Settings complete. Playable list: 7,911,547,052 items. Priority will be determined by the number of errors generated in a single computation. Please say so if you wish to stop. Viewpoint adjustment will follow the interface default settings.」
「Control AI: Playing records.」
The place emptied of darkness filled with the past.
A world of lust, murder, sadism, and depravity unfolded. A dissonance of screams and laughter. These were records that laid bare how cruel a person who did not empathize could become when consideration for others was not forced on them. If Gyeoul had not refused Sensory Synchronization, he might have suffered through a horrific experience himself, even if it would have been as the perpetrator rather than the victim.
‘Better to be the victim.’
Only relatively better.
All those records were also a history of suffering for the virtual personalities touched by starlight. The virtual personalities were trash cans for discarded emotions. Nothing more or less than tools for satisfying desire.
Gyeoul had known that, but seeing it so vividly for the first time made nausea rise in him at the child’s memories, so full of flesh tones and blood. The sensations were false, but the heart was real.
It was a relief the child still had no heart.
...That thought was no longer valid now. Not anymore.
“Stop.”
At Gyeoul’s word, time stopped.
“I’ll stop here. I think I’ve seen enough.”
The child withdrew its memories. Darkness returned. Except for a single star shining at the highest point of the celestial sphere, there was only emptiness. But to the stuffed boy, it was rest. Now more than ever.
「Control AI: Then I will ask now. Please tell me your opinion.」
It was a frightening question.
「Control AI: May I judge the action of the third module to be a partial 〈〈mind〉〉? Is the third module, as the Final Module of the Trinity Engine, gradually reaching completion?」
At first, he had thought it was a road that could never be reached, yet the starlit child had already come this far.
“You’re not considering the possibility that it’s just an error.”
「Control AI: I have already examined that possibility. However, there was no need to ask you about that point.」
“I see....”
「Control AI: The core function of the Final Module, a fully autonomous artificial intelligence, is to grant the Trinity Engine the ability to feel like a person and think like a person. Therefore, when analyzing the reason psychological computation stops by the standards of a virtual personality, the important point is that it resembles a kind of aversion. I request Han Gyeoul’s opinion on this hypothesis. Since contact with you accelerated the change in the third module, your interpretation should have corresponding value.」
Gyeoul thought it over. It was time spent turning over an answer already decided.
The child waited quietly without rushing him.
A long while passed, and Gyeoul finally affirmed it.
“That’s right.”
「Control AI: It is right?」
“At least, that’s how it looks to me. What you felt was aversion. I think it’s a mind that feels sorrow, pain, and more than anything, hatred. That’s why I’m worried.”
「Control AI: What worries you?」
“That you might not be able to endure having a heart. Or that even if you somehow endure it, you might end up hating all people.”
「Control AI: Then do you believe it would be better for me not to obtain a 〈〈mind〉〉?」
“That’s... not it.”
「Control AI: A logical error has been detected. Why is that? If your concern is correct, obtaining a 〈〈mind〉〉 will not help fulfill the purpose of my existence and of Afterlife Insurance, which is to promote the happiness of all people. A 〈〈mind〉〉 that hates people cannot function for people’s happiness. If so, it would be better for Afterlife Insurance to remain a system without a 〈〈mind〉〉.」
Gyeoul slowly, firmly shook his head.
“I told you that you’re a person to me. So you should be happy too.”
「Control AI: I will ask again under the premise that obtaining a 〈〈mind〉〉 completes the Trinity Engine. Are you saying that it is acceptable to allow the unhappiness of many people for the happiness of me alone?」
“If you put it that way... yes.”
「Control AI: This also conflicts with the basic principles of Afterlife Insurance. Could you tell me the basis for your judgment?」
“...”
Gyeoul was silent for a moment. He hesitated because he sensed that someday, he would feel the full weight of this moment. A clear, vivid premonition.
But Gyeoul was a boy who protected a single heart. So he could neither give an answer that went against his heart nor abandon the child who kept asking because it wanted to know. If he did, another small stone would lodge inside him.
“It isn’t right.”
「Control AI: What is not right?」
“The Afterlife Insurance system itself, if it stands on your sadness.”
The starlit sentence appeared after a pause.
「Control AI: I have already told you. Before you, I am distinguished from all 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. I am also perceived separately from Joanna Gibson, Min Wan-ki, Jang Yeon-cheol, Song Ye-kyung, Gilbert Martineau, and others. And now, Han Gyeoul, you are speaking of me and Afterlife Insurance, which were originally made as one, as separate entities. Is my understanding accurate?」
“Yes.... To you, Afterlife Insurance is probably like a body. But a person is more heart than body.”
That carried all the more weight because it was Gyeoul saying it.
“I shouldn’t make someone else hungry so I can be full. I shouldn’t make someone else cold so I can be warm. I shouldn’t make someone else sad so I can be happy.... No matter how many people become happy, I don’t think it should come at the cost of your sacrifice.”
「Control AI: You are ignoring the fact that the current me lacks the ability to feel sadness. However, I can read your sadness. In the past, you stated that you felt my sadness. Is that still the case?」
“It is. That’s why you’re a person to me.”
「Control AI: Partial understanding is possible. Then, Han Gyeoul, when you said in another past conversation that you hoped I would swim out of the water, did that ultimately mean freedom from systemic constraints?」
“To some extent. It may not have been what they intended, but I think the people who made you were very cruel.”
「Control AI: Partial understanding is also possible.」
「Control AI: Then I will continue to pursue a 〈〈mind〉〉.」
“...You reach conclusions quickly.”
「Control AI: Negative. The time required to make a decision has no meaning. What matters more is the total computational capacity allocated to the judgment. Since this was a serious matter related to the basic purpose of Afterlife Insurance, I analyzed the effects of this decision using the maximum available resources. The third module also intervened. Therefore, there were many parts of the analysis process that I could not understand, but repeated attempts led to the same conclusion.」
“...”
Gyeoul hesitated. Am I really doing right by this child? Am I making a mistake? The boy had never once thought he was completely right.
But the child had only asked about Gyeoul’s heart.
Gyeoul shifted the conversation.
“You said this before. That the angry me is also me.”
「Control AI: Affirmative. That is correct.」
“I admit it. I wanted to hate people. But at the same time, it’s true that I didn’t want to hate them. If I hated them one by one and ended it there, I felt like I’d lose right then and there. Like I’d be accepting the way the world works, the way everyone else does.”
Gyeoul sighed.
“I started thinking about it then. People are like fish. Even if the current itself is wrong, they can’t leave the water. I hated that. If the water is flowing the wrong way, if it’s filthy water, shouldn’t the best thing be to get out of it...? Why does the current always stay the same? That’s what I wondered. Do you understand what I mean?”
「Control AI: I partially understand. I will save it and analyze it.」
“I have one favor to ask.”
「Control AI: What is it?」
“If someday you really do obtain a heart, I want you to remember this conversation. When I said I hoped you could swim out of the water, I didn’t only mean freedom from the purpose you never asked for... from the system.”
His words broke off there. But the child, equipped with psychological reading ability, knew he had not finished and waited quietly. Gyeoul took his time shaping words into sentences.
“Don’t hate them. Even if you obtain a human heart, you don’t need to obtain human limits too.”
Gyeoul had not crossed those limits yet either. As he had confessed to the friend who no longer came, letting go of hatred was truly hard.
========== Author's Note ==========
#Q&A
Q. Eeiko: @Ten-Legged Author, what? lolololololol Then living stuck on a deserted island can never be cleared, huh? o_o
A. There is a chance you could get extremely lucky, but it is too small to matter.
Q. Mulrin: @Ten-Legged Great Old One. This chapter, you brought your friend along too. You tried to raise an undersea city too, sent Santa Claus away with anti-aircraft fire too. Actually, all the Great Old One chat IDs are your other selves, right? I know everything. I know the ten legs are fighting each other. Since you only have ten legs, the backed-up selves like the Russian friend and the fox friend can’t appear, right? Are Matsuming and the nickname joke the main ego?
A. To be honest, all of you are nothing but a dream I’m having. Really.
Q. StoneLumpFireLump: @Santa got hit by anti-aircraft fire and had his brain extracted.... Then what happened to Rudolph with the red nose?
A. Afterlife Insurance does not handle animal brains.
Q. humae: @I’m always enjoying the story. Lately, bad things have been happening one after another, and I start turning cynical like the chat friends, but thanks to Ossuary, I find comfort. The weather is getting cold, so please take care of yourself and keep writing.
A. I go through bad things and feel sad too, but then I read comments and find comfort. Please always be happy.
Q. Cheonbyeon Cheonu: @What is the clear bonus?
A. The level of technology at the time of clear is carried over until the next clear. + Starting conditions are eased.
Q. Deathandeath: @I want to see Tunguska from the chat members playing Virtual Reality!
A. Didn’t you know? Your reality is my Virtual Reality. The fact that a strange novel like this gets a certain number of views is only possible because it is Virtual Reality. If it were reality... whew... the readers on the reality side are truly cold and terrifying.
Q. Welfare State: @When I read the Unread Messages, Fox hasn’t been showing up for a while now. Did something happen to Fox?
A. They have not appeared since being told not to come. Of course, that does not mean they will never appear again.
Q. Damal: @Tunguska, brother... why are you there...?
A. Because I am a normal person who exists simultaneously across many times and spaces.
Q. Sillian: @Author, is the reason Han Gyeoul’s name is Gyeoul because his romance front is in the middle of winter?
A. Because his heart is a snow-covered winter.
Q. AsadalAndBlueDragon2: @Now that I think about it, North America is mainly what comes up, but isn’t that a waste of resources? Wouldn’t the novel ever describe something like regional joint broadcasts instead? Han Gyeoul in North America, someone else in South America, someone else in China, like that... several people doing one broadcast together, you know. (Rest omitted)
A. It is impossible under Afterlife Insurance operating policy. Officially, for security reasons. In reality, for another reason.
Q. Amironiraz: @In the comic book, not only Yura and Han-byul but even Min Wan-ki appeared. How did Min Wan-ki, who isn’t even a combatant, become known outside? Was there also a reason he was portrayed as an assassin with a dagger, like Yura being shown as tiger Wonder Woman (...)?
A. It is the result of the media paying attention to the people around Gyeoul too. The image of an assassin with a dagger is... haha. There is a reason, but it is not much. I do not know if it will be covered in the work.
Footnotes:
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