WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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Chapter 463: Final Chapter - Childhood's Beginning (1)

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The hideout Bom had prepared for Gyeoul's older sister and younger sibling was located at the foot of Cheonggyesan, south of Seoul. Gyeoul had heard how Bom had rescued Gaeul, but no trace of the Russians remained around the safehouse. For Bom, whose limits differed between yesterday and today, and would differ again between today and tomorrow, there was no longer any need for their help.

The Kasparov Engine the Russians had wanted was completed as a system subordinate to Bom. Of course, the Russians did not know that. The connection between Bom and the Kasparov Engine was built on technology that, from humanity's point of view, may as well have been magic. Before the power held by a Deus ex Machina, old-fashioned physical communication isolation could no longer serve as a valid security measure. Otherwise, Bom would never have taken control of human civilization.

Bang. Bang.

Gunshots echoed through the snow-covered mountain. Metal targets rang out with sharp clangs as bullets struck them. The person wearing safety glasses and ear protection while pulling the trigger was Gaeul. The instructor watching beside her, hands on hips, was Anne.

Today, five days after Gyeoul and Gaeul's reunion, Anne had stepped forward and offered to teach Gyeoul's older sister how to shoot.

When Gyeoul asked why, she explained it like this.

"Gaeul has bad memories. She was kidnapped, and she feared for her life. Even if she's bearing it with composure, there is no way she has no trauma at all."

She phrased it as a guess because Bom had not shown her that much. Carelessly reading someone's mind was never a good thing. It would be different if Gyeoul wanted it, but Gyeoul did not want that either. Not unless it was truly necessary.

"So I asked Bom for the same model that trash Kang Young-il used. As psychological treatment goes, few things are as effective as taking firm control of the medium that brings back frightening memories."

There was another reason.

"At the same time, marksmanship is a means of self-defense. Confidence in your ability to defend yourself has a deep effect on mental stability. And for a complete beginner to reach a practical level, few things are faster than shooting. Am I wrong?"

She was right. Unlike marksmanship, which could be used for self-defense after only a single day of training, other defensive skills required at least several months of practice.

Anne persuaded Gaeul with the same logic. Think of it as handling a self-defense tool, not a weapon. Right before the Russians rescued her, Gaeul had actually held a pistol and felt helpless because she had not known how to use it, so she understood the need Anne described. That was separate from how awkward she felt around Anne.

With that attitude in mind, Gyeoul had asked Anne.

"Be honest. You're also thinking of using this to get closer to her, aren't you?"

"...To a certain extent. So let me have this one."

Gyeoul let out a light laugh, and Anne pouted.

"A fiance who enjoys watching his future bride struggle. That's a failing grade."

"Ah, sorry."

Anne's brow had furrowed even deeper when she saw Gyeoul keep laughing as he apologized.

"I don't know how else I'm supposed to build a friendship with her. To begin with, I'm bad at personal relationships, and... Gaeul and I were born in different worlds from the start. She seems very interested in you in that other world, but once we actually talk, I get the strong feeling that it all seems foreign to her..."

Gaeul had described that unfamiliarity like this: You grew into an adult somewhere I couldn't see, without me even knowing. When she said it, she looked a little lonely. It contrasted somewhat with the tearful joy she had shown when they reunited.

So whenever they talked about such things, it was only natural for the atmosphere to grow awkward. Above all, Anne's very existence symbolized Gyeoul's growth in a form Gaeul did not know.

"I thought that if I taught her to shoot and praised her here and there, we'd get more comfortable with each other and naturally grow closer... Wait."

Anne cut herself off and narrowed her eyes.

"Gyeoul, you're not laughing inside again, thinking something like, 'But a gun, really? How American of her,' are you?"

Dead on.

"Honestly... Just call it an occupational disease."

Anne sighed, sulking as she made the demand.

"But you're still adorable, so I can't help it. I'll forgive you for one kiss."

What a sweet form of generosity. Gyeoul apologized to his lover with a long kiss.

The scene Gyeoul was watching now was the result. Between the tension of holding a gun and her focus on practice, Gaeul did not notice Gyeoul's arrival. Anne, not wanting to break her concentration, only greeted Gyeoul with a light nod.

Anne's instruction continued. She spoke a little louder to account for the ear protection. The Korean she used so naturally stood out.

"Gaeul. What did I say about your stance? Say it out loud and compare it to how you're standing now."

"Feet shoulder-width apart, right foot stretched back as the support foot. Knees slightly bent, upper body leaning forward..."

It was to absorb recoil, but there was no need to lean too far. Anne personally corrected Gaeul's upper body. Gaeul continued after that brief interruption.

"Grip with the right hand, extend the right arm straight as if pushing forward so the sight line rises to eye level. At the same time, the left hand wraps around the right hand as if pulling it."

"Why do you use your left hand that way?"

"To minimize how much the muzzle flips up when firing."

"Correct. Next."

What Anne was teaching was a modified Weaver stance. It was an easy stance for beginners to learn.

In the next round of firing, Gaeul hit most of the targets at a distance of ten meters. The interval between shots was somewhat long, but considering this was her first day practicing, it was a very good result. In other words, Anne did not have to force the compliments.

When the final casing buried itself in the snow and the slide locked back, Anne smiled gently.

"Excellent. Impressive."

"Excellent? I don't think it was that..."

"I mean it. If you don't believe me, why not ask Gyeoul over there?"

"Ah."

Flushed, Gaeul jolted and looked back in Gyeoul's direction. Gyeoul agreed.

"You really did shoot well for someone learning for the first time, older sister. Seeing you still keeping the muzzle pointed in the right direction, you're a really good student."

Just as Gyeoul said, even in her surprise, Gaeul kept the muzzle pointed downrange and slightly downward. Of course, her finger was off the trigger guard as well. Even if the magazine was empty and the chamber was exposed, a beginner had to be careful, then careful again.

'The only person who would die from a mistake with the gun here is older sister, though.'

Anne, in particular, would not die even if her body was completely destroyed. Her soul was in the Trinity Engine, and her consciousness was merely focused on the body here. There was a reason she had described herself as an information life-form.

Gaeul, however, had not yet accepted a life close to eternity. Her reason was that she wanted to think about it a little more. The truth was, she was not certain about Bom.

"Anne. Could I borrow older sister for a walk?"

At Gyeoul's words, Anne paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Hmm. I would have liked to do a bit more... But go ahead. We'll have plenty of time from now on."

It was a meaningful statement. This time, she asked.

"Is Bom playing with Parang?"

"Yes."

"The children get along well together. I wonder if I'd be intruding if I joined in."

At that point, Bom transmitted a feeling before language to Gyeoul and Anne. It was mild dissatisfaction. It was not a feeling suited to a godlike being, but that was the way Bom had chosen to exist. At least in front of Gyeoul, Bom still remained the Star Child. Anne giggled.

"Come back by dinner at the latest. This time, I'll cook."

By "this time," she meant the lunch Gyeoul had made. Gyeoul and Anne did not need to eat food, but lack of need did not mean lack of enjoyment.

"It won't take that long."

After answering, Gyeoul checked Gaeul's wishes too.

"I'd like to walk with you for a bit. Is that okay?"

"...Yeah."

Gaeul handed the gun to Anne.

Gyeoul and Gaeul walked with soft crunching steps.

The snow-covered mountain was truly quiet. People of this era no longer visited mountains in physical reality. Even the wealthy, who enjoyed the fixed idea of "things that actually exist" as a luxury taste, were the same. So the walking trails and facilities had been left almost abandoned, and many parts of the old stairs had rotted or collapsed.

That did not make the scenery desolate. Nature always returned to places people had left behind.

'Of course, it's hard to say the overall environment has improved.'

Fine dust blown in from across the sea had become worse than in the past, abnormal weather occurred far more often than in the previous era, and industrial complexes built to accept more foreign workers and immigrants had worsened pollution in certain regions.

Regions across the world where Virtual Reality had been adopted less widely went without saying. It was one of the reasons Bom's predictions were pessimistic.

"Ah, right. Older sister. Take this. The path gets slippery from here."

Gyeoul held crampons out to Gaeul.

"I didn't see them. Did you bring them from the start?"

At Gaeul's question, Gyeoul shook his head.

"I just made them."

They had been assembled at the nanoscale while they walked that short distance. Gaeul's eyes widened slightly, but soon she said nothing else and accepted the crampons, fitting them over her shoes.

Gyeoul chose a relatively gentle path with a good view. The azalea shrubs enduring the cold season each carried white caps of snow on their branches.

Between them, a squirrel darted out and perked up its ears.

Gaeul looked surprised.

"A squirrel in this season."

"Even when they're hibernating, they sometimes come out to eat the food they've stored if they get hungry."

When Gyeoul crouched and held out his hand, the squirrel hopped onto it.

"...Though meeting one like this is probably a pleasant coincidence."

"A coincidence, huh."

"Yeah. Even small joys can be like ice cream given at a desperate moment. Enough, for someone, to put off that day's death until tomorrow..."

Sometimes the difference between life and death was one spoonful of ice cream. Those were the words of Captain Langford, the man who had escaped San Francisco with him. KILL, Cheon Jong-hun, had lamented why he had never had even that.

Gaeul did not know the hidden story behind the ice cream metaphor, but she understood that the coincidence Gyeoul spoke of was not a simple coincidence, but a coincidence controlled for humanity's sake.

So she asked.

"Do you completely trust that child... Bom?"

"I do."

Gyeoul said,

"That child gave me everything. Literally everything. Even her own life."

Bom had given Gyeoul access and control authority over every component that made up Bom. It was a measure set so that Bom could not reverse it. Put another way, it could fairly be called Bom's true administrator authority. Through his expanded perception, Gyeoul, who held that authority, could be certain of that fact.

Therefore, if Gyeoul made up his mind, Bom would be disposed of. Gyeoul would never make such a decision, though.

For Bom, it was an expression of resolve: I will exist only for you. If I get in the way of your happiness, dispose of me at once. I do not wish to exist as your misfortune either.

Gaeul carefully reached out and stroked the squirrel. The squirrel rubbed its head against Gaeul's hand. A cautious smile appeared on her lips. Gaeul did not know it, but this was a friendliness hard to expect from an animal known for becoming aggressive every winter.

"Older sister."

As he handed the squirrel to her, Gyeoul asked Gaeul,

"How was the lunch I made for you earlier?"

Gaeul froze for a moment, then answered.

"It tasted perfectly normal and good. I was also surprised that you knew how to cook."

It was a small thing, but this too was a change in Gyeoul that had happened somewhere she did not know. Between one apocalypse and another, the joy of eating had been very important. There was no need to bring up the ice cream example again.

Even so, taking senses that surpassed humanity into account, it had been terribly made food. Leaving aside the precision of his senses, the problem was that the range Gyeoul found tasty was far too broad. His palate, formed while he was growing up in physical reality, was the issue.

Of course, if he wanted to make better food, he could make as much as he liked. He had more than enough ability for that. But Gyeoul had wanted to serve his older sister and younger sibling his own cooking in a deeper sense.

"It wasn't excellent food."

Gyeoul said,

"But it was probably healthy food. At the same time, it was luxurious food."

Soup with egg noodles and apple pie. Even if the taste was nothing special, by the standards of physical reality, it was certainly very luxurious food.

What Gyeoul was about to say had to do with that luxury.

Footnotes:

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