DB Vol 1 Part 7
by Sorai“Someone I knew was working on a similar project.”
“So who is this person?! Who’s doing the same research as me…?”
“It was someone who wanted ordinary people to have at least some power to defend themselves.”
“…”
“I can help you with that research.”
“…No.”
Sang-cheon barely managed to refuse and shook his head firmly.
“I gave up on that invention a long time ago. I have no intention of doing it again, and even if I did, I won’t throw Guides in front of monsters under the pretext of testing. I don’t want to do it even if you steal and give me Alpha seeds that are more expensive and precious than diamonds.”
Suddenly, Won-woo’s expression became strange.
“Are there Alpha seeds here too?”
[…Here?]
Sang-cheon also felt something odd about that word, but he ignored it and quickly said what he wanted to say.
“Of course. Don’t you know about Alpha seeds? They’re super seeds with dozens of times more energy than regular seeds.”
“Thirty-seven times.”
“Right, thirty-seven… Huh? Is that the exact multiple? Well, anyway, Alpha seeds are also used as ingredients for Esper enhancers because of that power.”
“Yes. That’s why Espers go crazy for them.”
“Right, they go cra… Ahem.”
“How are Alpha seeds made?”
“That’s a strange question. Made? Seeds come from monster farms, don’t they? Don’t you remember that either? Alpha seeds appear with a probability of 1 in a million among those seeds, so you can’t get them even if you pay money.”
Won-woo lowered his gaze, seemingly lost in thought after hearing his explanation.
[He’s really acting like someone who fell from a strange world.]
The voice that dropped casually was filled with sarcasm. Sang-cheon wanted to argue that it wasn’t acting but seemed to be a memory problem, but the continuing voice stopped him.
[Hey, hand over the communicator to that bastard.]
What are you saying? Even without speaking out loud, the other party explained the reason.
[Seeing how his mind comes and goes, he seems useful.]
Useful? If it’s his family, they’d use Ji Won-woo as… not as a spy… Oh, a spy. Sang-cheon could only express his frustration with his twitching eyebrows. He could understand the hatred the thug had for his family. Still, Ji Won-woo seemed like a sick person, and using him was a bit…
[Due to interference from his family, our household still can’t receive proper guiding.]
Knowing how important guiding was to Espers, Sang-cheon kept his mouth firmly shut. Especially the feud between Ji’s family and the thug’s family was deep enough for everyone to know. No one remembers the fact that the heads of the two places used to be close friends. That’s how much the two families became enemies. Because of that discord, the thug’s family had not been able to receive proper guides for a long time.
[If it’s Ji Won-woo, he’ll be able to access the Guide information his family has. Tell him you’ll help and hand over the communicator.]
No, what excuse should I suddenly make to hand over the communicator?
[You’re good at talking, aren’t you, mister?]
Of course, I’m good at talking, but that doesn’t mean…
[If you can’t manage it, just say so. I’ll cut out that unnecessary tongue of yours and chew on it myself.]
The low voice spread like frost at the ear. He’s serious. This guy is serious. Sang-cheon could almost see the thug escaping right now to come and cut off his tongue. Sang-cheon swallowed hard and looked at Won-woo, who was still lost in thought.
“How… can I help you?”
Ji Won-woo’s eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled faintly.
“Thank you. You really are a good person.”
“No, that’s not why I’m helping… Anyway, what do you want?”
“Just, everyday help. I need basic knowledge to live in this world. I won’t bother you anytime. If you set a time, I’ll contact you then.”
“Well, there’s no need for that… I… I ahem.”
Sang-cheon looked into space, unable to meet his gaze, and suggested.
“I’ll introduce you to someone who can help for now.”
“No. I can’t trust anyone else right now.”
[He talks like shit, just like his family.]
Although Won-woo couldn’t hear the curse, Sang-cheon felt sorry and avoided his gaze even more. However, the rude thug didn’t allow his silence.
[Hey, speak up.]
Right, I have to speak up. If I don’t, he’ll cause trouble for me. But as he tried to lie, Sang-cheon felt his mouth go dry.
“Um, how about the A, A, AI born from the cutting-edge technology algorithm I developed? It will, will help whenever you need.”
Sang-cheon was embarrassed even after saying it himself. AI? Who would believe such a thing actually exists?
“Ah, so you did develop AI.”
There is. Someone who believes it absolutely.
“But AI is technology for ordinary people, so you must have had little support, yet you managed to do the research. I heard that deep learning-based algorithms require significant support.”
Sang-cheon flinched. Deep learning-based algorithms were only theoretical, and this method had never been actually used. Of course. Putting aside the technical issues, where would one get that enormous amount of data, and how would they handle the servers?
“Ah, my, my research is… symbol-based AI so…”
“Simple supervised learning must have been difficult for machine learning.”
“It, uh, was difficult, but somehow I, I ma, made it.”
“You’re really amazing.”
At the sincere admiration, Sang-cheon couldn’t help but ask.
“No, do you believe me?”
[Old man, shut up, will you?]
“Of course. You’re the person who didn’t turn away a stranger like me and took care of me like this. You’re my benefactor.”
“…”
“What’s the name of that AI?”
“Well, it’s…”
“Uh, it’s Ma….”
[If you dare call it Mandu(dumpling), I swear…]
“Ah… Ahn… Nani. Uh, just Nani.”
[For fvck sake.]
Sang-cheon heard cursing in his ear, but Won-woo smiled with satisfaction.
“Nani, that’s cute.”
Sang-cheon was momentarily captivated by that smile again. But soon he turned his gaze away due to increased guilt. Unaware of Sang-cheon’s complicated feelings, Won-woo was just busy expressing his gratitude.
“It’s fortunate that you researched AI. An AI made by Mr. Hwang will be useful to me. It’ll be kind too.”
Sang-cheon’s expression twitched at the word that irked him. Apparently, the thug seemed irritated too.
[Kind?]
“Well, uh, the AI I developed might not be… all that… kind….”
“How could it not be? An AI’s primary purpose is to help people, isn’t it? You must’ve even considered its tone to make it sound friendly.”
“Y…yes.”
[Shit, this is fvcked up.]
Thinking the thug’s curse was directed at him, Sang-cheon’s face lost color again. He felt like his already shortened lifespan since the thug appeared in his life had now reached right in front of the grave.
[Why can’t an AI or alien or whatever curse? Fuck.]
The fake AI was spouting insults in his ear. Sang-cheon put his hand on his forehead and took the communicator out of his ear. His head throbbed in a situation where he couldn’t do this or that. Yeah, it’s better to just hand it over quickly.
“Boss.”
“What?”
Sang-cheon asked back in a tired voice while thoroughly disinfecting the small communicator. He should have taken the communicator out of his ear earlier. How peaceful…
“Are you happy?”
At first, he wondered what day it was. To hear the same sudden question he had heard from the thug.
“Happy? Me?”
“Yes.”
The face that nodded looked at Sang-cheon desperately. He thought that if he didn’t answer, it seemed like he would cry again. So Sang-cheon gave a reluctant answer.
“Well, I’m not unhappy since I’m doing the research I want to do for now.”
It would be nice if there were no debts. He muttered the additional words and moved his hands quickly. Then, while organizing the cord of the disinfected communicator, he stopped his hand. Even though it wasn’t much of an answer, Won-woo’s eyes were red.
After leaving Sang-cheon’s store, Won-woo had no intention of going back to the hospital. Fortunately, Sang-cheon not only lent him clothes and money but also found Ji Won-woo’s house.
‘Ordinary people have limited access to information searches. Normally, I, as an ordinary person, could never find a Guide’s home address. But fortunately, Ji Won-woo seems to be a center-affiliated Guide and stays in accommodation provided by the Center. Ah, I found this out through article searches. But that’s it. You’ll have to find out the more detailed address yourself.’
Won-woo couldn’t remember what state of mind he was in when he came to the Center accommodation. Only when he arrived at the Center entrance did he realize the situation he was in. He had met a miracle where his ally was alive. Won-woo looked at the entrance for a long time before belatedly putting the communicator Sang-cheon had given him to his ear. As he was familiar with AI, the name flowed out easily.
“Nani.”
After a brief silence, someone’s voice was heard amidst the static and humming noise, as if the communication wasn’t good.
[What?]
The first impression was that the low male voice sounded quite pleasant despite the mixed noise. But that wasn’t why he laughed at the cheeky reply. It was a bit strange. It was completely different from the seemingly kind AI he had met in his world. Wondering if Sang-cheon had given it a personality, he asked lightly.
“You heard who I am, right?”
[Yes.]
“Who am I?”
If it were the AI Won-woo knew, it would have mentioned Won-woo’s name in that polite voice, but Sang-cheon’s AI was different.
[Don’t you know your own name?]
It was a reply that would have seemed quite prickly if it were a person, but Won-woo passed it off as the AI’s simple curiosity.
“I know. I was checking if you know properly.”
[…You’re quite suspicious.]
Won-woo walked into the Center, holding back a laugh that was about to escape.
“Yeah. Very. But you’re not very polite, are you?”
[I was polite enough.]
At the shameless reply, Won-woo muttered to himself again, how strange. It really was a unique AI.
“So who am I?”
[Ji Won-woo.]
The emotionless, dry voice said the name. Right. I’m Ji Won-woo. There was no one here who would doubt him to be someone else. It was the same at the management office. The manager frowned as soon as he saw Won-woo’s face.
“Mr. Ji Won-woo, is someone chasing you again? We’ve checked several times, but there was no unauthorized entry into the complex. Even if the intruder was an Esper, why would an Esper chase after a D-rank Guide?”
Was Ji Won-woo being stalked? Won-woo engraved a piece of information in his mind.
“The key is broken. Please check it.”
“Key? Is the biometric recognition not working?”
Won-woo let a strange smile slip onto his lips. Although he had only looked back for a moment, the technology here was behind where he had lived. Most doors used jingling keys, and what people were holding in their hands were old-fashioned mobile phones. There didn’t seem to be a separate data communication network, as there weren’t many people checking the internet on the streets.
It wasn’t surprising. Espers don’t want ordinary people to gain power through technological advancement. But the Guide’s accommodation opens with biometric recognition. It sounded like they were giving benefits and protection to Guides to that extent, mainly for the Espers’ sake.
“Yes. It’s not working. Please check it directly.”
The manager grumbled as if annoyed but moved outside. Won-woo deliberately followed behind the manager with slow steps. And when they stopped in front of B building, room 301, the manager irritably demanded of Won-woo.
“Try it.”
Won-woo slowly brought his thumb to the bulky and large fingerprint recognition door lock, which would be called outdated in his world. He thought it might not react. He even expected a beep sound and a warning that it was the wrong fingerprint.
‘Diririk.’
But with a small mechanical sound, the door clicked open.
“What, it’s working properly. Where on earth is it broken…”
The manager was about to get annoyed but then blinked in bewilderment. Won-woo was silently laughing, seemingly very amused about something.
“What… are you so happy about?”
“Because the door opened.”
Won-woo continued to laugh silently with his head tilted to the side.
“I really am Ji Won-woo.”