EP.12 78-3



I ran. With my eyes closed.

As expected, tightly shut eyes blocked my vision.

I ran, relying on the faint light filtering through the forcibly opened blackout curtains.

I wasn’t closing my eyes out of fear or to avoid something.

There was much to be gained from blocking my sight.

For instance, the movements of the Drone that was overtaking me from behind.

-Whoosh

Tilting my head to the right, I felt something heavy slice through the air.

The air vibrated as if a baseball bat had been swung.

Slightly opening my eyes, I thrust the iron rod upwards from below.

The iron rod fit perfectly into the Drone’s joint, and I easily dismantled it using the principle of leverage.

Just like I had separated Isis’s head from its body a moment ago.

[Why are you attacking?]

Isis, its neck pierced, asked me in a monotone voice.

I answered the question by putting my weight on the iron rod.

With a cracking sound, Isis’s head, bearing NB’s face, separated and rolled across the floor.

And I ran. With my eyes closed. I moved my legs diligently, following the escape route I had memorized.

And in my right hand, as I ran, I still gripped the iron rod.

“Stop. You must not leave this place.”

It wasn’t Isis’s voice. It was a voice created from a crude combination of mechanical sounds. A voice that felt utterly devoid of human warmth.

I swung my arms quickly, further increasing my speed.

The opponent was a world-class artificial intelligence. I didn’t believe that severing its head from its body had inflicted irreparable damage.

All I had done was free NB’s body. And given the Ark a very brief delay.

My actions, which had been close to 0% effective, had only slightly slowed down the Ark’s processing speed.

That fleeting moment was what allowed me to move.

I kept running. I could feel Drones, which I hadn’t seen before, following me from behind.

They were gathering from the alleyways and from the sky. It seemed they were scraping together all the Drones in the city.

I crossed the main street and entered the park. The sun was shining horizontally across the park.

I started a somewhat intense jog, stepping on the blocks of the empty park where not a single person was to be seen.

“Stop. This is the first warning.”

The crude mechanical voice sounded close, as if it were right next to me. I turned my head and saw that the sound was coming from a streetlight in the park.

Really, it’s everywhere.

I was only now beginning to realize what NB meant by ‘managing’ the entire city.

“This is the second warning. Stop. It is dangerous to continue.”

“Then, how about you get rid of these Drones before you talk?”

I dismantled another Drone that was rushing in from the front as I spoke, and this time, the voice came from a bench on the opposite side.

“I cannot do that. I have a duty to protect you.”

Did they install a speaker on the bench?

I ran for several minutes, getting further away from the Drones chasing me and destroying the Drones attacking from the front.

With the limits of my stamina, a railing blocked my path.

-Whirr

A cool breeze cooled my sweat-soaked hair.

“Here is….”

Below the railing, the city stretched out into the distance. I turned around and retraced the path I had run.

Behind the swarm of Drones, like a herd of gazelles running across the plains, I could see a tall building.

It was a building I had seen countless times while secretly wandering around Aaru.

Only now did I realize where I was. In the deepest part of the city. I had been in the building where the Ark was located.

“Kang In-ho.”

The Drones that had arrived in front of me spread out like the wings of a crane, blocking the way.

“I think there is a misunderstanding. I will explain the details, so please follow the Drones to the Cradle.”

A misunderstanding about ‘me’.

“Are you only now thinking of revealing your true identity?”

Behind me was a cliff, and in front of me were the Ark’s Drones.

“It is a misunderstanding. You are greatly misunderstanding. I will explain the details in the Cradle.”

The Drones were getting closer and closer, and my back touched the railing.

“The Ark’s only loss in the third match… Why did the Ark lose?”

“Although it is a question that is not relevant to the current situation, if I were to answer, I would say that the 78th move was the cause of the defeat.”

I leaned back a little further. The hard shape of the railing pressed against my back.

“Do you know why it lost on the 78th move?”

“I do not believe that an answer is expected, so I will not answer.”

“Because it challenged the lowest probability.”

My vision spun, and my body fell over the railing and began to plummet down the cliff.

I didn’t throw myself off in a fit of bravado.

I thought that if I fell well onto the trees below, I might be able to save my life.

If I could save my life, I would go there.

I had some familiarity with the path below. The probability of a successful escape would be dramatically higher than when I was in the park.

Feeling the resistance of the air, I curled my body as much as possible to prepare for the impact.

I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, and tensed my body.

“The Ark lost the third match due to the 78th move, but it won against humans in the subsequent fourth match.”

I heard a familiar voice.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a being with white hair and gray eyes.

It was holding me in its arms and slowly flying upwards.

“Let me formally introduce myself.”

It, which clearly had its head blown off, bearing NB’s appearance, was standing in front of me without a single scratch.

The Ark. Its official name is the ID Integrated System of Identification Saving….

“I am your very own AI, who will protect you, cherish you, and live with you in Aaru for the rest of your life.”

It swept back its hair, and the one with NB’s face smiled brightly.

“I am Isis. My Master.”

I now knew where the name Isis came from.