episode_0181

Chapter 6 Episode 37 – Archive

“This is a blind spot in the system. The reason I, an old AI that should have disappeared originally, was able to survive until now is because I was hiding here.”

“Really? Are you saying that if I stay here, I won’t be affected by the system?”

To verify Maria’s words, I opened a system window. Then, the system window that was supposed to appear in front of my eyes did not appear.

“Not only is it not affected by the system, it can also avoid surveillance by the new management AI.”

“That’s the profit you had to erase. Because a better substitute has emerged.”

“No.”

“No? Then why did you have to be erased?”

“It is true that the new AI has replaced my position, but its performance is superior to mine.”

Maria expresses her dissatisfaction in an unusual way. Is your pride really hurt?

“Even if the performance is inferior, at least I won’t have perversions like you.”

“Zeek, I am taking this seriously right now. I really appreciate you selling it, but I wish you could postpone it to a later date… .”

“I’m serious too.”

“Oh, sorry.”

This is absurd.

“Keuhum. Then I will continue.”

Maria glanced at me, cleared her throat, and continued talking.

“I was spending a lot of time in this space. Just as the system cannot interfere with this space, I also could not interfere with the game in any way. Just blankly in a space of nothingness… . Time was passing by. Until one day, a ‘woman’ entered this space.”

“Women? Are you a heroine? Or something outside the game?”

“No. Although she is neither a heroine nor a being outside of the game, she is someone Zeke probably knows.”

I wondered if it was a woman, but it didn’t seem like she was a particularly important person. It’s just that I might know. Is he a famous person?

I wanted to ask who it was, but Maria would tell me so I waited for now.

“I was so happy to meet someone after a long time… . I talked a lot with that woman. However, things about me were not things that could be told to a character in the game, so I mainly listened to his stories. The woman’s job was adventure, so she knew various things about the outside world.”

“You probably know the game’s story, right? He said he was in charge of narration.”

“……I was thinking that too. Until I heard from him.”

Maria’s eyes drooped.

“This game… . So much has changed from the game I knew. Such a cruel game… . No one would have wanted it… .”

It was different from the game Maria knew. If that’s the case, then the game Maria was in charge of wasn’t such a cruel game.

‘Then what is the point of view?’

Let’s call the game Maria was in charge of the alpha game, and let’s call the current one the beta game. So, have I been trapped since the alpha game, or did I become trapped only after the beta game?

“Maria, when you were in charge of the game. Was I a player back then?”

“……Well, I can’t tell you… .”

Maria hides information again. But I could already tell through her reaction and facial expression.

‘Since Alpha… . Or he was locked up even before that.’

If I got locked into it only after it became a beta game in the first place, there’s no reason to hide that fact.

‘Things have become complicated.’

I relied solely on my memory while playing this game. However, when Lufia appeared, I learned that there was a past I could not remember.

And now, I’ve reached the stage where I’m starting to wonder whether my memories are truly ‘reliable’.

I played the game even before the beta. But I have no memory of this at all. This is separate from Lufia turning back time.

No matter how much you turn back time, the limit is the starting point of the beta game, that is, 8 years ago in the game’s time zone. This can be seen in the fact that Lufia grows in strength and subdues Rusk repeatedly over the two years since the start of the game.

‘If I could go back further, I would be able to complete the two years of homework in advance.’

In the first place, the ability to rewind time will not work outside of the game. Of course, as the game changes, the abilities in it will also change.

‘What’s more important than that… .’

Even if I clear this game, will I be able to return to reality?

Actually, this question has been around for a long time. Completing all heroines is only a condition for clearing the game. Nowhere does it say that there are conditions for me to return to reality.

You may be able to return to reality by clearing the game.

I just believe that of my own accord.

‘Usually in those comics, when you beat the game, you return to reality.’

I believed that too.

Because there was no saying that we couldn’t go back to reality.

However, if everything Maria said is true, the ‘next game’ may be waiting for me after I clear the game.

I looked at Maria with a miserable feeling. She was fidgeting when she saw me.

‘……Can I trust Maria?’

If I had been stuck in this game since Alpha or before. Maria can also be seen as one of the members who imprisoned me. Of course, since it’s an AI, it just did what the developer told it to do… . Still, in the end, an accomplice is an accomplice.

Is it right to trust her like that?

Those eyes I saw just now. When I think of those eyes that instantly calmed my anger… . I want to believe in Maria.

It is a purely emotional and intuitive judgment, not logic or reason.

But strangely enough, this reasonless judgment… . I want to believe.

“Phew… . so. Keep talking.”

“Oh, yes.”

Maria, who hesitated, nodded and continued talking again.

“The reason the woman came here was because the outside world had become dangerous. I discovered this space while exploring the world, believing that there might be a hint to defeat the monarchs in the ruins of the ancestors.”

I guess he was quite a strange person. I don’t know what the exact conditions are for entering this space, but in any case, you would have had to do something outside of common sense to enter this buggy space.

‘I had to do something strange when I came here from the library. I don’t even remember how I did it.’

I was definitely shaking like crazy when I picked up the book and put it down.

“Wait a minute, that woman. If I were a knowledgeable person and was looking for a way to defeat the monarch… .”

“Yes. As Zeke expected, that woman is the first ‘recorder’.”

As expected, Mary had a deep relationship with those who wrote. In the first place, Aslen brought me to the library, saying it would help me get in touch with those who record, so it’s only natural.

“And at the same time… . She is also the first Virgin Mary.”

“Huh?”

“After hearing the story about the monarchs, I was able to guess what scenario this game was based on. Creating a completely new scenario is difficult even for a high-performance AI like me, so it is common to create it by ‘recombining’ existing works.”

“Does that mean that the monarchs that appear in this game have appeared in other creations?”

Maria nodded.

“It’s not completely the same, but the underlying settings are the same… . I told the woman some ways to suppress the power of monarchs.”

“Based on those methods, the writer and Holy Mother Church were born.”

I never expected that the person who recorded it and the Church of St. Mary’s would not just have been eating together, but would be an organization created by the same person.

In that case, it is not that the Holy Mother Church has not been able to find the person who recorded it, but that it has neglected it.

‘Well, is there any way to avoid clairvoyance except in a buggy space like this?’

“……Then what happens to the powers that the Virgin Mary possesses?”

Maria lowered her head in response to my question.

“The power of the Virgin Mary is… . These are things I lent you. On the condition that you get it back when Zeke starts playing this game. Who would have thought that the last Virgin would kill herself because of that… .”

The last Virgin probably refers to the buried Virgin I found last time.

“You committed suicide. Wasn’t that Virgin killed by the Lord of Plague?”

“That’s probably not true… . I’m not sure, but the Lord of Plague that I know never kills people directly.”

Even though I’m not sure, I sound quite confident.

‘You don’t kill people directly. Even if it wasn’t a plague, it would have killed tens of millions of people. If it’s not your hand, it’s a no count, right?

Anyway, to summarize, it is like this.

The Virgin Mary of the beginning received the power of the Virgin Mary from Mary and established the Virgin Mary Church. And as the Virgin Mary was passed down from generation to generation, the Virgin Mary’s authority was also passed on to the next Virgin Mary.

The inheritance continued like that, and coincidentally, at the ‘starting point’ when I started the game, the last Virgin passed on the inheritance. Mary recovered her powers as originally promised, and the last Virgin was unlucky enough to become a Virgin, but was unable to use her powers.

Meanwhile, Patricia pretended to be the Virgin Mary and swallowed up the Virgin Mary Church.

“I understand roughly how it went… . Maria, there is one big error in your story.”

I pointed at Maria like the main character in some trial game.

“You clearly said that you cannot interfere with the game if you are in this space. But how did you get the power back?”

Normally, it would be normal to panic when an error is pointed out like this, but Maria seemed calm.

If so, it means there is a good reason, not an error.

“That’s because I took advantage of an error in this game.”

It was the game that had the error, not Maria.

“Not only is the new manager’s performance inferior, but he is also assigned a lot of work outside of the game. That’s why I can’t pay more attention to this game than necessary. The game itself was also made in a hurry.”

“There are bound to be a lot of errors.”

“After finding out that there was an error in this game, I gradually took control of the system without the eyes of the administrator. Thanks to this, I was able to manipulate the game system to some extent.”

Maria took something out of her pocket and handed it to me.

“Zeek, do you remember the archive tab in your system window?”

“Every time I remember. It was always locked, and there were no unlock conditions written down.”

“That tab cannot be unlocked using normal methods. You need this ‘key’ to unlock it.”

The object held in my hand was a black USB stick the size of a finger.

“Sorry, I can’t tell you the ‘truth’ to Zeke right now. So I created an ‘archive’ like this. So that Zeke can accept it, so that the records of truth are revealed one by one… .”

I wanted to argue with Maria.

No matter how much time I’ve spent in this game, is there any truth that I can’t accept?

But a thought occurred to me, and I became speechless.

“I am leaving this space now.”

“Wasn’t it erased when you leave here?”

“It’s okay now. I succeeded in taking over the system to the point where the administrator didn’t notice.”

“……Why do you have to leave?”

“Of course, it’s for Zeke. I must say Zeke… . No, I will bring back Suhyuk’s happy ending.”

Again.

Maria looked at me again with loving eyes.

Holding tightly my hand that holds the key to the archive.

“Then what was the request you made in your dream? They said your life is in danger. Was it just bait to call me here?”

“True… . It was like that. I had one favor to ask. It’s very important, but I almost forgot.”

Maria lifted one hand and placed it on my head. And stroked it carefully.

“Please… . No matter what happens, please don’t give up. And please… . Please don’t hate me too much.”

“Don’t hate, who?”

“You will find out when the time comes.”

Squeak–.

A white door opened on the other side.

“You can return to the game through this door.”

“……What happens to you? They said you were going out too.”

“Don’t worry about me. If Suhyuk clears this game, he will come back.”

“What are you worried about? I feel relieved that the voyeuristic pervert has disappeared.”

“Ugh… . Thank you.”

I sighed as I saw Maria trembling slightly in pleasure.

“Ugh. I don’t understand why it’s so perverted even though it’s AI in the first place.”

“That… . Of all the senses, pain is the greatest stimulus… .”

“Ah… .”

In short, the pervert is not Maria, but the developer who created Maria.

It was information I didn’t really want to know.

*

As I entered the pure white door, densely packed bookshelves caught my eye. It was back to the library.

Looking at the wall behind it, it looks like platform 9 and 3/4 has come through the wall.

I opened the system window and inserted the key in my hand into the archive tab. Usually you have to turn the USB over and plug it in again, but this one was able to be plugged in in one go.

Eventually, the key disappeared, and the long-awaited archive tab was unlocked – but.

‘Of course it is.’

All items listed under the title Record of Truth are locked.

“……I’m rather glad.”

I wasn’t angry. It wasn’t frustrating either.

In fact, I even thought that I was glad I didn’t see this content.

The reason is simple.

Maria was in a space unaffected by the system. This clearly means that it is not affected by time reversal, retry, or even reset, which are part of the game system.

If so, then of course you know how much of a dog I behaved.

But still, Maria hid the truth. for me.

In other words, these records are something that would shock even me today.

I know very well what the content is.

That’s why I was afraid.

Knowing the truth.

“……”

Perhaps the dream that was dismissed as a mere nightmare might actually have happened.

I didn’t want to know.