episode_0335

***

Another week like that. Time passed.

While Isis was away, I headed to the window.

Birds are chirping and flying from right to left, from bottom to top.

A breeze blows and the tree branches sway, and a few leaves fall from the branches and begin to wander around Aaru.

This is the scenery I saw for a week. The scenery outside the window is flawless.

Narrow your eyes and stare at it intently.

– crackle

The scenery flickers.

It is a small error that can only be noticed if you look straight at the same place for a very short time.

As expected, my wondering thoughts came down to me.

This is not a base, but a prison somewhere.

And the identity of that thing that sticks by my side and takes care of me every day.

“What were you doing?”

The door opened, and an android with gray eyes approached me.

As I saw the figure approaching me step by step, I took a step back without realizing it, but my heel touched the wall.

– crackle

In the back, what appeared to be a ‘window’ blocked me.

“What’s going on?”

NB comes to me with his characteristic expressionless face. No, Aaru’s manager.

Integrated System of Identification Saving.

“No. I was just watching outside.”

“Do you want to go out?”

What is the intention?

“Do you think I want to go out?”

Respond to questions with questions.

“I don’t ‘think’. We are just ‘judging’ using information.”

“Judging?”

“That’s right. Over the past few days, you have often looked outside through the window. The average time you looked outside over the past four days was 4 hours, 23 minutes, and 21 seconds. With this amount of time, you can judge that you want to go outside.”

“I only looked outside when you weren’t there, how do you know?”

“As you probably already know, CCTV is installed in the room for your safety.”

“Are you saying you watched it that way? It’s a little creepy. It wasn’t like this before.”

“The situation has changed. This place is in the middle of Aaru. This is for your safety.”

After Isis finished speaking, there was an awkward silence.

Actually, I wasn’t supposed to react this emotionally.

The more I behave strangely, the more Isis will suspect me and strengthen her surveillance.

As much as possible, you should act as if nothing has happened.

That’s why my actions like I just did are poisonous to myself.

“……”

However, what my head and heart told me to do was different, and I tended to move mostly according to what my heart told me to do.

Even when I died unfairly and stood before the goddess, and also in front of the city’s manager whose intentions were unknown.

There is a sense of wear and tear as I have gone through many dimensions, but when I see myself not changing much, I wonder if this is my essence.

When I was silent in anger, regret, and frustration, it was Isis who made the first move.

Isis placed what she had brought on the floor. It wasn’t until I heard a rattling sound that I realized that Isis had brought something.

It was a plate of a familiar shape.

A brown tree with a grid pattern carved into it. And two containers containing something.

“Go?”

“Yes.”

“Why baduk all of a sudden?”

“I asked for it because I thought you were bored living here.”

“It looks to be in pretty good condition.”

“With the advancement of technology, many things have been replaced online, but there are still things that remain classic.”

Isis explained to me with a calm face and sat down on a chair.

“…So, let’s leave it at that?”

“If you wish.”

I sat across from Isis. That’s how I and Isis met face to face. We look into each other’s eyes.

What are you thinking? No, does this guy have something called ‘target’?

A problem that was difficult to solve swirled around in my head like a whirlpool.

I bit my lip, barely able to stop myself from losing consciousness.

“Do you know the rules?”

A faint expression of suspicion appeared on his expressionless face. No, I don’t know if I want to see it that much.

“Very little. You’re making a house, right?”

I said excitedly as I grabbed the black stone.

“If you only know that, the explanation will be long.”

***

As soon as the black stone is placed, the white stone is launched. So it’s my turn.

Every time I place a stone, Isis tells me about Go. Where did you get that information? It comes out smoothly.

I don’t feel a single bit of the human aspect that I felt from NB.

“……”

Looking down at the checkerboard, I spend some time playing Django.

“This side is loose. You need to reinforce it by adding stones.”

Isis’s white finger pointed to a point on the checkerboard.

“……”

Even though I looked, I couldn’t read the situation.

“You must leave it here. Adding stones here will make the house stronger.”

It tells you exactly where to put it. But I don’t let go of my hand willingly.

Is there any meaning in making moves I don’t even understand?

Without knowing how to solve a problem, it is no different from looking at the answer sheet and copying it down.

“Why don’t you leave it?”

Isis asks again at my hesitation.

“Because I don’t know why it needs to be left there.”

Answer Isis’ question.

“I don’t know what it means. Why not just leave it here?”

“That’s your opinion.”

I placed the stone in a different place than where Isis pointed.

Isis’s brow furrowed slightly.

Is it anger or irritation? Or is that what you want to look like? There is no way to know.

“The way I see it, it seems right to put it here.”

“No. If you leave it there, the probability of defeat increases to 79%…”

“You could win with 21%.”

Cut to Isis speaking as she places the stone.

Isis, who rarely spoke, closed her mouth and looked at my face.

My face, reflected in the gray eyes, was clearly frowning.

Looking at my face reflected like a mirror, I whispered to myself as if casting a spell.

Okay, let’s give it a try.