The rubble of the collapsed building was around three stories high, and someone peaked their head out.
“Wow, fuck… bastard, till the very end.”
It was the AI.
His clothes were torn, and his hair looked a bit scorched and scattered as if it had been chewed on by rats. The figure which crawled out of the rubble was a mess.
But Seol-Hwi sincerely conceded that guy was absolute when it came to combat.
When approaching Wang Mo-ryeok, the AI used Shaolin, Wudang, and Mount Hua’s skills. He could even block the enemy’s attacks and use the technique Seol-Hwi could not.
And it was to lay the foundation for the special technique.
The old man countered it at the last moment ,and the body of Seol-Hwi suffered fatal wounds.
But that too was kind of a calculated trick.
And to counter the attack which was equally strong, he used the medicine in the belt without hesitation. It was a victory won by a bold move.
If he hesitated even a little, it would have been the old man’s win, not theirs.
-Is the body alright?
“Will it be fine? You shit head. Why is the body so…”
Seeing the AI grumble like this, he changed the topic.
-The extension of time is to talk?
“Well you are foolish and a fool so I want to tell you a few important things. Why, shouldn’t I have?
-…No, I am good.
His tone was rather angry, and it felt like getting on his nerves was not right.
Seol-Hwi knew he was not looking down on him or anything. Of all the advice he had given, there was nothing which hurt him, only things which helped.
And he was always aware of each second as the longer the conversation went the harder seeing him would be.
“Don’t worry. It will be better to hear me out right now than to call me out later.”
-If you are saying it, then that is fine. Can I ask something first?
“Uh, go on.”
-Who are you?
This was what Seol-Hwi was most curious about. The existence of this guy, the options in life, what were they?
“Who I am… is complicated to speak of, well. You can be told like this. I haven’t been in much of a different situation from yours.”
-If your situation isn’t different…
“It is how it is.”
It was somewhat an expected answer. Actually, that was something Seol-Hwi could guess considering he knew a lot of answers to his problems.
-But how did you turn into an AI?
“Because I have reached that point. When you reach the end of the system you are going through, you are forced to make a choice. And there I chose to become an AI.”
-The end of my life is to turn to an AI?
“To be precise, it couldn’t be anything other than an AI. But almost all ended up in dead ends as they died before reaching it.”
-What do you mean?
“We call a chosen one like you a ‘player,’ and approximately 50 million people entered this system. There is a trick I learned after I came in. Of those many people, only two managed to become an AI. And other than me and that one, the others couldn’t even get close to it.”
A whole 50 million people—
There were that many people in the same situation as him?
And most didn’t even get to the end?
-Who is the other one?
“I am sorry but I cannot tell you this. This is for your sake.”
-What do you mean? For me?
The AI did not respond.
Seol-Hwi frowned and then changed the subject.
-Do all those 50 million people start with being subordinate to the Supreme Pavilion Lord?
“No. Each of them is a player with a different starting point. Some under the First Disciple, some Second, and so on. In some cases, they start with being under the Earth Demon.”
-Then by any chance, the long spear is…
“Right. That is a weapon that you would get if you followed the life choice of going under the First Disciple.”
As he thought.
And now, when he met Yupae, he seemed to know the path of going under the Second Disciple too.
That each player had a different starting point and their own path.
-Where did you start?
“Fourth Disciple. But unlike you, I started in the Hidden Truth Corps and not at the bottom.”
It was then that he realized why he knew the future to his path.
Since it was different from the start, it seemed that this was the reason why he would swear at him for being incompetent.
“Do not forget this. I will say it again, the next life will have to be carried out in a different way.”
-Different way?
“This situation here. It might be your first time, but I have been through this ten times and strictly speaking the martial arts varies each time… but well, with your current skills you die here.”
-Why? Is Goo Jong-myung here?
“No. He is in another mess. But the most important place among the pavilions is the Supreme Pavilion and since that and the library fell, people must be coming. And that will make Goo Jong-myung move.”
-No, the First Disciple….
“Right. It is Hyang Gae, the right hand of the First Disciple and a ranked 10th member.”
-…!
It gave him goosebumps as he just barely managed to get away from the old man, and now he could not even imagine what the skills of a warrior who was in the upper ten would be like.
“So what I mean is… give up the life here and when you start the next one do not live like this and watch the things from afar.”
-Watch things from afar?
“The central plains where the influence of the Demonic Sect isn’t much. Fortunately, you have a unique body so if you hide well you will not be figured out.”
-Sorry, but I do not have many lives.
“No, this much will do. You might not have seen it because of adjustment problems but the old man gives eight lives. I think you can invest two into what I said.”
-Eight lives? Well, sure.
Was the old man not a Supreme Demon? Trying to beat an impossible opponent has to give good results.
-But, what do I do in the central plains?
“Watch. Watch how the battle for the successor of the sect proceeds, who will win it, and how the fight ends. And when will the invasion into the central plains be? Keep watching things happen. There is nothing better than knowing the future before jumping in to fight.”
-Ah…
It was an approach he had never thought of. And it was right to say that he did not have the time for it.
Right, this was right.
—this curse on himself and the situation never getting any better. When a crisis would come, how the situations flowed, everything was unknown.
If he now had eight lives, then spending one or two on that was not a bad decision.
And he can see how the situation within the sect and the future of the Fourth Disciple would be like.
This is why it didn’t matter if AI was here for long now.
If he chose a different life, there would be little need to call the AI. After a few years or decades in another life, he can call the AI again.
“Then if you start over, do not choose this path. The current one is odd and way too dark.”
-Can I not get stronger?
“Brat. I have fought with Hyang Gae over ten times and won. But do you know how? Taking things more seriously. It isn’t all about going after Goo Jong-myung. Before long, you will hit a strong wall. And even if you get a hundred times stronger, you cannot overcome that wall.”
-No… sect leader? Is the Heavenly Demon coming too?
“…I cannot answer that. I know that it will only bring pain. But this is not the path.”
-Fine. Then which way should I go?
“If I knew that I wouldn’t be an AI.”
-What is that…
He was about to retort but went silent because he could guess what he meant.
No matter which path it was, he would die, and the path he was currently on would bring death in the shortest time of them all.
Silence fell around as he felt thoroughly frustrated. The AI was the one person he could trust.
How could he accept such words from him, telling him to throw away this life because it was hopeless.
The silence did not last long as the AI said,
“You can roughly understand it, right?”
-Yes. I think it happened in the middle of our conversation.
Not much but he heard it.
—Hyang Gae.
He could feel the flow of a strong man.
“I put the shoes and belt in the tool box and I left the sword as it is. They will be useless later but now they are important, and now I am saying this as I am a bit concerned….”
The AI paused and said,
“How about dying just now?”
-…Uh?
“If this continues, the shock you get will be too much. You will probably wish for death by suicide too.”
-W-what do you mean?
“What I mean… well, no. Maybe this is an experience you need. Pretend you didn’t just hear me say that.”
-Saying something nice would you?
I just wanted to ask if he could speak outright, but he would get angry, and the AI being angry would not give him better information.
600… 601…
While watching this he said,
-But you see. Why are you telling me all this?
“…What do you mean?”
-Everything in such detail, mentioning not just another path but a different one to go further. Am I overthinking this? You seem to continue to be an AI given to players… you don’t have to go this far.
He was curious about this, the kindness the AI was showing him.
It was obvious that he must have lived through hellish times and repeated being an AI to countless players.
“Well. Because there is this thing called romance.”
-…Romance?
“Yes, a romantic sight I hadn’t seen in a long time. Most players rush to secure lives and prioritize surviving longer. But you instead spend a lot of effort on your subordinates.”
-…
“Especially saving that child when there was no way out alive. Actually, even though I have seen many players, such things rarely happen. I was tired of being through 3000 reincarnations and the same situations. But I asked for another again and again.”
-…?
“You started lower than most players, as a member who didn’t belong to a pavilion. But your growth was fastest and in particular the Taiji energy which unites the demonic energy and more stands out. I have lived thousands of lives and not once did I see this happen, so I decided to put my hopes on you.”
Seol-Hwi did not respond but just continued to listen.
“Hopefully we meet again. And let me tell you, no matter how much the system interferes with the lives of people, still not everything in life can be decided as we want. So do not get too caught up with the choices it gives and find a way to jump over it. So…”
He paused and smiled as he said,
“You can surpass me by then. I will tell you why it is important in the next meeting.”
And with that the smile of the AI wavered and he knew why.
<Returning to original body.>
The window popped up.
And another window came.
[731 days. The AI cannot be called during this period.]
The time he could next use the AI was two years and one day away.
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