Chapter 97: Secure The Genes
—Silla Metaverse, announces its entry into the metaverse market.
—Declares to implement the true meaning of metaverse using strong artificial intelligence.
The news that broke out in May morning made many people who were interested in games excited.
—It will be something different from Silla. Show us the hopeful side, not the despairing one.
—I don’t want to go into shoddy 3D buildings and do meaningless sightseeing anymore…
Some said that to realize the true meaning of metaverse, there had to be a significant advancement in the sensor part.
—Maybe in 10 years, but the technology development is not that fast.
—Silla Group will also end up using HMD and connecting to the Internet of Things.
That was something that many companies had already shown a few years ago.
They were diagnosed as failing to expand their business due to price and practicality issues, but the truth was that they didn’t feel real enough.
Why bother wearing a cumbersome display device and making a fuss when it’s just a world inside a monitor anyway?
Most people preferred to look at the monitor comfortably.
They realized that what they could achieve with HMD was nothing special once they got used to it.
In short, people wanted something that felt like real reality, but the current generation of technology was not satisfying them.
Some companies developed technology that moved with brain waves by inserting chips, but it was expected to take a long time to commercialize due to ethical and safety issues.
In such a situation, Silla Group opened two experience centers.
These experience centers were located in Korea and Mega City Pacific, one each.
The theme was metaverse.
It was an event of Silla Group, so there were a lot of people, but the competition rate was high because there were not many experience machines.
Those who failed had no choice but to watch the experience videos uploaded on YouTube.
And amazing news came out.
—I guarantee you. This technology will change the foundation of games, no, our lives.
—Everything that claimed to be metaverse so far was all garbage. This is the only real thing.
—The experience machine was a small and dark room. Suddenly the surroundings brightened and I was in a forest. I will never forget the sound of birds, the wind that I felt through my whole body, and the smell of the forest…I want to go again.
—The other demo was experiencing Space Mia. I became an astronaut whose tether was cut off and kept drifting away from Earth. It was scarier than any horror movie I’ve ever seen…When the demo ended, I realized I was crying…Silla, what have you made?
—I pissed there. Fuck.
There were also rave reviews.
The expressions were diverse, but everyone agreed that Silla Group had created a real virtual reality.
On the other hand, there were also scholars who warned that they had created a very dangerous technology.
—Making one’s senses illusionary means manipulating one’s brain waves and central nervous system. It is very dangerous and does not conform to medical ethics.
—It seems to inject some kind of gas, but there is no safety verification at all. First of all, they have to reveal the gas composition.
But no one believed that Silla would reveal the underlying technology.
Why would he do that when he didn’t have to?
He was a bona fide dictator and he could do whatever he wanted in Korea.
As the situation was, the side effects were soon forgotten and the interest shifted to how to distribute it in the future.
Silla announced that he would only operate the facilities in countries that did not demand information or raise objections.
“The experience center is just the beginning. In the future, it will be reduced to the point where it can be installed in a person’s room, and the price will go down.”
“I know what you want. Games and sex. Visit Korea and Mega City Pacific to enjoy all of this, including androids.”
It was a truly malicious promotion.
The funny thing was that there were actually a lot of people who visited Korea according to his words.
Probably because they had to get a residency permit to visit Mega City.
The airlines of various countries had to increase the number of flights and even the frequency to catch up with the demand for Korea-bound routes.
The income from this was also expected to be considerable.
But the real thing was the device that was shown at the experience center and the game that would come out later.
Many experts claimed that if he could commercialize that technology so that individuals could access it, he could make a lot of money and also ruin society at the same time.
—These days, many people find human relationships exhausting and wasteful. For them, this device will be like a savior.
—They can enjoy adventures, build relationships, and even have sex in the game…Do they really need reality?
—It’s too radical and dangerous. We will never allow this technology.
On the other hand, Silla Entertainment did not hire developers for game development.
What they needed was a fast and powerful data center for Lucia’s new artificial intelligence feature.
In this newly established center, game engines were created and textures and modeling were generated at a speed that human developers could not compare with.
It was a speed that thousands of developers could not keep up with even if they were mobilized.
The artificial intelligence also conducted tests, and androids took care of publicity and other sales tasks.
At this point, one might wonder if humans were needed at all.
—The world of drones, androids, and artificial intelligence is coming soon. Do we need humans there?
—Maybe that’s why they give allowances to Mega City residents. Now let’s leave everything to artificial intelligence and turn humans into consumers.
—The same thing will probably happen in Mega City that will be built in Korea. People who can’t move into Mega City may have to seriously worry about their survival.
There had been a lot of talk about providing basic income to prepare for the artificial intelligence revolution, but this was the first time it was actually realized.
As the situation reached this point, crimes or nuisances that lowered CP decreased drastically.
Those who were inherently impulsive and destructive had been transferred to Terra Island long ago, and those with low judgment also began to realize slowly.
—There are only two ways. Either run away to a foreign country where there is no surveillance, or raise CP.
Running away to a foreign country was a much better option than living quietly and raising CP.
Because they gave various benefits if they raised CP.
And so Korea began to change into a country where no sound of cracking could be heard even on the street all day long.
When people stood at a crosswalk without traffic lights, all vehicles stopped as if they had an appointment.
It was a sight that was hard to see in the previous Korea.
A foreign sociologist who observed this phenomenon felt bitter.
“It is undeniable that immediate and terrifying feedback is effective…On the other hand, I wonder what Silla is pursuing through these things. I hope it doesn’t harm humanity.”
And less than two months later, Silla Group released a personal metaverse device and a corresponding game.
People who were waiting eagerly rushed in.
….
“Umm…”
Hwang Sun-young was lost in thought as the game release was approaching.
One was a typical isekai hero story, and the other was a bizarre action story set in space.
“Fight against the machine lifeforms that invade from outer space as an assault armor pilot and protect the Earth? That’s too simple, isn’t it?”
“The system and content will be added later. Why don’t you just enjoy this for now? You’ve seen enough of isekai stories in novels and anime.”
Lucia recommended 2180, The Extinction of Humanity, a space game with that title.
But it didn’t suit Hwang Sun-young’s taste at all.
“Get rid of it, I don’t like that heavy stuff. And the space feedback is weird. It’s dizzying to float around.”
The metaverse device that was distributed to individuals was a low-cost version that simplified the actual assault armor cockpit as much as possible.
The sensors were also simplified, and the central signal transmission fluid was replaced with gas, so they could only give light feedback.
Also, the users were not trained pilots, so there was some sense of incongruity.
That manifested as side effects such as delay or dizziness, but it varied from person to person and was at a level that could be compromised.
“Come on, let’s do this. It’s not all about fighting, you can also fly spaceships and travel…”
Lucia tried again, but Hwang Sun-young’s preference remained the same.
“No, I like isekai. I’m going to be a princess there.”
“Are you sure you can do that?”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
Lucia laughed wickedly and the payment button was pressed.
Soon after, the metaverse device was delivered to their studio apartment.
While the androids were installing it, Hwang Sun-young checked her account and made a sad face.
“I have to live on rice for a year…”
“There’s no difference from before.”
“Well, yeah.”
She was optimistic as long as she had books and food.
A little later, the installation was finished and the androids left after telling them the precautions.
“Lucia, if I collapse in there, don’t take me to the hospital, just lay me down at home, okay?”
“Do you think this is a respawn point? The system will automatically check it even if I don’t.”
“This place is scary…”
“Let’s…go in.”
They went in and waited for the gas to fill the device.
As they felt their bodies floating and their vision brightened, they were soon in a dark forest.
Hwang Sun-young groped around habitually and grabbed Lucia’s hand.
It was a nice world where they could link data and accompany each other if they had an android.
“Huh…hello? Wow, this feels so real. Status window.”
The stats came up, but they were so pitiful that it was hard to look at them with open eyes.
Lucia sighed.
“It’s going to be tough to survive in this harsh isekai with you.”
“No, I can raise my stats. But how do I become a princess? I want a huge library.”
“Don’t you love reading books but hate reading manuals? There’s nothing easy here except dying. Work hard.”
“Where do I start?”
At that moment, an arrow flew by and grazed Hwang Sun-young’s cheek and stuck into the ground.
It felt so real that she instinctively touched her cheek.
“A-a arrow came…”
Lucia looked around and said.
“It’s an elf. They don’t seem to welcome us.”
“Weren’t elves kind forest keepers?”
“The elves in this game are fascists who built a great empire, and this is their hunting ground! Run!”
They ran hard, but they couldn’t get far and were logged out.
Their vision darkened and they returned to reality soon after.
Hwang Sun-young touched her cheek and complained.
“Why is it so hard?”
“How about trying the space game?”
“I’m going to look up some strategies. Other people must have played this too.”
But there wasn’t much to call a strategy.
—Run until the arrows stop coming. And find a safe place to hide.
—It gets more dangerous at night. The elf nobles release monsters to hunt. These monsters actively look for human traces…
—There is no real strategy, just getting lucky enough to get out of the forest. Try at least dozens of times.
“Oh dear.”
Hwang Sun-young obediently gave up and started the space game.
Fortunately, this game was perfect for playing with Lucia.
They needed cooperation because they had to mine minerals while flying a spaceship and such.
The difficulty was not that high either, so much so that the previous isekai game felt strangely weird.
“I feel like the developer is trying to steer us this way…”
“Don’t be paranoid. Come on, the first step is to find the abandoned base. Let’s fix the engine first.”
After that, it was a series of tasks such as repairing the spaceship and restoring the abandoned base.
They continued to resist the space monsters and obtained a radio signal from the United Human Federation, which they set as their goal.
The first impression was not great, but once they tried it, it felt quite fun with the vast setting, clear goal presentation, and rewards.
But there were some things they couldn’t understand.
“Are these space monsters made of black metal? I mean, is black metal their skin?”
“Maybe?”
“Well, it’s a game.”
The setting was too unrealistic for Hwang Sun-young, who remembered very well the laser show of Ion Beam that defended the night sky of Seoul during the Second Korean War.
Anyway, the space game seemed to have something that made men’s hearts burn.
The game was especially popular among foreigners, who couldn’t record their gameplay due to its nature. They could only drool over the videos they saw online.
“Damn, I should have been born in Korea.”
“There’s one way, my friends. Let’s go to Korea for this summer vacation. We can’t buy it as individuals, but we can play it at a place called a PC bang.”
“This is like a game novel. The sad thing is that we’re not the protagonists.”
“Who cares if we’re not the protagonists? I’m going to fight with Lord of the Rings orcs and have sex with Korean-style elves this summer!”
“You don’t know anything. The forest is full of players who died as soon as they set foot there. That software is a taboo among Koreans right now.”
“By the way, who is that Uber pilot of the United Human Federation in the 2180 Human Extinction game? He single-handedly destroyed a space monster fleet? Is that even possible?”
“It’s just a game setting. Don’t be so serious.”
“This is the true metaverse.”
Conversations like this continued around the world, and the otakus in Japan couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to go on a group expedition to Korea.
The foreigners who visited Korea were surprised to see androids walking around, something they had only heard of in their countries.
No matter how much information they accessed or how many videos they watched on YouTube, nothing could compare to seeing it in person.
As a result, the number of tourists visiting Korea increased by more than 10 times, and the tourism balance also improved significantly.
As the metaverse received positive feedback, Arma proceeded to the next step.
Most of the outstanding assault armor pilots were male.
Assault armor had ether reverse fields and various devices to reduce gravity, but operating it for a long time required tremendous physical strength and concentration.
In the 22nd century, women could modify their bodies as much as they needed, and there was little difference between them and men in most areas.
However, there was a very slight difference in the instinctive senses that humans had developed since primitive times.
That slight difference made a difference between life and death on the battlefield, so the Unified Space Force preferred to select men as much as possible.
On the other hand, there were areas where women excelled.
Later, in the field known as Aether circuits, they could handle black metal or artifacts of the foretellers more delicately.
Lucia was a representative example.
If you look at the researchers of the artifact analysis agency, there are many more women than men.
There were people like who could do both, but he was a miracle in himself, so he was not counted here.
The two games that Silla Metaverse and Entertainment released were designed to select people with such pilot-like abilities.
The fantasy game selected people with genes related to instinctive senses, while the sci-fi game selected people with genes specialized for operating assault armor.
Since the goals of the two games were different, they had to set different levels of difficulty. The former was established as an extremely difficult game.
It was rumored in the world as “one minute fantasy life”.
It meant that an ordinary person would die within a minute of logging in.
—Where did my happy fantasy life go with a witch picking me up?
—This is what a fantasy novel without cheats is like… It’s spicy and hot.
—There’s no answer to this. You have to keep moving and not stop for a second.
—-Where are my elf eyes? All I see are arrogant racists who ignore humans.
—The elves here are fascists who built an empire with their long lives and magic. Think of Hitler’s Third Reich perfected.
—Speaking of Hitler, I think of Yu Ji-ha.
—At least Yu Ji-ha didn’t discriminate against races… He said Megacity was a multi-racial city, right?
—He must be so efficient that he doesn’t care about anything else.
—Has anyone escaped the forest?
—Not that I know of…
This game was actually a direct adaptation of Yu Ji-ha’s dream.
He had started to dream of things he had never experienced since he absorbed the artifact of the foreteller into his body.
He vividly remembered the night when all of humanity suffered sorrow, let alone anything else.
That was an event that happened before Yu Ji-ha was born.
Anyway, he didn’t take this fantasy-related dream seriously because it was too absurd.
Arma processed it and made it into a game while transferring his soul.
It wasn’t made to make money, so the difficulty level was beyond imagination.
Some gamers who liked this kind of game persisted, but even the most hardcore ones couldn’t last an hour.
The metaverse device didn’t give any cheats.
No matter how good a human was, they couldn’t beat an elf, and the place was a dangerous forest.
So most of the guides advised to hide rather than run away.
But there was one person.
A user who ran out of the forest recklessly appeared.
He didn’t enjoy games much and had never seen any guides.
He just ran away from the elves’ pursuit for five hours.
He barely escaped the forest, but what greeted him was not a helping hand, but a giant robot.
“Ah, why.”
He left this one word and was logged out by being stepped on by the robot.
His friends made a fuss, but he tried to leave the room with a headache.
“It’s not that fun. I’m not playing.”
“No, Seo-jun, don’t say that. It’s really fun if you keep playing.”
Yu Ji-ha and Arma checked this data.
“His name is Park Seo-jun, a high school student.”
“He’s quite talented.”
“We confirmed the expression of the avoid gene.”
“He dodged arrows almost instinctively…”
This gene would not be preserved unless they lived in a natural environment.
This student lived in a rural area, but it was almost a miracle that he preserved his gene without losing it.
“Anyway, he’s a very promising candidate right now. Talk to his parents and bring him over. It would be better to send him to study in Seoul.”
Which parent would refuse if Silla Group offered to sponsor him?
Arma suggested.
“Fatima is about the same age as him. Should we make them go to the same school?”
“That would be fine. If they get together, they’ll have a baby with excellent genes. As for his face… It might be good to give him plastic surgery.”
Fatima was 16 years old and very sensitive to men’s faces.
For her, who had few friends, a man who received Silla Group’s sponsorship and was handsome would be quite attractive.
Of course, Arma couldn’t do anything about their relationship, but they would get along if they hung out together.
“If they refuse our offer, offer them an android.”
“Yes. And Master, I went to America for a while as you said.”
She went to America without any work to see Yu Ji-ha’s parents.
“What did they say?”
“They just said they were satisfied with their current life… They didn’t even take the money I gave them. They said they had enough.”
“Then that’s fine.”
He hadn’t contacted Yu-kyung-seok and Jung Hye-won for quite a while.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say that they didn’t want to see his face.
Their son suddenly inherited the entire group and started producing strange technologies.
Their son who went through the Korean War and became a dictator who oppressed and killed many people.
And finally, their son who killed Lee hyung-seok, who became his brother-in-law.
Could they really accept Yu Ji-ha as their son?
They were awkward when he inherited the group, and now they didn’t even meet each other.
Arma spoke quietly.
“I tried to talk to them a little… They said they realized that you weren’t their child when you called her mother for the first time.”
“I guess something felt weird even though I made an excuse that I lost some of my memory.”
“Maybe it’s because something like a name is instinctive. The original never called her mother since he was young. He only said mom.”
“It was our mistake not to catch that kind of sentiment from the original.”
“At first, they thought they should treat you well because you had their child’s body, and they were genuinely happy when you developed the battery. But after that…”
“They must have felt like you were a completely different person. They probably felt disgusted by that.”
“Not disgusted, but they definitely felt that you weren’t their son. They said it was hard to continue the relationship.”
“That’s fine. So, what’s the possibility of them exposing the truth?”
“None for now. They seem to hope to be forgotten under the protection of the United States.”
“I wonder if the US will leave them alone…”
The current McKinley president didn’t seem to bother him much, but the situation might change if the Democrats took power.
Yu Ji-ha sent Arma away and looked at the dark main screen of the bridge.
He had the goal of eradicating the plague and preserving humanity, but sometimes he felt depressed.
He used Yu-kyung-seok and Jung Hye-won’s relationship to take advantage of his position as a Korean and a third-generation chaebol, but now he was in a position to completely break away from them.
‘In the end, nothing changes, but why do I feel so empty?’
Was it because of the sense of loss from losing someone he had a little connection with?
He acted like a machine, but he was not a machine, but a human being with emotions.
He didn’t show it because he thought it was unnecessary for his purpose.
He had to preserve and advance humanity and technology by using coercive means, and there was no room for emotions to interfere.
It would be troublesome if he made friends with someone and it caused trouble for his plan.
But now he felt lonely.
‘If only Lucia were here…’
She was dead and couldn’t come back.
Her memory existed in the Settler, but he couldn’t say that she was the same person even if he injected that memory into a human body.
Yu Ji-ha called someone.
“Arma.”
“Yes, Master.”
Arma came in and stood next to him, then guessed his condition and knelt down.
“I can’t be Lucia for you, but I can be a substitute.”
It was based on Lucia’s personality.
He didn’t express her appearance and character because he hated her, but now he longed for them.
“Don’t leave me, Arma. You’re the only one…”
“Who said I’m going to leave nicely? Close your eyes, I’m going to have some fun. Well, it doesn’t matter if you keep them open.”
It was Lucia’s unmistakable way of speaking.
When he closed his eyes, Arma smiled and took off her glasses and untied her hair.
Her dazzling blonde hair flowed down.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺