Chapter 388

[Resonance Gallery – Moonlight Soul]

[Concept Article]

[Season 662607015 – Is there any suspicion of hacks?][62]

I also believe that hacks cannot exist in virtual reality games, but what are these records?

(Duel boss battle single section time attack record.jpg)

Currently, the nicknames of 2, 8, 17, 19, 28 are all in the ‘Username_Number’ format.

Is this correct?

[Comments]

-Are you not the admin?

-The total clear time exceeds 2 hours, but you cleared the boss battle in under 20 minutes? Hmmm…

└ Reasonable doubts arise.

-Is it possible that rankers collectively cursed the game company and got suspended?

└ No way; there are people all over the place.

-I checked the user information window, but there are no game records except for Moonlight. Seems like a secondary account.

-Anyway, file a report.

A user looking through the interval records revealed various usernames that had appeared in Resonance.

Opinions flew around, saying AI had played a virtual reality game directly, and for the first time, the open-world hacks were broken.

The game company only responded that the records were played normally.

While some completely lost interest, there were those who relentlessly fed the rumor throughout the weekend.

At that moment,

All the nicknames were changed simultaneously.

[#2 Janseol Emika]

[#8 Janseol Sowol]

[#17 Raon Yuri]

[#19 Raon Jinho]

[#28 Raon Minchan]

* * *

“Thank you all for your hard work completing the training over the past week. It was my first time teaching a large group of people, so I was half worried and half excited, but thanks to the active participation of the Raon clan members, I feel relieved that it ended successfully.”

“Waaaaaaaa!”

Applause erupted.

The atmosphere was more lively than I expected, and I hesitantly took the microphone again.

“You can think of this experience as recreation in the midst of a busy life, or you can consider it a turning point in your life. The only thing I truly wish is that when the Imperial Palace Sword Method appears at the national exchange tournament, all of you feel pride in it. Thank you.”

“Clan leader, you did great too!”

“NaeMe clan leader is the best!”

During the training program, I had busy days without a moment to breathe.

It was no easy task for the two of us, Emika and I, to check the postures of the 20 clan members one by one.

Moreover, my opponent was a current professional in the magical arts industry.

I did my utmost to avoid running an amateur operation against professionals.

If everyone views it positively, that is something to be thankful for.

“Clan leader, I learned so much from your class! Is there any way to learn the Imperial Palace Sword Method separately? Personally, I’m very interested.”

“Well, I do have plans, but nothing concrete has been laid out yet. My goal is to conduct apprentice-style training, but since there isn’t a master to teach me, I might just have to create an online course.”

“Haha! If you record lectures, please do contact me! I’ll be waiting.”

The final task of the training was to defeat the ‘Berstaphen-style AI’ registered in Resonance.

While clan members who had played games extensively cleared it easily, there were some who were not familiar with virtual reality games and struggled through.

In the end, everyone passed smoothly, however.

“NaeMe, good job.”

“Emika, you worked harder. Are you flying out today?”

“Yeah, I’m heading to prepare for the tournament again.”

“I’ll be cheering for you from the other side of the screen. Don’t lose to anyone with your sword.”

Gathering the Raon clan members to line them up in the rankings was also done for viral purposes.

Even without Katsuhata Emika, there needed to be an incentive for the Imperial Palace Sword Method to appear attractive.

For now, Resonance is a profitable game.

Rankers in Resonance can earn significant income from personal broadcasts, making it an enticing topic for many teenagers.

‘Should I actually try playing Resonance myself?’

At that moment, troubled with my future plans from various angles, an urgent message came from Adella.

[Adella: Unnie, I think I might have been caught…!]

* * *

I exited the capsule and opened Adella’s door.

“Why, do you want the light off?”

With a 99% probability that she would call me urgently just to ask to turn off her room light.

Adella was crouched with her knees tucked into her t-shirt, staring at the computer screen.

“Hey, if you sit like that, your clothes will stretch. So why did you call me?”

The thumb she had been gnawing on got nibbled off.

She tousled her hair wildly and screamed.

“Aaaah! How did I get caught by such a crazy person!”

Could it really be that 1% chance?

I stiffened my expression and glanced at the screen she was looking at.

An email that had flown to Adella’s personal Twish broadcasting studio.

“Subject: Do you know all your truths?”

“Haaah…”

Adella shut her eyes tightly, leaning back in her chair, as if she didn’t want to see it.

I scrolled slowly through the content, digesting each word.

A deep sigh echoed in the background periodically like an alarm.

“Originally, if the AI Adella was broadcasting as a VTuber, at some point, an unidentified human has been impersonating Adella, taking over the broadcasts?”

“Phew…”

“You have evidence that you are Adella’s stand-in, so if you want to dispose of the material right away, please transfer 200 million won in cash… This is outright blackmail?”

“Ugh…”

“How did you get caught? What evidence is there?”

Adella hung her head low.

“I was at a cafe, reporting on the community and finances with my laptop… I think this bastard took a screenshot of my laptop screen while I was in the bathroom. I’m sure I closed my laptop when I wandered off.”

“Was there no password? What about CCTV?”

“It seems to have been taken a month ago. So there probably isn’t any CCTV left… What should I do now?”

“Wait a moment, let’s sort our thoughts.”

I sat on the bed and closed my eyes.

In the quiet room, the sound of the ticking clock echoed in my ears.

Adella remained silent, keeping her mouth shut tightly, as this incident was due to her negligence.

“Okay. Let’s ask this first. This person sees you, a human, and the ‘AI Adella’ as completely separate entities. You’re simply a person who resembles Adella, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Why does that person think we’re using a stand-in?”

“Actually, I exchanged texts earlier… I’m sorry! I contacted you without consulting you first!”

“Can I take a look?”

I reviewed the text messages again.

Some questions were resolved.

Even if one could claim to be an AI with self-awareness, people didn’t quite grasp the extent of that.

There are many ASIs that communicate with people without any sense of discomfort, making distinctions even more ambiguous.

The reason we put a stand-in was to highlight Adella’s existence beyond the concept of an AI, making her appear more human.

The blackmailer seems to have been diligently pulling their Sherlock Holmes routine alone.

“Was it me or Kariri who prompted that? Or maybe it was both?”

“Yeah…”

“Completely missed the point, but the context is the same. What should we do?”

The blackmailer probably hadn’t considered that the body now owned by Adella would be one and the same as the AI Adella.

That strays far into the realm of fantasy, so the conclusion had likely stemmed from a reasonable deduction.

“Actually, it’s not completely unheard of in the community. I did broadcasts for four consecutive days when I didn’t have a body before, but these days I have to pop out at intervals due to the bathroom.”

“Suspicion would arise.”

“Yeah. When viewers joke in the chat asking if I went to the bathroom, I honestly get a little startled every time.”

Adella had her gaze lowered, wrapping her arms around her legs.

To hide the tears welling up in her eyes, she suddenly lifted her head and blinked frequently.

“Stopping the broadcast would be… impossible at this point, right?”

“If you disappear without giving an explanation, it will eventually affect NaeMe unnie too… And I want to keep broadcasting as much as possible.”

Adella earnestly expressed her feelings.

Tick-tock, time flowed like a river that did not stop.

I took my phone out of my pocket and made a call.

“Who are you contacting?”

“Just a moment, hold on.”

I stood up from the bed and started pacing in the middle of the room.

It was uncertain whether I would be able to reach someone due to the overlap with rush hour.

Fortunately, luck was on my side this time.

[Hello, this is Lee Hyun-seo, Executive Director of TwoWorld’s Innovation Strategy Division.]

“Director Lee Hyun-seo?”

[Mr. NoName, it’s been a while! What’s the occasion for your call? By the way, did you know I’m being appointed as Vice President next week?]

“Pardon? No, no.”

[Oh, I see.]

“I was wondering if you knew who the employee was from WearSoft who designed and modeled Adella. I was curious if you were also outsourcing to Ophelia.”

[Hmm… As far as I know, there was no character designer at WearSoft when Adella was created. It’s possible the game scenario writer had input, but usually, they wouldn’t get into that much detail, right?]

“So the overall work was done under Ophelia’s leadership? Including her appearance, right?”

[Yes. Also, for aspects like appearance, these days, they use AI to randomly generate designs and select the best ones. Unless it’s characters on the level of Giselle or Luna, Adella… Oh! The story for Adella wasn’t in the original plan! So it’s definitely Ophelia’s creation.]

“Thank you. I’ll treat you to a meal later.”

[What? I’m grateful to you—]

*click*

I had successfully passed the first hurdle.

Excluding the small number of new employees producing the open-world background, most of Ophelia’s current employees were serving prison sentences.

Given that they had participated in unethical acts using ASIs among themselves, it would be acceptable to add a few more charges.

“What’s up? What’re you planning to do?”

“Adella, listen carefully.”

I firmly grabbed Adella’s shoulders and pressed our foreheads together.

“You’re now the victim of the Valpurgis who is more pitiful than I am.”

A method to affirm Adella’s body while concealing human transmutation.

By making Adella a victim of capsule confinement like me, I had come up with the only solution.