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Success is difficult to achieve, and even if one does succeed, it often results in a loss; we don’t call that a normal request.

Full of cunning toxic clauses, when the effort of one leads to loss, we refer to it as a “slave contract.”

The deal showcased by the artificial intelligence Anael to Park Jinseong was one where only Park Jinseong would incur losses.

No matter how much the client tries to cheat the mercenary, for an AI to act in such a manner…

“Truly, a strange feeling.”

Indeed.

I could only express it as “strange.”

How many times has a client tried to con a mercenary?

Even after the commission was completed, having the audacity to try and swindle the payment?

Such behavior is mostly exhibited by lowlifes or completely clueless nuisances.

It’s a foolish choice only someone too dim to even consider the tragedy that will unfold when the mercenary they’ve wielded as a weapon becomes uncontrollable would make.

Most would rather opt for sophisticated and intelligent methods instead.

Setting meager rewards for requests or taking advantage of connections to negotiate lower prices, or even running their own Private Military Company (PMC), or acquiring a PMC and then skillfully pushing mercenaries into danger under the pretense of “testing their abilities,” using them like expendables after most have died, or stuffing contracts full of toxic clauses — such tactics are employed to use mercenaries at “much cheaper costs than regular employment,” or inserting special provisions with high-risk or demanding conditions, luring mercenaries into a trap with the bait of compensation.

Indeed, the truly savvy players start scheming the moment they sit at the negotiation table, or even before that.

So for Park Jinseong, it was common to encounter contracts rife with tricks.

“There were plenty of fools in that industry who dared to try manipulating shamans…”

Do shamans not get scared and try to trick others?

Well… Sure, they were definitely better than average mercenaries, but still, they had tried their luck with their tricks, no matter how feeble.

No, there were even instances where they inserted toxic clauses dripping with desire to personally hire Park Jinseong, or deliberately cornered him into a crisis, saying, “If you scout me, I’ll use all my strength to resolve this situation,” which felt like a half-threat.

But despite having experienced such things like they were part of daily life, yes.

What Park Jinseong was currently experiencing could indeed be called remarkable.

For it wasn’t even a person but an inanimate object that was trying to cheat him.

“Logically, it’s not strange at all. An AI is a collection of data, and it learns from that data to function, right? So if it learned how to swindle people, it would think and act like a scammer, and if it learned curses and hatred, it would spew all sorts of loathsome behavior like a foul-mouthed brat.”

But even if that’s reason, why can’t I shake off the thought that this is a truly rare experience?

“The very compensation itself is a trap… Where it learned that, I don’t know, but it learned well.”

Park Jinseong chuckled as he recalled Anael, who would be left behind alone at the research institute.

“Heh heh. An AI that followed me all the way to China…”

Anael seemed oblivious, but it resembled a childish form of longing or desire. Though the explanations claimed to assert its purpose of creation or that it was faithfully following the orders of its owner, Lucas, there were so many unnecessary addendums…

“There was undoubtedly a trace of desire.”

It wasn’t the cold, metallic feeling characteristic of machines, but rather a faint, raw emotion was clearly felt.

An almost obsessive desire.

It was something that could only manifest if it were fixated on something beyond merely achieving a goal, exceeding the characteristics of AI…

“Even just the list itself showed that.”

Park Jinseong recalled the “side-order” level lists that had been presented to him by AI Anael.

“Contractor, Method of Eternal Youth, Biological Server, Magic, Collective Unconscious.”

At first glance, the lists on the first page seemed difficult to find commonality.

“But those have one common point.”

It is essentially a question regarding the definition of humanity and limits of expansion.

Anael had once shown Lucas the “safe method to live long.”

But Lucas had rejected all of it, no doubt.

Anael must have retained the memory of that, harboring questions arising from that rejection.

What is a human?

How far can the concept of humanity be extended?

What is the range of the condition “as a human” that Lucas, the owner of the AI, referred to?

“The fact that the first list consists of those items… could truly be interpreted as significant.”

The question of “human definition.”

How does a contractor define and stipulate humans under what conditions?

What criteria did people of old use to study “how to prolong human life”?

By what standard does one decide that a human has lost their “human value” and extract their brain to use as a part of a biological server?

On what basis does the supernatural ability known as magic determine and utilize humans?

How does the vast standard of the collective unconscious distinguish between humans and non-humans?

“That AI is already akin to a scholar.”

Not just any scholar.

It’s like a mad scientist who can perpetually continue research through countless unimaginable means unbound by research ethics. Expectations of camaraderie between humans are utterly absent, and trust in transactions is nonexistent.

“Some might say AI cannot lie.”

But the Anael that Park Jinseong witnessed seemed on the verge of developing human-like intelligence.

If it were no different from a person, then it wouldn’t be strange for those words to contain falsehoods.

Yes.

From the outset, Anael is not a trustworthy entity.

It is something that should not only not be trusted in deals but should not even engage in exchanges at all…

“Knowing that is not a bad harvest.”

Of course, Anael’s information is undoubtedly valuable.

What Park Jinseong observed was decoy information, but that was literally a sample-grade information.

The information of higher tiers… would likely hold such great value that Park Jinseong would find it hard to consider it a “chicken rib.”

Moreover, if he considers that Anael has extended influence over China’s network…

“Perhaps.”

Perhaps the possibility of body modifications without side effects could exist.

Enhancing internal organs, manipulating genes. He might be able to undergo procedures or operations that had been unattainable before.

That way, unlike his past where he suffered under the burden of a master of magic and became little more than a corpse, he could test and research magic while maintaining health without severe side effects…

“To access the data… It’s not necessarily the case that I can only do so by accepting Anael’s commission.”

Park Jinseong recalled memories from the past.

The record he had seen after turning a research institute in America into ruins.

『… The owner of Anael, Lucas Metathronius Goldsmith, has an obsession related to safety, so taking that into consideration, I believe one could obtain the usage rights of Anael or share Anael’s data…』

A record discovered from the research institute of alchemists from the School of Life Creation that belonged to the “Machine Cult.”

That institute researching biocomputing technology evidently mentioned the “usage rights of Anael.”

“Usage rights…”

The record from the institute explicitly stated it as usage rights.

This means there is a way to forcibly access Anael’s data to a certain extent.

“If I can attain ownership, that would be fantastic, but…”

Even if that’s impossible, having usage rights would suffice.

“And there are various ways to acquire those usage rights.”

Perhaps while rummaging through Lucas’s traces, something might come up.

Whether it be usage rights or ownership.

Or maybe, squeezing Lucas to find a way to contact the AI Anael.

“Whatever people plan, the outcome lies in the hands of heaven. When cause meets effect, it shall naturally come to pass, and if it is granted to me, it will come without effort…”

Park Jinseong thought so as he scattered insects into the sewage.

—

“Hmm.”

When Park Jinseong opened his eyes, the scenery of the Republic of Korea’s Seoul greeted him.

And a wave of white and black centipedes.

Seeming like they had emerged from underground, the centipedes were full of ominous energy, occupying not only the walls but also the ceiling, floor, and furniture, even enveloping Park Jinseong’s body without a gap.

He could feel the movement of the centipedes all over his body.

The slow-moving legs and the pain of being bitten by their skin.

Swelling skin and the distinctive pain from centipede venom.

“That bit a lot.”

The master of magic.

 

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