Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 210
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 210
48. Preparations for the Worst (4)
As I, who had briefly stepped out, opened the door and entered again, the gazes of my parents and companions, who had been sitting in a circle around a table in the living room, turned toward me.
"You're back sooner than I thought?"
At Mother's question, I spoke as if it was no big deal.
"It was something that ended quickly."
"What about the friend who went with you?"
Friend?
It's nothing special, but it's been so long since I heard that word that it feels incredibly fresh.
Did I even have anyone I could call a friend?
Thanks to that, an involuntary hollow laugh escaped me.
"They're probably having a conversation with my younger sibling right now."
"Is that so? Good for them."
Since I'd roughly explained Benjamin beforehand, the two of them genuinely reacted as if it was a good thing.
Arcia and the others had apparently already grilled some dumplings, and were aggressively shoveling in the savory-smelling dumplings.
Korean instant dumplings, which had been well-received overseas, seemed to have captivated even my companions.
I wasn't particularly hungry, but everyone was eating so deliciously that my hand unconsciously reached for the plate.
And as I dipped a grilled dumpling in soy sauce and put it in my mouth, a nostalgic taste that stirred up memories lingered in my mouth.
"This is good."
"I bought all sorts of things anyway, so take some with you."
Seeing Arcia and Blake looking somehow satisfied, it seemed they'd already received and packed away some gifts.
So I too didn't refuse my parents' gift.
After shoving two more dumplings into my mouth at once, I grabbed the arm of Bug, who was chewing with a fork in his mouth.
Thanks to that, Bug looked up at me with a questioning expression.
"Father, what about the item I requested?"
At my question, Father nodded as if to say he hadn't forgotten.
He then guided me somewhere, which turned out to be a small room in our house used as both storage and a dress room.
That room's layout was slightly different from what I remembered.
Because instead of a clothing rack, a curtain hung along one wall.
Father drew the curtain aside with pride, and a new space appeared.
"This is the next-door unit?"
"Yeah, I figured you'd need space to use when you come with your friends, so I checked that it was vacant, bought it, and knocked through the wall."
Earlier, I had sold a large quantity of gold, created several billion won in cash, and given it to my parents.
With that kind of money, buying an old apartment in Bucheon wouldn't be burdensome, but purchasing real estate with money of unverifiable origin isn't a good idea.
I had used Mental-series magic on several people during the gold transaction process, but the funds weren't completely laundered.
Noticing my worried expression, my father let out a small chuckle.
"After the Great Catastrophe, the prices of deteriorated apartments like this dropped a lot, so they're not as expensive as you'd think. I have that kind of money myself, so don't worry."
"Then that's a relief."
After the Great Catastrophe, real estate prices plummeted worldwide, but there are a few exceptions.
South Korea was one of those few places, and that was because the country hadn't suffered major damage during the Great Catastrophe.
Currently, many people overseas consider Korea a safe zone.
It's fortunate that the current President moved quickly to restrict foreign real estate transactions if not, real estate prices alone would have skyrocketed.
Currently, real estate prices in South Korea are maintaining stability.
However, only old buildings like the apartment we're in now, whose interiors may have been damaged in any number of ways during the Great Catastrophe, have seen their prices drop.
"We'll need to make this apartment a bit more sturdy."
"Huh?"
As a faint light spread out in all directions from me, Father tilted his head in confusion.
I used reinforcement magic to increase the durability of this apartment.
Nothing looks different on the outside, but it should now have strength almost comparable to a newly built apartment.
"The house got sturdier? No matter how many times I see magic, it's still amazing."
After that, I followed Father and looked around the new space.
Aside from new wallpaper and flooring, the interior didn't seem to have been changed much.
However, the furniture and appliances were fully stocked, making it ready for immediate use.
There was a row of three large refrigerators, and when I opened them to look inside, they were packed with all kinds of snacks and drinks.
I wondered how much effort it must have taken to prepare all of this.
I need to cast healing magic on both of them before I head back today.
"Here, what you asked for."
Then Father led me to the master bedroom.
In the master bedroom, six large monitors filled one wall as if for stock trading, and three hefty PCs with an unmistakably imposing presence were also set up.
In addition, a wardrobe-sized server for data storage sat imposingly in place, making it a space where anyone would inevitably question its purpose.
"How much did you spend?"
"Setting this up cost about 200 million? I bought it with the money you gave me."
"Nice."
Naturally, production facilities around the world suffered heavy damage from the Great Catastrophe.
As a result, research hadn't progressed, so computer performance was about the same as two years prior, while prices had risen significantly.
If it were before the Great Catastrophe, the cost would likely have been much lower.
With a satisfied expression, I released the Bug that I'd been dragging along all this time.
"Ooh?"
The moment it saw the computer room, it let out an exclamation.
Looking at her, Father asked.
"I hear a workstation of this level is what university labs use what are you planning to do with it?"
In response to Father's question, I pointed at the Bug and answered.
"I'm trying to build an environment similar to Rondel here on Earth."
"Huh?"
Father tilted his head, then simply shrugged as if to say he wouldn't ask further.
He understands that his son is someone far from ordinary.
"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out on your own."
With that, Father left the room, as if trading places with Arcia.
Ever since the Ibril incident, Arcia has made sure not to leave me alone with another woman.
Even though I don't really consider the Bug a woman.
"Is it possible?"
In response to my question, the Bug sat in front of the booted computer and ran various functions.
Currently, she has received a copy of Earth's overall knowledge from Chester, the Opportunity Administrator.
Chester was born with Grand Duke Lucas's memories, so sharing Earth's information was no trouble at all.
Not just scripts and letters like English, but even related knowledge such as computers.
Thanks to that, the Bug was able to use the computer without difficulty.
"Should be fine. I've got the hang of it."
A fairly positive answer satisfying to hear.
I used one use of Hollywood System administrator authority on the Bug for this, so a negative answer would have been annoying.
-Tak, tak, tak, tak, tak!
Soon, she lined up three keyboards in a row and began striking them like a frenzied pianist.
No mouse usage whatsoever.
Her computer use began and ended entirely with commands.
Across the six monitors, countless windows opened and closed, with complex text being input as if coding.
As if gradually adapting, the bug's work speed grew faster and faster, until eventually it reached a level that was hard for an ordinary person's eyes to follow.
So what we're trying to do now is this.
As I told Father, we're trying to build an environment similar to Rondel here on Earth.
Right on the internet.
'Rondel's online system is under the management of the Hollywood System, and what governs that Hollywood System is Chester, the Opportunity Administrator.'
'Chester is my invaluable ally, collecting information as needed and disguising falsehoods as truth. Moreover, by fabricating and agitating to shape favorable public opinion, netizens' reactions are bound to be favorable to me no matter what I do.'
That's how immense the authority of the Hollywood System administrator is.
But what's unfortunate is that this authority can't be used on Earth, where the online systems are different.
Naturally, that's to be expected, but the disappointment is unavoidable.
This Earth relies on the internet just as heavily as Rondel, after all.
'Well, if it doesn't exist, let's make one.'
It was around then that I thought of one possibility.
In Rondel's virtual world, it's always suppressed by Chester and can't get a word in, but a being with comparable abilities, and one that can freely travel to Earth, was right in my grasp.
That would be the Bug the monster of the virtual world born from artificial intelligence.
"Ta-da! Look at this."
I thought that if the Bug adapted to Earth's virtual environment, she might be able to fulfill Chester's role on Rondel.
And when about ten minutes had passed since the Bug sat at the computer, she proved that this guess wasn't baseless.
As the Bug pressed Enter on the keyboard...
-Whirrrr!
The workstation PC's cooler roared as it spun up, and even though the Bug wasn't touching the PC, internet windows and system windows opened and closed on their own as it worked.
"What's going on?"
"I created a function that lets it autonomously surf the web, absorb knowledge, and grow. You could call it the seed of artificial intelligence."
"Huh..."
"For safety, it avoids places with overly strong firewalls, and it changes its address frequently so it can't be tracked. Besides, this computer's performance can't handle all its functions anyway, so I scattered fragments across external terminals here and there should be fine, right?"
"Well, as long as it doesn't get caught... But is that really true? Artificial intelligence, of all things."
"Why would I lie to you?"
I was amazed by the unbelievable speed of its work, but could something like this really be possible in just ten minutes?
It was my idea to use her, but I couldn't help but be astonished.
"Is it because Grand Duke Lucas, who created the Hollywood System, is from Earth? The environment turned out to be more similar to Rondel than I expected. Except for the differences in the medium of information transmission, language, and coding structure."
"So you're saying your abilities work just fine in Earth's environment too?"
"Yeah, you can see for yourself, right?"
The problem is I can't understand it even looking at it.
"What can you do with that thing right now?"
"There's not much it can do yet. This thing needs time to grow."
"Once it's fully grown, what can it do?"
"Anything."
"What?"
"Ahem! It'll be able to do anything. Unless some sudden monster like Chester shows up."
"Huh..."
It seems the experiment was a success.
And more so than I had imagined.
I had to wear an expression of having seen something new at the Bug's abilities, which were far more impressive than I had expected.
* * *
"So, all those people who had flocked to Daehan Electronics recovered completely and went back home?"
The Blue House of South Korea.
President Kim Min-guk furrowed his brow at the Director of the National Intelligence Service's report.
The two men were aware that the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, and other power brokers, or their families, had visited South Korea.
America was still scrambling to clean up the Great Catastrophe, with intelligence agencies like the CIA and NSA unable to function properly, but Korea was different.
Not only had it suffered minimal damage to begin with, but for a South Korea keeping a covetous eye on the North and considering a southward push at the right opportunity, pouring resources into intelligence was only natural.
"It's astonishing enough that the head of Daehan Electronics, who should have been dead, miraculously revived but now the disabled people who gathered at his invitation have all been cured as well?"
The President looked at the Director of the National Intelligence Service, as if asking how he was supposed to take this, and the Director swallowed dryly before offering one hypothesis.
"Wouldn't magic make it possible?"
"Magic? Magic, you say..."
Anyone unaware of their circumstances would have taken that conversation for a joke.
But the two men were absolutely not joking.
'Magic is real. Reiers County proved it.'
The South Korean government had established friendly relations with Reiers County and held the most information about them.
Through the Count of Reiers, they had learned that these people had crossed over from a fantasy world called Rondel and had been caught up in an accident of unknown cause.
They had even met a Mage in person, so it seemed entirely plausible that magic could perform such miracles.
"Hmm..."
With that, the President opened the laptop on his desk and played a video.
In it were figures.
Figures who not only subjugated the monsters of the poisoned lands and purified the poisoned lands, but also overwhelmed the soldiers who confronted them humans who were not human.
Within the footage, a handsome silver-haired man was shown healing a soldier who should have died from his injuries.
It was footage they had initially dismissed as unbelievable, but with the emergence of Reiers County, they came to understand that the power that healed the soldier was magic.
"I can't be the only one feeling a sense of crisis, right?"
"Given the current situation, anyone would feel a sense of crisis. If the chairman of Daehan Electronics and those who visited today were to join forces, any nation would be thrown into peril."
"I don't know who's behind them, but are they trying to take over the world in secret?"
The President said it as a joke out of sheer absurdity, but the Director of the National Intelligence Service couldn't laugh.
And so the two of them sat in silence for a long while, until the President finally gave the Director of the National Intelligence Service an order.
"Go to Reiers Castle and ask whether they know the people shown in this footage."
"Even if they do know, would they be willing to tell us?"
"Even if they pretend not to, you can still infer from the atmosphere and their expressions whether they're connected to those people or not."
"Ah..."
"So send people who are quick on the uptake."
The Director of the National Intelligence Service acknowledged the order and withdrew, and soon the President, left alone, rose from his seat and turned his gaze toward the window.
"It feels like we're at the center of a conspiracy theory. How are we supposed to act from here on?"