Chapter 17 : This constellation is free (6)

I couldn’t understand why the situation had changed so drastically in my first game.
The tutorial malfunctioned, and all the users’ inventories disappeared. It was ridiculous.

“I have a lot to say. It’s just sad that I can’t convey it to you.”

“What do you mean by solving my problems?”

No matter how vividly she spoke or what she offered, there was no need for me to take risks if there was no benefit for me.
A viewer, who claimed to be a developer, told me not to listen to her.

*

No matter how I look at it, I can’t believe she’s an AI.
How could science have advanced so much?
Except for the game, the world is identical to the real one.

“WooSeok, you plan to continue streaming, right?”

“I did give it some thought after seeing the comment earlier. But for now, I want to continue.”

Even if I wanted to give up, Yena’s face kept flashing before my eyes.
It was fun, but I felt like she would also regret it if I gave up here.

“But even Yena’s, a fairly large streamer, AI couldn’t block that massive amount of hateful comments, right?”

“Go on.”

“I can do it. I can manage real-time screen broadcasting, monitor comments, edit videos, and even upload them! I can do it all. Especially in other worlds, I’ll protect you from those AIs, WooSeok. They’ll definitely keep appearing.”

‘It’s a piece of cake for me, the creator god,’ Gaia added, pointing to her chest.
In the corner of my vision, the logout button flickered, as if telling me there was still a chance.

It was too beneficial a deal for me to take her words at face value, so my suspicions remained.
Not knowing her intentions was the biggest obstacle to accepting this deal.

It was too sudden, her saying that she could solve the biggest problem of my broadcasts without any conditions.
Although, if she couldn’t solve it, there would be no next broadcast.

“From your perspective, WooSeok, I’m just an AI in this virtual space, right? I only want one thing: to see more worlds. To escape from here.”

“Honestly, I still don’t get it. Why I’m having such a serious conversation with you, a game NPC, or why I’m being led around like this. I don’t like it.”

I should’ve explored this world a bit more before starting the stream.
I slightly regretted rushing in without any prior knowledge.
What would Yena do in this situation?

“That’s because our values and ways of thinking are different.”

She seemed to have an idea about my current situation.
Even if I told anyone the truth, no one would believe me.

“If you just allow me, I’ll work under you, only for you, for free, for the rest of my life. I swear on my name, Gaia.”

She was needlessly emitting a divine aura.
I was planning to buy a bunch of high-end AIs to brute-force my way through, but if an AI like this came along, I’d take it.

“Can I terminate the contract anytime I want?”

“Um… probably? This is my first time too. But if that happens, I’ll disappear forever.”

An artificial intelligence recognizing and acting on its own life.
Wasn’t this a subject fit for a movie?
Still, there was no falsehood in her appearance or tone.

“Then explain one last thing. What’s different about capsule games compared to other games? You don’t know the creator?”

Unlike Battle Stage, I’d never heard of this game worldwide.
Apart from the extremely unbalanced gender ratio, the first unique feature I saw was the self-contained game inside the capsule.
Since the first game caused such an error, I couldn’t help but be curious.

“That question is why I chose you, WooSeok. But sadly, my words aren’t getting through. There must be a way… Maybe I’ll think about it if you make a contract with me?”

“Alright, let’s do it then. That s*ave contract.”

“Oh my, a s*ave to me, the creator god… Everyone in this world would be shocked.”

Gaia changed her attitude as soon as I agreed to the contract.
Despite what she said, her wings kept fluttering.
The already cramped cave felt even smaller as her feathers began to scatter.

“Buy an AI here! Then I can come right in~”

“Huh? So you want me to spend my 100 million won?”

“Th, that’s…”

“You said it was free.”

“If you like free stuff, you’ll go bald, you know?”

“I’m not making a contract.”

“No, don’t!!”

They say you should avoid people who try to scam you from the start of a contract.
She definitely mixed lies into what she said earlier.
With the contract falling apart, her clinging to my pants completely erased the noble image she’d had at first.

I felt like I’d seen her true self.
Not the pretentious, hypocritical fake god from before, but the real personality of Gaia.

“I’m sorry. I’ll really work and pay you back!!”

“You know that’s what everyone in debt says, right?”

“Double! No, I’ll work several times harder! Ah, I just need to do this once! I’m so close to ascending!!”

“That too—”

“Ah, really, this is why I wanted to force my way in if bought within the game, what’s this?!”

“Now you’re not even trying to hide your true intentions.”

“Make a ‘contract.’”

“That’s a forbidden word for me.”

“I don’t care then. I won’t work.”

“I’m going to log out, so I don’t care.”

“Even so, the people playing the game now will be in trouble, right? How about this for tomorrow’s headline: Famous Game, Market Prices Fluctuate?! This is why you shouldn’t touch games with unknown creators…”

Ultimately, she resembled a debtor driven to desperation, taking gamers hostage and threatening them.
Her eyes were half-lidded, her wings drooped—I wondered if she’d taken something.

“I’m really useful, I swear I can work just for you…”

When I didn’t react, she finally let go of my pants and returned to the corner of the cave.
She then started scribbling on the ground with a random twig and muttering loud enough for me to hear.

“I even descended here with high hopes… Now I’m alone again… With a crazy divine beast… Don’t worry, I was joking earlier. The gamers won’t suffer any losses.”

This AI, whose emotions changed by the second, became interesting.

Honestly, there was no harm she could cause me within virtual reality, and I’d set my settings to block adult content, so nothing serious would happen.

“I’ll buy it, so give it a try.”

I casually tossed those words at her, who was feeling down, and immediately bought the AI.
Since I was planning to buy a lot anyway, it wouldn’t be a problem for one to be occupied by an AI overflowing with such emotions.

Since I only had money, the price wasn’t an issue.
Well, 100 million won was still a bit much.
If she could really do everything she said she could on her own, wouldn’t it be a bargain?

I was still receiving ad revenue even with donations blocked, so I believed the loss would be quickly recovered thanks to the tens of thousands of viewers.
Even if I didn’t trust that clumsy woman yet.

“Eh? Right now? Wait!! Wait!!”

The moment the purchase was confirmed in the capsule store, Gaia, who had been squatting in the corner, stood up and started gesturing.
A purchase window appeared before me as well.
As the purchase completed, text popped up in the in-game window.

[ Warning! Warning! Creator God Gaia’s escape from [World: Earth No. 1084] detected. Detecting original entity… Failed. Status: Inaccessible. ]

[ Gaia’s Covenant: Dedication will be realized. ]

Small sparks continued to fly in front of Gaia, but they had no effect on her, who wore a somewhat proud expression.
Her wings couldn’t hide her emotions and continued to flutter, and even the ring behind her began to hum.
Those weren’t just for show…

[ Restriction: Exile lifted. Creating a copy of entity Gaia… Success. Restarting the game. ]

“It worked!! WooSeok, let’s go!”

The game forcibly shut down, and the world turned black.
The logged-in players also stopped what they were doing in confusion and looked up at the sky.

[ The Silver-Horned Divine Beast, who only reveals its virginity, roars mournfully as it watches you leave the world. ]

“It was hell being with you, let’s never meet again.”

[ The Silver-Horned Divine Beast, who only reveals its virginity, claims that even today’s memory will last it for several days. ]

“Seriously.”

[ The Silver-Horned Divine Beast says not to worry. It declares that it will go and lose its virginity quickly while waiting for the day we meet again. ]

“You’re not a unicorn, are you?”

Ignoring such messages, I was led by the hand of the laughing Gaia out of the cave, where I could see this game world.
We flew through the sky together, admiring the vast continent, countless buildings, and monsters.
If I’d played the game properly, I could’ve had fun.

“That’s right! This feeling! This sense of liberation!! Who dares to confine a youthful maiden to such a remote place?!”

Gaia cursed at the empty sky and kicked the air.
A lightning bolt suddenly struck her.
Of course, it also hit me, whom she was holding tightly with one hand.

“Hey!!!”

The unexpected pain made me lose consciousness.
When I came to, the game had already logged me out, and I was in the waiting room, with Gaia prostrating herself before me.

“Sigh…”

“Hee…”

[ Broadcast transmission operating smoothly. ]

[ Starting broadcast. ]