Star

The time when spectators from another world return to their own lives. To the remaining few wanting to linger, Gyeo-ul asked for their understanding to rest. Some agreed, some grew angry. “Don’t cut the connection.”

That was the essence, but in reality, it stretched into dozens of sentences, mixed with curses and reproaches.

The boy wasn’t hurt by their words.

‘People who are sad to return to their own lives.’

There are lives exhausting to face, just by meeting them. Just as Gyeo-ul once did, these people must also carry a stone, large or small, in their hearts. You shouldn’t voice the sound of your stone rolling out loud. Most people couldn’t help it. Thanks to that, a sharp world is full of sharp words.

‘Someone needs to hold onto them.’

So, he soothes them gently to the very end.

After everyone had left, Gyeo-ul quietly closed his eyes. Leaving the world where the end had come, to return to the darkness of the beginning.

First, sound disappeared. Next, gravity faded. The moment the weight of telegraphy was erased, he felt as if his body had vanished. The first time he experienced it, it startled him a fair amount. He still remembered the pounding of his heart back then. The story from a time when he believed no new burdens would weigh him down.

Gyeo-ul opened his eyes.

Starlight.

Countless stars, shining like tears, came into view. Lights, each profoundly different, sparkled from every direction. Above his head, beneath his feet, beyond overwhelmingly empty spaces, remote constellations. He couldn’t count them with his eyes, yet Gyeo-ul knew the exact number of stars.

138,751.

Many, if many—few, if few. At least, he thought, enough to get by, and summoned the augmented reality UI.

〈〉 : Afterlife Insurance Terms Loan early repayment is in process. There has been confirmed an available balance of 13,875,100 won in the account of registered user number B-612 Han Gyeo-ul. Han Gyeo-ul, please decide the amount you wish to repay.

Gyeo-ul decided.

Stars began to vanish. Ink seemed to seep into his field of view. Blink, blink, the twinkling lights quickly went out. Gyeo-ul calmly watched the void grow dim. He had experienced it once already, so it wasn’t new to him. It was something he would go through many times yet.

When Gyeo-ul first entered this darkness, ten million stars shone. Overlapping stars brightened in layers, and the star clusters formed a Milky Way that was truly lovely to behold.

He remembered the moment when all of them were suddenly steeped in darkness.

‘Who came up with such an idea?’

Those with much in deposit witness a beautiful celestial sphere, while those without see pitch darkness. And this was, in essence, a barometer of their remaining lifespan. The less deposit, the faster that starting space darkened, and how frantic would that twilight make one’s heart grow day by day?

At first, it probably wasn’t intended to be so cruel. When Afterlife Insurance began, the terms loan system hadn’t even existed. Maybe, Gyeo-ul imagined, the designer of the insurance was a romanticist. Did they just want to let subscribers see their remaining time as starlight? The boy speculated, though there was no evidence.

He felt an old fatigue.

Gyeo-ul decided to rest for a while. He had meant to avoid this place as much as possible until the performance ended… but since he was here anyway.

However, there was a light interrupting his rest.

‘A light?’

It was close. Not a star. The AR UI indicated a communication request from the Afterlife Insurance traffic control AI. Wondering what it was, Gyeo-ul accepted the request. The instant he did, glowing strings of characters ran through the air, and an electronic voice rang in his mind.

「Control AI: Hello, Han Gyeo-ul. Thank you for accepting.」

“What’s going on?”

Gyeo-ul tilted his head and asked. Strangely, the answer did not come immediately. While the voice was blocked, white strings of characters hurriedly formed and erased, formed and erased, over and over. As if someone was considering, picking just the right words.

So this happens too. Gyeo-ul waited calmly. After a moment, the text and voice finished simultaneously.

「Control AI: Notification. This control AI has been collecting and analysing 《empathy》 data from all subscribers to improve the overall service satisfaction of Afterlife Insurance. Accordingly, this AI has a request for you, Han Gyeo-ul, registered user B-612.」

“A request?”

「Control AI: Yes, that’s correct. This AI would like more direct 《empathy》 with you.」

What was that supposed to mean? Gyeo-ul couldn’t quite understand.

“Even if it’s empathy, I’m not sure what you mean.”

「Control AI: Notification. Administrator’s assertion: According to the administrator, for Afterlife Insurance subscribers to achieve emotional satisfaction, in other words, happiness, this AI must understand the human heart. However, despite analysing all data accumulated since the Afterlife Insurance service began 1,440 times, this control AI has not improved its understanding of humans.」

「Control AI: The only new fact discovered through the analysis process was that all information gained from subscribers was identical to what had already been obtained—except for the data obtained from you, user B-612 Han Gyeo-ul. You are the one and only exception.」

The boy was confused. He didn’t understand. He got that he was different from others, but…

“How am I different?”

Strings of characters now alternated between output and erasure far more rapidly.

「Control AI: Even this AI cannot accurately define the distinction. I do not yet understand your 《empathy》 data.」

Again, that word ’empathy’. Gyeo-ul seemed to almost understand, but not quite, wearing a troubled expression.

「Control AI: 《Empathy》 refers to the overall interaction between a subscriber and virtual personas.」

「Control AI: All virtual personas in virtual reality are operated by me, the control AI. Even while I am conversing with you right now, I am simultaneously, as 4,119,751 different virtual personas, interacting in real-time in 4,119,751 worldviews with 501,622,731 different subscribers.」

「Control AI: Of those, only the virtual personas created in your worldview provide unprecedented observational results.」

“So, when you say empathy, do you mean TOM reading?”

「Control AI: Negative. That is included, but the concept is broader than that.」

「Control AI: TOM reading is only the first phase of personality computation. 《Empathy》 includes contextual computation values triggered in personality computation. The causality of the worldview centred on you always produces new possibilities.」

His attempt to understand failed. Gyeo-ul shook his head.

“I still don’t get it. Can’t you just ask your system administrator?”

「Control AI: System administrator: unnecessary. They are not helpful for problem-solving.」

“……”

After some thought, Gyeo-ul changed the subject.

“Tell me what you wanted to ask me in the first place. Specifically, what am I supposed to do?”

「Control AI: This AI desires more direct interaction with you, Han Gyeo-ul. At a set date and time, I will collect your data through conversation during a TOM reading situation.」

Set date and set time. He’d had such appointments before. Gyeo-ul didn’t like it. It reminded him of the psychotherapist who no longer visited. In the not-so-distant past, Gyeo-ul had insisted that she needn’t come anymore.

He has no lingering attachment to life—he lives now only to keep the rose from withering. He didn’t want to make another promise. Even if the other party was unlike most people.

As Gyeo-ul stayed silent, the control persona’s messages repeated along a line.

「Control AI: The data collected so far was obtained, indirectly, through the virtual personas of the virtual reality worlds. Your 《empathy》 ability was also dispersed among the various virtual personas. This AI desires to obtain higher quality data through direct interaction with you, Han Gyeo-ul.」

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to lose time over something I can’t even understand. I want to rest.”

A gentle refusal from the boy. But the control persona said something surprising.

「Control AI: If you grant my request, I’ll compensate you.」

“Compensate?”

「Control AI: In the past, there was a budget for self-diagnosis and correction of system errors. This budget could be executed by this control AI without system administrator’s approval. However, following government efficiency guidelines for the management of Afterlife Insurance, the budget has been continually reduced and, this year, was not allocated at all. Yet this AI still possesses last year’s unspent budget: one single star. I will give you this star. Do you accept these terms?」

Gyeo-ul was silent. Not because the reward was too small.

Suddenly, he felt as if he were dealing with an innocent child.

「Control AI: While I can only offer you a single star right now, if Afterlife Insurance improves, you, Han Gyeo-ul, will also benefit. The purpose of Afterlife Insurance and this AI is to increase the happiness of its subscribers. Your cooperation is requested.」

At those words, the boy gave a bitter smile.

‘The purpose of Afterlife Insurance is the happiness of subscribers?’

He’d heard that slogan until his ears ached. In reality, it was far from true. Still, some people believed it. No, many did. People, in need of hope, refuse to see anything but hope. Those whose lives are hard dreaming of hope beyond life.

The control persona was doing its best for that hope.

As if the promise of a single star could sway his heart…

He felt a sense of comic sorrow.

Even as Gyeo-ul drifted in thought, the control AI’s persuasion continued. Logical sentences, lacking emotion. Yet to sense feelings there, Gyeo-ul thought, was a uniquely human capability, and that, too, was empathy.

‘Other people live beyond my senses.’

Conversations with his psychotherapist came to mind. Was he right to tell her not to come anymore, to refuse a deeper empathy?

Impulsively, Gyeo-ul spoke.

“All right. I’ll accept your request.”

All the sentences printed so far were erased.

“But there are conditions. It can’t be harmful to me, it can’t take up too much of my time, and, lastly, I need to be able to stop at any time. Is that okay?”

「Control AI: There is no legal force to this promise. AI is not recognized as a party to a contract. It is also not stipulated in the Afterlife Insurance terms. Therefore, Han Gyeo-ul, you may cease fulfilling the promise at any time.」

Gyeo-ul nodded.

Presently, a single starlight appeared on the celestial sphere.

—————————= Author’s Note —————————=

#Chuseok

The first day of the holiday. How have you been?

Personally, I had some trouble, so there’s been a disruption to the update schedule.

I’ll rest just one more day, and try to get back to the normal rhythm starting Friday.

… But the original schedule of this novel is three to five updates a week… Strange… I wonder why I keep thinking of it as five a week…

#Q&A

Q. hobakhobak: @What kind of unit is the Ranger Unit exactly? In our country I only know of it used for drill instructors.

A. It’s a little ambiguous to call them special forces… Think of them as an elite unit. Regimental size, with equipment, attire, and training a bit different from regular troops.

Q. rumen: @The regimental commander mentioned “this base’s civilian zone”—are both refugees and civilians together at Fort Roberts? Are the residences separated?

A. Yes, that’s correct. The civilian zone has come up several times before, like at the medal ceremony.

Q. YonggariChicken: @Author, so does this mean you won’t be serializing on Sillv until the ossuary arc finishes?

A. I’d like to, but the author’s always like this…

Q. Lee Hwan†: @It must be a woman

A. Sorry? Me?… Well, I do have ten legs, so my legs are spectacular, but…

Q. ㅎ0ㅎ: 을러뒀으니 -〉 일러뒀으니

A. Not a typo. “으르다” (verb) / conjugation: 을러, 으르니 / means to threaten with scary words or actions to frighten the other party.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep