Chapter 191

[Data Reconstruction Failed.]

[Algorithm Completion Failed.]

“Tch. Again?”

Benedict frowned in dissatisfaction at the report from the main computer.

“I’m already busy enough, and it can’t even handle this properly?”

[Apologies, Benedict-nim.]

“Forget it. I’ll do it myself. Show me where the errors occurred.”

In response to his command, a holographic image of someone’s cerebrum appeared before him. The computer highlighted the abnormal areas with red dots on the image.

Benedict studied it with overlapping views, then separated them again, nodding as if he found it interesting.

“Erase this part and this part. I’ll input the code here myself.”

[Error Correction Sequence Starting.]

[Please input the values.]

Benedict began to enter code into the blank sections while comparing the report and the holographic image.

As he formed thoughts, the computer—linked to his cybernetic device—automatically input the data.

After some time passed…

As if he had discovered something, Benedict quietly muttered, “Eureka.”

“No wonder it was bound to fail.”

The problem stemmed from forcibly mixing two different types of data. Naturally, errors were inevitable. With a wave of his hand, Benedict split the cerebrum image into two parts and began inputting new values again.

“This side’s a dummy personality. They overwrote the original brain with an artificial personality. So this was an intentional creation of a split personality.”

The task he was currently working on was to create an AI algorithm using the brainwave data of a real human. His source material was the brainwave data of the girl named “Miyu” he had obtained from the Academy last time.

Simply put, he was trying to artificially recreate Miyu’s soul within a computer. His true objective was to accelerate the “experiments” by utilizing the intelligence of an AI imbued with her genius.

“Okay.”

Having completed the input in an instant, Benedict disconnected from the main computer. With one final press of the Enter key, the main computer resumed the task of reconstructing the brainwave data into an AI algorithm.

The computer, now refined by Benedict’s touch, proceeded with its work without a hitch. It corrected the errors, filled in the missing sections, and began swiftly creating “AI Miyu.”

How much time had passed?

In less than a few hours, the computer completed the process and brought up a screen once more.

On the display appeared the image of a “girl.” Her appearance was unmistakably Miyu’s.

Miyu, now revived as an AI, slowly opened her eyes. As she identified her new master’s face—Benedict’s—through the camera, she greeted him with a bright smile.

[Hello, Benedict-nim.]

“This is the first experiment.”

Benedict got straight to the point, not even acknowledging AI Miyu’s greeting. Yet despite his attitude, AI Miyu showed no signs of being intimidated or frightened.

That was because Benedict had erased the timid personality traits from the original.

[Yes, please give me the order. What is the first experiment you want me to assist with?]

To the AI who asked that, Benedict replied with confidence.

“[Paradise Verification Project.]”

The Trinity Academy’s first official festival, the [Dawnlight Festival], concluded in great success despite a few hiccups.

Right after the festival ended, I brought Miyu with me to meet Professor Richardson and explained the incident that occurred on the first night. I mainly focused on the disappearance of his assistant, “Feng Wei,” and Miyu’s condition.

Upon hearing the explanation, Professor Richardson seemed greatly shocked at first, but he recovered quickly. He was someone who had worked as a professor in the ruthless and cold environment of the Academy for a long time.

In other words, even someone like him, who had lived a life entirely unrelated to the shadows of New Valhalla City, was just as desensitized when it came to dealing with human lives.

He regretted the loss of a promising young talent in the scientific field, but he didn’t grieve excessively and accepted the reality with a calm demeanor.

–What a fool…

That was Professor Richardson’s impression upon accepting his assistant’s death.

To me, it felt like a slightly odd reaction, but I decided to interpret it as his own way of mourning.

After talking for a while about Feng Wei, the conversation shifted to Miyu. From the way he spoke, it seemed he had been contemplating something for quite some time since meeting her, and he finally brought forth a new proposal.

–There’s been some discussion among the professors about whether Miyu should skip a grade.

It was a natural suggestion.

In terms of knowledge alone, Miyu had already surpassed undergraduate level and was capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the faculty.

She didn’t need to slowly go through every step of the undergraduate course when she could shake the academic world by casually submitting a few papers.

My personal opinion was also in favor of it.

Having finally come to terms with her past memories she had once locked away, Miyu had found a family and was growing rapidly, using that as her emotional foundation.

With the story cleanly developed up to Act 4 of Part 2, there was no reason to keep Miyu confined within the framework of a first-year at the Academy.

The choice, however, was up to Miyu.

And her answer was—

–Ah, no. I’d like to progress normally, just like everyone else.

Miyu declined the offer to skip a grade.

Her reason was that she wanted to take each step slowly, just like others.

Skipping all the courses through grade-skipping and being able to conduct research wherever and however she wanted was definitely a big advantage.

But it seemed that, at least for now, she had a stronger desire to interact more with students her age.

–In that case, I’ll respect your decision.

Professor Richardson accepted Miyu’s opinion without complaint. I told him I hoped he’d continue looking after her well.

Though a bit twisted in some ways, Professor Richardson was a man of principle and reason.

I was sure he would become both a good teacher and friend to Miyu, guiding her in the right direction.

After the festival, the Student Council and the Academy Security Team conducted a large-scale search of the buildings.

It was to locate any remaining brainwave scanners, and the operation ended after about ten were found.

All the recovered scanners were disposed of, and those responsible for bringing them in were all fired and handed over to face legal consequences.

Of course, the entire process was handled as discreetly as possible to prevent it from reaching the media or the students.

After all, the Academy had already been plagued with numerous incidents throughout the year.

If word got out that someone died during the festival, it would obviously cause a commotion—this was a necessary measure.

Thanks to that, support for the Student Council—who had successfully hosted the festival—grew even more fervent.

According to many, if Iri were to run for Student Council President again next year, her chances of being re-elected were very high.

Meanwhile, Silence had still been unable to give Raina a proper answer even after a month.

It showed that although his past wounds ran deep, so did his feelings for Raina.

Raina didn’t appear to be pressing Silence either.

Whether it ended in acceptance or rejection, it was clear that the moment Silence gave his answer, their relationship would inevitably change.

Probably just like Silence, Raina was afraid of that moment.

It was a rare thing for her, and a sign that she was sincere—at least this time.

The two showed a bit of awkwardness even during Special Class activities.

There weren’t any particular problems during those activities, but Iri, who was caught in the middle of that atmosphere, felt uncomfortable.

However, Iri seemed to understand their feelings to some extent and appeared willing to wait patiently until the two of them came to a conclusion.

While the members of the Special Class were each going through their own changes, my daily life hadn’t changed much.

I went to work every day, handled paperwork, occasionally dined with executives from other corporations,

and sometimes personally interviewed talented individuals from all across New Valhalla City.

Maria, as always, played the role of my perfect secretary.

Evangeline, ever since the festival, seemed to have grown more affectionate toward me, becoming more playful and charming.

The problem was, because of that, I was becoming increasingly weak to Evangeline—and the other employees, Maria included, were cleverly taking advantage of it.

For example, whenever I was furiously angry over some work issue, Evangeline would show up at the perfect moment and act all cute.

I’m sure one of the staff had bribed her with some snacks to help calm me down.

Even knowing this, I would find my anger melting away in an instant,

and the urge to scold anyone would disappear.

The great Aaron Stingray was slowly becoming a complete softie.

Thanks to that, the rumor “The Chairman is becoming more human” started spreading among the employees.

Whether that was a good thing for me… I wasn’t quite sure yet.

…Well, I suppose I’ll manage somehow.

And so, while spending my days like that, the year was nearing its end.

There hadn’t been any particular incidents along the way.

At most, the “Final Exam Event” popped up and gave me bonus points.

Just like last time, the rankings of the three main characters—“Iri,” “Miyu,” and “Silence”—were converted into points and awarded to me.

Miyu naturally took first place, Silence landed in the upper-middle tier, and surprisingly, Iri’s grades placed her fifth in the Tactical Combat Department.

With Iri’s sudden leap in rankings and my contribution rating somehow calculated to be 99% despite doing nothing,

I earned nearly 4000P for free.

But I spent it all immediately on the module lottery, got two trash modules, and lost everything.

As expected, things earned easily tend to slip away just as easily.

Right after finals came winter break.

I once again rented out an entire department store for the Special Class kids to freely enjoy.

Additionally, I extended the same benefit to the top-performing Stingray general scholarship students as well.

This was to avoid making enemies by spoiling only the Special Class.

I wanted to join the Special Class myself, but unfortunately, the Stingray Foundation was busier than ever at the end of the year.

While the students were enjoying their newfound freedom over winter break,

I continued commuting to the office daily with Maria, handling this and that.

‘Why did I become Aaron Stingray again……’

Should I just hand this position over to Kallia… That kind of thought began creeping up on me,

and only then did the mountain of work finally begin to clear up.

It was about a week before the new year.

“Good work, young master.”

“Right. You may go.”

“Yes, excuse me. Please rest well.”

After sending Maria out of the office, I leaned back deeply into the luxurious chair.

When I turned the chair to look outside, sleet was falling.

And as if it had been waiting for me to finish work, a call came in.

[It’s me.]

“Vladimir.”

[I’ve found him.]

At last, Vladimir had found the whereabouts of my younger brother, Benedict Stingray.

“Good work.”

[I’ll send the data shortly.]

“Got it.”

[You owe me.]

Click.

Vladimir’s call ended coldly.

It was the end of the year—he could’ve at least offered a greeting or two,

but he didn’t. He clearly still hated me.

“Sigh… I guess it’s about time to begin.”

I rose from my seat.

Once the year changed and the students moved up a grade, Part 3 would begin.

They’d start fighting the [Mystics] in earnest, and a new character named “Guardian” would make an appearance.

Before that happened, my goal was to cleanly resolve our family’s problems.

Soon after, Vladimir sent me the encrypted data via secret mail.

I checked the contents and stood up.

There was no immediate need to act, but there was also no reason to drag it out.

As I stretched my stiffened body with that thought—

BANG!

The door burst open and someone walked in.

“Aaron-nim!”

It was Ciel.

Over the past three months, she had changed significantly by replacing various parts.

Though her basic frame was the same, she now had so many expensive bio parts that it was hard to tell she wasn’t human.

I’d heard she was self-studying hacking at home recently, so what brought her here all of a sudden?

As if answering my unspoken question, Ciel adjusted her facial module, now capable of more expressive emotions, and shouted:

“Ciel wants to go to college!”

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