“That was quick”
“No kidding!”
Aylin was feeling terrible. She wasn’t in the mood to joke around with the carefree manager in front of her.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZq6RvA3uAr
“Are you alright?”
“Aside from almost being eaten by monsters, yeah, I’m okay…physically”
“but not mentally?” the manager smiled.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqjyONPkbu
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. You actually seem to be coping well with your situation, unlike our predictions of the worst case scenario”
“worst case scenario? You mean like dying in the wilds with no one knowing?” Aylin laughed and said in a sarcastic tone.
“That, and if you’re still alive, it would be the case of losing your rationality, and turning into a primitive blood-thirsty creature, living off beasts meat and screaming like a monkey”645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUrKbGcsiD
“very funny, Manager, but let’s agree on something”645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxgPPWOkrQ
“Yes?”
“Don’t tell me anything negative. Unless NOT knowing can endanger my life, you wouldn’t tell me any pessimistic information. got it? I don’t think I can handle the pressure as it is”645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYrNkIOY5K
“Understood”
Pause.
“Say…Manager?”
“Yes, Aylin?”
“What are you exactly?”
“I believe I have said that before? I’m the system manager”
“That’s not what I mean. What ARE you? Are a living being? Or just a program? Are you even real?”
Aylin stared at the girl in the floating chair. She couldn’t see her eyes due to the head gear covering it, but tried to read her expression nonetheless. Although Aylin isn’t a person who suspects people easily, her senses were still tense from when her life was at danger. She felt lost as she knew nothing about her surroundings, including the so-called system manager in front of her.
The manager could read Aylin like an open book and sighed as she thought about her answer carefully. It’s true that she didn’t tell Aylin everything, because she didn’t want to pressure her mind in their chaotic circumstances, and it would be bad for both of them if she were give up right now. However, she didn’t think that Aylin would start suspecting her so soon.
[This human has an unusually adapting mind…right now, I can’t afford to make her hostile against us, otherwise, things might get complicated later…I suppose it’s fine to tell her just enough to earn her cooperation] the manager thought, calculating the pros and cons of the situation.
She finally answered: “I’m an evolved artificial being that was designed to aid the user of the system. I’m real, as in, I exist, but I was not born naturally. Instead, I evolved”645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqH4fPAmZD
“Woah! For real?! I feel like I’m in a sci-fi movie” Aylin opened her eyes wide, and chuckled.
[She believes me? Just like that?]
The manager thought that Aylin was either weird or an idiot. However, considering what Aylin went through, nothing seems impossible anymore.
“So, how did it happen?”
“Yes?”
“How did you evolve?”
The manager’s expression became dark.
“What’s wrong? If you don’t want to say it, then don’t. Don’t be such a drama queen”
The manager didn’t know what ‘drama queen’ meant, but somehow, the phrase made her annoyed. Since Aylin gave her the chance of not answering the question, she would gladly take it. Instead, she decided to clarify her goal.
“My position as the system manager is to guide the user towards using our system to its full potential. I wish to carry out my position duty to the best of my abilities, however, I admit it is not only I was programmed to do it”
There was a short pause as the manager looked at Aylin with a serious expression.
“I think that the answers I have been looking for lie beyond the ninth layer. In other words, helping you to reach that layer might benefit me in the future. Is that a satisfactory answer for you?”
“For now…I suppose it does. So I guess we’ll have to cooperate to get some results, huh?”
“Indeed”
Another short pause.
“Hey…since we’ve decided to cooperate and all…mind giving me a floating chair like yours? I don’t want to stand up all the time”
“Why didn’t you just ask before? I wouldn’t refuse. As the contractor of the system-“
“Whatever! just give it to me already!” Aylin shouted, as if she is protesting for her rights “You talk too much sometimes, you know that?”
[RUDE!] 645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUGMFx8iMm
The manager protested inwardly.645Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3gBwJz7gz
