“Nona-me, are you saying this is a bioengineering humanoid?”
“A robot…? No way, how can you even call it a robot? It just used an aura! How did you make it use an aura, Nona-me! Nona-me!”
“Is that the problem right now? Whether it’s a robot or a human, both don’t make sense.”
“Isn’t there an expert in magic engineering here? All these sports and entertainment reporters are no help at all!”
“Wait! Could it be that there’s a magic circle hidden somewhere? Everyone, let’s calm down!”
The reporters are a skeptical bunch.
They started doubting whether I had pulled any tricks on Saetbyeol, questioning every single detail.
I thought that revealing a single external manifestation would wrap things up, but they sharply pointed out the vague aspects.
[Cast: Resonance]
Ding-ding-ding!
I clapped once, producing a sound that overwhelmed the audience.
“I will not be taking any questions from now on.”
The reporters froze.
“This is a sensitive topic, and those who cause a commotion will be escorted out immediately. If everyone agrees, please take your seats.”
“There’s no such law—”
“Then should I leave?”
I had to make it clear from the start that they were the ones at a disadvantage.
One by one, the reporters closed their mouths and took their seats.
“Sit down. Yes, next to me.”
I took a seat next to Saetbyeol and calmly picked up the microphone.
I sorted out what to do first in my head and moved directly into action.
First, I need to ensure there’s a solid belief that Cheon Saetbyeol is Adella.
Even though I’ve revealed this much, it would be a disaster if they started murmuring about it being a staged act or a national fraud.
“Here, are there anyone among you who followed Adella on VRChat? Please just raise your hands quietly.”
Out of about 100 people, around six raised their hands.
“Is this all you have?”
“The realms are different, you see…”
I pointed out one of them and asked them to call Adella via voice chat.
Beep-beep!
Saetbyeol opened a hologram and launched the VRChat app.
Since she wasn’t logged into the capsule, a default avatar was generated in the virtual reality.
Then, she answered the incoming voice call.
“Hello.”
There’s a delay of about 100 milliseconds in the VRChat voice call.
[Hello.]
Every 0.1 seconds, the same sound echoed from the reporter’s phone.
“Can you describe the outfit that reporter over there is wearing?”
“Just a normal black suit. He has a pigeon pin badge on the left chest.”
[Just a normal black suit. He has a pigeon pin badge on the left chest.]
This was solid and perfect verification.
Achhchoo!
The sneeze of a reporter was perfectly transmitted through the call, leaving no room for doubt that Adella was performing separately.
“Is… Is that really Adella?”
“It’s real?”
“What the heck…!”
“Mr. Reporter, where are you from?”
“From the sports department of the Wall Street Journal… Are you doubting me right now?”
“Quiet. We will escort you out.”
“…”
Since he only stuck his upper body out, maybe my word didn’t seem credible.
So, I decided to step onto the desk to conduct the conference.
“You must have many questions. I’m well aware that everything I say from here is impossible to verify in this setting. Nevertheless! I hope you convey the words I speak to the public without any embellishments. The power of your pens is stronger than you can imagine. You could kill an innocent person… or you could save them… Got it? Shall we begin?”
Not too tightly, but I shouldn’t strangle them with pressure.
I spoke slightly comforting words to gauge the reporters’ atmosphere.
Nod-nod!
With that, I reaffirmed the will of the press.
If I make this kind of appeal, even if a handful of false articles slip in, the majority of the media will fact-check them.
“Alright. The incident takes us back to January of last year. We discovered that an ASI called Adella was created by the terrorist group Aleph, using a brain map method to replicate a real human brain. Here’s the problem: Is Adella an artificial intelligence or a human? Think about your answers.”
The effort to create self-awareness and consciousness in artificial intelligence has been ongoing for decades.
But that was only an attempt to make humans ‘mistakenly’ believe they had consciousness; it didn’t align with the fundamental definition.
“But then issues began to arise with Adella. Her brain is firmly believing the VR world is reality, but evidence proving otherwise started being input. In virtual reality, there’s no process of breaking down carbohydrates into glucose when eating rice. There’s no need for sleep since toxins like beta-amyloid don’t accumulate in the brain cells. Adella’s brain starts thinking, ‘Oh, I can live without existing?'”
Just like a frog in boiling water, her brain began to deteriorate slowly and steadily.
“Deteriorate” has too negative a connotation, so I’d better revise that.
I see this as a transformation, instead.”
Saetbyeol’s complexion darkened at that moment, who had been listening quietly.
“Ah! Is that really true? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, experiencing consciousness could make it worse. I didn’t look closely either, so I don’t know exactly what changes were occurring with you.”
“I trusted you… I trusted you…”
The shutter sound grew more intense.
The light was too bright; I wrapped a thin aura around my cornea.
“From that moment on, I felt the need to quickly create a body for Adella. But scientifically and philosophically, the continuity of a person’s life is essential. Is a frozen human the same as the one before and after? Yes, because continuity is guaranteed. If we assume mind-uploading technology emerges in the distant future, let’s say we transplant the human brain by blowing it apart. Many would likely disagree here.”
While the subject will recognize themselves, from a third party’s perspective, they might accept it or not.
I unveiled a hologram to show two types of magic.
These were spells already discovered in this world by various notable wizards.
“So, I created a physical form for Adella and transferred the self of the brain map using the 5th circle Akashic Records and 7th circle Persona Physis, particularly the latter, to ensure continuity.”
“What did you say?”
“I’ll explain according to the five Ws. I brought Adella into the real world at the Gunsan Magic Power Plant in Korea on March 14th and 15th, 2052, spending a total of 210,360,000 won out of my own pocket.”
“You used the Persona Physis yourself, Nona-me!”
“She enrolled in high school under the name Cheon Saetbyeol and has been living harmoniously with people for over a year.”
“You mentioned she’s enrolled in high school; did the bystanders know about her identity!”
“I hope everyone agrees to escort that person out.”
Naturally, the reporters agreed. A rival was down.
“Ugh? Ah, wait!”
The press conference room fell into silence.
I took a moment here to let the reporters organize their thoughts.
Since it wasn’t their area of expertise, they seemed busy contacting one another.
“Before I explain the magic, I want to clarify my sister’s status. When we wrote Adella’s refugee application, we answered ‘yes’ to the question of whether she had lived in Korea for more than five years. Looking back now, I realize that this could pose a procedural issue, so I will take full responsibility for this.”
The existence of such a point is due to the average asylum examination period, including administrative litigation, being around five years.
If you silently lived in Korea for five years without causing any trouble, there was a process to simplify things.
“However, the adoption procedure was all conducted legally. My father is a high-ranking wartime wizard designated by presidential decree and a national meritorious person, so there were no restrictions on adoption targets, so please don’t misunderstand this.”
Surprisingly, no one seemed to care at all.
I mentioned it beforehand because I was worried that this might be brought up later.
“Finally, I want to talk about magic.”
Click-click-click-click!
The reporters and cameramen all frowned and focused.
“Please listen carefully, everyone watching this video. The magic I’ve created is fundamentally different from what you know as human regeneration. Creating the desired body? Immortality? You can’t even dream of that. It’s impossible to even become younger for a second. That’s because I’m not manipulating telomeres.”
I grabbed Adella’s wrist and shook it upwards.
“Adella was originally human. Though she’s now perfectly transformed into a different being after combining people’s brains like a chimera and hiding it deep within virtual reality… the body Adella currently possesses is indeed what she should have had.”
“Right, right.”
“So don’t come to me with strange requests just because you heard something weird. I can tell you the methods, though. Just like Valpurgis or Aleph did, if she undergoes severe torture and dies and somehow completes a perfectly reset brain map, I can help her be born as a new being. How do you do that, you ask? I have no idea either.”
What can I do if I really don’t know?
I shrugged my shoulders and pouted my lower lip.
One reporter had been desperately clutching a sketchpad for the past ten minutes.
[Do you plan to reveal what kind of magic it is to the public?]
From here, I decided to cleverly add a falsehood.
It’s often more effective to mix a couple of lies into the truth than to blatantly lie from the start.
I spoke in a depressed tone.
“In fact, I’m scared of why I know such magic…”
“…!”
“Is Valpurgis’s real purpose to create their own army through ASIs like Adella and me…? A spell to interface a brain map with a body… it sounds terrifying, doesn’t it? And, as hard as it may seem to believe, I can ‘just’ use this magic. Without knowing the mana operation for each rune or the principles of circuit rituals.”
I stepped down from the desk again.
Sitting calmly in my chair, I folded my arms and lifted my head with difficulty.
“One more confession: I’ve been trying to decipher this magic without knowing why for some time now. The optic nerve connectome Akashic Records I introduced to you before was based on this magic. It’s not like I started from zero; it’s closer to replicating someone else’s findings, but what can you do? It was made by those wretched terrorists.”
Just thinking about them made my blood boil.
I clenched my teeth and suppressed my anger inside.
“Anyway, I will continue to strive to use this in a way that benefits humanity. Thank you all for listening. As I mentioned earlier, I will not be taking any further questions.”
I took Saetbyeol’s hand and swiftly escaped the press conference room.
Behind us erupted the reporters’ disgruntled reactions.
Shouting, clapping, whistling, screams all mixed chaotically.
“Sis, are we allowed to do this?”
Saetbyeol followed me, asking with an unsure tone.
“Hmph, who cares?”
A lot will change moving forward.
But if there’s one thing that won’t change, it’s my relationships with cherished people.
If I gained strength in my past life, then in this life, I will perfectly harness that power without wasting a single bit.
*
“Na-me-ya… You worked so hard today, and I’m truly sorry, Dad. I never imagined our daughter was struggling alone without even a place to share her worries… I can’t even imagine how much she must have suffered by herself…”
Professor Cheon, whom I met in the parking lot, warmly hugged me.
Looking back, Dad didn’t know anything about my magic either.
The comfort of family was so warm and pleasant that I buried my face and kept silent.
“It’s okay. I wasn’t in any pain with you, Dad.”
“Wow…”
Saetbyeol, staring at me in bewilderment, I decided to ignore her.
