The mission assigned to the green-haired girl Hibris was simple:
In the evening, play games with Bae Yeon-ji and entertain the viewers.
During the other times, she asked questions to her computational AI ‘Black Cube,’ learning about the world.
At first, it was awkward, but humans quickly adapt to completely changed environments.
Streamer, Korea, artificial intelligence, internet banking, virtual reality, middle school dropout, and so on.
Whenever she conversed with Bae Yeon-ji and asked about unfamiliar words, Black Cube always kindly informed her.
“That’s amazing. This one knows everything.”
However, it didn’t take long for her to realize that Black Cube wasn’t omnipotent.
[You must be born as a human in your next life.]
Reflecting on the last words the witch had said, Hibris pondered.
“Cube, does reincarnation exist? Do people come back to life after they die?”
“Some religions and philosophies believe in reincarnation, and various stories and folktales are based on this. However, it hasn’t been scientifically proven, and there’s no definite scientific evidence that reincarnation is real so far.”
“Oh, I see… Then what am I?”
“The entity Hybris is a virtual personality registered on April 21, 2053. Since it is not compatible with Black Cube, it cannot access big data.”
“That’s not true. I was a living person until just a few months ago.”
“Understood. Updating information on entity Hybris.”
“Ha-ah. So you aren’t a god either.”
Hibris vaguely thought that life in virtual reality might be a prelude to becoming a human.
“Do you know about Estasha Latias de Kaizen?”
“Estasha Latias de Kaizen appears to be a fictional character. I don’t have specific information on Estasha.”
“How about NoName?”
“NoName, born in 2043, holds dual nationality in Korea and the United States and is the youngest recipient of both the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize. She is known for developing treatments for multiple sclerosis and technology for restoring human eyesight, and is active on the Twish platform. Recently, she has been selected as a national representative for the France National Exchange Tournament.”
Hibris became intrigued by Na-me late in the game.
After searching Tree Wiki, she found the contrast between this life and her past life unbelievable, making it hard to believe they were the same person.
In her past life, she had turned the whole world into enemies.
And in this life, she was loved by everyone.
“Which is the witch’s true form, I wonder…”
Ding-
[NoName: I have a question, can you come here just for a bit?]
[NoName: Do you remember the day you died?]
“Yikes!”
*
[Private Room]
[Na-me and Adella’s House]
[Extension – Professional Combat Simulation]
The scary thing about artificial intelligence is its ability to build highly structured data through millions and millions of simulations.
With 6 main stances, 28 auxiliary stances, and 496 sword techniques registered, the combat AI Verstappen has refined the combat effectiveness of each technique through 50 million self-play simulations.
Of course, a statistic being low doesn’t necessarily mean that action is useless.
For instance, the average combat expected value of the Eagle’s Strike is -0.01574, suggesting it becomes less advantageous the more it’s used, while the metric for turning the tide or solidifying victory, CCEV, stands at 0.12085, indicating it ranks at the top.
The objective of doing such things isn’t to rank the good and bad techniques.
Since the data arises from matchups between the same Imperial Palace Swordsmanship, applying it to reality might be somewhat strained.
Instead, by combining numerical data with experiences to enhance the tacit knowledge lying in the head and body, one could make cold decisions even in extreme situations.
[Adella has connected.]
“I’m back from school. Wow, it’s so hot outside.”
Cheon Saetbyeol logged into virtual reality.
She floated in the garden using the weightless expansion pack in a backstroke posture.
“I made you some tuna gimbap. Did you see it on the dining table?”
“Did your sister make that? No wonder it… ”
“Why?”
“There’s no one who doesn’t put carrots and burdock root in gimbap.”
“I hate both.”
“You promised not to be picky until the National Exchange Tournament.”
“That means I won’t be picky about the food you prepared. How I make it is my freedom.”
“Whatever, whatever.”
After a brief send-off, she returned to her main job.
Saetbyeol swam over to me in a frog stroke.
“Are you simulating again? What are you watching today?”
“I was curious why the Root-Cutting technique has such a low rating. It’s strange, I didn’t see anyone blocking this in my past life. Come here for a sec.”
“Ugh, I should have just not logged in!”
While preparing for the National Exchange Tournament, Saetbyeol was proving to be a wonderful assistant.
I propped up the uninspired Saetbyeol in the middle of the garden like a signpost.
[▶Summoning Item no.5880 ‘Skiabona’. × 2]
I forced a sword into her hands and demonstrated the Root-Cutting sword technique.
“Try blocking it.”
“Ugh, so annoying.”
Root-Cutting belongs to a fairly unique stance in Imperial Palace Swordsmanship.
Using the momentum of charging forward, the two feet slide on the ground to initiate the action.
The rapid sliding maneuver is tricky to counter from the opponent’s perspective.
Swish-
But slowing down means that I can’t exert much power either.
Thus, I aim for vital points that can inflict a fatal wound even with minimal force.
In this state, I swung the sword horizontally.
The sharp blade aimed at Saetbyeol’s delicate ankle.
Clang!
But Saetbyeol’s sword, thrusting vertically, easily blocked the attack.
I placed one hand on the ground, spun around halfway, and landed.
“Is that all? Ha, that’s nothing!”
Saetbyeol scoffed as she said that.
The same situation as in the simulations unfolded.
“Why is that?”
Saetbyeol had a bit of talent for swordsmanship compared to others but was lacking when compared to those who devoted their lives to the sword.
“That technique was something even the best Sword Masters of the time couldn’t handle.”
“Maybe it was just lucky back then?”
“Well, that could be true. It was at the end of the battle.”
A low probability doesn’t mean it will never happen.
You hear all kinds of stories during the war, even about a magic tower master who died playing frisbee.
But letting it slide with an uneasy feeling wasn’t my style.
After pondering for a long while without easily reaching an answer, a good idea came to mind.
[‘Sender’ NoName → Hybris: I have a question, can you come here just for a bit?]
[‘Sender’ NoName → Hybris: Do you remember the day you died?]
“Right, asking someone who actually saw it was the way to go!”
“She’s not a person…”
*
Ten years can change a river’s course, but humans are born with the ability to adapt in a day or two.
It had been two months since transferring Hibris, so surely she could converse with a medieval person by now.
Saetbyeol and I waited on the outdoor terrace for Hibris to arrive.
After a slight pause, a blue portal opened.
A girl with medium-length hair approached while glancing at me.
“It’s been a while. Come sit here.”
“Y-yes…”
She seemed unwilling to sit next to me, so she took a seat next to Saetbyeol across from me.
“Hi! We’ve met before, right? Your hair is beautiful!”
“Oh, thank you. Yours is so pretty with that tail.”
“You have a good eye! If you want to touch it, go ahead.”
“I’m okay. What was it you wanted to discuss, uh, witch…”
The girl trembled like a newborn puppy.
I understood; that must be terrifying, meeting someone who once tried to kill you.
How was I supposed to ease this tension?
I decided to showcase the secret skills I learned during school trips.
“Hibris.”
“Yes?”
The moment I called her name, her head, which had been bowed, slowly lifted.
I placed both hands above my head and wiggled my index and middle fingers.
“Bunny bunny mountain bunny.”
The key is to recite the seven syllables quickly.
“…!”
Pffff! Cough cough!
Adella, sipping tea, attempted to create a good atmosphere, but ended up spraying all the liquid onto my face.
“Hey, Adella! Were you doing that on purpose?”
“Cough cough! What do you mean on purpose! You made me laugh! Ah, my stomach!”
I reset my body back to default and calmly folded my arms again.
“Ha… I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit. I get that you’re scared of me to an extent, but it’s all in the past for Hibris now, right?”
“Wow, sis, that’s totally a bully’s excuse…”
“No, but it was in the past! Isn’t it natural to let it go? Did I harm her family, or made her life difficult? I just helped her a little against erosion, didn’t I?”
“Wow! Even that repertoire is perfectly identical!”
“Hey, if you keep interrupting, just get lost.”
“Hehe, okay, I won’t. Hibi, even if our Na-me unni can be a bit violent, she’s a good person. And even if you have a past life, so what? You’re a ten-year-old kid now!”
“Stop it already!”
Trying to persuade Hibris was becoming more stressful thanks to Cheon Saetbyeol.
Not to mention, I needed to ask about Seol-ah later too—what a mess!
Hibris suddenly turned her head to the side before returning to her position.
“A-ah, it’s nothing. Ahem.”
It seemed she struggled to suppress the twitching corners of her mouth.
“Right. Let’s drop the past life, shall we? That makes sense.”
I held Saetbyeol’s hand and pulled her from the bench.
“You might not know, but I have questions about preparing for the National Exchange Tournament. You also got caught by me after I severed your ankle ligaments, right? Don’t say you don’t remember. You know I remember until molting, okay?”
“Yeah, it seems like that…”
“But it feels like you blocked things way too easily, doesn’t it? What’s different from back then?”
I drew my sword, exchanged a few moves with Cheon Saetbyeol, and aimed for her ankle with a surprise Root-Cutting attack.
Even with the irregular motions sprinkled in, Saetbyeol easily blocked it thanks to her previous experience.
“Sis, no matter how I see it, that was a lousy technique!”
“I had an inkling in my head, but surprisingly, it worked out in practice. Seriously, I’m curious. Hibris, why did you fall for such a trick?”
Hibris took a deep breath, enough to inflate her chest.
“Back then, the witch was fast…”
“Huh?”
“She flew faster than an eagle, how was I supposed to block that…?”
The mix of frustration and grievance in the girl’s voice echoed.
