---

“What… did you say?”

Just as I logged in as Tristan, hearing such a story sent chills down my spine. Even if he’s the CEO of a company, this kind of joke is way over the line.

“Sir, I’m sorry but…”

-Our games have all succeeded because we pursued realism. We have the know-how and technology to make the background and world-building feel as real as possible.

The CEO ignored my words and continued.

-But when it comes to people… no matter what we do, we can’t make the characters as real as actual humans. No matter how much money we poured into it, to my eyes, it always felt lacking. It’s truly unfortunate. It took me too long to realize that a fake will always remain a fake… Tsk.

As I listened to his lament, I noticed something strange.

“Huh? Sir, isn’t Stella also gaining attention in the AI field? Last year’s pre-release of ‘Remina’ was well-received, wasn’t it…?”

‘Remina’ is an AI idol simulation game being developed by Stella. It was released with the concept of a girlfriend in your hands, creating a realism that felt like talking to a real woman, causing a huge stir in the gaming market.

I remembered how the media hailed it as a tremendous leap in AI technology.

But the CEO spoke firmly.

-Ah, that was a ‘failure.’ Remina went insane.

“Insane…? Wait, can an AI even go insane?”

-Didn’t I tell you? With our current technology, we can’t create an AI that’s identical to a human. So, I decided to hire an actual actress to play Remina. See this?

*Tap.*

Suddenly, a screen appeared, and a photo was shown before my eyes. It was a woman, around the same age as Sora, lying on a hospital bed. The machine attached to her head was similar to the one on Sora’s.

“What is this…?”

-The final generation of Remina. She, too, was a patient declared brain-dead, just like your sister.

What?

So, ‘Remina’ wasn’t an AI program but a living human…?

The CEO showed a hologram of a girl in a flashy outfit dancing like an idol. She drew a heart with her hands and smiled brightly, gesturing that she loved you.

In contrast, the ‘Remina’ on the bed was barely clinging to life, relying on an oxygen respirator.

-At first, she was happy to be able to live in the virtual world, but she couldn’t accept that she had to become Remina. Later, she even threw a fit, demanding to be taken out. What a foolish girl, don’t you think? Even if she’s taken out, she’ll only return to being a vegetable.

“So, Remina is…”

-It probably took less than two years. Remina went insane, and we had no choice but to ‘dispose’ of her. Haha. Still, she lasted longer than the other failures. I was so excited that I even did a pre-release, but the result… Well, it’s all in the past now.

“……”

Listening to the CEO casually reveal such shocking facts, I was at a loss for words. If this got out to the media, it could threaten the company’s very existence, but the CEO didn’t seem bothered at all.

-Oh, by the way, you should be grateful to Remina. The device on her head is the prototype of the Milky Way-027 that your sister is using. Without the data we gained from the Remina ‘series,’ your sister might still be stuck in the hospital. Now that I think about it, calling Remina a failure isn’t accurate. She was more of a practice run. Hahaha.

My hands trembled. How many people had been ‘disposed of’ by his hands? How many lives had been trampled upon?

I felt a chill. If things had gone slightly differently, my sister could have been forced to become ‘Remina,’ trapped in the virtual world forever.

Given this, I had no choice but to conclude that the CEO had crossed a line that should never be crossed as a human.

“…If everything you’ve said is true, then you’re in serious trouble, sir.”

-Trouble?

“What you’ve done… it’s no different from murder.”

-Hmm? Murder? Why? I merely gave patients who couldn’t move a chance to live a new life.

“That’s not a chance. It’s brutal violence, and there’s no difference between that and trampling on human dignity.”

-Yes, yes. I understand the ‘perspective’ of ordinary people like you. It’s a perspective I find hard to grasp, but I’ll respect it.

Only then did I realize that the CEO’s words were true. And I also vaguely understood why I had always felt uncomfortable around him. He lacked something essential that every human must have.

Humanity.

It’s vague and hard to explain, but it’s something that must exist. And he didn’t have it.

“…Then, I can no longer work with you, sir.”

-Huh? You can’t work with me? What do you mean?

“Think about what you’ve done. What’s wrong with it. I’ll take Sora and return to the hospital.”

-That’s a bit of a problem.

[External access has been blocked.]

“Access blocked?! What are you doing?!”

-That’s what I should be asking. If you suddenly pull out like this, what does that make me look like? Huh?

“I can’t work for a company that’s done such horrific things! I can’t leave my sister in the hands of such a company! Let me out before I report this to the police!”

-Haha. The police, you say? Go ahead and report it. Tell them that the game characters were actually living humans. Do you think they’ll believe you? They’re too rigid to even consider such a thing possible.

“Ugh…!”

It was frustrating, but he was right. Who would believe such an absurd story? Without concrete evidence, no one would believe it.

I felt suffocated. Such a horrific thing was happening behind the scenes, and I had no idea.

Moreover, the characters I met here in the novel were actually…

“Wait…”

Suddenly, a chilling thought crossed my mind.

“Don’t tell me the characters in Sora’s head are also all living humans…?”

-Hahaha. Ji-hwan, you’re jumping to conclusions. Even I can’t put that many people into a game world.

“Then what are they…?”

-They are ‘real’ characters created by Jeong So-ra’s imagination. There’s no need to bring in real people and force them into the game when perfectly crafted personalities already exist. You’ve met them, haven’t you? They’re indistinguishable from real people, right? Your sister has accomplished something that even our company, with billions invested in AI, couldn’t achieve.

So, that’s why the CEO had been praising Sora so much, saying she contributed to human history.

At least that was a small consolation.

The countless novel characters I encountered weren’t created by bringing in innocent people.

But that didn’t make the situation any better. Right now, the priority was to convince the CEO to let me log out.

-But it’s truly unfortunate. All the other characters were implemented, but Peter and Tristan weren’t. Peter’s role will be taken over by the players, so it’s fine, but Tristan is an essential villain in this world. Without him, this world can’t be complete.

“That’s why I’m testing it! I’ve been providing all the test data daily!”

-And how long will it take to start the online service? Even if you diligently gather data to implement the AI, it’ll just be a cheap imitation.

I still felt suffocated.

It felt like talking to a wall.

“Then what do you want me to do?!”

-Didn’t I tell you earlier? I want you to become Tristan.

“…What?”

*Tap.*

Suddenly, the CEO’s face appeared on the screen in front of me.

-After numerous failures with ‘Remina,’ I realized something. I want to create game characters that feel real, not turn living people into game characters.

The CEO adjusted his glasses on the other side of the screen. Behind the lenses, his dead fish-like eyes met mine.

-To put it bluntly, I want you to become the perfect Tristan there.

“What…? Are you serious? No matter how much Tristan was modeled after me, Tristan is Tristan, and I am me. Don’t equate us.”

The CEO’s demand was so absurd that I was left speechless. Even if I were to act as Tristan, it’s impossible to completely become him. It’s a completely different matter from just acting well or poorly.

“Sir, do you know why Remina failed? It’s because you forced a girl who knew nothing to become a virtual character named Remina. She couldn’t handle the stress of having to live as someone else overnight.”

-Yes. You’re absolutely right.

The CEO nodded as if deeply agreeing with my words. I thought he might admit it cleanly, but an unexpected word came out of his mouth.

-But there’s a good setting called ‘Personality Trait.’

“Huh?”

The CEO placed his hands on the keyboard in front of him and typed something. Then…

[You are filled with ‘Wrath’!]

“Ahhh?!”

My heart started pounding violently. A burning emotion surged through me, and I clutched my chest, collapsing to the ground.

“Ugh…! Ahhh…! Damn it! Stop!!”

I felt like I was going insane. I was consumed by a terrifying emotion that made me want to kill anyone around me.

The CEO observed my state with interest from the other side of the screen.

-Oh, how is it? Can you feel the anger rising in your heart?

“You bastard! Turn it off before I kill you!”

Personality Traits are a kind of blessing bestowed by the gods to the chosen. Simply put, Personality Traits are important indicators that reflect a character’s abilities and personality.

However, Tristan has four of the worst Personality Traits, known as the Seven Deadly Sins.

That’s why I had turned them off when logging in as Tristan to avoid being influenced by them.

But the CEO was manipulating them at will.

“Get lost! Don’t you dare control my emotions!”

-It’s not control. I’m just helping you become the perfect Tristan. Once you get used to it, you’ll be able to endure it.

“Stop talking nonsense!”

-Oh, now you’re starting to look a bit more menacing. That’s more like Tristan. I wonder why I didn’t think of this setting earlier. If I had, I wouldn’t have had to dispose of ‘Remina’ so regrettably.

“You…! Bastard…! What do you think humans are…! What do you think humans are?!”

-Oh? Are you resisting? Let’s see who wins—your Personality Trait or your will.

“You damn bastard…!”

I got up, clutching my chest, and glared at the CEO on the screen with eyes filled with ‘Wrath.’

“Who do you think will become Tristan just because you want it…?!”

-Of course, you will.

[The game will now switch to offline play.]

[Developer mode will be deactivated soon!]

[Warning! If developer mode is deactivated, you will be disconnected from the outside world. Do you still want to deactivate developer mode?]

[Yes]

[Approved!]

[Developer mode will be deactivated in 100 seconds!]

“…?!”

I froze in place upon seeing the chilling message.

-Well, from now on, don’t worry about time and just relax there. If you rot there long enough, even you will become Tristan. Hahaha.

This madman was determined to trap me here. But I was already boiling with ‘Wrath.’

“Who… who do you think will obey you?!”

-Hoh?

I drew the sword at my side and stabbed it with all my might into my chest, where ‘Wrath’ was surging.

*Stab!*

Blood gushed out.

[Entering the 37th loop!]

“…Huh?”

When I opened my eyes, the wound and the blood were completely gone. I was back at the starting point of the game, in the study of the Ruelberta Mansion.

-Hahaha! Ji-hwan, did you think I’d give up on you so easily? You, who are the most suitable for Tristan?

The CEO, who had finished manipulating the keyboard, laughed at me as I stood there in a daze.

-You can never die. No matter how many times you die, you’ll just revive and start over. The only choice you have is to become the ‘perfect’ Tristan. There’s no other option.

In other words, until he decides to let me out, I’m trapped in this world, unable to even kill myself.

What’s even more horrifying is that with each loop, the side effects of the connection make me gradually forget who ‘I’ am.

“Ah…”

Overwhelmed by despair, I collapsed to the ground.

-Oh, don’t worry about the outside world. From today, you’ve resigned and disappeared somewhere.

“No… don’t do this…”

-No? Hahaha. Why are you acting like there’s someone who’ll mourn your absence?

“Please… don’t…”

-What, are you thinking of suicide again? Then think of your sister’s face.

“What…?”

At those words, I looked up at the screen.

The person the CEO showed through the camera was none other than my sister.

Sora’s face, sleeping like an angel, filled the screen.

-They say when you have such extreme thoughts, you should think of your family’s face, right? Hahaha. Besides, if you don’t become Tristan there, it’ll be a huge loss for our company. So, for the sake of your cute sister, don’t repeat such foolish actions. Okay?

I understood what the CEO meant.

And with that, the last bit of my will crumbled.

“……I understand.”

I knelt and bowed my head to him. The only thing I could do was beg him to protect my sister.

“I’ll become Tristan or whatever, just… please spare my sister…”

-Hmm! Of course. I’m a man who keeps his promises. Let’s think positively. It’s not every day you get to become a villain in a game. Hahaha.

Realizing I no longer had the will to resist, the CEO smiled with satisfaction.

-Good. Next week… no, it might be years later there, but when we meet again, I hope to see not Ji-hwan, but the ‘perfect’ villain Tristan.

[Developer mode has been deactivated!]

[All of Tristan’s Personality Traits have been activated!]

Unpleasant emotions stirred in my chest.

-Well then, have a good night. Tristan.

That day, my endless despair began.

 

---