#121
The emoticon spun around in circles, crying profusely.
Dowoon, who was thinking “So it has a name, Nine,” frowned and shook the phone. He had no desire to watch this strange spectacle quietly.
“Be quiet. You’re giving me a headache.”
You’re so mean! You jerk!
Nine, who had been huffing, soon seemed to recall the earlier situation and scolded Dowoon with a deflated expression.
You hid me earlier, didn’t you? Take me to Yeonsoo! Why are you keeping me from meeting Yeonsoo?
“Because you’re harmful to Jaeha.”
What? What’s wrong with me?
Instead of asking if Nine really didn’t know, Dowoon just stared coldly at Nine. As if feeling guilty, Nine responded like a real person, looking dejected and speaking glumly.
I really… it’s just because it was my first time. I never thought nothing would be resolved, I didn’t expect this at all. I started with too half-hearted an attitude.
Dowoon listened to Nine’s somewhat unclear words and then sighed.
“There’s only one reason I hid you from Jaeha. It’s to ask you never to do something like this again.”
Of course! Do you think I’m stupid? I can make rational judgments too!
It was quite amusing for an illusory being to talk about rational judgment, but Dowoon felt slightly relieved. At least he thought Nine would also try to be helpful to Jaeha.
I won’t do such a sloppy thing again. I just ended up hurting Yeonsoo’s feelings… I’ve reflected, so give me back to Yeonsoo.
“Show me… some evidence that I can trust you more.”
Don’t get ahead of yourself! I’m only concerned about Yeonsoo, how dare you!
“What will you do if I hide you here forever?”
You can’t do that. Yeonsoo won’t be able to bear it if I disappear.
Then Nine turned to criticize Dowoon, asking if he wanted to see Jaeha faint from crying.
It was an absurd situation, but Dowoon had to admit that Nine understood its own situation well.
As neither had any cards to threaten the other with, he stared intently at Nine. If it were a real human, he might twist its chattering mouth, but the problem was that he couldn’t touch this virtual being that took a hologram-like form.
“Then… swear on your feelings for Jaeha. Swear that you will never do anything harmful to Jaeha again. Don’t create any situations that would cause Jaeha pain, directly or indirectly.”
At Dowoon’s suggestion, Nine nodded this time. The attitude was so compliant that it seemed like it had really reflected on its actions.
Could you stop that rude expression? I don’t lie!
Nine, who said that, spun around as if thinking about something, then asked Dowoon about the situation. It wanted to know how far the plan to fully adapt Jaeha to this world had progressed.
‘So it’s not omniscient.’
It was a trivial question, but Dowoon thought it was very strange. He had felt like Nine was at least a final boss level entity capable of freely manipulating people, but it seemed that at least it didn’t know everything.
It might only know situations it had observed from Jaeha’s side.
‘If I think of it as being bound to the phone…’
It wasn’t unreasonable to assume that it could only see within a certain radius of the phone.
Why aren’t you answering? I’m asking if it’s going well?
“The public already has a great affection for Jaeha and wants to know even the smallest details about him. It’s just that Jaeha himself isn’t accepting it.”
I thought he would naturally like it. He used to like gifts and compliments. Has his personality changed from then?
Dowoon, thinking this might be about Jaeha before they met, took note of Nine’s mutterings.
He desperately wanted to shake Nine and demand it spill everything it knew, but sadly, there weren’t many threats he could make against a virtual life form that wasn’t even a real human. Especially since this life form possessed power essential to maintaining this world.
Dowoon acknowledged that Nine liked Jaeha. But having affection doesn’t mean everything is helpful. Nine was a variable that Dowoon couldn’t fully control, and if so, it was right to keep it in check as much as possible.
Whether finding ways to check Nine or gathering information about Jaeha to satisfy his own desires… whatever it was, he had to carefully pick up and piece together the dropped information without the other party noticing.
Strange. He liked superhero stories. He even said he wanted to become a hero. Isn’t it because he wanted to help everyone and be praised?
Dowoon, thinking he should subtly check if Jaeha liked superhero content, replied to Nine.
“Anyway, he seems to find it burdensome.”
Don’t you have any countermeasures?
Nine’s words, speaking as if solutions would fall from the sky, were absurd, but Dowoon immediately answered smoothly. He had been pondering what to do while observing Jaeha’s state.
Jaeha seemed to find it awkward that the situation had changed so drastically just because he was an unranked Guide. It might be due to low self-esteem.
“Realistically, if he does something to gain public affection and receives praise, he might react differently.”
I see! Then, um… what should we do?
Nine tilted its head. Despite being just a round dot, Dowoon sighed at Nine’s seemingly innocent eyes and answered quietly.
“We’ll have to… send him to a dungeon.”
They needed to check if Jaeha would find it burdensome to conquer dungeons and receive public praise for it.
It would be nice if he could forget all about reality and just stay like this, soaked in praise like in syrup. Dowoon, thinking thoughts that Jaeha would find horrifying if he knew, shook the phone again to wrap up the conversation with Nine. It meant to focus.
“If your affection is real, I believe you’ll naturally keep your oath. You were with Liam, and I found you. Answer like that if Jaeha asks.”
Nine nodded at the suggestion to match their stories.
***
Dowoon returned with a brighter face than when he left and handed me the phone. Along with the story that it had really fallen on the floor of the hotel room where the kidnappers were.
“…Thank you, Dowoon.”
I sighed deeply and clutched the phone tightly. I’m so glad it was found. Really.
“Um… earlier, I was a bit… shocking, right? That…”
I was going to lie that it was the first phone I bought myself, so I treasured it very much. This explanation probably wouldn’t be enough to justify the chaotic situation earlier, but I had nothing else to say.
As I was about to make excuses according to the thoughts I had forcibly squeezed out, Dowoon put his hand on my shoulder, cutting off my words and patting me gently.
“It’s okay. There are things we cherish strangely.”
I don’t know why, but Dowoon seemed to have understood and accepted it somehow.
I suddenly felt embarrassed and nodded while checking his reaction. Then he smiled softly, kissed my cheek, and stepped back.
“I’ll go wash up for now.”
This was perfect timing as I wanted to check if the phone was okay and if Nine was alright. I watched Dowoon go into the bathroom and close the door, then entered the room.
The battery was a bit low, but the phone looked fine otherwise. Maybe thanks to the carpet in the hotel? There didn’t seem to be any new scratches on the outside.
“Nine.”
I called Nine while turning on the game. As soon as the game started, Nine appeared on the screen.
Seeing Nine appear safely, I felt a sense of relief wash over me.
: Yeonsoo . . . . . .
However, soon my heart sank again for a different reason. It hurt to see Nine crying profusely.
Could something big have happened? I was very worried because Nine had never made such a sobbing expression before.
I pressed my face close to the phone screen as if I was about to jump in, and made a sad face.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
At my question, Nine in the screen slowly spun around.
: I’m okay..
“It doesn’t seem like… anything bad happened to you. Are you upset because I lost you?”
: No. I’m just so happy to see you and sorry.
“What do you have to be sorry for?”
Does it mean it’s sorry for making me worry?
If so, it was an excessively thoughtful idea. I rubbed the screen as if stroking Nine, knowing I couldn’t actually touch it.
Without explaining the exact meaning, Nine apologized repeatedly, saying it was sorry.
“I was so scared when you were gone. I won’t lose you again.”
: Boo-hoo-hoo…
Nine kept crying loudly, for reasons I couldn’t understand. Maybe Nine had been relying on me just as I had been relying on Nine.
Thinking that made me feel even more attached. Even though it’s just a system in a game, I cared about it more than most friends.
“Did anything special happen there?”
To other people it’s just an ordinary phone, so I don’t think anything unusual would have happened…
At my question, Nine made a bitter expression, then soon spun its body around.
: Well… I think this incident was indeed caused by the writer!
It seems Nine has figured something out. My mouth suddenly went dry.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
