Wings Online has entered regular maintenance every other Monday.
6 hours, from midnight to 6 a.m. Korean time.
“after.”
Mincheol, who had been connected to the game until the end and then logged out, took a deep breath.
I left the capsule PC and headed towards the kitchen with tired steps.
Rattling.
When he opened the refrigerator, he saw a can of cold beer. Mincheol snatched the can of beer and headed to the veranda window.
Cheek!
I opened the can with a refreshing sound, looking down at the city shrouded in darkness.
Mincheol gulped down his beer in one gulp and wiped his mouth with a “ugh” sound.
“… … .”
Could we call it half success?
Although he failed to obtain the ‘World Crystal’ which was his goal, he laid the foundation for destroying the world from then on.
From a Mahayana perspective, it was clearly as planned. However, Mincheol kept thinking about his own carelessness.
‘We need to be more thorough. More… …!’
Mincheol’s hand tightened. The beer can folded with a creaking sound.
Even though we’ve taken over two castles and our plans are going better, we’ll never let our guard down.
Mincheol made a promise to himself.
“… … Still, for now.”
After I finished the beer, I started to feel tired quickly along with the alcohol.
“Should I sleep a little? Huh?”
Mincheol yawned and walked to the bed with a limp.
I didn’t even have the courage to wash or brush my teeth.
All the hard work I’ve put in to prepare for today has backfired and I’m now overcome by waves of fatigue.
dump!
I fell face first onto the bed.
“… … Oh, right.”
I took out my cell phone and checked it just before I passed out.
His phone was full of missed calls from Shinji and Dongha.
“We should meet up and talk.”
Mincheol, who was looking at his phone screen with his eyes wide open, muttered slowly.
“Then… … Where should we have the ‘meeting’… … ?”
* * *
Napalm at that time.
The members of the 2nd development team were all stuck in relay meetings without even being able to leave work.
I tried everything during the inspection, but nothing worked.
There were several initialization processes in place in case the AI malfunctioned, but they all failed.
Above all, Gaia, the world AI, was so deeply integrated into the game that it could almost be considered the game itself.
I couldn’t just physically remove it like I was deleting a few files.
Experts from AI companies that are partners with Napalm all came together, but no effective solution was found.
There were two main problems.
First, we gave Gaia too much power and authority.
As the World AI, I was responsible for all of the calculations for Wings Online, so I ended up with amazing specs.
There are over 20 direct AIs under his command.
The insignificant data interference had no effect, and even the AI that was deployed to subdue it ended up being swallowed by Gaia.
Second, Gaia acted of her own free will.
Even experts were perplexed by this situation, as it was unprecedented in the history of AI.
As AI has become more advanced, it has naturally become possible for AIs to have what can be called “autonomy.”
However, this was only at the level of intention, and in the end, the AIs absolutely obeyed human commands.
Gaia refused this ‘submission’.
This was clearly an unexpected action, and there was no way the manual would have described how to handle this situation.
So everyone was on edge.
“What is certain is that this situation must not leak out.”
As the inspection was about to end, there was still no conclusion or solution.
The Milky Way looked around and said to everyone.
“Let’s get the rhythm right. It has to look like what Gaia is trying to do is what Napalm is trying to do.”
“What do you mean…?”
“I’m telling you to create a special page for the Demon King’s Advent event and promote it as a limited-time event.”
This situation must not leak out of the company.
It was a real stain on the reputation of the largest gaming company in South Korea to be dragged around because of a single AI problem.
“You could say it’s a participatory siege event where all users can participate. Take back the world from the Demon King! Put in something like that.”
Milky Way nodded as she looked around at the employees who were blankly staring at her.
“What are you doing? The PR team and the graphics team are making the PR page. The rest of the team is busy preparing for the server opening. Why are you just sitting there? Get moving!”
The operations manager suddenly stood up.
“What are you talking about! You shouldn’t open the server!”
The Milky Way glanced at the operations manager with tired eyes. The operations manager continued to shout.
“You know what’s going to happen! If Gaia has bad intentions… …!”
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“So, you’re saying we should close the server and hold out? Do you know how much Wings makes in a day and say something like that?”
The Milky Way was making a fuss.
“Users will be quite quiet again? Huh?”
“… … .”
“How long are you going to keep it closed? What if you keep closing it? What if the opening is postponed day after day? What if I ask for a refund for the cash items I bought? Are you going to cover the loss? Huh?!”
The operations manager had to keep his mouth shut and sit back down.
“If Gaia has bad intentions, what? She’ll kill real users or something? Haven’t you been watching too many sci-fi movies?”
Something truly extraordinary was happening there, but the Milky Way paid no attention.
From the beginning, the Milky Way’s operating principle was only one.
money.
Only money!
“Get ready to open.”
As the Milky Way beckoned, the planning team leader looked around at everyone and nodded.
As the employees left the conference room one by one and dispersed to go about their own work,
“… … .”
“… … .”
Shinji and Dongha, whose faces turned pale for some reason, kept their mouths shut throughout the meeting, then exchanged glances as they left the conference room.
Afterwards, I headed to the graphics team and QA team to see their respective tasks.
“and.”
A conference room where everyone except the planning team leader and Eunhasu has left.
The Milky Way gestured to the planning team leader on the screen projected on the beam projector.
“Let’s investigate these kids.”
A screenshot of the Nightbringer striking Snow White appeared on the screen.
“It’s in the same boat as Gaia. There’s definitely something that smells so bad.”
The Milky Way thought they were in league with Gaia.
It couldn’t be otherwise, because Gaia was using them as a means of holding events.
“I’ll catch every little thing that’s called a nitpick. If there’s even one thing that’s being stepped on in the terms and conditions, I’ll crush it. I’ll have the legal team on standby.”
The planning team leader answered cautiously.
“As a user, if you misbehave in the game, you cannot be punished beyond a ‘permanent ban’… … .”
Although it was a situation where user sanctions could not be imposed since control of the game had been taken away anyway, that was the principle.
“Oh my, who doesn’t know that?”
I didn’t know it, but the Milky Way reacted sharply.
“In addition to that, I think you should try out some other options to give it a taste of the fire.”
“… … .”
“The legal team was created to catch one and tear it apart. Should we just do it ourselves? Let’s investigate.”
“all right.”
“Go out. Go out.”
At the gesture of the Milky Way, the planning team leader also left the conference room.
An empty conference room with no one in it.
Milky Way, who expertly lit a cigarette, exhaled.
Smoking is prohibited in the office, but I didn’t have time to worry about that.
“Hey, seriously… … .”
Eunhasu, who had been quietly blowing out cigarette smoke for a while, took out his cell phone.
After tapping the address book a few times, the person I was looking for appeared.
“The thing I hate the most is meeting those gamblers in person… … .”
In the Milky Way’s address book, two people were registered with keywords instead of names.
AR.
CD.
Eunhasu, who had been licking her lips as if she didn’t want to, reluctantly pressed the call button.
Even though it was dawn, it was unstoppable.
Thump thump. Thump thump.
After a brief pause.
Beep.
The other person answered the phone.
“… … .”
Milky Way chewed on a cigarette and spoke to the silent opponent without answering.
“Are you busy? Let’s meet up.”
* * *
Meeting.
This term refers to people who previously only met online meeting in person offline.
It is an abbreviation for ‘regular meeting,’ but in reality, any offline meeting, whether regular or irregular, is called a ‘jeongmo.’
The infamous guild Nightbringer was preparing for this gathering.
Two days later, Incheon Airport.
“Oppa~!”
A tall, beautiful woman wearing sunglasses, who had just entered the gate, waved her hands wildly.
It was Rabbit who entered Korea from Bali.
Labo, who had been waiting, looked at me and waved slightly.
Rabbit, who entered dragging a small carrier, ran cheerfully and hugged Mincheol.
“I missed you, oppa!”
“Uh, yeah… … me too.”
Mincheol pulled Rabbit away, sweating profusely. The intense skinship typical of foreigners was still burdensome.
Mincheol, who received Rabbit’s carrier, took the lead, and Rabbit followed him, laughing heartily.
“It’s nice to see you again after such a long time!”
“It feels like it’s been a while. I saw you a few weeks ago… … .”
Mincheol nodded, snorting.
“Have you been to Korea before?”
“It was three years ago. This is the first time since then.”
There were promotional images introducing Korea’s tourist attractions all over the airport.
Rabbit looked at them curiously.
“Why, is there somewhere you want to go?”
“There are a lot~ But work comes first.”
Rabbit giggled.
“Our ‘bad ending’ plan is top priority!”
“… … .”
Labo looked at the rabbit with a smile.
“When is the meeting?”
“Lunch tomorrow.”
“Hehehe. Alright. Oh, but is everyone coming?”
“First of all… … I said that.”
Mincheol trailed off.
I received a promise from everyone to participate.
Due to the nature of gatherings where online connections are met offline, there were always one or two people who did not attend.
“Well, there are people coming from Bali, so I guess the rest of them will also participate… … .”
“If someone doesn’t come, I’ll go find them and drag them over!”
Rabbit, who spoke cheerfully, laughed haha.
Mincheol also smiled faintly.
Mincheol headed to the airport parking lot and loaded his suitcase into the trunk of his car.
“Come on. I’ll take you to your accommodation.”
“Oh, oppa, your car is nice. Is it new?”
Rabbit whistled as he looked at the car that looked new.
But Mincheol was depressed.
“No, it’s a 5-year-old car… … I bought it but I never drove it so it looks new… … .”
“… … .”
Because I lived a life that was no different from a company animal, eating and sleeping at the company, I rarely had a reason to buy and ride.
Sometimes, it just shines brightly… … .
“Hey, cheer up. You’ll be able to ride a lot from now on!”
“Yeah… … But since I’m staying home, I won’t be riding anyway… … .”
“Come on, come on! Let’s go for a drive! Drive!”
Mincheol sat in the driver’s seat and Rabbit sat in the passenger seat.
Mincheol started the engine skillfully, and the car soon pulled smoothly onto the road.
“Ahem, it’s Korea. Korea~.”
As Rabbit was humming a tune in excitement as he watched the scenery passing by outside the window, Mincheol spoke to him.
“Rabbit.”
“yes?”
Rabbit turns to look at Mincheol.
“You, don’t you have anything to say to me?”
Mincheol asked like that.
As usual, calmly, looking straight ahead and holding the steering wheel.
“……yes?”
But, as Rabbit awkwardly asked back, cold sweat ran down his back.
