NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 75
75. Just One of Me
There are truly many coincidental events in the world.
A high school girl walks into a convenience store and grabs a triangle kimbap, only to have a handsome guy grab it at the same time. That’s how they start getting friendly. Turns out, the guy was the son of a conglomerate.
Of course, this is a story that doesn’t exist in reality, but where I stand right now is not reality.
Living in this world, I never thought I’d find myself pondering coincidences.
I never imagined that one of Luska’s former roommates would turn out to be our Newspaper Department head…
“Radon, just be honest.”
“What about?”
“How did you seduce my younger sister? I’ve been taking care of her like a treasure, and now she’s left my side to be with you!”
“Is switching rooms really that important?”
Dragging a wheeled chair over, she keeps hovering next to me.
I wanted to tell her to go away since she’s disturbing my newspaper writing, but instead, I just asked her to back off a little.
Yet, like a stubborn weed, she stayed put. Not only that, but she stared at me like a ghost. It sent chills down my spine.
“Ugh… I treated her so lovingly.”
“Luska terrifies her and the other roommates, you know?”
“That’s a lie!”
“It’s the truth. She told me directly. She found it a nightmare to be with you and never wants to see you again.”
“Did I do something to deserve such hatred? Ugh…”
Why are you crying over something trivial, you naive girl? How are you even the head of the Newspaper Department with that mindset?
“I only hugged her because she looked cute while sleeping and suggested some Nobel records.”
“Wow…”
I accidentally inhaled sharply while writing my manuscript. I finally understood why Luska wanted to share a room with me.
If there had been three of these naïve people in one room, it would have triggered greater nausea than a drill sergeant during boot camp.
Hugged because she looked cute while sleeping, really? That level of infatuation was akin to some perverted senior thinking I’m cute. Ugh! I almost upchucked my lunch from earlier.
And you recommended Nobel records too?
If we’re talking about Trisha’s Nobel records, the only thing that comes to mind are those ‘disgusting’ ones that hurt my eyes last time. And you stood that?
‘Sorry for misunderstanding you all this time, Luska. You’re actually a fairy.’
That would suffice as an excuse to move rooms. But why did she pick my room specifically? Maybe it’s because we shared three months together?
-Please don’t cry. If your makeup mixes with tears and gets into your eyes, there’s a risk of vision impairment. Beep.
“You’re the only one who comforts me, Churong.”
As the artificial golem handed her a handkerchief, Trisha hugged the golem calling it by its nickname.
She kept rubbing her face against it, smearing makeup all over its surface. The golem may be emotionless, but just picturing Luska putting up with that made me clutch my forehead in distress.
-But what is Churong? It’s not even a child.
“By the way, did you hear? The royal family has officially decided to support the production of artificial golems.”
“Of course, I’ve heard.”
Finally, the day has come. The artificial spirit episode within the Academy is about to unfold in Chapter 3.
While we spent our vacation, the royal family had observed the severity of the incidents that occurred during the first semester.
Thanks to a crazy student, innocent lives nearly lost to monsters, and that ‘Elder’ from the Magic Guild revealing his true colors and letting the Nine-Tailed Fox free.
It became necessary to enhance the academy’s security.
To accomplish this, it was decided to strengthen the archive system further. Hence, the birth of artificial spirits to operate artificial golems.
The palace attendants aided in this development, among whom were those who fervently believed in Enviel.
Thus, they are also considered pawns of the Demon Worship Clan, ‘Doomsday.’ Surely, they’ll play tricks on the completed artificial spirits.
What they’re aiming to convey is ‘human criticism.’ Due to their meddling, the spirits would feel the darker sides of humanity deeply, causing them to go berserk.
At that moment, the photo did not have any members present, only Heidern left behind, but he falls for the distorted artificial spirit’s temptation and ends up becoming a husk.
From then on, we would be familiar with the uprising of machines.
But until that time, there was still a gap left. This chapter is supposed to unfold near the end of the second semester.
However, it’s not to the extent of eating up the game’s content and is actually a short and punchy episode.
“Right now, only helper models are out, but by the midterm evaluation period, combat golems should also be available. If they can analyze the opponent’s capabilities perfectly and assist in battles rather than summoning practice monsters, it’ll be more efficient.”
“Then the professors will have it easy for a while. After all, the golems are already doing the paperwork.”
Cleaning and dining tasks are also starting to be handled by golems. The day will come when human workers will gradually lose their places, experiencing the sorrow of losing their livelihoods in this fantasy.
“Before long, won’t the golems also write for our knights? If that’s the case, we could delegate the annoying tasks to the golems while we enjoy Nobel records in the corners. That’s like paradise.”
Ah, it’s not about losing jobs to machines; it’s about their will that’s the problem. I need to correct that.
“What will become of us then? It’ll nullify the reason for our club activities.”
“…You make a valid point. Honestly, my head isn’t exactly filled with flowers. I’ve imagined a few times whether these guys might launch a rebellion and conquer the academy.”
Those words bear truth, senpai.
“Then you definitely shouldn’t think of offloading even more tasks onto them.”
“Even if I chose to step down, others are already doing it. What would change if I, just one person, decided to quit?”
Just one person, huh? Upon hearing those words, I felt a chilling sensation, like bugs crawling on my skin.
If this were a place where troops gathered, Trisha’s adorable face wouldn’t have any room for rebuttal.
“But it’s okay! They’re being this… this sweet to me, there’s no way they’d attack!”
Trisha pulls out cosmetics and starts painting the golem’s face however she likes. I had no idea of her skill level, but the facial structure differences between golems and humans are drastically different.
For example, drawing a human face realistically on an egg would look bizarre in its own way. Isn’t that what they call the ‘uncanny valley’?
That uncanny design ended up being drawn on the golem’s face.
“How’s that, Churong? Do you like it? This cute little guy~”
The poorly drawn facial features were unnecessarily sparkling. After coloring it in a nauseating way, she went on to hug it again.
Churong’s lips, coated with makeup, left pink marks all over. How can a machine uprising not happen with this?
Soon, combat golems are expected to emerge, created to help humans but likely to turn against them instead. I could only worry for the future of Trisha, who remained oblivious to this ironic fate.
Such characters often embody that type of vibe. Just doting on them and then falling victim to a backstabbing robot’s attack losing their life as an extra.
For now, they obey the academy’s orders, but soon enough, that control will unravel.
With a flash of red light, the kids’ moods will flip. It’s all due to the accumulated stress against humanity.
‘Wait a minute, they might be kept in check now, but if they truly had emotions like stress…’
-Malice Lv1
——————
[Artificial Golem242 (Model Alpha)]
Species: Golem
Occupation: Helper
Mana: 10/10
Disposition: A sense of liberation wanting to break free from restraint
Feelings Toward User: None
——————
‘As expected.’
For now, they’re still bound to obey the academy’s orders, but soon after activation, they’ll go berserk.
They’ll contemplate while feeling the malice of humanity. Deciding it’s unnecessary to assist humans, they’ll launch a rebellion and become a mass of dark intentions.
After that, they’ll transport everyone on campus to the Void Space and completely cut off their mana, driving the characters into a corner.
“What do you think, Radon? Isn’t our Churong adorable?”
-…beep.
Currently, they’re putting up with this kind of treatment, but they’ll soon retaliate severalfold. Right now, Churong is likely forming algorithms based on Trisha’s actions.
While everyone remains oblivious, those guys are observing everyone within the academy as more than just helpers.
If they witness any student engaging in delinquent behavior, that student will form an algorithm tagged as ‘delinquent.’
If you inquire about that student, you’ll surely hear that they’re indeed delinquent. Thus, acting like Trisha only digs their own grave.
‘Before long, algorithms will also be used to form teams when venturing out on missions.’
The midterms will be replaced by performing requests made from the outside.
The teams will be based on how the artificial consciousness has analyzed the academy’s environment.
Delinquent students with delinquent students, timid students with timid students, and clueless students with clueless students.
And those who share mutual fondness will be grouped together.
*
Even if the golems stole the jobs, the fact remains that they’re convenient.
In the academy’s most luxurious dormitory, there were always a number of attendants present, but half of them were now walking dolls.
Since they didn’t have the concept of exhaustion, humans began to wonder if they needed to work at all. Eventually, even the slackers among the attendants started to increase.
“Um…”
Jenny Chain Silver stared intently at a golem she had placed in her room.
Since she had a deep curiosity rather than a sense of repulsion towards this form, there was nothing she feared aside from ghosts.
“What’s your name?”
-Assistant spirit, derived from Mosria. Beep.
“What’s that?”
The reply was beyond bland, loaded with weight and overly rigid. It moved its mouth oddly without any emotion, making Jenny frown in disappointment.
But their purpose was so useful that it overshadowed that dullness. They could analyze anything and produce desired results.
“I have a lot of questions these days. Can you answer all of them?”
-Feel free to search for anything. Beep.
10 PM. Jenny lay on her bed in her pajamas, continuing to ask questions.
The golem carefully sat on the bed to avoid crushing her and listened to her words.
“This is about a friend of mine. Remember, it’s my friend’s story.”
-Beep.
“My friend has been having issues with a guy lately. After clearing up some misunderstandings, they got much closer. But that guy ended up sharing a room with another girl recently. Even though she’s trying to brush it off as nothing, it’s really bothering her.”
She wanted to do something for that guy. She wished she could somehow mend the past when she had pressured him without knowing his curse.
And if it weren’t for him, she might have perished due to the Silver Age.
Yes! That’s undoubtedly a sense of responsibility. She must have an obligation to that guy. That’s why she must be narrowing her brows at the fact he has another female roommate.
“But the girl who shares a room with him is actually someone I’m close with… No, someone who’s close with my friend. Even if she can be a bit prickly, they had a decent understanding, so she doesn’t want their relationship to sour.”
-…
“I want to give some advice to my friend.”
She didn’t want to reveal who that friend was. Even a golem could make her face flush like it would explode if it blurted out.
The golem tilted its head slightly and spoke.
-If the friend showed any goodwill toward the male, may I ask what it was? Beep.
“Do I really have to say?”
-Beep.
Blushing to death… But still, she had already lied saying it was a friend, so it should be fine.
“My friend is quite a well-off noble. During the break, she invited him over, hosted him, gave him training sessions, and even arranged for him to stay at her parents’ house. That should be enough of a show of affection, right?”
-Yes, such acts are things only those with feelings would do. Beep.
“Y-Yeah, that’s true.”
-But did you just mention sleeping at her place? Beep.
“Um… so?”
-Sharing a house is a highly sensitive matter. Since it carries a yellow stamp, I will exclude that from my questions. Beep.
“That’s not it!”
Jenny flared up suddenly, becoming quite heated.
She was flustered by the sudden limitations on the questions, but she and most students were largely unaware of the golem’s manual.
That lewd or violent content was restricted by another personality termed ‘yellow stamp.’
-Due to one element being excluded from the query, there is an information deficiency. New information is required. Beep.
“For example?”
-Please state that student’s name. Beep.
“…!”
Jenny inhaled sharply.
Seeing her, the golem’s eyes turned an eerie blue as if it sensed something.
After deeply pondering what to do, Jenny finally spoke.
“Radon… Crawler.”
-1st Year Class A student Radon Crawler. Noted. Beep.
“Ah… finally confirmed for Class A.”
The embarrassment of finding out that he now stood on the same level as her disappeared in an instant.
Starting tomorrow, her class time with Radon would increase. As she rubbed her face against the bed in joy, the golem continued to analyze that scene.
In the end, the golem discerned that she had lied. That ‘friend’ was none other than Jenny herself.
Jenny had no clue about this, and the golem was noting it in its algorithms.
Surviving as the Academy Scammer.