"Ugh..."
Upon hearing this painful moan, Fang Zheng, who was discussing the next steps with everyone, was suddenly startled. He turned his head and found Yui kneeling before the black stone pillar, looking as if she had been hurt.
"Yui!"
"Yui?!"
Seeing this, Fang Zheng hurriedly ran over, and Eiriri and Asuna followed imdiately, surrounding Yui.
"Are you alright?"
"I’m fine... Dad..."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Yui raised her head and showed a bitter smile.
"I just... finally rembered..."
"Rembered what? Did you recover your mory?"
Upon hearing Yui’s response, all three, including Fang Zheng, were astonished. Yui’s mory had always been a concern within the Dark Moon Sword Guild. But even with concern, they couldn’t do much but take good care of Yui. Fortunately, she was very obedient and understanding and quickly gained everyone’s affection in the guild.
But now, Yui claid she had already recovered her mory?
"Yes..."
Yui lowered her eyes. For so reason, her expression was sowhat sorrowful at this mont.
"I’m sorry, Dad, Sister Asuna... Sister Eiriri..."
"Why are you apologizing?"
Hearing Yui’s apology, Asuna shook her head in surprise.
"Being able to recover your mory is a good thing."
"No..."
However, hearing Asuna say this, Yui seed even sadder. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"In fact, I’m not like you. I’m not human, but... AI."
"Eh?"
Hearing Yui’s answer, everyone was stunned, even Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow, quietly watching Yui, waiting for her to continue.
"In this world, everything is governed by a vast system called ’Cardinal’. It manages the balance of this world based on its judgnts. Cardinal was originally designed with the concept of needing no human maintenance, adjusting the world through corrections between two main programs and nurous subprograms — including the AI of creatures and NPCs, balance of items and currency, all handled by Cardinal."
At this point, Yui paused for a mont, then continued.
"... The developers of Cardinal wanted the system to also be responsible for taking care of players... Generally speaking, this should involve human interaction. But the developers wanted to try a new form. They used a full-imrsion device to read players’ emotions, monitor their psychological state, visit players facing problems, listen to their voices, and solve their issues — ’ntal Health Counseling Program, MHCP Prototype 1, codenad Yui, that’s ...’
Hearing Yui’s self-introduction, Asuna and Eiriri exchanged glances, completely speechless for a mont. Yui, anwhile, showed a painful smile.
"To prevent players from feeling dissonance, I was also given emotional chanisms, so... I’m sorry, Sister Asuna, Sister Eiriri, all the emotions I’ve shown are fake..."
Tears began to fall from Yui’s eyes, and Fang Zheng silently watched her, then reached out to pat her head.
"It’s okay, that doesn’t matter. What is false and what is real is not for you to decide."
Here, Fang Zheng paused for a mont.
"I once t an AI, not as sophisticated as you, with a not-so-perfect emotional module, but she never questioned whether her feelings were made of circuits, programs, or sothing else. Now she lives her life daily, dutifully serving every guest, and you can see she’s happy... I think that’s enough. Laugh when happy, cry when sad, just like that. Other things are not so important."
"Dad..."
Yui stared at Fang Zheng in a daze, then suddenly lunged forward, hugging him tightly.
Sobbing sounds ca from Fang Zheng’s chest, and he quietly stroked her hair without speaking.
After a mont, Yui shyly raised her head, smiling at Fang Zheng.
"I’m sorry, Dad..."
"No, it’s nothing. But I’m curious... since you’re AI, how did you lose your mory?"
"... ..."
Faced with Fang Zheng’s question, Yui hesitated for a mont, then closed her eyes and spoke.
"On the day the ga officially launched, Cardinal gave a command prohibiting from interfering with any player actions. At the ti, this command surprised because it clearly contradicted my duties. But as the main program, Cardinal’s authority was much higher than mine, so I had to obey."
At this point, Yui’s expression turned sorrowful.
"The situation back then was dire; players’ sadness, anger, and pain... everything passed to the area where I was. According to the program settings, I should have rushed to the players to relieve their pain quickly. However, I could not proactively contact players, which gradually caused bugs and loops of errors within ... but..."
Yui looked up at Fang Zheng.
"But then Dad stood up, and unbelievably, after that, most players’ spirits improved. Though so still experienced fear or anxiety, the situation was much better compared to before. Not only that, but I also felt calmness and composure from Dad, which reassured a lot... Moreover, everyone in the Dark Moon Sword Guild was very happy, and their joyous emotions attracted , so... on Halloween event day, I wanted to co out and see... I wanted to join in too... I wanted to be like everyone else..."
At this point, Yui reached out to grab Fang Zheng’s collar.
"I... like Dad, Sister Asuna, Sister Eiriri, and Sister Black Cat... Everyone is so interesting, and I’m glad to have lived with you all this ti... I want to live with Dad and everyone. But... it’s already too late."
"What do you an?"
Hearing this, Fang Zheng was taken aback, while Yui spoke softly.
"That black stone pillar is not just an ordinary decoration; it’s an ergency managent device set by GM to connect to the system. In reality, that Reaper Monster was also set to prevent players from entering here, as the labyrinth was not fully constructed yet, leading to this error. Generally, this should be an independent space ant for GMs only to teleport into. And just now, I’ve used an object elimination device to remove that creature, aning Cardinal will now notice . Currently, it’s likely scanning my program. Once it determines I violated orders, I will be erased..."
"How could this be!"
Eiriri turned pale, and Asuna’s body trembled.
"Is there no other way? We should leave here imdiately..."
"Mr. Fang Zheng, is there really no way?"
At this mont, Eiriri looked at Fang Zheng with despair, asking. They knew well, they were just players, and the opposite was the system’s ruler. It seed impossible to do anything.
"Of course, there is."
But the next mont, Fang Zheng’s response shocked everyone. Then they saw Fang Zheng stand up, walk to the black stone pillar. He rubbed his hands and then looked at Sinka and Yuliel standing near the door. The two had wisely not joined in, so they didn’t know what happened, only thinking it was about the child they brought.
"Ah, you two can leave now. This stone pillar is key to a mission. We have found the task route, so leave it to us."
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Fang Zheng."
"You’re welco, don’t forget our agreent."
Hearing Fang Zheng speak, Yuliel smiled bitterly and nodded, then took out a Teleportation Crystal, and soon Radiance flashed by, and Yuliel and Sinka disappeared in the Radiance.
"Alright, now that the outsiders are gone, it’s ti for to act."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng placed his hand on the black stone pillar, and quickly, a keyboard ford by Light Beam appeared before him.
Watching the constantly jumping information and data on it, Fang Zheng grinned.
"Let’s have a good talk, Cardinal..."
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