CHAPTER 11 – The AI.
Alex didn't know what was happening back in the village. He was quite far away, so even if they screamed for help from the village, it wouldn't reach him.
Yeah, he was not even 1 kilometer away, but the fact that he was walking deeper into the forest was already enough for the voice to not reach him.
Not to mention the voice of the wild, something that was unusually loud right now.
The sound of the insects and herbivore animals was quite loud, as if they were scared of something, and it was only natural as they had sixth senses.
They could feel the presence of something supernatural in the village, so they were moving away from it.
Alex, however, was busy with his own thoughts.
The bright light and the silhouette of a woman, the bright sheen on her finger, and the weird sensation of something entering his body.
They were all as clear as they could be.
He still couldn't make out her words, but he was sure about something…
'That woman was the one that put you in my body, right?'
Alex questioned inwardly.
The voice in his head that was about to answer his last question paused for a moment before it spoke.
They still sounded the same, mechanical and emotionless, but something was different.
'Who are you, then?
And who was that woman?'
Alex asked two questions in succession.
As for that woman, I do not have any information on her.>
The AI introduced itself while speaking about its inability to answer Alex's second question.
'You don't have any information about her?'
Alex frowned his brow.
The moment Alex heard those words, his frown loosened a bit.
'How do you know that she is strong?'
Alex questioned.
He knew that she was strong.
Before, he was confused about the bright portal-like thing that appeared, but now that he had seen the system and the undead, he was sure that she was also a supernatural entity.
Any being who could create an intelligent being, be it living or non-living, is very strong.> The AI replied, but its words froze Alex. 'She created you…...?' Alex was shocked by this discovery; he didn't focus much on the possibility that the information could be false. A being who could appear out of nowhere and then disappear just like that was not someone whose limit he could guess, after all. Usually, Alex wouldn't show such a variety of expressions, but today, he had been shocked by many things. But just as the AI's words reverberated in Alex's mind, another thing clicked. 'Wait a second. Does that mean that the gamer system was created by someone else as well?' If this AI was created by someone, then the possibility of the system being created by someone wasn't low. But he didn't receive the answer he was hoping for…. Alex nodded his head. He stopped talking and started walking. The silence was maintained for a while before the AI spoke again. The voice of the AI changed. From the gender-neutral voice, now it turned into that of a woman. The voice was calming, but for Alex, it was not worth mentioning. Alex remained quiet and walked straight, without a goal fixed in his mind. He was just walking in a line, but he did realize that instead of walking out of the forest, he was walking in deeper. So, he stopped. He looked back…. "Sigh…" He sighed audibly before he started walking back. Straight toward the village. The AI spoke again. But this time Alex replied. 'I know that, and I also know that you are like a part of my body; I can control you, but you can also work on reflexes. However, the fact that I still don't know where you came from is making it hard for me to trust you.' Alex finally spoke his mind. Alex knew that the AI was not really harmful to him. He could feel it like a limb of his. He could control it, and he could discard it. Alex also knew that the AI had already gone through his memories after all, and the voice that the AI was using was his mother's. However, Alex didn't point it out. He didn't want to change it. Her voice was calming, and even though he didn't want to admit it, he needed that. 'But I don't see what use you could be other than being a voice in my head.' Alex didn't forget the fact that the AI could help in crucial times like it did before, but he wasn't so sure if he would want to go through that feeling again. The AI uttered those words, and Alex could feel pride from its words. It was as if a child was telling his parent that he topped the class. 'What does that me-' Alex grew confused by the AI's words, but before he could ask a question…. {Tutorial 1. Objective: Kill at least one undead before the time runs out. Details (Only for the tutorials): - The moment the timer hits the zero mark, undead would be summoned. One per person, and as said in the objective, each person has to kill one undead..... (Extend) Time before the tutorial: 60 seconds. Reward: 10 coins/undead. Tutorial special offer: The more undead you kill, the more you earn: +1 undead will give you +2 coins. +2 undead will give you +3 coins. …..(Extend) Penalty: --- (No penalty for the first tutorial) Tutorial duration: 10 minutes.} The tutorial screen popped into his vision, but before he could question what was happening... {Tutorial 1 – Complete.} {Number of participants: 33.} {Number of participants alive: 2.} {Ranking: - Alex Matthew: 858 coins. Gulshan Singh: 10 coins. Rohit Kuman: 10 coins. ..... ….. … . Prakash Yadav: 0 coins.} The moment he read the following information, Alex's eyes turned as cold as they could. He didn't say anything; he didn't have to. He knew that it was no use; it wouldn't change anything, and although his eyes gave out nothing but a cold feeling, he was confused inwardly. Till now, Alex was so busy talking with the AI that he forgot that the tutorial complete notification was not shown, and neither was his reward granted. He was new to all this, and he didn't know anything about the system, so this error was not actually something anyone could blame him for, but somehow, he felt angry. Angry for what? Even he didn't know that... He increased his pace while gritting his teeth. He knew who was responsible for this, and he knew that the one responsible must be waiting for him to arrive.