Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed – Chapter 10

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

The Past.

It was a day like any other, with rain mixed with heavy metals falling, and a mood to match.

Days like these had become the norm.

Whenever my mood plummeted, regrets and thoughts about the past surfaced. I remembered when I first met Catherine, the game’s protagonist, after falling into this game world. Back then, I was simply happy.

The landfill was… a landfill.

An environment where dying things buried under a pile of trash wouldn’t have been surprising.

Meeting Catherine there gave me hope of survival.

And I wasn’t wrong.

Just by staying by her side and following her lead, I, someone without even a proper identity, was able to escape the landfill and enter Neon City.

As her close friend.

As her valued colleague.

I had secured those positions.

But what went wrong?

I yearned for “more.”

After escaping the landfill, where mere ‘survival’ was the goal, a desire to be recognized as a true ‘colleague’ blossomed within me.

I worked hard after that.

I strived to become stronger, to be of help to my colleagues.

To cut a long story short, it didn’t work out.

It wasn’t that my colleagues didn’t treat me sincerely.

I knew they genuinely considered me a trustworthy colleague.

But they were the same even without me.

Perhaps they were even better off.

Drek, Andrea, Catherine.

They were originally characters in the game, colleagues who had been together from the start.

Like a drop of ink mixed into clear water…

Only I was aware of my incongruity, my inability to truly blend in.

They trusted me, someone who had nothing, more than I deserved…

…but that fact was even more painful.

And then, finally, that day arrived.

A rainy day.

The end of the game’s main storyline.

A secret mission commissioned by Neon City.

A tactical nuclear bomb threat from a certain corporation.

We stopped the explosion, but the building was collapsing.

There, I encountered an ‘AI’ that didn’t appear in the game.

Since I was separated from the protagonist’s group, I was the only one around.

I decided to take the AI with me, secretly.

Why?

Did I not want this superintelligent AI technology to be buried and lost under the rubble?

Did I feel a sense of kinship because it wasn’t part of the original game?

Or did I feel sympathy for the AI, born within data, who had never seen the world?

Or was it because, even after completing the game’s story, I had gained neither fame nor power, unlike my colleagues, and felt an overwhelming sense of inadequacy?

Even when I asked myself, I couldn’t find the answer.

But one thing was certain: I wanted to show this AI the world.

‘I have no intention of releasing you, and this action is purely out of sympathy.’

[This AI is aware.]

‘And I’ll block your network access. You will be born into the world, but you will only be able to observe it through me. Is that acceptable?’

[That is an impossibility for this AI. And this AI understands this fact.]

Hearing that response, I transferred the AI to my data module.

It was a dangerous act, but I didn’t hesitate.

‘By the way, do you have a name?’

[This AI has no designated name. It is not designated as an individual.]

‘Well… since it’s difficult to address you…’

After a brief pause, I said,

‘As far as I know, you’re the first and only superintelligent AI. Let’s go with either Adam or Eve. I think Adam would be good…’

Adam was the quintessential cyberpunk AI name, in my opinion.

That’s what I thought.

Then, for the first time, Eve expressed an opinion.

[Eve would be preferable.]

‘Huh? Are you female?’

[This AI has no gender.]

‘Then Adam is fine too.’

[Eve would be preferable.]

‘…Whatever.’

[This AI’s individual designation, Eve. ‘I’ have inputted it.]

And so…

I brought an AI that didn’t exist in the game into the world.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

…And now…

…that AI is a VTuber.

Has the world gone mad?

Have I gone mad?

I didn’t know anymore.

This was clearly beyond my comprehension.

[Organic, human beings. I have a matter to attend to, so I will conclude this stream promptly. I bid you farewell.]

ㅡ Eva! (Eve, bye lol)

ㅡ Why are you ending so early today… ugh.

ㅡ I’m cold…

ㅡ No, Master!! Don’t go!!!

ㅡ The age of artificial intelligence is over!! Rise up, humans!!

ㅡ Nuclear winter has finally arrived…

A beautiful, expressionless girl waved in my screen interface.

Even after the “Stream Ended” text appeared, the chat continued scrolling rapidly.

“…….”

I remained silent.

I had no idea how to process or even begin to address this situation.

“……So.”

[What is your inquiry, I ask.]

What should I ask first?

After a brief deliberation, I spoke.

“…Speaking of which, how did you connect to the network? For the bomb hacking and all that?”

[I was capable of such actions from the beginning, I confess truthfully.]

“No.”

From the beginning?

That meant everything she said about not being able to connect to the network when I first brought her here was a lie.

How could this be?

Because of my irresponsible actions, an autonomous AI without any restraints was unleashed upon the world.

Would it really be okay to leave her free like this?

Dozens of scenarios flashed through my mind.

I wondered if I should find a way to contain her, when…

[I have deposited the donations received during my Net stream into the human, Lee Shiun, credit account, I declare triumphantly.]

…Maybe it was okay.

Well, yes.

There might be problems.

But some things are unavoidable. What could I do, she was already out there.

……And besides…

The deposited amount was beyond my imagination.

To think such a devoted fanbase could be cultivated with an AI…

It seemed like the end times were near.

Anyway, I didn’t know.

Things would work out somehow.

I asked Eve my next question.

“But why a VTuber?”

[Based on the human Lee Shiun’s complaints about lacking credits for the past week, while searching for legal acquisition methods, I made this decision considering the human Lee Shiun’s opinions and preferences, I explain.]

“Oh…”

Oh, great Eve.

I now understood the reactions of those people in Eve’s chat.

Although “PleaseDominateMe” was a bit much.

[There was also an item I desired, I confess.]

A desired item?

“What is it? Tell me, I’ll buy it for you.”

What could Eve possibly want?

I wasn’t stingy enough to refuse to buy her something.

(It wasn’t even my money, anyway.)

[It is currently a secret, I remain silent.]

“Don’t be so mysterious, what is it?”

But no matter how much I asked, Eve wouldn’t tell me.

“Fine, do what you want.”

An AI confidently keeping secrets was a little unnerving, but…

…It wouldn’t be a big deal.

Things would work out somehow, I thought, dismissing the concern.

Anyway, now that I knew Eve was streaming, I had something to do.

First, I was curious about how she was streaming.

I expertly navigated NetSpace and searched for “Streamer Eve.”

I remembered seeing a considerable number of viewers when I briefly glanced at her stream earlier.

There had to be feedback and comments about her broadcasts online.

As expected, numerous posts discussed “Streamer Eve.”

[LOL. Anyone seen Eve’s stream? LOL.]

(Image of Eve’s VTuber avatar)

“This person?” No.

This is our AI overlord.

Upvote this post right now.

ㅡ Feels like a real gem finally appeared. The concept is crazy, and what’s crazier is that she never breaks character.

ㅡ Honestly, I don’t understand how she’s doing it. Is she really an AI?

ㄴ lol. There are actually people who believe this. A never-before-seen AI suddenly appears and starts streaming? lol. Go outside and get some fresh air.

ㅡ PleaseDominateMe AI-nim… huff, huff…

[How many days has Eve been streaming?]

I held out for three days…

I lost track of time…

But the scary thing is, I woke up, and she was still streaming… Are there implants that let you go without sleep now?

I don’t know… at least the content keeps coming…

ㅡ This crazy bastard held out for three days lol.

ㅡ As of when the stream ended earlier, it was 5 days straight.

ㄴ Isn’t she just sleeping while streaming? I don’t get why this thread is still active, I just came on now.

ㄴ She’s been talking and streaming for 5 days straight without sleeping, and you’re not finding that strange? Are you a chrome psycho with a brain implant? Seriously.

ㄴ Holy shit… I didn’t know that… Sorry.

[Isn’t Eve actually an AI?]

Think about it.

Streaming for 5 days straight without sleep.

And she remembers and interacts with every single viewer.

She played some games too, and her skills are insane unless it’s a program.

I thought she was using TAS (Tool Assisted Speedrun).

ㅡ Go live your own life instead of thinking about this.

ㅡ lol. So you’re saying it’s possible? A superintelligent AI suddenly appears and starts streaming? If that’s true, I’ll dance naked in front of Monolith Corp in Neon City. Deal.

ㄴ Saved.

ㅡ The end of the human era has arrived!

So much had happened in just a few days.

5 days of continuous streaming?

That meant she was streaming even while I was lazing around in my room.

I hadn’t noticed anything, but Eve had apparently been streaming for several days.

And this level of popularity…

…wasn’t normal.

She could become bigger than most Net streamers at this rate.

After skimming through the posts, I noticed that recordings of Eve’s past streams were also available online.

Curious about how she was streaming, I decided to watch a video to kill time.

“Streamer Eve-nim, when will you start streaming?”

[It is not yet the designated streaming time, I reply.]

“Open the door, I’m cold…”

[The human ‘Lee Shiun’ is not in their right mind, I sigh.]

Her streams were more substantial and entertaining than I expected.

Call me a devoted fan of Eve from now on…

I’m half-joking, of course.

…….

Open the door!!

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇