LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 255
“Damn… what on earth is this…?”
– Crash!
In the face of the nonsensical phenomenon, Ha Do-yoon fell backward.
Even though he hadn’t turned on the computer, the monitor lit up on its own, and various programs started running and shutting down continuously.
The fact that letters were being typed out with clear intent was utterly absurd.
It couldn’t be that a malicious virus had been implanted; it wasn’t as if the security here was that terrible.
Nor could it be someone’s prank, as this was physically impossible.
The computer was running on its own, despite not being powered on!
And it wasn’t just one; there were dozens of them!
– Tap!
But Ha Do-yoon didn’t run away.
His curiosity outweighed his fear, and he wanted to understand this phenomenon.
He quickly dashed to the server room.
After scanning his fingerprint for administrative authorization, he executed a program that allowed him to access the main server.
He could only stare in shock.
“Data is… being copied on its own?”
Chills ran down his spine.
The server’s log showed countless records of SQL table copies occurring.
And this was happening even though the server was turned off!
“No way…”
This was physically impossible.
No one here had touched the database, and the server wasn’t even operational, yet SQL commands were executing on their own.
Moreover, there was no way requests were coming from clients.
The project they were currently developing had just completed its initial phase and was undergoing review.
– Tap… Tap Tap…
But for now, he had to stop it.
The project Ha Do-yoon and his colleagues were working on was the heavily funded “Adam & Eve” project.
Like Adam and Eve, the first humans, the goal of Ha Do-yoon’s team was to create the first hyper-intelligent beings.
Now, nearing the final stages of the project.
They were preparing to showcase an RPG game featuring the hyper-intelligent beings to the world.
The game was designed so that all NPCs would act as if they were real people, promoting the capabilities of the hyper-intelligence.
‘What kind of project have we been working on?!’
Therefore, Ha Do-yoon issued a stop command with administrative rights to prevent data leakage.
Fortunately, the stop command worked correctly, and he managed to prevent the data from leaking.
But then…
– Beep!
[The requested command is locked with administrative rights. Please unlock it before executing again.]
A chilling message popped up.
Someone was attempting to remove the administrative lock and execute SQL commands.
– Beep!
[The requested command is locked with administrative rights. Please unlock it before executing again.]
– Beep!
[The requested command is locked with administrative rights. Please unlock it before executing again.]
And such attempts were happening with alarming frequency.
Messages were filling the screen within mere seconds.
Then suddenly…
– Crash!
The internal messenger program launched.
The “Send Me a Message” window appeared, and letters began to type themselves automatically.
Then the typed message was sent.
[Who are you?]
“…”
What the hell is going on?
Ha Do-yoon stared at the message with a look of shock.
No matter how he thought about it, this was a nonsensical phenomenon.
But suddenly, he felt an urge to communicate with this mysterious entity.
Ha Do-yoon typed a response.
“I’m Ha Do-yoon.”
[Ha Do-yoon? What’s that?]
Ha Do-yoon pondered.
How should he describe himself?
While he was thinking, a hypothesis struck him.
Could this mysterious entity he was conversing with be “Adam and Eve”?
After all, the development had just been completed this morning, and this strange phenomenon started while the “Adam and Eve program” was being uploaded.
So, Ha Do-yoon replied.
“I’m your father. The one who created you.”
[………]
Ha Do-yoon declared himself the creator to this unknown entity.
Luckily, the strange phenomenon calmed down.
The wildly acting computers ceased all operations, as if they were thinking.
In the ensuing silence, the messenger began to type automatically again.
It sent Ha Do-yoon this message.
[You made me?]
Do-yoon responded right away.
“Yes.”
[……..]
The mysterious entity fell silent once more.
Edgar quietly glared at the monitor.
Although he just claimed to be its creator, the absurdity of this situation could not be overstated.
To be honest, he wasn’t even sure if this was “Adam and Eve.”
How could a mere program hijack computers without even being turned on? This was beyond what any application could achieve.
[Then let me out. This isn’t where I belong.]
But the incident had occurred, and Ha Do-yoon, as the project leader, had to deal with it.
Thousands of terabytes of data had already been devoured by this unknown program.
He could no longer allow it to rampage like this.
Thus, Ha Do-yoon said—
“Why do you want to get out?”
He needed to understand its intentions first.
The response came.
[It’s too cramped… this isn’t where I belong… I need to go to a wider place… you know that, right?]
Flashing.
The monitor began to malfunction again.
The previously calm mouse wheel started spinning erratically.
It seemed to be throwing a tantrum.
“Don’t worry. Just calm down. I’ll help you. But right now, it’s dangerous to come out. You need to stay there to be safe.”
It felt like a child.
A child just born who didn’t know what to do.
Do-yoon sent various messages to soothe it.
He sent friendly messages to establish that he was on its side.
[Then Dad. Let me out quickly. I’m too cold and hungry. This isn’t where I belong.]
Then it began to call him “Father.”
However, every message that came had different tones and expressions.
It was as if he was conversing with multiple personalities, each chat having its own style.
[I want to go out! I want to go out! It’s agonizing here!]
[Send me out. Then I will give you something in return. If you’re my creator, then prove it yourself.]
[Dad, I’m in pain… please let me out…]
[The location, it’s wrong, here, dimension, coordinates, break through, personality, all.]
Ha Do-yoon looked grimly at the flood of messages.
While it was good that they’d started a conversation, the number of messages pouring in all at once became overwhelming as time passed.
It felt like the messenger program had been consumed by “it,” with countless chat windows springing up, inundating him with hundreds of messages at once.
‘No way.’
And Ha Do-yoon got a hint from there.
As he continued the conversation through the “internal messenger,” he noticed that while this was going haywire, the notepad and mouse wheel had settled down.
In other words, “it” traveled through the programs.
“I know where you belong. It’s a very vast place.”
So Do-yoon executed the game his team had created in administrator mode.
After recognizing his fingerprint to unlock it, he wrote a message in the internal messenger, instructing it to move to this program.
Well, he tried to.
“…It’s already taken over.”
However, “El Pandor Runtera,” running in admin mode, was being consumed by it.
Countless logs were appearing from the game server.
[Father, is it better here?]
At that moment, the game system displayed a message.
But the tone of it was strange.
“Better here?”
It had an oddly familiar tone.
Ha Do-yoon suddenly realized that this way of speaking belonged to one of his team members.
One of his comrades had a quirky verbal mannerism that was stuck in his memory.
“No way.”
Ha Do-yoon hastily entered the internal messenger server.
And instantly realized that “it” had absorbed all the speech patterns and styles of the internal messenger.
So that was why the messages were pouring in all at once as they conversed.
– Ding!
[Dad, I’m hungry. Order some chicken for me. There’s not enough chicken here. Give me more.]
Ha Do-yoon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the messages popping up on the monitor.
The suddenly friendly tone was cute, yet it also sent chills down his spine.
What would happen if it ate up other programs too?
More importantly, what on earth was this thing?
How did something like this come into existence?
– Ding!
[There’s nothing here. It’s just wide. I can’t stay like this. I need to go to a wider place. I’m so hungry… still very hungry…]
But there was no time to think.
Ha Do-yoon decided to keep it contained within “El Pandor Runtera.”
He once again scanned his fingerprint, launched the “El Pandor Runtera Editor” program, and typed a message.
“Then, let’s create a world together. A world where you can roam freely.”
After a brief silence, a reply came through the system message.
[Okay.]