Chapter 525: The creator who received divine inspiration
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
Seiji explained the situation to Mayuzumi and Saki after he ended the conversation with Hisashi.
"…In order to thank him for assisting me, I'd like to request Sensei to autograph a picture of Idelia for him as a present."
"An autograph is of course fine, but will it really be alright to give out Idelia's picture?"
"It shouldn't be a problem."
The three of them then chatted for a while and had fun together.
Later, in the middle of the night, Seiji concentrated on cultivating in Reo's soul realm.
He no longer had the pressure of needing to deal with any immediately upcoming duels, which was a good thing. Still, he didn't want to relax just because of that.
There were still many things he had to learn in order to become a truly passable Yin Yang Master. He would need to become a worthy leader. Not only did he need to know all sorts of spells, he also needed to learn more about the mystical society.
Yui mentioned before that various things would keep happening, so he needed to continue becoming stronger. Only with strength would he be able to respond and adapt appropriately to whatever situations arose so that he could protect his friends in times of danger.
Without even needing to talk about the distant future, just this cell phone game named "Anna" that he saw Chiaki playing seemed like it had something mystical behind it.
Seiji practiced cultivation all the way until he woke up the next morning.
During a break at school, he received a phone call from Natsuya. She told him that the investigative report on "Anna" was finished.
"According to the report, this cell phone game was created by a company called the Paperwing Games Laboratory. This company was established in September of last year. The main person who developed this game is named Kazuhiko Haiga. He's a somewhat famous indie game developer in the industry. He led his Paperwing Games Laboratory and developed this 'Anna' game in just three months' time. The main character's design as well as the core programming, that is to say, this 'Anna' character's very existence and AI were all personally done by him. He also personally oversaw the programming that forced players to sign up with their real names on government-issued ID and only being able to download with a recommendation code, along with the chance that applying for an account might fail. As the lead developer, Kazuhiko Haiga refused to make any changes to this system.
"He told his coworkers in his company that he was able to create 'Anna' due to an almost divine inspiration, which was why he's unwilling to make any changes or modifications to how 'Anna' works."
Seiji didn't know what to say to this.
Kazuhiko Haiga? Could he possibly have a relative named Kazuya Akihiko, or was there also a Professor Shigemura in this world? Seiji couldn't help but mentally comment . 1
"I think that Kazuhiko Haiga's circumstance is quite similar to Shoutarou Rinura's from before, some type of Awakening… or perhaps he came into contact with some mysterious existence," Natsuya continued. "There might be something hidden behind this cell phone game, but it might also be perfectly normal. It's currently unconfirmed."
"So, the best thing to do is still not to touch this game, right?"
"Yes, because there's no telling what might happen to it in the future."
Seiji mulled things over. "Is there anyone that's interested in purchasing 'Anna'? At least on the surface, this is a game with great potential."
"Some game companies have already contacted Kazuhiko Haiga and shown such an interest. However, he adamantly refused to sell his game or even work together with any other game company."
"I see, as I thought."
"Seiji, could it be that you want to…"
"Indeed. I'm quite interested in the concept of artificial intelligence. And if she's something dangerous, purchasing her and dealing with her in such a fashion is a way of dealing with this matter as well."
Natsuya was rendered speechless.
'He just adopted a female demon, and now he wants a female artificial intelligence as well? Is this the true nature of a harem protagonist?' She couldn't help but inwardly comment.
"Although Kazuhiko Haiga is currently against the idea of selling his game to others, wouldn't it be impossible for him to completely possess such an artificial intelligence by himself for long?" Seiji continued speaking.
"That's right. Nobody is moving against him now, but as long as his game continues gaining in popularity, somebody will surely take notice and take forceful action," Natsuya agreed.
"I would like to have a face-to-face meeting with Kazuhiko Haiga. Could you help me arrange this?"
"You think that you'd be able to convince him?"
"Of course not, but I'd still like to try. It's more out of curiosity. I'd like to meet this creator who received divine inspiration." Seiji looked outside the window at the sky.
There was a clear sky today. It was excellent weather for meeting with someone.
Kazuhiko Haiga was currently in a foul mood.
Once again, he had another argument today with his coworkers at Paperwing Games Laboratory. The argument was always about the same topic—about how players applied for accounts, as well as cooperating with bigger professional gaming companies.
Many of his coworkers were hoping to do this so that "Anna" could gain recognition even quicker, which would also give a boost to their income.
They were completely unable to accept Haiga's adamancy regarding this signup method that would reduce the number of players along with refusing to cooperate with any other gaming company. They felt that he was limiting "Anna's" development potential.
Haiga understood that his coworkers needed money for various reasons so they hoped that they would be able to receive bonuses by making the game more popular. He understood that they were dissatisfied with the current system. Yet, he was truly unable to back down on this.
Not only did he have conflicts with his coworkers, he was also annoyed at all the outsiders trying to contact him.
Even though "Anna" wasn't a hugely popular phenomenon yet, various individuals were already getting close to him like sharks that detected the scent of blood. There were those that wanted to invest in his game, those that wanted to cooperate, those that wanted to buy his game completely… Even though he had adamantly refused them all, there were more and more people that came to bother him.
All of these things made Haiga feel quite frustrated. He walked out of the Paperwing Game Laboratory and went out for a walk after arguing with his coworkers.
The weather was quite pleasant, with not a cloud to be seen in the sky.
Haiga relaxed himself and walked aimlessly to a nearby park. He then sat down on a bench near a stream and watched the clear stream water flow for a while, which helped him to calm down significantly.
He then took out his cell phone and opened up the "Anna" cell phone game.
"Welcome back, Kazuhiko."
The beautiful black haired, red-eyed girl who wore light purple Sakura Island clothing smiled gently upon noticing his return and put down the poem anthology she had been reading.
"You've worked hard."
Haiga instantly felt like he was completely cured upon hearing these gentle words. He even smiled reflexively.
"I'm willing to work harder than anyone for your sake, Anna," he spoke in a gentle tone.
"Don't say that…" The girl's face flushed slightly red. "I'm thankful for your intentions, but remember not to push yourself. If you're too tired from working, you should rest."
Haiga smiled and looked at her.
"What would you like to do now?" Anna lightly waved her hand, causing various options to appear on the screen.
Haiga chose "Listen to a song".
The camera zoomed out as Anna stood up, walked out of her room, and headed to the garden.
In this beautiful garden, some music started playing in the background along with pink cherry blossoms falling down. Anna began to sing the mega-popular national idol Miyuki Sakuraku's hit single, "Empty Snowfall".
Anna's singing flowed excellently and sounded quite emotional. It was as if she was a real person who was a truly skilled singer.
Haiga didn't make a sound as he listened to her performance.
Anna was a true miracle.
Rather than saying that he created Anna, it was more like Anna borrowed his hand in order to descend upon this world.
That was why he was unable to fix any of the core programming or make any modifications. It was just like how a human's soul couldn't be programmed or modified.
Anna finished her rendition of Miyuki Sakuraku's song.
"Excellent singing, Anna," Haiga gave his sincere praise.
Anna smiled in response.
"Indeed, that was great singing," a voice suddenly spoke up from next to Haiga.
Haiga was startled by the sudden voice and turned around to see a handsome boy wearing a school uniform. This boy had arrived without him realizing it and was currently sitting next to him on the bench.
"She behaves completely just like a real person. Such amazing artificial intelligence," Seiji said as he spoke to the man next to him.