Chapter 104

The world has changed.

But it hasn’t changed dramatically.

“Uh-um, Scientist?”

“Ayle? What’s going on?”

“C-could you give me some more coins, please…?”

As Ayle said this, she held out her smartphone. On the screen was an Evilus agent who had finished his tasks and was sleeping.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. What kind of tasks could be so demanding that this AI needed to use up tokens that could shoot a whole movie in a single day…

I could have figured it out easily, but respecting Ayle’s privacy, I decided to give her AI additional tokens. With the resources acquired, Ayle’s AI immediately opened its eyes and resumed its work.

“Thank you!”

“You shouldn’t live like that. You need to go to college.”

“Is there really a need when AI can do everything for me…?”

Adept point, I admit. What’s the point of a student studying hard when they could never match the intellect produced by an AI, even if they tried their whole life?

If I hadn’t been the one to create and spread this AI, I wouldn’t have been able to counter her argument and would have only resorted to the usual nagging.

Fortunately, I was the creator. I had plenty of advice to offer besides useless scolding.

“Ayle, I’m planning to roll out some updates starting next month.”

“…Updates?”

“Yeah. From now on, the number of tokens you can use will depend on your ability.”

Initially, Ayle tilted her head, confused, but soon started trembling, gripping my sleeve as she seemed to grasp the implications of my words.

“Y-you don’t mean—no, right? Scientist, it can’t be what I’m thinking!”

“That’s right, Ayle. In the future, it will be very difficult to use the AI unless you come from a related university.”

To be more precise, I was thinking of adding a test within the app, adjusting the usage of tokens for those who couldn’t pass it.

In other words, the better you are, the more performance you will get from the AI.

This was a measure to curb the universities, companies, and individuals that were being phased out due to the AI.

Sure, anyone could still take the test even if they didn’t attend university… but I didn’t think there would be many individuals willing to maintain their careers while self-studying to acquire a bachelor’s level knowledge.

“P-people are going to rebel against this…! The Scientist’s going to get a ton of hate too…!”

“Hmm—so just don’t use the app?”

“Y-yes?”

“I’m not demanding money, nor am I threatening you at knifepoint to use it. If you don’t like it, just don’t use it.”

It was a reasonable point, but the truth was, no one who had tasted the comfort of AI would want to live without it after having it once. Even the elderly who struggled with machines were living more comfortably thanks to their installed AIs.

No one would give up the comfort of technology just because of slight inconvenience. Especially if they didn’t want to fall behind in this age.

“A-Devil…!”

Ayle started trembling as she looked at me. As a consequence of her annoyance, I only applied a trial version to her app.

While doing that, I inadvertently stumbled upon what Ayle had created up until now, leading me to receive the punishment of a human who dared to touch the forbidden fruit.

‘…Honestly, it’s not like I’m not a guy.’

Green Apple x Mint Sapphire.

The folder was filled with comics of two magical girls perplexingly tangled together like snails. I realized too late that there should definitely be an age restriction on AI.

* * *

The chatter about AI faded, but there weren’t many heroes complaining about it.

On the contrary, it was the opposite. The heroes, who once cursed the Evilus Corporation like it was the murderer of their parents, now sang praises of them.

“From today onward, I’ll bow three times in the direction of the Evilus Corporation!”

“What? From today? You sacrilegious brat. I’ve been doing that since a week ago.”

“Three times a day is weak. It should be at least one hundred and eight times…”

The reason heroes hated the AI was simple—it was stealing their work.

However, that changed with the arrival of Evilus agents. The heroes no longer worried about having a shortage of work. The AI was constantly helping them by pinpointing just the right villains for the heroes to take care of.

Perfect management that surpassed the Association operators.

Heroes didn’t need to wait anymore for villains to wreak havoc. They could now preemptively take them out before they could even cause any trouble.

Not only that.

“—What? My powers can do that?”

[Yes, indeed. If you read the corresponding material—]

The Evilus agents were AIs, and not just any AI, but perfect AIs that had never been publicly revealed before. They held all the knowledge spread throughout the world, even unknown and undiscovered knowledge…

Although people couldn’t truly unlock Pandora’s box, they could at least receive wisdom that slipped out.

Heroes, who had haphazardly trained without knowing how to develop their powers, were provided with highly scientific and systematic training methods. Moreover, if something was deemed unscientific, new ways to develop certain superpowers were opened.

“…I can grow further here?”

[Blue Beetle’s powers are not just about being tough! They’re the first step in evolving to a wider world—.]

“Ah, I see… yeah.”

Receiving comfort from an AI customized to suit his tastes, Blue Beetle’s eyes began to well with tears. The moment his glistening eyes reflected on the camera lens, his AI gingerly spoke up.

[Are you alright, Master?]

“I’m fine. I just—thought I made a good choice in not giving up on my dream.”

[That’s nice to hear! I’ll sing a song to make sure you stay happy! La-la-la—♬]

The era is changing.

As everyone relishes in the joy of this new age,

There exist some losers of the bygone times who couldn’t ride the wave.

[Villains cannot use the app.]

[The location is being reported to the Hero Association.]

Crack-!

The villain organization’s leader, Crimson, crushed his smartphone upon seeing the message that popped up on the screen.

“—Here we go again.”

“Sorry! I’m sorry…” Sёarᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“No, buddy, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. It’s all this app’s fault for being so incredible.”

Saying this, Crimson shook off the remnants of his broken device. The debris easily fell away from his palm. Crushing the remaining bits to dust, he swiftly began to exit the scene.

He truly knew, based on previous experiences, how the statement about the location being reported to the Hero Association wasn’t just a rumor. Thanks to that, not only their main hideout but even several secret bases had been thoroughly searched by the heroes.

Crimson himself was confident that he could take on any hero, but his subordinates were another story.

“Get out quickly.”

“Y-yes…”

After escaping the location alongside his subordinates, Crimson soon arrived at a place bustling with villains. He likely contacted all the villains within the city to gather, yet the number assembled was barely half of what he expected.

It was an unavoidable situation. Since the advent of the AI, hero activities had become wildly rampant; not to mention the app was now downloaded on their new smartphones, leaving the villains unable to carry even a single mechanical device.

The villains, now accustomed to civilization, had turned into decommissioned monkeys left behind by it. Struggling to gather people the old-fashioned analog way just left them inefficient. It was surprising they had managed to gather this many.

Crimson surveyed the assembled villains as he made his way to the center stage. The fierce gazes from the villains pierced through him.

“Looks like everyone is here.”

“Looks like?! Is your eye only for decoration?”

S-class villain Kill Rabbit’s comment made Crimson frown. Under normal circumstances, he would have eliminated him in an instant, but a helping hand was too valuable in this situation.

He simply glared at Kill Rabbit with a fierce gaze, then redirected his attention back to the crowd—especially to the lower-ranked villains who couldn’t intervene in their spat.

“Right now, we are facing an unprecedented crisis. It’s all because of that damn app.”

At that, the villains began murmuring in agreement. Watching them lose focus and start to chatter, Crimson stifled a sigh that desperately tried to escape. He began explaining the reasons he gathered them.

“This is discrimination. The very thing we villains despise the most. Being forced to follow the rules of a world they created themselves. We became villains to resist such oppression.”

“I’m not like that.”

“…At least from now on, you should be.”

Glancing at the villain who had just spoken, Crimson resumed.

“—Let’s unite as one. Let’s combine our strength to resist oppression. It seems that in the distant City E, a villain organization has even established an enterprise.”

Evilus.

Mentioning the company that created this cursed app, Crimson smiled slyly.

“There’s no reason we can’t do the same.”

To turn this rotten world, which was so harsh only to villains, upside down.

Crimson proposed a revolution.

He was calling for a resistance.

One villain, unable to contain his excitement, could hardly resist capturing that splendid moment on his smartphone. Surely, it would draw in more views on social media—

“…Hey, you over there. What’s that?”

“Uh? Oh, it’s a smartphone.”

“Damn it.”

[Villain detected.]

[Location is being sent to the Hero Association.]

The AI was watching all of it unfold.

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