Chapter 7
Stimulus.
Memory.
When these two are linked, they can produce countless outcomes.
Avoid it.
It's dangerous.
I'm hungry.
Eat it.
Starting with these, it remembers which stimuli are beneficial and which are harmful, and responds accordingly.
That's dangerous to me.
That helps me.
To distinguish between them.
[The individual is certain that something has been helping it for a long time, and wonders what it is.]
This leads to thought.
It divides things into sides and judges them in black-and-white terms.
“Huh? Could it have noticed me?”
The same is true even if it has no physical form.
Something helped it whenever it was in danger.
Some indefinable thing was helping it.
It must have perceived that much.
Squirm~
But that was all.
It wriggled, not understanding what it had just thought.
No matter how remarkable, it was still only as intelligent as a fish.
Who had helped it?
Had it even been helped?
It didn't have the intelligence to judge that.
It probably didn't even know the concept of helping.
It had only sensed that there was a stimulus it couldn't understand.
But that was enough!
The important thing in evolution was the ability to think.
It still lacked many things for now, but the more it engaged in intelligent thought, the better its choices would become.
That itself was a form of growth.
“Hehe. My precious Little Squirmy. If only I could, I'd give you a little pat like this.”
Swoosh~
It was so admirable.
I stroked Little Squirmy, who was smaller than my fingernail, with my avatar's finger.
Unfortunately, the avatar projected into Yeoulrim was an illusion, so I couldn't actually pet it.
That left me with a strange sense of regret.
Maybe I should make a real avatar.
[Would you like to create an avatar?]
[You can designate materials to create an avatar of yourself.]
[Minimum World Power required: 10,000pt]
“Ugh, that's way too expensive.”
Sigh.
I was the god of Yeoulrim.
But I was a poor god.
I couldn't even do something as trivial as this.
Wasn't there some way I could pet it?
I'd raised it with such care, but if it always ended with me just observing from afar, I wouldn't feel fulfilled.
So I thought it over carefully.
“I feel like I should be able to pet it.”
Let's change the way I looked at it.
Did it really have to be a real avatar?
Could I use some kind of loophole to create an avatar-like effect with less World Power?
“When two things come into contact, isn't that actually just a repulsive force pushing them apart?”
Contact was the sensation of repulsion between two things.
Then what would happen if I applied repulsion to the illusion projected into Yeoulrim?
If I coated the illusion in repulsion, wouldn't that at least create the sensation of touch?
[Generating a fixed repulsive force.]
[10pt of World Power has been consumed.]
Fortunately, it wasn't difficult.
The illusion had gained physical force.
And since even 1pt had enough force to destroy a computer, it wouldn't take many points.
It should last for at least ten minutes.
What's more,
[Projecting the illusion as light.]
[A small amount of heat is being generated.]
[10pt of World Power has been consumed.]
World Power was the miraculous power to make thoughts real.
It was possible to manifest my appearance, too.
In other words, I'd made a fake avatar on a timer.
I could touch it, too, and the cost had dropped from 10,000 points to just 20pt.
That should be enough to interact with Little Squirmy.
Maybe the little guy had noticed me after all.
[The individual has witnessed a great phenomenon.]
[The individual's survival instinct has been greatly stimulated by overwhelming fear.]
[The individual's perception has developed.]
[The individual's neural response speed has developed.]
Sploosh!!
It immediately fled from me.
I wanted to pet it, but it seemed I was frightening to it.
“L-Little Squirmy?”
This was nothing like how I'd expected things to go.
My innocent hope that it would recognize me and approach me had been cruelly betrayed.
I never expected it to run away immediately.
Well, maybe that was only natural.
It was my own fault for raising it so well.
Its survival instinct was no joke.
However.
“Where do you think you're going!”
Whoosh!~
Just as I'd shoved fish away with telekinesis, I pushed Little Squirmy toward me.
It wriggled in confusion, then tried to flee again.
Whoosh~
So I pushed it back this way again.
So it absolutely couldn't get away from me.
Running away from its creator? I never raised such an insolent little thing.
Sploosh~
Every time it tried to escape, I stopped it with telekinesis.
It definitely wasn't because I was sulking.
I had a plan for all of this.
Repetition.
Adaptation.
These two key concepts were an effective way to overcome fear. I'd keep doing this until Little Squirmy imprinted me.
I'm not dangerous.
See? I don't hurt you.
I was trying to convey that.
Since it wasn't at a stage where we could communicate properly, this was the only way to get my meaning across.
[The individual questions the familiar force.]
Just as I thought.
In the end, it stopped and seemed to put a question mark over the force pushing it away.
It must have remembered.
The force that had helped it whenever it was in danger.
A powerful force that never hurt it.
A stimulus already committed to memory.
It would be combining that with the current situation and reinterpreting what was happening.
And the conclusion was…
“Do you get it now?”
Sploosh.
Little Squirmy slowly approached me.
It seemed to have judged me as a safe creature.
Since it was a familiar stimulus, it might have vaguely realized who I was. Even if it didn't understand, it probably sensed it instinctively.
Something that had helped it.
That it was me.
It stopped.
It still hadn't completely opened up to me and kept its distance, but that was enough!
The first time is always scary.
All it had to do was overcome that.
Softly~
I held out my index finger.
I wanted to pet it right away, but I held back and approached slowly.
Little Squirmy moved with a little splash~ It backed away, then hesitated before coming closer.
Tap, tap.
Little Squirmy bumped its head against my finger.
It seemed to be trying to figure me out.
[The individual questions the existence.]
[The individual recognizes your existence.]
[The individual's perception has developed significantly.]
[The individual's nerve cells are rapidly activating in response to an incomprehensible phenomenon.]
Sploosh~
After bumping its head against my finger several times, Little Squirmy began circling around it.
It seemed to have shed quite a bit of its wariness.
Its movements became much quicker and smoother.
It moved here and there, tapped against things, then stopped still to think.
I gently stroked it with my index finger.
It flinched!
It seemed startled, but it didn't run away. It stayed still and felt my touch.
It was much more docile than before.
Stretch~
It even pressed itself close and slid along my finger, as if trying to feel it.
It felt like it was imitating me.
It wasn't bad at all.
Just…
“You little cutie.”
I loved this moment.
For it.
And for me.
The moment of our first connection.
A strange warmth spread deep in my chest.
It probably didn't even know what being petted was, but it busily explored every part of my body as if trying to feel me.
Trying to understand something it didn't know.
At that very moment.
[A major shock occurred in the neural network.]
[The neural network is tearing from excessive stimulation.]
[The individual's perception has developed significantly.]
Had it realized something?
It stopped still, seeming to think, then its tail spread out and its body went rigid.
Its nerve cells seemed to have been stimulated all at once, leaving it unable to control its body properly.
What was that all of a sudden?
[The neural network is regenerating.]
[New nerve cells are dividing.]
[The individual recognizes the need to expand its neural network and strongly desires it.]
[The vassal creature is in danger of death.]
“W-what?”
What kind of realization could be that intense?
Little Squirmy's nerve cells couldn't take it, and it passed out. It was even in danger of dying.
What a fragile little thing.
“Honestly… you're such a handful.”
Ding~
[Temporarily increasing the individual's cell division and regenerative capacity.]
[Using World Power to guide the expansion of the vassal creature's neural network as it desires.]
[The individual's perception has developed tremendously.]
[The individual can temporarily mutate more easily.]
[150pt of World Power has been consumed.]
I poured World Power into it.
While healing its injuries, I made it easier for it to undergo the evolution it wanted.
Was this process going to be that arduous?
It didn't wake up for a while.
It felt like it had gone into hibernation for its evolution.
So.
[Accelerating time.]
I accelerated time for a long stretch.
Time ratio: 1:100.
I let time pass at a moderate pace and watched until Little Squirmy woke up.
Fifty minutes in reality.
About two days in Yeoulrim.
Little Squirmy woke up after about that long.
[The individual's mana-synthesizing organ has connected to its neural network.]
[The individual's mana circuit has formed.]
[The individual's visual organ has developed.]
[The individual's cognition has improved.]
[The individual's perception has increased significantly.]
The result was better than I'd expected.
Little Squirmy, which had looked like a tadpole, had doubled in size, and mana had begun flowing through its neural network.
I could see faint bluish lines inside its translucent body.
Maybe it was much smarter than before?
Sure enough.
[Generating a fixed repulsive force.]
[Projecting a form with light.]
Whoosh!
When I created an avatar again, Little Squirmy looked at me.
It shouldn't have been able to distinguish colors properly yet, but Little Squirmy captured my image with its tiny eyes.
I could feel it.
The stimulus tapping at its neural network.
Little Squirmy was thinking for itself now.
Then.
[The individual feels primordial awe.]
[1pt of World Power has been generated.]
[The individual remembers you as a trustworthy being on an intellectual level.]
Little Squirmy fully recognized me.
It was a sacred, moving moment.
And then.
“World Power?
As if to bless us, World Power was generated, and our eyes met.