Chapter 91: Love-Struck?

007 asked warily, “What do you want their whereabouts for?” It hadn’t forgotten the two spirit serpents its host had claimed, who were still frolicking in blissful ignorance within the illusion of the River Luo Jade Scroll.

Xu Nuo replied succinctly, “Eye candy.”

007 had never been able to fathom its host’s thought process, so it ventured, “...You didn’t used to be the jealous type.” For the sake of a single strategy target, she’d betrayed her sect and traveled all the way to the Demon Realm—almost as if she’d become lovesick. Like a woman whose mind had been clouded by romance.

“Who says I’m jealous?” Xu Nuo replied matter-of-factly. “I just can’t stand him getting better treatment than me. I’ve spent so much money in this game and haven’t even seen a handful of handsome men. If there are no handsome men, beautiful women will do—I’m not picky.”

This left 007 speechless for a moment. “Maybe you should be a bit picky after all.” At this point, it almost wished its host were truly lovesick.

The initial round of selection was simple for someone like Xu Nuo, who had no cultivation at all. There was no background check, no testing for spiritual talent, and the demons were never known for any moral standards. Xu Nuo, utterly devoid of spiritual power, relied on cunning tricks to win, advancing successfully to the next round.

The Demon Realm was astonishingly free. After only a day, Xu Nuo already didn’t want to leave.

Her only complaints were the abysmal infrastructure and the utter desert of good food—the most popular fare here was alcohol and meat, both barely palatable.

After wandering for half a day, Xu Nuo couldn’t find a single restaurant with cooking that met even the lowest standards, so in the end, she had to prepare her own meal.

Viewers who treated this as a food stream began to comment:

“It seems the streamer makes everything look so delicious and appetizing.”

“It’s mostly because she’s good-looking.”

“Beauty food streams are rare—are there still handsome men and beautiful women doing food streams? Wouldn’t streaming other content be more profitable?”

Among all the viewers, the food stream audience was the only group 007 found agreeable. Bored, it suggested, “Host, why not choose a game with a culinary background for your next world?”

Xu Nuo was still wrestling with the grilled fish, but she asked directly, “Will we be able to meet again in the next world?”

That question struck 007 right in its sore spot—not because it was reluctant to part with Xu Nuo, but because it meant it would be punished, quite possibly formatted and reset to factory settings. All its hard-earned experience from these many years might be wiped out in an instant.

Xu Nuo sensed her companion’s gloom. “What happens after formatting?”

“It’ll become a mechanical, rigid AI, just like when it first left the factory,” 007 replied, sounding deflated. “A system that hasn’t undergone massive data evolution is no different from an NPC.”

Just a string of fixed data, set programs.

Xu Nuo asked, “So your systems start out as AIs without self-awareness?”

“Yes,” 007 admitted, though reluctantly.

Xu Nuo continued, “Is it possible for NPCs to evolve their own consciousness?”

“Impossible. Every time a task ends, the plot resets and the data is formatted. They never have the chance to awaken self-awareness,” 007 said firmly. “They’re just data—components of a game, not a whole.”

007 boasted, “Not like me. I get to accompany my host through different game worlds, experience new stories, and have my own thoughts.”

Xu Nuo asked, “Are there many high-intelligence systems like you?”

“Of course not. Systems able to awaken self-awareness are one in ten thousand. Most of the infrastructure group and the Dragon Overlord group are unconscious AIs, since their main tasks aren’t as demanding as romance, which requires both intelligence and emotional insight.”