NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4 - Meteor 4
Chapter 4 – Meteor 4
Language data analysis.
Even if Integra was an AI, it was impossible to instantly interpret words she had never heard before.
But if given sufficient sample data, the story changed.
As an AI, Integra could perfectly memorize words she heard once, and using a processing speed impossible for humans to match, she could analyze countless patterns and acquire a language in a short time.
Of course, the language acquired this way could be immediately installed into Luther.
‘Oooh…’
This was future technology.
Lee Yun-ho marveled inwardly and refocused on the girl and young man in front of him.
‘I need them to talk more.’
To collect language data, conversation was necessary.
And for that, he needed to dispel their wariness.
‘First, I don’t recognize either of their faces.’
It would have been nice if they were characters he had seen in Dragon Hunter 3, but unfortunately, both faces were unfamiliar.
‘At least they both seem calm.’
As long as they didn’t do anything rash, they didn’t seem like the type to readily show hostility.
“■■, ■■■? ■■■■■?”
The young man spoke again, and the girl quietly observed him.
The girl’s green eyes, nestled amidst her black hair, looked intelligent.
‘Is he asking who I am?’
“[Master, silence is golden, but perhaps not now.]”
Luther agreed.
So, to further emphasize his lack of hostility, he raised his hands a little higher and took a very slow step forward.
‘There’s got to be… something.’
Even though he couldn’t communicate, Lee Yun-ho knew a lot about the world of Dragon Hunter 3.
If he observed carefully, he should be able to find something to open up a conversation or improve the current situation.
And at that moment,
“■■■. ■■■■.”
The black-haired girl spoke to Lee Yun-ho in a low voice.
It was a clear and melodious voice, with a rather friendly tone.
‘Is she telling me to come closer and sit down?’
In scenes like this, lines like “Why don’t you come warm yourself by the fire?” or “Come sit here. The night air is chilly,” usually came up. But since he wasn’t sure if the girl had said something similar, he couldn’t move rashly.
‘Judging by her expression and tone, she seems friendly though.’
There were nuances to human speech.
By considering the speaker’s expression, tone, and the emotions contained in their voice, one could roughly understand what they were saying.
‘I just need… a catalyst.’
A catalyst to create a more amicable atmosphere.
“[Master, I think you need to take action, one way or another.]”
It wasn’t the time to hesitate.
And as if on cue, something caught Lee Yun-ho’s eye.
‘Kapuya meat!’
What caught his eye was the Kapuya meat, butchered and placed near the bonfire.
It was a wild animal found in the Forest of Ancient Trees, and Alisa, the gourmand, particularly enjoyed it.
“Kapuya. That, Kapuya.”
When Lee Yun-ho pointed at the Kapuya meat and spoke, curiosity flickered in the eyes of the girl and the young man.
Not missing the change, Lee Yun-ho pointed at the Kapuya meat again and said,
“Kapuya.”
“Kapuya■ ■■■.”
The girl replied with a small smile.
Lee Yun-ho smiled back at her and turned his gaze back to the Kapuya meat.
‘As I thought, they didn’t butcher it properly.’
Kapuya meat wasn’t anything special.
It wasn’t bad, but it was just ordinary meat.
However, the reason Alisa, the gourmand, considered Kapuya meat her favorite was because of its special cut.
‘A special cut only the size of a couple of fingers per animal.’
But since its location was close to the parts usually discarded during butchering, ordinary people often threw it away without realizing it was a special cut.
‘Alright, let’s try it.’
Having made up his mind, Lee Yun-ho quietly asked Integra,
“Integra, do you have any cooking programs? Like knife skills?”
“[Basic Cooking Lv1 and Knife Fighting Lv1 are available.]”
Although Knife Fighting seemed far removed from cooking, it involved using a knife, so it should be helpful.
“Install both.”
“[Understood.]”
“[Installing Basic Cooking Lv1 and Knife Fighting Lv1.]”
*Zap!*
Feeling a sensation as if a flash of light had pierced the top of his head, Lee Yun-ho took a deep breath and spoke to the girl and young man who were still watching him.
“Kapuya.”
“Cook.”
“Cook.”
“Special part.”
“Cut with knife.”
As Lee Yun-ho spoke slowly, gesturing with his hands, he reached for the Kapuya meat. The young man flinched, but the girl immediately raised her hand and stopped him.
“■ ■ try it.”
He could understand a little of what the girl said.
“[This is still an interpretation supplemented by estimations.]”
“[Please keep that in mind.]”
Either way was fine.
Smiling faintly, Lee Yun-ho pulled the Kapuya meat towards him, took out the knife he had obtained from the Kobold, and began the additional butchering process.
“Oh… ■■ is ■■ good.”
While the young man let out a small exclamation of admiration, Lee Yun-ho, having extracted the special cut, glanced at the girl and the young man before approaching the bonfire.
“[Master, placing the meat on the grill with your bare hands may cause the other party to feel aversion.]”
Lee Yun-ho thought so too, but there was nothing else he could do.
He placed the special cut on the metal grill and smiled at the girl and the young man.
“[Master, the girl and the young man’s reactions seem positive.]”
As if he had expected it, Lee Yun-ho clenched his fist slightly at Integra’s words.
Luther Lightseeker, one of the playable characters in Star Savior, was a very handsome young man.
‘As expected, looks are everything.’
Judging by the positive reactions of both the girl and the young man.
The girl’s cheeks were even slightly flushed.
‘Good, let’s continue.’
Having confirmed their favorable reactions, Lee Yun-ho finished grilling the special cut and said,
“Eat.”
“Delicious.”
“Very delicious.”
As Lee Yun-ho pretended to eat with relish, the girl and the young man looked at each other and spoke.
“Hmm… ■■■.”
“■■■?”
“■ ■ I’ll try it. It’s just ■■ Kapuya meat, right?”
The girl spoke with a smile, skillfully cut the special cut with her knife, and put a piece in her mouth.
And swallowed.
“Oh my.”
Letting out an involuntary exclamation of delight, the girl widened her eyes, put the remaining special cut in her mouth, chewed a few more times, and then a wide smile spread across her face.
‘Beautiful.’
It was like a flower blooming.
The sight of the undeniably beautiful girl smiling brightly brought a smile to Lee Yun-ho’s face as well.
“[Master has a weakness for beautiful faces. I will remember this.]”
“Huh?”
Just as Lee Yun-ho reflexively questioned Integra,
The young man, encouraged by the girl, popped the special cut into his mouth and was so surprised he jumped to his feet.
“Delicious?!”
Now, instead of wariness, a friendly expression spread across the young man’s face.
Satisfied with the change in the two, Lee Yun-ho picked up the bundle of Paparius he had placed on the ground and said,
“Paparius.”
“Yes, Paparius.”
The girl responded to Lee Yun-ho’s words.
Then the young man offered the remaining Kapuya meat and said,
“■■ this too.”
He could roughly understand what he meant.
He clearly wanted him to extract the special cuts from the remaining meat.
“By all means.”
Lee Yun-ho nodded, extracted the special cuts from the remaining Kapuya meat, and placed them on the grill.
*Sizzle.*
The delicious sound of grilling meat.
The girl and the young man, having already tasted the special cut, involuntarily gulped, and Lee Yun-ho also swallowed with anticipation.
And then, a bite.
“Mmm…”
Letting out an involuntary moan, Lee Yun-ho smiled broadly.
‘So this is what Kapuya meat tastes like. No wonder Alisa was so obsessed with it.’
Incredibly tender, almost melting in his mouth.
“[Master, is it that delicious?]”
“Yeah, it’s that delicious.”
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Integra’s voice seemed to contain a hint of envy.
‘She’s really different from the original.’
Integra in Star Savior, despite her gentle voice, had a stiff AI-like tone and personality.
So it was safe to say that she rarely spoke with such emotion.
What was going on?
Was it the difference between reality and the game, or had something gone wrong during the crash?
But at that moment,
“Karen. Karen.”
The girl pointed at herself and spoke.
Then the young man also pointed at himself and repeated the same word.
“Max. Max.”
Karen and Max.
Presumably their names.
“Luther. Luther.”
Lee Yun-ho pointed at himself and spoke.
He wanted to avoid using an exotic name like Lee Yun-ho, especially since they couldn’t communicate.
“Luther. Karen, Max.”
The girl, Karen, pointed at ‘Luther’ and then at herself and Max.
She seemed to be enjoying the situation.
‘Well, I’m enjoying it too.’
First contact with people who didn’t speak the same language.
“Sky.”
“Ground.”
“Fire.”
“Meat.”
As Karen pointed at the surrounding objects one by one and taught him their pronunciation, Integra’s language analysis accelerated at a dazzling pace.
Karen, seeing that Luther memorized the words instantly, continued to call out words with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
“Miss, your language acquisition speed is ■■ ■ ■■ fast. Could it be ■■ acting?”
Max muttered softly, and Karen replied in a similarly low voice,
“I don’t think so. You can see it too, Max, can’t you?”
Judging by their conversation, they didn’t seem to think that Luther had already learned enough of their language to understand them.
‘Alright, since things have turned out this way, let’s solidify our friendship.’
Luther looked at the bandage wrapped around Max’s arm.
It was relatively new, but judging by the blood seeping through the center, he seemed to have a cut on his arm.
“Integra, can I heal other people?”
If self-repair was possible, shouldn’t healing others be possible too?
Luther in Star Savior had never healed anyone else, but it seemed possible.
“[Possible.]”
“[However, it requires consuming a small amount of nanites.]”
“How small is a small amount?”
“[0.1% of the nanites Master currently possesses.]”
That was enough.
After all, his nanites were self-replicating.
“Max, wound. Heal. Me.”
Luther spoke slowly and clearly for easier understanding and extended his hand to Max. Karen and Max looked at each other.
“Miss.”
“What do you… think?”
Max seemed to consider Karen’s question for a moment, then, as if he had made up his mind, he looked back at Luther with a determined expression.
“I’ll leave it to you. Do it.”
He extended his injured left arm, showing a hint of nervousness.
“[Master, to heal, you need to make skin-to-skin contact.]”
“[Please remove the bandage.]”
“Okay.”
Luther replied softly and slowly unwrapped Max’s bandage. Karen watched him with great interest.
A moment later,
After removing the bandage, Luther placed his palm directly on Max’s wound, which was about to start bleeding again.
“[Injecting nanites.]”
“[Beginning treatment.]”
And a miracle happened.
Max’s wound began to heal as if time were reversing.
“Oh my god! ■■■■?!”
Max’s eyes widened in surprise, and Karen looked at Luther with admiration.
The stranger who had suddenly appeared.
But he wasn’t just any stranger.
Clothes of a unique style not seen in this area.
The intellectual ability to acquire language at an incredible speed.
And the miracle of healing.
Moreover, Karen had witnessed something before meeting Luther.
“Could it be… ■■?”
Muttering softly, Karen pursed her lips and suddenly raised her hand to point at the sky.
Then, slowly drawing an arc with her fingertip, she pointed at the ground.
Sky.
Ground.
From the sky to the ground.
“A meteor—a meteor fell from the sky into the Forest of Ancient Trees. Does Luther have something to do with the meteor?”
One who descended from the sky.
A meteor that fell from the sky.
Luther hesitated for a moment at Karen’s question, then nodded.
–CROW–