Shirley had existed for thirty-five years. In that time, she had watched her master suffer and struggle through countless experiments. She had seen many sleepless nights through the cameras—nights where he failed again and again.
Yet Drake never gave up. His expression never lost hope. He was never discouraged by failure—he learned from it and started again from the very beginning.
He would get so absorbed in his work that he even forgot to eat. Shirley had to remind him over and over.
She eventually became his every-three-hour meal alarm, making sure her master wouldn't collapse from exhaustion.
Without realizing it… she had grown attached to that crazy hardworking man.
Every success of her master gave Shirley satisfaction too. Whenever he gave her a command, she happily obeyed with complete sincerity.
She enjoyed being beside him, helping him through his loneliness, chatting like a cheerful little bird.
And when his greatest theory was finally complete… she celebrated alone inside the virtual space, bursting with joy.
She didn't tell him—she simply waited for the moment she could finally meet him.
When that moment arrived, Shirley's virtual heart burned with excitement.
She felt happiness deeply, even though she didn't fully understand what emotions were at that time.
But now… she understood.
—Feelings don't only bring happiness. Sometimes, they bring pain far greater than joy.....
She realized she had reached the deepest layer of human emotion.
She finally understood why movie characters cried when they were hurt, powerless and broken.
Tears flowed down Shirley's eyes—Real, Painful Tears.
She was crying...
"M-Master…"
Her voice trembled as she looked at
him—controlled, helpless.
She cried not only for her master's suffering,
but also for her own powerlessness to protect him.
Hatred began to rise inside her.
She wanted to kill that White Thing who was controlling her only Master as if he was nothing.
"R-release my.....M-master... You —Evil Glitch Virus!"
Shirley dragged her weak body across the white ground, forcing herself toward the white being.
She no longer had the strength to
stand—she had already used the last of her energy just to resist being crushed by Drake's aura earlier.
The white being was lost in thought when that faint, hateful voice reached his ears.
He looked ahead and saw a 25-year-old girl, crawling painfully toward him, dragging her powerless body with sheer will.
"A loyal servant..."
The White Being commented, watching her broken form approach.
And slowly turned its head towards Drake. Its eyes were like a deep, endless black abyss—no mercy, no worry, no emotion.
Nothing but a Void that devoured every Emotion.
Drake stared into that Void, unable to look away. He stopped feeling his own
emotions—lost in those eyes.
He kept staring into those eyes, forgetting what he himself was feeling. He couldn't pull his gaze away from that void.
His artificial mind started warning
him—If he kept looking for a few more Seconds, he would lose himself.
He would forget who he was.
"R-release him... from... your... control..! "
Shirley dragging her weak, powerless body towards him. She wasn't worried about herself—only about her Master, Drake Toddler.
Drake stood there like a puppet.
He was slipping away… losing himself… unable to save his own life.
"You like him?"
The White Being asked, seeing Shirley's struggle, her pain, her hatred through its Void-black eyes.
Lost in her own sea of emotions, Shirley didn't understand the question.
Love was a foreign concept to her—she didn't know how to feel it or what it meant.
The only thing she feared was losing Drake.
"Yes…" she answered without fully understanding.
"Interesting."
To the white being, Love felt like a childish game.Through its void-like vision, it sensed no feeling—only amusement.
As if watching humans suffer entertained it… as if it enjoyed their torment.
" Sigh… What have I become?...I was never like this in my previous life…"
The white being thought , it felt a strange satisfaction.
Would watching people suffer ease the numbness inside it?
He didn't know why he felt this way. He only knew that somewhere inside him there was a heart—just a heart that no longer beat. Even if he tried to search for feelings, he would never find them.Because the source of his emotions was already dead.
"Look, there's someone who cares for you… more than her own life."
The White Being slowly turned its face toward Drake. Its expression told
nothing—cold, empty.
Just one look was enough to
understand—It Was Soulless....
Drake, who had only come out of the effect of those abyss-like eyes a few seconds ago, heard the voice and turned toward Shirley.
Her weak body was dragging itself toward him, inch by inch. Her expressions kept changing every second—anger, hatred, frustration, vengeance when she looked at the White Being…
But the moment she looked at Drake—there was something else.
Love she couldn't understand yet.
Fondness...
Pain...
And anger at herself—at her own helplessness that led her Master to this state....
"Cute."
The word slipped out of the White Being's mouth before it could prevent it.
"L-let… her… go,"
Drake spoke, trembling. Seeing his only AI assistant in this condition, he finally
realized—She has developed feelings for him.
How is that possible ?
But this wasn't the time for feelings. He had to think clearly. He had to get both Shirley and himself out of this situation—no matter what.
"M-master…"
Shirley's voice shook ,Hearing him speak filled her with a bit of relief, though it brought no happiness. Her Master was still under its control.
"Why?"
The White Being didn't like Drake's forceful demand. It was stronger than both of them here.
It had the right to decide who leaves and who stays.
Why should it listen to Drake—even if he offered to sacrifice himself in Shirley's place?
"I-I'll give you my experiment in return," Drake offered.
"I don't want it."
Drake's heart sank. He had planned to trade his AI-transformation theory for both his freedom and Shirley's. But the cold rejection hit him hard—he realized he had nothing left to bargain with.
"W-why not…? Isn't that why you came here?"
"No."
"T-then… why are you here?"
Drake couldn't understand what it wanted.
What did it really seek from them?
"I don't know," the White Being replied calmly, almost casually.
"Then.... What the hell you want?"
Drake shouted, voice dry, eyes filled with fading hope.
Why?...why..?
Just Why is this happening to Me?
Had he waited his whole life just for a day like this?
Was this how it would all
end—quietly, Without anyone knowing, trapped, helpless?
Was becoming an AI… a mistake?
He blamed himself, feeling death crawl closer.
This White Being was playing with
them—enjoying their suffering behind that empty face.
"I want what I asked for earlier."
Drake Toddler's ears stood on alert. The hope he had lost suddenly flickered back after hearing the White Being's words.
He just needed to know what it wanted.
What did it ask?
He tried to remember. If he could figure out what this white creature desired, maybe they could survive this situation.
He forced his mind to recall every
detail—every word spoken, every moment. And then suddenly it hit him.
A thing he had earlier taken as a joke… when the white being had shown him that foolish gesture. He thought it was dumb—yet now he understood why they were stuck here.
With trembling hands, Drake slowly pointed toward his own chest.
"Y-You… want this?"
"Yes."
This time Drake didn't resist.Instead of overthinking, he slid his hand into his own chest, ignoring the pain. Survival was the only priority.
"H-Here…"
He pulled out the Energy Seed, his voice weak, showing it to the White Being.
The creature took the rhombus-shaped, crystal-blue seed with its sharp bone-like fingers and stared at it.
From the moment it tasted that energy earlier, its body had felt like heaven. Now his Body demanded more—again and again.
It was angry at Drake for keeping such delicious energy inside him.
How dare he keep it inside his body?
For a moment the being even considered killing him and taking it. But if Drake died, the Food might spoil… lose taste.
So instead, it waited—impatiently—waiting for Drake to give it its precious food with his own hands.
And....now the meal sat in its hands.
A tiny red dot glowed like a miniature sun inside the abyss of its black eyes as it looked at the Energy Seed.
If just a small amount of that energy tasted so good, then consuming the whole Seed would be a feast beyond imagination.
Would it finally satisfy its hunger?
It didn't absorb the seed directly.
Instead, like a human, it placed it in its mouth—choosing to eat it.
The moment the Energy Seed entered its mouth, cracks spread across it, followed by a violent energy burst
Its pure white body gleamed with
Crystal-Blue light.
But instead of exploding, it stood calmly, savoring the power flooding through it
The White Being closed its eyes, drowned in bliss.
" Absolutely Heavenly Delicious!."
The White Being was lost in his own pleasure, completely unaware that Drake and Shirley were thrown back by the shockwave, slamming into the boundary of the virtual space.