Nobody had ever heard about it.

  For Charlie, Lily was a woman he had a crush on before he started dating Emma.

  She was a friend he could always talk to comfortably.

  Her purity was the greatest comfort to Charlie,

  who was exhausted by the calculated world.

  If he hadn’t felt that her quirkiness would be embarrassing to introduce to others as his girlfriend,

  he might have even considered confessing his feelings to Lily.

  Whenever Emma was jealous of Dr. Joo-eun Song and Dr. Karida, Charlie used to tell her,

  “I’m just a fan because they are intellectual and beautiful.”

  Since that was a common trait between Emma and the two doctors, it was an easy excuse.

  He couldn’t tell her that what he actually liked was the pure passion he felt from those two.

  ‘So, Lily had this kind of wound too...’

  Sophia felt pressured to say something.

  She had to explain.

  Even if it sounded like a pathetic excuse to Lily,

  it seemed better than silence.

  “I... studied ways to make money using Artistea.

  So... I received requests from the Last Car Thief company I just mentioned,

  and sometimes from politicians or individuals...”

  Sophia swallowed hard.

  “And recently... from Baeksan, the company that announced Moon White...”

  “What? Moon White?!”

  Charlie cut Sophia off and shouted.

  People in the pub stared, but Charlie didn’t care.

  Only a few days ago, the entire world was buzzing with the Moon White report.

  ‘Sophia is connected to that Baeksan who made Moon White?’

  Charlie’s eyes sparkled with shock and curiosity as he glanced at Emma.

  Emma also felt a strange thrill from Sophia.

  ‘Right, if you know the method, you can use it.

  Making money isn’t a sin.

  But Moon White?

  Did she optimize Artistea to run well on those robots?

  What did she mean by it being dangerous?

  Is it a political issue?’

  Emma’s internal calculator ran fast.

  Sophia now knew internal information that the public didn’t.

  ‘This girl... is she a walking treasure chest?’

  “Yeah,”

  Sophia said, becoming calmer as her friends reacted intensely.

  She touched the sapphire on her locket as if she were anxious.

  “Then do you work with Baeksan?”

  Emma leaned forward.

  After the Christmas special broadcast,

  she had investigated Baeksan,

  but there was almost nothing she could find.

  Sophia might be the key.

  “...Well, that’s hard to answer.

  I don’t really know if I’m ‘working’ with them or not.”

  Sophia’s gaze turned toward the empty air.

  A memory from the past surfaced.

  “Do you guys... remember Xu Haiyan?”

  Charlie frowned deeply, tilting his head.

  Emma also seemed to have no idea.

  “Ah, I remember!”

  Bang!

  Lily slammed her fist on the table.

  The beer in her glass splashed and soaked the table, but Lily didn’t care.

  The gloom from a moment ago was gone.

  “Who is that?” Charlie asked.

  “You know! That day when Professor Chapman came to our school and gave a lecture!

  When the professor suddenly became strange after taking a question!”

  Lily began to explain excitedly.

  She was like a child thrilled to find a puzzle piece she knew.

  “Ah!! That kid? I remember now,”

  Emma said, as the memory flashed through her mind.

  “Right? You remember, right?”

  “Ah, why are you the only ones who know? Let me in on it too. Who is she?”

  “Back then, some student asked Professor Chapman a question,

  and the professor... well, he went into a kind of panic.

  Don’t you remember?”

  Emma was a bit uncomfortable talking about what might be Professor Chapman’s weakness,

  but she satisfied Charlie’s curiosity.

  “Ah... I... I don’t recall.”

  Charlie’s disappointing answer only added fuel to Lily’s passion.

  “Ah, whatever.

  If you don’t know, just move on.

  So? What about her? Were you close to her?

  Is she Baeksan? What is it? Sophia, tell me quickly.”

  Lily began to shake Sophia’s sleeve, pestering her.

  She now seemed to have forgotten her own wounds and was entirely immersed in her friend’s story.

  “Ugh, alright. Just let go of my arm first.”

  At Sophia’s words,

  Lily let go of the sleeve she was holding tightly.

  Then, she took a listening posture with twinkling eyes,

  like a kindergartener waiting for a teacher’s story.

  “We weren’t super close...

  just took a few classes together and had a few meals.

  She asked me: ‘What kind of things can you do with Artistea?’

  I kept it a secret from you guys,

  but I was already making money with Artistea back then.”

  Sophia caught her friends’ eyes.

  She would have nothing to say even if they felt betrayed.

  She was especially worried about how Lily would look at her.

  “I also had fun talking to her. I showed her programs I made,

  and I listened to her ideas.

  We weren’t the type to contact each other privately...

  but the day after that lecture,

  she suddenly contacted me and made a request.”

  “What kind of request?” Lily asked.

  Sophia’s somber expression was unfamiliar.

  The Sophia Lily knew was always confident,

  unlike Emma who sometimes acted hypocritically.

  “It was to take data from a laptop belonging to an Asian male,

  without leaving any records or traces, and send it to someone else.

  The man’s name was... Sun... was it? I don’t remember well.”

  Sophia touched the locket around her neck anxiously.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  “What does that have to do with Moon White? Is that Asian male Baeksan?”

  Charlie cut in, unable to contain himself.

  “I’m the only one who doesn’t know this Xu Haiyan or whatever!

  And you said you were going to talk about Moon White?

  Stop stalling and get to the point.

  If it’s dangerous, we have to stop you!”

  Emma tried to restrain Charlie’s sharp reaction,

  but Sophia actually nodded.

  “Charlie is right. I won’t beat around the bush.”

  Sophia stared at her beer glass.

  Within the golden liquid, the memory of that day vividly surfaced.

  “I did that job for her.

  Using Artistea, I took the data without a trace.

  I thought it was no big deal. I also did it for practice.

  But... she gave me money, saying thank you. 1 million pounds.”

  Silence.

  The noise in the pub seemed to be deleted for a second.

  “What...? 1 million?”

  Emma’s face turned red.

  The emotion that preceded her surprise was misery.

  When she had struggled with living expenses after graduating and vented her frustrations to Sophia,

  it meant Sophia already had nearly 1 million pounds

  How much must she have laughed at her inside?

  Emma trembled with a sense of betrayal.

  “Yeah. I was also surprised and asked,

  but she wouldn’t give me details.

  She just said thank you.

  We hardly contacted each other after that.

  But a few days before you guys broadcasted Moon White at Christmas,

  she contacted me again.”

  Sophia moistened her dry lips once.

  “The first word was ordinary. Asking how I was.

  Then she immediately got to the point.

  ‘This time, the company I work for is going to announce a robot equipped with Artistea.

  We spent a lot of money making it,

  and I’m afraid people will have negative reactions.

  So, can you manipulate public opinion in a favorable direction like you did with Last Car Thief?

  I’ll take care of you much better this time.

  I’m asking you.’

  And as a down payment,

  she gave me 10 million pounds this time.

  She said she’d give me three times more if I succeeded.”

  Sophia was thinking about the fact that she had caused Lily a wound.

  “10 million? That’s 10 times more than last time? What kind of company is that?

  I investigated on my own, but nothing came up.

  So? Did you do it? No, did you not?

  Public opinion wasn’t exactly favorable.

  Emma and I are suffering so much lately because of that.”

  At Charlie’s words, Emma also looked at Sophia with suspicious eyes.

  “No, I didn’t,” Sophia said firmly.

  “Why? Why didn’t you do it? It’s a huge amount of money,” Lily asked, tilting her head.

  The thought flashed through Lily’s head that she could ease her pain immediately with that money.

  If Sophia had refused because of danger, she wondered if there was a share she could handle.

  “I also found it strange.

  A company whose name I barely know suddenly giving such a large amount of money.

  Back when I was a student,

  I just let it slide, but when she offered an even larger amount,

  I immediately became suspicious. So I started digging into that company.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  Emma asked as lightly as possible, trying to hide her true feelings.

  “Probably a bit more than you guys.”

  To Sophia, the anxiety Charlie and Emma felt was as clear as if she were holding it in her hand.

  The instinctive fear felt by those whose well-being was directly linked to the survival of Artistea.

  “Ah, I’m dying of curiosity. Stop stalling and tell us.”

  Charlie urged Sophia.

  More than anything, Charlie was worried about safety.

  The fear that the public might inflict physical threats was gripping him.

  Also, since his name was on every program he produced with Emma, he wasn’t exactly safe either.

  If there was any clue to be found within Sophia that could help him avoid such danger,

  he was determined to secure it at all costs.

  “A Chinese robotics company.

  A company made with the participation of several scientists from Korea and Japan.

  This is about as much as you know, right?” Sophia asked.

  Emma and Charlie nodded vigorously, waiting for Sophia’s words.

  “Actually, there’s one more country.”

  Emma’s hands tightened as she clenched her fists.

  “Where?”

  Lily was feeling fear at the scale of the work becoming too large.

  It was an issue she had no room to intervene in.

  She couldn’t help Sophia in any way, nor could she receive the reward.

  Her sincere feelings as a friend and her desperate instinct to survive were tangled together in a complex knot,

  repeatedly tormenting her from deep within.

  “Iraq.”

  Looking at Lily and tossing out the word,

  Sophia felt as if the air next to Lily was looking blurry.

  It felt like she could see something, yet nothing was visible.

  “Iraq? Why does Iraq suddenly come out?

  Is China close with them? Korea and Japan are allies with the U.S.,

  so there should be no reason to be connected with Iraq,”

  Emma asked, based on her knowledge of international diplomacy.

  “I don’t know in detail either.

  Actually, I tried hacking Baeksan secretly,

  but the security was tight.

  However, I saw the name of Iraq particularly often.

  Money went back and forth between the two countries frequently.

  So I thought I should stay away because it was dangerous.

  But a few days later, on the broadcast you guys were in...”

  “Ah... right.

  We did the Moon White announcement broadcast.

  A correspondent on-site sent the footage.

  The civilian interview was a fake video I made with Artistea based on that.”

  Charlie took Sophia’s words and made a self-deprecating confession.

  “Charlie!!”

  Shocked, Emma hit Charlie hard on the back.

  “Ouch, that hurts!!”

  Charlie clutched his shoulder and pretended to be in pain,

  but inside he felt like he was getting more and more exhausted.

  “Stop it, Emma. Sophia is much more in danger than us right now.

  And you, me, Sophia... it might have been a problem that we all relied on Artistea too much.”

  Feeling guilty at Sophia’s words,

  Charlie also wanted to tell everything comfortably.

  His shoulders were getting heavier.

  'How long did Emma plan to carry this burden? For life? Truly, for life?'

  “You guys were like that too... I really feel like I’m the only one falling behind.”

  Lily began to speak in a small but firm voice.

  “But... but. You guys used Artistea for bad things,

  so is Artistea the bad one?

  I might not have the right to say this since I’ve hardly used it,

  but you could use it for good, couldn’t you?

  You could use it for work without harming others, couldn’t you?”

  “...”

  An awkward silence followed.

  Lily, who had spoken, worried if she had said something too harsh.

  That wasn’t her intention.

  “Wait, I’ll go to the bathroom for a second.”

  The moment Sophia stood up, she stumbled as the intoxication kicked in.

  “Are you okay?” Lily asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I should call a designated driver or something and go.”

  At Sophia’s words, everyone checked the clock and saw it was well past 11 PM.

  After using the bathroom,

  Sophia looked in the mirror and stared at the photo inside the sapphire locket around her neck.

  Then, staring intently at the ring on her hand,

  she took it off,

  put it in her pocket, and returned to her seat.

  “I should get going soon,” Emma said as she packed her things.

  “Sophia, thank you for telling us such difficult things.

  I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

  Charlie reassured Sophia.

  “Yeah, thanks, Charlie.”

  Sophia sat down and drank all the remaining beer.

  “Sophia, if there’s anything I can help with...”

  As Lily spoke, tears welled up slightly in Sophia’s eyes.

  “Thanks, Lily.”

  Sophia reached into her pocket and took out the jeweled rings.

  Everyone’s eyes turned to the rings in her hand.

  “What’s this all of a sudden?” Emma asked.

  Sophia gave the ruby ring decorated with a crown to Emma.

  To Charlie, an emerald ring decorated with olive leaves and branches,

  and to Lily, a butterfly-decorated topaz ring.

  “What is this, suddenly?” Charlie asked.

  Emma was worried that her constant staring at the jeweled ring had hurt Sophia’s feelings.

  Lily just held the ring she received tightly and looked at Sophia.

  “Actually, I wanted to give these to you guys whom I haven’t seen in a while,”

  Sophia said with a beautiful smile.

  “...I didn’t prepare anything.”

  Lily said, pressing the hand holding the ring to her chest.

  “Huh? No. It’s okay.

  I had fun today.

  I have a lot of money.

  You know, right? So I wanted to give them.”

  “Is this... expensive?”

  Charlie asked as he fiddled with the ring.

  “Hey! Is the price important? Are you going to sell it?”

  Emma scolded Charlie.

  “No, no, it’s not like that, but it’s burdensome. It looks extremely expensive.”

  “Haha, you’re right.

  That’s expensive.

  Keep it precious.

  It’s about time for the designated driver to come,

  so I’ll get going first.

  You guys are paying today, right?”

  Sophia pointed her finger at Charlie and Emma and then stood up, stumbling.

  “Sophy, are you okay?”

  Lily asked as she supported her.

  Perhaps because of the alcohol, the blurry image of Lily looked as strong as a solid rock.

  “I’ll help Sophia out. You guys get home safe, too.”

  Lily helped Sophia out of the pub just like that.

  “...Shall we go?”

  Charlie said to Emma, who was standing still as if frozen.

  “Huh?”

  Emma, who had been lost in thought for a moment,

  looked up and stared at Charlie.

  ‘Is Sophia alone...? Did she give these rings because she was lonely?’

  “What are you doing? We should get home and rest, too.

  Tomorrow is January 1st. We have to prepare for the news.”

  At Charlie’s words, Emma replied “Yeah” with the beautiful smile from their dating days and took his hand.

  “We’re heading out. Thanks for everything,”

  Charlie said to the owner as he settled the bill.

  Emma kept her arm tightly linked with Charlie’s.

  Dong—, dong—, dong—.

  Along with the sound, the chimes of London’s Big Ben echoed through the quiet street.

  A bit later than other countries, the New Year also began in England.

  This part marks a transition within Chapter 16.

  From here, the story shifts into a dialogue between User A and Artistea.

  Daily updates continue until Chapter 17.