BEGINNING
Vitaly liked to exercise to refresh his mind and boost his mood. And now he needed it most of all. This time he trained at home. He didn't want to waste time getting to the gym and changing clothes, and he just didn't like being in public places. Vitaly walked over to the shower, pointed it at himself, and turned the cold water tap to maximum.
After cooling off, he stood in front of the punching bag in the hallway and glanced at the two pictures pinned to it. Of the game's developers. They were badly crumpled from the many hits. How many times had he changed them already? He tried to remember, but couldn't. He must have lost count.
Vitaly swung and made the last strike, in which he put all his strength. There was a loud slap, the punching bag shuddered, and the photos, unable to withstand, broke away from it and fell to the ground. He picked them up and went to his room, where he put them in a metal basin. Took a match out of a matchbox and struck it.
— Philip and Emanuel, would you like my opinion? — He smiled. — Live with fire!
And threw it into the basin. Afterwards, with pleasure watched as dozens of similar pictures were lit up one by one and turned to ashes.
16:00.
He sat down at his computer and opened a Discord window with a post he had already prepared on the game's official server. After looking through it once again and checking for typos and text quality, put the cursor over the send button and clicked it.
A minute later, an Instagram notification arrived on his phone. New message.
A: Even though we didn't agree on this... I love this video!
Corruptor: I was ready to send it as is, but at the last second decided to add it.
A: It definitely expresses the seriousness of our intentions. But don't you think it's a bit much?
Corruptor: My life has been too much for a long time. I don't know if I dreamed of anything before, but now I only dream of ending this game once and for all. I hate it more than anything.
A: I know exactly what you mean. The worst people I've ever met are nothing compared to it. This game is a nightmare. Like poison, it's been killing us slowly. But we will repay her in kind.
Corruptor: That's right. I tested everything several times today on a fake account. Everything worked perfectly. Players were so furious they even reported me for hacking.
She responded to this message with an ominous emoji.
A: Soon the whole game will see what we can do.
Corruptor: I can't wait for this moment.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, remembering the moment they'd first met.
The witch killed 12 ... (Junior werewolf).
The death of the junior werewolf has been avenged, 9 ... (Detective) is dead!
1 GLITCH: LOOKS LIKE OUR DETECTIVE WASN'T SO GOOD. IS THAT RIGHT, 9? YOU DIDN'T HAVE THE BRAINS TO SOLVE THE CRIME!!!
9: What crime?
1 GLITCH: YOU'RE CLEARLY FAR FROM SHERLOCK HOLMES, 9!!! THIS IS ONE CASE WHERE YOU PAID FOR YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR STUPIDITY!!! WHERE'S YOUR DEDUCTION???
9: It's just a game...
1 GLITCH: THE WHOLE VILLAGE WAS AT YOUR DISPOSAL TO FIND THE JACKALS!!! YOU HAD CCTV FOOTAGE, CRIME SCENE DNA, WITNESS STATEMENTS!!! AND WITH ALL OF THAT, YOU WERE DEFEATED BY THE JACKALS!!!
9: You make it sound like I'm actually a detective in real life!
16: Damn... I like 3's attitude! And you know what? I'm with him! 9 is the dumbest detective I've ever seen!
9: Not another one...
16: IN ORDER TO BE A DETECTIVE IN THE GAME, 9, YOU MUST HAVE HIS QUALITIES IN LIFE!!! THE MAIN OF WHICH IS LOGICAL THINKING!!! IF YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OF IT, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO FULFILL THE POWERS OF SUCH AN IMPORTANT ROLE!!!
9: I'm gonna go shoot myself in the head. Bye, everyone.
16: RIP, "detective"!
The village has killed 2 ... (Wolf seer).
1 GLITCH: HI, 2!!! I SEE YOU'RE A SEER!!! SO, GIVE US YOUR INFORMATION!!!
16: MAYBE, 2, AT LEAST YOU CAN SAVE THIS VILLAGE AFTER THIS USELESS DETECTIVE!!! LET'S GET RIGHT DOWN TO BUSINESS!!! INFORMATION ON THE TABLE!!!
2: Are you completely dumb, or are you just pretending to be?
16: Are you a real seer, or are you just pretending? I'd advise you to do your work. Unless you want to regret what you have done and end up like 9.
2: NGL, I don't meet many idiots like you. You act like you know everything about this game. When in fact, you're no more useful to the villagers than the wolves.
1 GLITCH: YOU WANT TO CHECK IT OUT, 16??? THEN WE CAN PLAY ONE GAME!!! I'LL BE THE KILLER, AND YOU BE THE DETECTIVE!!! IF YOU CATCH ME, YOU WIN!!! BUT I'LL BE CALCULATING EVERY POSSIBLE OUTCOME, AND I'LL KNOW EVERYTHING, SO IT WON'T BE AN EASY TASK!!!
1 GLITCH: WHEN WE MEET, THIS GAME WILL BEGIN, AND YOU WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO PLAY IT!!! WHILE YOU MAKE FUTILE ATTEMPTS TO CATCH ME, I'LL BE KILLING PLAYERS ONE BY ONE!!!
1 GLITCH: I'LL WATCH YOU DESPERATELY TRYING TO SAVE EVERYONE, BUT YOU'LL NEVER SUCCEED BECAUSE I'LL ALWAYS BE ONE STEP AHEAD OF YOU!!! WHEN WE'RE ALL ALONE, YOU'LL BEG FOR MERCY, BUT I'LL JUST SAY "GAME OVER" AND I'LL KILL YOU!!!
2: I guess I don't mind killing myself now. Goodbye.
16: Hey, 3, this looks like Saw!
16: Have you watched that franchise, too?
16: Yeah, all the chapters! I love it!
1 GLITCH: So you know where my head's at! You're acting as insane as I am! Did I really find someone like you?
16: I was surprised to find you myself. You're very active. I can see that you're not indifferent to the game like everyone else. Many players are not like that, they just want XP and costumes. I have a small circle of friends with whom I play. I only add players that interest me. But all of them are not like you. You must be fun to play with.
1 GLITCH: If you want, I can send you a friend request so we can chat.
16: I already sent it!
A slight smile appeared on Vitaly's face. The kind of smile that comes involuntarily when you think of something pleasant. Still in his memories, he rewound time back to one month after they'd met.
: Your profile looks like that of a hacker. The name, the bio, the suits... It all matches him.
GLITCH: I know. It's my favorite role. And this account's profile is specifically styled after it.
: Are you actually a hacker?
GLITCH: I wouldn't say that. I'm a programmer, but certainly not without it. I know hacking, but I'm not a professional, just an amateur.
: Does every programmer know a bit of hacking?
GLITCH: Every hacker is a programmer, but not every programmer is a hacker. It's like a separate field like web or mobile development. You have to learn certain things that other programmers do not.
: It's good to have a hacker friend.
GLITCH: I suppose so. Sometimes I get asked to hack or find information about someone. And it's kind of annoying because I'm not such a professional who can hack EVERYTHING. But some things do work out.
: Did you learn this on your own, or with someone else's help?
GLITCH: Absolutely everything I learned on my own.
: What motivated you to choose this line of work?
GLITCH: The main motivation was that it's cool and fun because you can create anything you want.
: I see. You know, I've always wanted to learn hacking. And now I want it even more!
GLITCH: Well, you gotta learn how to code first.
: But that seems just as hard...
GLITCH: I couldn't understand some things myself at first, but that changed over time. Everything can be figured out. It's just that the length of time it takes depends on the mindset.
: So I can become a hacker?
GLITCH: Of course you can. And, if you want, I can teach you.
That's when her formation as a programmer began. From the very basics to advanced technologies. Every day he recorded video lessons and sent them to her. In them he explained every detail in detail and told which thing was responsible for what. Vitaly found a new meaning to his life.
After what happened to him in the past, he realized that he wasn't a genius, and he couldn't prove anything to anyone, because there was nothing to prove. All his attempts to win were failures. Even when he brought the whole game down to it's knees, a group of idiots outplayed him. Realizing his utter powerlessness caused him a depression that he had no way of dealing with. Until he met her.
She wasn't his love like the others, just a friend. Who, unlike the others, admired him, and was happy to be his disciple. He felt joy and pride that the girl had chosen him. He knew that she would not regret it. He would make her a master of her craft.
It wasn't easy. Some topics she couldn't understand and memorizing them was difficult for her. She wasn't predisposed to the mindset of a programmer, and that frustrated her. It wasn't uncommon for her to lose motivation. She said that she wasn't capable of learning, that it was a waste of time, and that she should stop.
But at such moments Vitaly reminded her that she shouldn't give up, and nothing is impossible. If you like something, you have to pursue it, and you will definitely succeed. Many people didn't achieve their goals because they lacked the will. Instead of trying again, they decided to give up, at one stage or another. Challenging goals always require a lot of effort and time. On the way to them, you can't avoid obstacles that will sag your self-belief. You just have to obliterate them and keep going no matter what.
That's what she did. And began to make good progress. Understanding gave her better every day, and she needed Vitaly's help less and less. She was able herself to think of a way to solve a problem and realize it. They moved on to complex topics, cracking them like nuts.
The girl wanted to learn everything so much that in her free time studied some areas and aspects she was interested in. And created her own programs, which sent to Vitaly for evaluation. He looked through them and admired how well and quickly she made them. When she finished the hacking subject, she was already writing viruses and exploits professionally. In six months she had achieved her dream of becoming a hacker.
But that was only her first dream. The thing is, as time went on, she had a new favorite field. Machine learning. She was interested in creating her own neural networks, since they think and perform tasks like a human brain.
Unfortunately, Vitaly had the worst knowledge of this topic and couldn't teach her anything. So the girl started it on her own. He only recommended a book that he had previously liked, and she read it. She also watched videos on the internet, looked for open source artificial intelligence projects and learned from them.
What was Vitaly's surprise when one day he received a program from her that allowed him to replace people's faces in videos. It even had a graphical interface, so it was convenient to select a video, a frame of the target's face, and a replacement face. But a big part of the surprise was his realization that it might have been her gift. Three months ago, when the girl had just started training, Vitaly had said that if he knew machine learning, he would create an neural network to replace faces, to download adult videos and replace the faces on girls with ones that aroused him in real life.
This was something Vitaly hadn't expected her to do at all. Without hiding the confusion, he thanked her. She told him that after reading the book she wanted to create some cool project with an artifical intelligence, and remembered his idea. She had been creating it for several hours a day over a month. Vitaly studied its source code and was convinced that a lot of work was done. He would never be able to replicate it.
He accomplished the goal. His apprentice had become a professional. Moreover, she had surpassed him. In the depths of her mind was the programmer's genius, which he had uncovered. And he didn't envy her, because they were friends.
But what happened that night changed everything.
A: Look... I want to offer you a collaborative program.
Corruptor: A collaborative program? I thought there was nothing you couldn't create on your own.
A: This program will require your mind.
Corruptor: Well, I'd love to help you create it! But I wonder what my mind has to do with it?
And then she told him a story that gave him goosebumps.
00:00.
The live stream is working fine. One hundred thousand viewers are already online. In front of them they can see a game window opened in the browser and a command line dividing the computer screen into two halves.
The game has begun.