"A ten-year-old child committed suicide? Was that child connected to the Sindora Corporation?"
Chika naturally sensed something hidden in that piece of information, and her curiosity was piqued.
"At first, it seemed like the case had nothing to do with them. But the Sindora Corporation went to excessive lengths to cover it up. That a corporation would go to such great effort to suppress news of one person's death and minimize the impact... that's the real issue here."
Nagi simply pointed out the critical problem, and Chika immediately understood.
"So that child is likely the key to both artificial intelligence and virtual reality?"
Nagi nodded slightly and continued explaining.
"A random ten-year-old child wouldn't need to have news of their suicide hidden so carefully. The fact that even the child's identity was concealed in the U.S. makes it very obvious why the Sindora Corporation did this."
"But from what Ren said, this ten-year-old child's case is quite complicated."
"No matter how much of a genius they were, a child that age couldn't possibly complete both AI and VR systems. The scope of knowledge involved is far too vast. Even several geniuses from childhood to adulthood working together wouldn't be able to handle it."
"That's why I'm almost certain that the child had a situation similar to ours."
"The Knowledge Moor... That child most likely came into unconscious contact with that Sefirot. Both sequences related to that Sefirot fall under knowledge-based domains, which granted the child special Beyonder abilities. That would also make the artificial intelligence more plausible."
Ren picked up the conversation where Nagi left off, giving his own speculation.
Given how far Nagi had taken the investigation, he could already determine that the entire AI and VR project was most likely being propelled by the Knowledge Moor behind the scenes.
"The influence of the Sefirot and the Beyonder abilities... that does make it all a lot more reasonable."
Nagi felt that things which real-life geniuses couldn't achieve might be possible for Beyonders.
Moreover, just hearing the name "Knowledge Moor" gave the impression of something associated with research and wisdom, making it a good match for something as intricate as artificial intelligence.
"But that child died a year ago. Wouldn't that have affected the plan?"
"No."
Ren shook his head slightly.
"That child was granted a special talent, perhaps even a unique Beyonder ability for the sole purpose of bringing that AI into existence. So, it's highly likely that the so-called 'AI' was never meant to be just software created by the child. Instead, it's probably a manifestation of the Sefirot itself taking on an identity."
"I see."
Nagi nodded, understanding now why that ten-year-old had been granted such a power.
"Then, the child's suicide... was it because of the Sefirot?"
"To some extent, yes."
Ren didn't deny it. The Sefirot definitely contributed to the child's death.
It likely bestowed the child with an overwhelming level of intelligence, knowledge and ideas that were far ahead of their time.
However, that gift also came with immense burden. The wisdom and power granted by the Sefirot inevitably brought extreme corruption and madness. After all, knowledge is the easiest path to madness and corruption.
"The more you know, the more mental instability and corruption you accumulate. For a ten-year-old, even just accumulating that knowledge is already an unbearable burden. Once it surpasses their threshold, the most rational choice for a child might very well be suicide."
Otherwise, that ten-year-old child might have become the first Beyonder in this world to lose control.
Once a corrupted Beyonder loses their sanity, the result is always the same—they become a monster.
And the so-called monsters, once born...
Of course, the child's suicide prevented the rational breakdown and transformation into a monster.
"But... was there a Beyonder trait in that child? Or rather, after the suicide, where did that Beyonder trait go?"
When a Beyonder with a special trait dies, that trait will be separated from their body.
So where did it go?
Ren was quite curious about this point.
Faced with this question, everyone unconsciously turned their eyes to Nagi. Clearly, as the one who had investigated the U.S.-based corporation, she should know more than anyone else.
"I don't know either."
But Nagi, now the focus of attention, only shook her head in helpless denial.
"The matter of that child has been heavily sealed off. The only reason I found out was because of their connection to the Sindora Corporation. Even though the news was suppressed, a few local newspapers still took the risk to report it."
"But any further details are unknown. Even the report of the child's suicide was only available for a few days. I followed it based on public sources."
Everyone looked a bit disappointed, though they all understood such information would be tightly sealed. Getting to the bottom of it was no easy task.
Suddenly, Chika thought of something.
"Ren, can you divine it?"
"No."
Ren shook his head without hesitation.
"That kind of Beyonder trait was probably granted directly by the Knowledge Moor and has a direct connection to the Sefirot. Things like that are not easy to divine."
"Most Sefirot have extremely strong anti-divination properties, so trying to trace them using Beyonder abilities usually doesn't work."
Sefirot interference can block divination-type abilities from locking onto them.
That isn't a function of just one Sefirot. Most of them possess this trait.
And Sefirot also come with powerful corruption. The moment you come into contact with one...
As soon as a divination locks onto it, the Sefirot's corruption can follow the channel of the divination back to the Beyonder.
If you're lucky, you go mad.
If you're unlucky, you might be instantly corrupted and turned into a monster.
(To be continued.)