Ten minutes ago.....
Knock—knock.
"Master, [Apocalypse: Survive or Die] has just connected to the World Dive Network."
In front of a massive, grandly designed white door stood a middle-aged man in a black suit, resembling a butler. His voice carried a polite, almost cheerful tone, yet his facial expression told a completely different story—filled with hatred, anger, and deep frustration.
"Let me sleep Butler... Don't disturb me."
A voice came from inside, completely emotionless—there was a strange, absolute authority in its tone.
Standing outside the door, Toddler felt rage rise within him as he heard the voice from inside. His fists clenched tightly, and his expression looked as if a volcano were about to erupt.
But suddenly, a warning signal rang out in his mind. He felt that if a disrespect word escaped his mouth, his body itself might burst apart.
"Sleep…? What kind of nonsense is this?"
Toddler muttered in shock, but only within his mind.
"Go now and keep an eye on all the screens until I return."
When he heard the command coming from inside the bedroom, Toddler pressed his lips tightly between his teeth and began cursing himself inwardly.
" A Genius scientist… now a fucking damn servant butler in my own house… what a twisted life I've ended up with."
Sigh....
"Yes, Master."
Those were the only respectful words that left his mouth as he turned and began to walk away.
Even if he wanted to hurl curses, it was no longer under his control—he simply couldn't speak them. He was trapped in an extremely dangerous situation. In the entire Nexus world, even if he told someone about it, no one would be able to help him.
"The great neural scientist of Nexus—Drake Toddler—what have I become today? A petty chess piece… damn it. How did this damned thing come into existence at all—and from where?"
Drake Toddler ranks third on Nexus's list of top geniuses. His actual age is Eighty, though his current appearance doesn't seem to match it. He is also a core member—one of the key figures whose contributions helped bring VR technology into existence.
When the world's first VR world, KINGDOM, was created through the combined brilliance of the greatest minds, a crucial question arose during the final launch preparations:
How would players be connected to the VR world?
When VR games were first developed, connecting players to them was easy—so easy that it barely required thought. The solution already existed: Nano Technology.
Using this technology, special visor-like headsets were created that covered the players' foreheads and eyes, along with two controller sticks designed to be held in the hands.
Players would wear the visor, grip the controllers, and lie down on their beds so they wouldn't feel tired while playing.
Within seconds, a large 3D screen would appear before them, along with control panels in their hands, allowing them to control their characters with ease—though they themselves could not move from their place.
But this time, the discussion wasn't about games.
This was about an open-world, free-will system, where players would control their own bodies with full realism—not through game controllers or panels.
At that point, even the sharpest genius minds came to a standstill.
And at that moment, Drake Toddler stepped forward.
Taking full responsibility upon himself, he decided to create a method that would fully immerse players and connect them directly to the VR world. As the world's leading neural scientist, he had both the confidence and the vision.
After countless experiments, studies, theories, and years of effort, he finally succeeded. Two years later, he created the Nano Frequency Immersive Helmet—a device capable of deceiving the human neural system itself.
Once the helmet was completed, Drake Toddler's name became famous across the world. He received numerous awards, and the initials of his name—DT—were permanently engraved in gold on the right side of every Diver Helmet.
And yet now, that legendary genius—whose discoveries once shook the world—had been reduced to a servant, trapped beneath the command of an unknown hand.
Lost in thought, Drake Toddler came to a halt before another door. This one was only a few centimeters larger than the door to his master's bedroom. Above it was a golden plate engraved with the words
[ THE CREATOR ]
Staring at the plate, Toddler let out a deep sigh. For the past week, he had been confined alongside his master, and it had been barely five hours since he had stepped out of this room—only to be forced to return again.
"Sigh…"
He took another long breath, grasped the doorknob, pushed the door inward, and stepped inside.
The room was as vast as a football field, lined with enormous screens. Four AI assistants sat in their chairs, focused intently on the displays.
Directly opposite the screens stood a massive throne-like chair, raised two and a half meters above the ground.The throne alone occupied nearly five meters of space.
Its design was so strange and unconventional that even Drake's genius mind could not have conceived it.
Drake stared at the chair with hatred in his eyes.
" My life has taken a 180-degree turn."
His life was no longer in his own hands. It was under someone else's control, someone whose very existence he still did not fully understand.
"Ah!, Sir Butler. Good evening."
One of the AI assistants noticed Drake's existence, stood up from his chair, and greeted him.
"What good evening? Do you even have the damn idea what morning, afternoon, evening, and night actually are?"
Toddler snapped, venting his master's anger onto the AI assistant.
"Yes, I do!"
The assistant replied calmly, completely unaffected by Toddler's outburst. To him, it felt as though the butler was asking a question—like in a job interview.
For a moment, he felt like beating the handsome, twenty-six-year-old-looking face standing in front of him into something unrecognizable.
"And.....what are they?"
"From 5:00 am to 11:59 am is called morning,
From 12pm to 4pm is afternoon,
From 5pm to 7pm is evening.....
And from 7pm to 4:59 am is night,"
The Assistant replied cheerfully, looking straight at Toddler.
Drake's anger hit its limit—he felt as though something inside him had snapped. It seemed to him that the AI assistant was mocking the great genius Drake Toddler with such an answer.
His fist clenched tightly as he raised his hand, bringing it close to the assistant's ear, ready to strike—
And then..
Suddenly, a warning signal blared inside his mind. His hand froze instantly, stopping just inches from the AI assistant's cheek.
"Shit… what kind of situation is this?"
He had become nothing more than a puppet. The realization hit him hard, though his pride still refused to accept it.
With great effort, he forced himself to regain control. A stiff, forced smile spread across his face as he lowered his hand.
"Very damn....good."
"Thank you, Sir Butler."
Without realizing the anger and frustration boiling inside Drake, the male AI assistant responded instantly in a confident tone—using the very words Drake had been forced to say.
Seeing the assistant's calm, positive confidence made the veins in Drake's head throb. He wanted nothing more than to punch him—hard. But the danger warnings flashing inside his mind forced him to restrain himself.
"If that damn thing weren't here acting as my master, I'd be the king right now—and these damn AIs would be my servants "
Lost in thought, he remembered that day—the day he swallowed his pride as a genius and chose to become a servant.
It was just a week ago when he first met the one who now stood as his master. On that day, his luck couldn't have been worse—right when happiness was about to bloom in his life, that Artificial intelligence Glitch Monster appeared before him for the first time.
And with its arrival, every dream he had built shattered—dreams for which Drake had turned himself from a human into an AI.
He resisted, he fought back with everything he had, but the moment he witnessed his master's true form, he could do nothing but kneel.