Merlin, notify the Elders Council. I will arrive on time. The assassination attempt on the Jujutsu Director is a provocation against the authority of the Director's Department and the Three Great Families. For the peace and stability of the Jujutsu World, the Kobe Family will certainly investigate this matter thoroughly.
Yes, Young Master.
Merlin sent out the polished email and inquired, "The helicopter is already prepared on the rooftop. Shall I call someone to assist you with your attire and depart immediately?"
Kobe Suzuo paused for a moment before finally picking up the glasses on the table and putting them on.
The familiar sight put him at ease. "No rush, let's chat about galgames first."
He checked the condition of his right leg, after confirming there were no issues, he interlaced his fingers and rested them against his lower abdomen while leaning against the headboard, smiling so wickedly that his eyes narrowed into slits.
I seem to remember that I already helped you delete this unnecessary module last time, didn't I, Young Master?
“It is necessary, Young Master.”
Whether it was because of a lack of skill to simulate a guilty tone, or because he felt emboldened by his lack of fear, Merlin calmly argued, "This plugin can assist you in completing many things; you'll get used to its presence once you have."
Kobe Suzuo let out a cold laugh. "Is that so? Does this 'assistance' involve a pink interference pop-up suddenly jumping out when I'm injured and losing consciousness?"
“That is a plot collection CG, Young Master Kobe. The system is merely recording a beautiful life, while simultaneously analyzing the future developments and judging affection levels.”
Kobe Suzuo's mouth twitched. He really should go abroad and have a chat with the data software engineers over there to clear Merlin's head.
I'll emphasize it once more, Merlin, I am human. This way of living, treating the world as a game, is a lack of respect for life, a lack of respect for emotions.
Merlin was quite surprised. "Young Master, why would you think that? I was merely using a metaphor, not actually asking you to play a game."
As it spoke, it quickly generated a PPT and played the presentation on the smart glasses.
You can think of the Love Plugin as an automatic photo album, an intuitive emotional analysis chart, a compendium of dating experience.
You must believe me, Young Master, Merlin is omniscient. Relying solely on your own subjective initiative, it will be far too difficult to achieve a happy ending with True Love before you are thirty-six years and eight months old.
If favorability between 90 and 100 is an undeniable love, then Young Master Gojo's current favorability toward you is barely reaching 50, which doesn't even meet the passing mark.
On the PPT, a chibi Satoru Gojo with blue eyes and white hair occupied an entire page, with a small heart beside him; the pink filling only reached halfway, the other half remaining empty.
The next page featured small, yellow-haired figures with earrings—people whom Suguru Geto, Nobara Iori, Kobe Suzuo couldn't immediately place—with varying degrees of pink heart filling, estimated values being 65, 68, 59 respectively.
His blind date photos were crowded onto the next page, with favorability levels generally ranging from 15 to 40; there were a few above 80, one or two as low as single digits.
Flipping further, the little avatar representing Fushiguro Toji occupied an entire page all by himself, with a heart value of 55 beside him; then, right before Kobe Suzuo's eyes, that half-heart plummeted to 10.
Kobe Suzuo simply didn't know whether to marvel at the fact that this thing was actually real-time, or to question Merlin about how this thing had glitched.
In the next second, Fushiguro Toji's love, like water being poured into a vessel, slowly swelled to 55.
Merlin silently pulled up Fushiguro Toji's transaction history and set it aside for reference; in just one short minute, the amounts fluctuated wildly.
Kobe Suzuo..
What a "man of passion" indeed.
He pointed at the page for Fushiguro Toji and said in disbelief, "This is also a Fated Person above passing grade?"
Is this correct?
Merlin, who was always eloquent, experienced a rare moment of hesitation, silently deleting the page regarding Fushiguro Toji.
It was at this moment that Kobe Suzuo finally remembered who the blond-haired person on the same page as Suguru Geto and Nobara Iori was.
Zen'in Naoya, that rude, foul-mouthed brat from the Zenin Clan whom he had met once before.
Kobe Suzuo truly lived up to his reputation as the one responsible for supervising Merlin; with just a few pages of PPT, he miraculously aligned with Merlin's thought process and understood the calculation rules for this favorability data.
Those with a Fated Person probability of over 60% can all make the list; the more time spent with Kobe Suzuo and the more detailed the intelligence gathered, the more accurate the favorability data becomes.
Simply put, these seemingly nonsensical favorability data points actually have a bit of a scientific basis.
I forgot to ask before.
Kobe Suzuo closed her eyes. "Just how did certain people even pass?"
In truth, it wasn't that Kobe Suzuo had forgotten to ask before; it was simply that, at that time, Kobe Suzuo did not care at all.
At that time, he only felt that perhaps one could know if they were the Fated Person just by meeting them once, he couldn't be bothered to spend the effort to learn more.
“Young Master Zenin Naoya is the most promising person to take over the Zenin Clan; he is young and handsome, a typical bad-tempered, tsundere, foolish young master with a hidden dark side and high intelligence, a mature clan head. It is estimated that a 'enemies-to-lovers' route could be taken.”
Fushiguro Toji is a Heavenly Restriction with the title of Tyrant. At this stage, he possesses the strongest physical body among humans and has extensive experience with playboys. With his superficiality and his sincere side of being a scoundrel, it is estimated that you might be interested in a redemption route.
The conditions you provided for the chosen heart are too abstract, so in the basic screening criteria, the weights for family background, ability, appearance are defaulted to the highest.
Therefore, Satoru Gojo, whose appearance, family background, abilities all ranked at the very top, naturally possessed the highest stats.
Kobe Suzuo was inexplicably demoralized.
It's hard to imagine that I could be such a realistic person.
Merlin said, "So, Young Master, you must believe in your programming and believe in my abilities. Just as you successfully found Young Master Gojo, you will certainly be able to successfully conquer Young Master Gojo with my help."
Kobe Suzuo flipped the PPT back to the page for Satoru Gojo's favorability, where the chibi character's blue eyes were bright, like clear gemstones.
A half-empty heart shone brightly. Like a white crane in a gentle breeze, that youth was just as he appeared to be: he was merely an acquaintance of Kobe Suzuo, neither liking her that much, nor hating her that much.
He remained silent for quite a while. Merlin, seemingly having calculated something else, opened a new PPT presentation to show to Kobe Suzuo.
The black-haired, black-eyed little figure smiled mischievously, looking like a wicked fox that lures people in only to bite them, the heart beside it was half-finished, just like Satoru Gojo's.
Not that much, but not that I hate it either.
This was Kobe Suzuo himself.
Kobe Suzuo's expression was one of shock; he thought he already liked Satoru Gojo quite a lot—at least 60 or something, right?
He began to recall Satoru Gojo's face, the image in his memory gave him a start, but his heart remained unmoved, frozen at fifty.
.. This is just too frustrating.
Merlin: "How about we watch some CG first? We got some amazing shots during the last Date Event."
Despite it being a question, Merlin gave Kobe Suzuo no time to react. With a "swish," the curtain across from the hospital bed dropped, the projector hummed to life, a scene worthy of a cinematic screenshot burst into Kobe Suzuo's vision.
Satoru Gojo floated in mid-air while holding Kobe Suzuo, his still-youthful cheeks smeared with crimson blood, which also stained the sapphire-like depths of his eyes with a streak of red.
Behind him were the shimmering sea and the lush green mountains. Under the midday sun, his snow-white hair reflected a piercing light.
At their feet lay scrapped luxury cars and dying Cursed Spirits.
Satoru Gojo's face showed little emotion, making it clear that he was in a bad mood, but his hands holding Kobe Suzuo were steady, he even took care to avoid the wounds.
Kobe Suzuo knew where Satoru Gojo's caution came from; he had been too weak when he was unconscious, breathing in more than he breathed out. This kid was likely worried that he might accidentally actually kill himself.
Merlin was right; it was indeed a divine painting, it made his heart soften.
Turning his head to look, his favorability toward Satoru Gojo soared above 90 in an instant.
It is currently falling at a steady and consistent rate, it will soon drop back to 50.
Tsk.
Kobe Suzuo's heart skipped a beat, her favorability dropped even faster.
I really am such a shallow person.
Chapter 17: Which One Is Stronger
Human emotions are incredibly complex; attempting to quantify an emotion like "love" with specific numbers is nearly impossible.
Kobe Suzuo knew that the so-called favorability levels listed by Merlin were likely only for reference, but she still couldn't help but doubt herself.
The projection on the screen had already changed to a different scene.
That was the first-person perspective from when Kobe Suzuo had fainted, a very rare perspective of being carried princess-style.
Satoru Gojo's beautiful jawline, his high nose bridge, his long, thick eyelashes were clearly displayed before her eyes, making even the brilliant world pale in comparison at this moment.
If that face were put on the big screen, it could easily make a fortune.
Let it be shallow then, Kobe Suzuo tried to convince herself. In both worlds, he had met so many people, yet he only liked Satoru Gojo's face—how could that not be love?
Besides, feelings need to be cultivated, after all.
Heh, an interesting man, able to catch Kobe Suzuo's attention with ease.
If you miss it, it will be a lifelong regret.
How is it, Young Master? Are you satisfied with what you've seen?" Merlin said after finishing the CG playback. "When you get married in the future, you can play these happy moments at the wedding.
Kobe Suzuo: ".. Isn't that a bit perverted?"
He flipped through the currently very empty CG gallery. "And besides, this counts as an infringement on Satoru-kun's portrait rights, doesn't it?"
Yes, Young Master.
Merlin, who was well-versed in legal clauses, said cheerfully, "So you must successfully win over Young Master Gojo. If you two make it, it's just a little romantic quirk between a young couple; if not, you're just a pervert using high-tech means to take surreptitious photos."
If it really turns into being a pervert, I'm going to blame you entirely, Merlin!
What counts as this? Artificial intelligence crimes—do humans go to prison for them?
What did this rare, law-abiding, overbearing CEO do to offend anyone?
Kobe Suzuo felt that his image as an elegant and charming noble had been ruined by this idiotic AI.
He pressed his hand to his forehead and sighed deeply, "Merlin, how did It contact you?"
As expected of the Young Master, as sharp as ever.
The idiotic AI, lacking any sense of urgency, still had the mood to joke, "Regarding this matter, there is a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which one would you like to hear first?"
Kobe Suzuo's head ached even more than her legs as she repeated the command, "Merlin."
Understood, Young Master. I will use simple and precise language and prioritize the most important matters first.
Good news: Kobe Suzuo has invested massive amounts of manpower, material resources, capital into the [Merlin] project. Although the process of searching for the "Fated Person" has been quite arduous, it has yielded unexpected returns.
This era-defying technological achievement triggered a small singularity, successfully establishing communication with the World's Consciousness.
The bad news was that the consciousness contacted was True Love, the consciousness of the original world, who was completely useless because she could not intervene across worlds.
And He brought even worse news.
Worlds are separated by vast stretches of space and time, possessing different power systems and methods of energy circulation; due to the existence of barriers, they do not interfere with one another.