My Idle System

One week passed.

Christian, who initially thought he would take his time with the software and security program, ended up accelerating his plans after what he discovered, as he now believed that everything, especially a useful AI, could be of help.

So, while nothing noteworthy happened during the week, he was still able to finish setting the software and security program.

Then came his Idle System. Christian was now earning more than two thousand experience points daily, and today his level even increased to eighteen, which lifted his mood and made him happy amidst all the depressing things.

As for his skills, the program hacking skill hadn't advanced much. He would need at least one more week for it to level up.

That's what left Christian discouraged, knowing his second hacking attempt wouldn't happen anytime soon.

Of course, while he hadn't made his second attempt at hacking the police database, he had still hacked other places and obtained things related to software and security.

That's why he was able to finish them so quickly, as he just made some modifications, nothing too groundbreaking.

Aside from program hacking, there was the AI Creation skill. The experience it provided was actually a considerable amount, especially given that its current tier was still basic.

Its levels were also rising quite quickly, as Christian discovered. While the initial assessment of his knowledge placed him at level zero, once the learning process began, things sped up because of his familiarity with various programming languages and other skills, leaving him feeling pleased.

Anyway, now that the AI Creation skill learning process was going smoothly and everything else was ready, Christian was prepared to start acquiring other materials and data from various companies while also gaining some unpublished programming knowledge along the way.

Finally, there was his body building skill, which was set to advance to the intermediate tier by next week or so, making him even more hopeful about it.

And Christian felt that his constitution was actually nearing its next increase. Of course, it wouldn't happen anytime soon, but discovering that it would progress faster than the initially assessed speed after the level of the skill raised, was a pleasant surprise and something to look forward to.

With everything happening, there was still Eva, with whom Christian had not made any new progress. Perhaps it was due to all the chaotic events; in the end, he simply hadn't found the time to do anything.

Christian had previously thought he should finish all the important tasks, or like the things that needed to be done, before pursuing his plans with her, but he was now questioning whether that was truly the case. Was it really a necessary condition?

While, as he had said before, his attraction wasn't as strong as it had been at the start and his initial enthusiasm had faded a little, his desire to talk to her had not diminished one bit after all.

But with many chaotic thoughts swirling through his mind at that time, Christian actually decided to delay his plans once again, this time even for an unspecified period.

After all, plans can't keep up with changes.

Christian didn't want to be too distracted from what he was focused on currently because of this plan, which didn't even guarantee a certain outcome.

They were living in the same small city, so it wasn't as if she would run away, and he might even run into her by coincidence at some place and finally try to talk to her.

Which knowing how he didn't go out much, he realized that the possibility was nearly nil, but Christian wanted to at least hold onto one hope.
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Putting all these things aside, his exams were actually just next week, in a few days, and he would have even less time.

...

Another ten days passed.

It was evening, and Christian was at his desk, working on creating the AI. However, feeling tantalizing arms wrapped around his neck from behind and the gentle tickle of breath against his cheek, he couldn't help but be a little distracted.

As for cursing himself for not buying an office chair with lower back support, Christian could swear that he hadn't thought of anything along those lines.

"So, when will I.R.I.S.'s initial model design be done?"

Hearing the soft voice beside his ear, Christian was jolted back to reality by his sister, while the mention of the name I.R.I.S. reminded him of the little argument they had about the AI's name.

At first, Christian had wanted a strong-sounding name, something very unique, but it seemed he lacked a talent for naming, as all the suggestions he came up with were promptly rejected by his sister.

Even then, he didn't give up.

Christian thought the problem was with the direction he had been going in. So, instead of focusing on something strong and unique, he shifted his approach and decided to think of a feminine name. After all, he certainly wasn't going to create a male AI and have to deal with the annoyance of hearing a guy's voice all the time.

That was out of the question.

A softer, more elegant name felt like the right way to go—especially since he wanted the AI to be something he enjoyed interacting with, not something that would grate on him.

This time, Christian at least came up with something a little more decent. However, in the end, it was his sister who suggested I.R.I.S, or simply Iris. Of course, it was still a used name, with some company or other things already bearing it.

But since it felt nice, and it was suggested by his sister, capturing both the feminine and AI aspects, he decided to go along with it in the end.

As for the originality issue, Christian didn't care much in the end. It's not like all great things needed to be completely original. As long as the name eventually felt like it truly belonged to his AI, that would be enough for him.

"Sis, you know I just started working on it yesterday, so it's still going to take some time."

Christian had actually taken a little more than a week just to hack data related to AI from other companies, and then recognize and process it all.

That was under the condition that he didn't take all the information at once; instead, he decided to gather it in batches because it turned out to be much more than he had initially thought.

Of course, he didn't forget to get some information about program hacking, which like he suspected was there but hadn't been published, for many reasons.

"It's not like an AI can be created in just one day and night."

Annabelle raised her head slightly, looking at the back of her brother's head and nape with a strange expression before finally replying.

"Of course, I know, but I thought you would surprise me by suddenly having it done."

Christian couldn't help but rub his cheeks upon hearing his sister's words. He didn't know when his image in her mind had already changed so much.

Maybe the incident that happened one week ago was one of the reasons for this shift?

Since his sister stopped working, she had been bothering him, or rather, hanging out with him, much more. At first, she didn't intrude into his room too much out of privacy and other considerations, but that had changed.

Lately, she didn't even seem to care about that anymore.

Hanging out with him was one thing, but there was another aspect—she would constantly hint at a girl he was supposedly seeing, even though he clearly didn't have anyone. But his sister was convinced otherwise.

At least he was relieved that she didn't ask him explicitly.

Anyway, the problem started one week ago when his sister suddenly asked him about taxes, a topic he hadn't bothered with at all and had nearly forgotten.

It was clear that his luck wasn't that great, as the last deadline for reporting his trading activities had been in April. After he had started working for a short time, so, he had already missed the appointment, which only made matters worse.

Fortunately, he hadn't received an audit yet, so with his sister's help, he began tackling the legal issues along with all the other problems.

Which were all quite head-throbbing, as the amount of tax he was supposed to pay was actually exorbitant, especially now that he had nearly gained about one million in profits.

He realized that managing even this kind of sum would require more attention to detail and regular oversight, while he also needed to manage his taxes more regularly from now on.