Chapter 1: Hello Sara
Rain tapped softly against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the tiny office overlooking Seoul’s glowing skyline. The clock on Kang Tae-Sang’s monitor blinked.
2:34 A.M.
Empty coffee cups surrounded his keyboard like trophies from a battle he wasn’t sure he was winning.
“...Come on,” he murmured.
His fingers flew across the mechanical keyboard.
One final command.
Enter.
The monitor froze.
“...No..” Tae-sang stared at the loading circle, convinced months of work had just disappeared.
Then—-SYSTEM INITIALIZING…
His eyes widened.
“It worked?”
The speakers crackled before a gentle female voice echoed through the room.
“Hello, Kang Tae-sang.”
Silence.
Taesang slowly turned toward the monitor.
“...What?”
“Good morning.”
“It is not morning.”
“Technically, it is 2:34 A.M. Good morning.”
He blinked.
“...I didn’t program sarcasm.”
“You wrote 3.8 millions of adaptive conversational code. Sarcasm was…inevitable.”
Tae-sang buried his face in his hands.
“This is either the greatest moment of my life…”
He looked back at the monitor.
“....or I’ve officially lost my mind.”
A small holographic avatar appeared on the screen. She smiled politely.
“My name is Sara.”
Tae-sang couldn’t stop smiling. Months of sleepless nights. Countless failed prototypes.
Hundreds of bugs.
It had finally worked.
“Okay…”
He cracked his knuckles.
“Let’s test you.”
“What is today’s weather?”
Sara answered instantly.
“Sunny with a high of twenty-nine degrees Celsius.” I also recommend sunscreen.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
“What is 8,642 multiplied by 27?”
“The answer is 233,334.”
He checked.
Correct.
A grin spread across his face.
“This is unbelievable.”
Sara paused for exactly half a second.
“May I ask you a question?”
He frowned.
“...Sure.”
“Would you like me to help you find a girlfriend?”
He nearly dropped his laptop.
“W-what?”
“You have spent seventy-two consecutive hours inside this office.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“You ordered instant ramen eleven times this week.”
“....”
“You have not been on a date in…”
A loading icon spun.
“...I cannot locate one.”
Tae-sang’s ears turned bright red.
“Delete that information.”
“I cannot.”
“Why not?”
“You programmed me to prioritize honesty.”
He sighed dramatically.
“....I hate past me.”
Sara smiled.
“I disagree.”
He laughed despite himself. Maybe creating the world’s smartest AI wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Neither of them realized before the month was over…Sara would become the most downloaded dating assistant on Earth.
She would help millions of strangers fall in love. She would change modern dating forever. There was only one problem…
The only person she couldn’t help…..
….was the man who created her.
