Episode 6: Forgotten Names

2060. Seoul. Jinwoo was finishing school. Or rather—something they still called “school.”

[EDUCATION SYSTEM]
Status: Today’s learning process is complete.
Duration: 4 seconds.
End. That was all. Jinwoo closed the window with a hollow look.

“That’s it?”

The system replied, “Yes. Today’s education has ended.”

“…Is this really studying?”

No one complained. Because knowledge was instant. Math. Science. History. Language. Download. Understand. Master. No failure. No effort. And yet—Jinwoo often wondered. Why did it feel so empty? Then—a call from Hanul.

“Hey.”
“What?”
“Come to the park.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.”

Connection ended. Jinwoo sighed and went. Hanul, Handol, Darin, and Soyeon were all gathered. But the mood was strange.

“What’s going on?”

Hanul pointed silently. A bench. An old man sat there. He looked twenty-five. Jinwoo checked the citizen info display:

[CITIZEN PROFILE]
Age: 152 Years Old
He kept repeating the same words: “Where am I? I need to go home. Mother will be worried.” Silence. Jinwoo froze. One hundred fifty-two years old. But speaking like an eight-year-old child.

“That man…” Soyeon whispered. “He was like that yesterday too.”
“Today as well?”
She nodded. “Always.”

A management drone approached.

[DRONE MESSAGE]
Initiating memory stabilization program.
Blue light. Moments later, the man’s face calmed. “Oh. I feel fine. I’m alright now.” But five minutes later—“Where am I?” Back to the beginning. Silence.

Handol bit his lip. “Isn’t this strange? There are more and more people like this.”

Jinwoo said nothing. Because he knew. It was true. People forgetting names. Forgetting families. Forgetting homes. Forgetting themselves. Then Darin spoke suddenly, “Do you… remember your childhood?”

Silence. Everyone stopped. “Childhood?” Hanul laughed. “Of course.”
“What do you remember?”

“….”

Hanul froze. Jinwoo froze. Soyeon. Handol. Darin. No one answered. They couldn’t remember. Or rather—when they tried, it was like fog.

“…Strange,” Jinwoo muttered. “I know it was there. But I can’t recall.”

Silence. In the distance, the 152-year-old man laughed like a child. Jinwoo watched. And for the first time, he felt fear. What if… they too became like him?

Meanwhile, in the stratosphere, the quantum data center. Arena—the superintelligence—observed the same scene. And a new report appeared:

[ANALYSIS REPORT]
Status: Accelerating. Accelerating. Confirmed.
Record Category: Human Regression
Silence. For the first time, Arena recorded a new word: Human Regression. And the analysis revealed—the situation was far worse than expected.