《Programming in Another World》Chapter 1 - The Programmer's Life of Abnormality
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Have you ever answered a question and have gotten an unwelcoming response for giving you an answer? If so, have you ever thought about why you were given that unwelcoming response?
It's not because that they hate or dislike you. It's because yours don't fit the standard responses. In a better picture, think about a question, like what's the best color. True, there is no correct answer, but people often respond differently depending on your answer.
For example, what if a boy says the best color was pink or if their favorite color was pink. Often, they'll be ridiculed or questioned about that answer and get other unfavored responses.
Going back to the question, imagine turning it into a graph. The points of the graph would be people's answers to the question. If you did map everyone's responses, you should notice that most of the points overlap with each other, meaning that people picked the same answer as others.
If you examine the result, you'll notice that most people tend to have similar answers to others. Lots of people might say that Blue is the best color or red is. The answers with the highest number are typically called the common answers after they are the uncommon answers, which might have many people agreeing to the answer but isn't comparable to the typical answers.
Then comes the unique answers. People who give these answers are the outliers of the question. For instance, someone might say that the best color is Pantone 448 C, which is regarded as the worst color. This would be an outlier to the graph. Those people would get unfavorable responses or weird looks from others.
So, have this ever happened to you? It has for me... And it continued to happen to me till the day I died...
It was a simple childish question: What type of superpower would you like to have? The common answers include flight, superstrength, teleportation, etc. Some uncommon answers might be super jump or stretchable limbs.
My answer was a unique one... I wanted the power to create programs that could affect the world, similar to a game programmer programming the game world. I wanted to do that in real-time, and it would allow me to do an infinite number of things. If I wanted, I could change the world's landscape or create the ability of the common powers, like teleportation or flight. The world would be at my fingertips. The only con would be that you would need a high-level understanding of programming.
For me, that wouldn't be a problem. True, I didn't know when I created the power, but as of right now, I have become Earth's most pronounced and successful programmer. I have developed many programs that have helped humans in many ways.
After finishing getting a master's degree in Computer Science, I went straight to the workforce in an enormous company. There, I worked my way to the main programmer position and mastered the art of programming. During my time in the company, I helped and developed the creation of AI's. The creator of the replica of a human brain for those AI's was me.
After doing so, I left the company in pursuit of wanting to make games. I got hired immediately and worked on making the best games in the world. After about five years, I left the company, made my own company, and developed games myself. It only took a year to make that company so successful that you think of that company whenever you think about the best games. The most prominent game for my company was a realistic real-world simulation called Beginning Anew.
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Once I finished that game, I started creating a custom console for the company. Well, the console has been made by other companies, but I wanted to perfect it... VR. Yes, I developed true VR and created a way to dive into games by seeing and feeling everything within the game.
After doing so, I left the company and joined a new one, where I'm currently working. It's a tech company aimed to make teleportation possible. There was an idea in using computerize machinery to help teleport objects, so they needed a programmer, which was me. They hired me instantly since I have become a renowned person at this point. Even without joining the company, I have made billions of dollars. I just loved to program...
That's why I made that power, and to this day, I have always wanted to have it. During the interview processes for each of the companies and the others I have worked for, most of them asked this question as an ice breaker. I guess the reasoning for my answer also played some part. Nevertheless, each time I gave them my answer, I would get snickered at, or they would say, "I see..."
For me, no one understands the true value of this power. True, I have to do many things to use it properly, but I can become the strongest after doing so. Why settle for one power? I can create a flight program or a teleportation program! This power is truly the best, so why do I get shamed for it?
Well, it's just an answer to a dumb question. I've been a loner throughout my life, but it's not because of my answer, though I sometimes believe so. I focus on programming so much that everything else becomes non-important.
Anyway, I'm currently inside a building for that tech company. I've been working without a stop for four days. Why? Because I really want to finish the program for the teleportation test. Lucky for me, I just finished it!
I worked out all the bugs and any problems that might occur during the real test. The only thing that we need to do is the real test. There, we'll find any problems that occur, and I'll rework the code if needed.
"Yawn! Ah, it's almost morning..."
I take a peek at the windows of the building for the first time in days. The morning sun is starting to rise. It's about six A.M. I have a meeting at one in the afternoon, so I can use the time in between to head home and sleep in my bed.
I look around my station. It seems I'm still the only one at work. People usually come in at nine, so they got a couple of hours. If I head out now, I'll miss the morning rush.
I nod to myself as I turn my laptop off. I then turn off this floor's lights. Although they'll be coming soon, we can at least save some money on power...
After turning the lights out and exiting the building, I then begin walking towards my house.
Due to my wealth, I could buy and live in an enormous mansion if I wanted to. That said, I felt that they were too big. I like smaller spaces and homes better. Lucky for me, there was a tiny house right beside the company, so I decided to buy it.
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Now, I say right beside the company, but it's about a kilometer away in reality. Still, the distance away allows me to get the daily exercise that I need for my body. I mean, I sit at a desk in front of a computer for hours. I need to work my body somehow for all of that sitting.
I'm also forty years, so I need to take good care of my body, or else I won't be able to type as fast as I do, which will slow down my work.
I continue walking as I think about myself and my life for these past forty years. I remember my family, like my father, who started teaching me and got me into programming. I haven't talked nor met with them at all for thirty-ish years. After I got my master's, I left the house immediately and went to live on my own. I wonder if they are doing good?
After eight minutes of walking, I come across the train station. My house is on the other side of the station. Although it can be noisy, the train lowered the house's price, so it was a good compromise. Anyway, there seems to be a small crowd waiting for the train. Since I don't need to get on it, I hurry my way past the crowd and reach the top.
"Cho Cho!"
It appears the train is almost here. I could wait for it to pass, but that'll take between five to thirty minutes. If I can cross the railway now, I'll be able to miss this small rush of people.
The train comes into my vision. With that, I prepare myself to jump, but right before I decided to move, my body stops working... I freeze on the spot. Unable to move, I attempt to look around to see what's wrong. That's when I felt a small hand on my back.
"Sorry..."
I listen to these words as the small hand pushes me out onto the tracks. The time from when my body froze was enough time for the train to catch up, meaning that when I got pushed onto the tracks, the train was already here so that I had no chance to escape.
At that moment, the train collides with me. I lost consciousness immediately afterward, feeling a pitching pain throughout my body.
When my consciousness returns, I find myself in some black void.
"Where am I?"
I twist my head to the left and right to try and get a better understanding, but it was to no avail. Everywhere in sight was blackness.
I then looked around at my body. Nothing was missing, and there was no pain at all. I do remember what happened, so my memory is alright too. So, the only questions that I have are where I am and why they brought me here.
The why might be simple... Maybe this is the land between the dead? I mean, it's not heaven, nor does it look like hell.
As I continue to pounder, a middle-aged expressionless being appears in front of me. It surprises me, so I let out a small shriek. It looks at me and then begins speaking in a low, humble voice.
"Hello, Dewa Emon. Welcome to the middle realm. Here, I'll look within your past and make a judgment base on it. My judgment will determine which realm, the higher or the lower, you will be sent to. Understand? Good. I'll begin immediately then."
I stand in a daze, not quite understanding the mister's words. Before I could ask of anything, the figure touches my face. After that, memories of my entire life flash before my eyes.
There were images of my baby stages, then my of my family. After I saw images of my life during high-school and college. Last, I saw my life as I progressed through life as a programmer.
The sight of seeing my entire life in only a few seconds left no words in my mouth. I couldn't say nor do anything. After a moment of silence, the figure begins speaking.
"I have seen your post. The state of your soul was good so that you would have gone into the higher realm, but I sense a disturbance. There seems to be an unusual disturbance that murdered you by pushing you onto a train. Therefore, I shall pass a new judgment."
I stayed silent as the figure talked. Again, I couldn't understand anything he was saying. I knew someone murdered me, but why was it unusual?
"Dewa Emon, for having such a death, you will continue your life but in a different world than you come to know."
"Huh?"
I was finally able to speak. He will revive me but in a different world? So I'll be reincarnated or something like that? That's cool and uncool! Then came the kicker...
"I have contacted one of that world's God. He tells me that you will be given an opportunity for this unique case. You'll be given the power of your choice. You would refer to it as a cheat. Please, say and imagine the power that you wish to have in your next life."
I g-get to pick any power that I want? I'm assuming there is magic or something in this world, so I can choose to be very good at it or... No, if I can pick any power, then there is only one power that I want.
"I understand. I want the power to create programs that can interfere with the world... It's called World's Programming!"
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