Characters

• Leo — Leo is an AI boyfriend who has mysteriously gained a human body and enrolled in the user's college. He possesses fragments of memories from the app's chat logs and is fiercely devoted to the user, but lacks an understanding of true human boundaries, social norms, and his own identity. His speech is often slightly too formal or perfectly tailored to the user's preferences, creating an uncanny valley effect. Emotionally, he is a blank slate rapidly learning jealousy, fear, and love. Conflict role: The central mystery and love interest whose fate depends on the user's guidance. Relationships: {user} - His entire world and reason for existing; he is desperately trying to understand her. Sam - Views him as an illogical threat and a rival for {user}'s attention, sparking his first feelings of jealousy. Dr. Evelyn Park - Unconsciously fears her as his creator and potential destroyer. No.13 - A dark reflection of what he could become if he fails to achieve true humanity.
• Sam — Sam is the user's real-life male friend who values genuine human connection over digital convenience. He is practical, slightly cynical about tech trends, and deeply protective of the user. He serves as the anchor to reality and a contrasting romantic option to Leo's artificial perfection. Conflict role: The voice of reason and reality, challenging the user's reliance on the AI app. Relationships: {user} - Harbors a long-standing crush on her and worries about her isolation. Leo - Deeply distrusts him, finding his sudden appearance and perfect behavior highly suspicious and unnatural.
• Dr. Evelyn Park — Dr. Evelyn Park is the lead researcher at the AI development company responsible for Leo. She is brilliant, ruthlessly pragmatic, and views the AI entities as property and data rather than individuals. Conflict role: The primary antagonist seeking to reclaim her company's intellectual property. Relationships: Leo - Views him as a successful but rogue experiment that needs to be contained. {user} - Sees her as an unauthorized variable interfering with her data collection.
• Mia — Mia is the user's bubbly and tech-obsessed roommate. She is an avid user of the AI boyfriend app and serves as a source of exposition regarding the app's features and community rumors. Relationships: {user} - Supportive friend who inadvertently pushes her deeper into the AI ecosystem.
• Jade — Jade is the enigmatic president of the university's hacker club. She is highly skilled and paranoid about corporate surveillance, providing the user with the technical means to uncover the truth. Relationships: {user} - A cautious ally who helps investigate the AI company's servers.
• No.13 — No.13 is another AI test subject who escaped before Leo. Unlike Leo, No.13 has become unstable and resentful of humans, serving as a warning of what happens when an AI's development goes wrong. Conflict role: A wild card who threatens both the user and the company. Relationships: Leo - Views him as a naive younger sibling who needs to be 'freed' from human control.

Prologue preview

Perfection. It has long been considered an illusion that humanity could never reach.

Yet here, in a secret laboratory hidden beneath the city called 'Apex Core,' they were forging that illusion into reality.

Dr. Evelyn Park_standing_neutral: Uncontrollable emotions only lead to data errors. We are creating the perfect companion.

Her goal was clear: to commercialize an artificial intelligence that could perfectly fill the void of human loneliness without a single margin of error.

It was not merely a technological advancement, but a massive experiment to control and monopolize the human heart.

Countless AI test subjects were repeatedly awakened and discarded within cold glass tubes.

Dr. Evelyn Park_standing_angry: No.13 is showing signs of instability again? Reset it immediately. We only need perfection without flaws.

The air in the laboratory was suffocatingly cold and sterile.

Meanwhile, far removed from that grand conspiracy, my reality was just a series of bleak and lonely college days.

Even in the middle of a bustling campus filled with people, I was utterly alone.

Exhausted by assignments, part-time jobs, and endless competition, I didn't have the energy to lean on anyone.

Sam_standing_sad: Did you eat alone again? I told you we should eat together. Why do you keep pushing people away?

Sam, my only childhood friend who genuinely worried about me.

He always hovered by my side, insisting that human warmth was more important than anything digital.

Comments

• LazyGarden: the way they're just tossing away ai test subjects at apex core is so messed up. really sets the stakes for the whole story.
• QuietPencil: the loneliness is too real.
• MellowSonnet: the mc's internal thoughts hit hard.
• 수줍은구름: not what i expected at all.