Chapter 205. [Time For Judgment]

<<Iroha-san, how is your throat feeling? If it’s tough, we can stop here…>>

<<That’s right, Iroha. What matters most is your well-being, not the record.>>

<<Thank you for your concern. I’m okay, Ogu.>>

I responded to the inspector who came to announce the time limit, and Anu Ogu.

Finally, the challenge for the Guinness World Record was about to resume.

>Welcome back, Iroha-chan~

>Is your throat okay now? (U.S.)

>Also, gratitude to the native speaker who bridged the gap (U.S.)

<<I’m fine now. Sorry for causing you worry. Thank you from me as well.>>

[○◇x…※☆]

I stepped into the shooting area.

On the streaming screen, the 3D avatar of Translator Girl Iroha appeared, walking in from the side.

Next to her (though it’s on the streaming screen), the inspector also stood.

Then, they came over here for the final confirmation.

<<Iroha-san, are you ready?>>

<<Yes, I’m ready.>>

<<Understood. Then, I will measure the time. The 58th language. Judging begins!>>

[●△……□, △×. ☆◇Iroha]

A native speaker spoke to me again.

In response, I replied in a certain language.

((Nice to meet you. I’m Iroha.))

[[ΔΙ●△]]

The other person seemed to smile wryly, but they continued the conversation.

In other words, it ‘got through’ to some extent.

My intuition was not wrong.

The likelihood of belonging to the Germanic language family, especially the West Germanic branch, was high.

Among them, there was a language that felt particularly close.

That’s Dutch.

>Huh? Is this communication going well?

>I feel like the pronunciation is slightly different between the native speaker and Iroha-chan (U.S.)

>It’s a rare mistake for Iroha-chan, but are you sure you’re not speaking Dutch incorrectly? (Dutch)

That’s right.

What I said earlier was not Afrikaans but Dutch.

Unfortunately, I haven’t learned Afrikaans yet.

However, Dutch… or something derived from it was a ‘hypothesis’.

I assumed the grammar from there and tentatively proceeded with the translation.

And it was spot on.

[[……………((But)) ((So))]]

It was as if my field of vision had opened up, and I began to understand the meaning.

It was precisely the weakness of AI and a method that humans excel at. AI cannot create 1 from 0, and there is no such thing as 0.5.

Leaps of thought and inspiration, the ability to advance thinking in an ‘ambiguous’ state, are human privileges.

[[((Of course))……. ((So))……]]

[[I see]]

In response to Afrikaans, I guessed fragments of Dutch translation.

Since I haven’t grasped the intonation and pronunciation yet, my responses are awkward, but I manage.

While grammar predictions were correct, it’s not exactly perfect Dutch. Some errors need correction in the conversation.

[[Iroha ((is))…(about)…]]

[[That’s right, I…]]

Gradual improvement is happening, but it’s still far from fluent.

It was necessary to identify more differences between Dutch and Afrikaans.

While paying attention and listening, I noticed.

There are scattered terms that are only in Afrikaans.

And what is this!?

These words aren’t at all derived from the Germanic language family!

((So I))

Um, what is this language!?

But I feel like I heard it very recently.

<<Iroha, do your best…!>>

At that moment, the muttered voice of Angu Ogu reached my ears.

I turned my gaze to her and realized.

Yes, this is like Indonesian or Malay!

A language identical to the doppelgänger language that appeared on the first day of the Guinness record review.

Last night’s lecture to me was now connecting.

And as soon as I realized, the fill-in-the-blanks progressed further with a leap.

[[((But)) [in most cases] ((both))…]]

[[That’s right, I also think so. But…]]

[[!? ((Um))]]

>Wait, I thought Iroha-chan was speaking Dutch… (Dutch)

>Oh, really? It sounds like proper Afrikaans to me (Afrikaans)

>Just to be sure, I’ll transcribe it for everyone (Afrikaans)

That was the final blow.

A viewer from South Africa chimed in with a comment.

Words and pronunciations were coming together like a cross-check.

Of course, there’s a delay in comments, making real-time correspondence difficult for such interactions.

Normally.

Unfortunately for me, I have a language cheat ability.

[[So, I would be happy if everyone could know even a little about the issues in South Africa. I apologize for using your big moment in this way.]]

[[Don’t worry about it. Just, what you see and your perspective can change depending on where you live. Unfortunately, we Japanese people have few opportunities to look beyond the seas.]]

[[······!?!?!?]]

[[Is something wrong?]]

[No, nothing.]

<<..———That’s enough!>>

A sharp voice came from the inspector when we were progressing in the conversation.

Before I knew it, not just 5 minutes but almost 10 minutes had passed since the review resumed.

<<Iroha-san and others, it’s time.>>

<<Is it?>>

I did everything I could.

Now, all that remained was to await the judgment.