Otherworld TRPG Game Master - Chapter 296



Chapter 296 – S5. The Stellar Explosion ~Awakening Dawn~ -2

Life is a game of chance; even a genius mathematician cannot predict what will happen just a moment ahead. Isaac Newton himself proved this proposition by losing 90% in the stock market.

But if someone on Earth suffered a loss, it means someone else gained a profit, doesn’t it? The harmony of yin and yang is indeed so profound.

Here stands a man named Joseph Williams.

He was a mathematics major, and he began studying to prove that this world operates according to certain mathematical rules.

He was afraid of the fact that a person could randomly be hit by a car or struck by lightning while simply passing by. He believed that mathematics would alleviate this anxiety.

At least, if he were to die suddenly, he wouldn’t feel wronged. It would be utterly tragic to die from a coconut falling on him out of nowhere, but if he walked into a danger zone with a 70% chance of coconut drops, then it would be his own fault.

Contrary to his grand ambitions, his talent and grades were average. He was beaten down by linear algebra and ended up with a B-. Like many college students, alcohol was his closest friend.

And in his third year of college, he would encounter a turning point in his life.

“Joseph, this is called Bitcoin… it’s a virtual online currency that doesn’t actually exist. I think it has tremendous potential. It’s definitely going to skyrocket!”

“I don’t know who the idiot who created this is, but it’s a foolish idea. I will never invest in something like this.”

The rational and sharp-witted college student Joseph Williams flatly rejected the idea.

“……… Well, what the hell, let’s give it a try! It’s better than just rotting away…!”

The irrational, alcohol-soaked, large dog of a Joseph Williams was different. He plunged in with the heart of a beast.

And ten years later.

“What is it?”

Joseph Williams had become a billionaire on the level of national power.

Even Newton himself, up there in the sky, would not have predicted that pouring his wealth into Bitcoin before going to bed would lead to this.

Money had changed him. The once poor mathematician Joseph had transformed into a stingy, pompous rich man, and he unhesitatingly wrote in his autobiography, “Frugality changes lives.”

Beneath it all lay anxiety. What is easily gained can be easily lost. What if he lost this wealth overnight? Such was his worry.

He pondered deeply about what to do with this immense fortune. The conclusion he reached was that no matter how much money one has, it can always be lost.

In a world where nuclear war breaks out, both the rich and the poor die equally. In such a scenario, only the prepared wealthy survive. Yes, to protect his wealth, he must invest it.

“I will build underground bunkers in various countries. A lot of them.”

And just in case, he should include cryogenic capsules.

The headquarters of ‘Stellaria’ and ‘New Stellaria’ were facilities born from Joseph’s survivalist tendencies.

—

In a world shattered by the ‘Great Monster,’ Joseph’s survivalist pragmatism had become a Gordian knot.

“Are you really going to use this power line? No way. This is the facility’s backup power, and if the main power goes out, hot water will be a dream.”

“Isn’t it solved by killing the ‘Great Monster’?”

“Anyway, it can’t be done.”

Can he do it, or can he not? Can this man named Gordius truly defeat the Great Monster? What if… he fails? What if, after pouring in resources, it all ends in failure?

Then he must prepare for what comes next.

Having uprooted the pillars of ‘New Stellaria’ to construct a giant robot, the moment it turns into a toy for the Great Monster, the entire community would be in danger.

“We need to dismantle the medium-sized robots and recycle their parts.”

“Hey, those medium-sized robots are the workers of ‘New Stellaria.’ Without them, we can’t fight off the crazed followers of the Great Monster, nor can we farm resources from outside. Don’t you know about resources? Haven’t you played StarCraft?”

“I’m saying we’re short on precious metals for the ‘Meteor’ No. 2!”

“We’re short on workers too!”

So, everything that can be saved must be saved. That stance clashed head-on with Gordius, who was fully committed and seeing clear angles.

“Are you really saying it can be done in three months?”

“Yes.”

“One last question, are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“What does three months mean?”

“……..”

Ssshhh.

Gordius took a deep breath to suppress his growing frustration.

Joseph wasn’t against investing. But his stance was ambivalent. He was constantly weighing the future’s survival against the present’s battles, and in Gordius’s view, that was a path to losing both hares.

He had managed to rally most of the research team to create the Meteor Unit 2, but ultimately, it was Joseph who held the purse strings of the facility. He had to be persuaded.

The conflict peaked over the pilot issue.

“The prototype for the Type III engine is complete.”

“… I’ve heard from the tech department that they’re skeptical. The operational difficulty is too high. It would take at least ten people to handle it. After all that boasting, is this the impractical engine you’ve produced?”

“I’ll be the one piloting it, so it doesn’t matter. It was designed with a wizard or a genius in mind, so of course, the operational difficulty is high. If we don’t boost the output like this, we won’t be able to catch the Great Beast.”

“You’ve made it so only you can use it? If you die, it’ll all be for nothing. If only one person can use the newly developed engine, what’s the point?”

Today, they were fighting fiercely, only stopping short of grabbing each other by the collar, when a one-armed girl, Kim Yoon-seo, casually placed her hand on the Type III engine.

Vvvvrrrrr──!

“It works!”

“Huh?”

Kim Yoon-seo was a genius.

If Woo Chae-rin could precisely manipulate the magic engine through her high intellect, Kim Yoon-seo, with her strong magical manipulation ability, could operate the Type III engine. Had she been born in another world, she would have become a great wizard.

The difficulty of operating the engine and its output were directly proportional.

If there was a capable pilot who could produce such output, they could afford to raise the output a bit more. Thus, Gordius proposed a double-pilot system.

“We’ll create two cockpits. Each will operate a different magic engine, and this will be complementary. The probability of defeating the Great Beast will significantly increase.”

“So… we’ll be fighting together, Wizard! I’m ready. I’ll do my best!”

Unlike Kim Yoon-seo, who was cheering, Joseph shook his head firmly.

“No.”

“Joseph!”

“Are you going to let that kid fight the Great Beast? A child who hasn’t even dried the blood on their head? No, absolutely not. Without her, we won’t have anyone we can trust for external exploration!”

“Commander, I said I would go out. I appreciate you taking me in and raising me, but you have no right to dictate what I decide—”

“I clearly opposed bringing back a frozen human buried in the ground. You promised back then. You said you wouldn’t engage in such dangerous work again! Kim Yoon-seo, are you planning to break that promise?!”

Bang!

Gordius slammed his hand on the desk, channeling his magic into the blow. The metal desk crumpled grotesquely, twisted beyond recognition.

He was a wizard. Joseph knew that. He had seen him levitate massive components without even touching them while constructing the Meteor Unit 2.

If he could exert that kind of physical force, he could easily crush a person. Just like that desk. Joseph felt a chill of fear. The savior of the world could also become its destroyer.

But Gordius did not go beyond that.

He simply spoke in a low, calm voice.

“Ten years ago, this facility must have existed. Among the materials that Dr. Woo Chae-rin salvaged, some of them were likely sent by you. Back then, it probably operated just like now. Enough to prepare for the future. A little investment for safety, I suppose. Right?”

“⋯⋯I—”

“One thing is clear: if you had invested a little more in ‘Stellaria,’ the ‘Great Beast’ would have been dead long ago. We lost simply because we were a week short.”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

The wizard turned and walked away. Pilot Kim Yoon-seo followed behind him.

Left alone, Joseph buried his head in his hands and fell deep into thought.

Not even a genius mathematician knows what will happen in the next moment. So.

A makeshift mathematician who never even attended graduate school could hardly read the future.

—

A week had passed.

The height of ‘Meteor’ Unit 2 reached 100 meters.

It was still under construction, but… compared to Unit 1, it had a bit more sophistication, and notably, it was designed to accommodate something on its right arm.

Here, a file bunker using ‘Meteor Strike’ rocket propellants was set to be attached.

Gordius scribbled instructions in the folder he was holding. After clashing with Joseph, the supply of materials was in a precarious state, so perhaps it was necessary to skimp on less critical parts to avoid waste.

If the legs are flimsy, everything is lost. But if the arms are weak, a single break could mean losing the means to attack. If cost-cutting was necessary, it had to be in the heart where the cockpit was located.

Lowering the pilot’s safety while boosting offensive power. That was the uncomfortable conclusion Gordius had reached.

At that moment.

The one-armed pilot Kim Yoon-seo came running in energetically with news.

“Gordius, the wizard, Joseph wants to see you.”

“⋯⋯Me?”

“Yes. He said he has something to say. He asked you to come to his room, not the office. If he says anything strange, I’ll hold him accountable, so don’t worry!”

It had been quiet for a while, but was it time for the arena to open once more?

Gordius rolled up his sleeves. He swept all the research materials off his desk. If the investor wanted proof, he was prepared to persuade them until his eardrums burst.

If they still insisted on cutting the budget and materials, he was seriously considering sourcing the materials himself. If they interfered with that, he would interpret it as a call for a coup.

And when he opened Joseph’s door.

“You made it? Have a drink.”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

He was sipping soju from a wine glass. His eyes were slightly glazed, indicating he was already quite drunk. Gordius frowned.

“I have nothing to say to a drunkard.”

“No, listen. When I’m drunk… I make the wisest decisions of my life. That’s why I drank. Hey, just listen. First of all, I’m sorry.”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯?”

“It must have been frustrating. I know. When you go, you have to go all in, or not at all. But⋯⋯ if you fail, it’s really, really over. That thought terrifies me. Hey, want to see something interesting?”

Joseph chuckled to himself as he fumbled along the empty wall.

I wondered if he was mimicking a bug, but when Joseph pressed against a certain spot on the wall, it sank in with a soft thud. Then, with a whirring sound, the wall began to rotate.

Inside was a secret vault, and a brilliant golden light spilled out from within.

It was gold bars. Enough to fill the entire space.

Joseph sighed.

“At the beginning of the ‘Great Monster’ incident, I thought this would be over soon. I bought food and materials with the money I had, but most of it I converted into tangible assets like this. I wasn’t drunk back then.”

“⋯⋯Now it’s just pretty trash.”

“Right? Who would have thought the world would collapse? Those yellowish things are useless now, and you can’t eat them. If I had bought something else with that money⋯⋯ I can’t even express how much I regret it. Investment is a wicked beast. It always brings regret.”

If I was going to build a bunker, I should have made it bigger.

If I was going to prepare for the future, I should have hoarded large amounts of steel or food, the things we need right now.

If I was going to support ‘Stellaria,’ I should have pushed all the resources I had.

“⋯⋯And in some futures, damn it, I should have gone all in on that wizard. I was so scared of regretting it. This might be⋯⋯ my last chance.”

“Have you made a decision?”

“──Yeah. Take it all, wizard. I’m all in. This is the most daring investment of my life! Take it all⋯⋯ and please, don’t let me regret it in the future. I’m begging you.”

With a deep breath, Joseph squeezed his eyes shut and downed the soju. He was trembling with fear of the future. In truth, Gordius felt the same.

But conviction lies beyond fear. Gordius spoke with a voice full of certainty.

“It will be fine, Joseph. I promise. You’ve made the best investment.”

“⋯⋯Haha! You sure talk a big game. You’ve won. You.”

Joseph laughed and muttered a few meaningless words.

“⋯⋯Hey, wizard. Can you time travel? I’ve seen it in movies.”

“I can’t, because our schools are different. I’m not even sure if it’s possible. I’ve heard they’re researching it in the Blue Mage Tower.”

“Let’s skip the complicated setups. It’s just a joke. But if anyone could go back in time, I’d want them to grab me by the collar and make sure I invest in the right places. That’s what I wanted to say⋯⋯.”

With those final words, he slumped back on the sofa and began to snore softly.

Gordius took the soju bottle from his hand and placed it on the table, then covered him with a nearby carpet instead of a blanket before leaving the room.

“⋯⋯Next time I need to persuade him, I should probably get him drunk first.”

From noble mtl dot com

The young wizard found himself shouldering Joseph’s regrets. Though regret carries no weight, he felt a stiffness in his shoulders. Had Dr. Woo Chae-rin always felt this way⋯⋯?

But he wouldn’t be crushed and stand still. Just like Chae-rin had done.

He would move forward toward the future.

“Joseph, I’m using this.”

“No way! That’s worth three million dollars!”

“I’m going to use this too.”

“That one is worth a whopping five million dollars!”

“What about this?”

“That one… was a gift.”

Crash!

“No—!!”

Gordius ruthlessly popped the lid off the sports car and took everything inside. In the garage, where the parts raider had just passed through, only Joseph’s screams echoed pitifully.

Joseph rolled around, drunk and lamenting how he had gone mad with his strange investments, but despite his words, he did nothing to stop Gordius. He merely twisted his body in despair beside him.

With all available resources concentrated, the development speed of the ‘Meteor’ Unit 2 soared steeply. The robot was being produced rapidly and was now on the verge of completion.

‘Meteor Strike’ was also finished. To celebrate the completion of the secret weapon that would pierce through Yonglin, a small festival was held in ‘New Stellaria.’

At a small table, three key personnel gathered: the Commander, the Pilot, and the Mage. They discussed future plans and, during a brief break, engaged in casual chatter.

“Mage, can you tell us what happened in ‘Stellaria’?”

“…If you pay the cost. Bring me that can of tuna, and I’ll share the story.”

“Hey, that’s my can of tuna! Huh? Wait, Kim Yoon-seo, are you stealing the Godfather’s meal…!!”

“I brought it!”

Gordius laughed as he recounted anecdotes from ‘Stellaria.’ The first time he entered, following truck driver Mr. Kim, his first impression of Dr. Woo Chae-rin, their bickering, and the joy when the prototype of the magic engine was completed…

It was both sad and joyful. Joseph had to use three handkerchiefs, alternating between laughter and tears.

At the end of the story, Kim Yoon-seo raised her glass.

“This time, we will win. For sure.”

“With how much I’ve invested, we absolutely must win. Right?”

“Yes. I’ll put a period on it.”

Clink.

Thus, the final party before departure came to an end.