Clearing the Game at the End of the World

There’s another uncomfortable ID in the chatroom now.

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- GoldmanSUCKS : What a shoddy way of playing.

- Jokass : Uh…. may it be alright to ask why such an important person is doing in this humble place…

- GoldmanSUCKS : I’m also a person who lives off of this game, so how can I not come see when I hear that the two bastards I hate the most in GG are in the same place?

- takealook : But how did you come in here? All of the newcomers to the Area 47 chatroom should be directed to the second one.

- GoldmanSUCKS : The password to this place was cheap. About 10 million Shilling and they said something about ‘special privileges for communication among rankers’ and gave me the password. Rumor has it that the Dome is planning a big business these days, and they really seemed to be in need of money.

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“…Soybar?”

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- Soygaybar : Srry. We are pretty short on money these days. The Raptors are low profile right now. We need to push forward when we have the chance.

- professor : But that doesn’t make it right to sell the chatroom password like some entrance fee!

- Soygaybar : Ahhhh- A lowly official like me knows nothing- Go talk to the president if you want-

- GoldmanSUCKS : Oho. So you also discuss the Dome’s business directions in here. As expected of the private club for a man being called a hero. The 10 million Shilling feels like a low cost in comparison.

- Jokass : We’re…. that cool?

- Highwaynachoman : LMAOOO since when was the Area 47 chatroom a private club

- Speedwagon : This room does have some pretty valuable info ngl.

- GoldmanSUCKS : Speedwagon? You are also active here?

Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ].

- Speedwagon : ello.

- GoldmanSUCKS : Hahah, well. I should send a gift to the Inspection Bureau president. 10 million was cheap.

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That man. The man known to be the wealthiest single survivor in the Wastelands, GoldmanSUCKS, was chattering enthusiastically in this chatroom.

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- professor : That’s enough for idle chat. So, what’s the reason why the cheapskate man who’s so rich but still showering with rainwater doing in here using 10 million Shilling?

- GoldmanSUCKS : As I said, I’m here to watch the stream. Everyone has their hobbies. Mine is to do business. Aside from the money, I enjoy the psychological warfare, the battle of the golds so very much. But doing business in reality is not that heart racing. Just when things are about to get good, they bring out their guns and start to threaten me with vulgar wording. There are only below-standard idiots that hold the title of merchants in this world. But it is different in GG. Doing business in there, I could sometimes smell the bitter smell of money that I once savored in Wall Street. I have heard that Gold Geyser was about to throw his last showdown before it collapses. It is embarrassing to say, but have still not beat that friend in relation to business skills. To put it bluntly, we could be considered rivals.

- Noru_is_druig : Hey sir, under 3 lines for chat. Universal rule.

- GoldmanSUCKS : I will change that rule starting today. How much is it?

- Noru_is_druig : F**k that rule, you’re the boss.

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Reading what that Goldman guy said, it thankfully didn’t look like he had a special reason for coming in. I was worried that it might have been related to Ian, who went out to do business with the Dome. For example, he beat up someone who was trying to haggle with him, and it turned out to be the caravan Goldman ran.

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- GoldmanSUCKS : Anyway, looking at the overall environment of the chatroom, you all seem to help the player unlike other rooms. As you follow Rome’s rule in Rome, I will also say one thing. That pig stuttering in front of you right now, he is not the guildmaster of the Gold Geyser.

- professor : Well, I expected that much, but thank you for saving me the trouble. Tank very much.

- GoldmanSUCKS : I prefer material appreciation over empty words.

- professor : ㅗㅗ

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But honestly, most of the people aside from me probably also assumed that the fat man wasn’t really the guildmaster. That’s only natural since the Gold Geyser guildmaster has never revealed themselves to the public yet. So how could the guy who bursts out and says, ‘I’m the Gold Geyser guildmaster!’ be the real one? The real one is probably hiding among those porters to watch the situation, or not here at all.

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- professor : But if you just wanted to watch the stream, why bother spending that money to come in here?

- GoldmanSUCKS : It’s the difference between watching the stocks on the New York Stock Exchange in real time on the billboards and watching it at home on the computer. And the entrance fee, I’m not the only one that paid it. I heard that the rabbit bought it too.

- professor : ……Soybar?

- Soygaybar : I don’t know! I really don’t know! And the thing about communication between rankers is a real policy that the Administration Branch is pushing! Just starting with you, you have a lot of special info about the game! The Dome has always been arranging meeting between rankers to help exchange information like that! So you guys can clear the game faster!

- professor : So, how many did you sell?

- Soygaybar : Goldman and Rabbit Princess, just those two-

- professor : Imma call the president

- Soygarbar : Five! It’s really just five! Aside from one that was distributed to the Department of Biotechnology using their research budget, the rest are all rankers!

- professor : Give me 30%. And dm me the list of the people who bought it.

- Soygaybar : 3…..! Gyosu Park! I thought we were friends!

- professor : You stream then.

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As if he doesn’t know. Ezel, that bastard, told me himself that the Dome appointed him as the official BDSM manager.

Anyway, I figured out why Goldman is here. Now all I need to know is why ‘this guy’ is in Ray Line, looking like this…

“Hahahahahah! Well, well, well! You never know the fate of the world! Who knew I would meet you here, in a place so far away from Tobrune? And looking so holy that I’m tearing up just looking at you!”

“That should be what I’m asking you… Why are you here, sir?”

“Hahahahah! No need to be so formal! We have established a close relationship in that rancid laboratory, have we not? You are already a friend to me at heart, so don’t be so cold to me, Professor! Hahahahahahahahah!”

That unchanging crazy laugh, regardless of how dark the opponent’s expression is.

He looked relatively like a normal person last time, but now he looks like he’s completely unhinged.

“Damn it. Alright then, friend. Let me ask you something. What the hell are you doing here? And wearing the Gold Geyser’s uniform at that!”

“Hahahahah! I, Roman Gachia Manson, have gained miraculous inspiration at Tobrune! From then on, I have been walking down the path of magical engineering instead of being a mage!”

Yes. The mage that treated me relatively like a human and taught me water magic when I was trapped in Isaac’s underground laboratory, being basically tortured, helped me escape that place.

Hero Unit Roman Gachia Manson. The man nicknamed Romance Gachaman was currently carrying a large box with the Gold Geyser’s symbol engraved on it. And instead of wearing a clean, blue robe, he put on a porter’s outfit with pockets that looked like they were sewn in by hand.

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- Jokass : Eeeeeek! Romance Gachaman! Romance Gachaman!

- GoldmanSUCKS : With that vile creature now in their hands, even the all-mighty Gold Geyser will soon meet bankruptcy!

- Noru_is_druig : Siw, how cawn somewon use 1.2 biwwion shiwwing?

- takealook : 1.2 billion Shilling is a small loan that a single NPC in GG can waste up!

- GoldmanSUCKS : Shut your mouth, you bastards!!! I still need to take a handful of blood pressure medication when I think of that day!

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The ‘two’ bastards that Goldman mentioned he hated. One was the Gold Geyser company, and the other was the amazing Romance Gachaman standing before us.

One of the downsides of progressing quickly through the beginning of the game. Even if you meet a Hero Unit, like Roman was when I met him in Isaac’s underground laboratory, there is a chance that some of them haven’t developed fully into Hero Units yet.

In that perspective, the Roman right now definitely does look more… mad scientist-like compared to before. He was already a pretty open-minded guy back then, but from the way he looks, he looks like some kind of artist that paints graffiti on the wall now…

“How did you meet that guy?”

“Hathathathat! Do not worry about me! I have always lived well wherever—”

“He was caught capturing the void stone our guild was managing.”

He seems to have crossed the line between the secular world’s borders.

“Then, are you using him as a porter to make him repay the price for stealing your stuff?”

“Mmm… Well, that was our original intention. But we were going to chop off his hands after seeing that such a scraggly man was trying to steal these precious void stones…”

“Hathathathat! But surprisingly, these babies helped me!”

When Roman suddenly butted into the conversation and rolled up his sleeves, a mechanical device wrapped around his wrist and arm appeared.

“This is the device I invented when the tower collapsed, and I went around the gambling houses for research money. It can switch out cards! If only a knight wasn’t sitting next to me, I could have used this to cover all of my research funds!”

“Wow… you really are down bad…”

“Anyway, after seeing that device that stopped the blade, the guild… I changed my mind. I judged that he would be of use somewhere if he was kept alive. And that judgment was correct. The man is apparently studying an odd field called magic engineering, and he has an incredible talent with his hands. All of the crossbows that the guild members were using back there were also made by him. He has now been promoted from a porter to a full-fledged member of the guild. The things he is carrying right now are not the guild’s, but his own personal research items.”

‘So that’s what happened.’

I nodded along to what the so-called guildmaster was saying as I glanced around our surroundings. It was just for a moment, but when the fat man just said ‘guild…’ I felt someone from the guild reacting.

‘What he was originally trying to say must have been [the guildmaster changed their mind]. So the guildmaster is among one of the members, then.’

Well, anyway, this was good. If I succeed in the Gold Geyser’s journey, then these guys are going to become rich enough to build an entire castle out of silver coins, and that should be enough to support the money blackhole called Roman.

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- Jokass : Hey! Let’s open that! The box! Looking at that guy’s ragged outfit full of hand-sewn pockets and tool box, he is definitely the ‘magic engineer Roman Gachia Manson’ now!

- Soygaybar : Man’s living up to his name, carrying around a random gacha box like that. The thing he’s studying right now should be in there, so let’s ask him to open it! Who knows, maybe he’s making something actually useful!

- GoldmanSUCKS : Do not get tricked! That is Pandora’s Box! If only I wasn’t hypnotized by that box…..!

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‘S-should I do it?’

Even knowing that I shouldn’t raise my expectations, I couldn’t help feeling the urge to open Roman’s box when it was right in front of me. He’s still a Hero Unit, isn’t he? Not to mention that even though he has 0 attack power after losing his mana working with the void stones, he’s still a Hero Unit. That means the gacha item he spits out is going to be somewhat useful!

‘I can’t take it! Let’s open it!’

After Professor made a decision and walked up to him to ask, Roman answered gleefully, as if he had been waiting to be asked that. Coincidentally, the sun was setting as well, and the guild members were busy setting up camp and making dinner, so there was a lot of time to talk with Roman.

“Hu-ap! It’ll be quicker to see it yourself than to hear me talk about it!”

Thunk— thunk! Clatttter!

“Woah, it isn’t just a normal box?”

“I have a lot of smaller parts to carry around, you see.”

When Roman opened the box’s lid, it spread out into several smaller boxes that lined up. Inside of them were small void stone pieces and magic circuits of various sizes, all sorts of metal parts, a blueprint attached to the lid, and the largest space in the middle holding something that resembled a boat. It was mostly unfamiliar, but there was a part of the blueprint I recognized. Long ago, a picture I saw when I was studying magic alone from that magic book…

“…Flight magic?”

“Yes! Since the past, humans have always dreamed of flying! However, not only has flying magic always been a concept hard for humans who lived their entire lives with their feet on the ground to imagine, but even mages of other elements were unable to read the currents of the skies aside from air mages, so flying magic became a spell exclusive to air mages even though it was a shared spell any mage can use like telekinesis or elemental spheres!”

Click!

As he said that, when Roman flicked a switch that was on the model boat in the box, the small model boat’s sails unfurled, and it rose into the air.

“But I have created it! Mana exists anywhere in this world. And as the natural wind also includes mana in its natural form, you could use the void stones to restrict certain parts so the complicated currents of how it flows do not need to be calculated to use flying magic! Furthermore, using this method, you can manually create a flow of mana, so you do not need a mage and just need to use a magical formula engraved in a certain circuit with the void stones as the air flow suppressors! Now! This is an incredible invention by me, the great magic engineer Roman Gachia Manson! Model Airship Number 3! Hah! Hahahahahahahahah!!!!”

“Woahh! The boat is actually floating!”

“Manson, I was worried something had happened to you when I heard you disappeared just before the disaster in Tobrune after meeting someone in the prison, but to see that you have studied something like this!”

“Hahahah. I apologize to you, Mage Bodlair. You have taught me many things, too.”

“That is not the case! Every magic researcher has their own path! Although I am saddened you have left the path of water, this invention is more than worth it! Worth it, indeed!”

With the sound of Roman’s laughter, the model airship floated up into the dark night sky. The purple glow of the void stone and the blue glow of the mana stones shone brightly as the airship flew up into the air, just like the hopes and dreams that I momentarily had. Just like how that airship floated up happily…

Then dropped back down to the ground.

“Ooohhh, it’s falling!”

“P-please catch it! My Model Airship Number 3!”

Grab!

Instead of Roman, who was flailing his arms around in a panic with a pale face, I caught the model airship. Considering it was a model, the creation was fairly sturdy and had many magic circuits engraved into it with passion.

“Why’d it have to be this one out of everything…?”

I unconsciously let out a sigh when I saw that effort.

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- takealook : Oof, bad pull.

- GoldmanSUCKS : Whether it’s the guildmaster or the one that’s pretending to be it, you better go to them and persuade them out of it. Even the Gold Geyser will be out on the streets before they know it if they get tricked by that bastard’s airship bulls**t!

- Highwaynachoman : That’s just how the game is.

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When I handed back the model airship to him, Roman started going over each of the magic circuits still active and mumbled to himself.

“Hey. That’s still a work in progress, right?”

“‘For now’, yes! But it has already succeeded in controlling the air currents and flying in the sky!”

“You did that a long time ago, didn’t you? That airship, doesn’t it fall back down after a little bit because it can’t maintain its balance?”

“H-how did you know that?”

The airship was one of Roman’s well-known failures. And one that was famous for seeming possible enough that there was a discussion about it for over a week in the Community.

“Give it up, man. You should try picking up something else.”

The conclusion of that discussion was simple. Using powerful acceleration for stability like a jet thruster was impossible efficiency-wise. That meant it needed to be in an environment similar to an anti-gravity state through air current control and flight magic while using less momentum and maintaining balance. Still, there was no technology like the gyroscope in this era, and due to the nature of GG, where the game is unplayable when you introduce modern technology from reality, there is no way to teach them that.

Conclusion : That invention was a complete dud if he couldn’t solve the balance problem.