Retire 278

278 Betting (2)

“Hmm…”

I nodded.

“Is it because Hope said that even among humans, it’s about time for a Prophet to appear—someone to cross over to the past?”

“……”

Gamble narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing my face. Did she really think something like this would shake me?

If I were the sort to be rattled by a single question, I never could have worked with my father, my sister, Park Seo-hyun, or Oh Hyun-wook.

Cracks began to show in Gamble’s determined expression. She was still inexperienced. What had happened to turn this woman into the Gamble of Pharos I knew? I wanted to know, and at the same time, I didn’t.

Those who had changed so drastically all had their reasons. In fact, it was my father who was the exception. Whether in the present or in the future, he hadn’t changed much…

……

Had he hidden something from me?

I still didn’t know much about my father. But the longer I spent with Woo Irok, the more I felt like I might come to understand.

Adults never burden children with their own problems.

Even if the world were to end tomorrow, I would make sure Woo Irok could enjoy an ordinary day. I’d feed him food he liked, and watch that damned cat cartoon with him—the one he loved so much.

My father must have felt the same way.

“Well…”

I looked at Gamble, who still said nothing.

“I don’t know why you think that, but…”

Let’s just change the subject.

“Would you at least consider what I suggested?”

“……”

“I’m not asking you to do it right now. But if you could, eventually…”

“I actually thought it was strange from the beginning.”

But Gamble cut me off.

“I always wondered why you’d support someone like me, who has nothing.”

“…You’re not saying you don’t know how impressive your research is, are you?”

I sighed. This wasn’t the topic I wanted to discuss with Gamble.

“Too much humility is just another form of arrogance. We had to fight to get you away from Daseon.”

“Even so, who just buys billions’ worth of equipment for someone like me?”

She gestured at the equipment in the lab. Even Hong Seok-young had been shocked at the price.

“If it was a place that already invested in this field, I’d understand. But anyone can see this was all rushed for my sake.”

“You said you needed it, didn’t you?”

“Who sets up a private lab for a freshly graduated PhD nobody?”

“Hong Seok-young.”

“…Oh, come on!”

Gamble couldn’t hide her frustration, stamping her feet.

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

Neither I nor Hong Seok-young had invested in the Sandra Gamble of today. We invested because we knew the Sandra Gamble of the future. In a way, it was the same as what I’d said to Park Seo-hyun.

We knew how much her talent would blossom in the future. There was no way we could lose out.

“That’s not what I’m talking about!”

“Then what? Whether I’m from the future?”

“Yes!”

“If I were, I doubt I’d be struggling like this.”

“Alex explained it all! Coming from the future isn’t necessarily an advantage!”

“Yes… That’s a relief for us, too.”

I could see Gamble gritting her teeth. She was the kind of person who showed everything on her face, and I appreciated that. I tried to sound as casual as possible.

Well… who knows.

Was there really any reason I had to hide the fact that I was from the future from Gamble and Hope?

Let’s set aside personal feelings and judge objectively.

Being from the future itself—as Kim Chae-min pointed out—no longer meant much. No one had gained any great advantage from it. At least, that’s how Hope saw it. In fact, with the mana watch, I might have more access to future knowledge than anyone else.

Maybe I was being too optimistic.

“But that was when it was monsters.”

“Mm.”

“It’s different for a human. I don’t know how far in the future you’re from, but even if it’s just a year ahead, if some major breakthrough happened in that time, it would make all the difference.”

Gamble spoke as if she were certain I was from the future.

“Even just knowing the winning lottery numbers would change someone’s life!”

Unfortunately, there was no information about lottery numbers in the mana watch.

Honestly, the main reason I hadn’t told Hope or Gamble was that I didn’t fully trust them. They weren’t Kim Chae-min, after all.

And Gamble’s position was still ambiguous. She wasn’t just an employee, but calling her a hostage didn’t fit either… she was getting along far too well for that.

I didn’t know if Hope realized, but if Noah Michel really wanted to control Alex Hope, killing Gamble wouldn’t be the way. That would only give Hope a reason for revenge.

If I were Noah Michel, I’d try to win Gamble over instead. And if that didn’t work, I’d go after Hope’s parents’ guild or something similar. If a grand mage from France offered a partnership, there were few guilds that wouldn’t accept.

A hostage is always most valuable alive, not dead.

At least Gamble understood that. That’s why she agreed to cooperate with us, and even gave up the name she’d wanted to use for her own company for the sake of the lab.

And there was also Hong Seok-young here.

If she betrayed us, her only option would be to go to Noah Michel, who would never treat a hostage as humanely as we did. Lucky or not, she’d either be dead or barely clinging to life.

“If I knew the winning numbers, I wouldn’t be here.”

“You’ve got Hong Seok-young!”

“Well, even then, I wouldn’t have let the numbers go to waste. Did you know? Until last year, I was making minimum wage.”

“…Weren’t you a hunter?”

“I hadn’t entered any dungeons back then.”

Gamble’s jaw dropped in disbelief, then she quickly shook her head.

“Lottery numbers were just an example. If you came from a ruined future, who cares about the lottery?”

Gamble was surprisingly sharp. That’s smart people for you….

“Anyway, that’s not the point! I can evaluate myself objectively! I’ve never achieved anything worth this level of support!”

“You should have more confidence in yourself. Didn’t Daseon’s master complain about losing you?”

“If I’d joined Daseon, I’d have been just a junior researcher!”

“The research environment might have been better, though.”

“That’s…!”

Why can’t she deny it?

“Here, you have to do everything yourself. You’re always grumbling about how you didn’t get your degree just to be treated like this.”

Gamble fell silent, at a loss for words.

That’s exactly why I said it. Anyone can complain. With so much work, it’s natural to grumble from exhaustion, but in reality, she was probably quite satisfied with this environment.

Ask for anything, and it’s bought for you. No one pressures you for results. For a researcher, there’s no better paradise.

Ah, but I did ask for results for the first time.

“Anyway, as I was saying earlier, your previous research is fine, too. We’re just hoping to see results while the mana pen and runes are getting attention. Is there really nothing you can share?”

“……”

“Doctor?”

“…You’re the one who should be sharing what you know!”

“No, I mean, I—”

“What, are you still suspicious of us? I get it, but what would I gain by betraying you? I don’t want to die!”

“…No one wants to die.”

“And I don’t want to see the world end, either!”

“What do you think we’re doing right now?”

“So if you know any tech, share it! To save time! Like with the runes! Didn’t you release them for that reason? Otherwise, why give away so many runes for free?”

“……”

“You saw the schematics I drew. You know, don’t you?”

Without waiting for my answer, Gamble jumped up and ran to a desk in the corner of the lab, yanking open drawers.

It was one of the desks she used most often. It had never been particularly tidy, but there were signs she’d tried to keep it organized.

Gamble didn’t care, pulling out papers, tools, notebooks—scattering them everywhere.

She finally returned holding an old notebook.

“What’s this…?”

Without a word, Gamble opened it.

Amidst complicated math symbols and numbers, there was a drawing—unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar. The paper was worn from repeated erasing and redrawing, and pencil marks had smudged everywhere.

Yet there was a passion in that drawing, as if she knew it would be her greatest achievement.

“You know what this is, right?”

“What is it?”

“…It’s a mana detector. The goal is to measure changes in mana around a dungeon to predict a dungeon break in advance.”

I looked at Gamble’s notebook. I’d glanced at it once before. It was a bit more advanced now, but still much more primitive than the earliest mana detectors I knew.

“…If it works, it would be a huge help.”

“Oh, don’t play dumb! You know!!”

Gamble ground her teeth.

“Listen. If I try to build this, it’ll take at least ten years. Dungeon break? That’s just a stepping stone. Do you know what I really want to do with this?”

“…What?”

“I want to seal the dungeon gates.”

“……”

Despite her frustration, Gamble looked me straight in the eye, unwavering.

“But it’s a project with no end in sight. If I could just shorten the process… I’d sell my soul to the devil.”

She grabbed another pile of papers from the messy desk. The terminology was mostly beyond me, but the schematics hadn’t changed much.

Dozens, hundreds of sheets, all for a single device. And there must have been even more effort behind what I could see.

I’d thought about it once before—if I gave Gamble the mana detector schematics I had, maybe it would save time.

“……”

“……”

“You want to seal dungeon gates?”

“Yes.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know. But I have to try. If mana moves when the gate opens, that means the dungeon is interfering with the outside world.”

“Mana would move when something enters the dungeon from outside, too.”

“Exactly! That’s proof we can interfere with the dungeon!”

Gamble, excited by my words, forgot her irritation and started talking animatedly. I honestly understood less than half of it, but she didn’t seem to care.

After listening for a while, I nodded.

“All right. I’ll prepare something for the announcement.”

“And here, the mana would—right?”

“It’s nice to talk shop once in a while. Lab support will be as you requested, Doctor. I’ll be counting on you.”

“Huh?”

“Well, then.”

“Wait, what?! Hey!”

Gamble tried to stop me, but I pretended not to hear and slipped out of the lab.