Chapter 39
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Future Bets and the Professor
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Chapter 39
After a long silence, just staring at me intently, Zixuan finally spoke.
"If you put it that way, I have no choice but to believe you. What’s the world like in 2030?"
"It won’t be much different from 2022."
Even as I answered, I felt a bit embarrassed.
Truth be told, I didn’t know much about how the outside world had changed. Whether it was 2022 me or 2030 me, I’d spent both years holed up in my room playing games.
Sure, 2030 me at least streamed, while 2022 me just grinded games to death without even streaming... but that was the difference.
"Powerball."
Out of nowhere, Zixuan’s eyes lit up as she said it.
"Pardon?"
"The American lottery. You must know the numbers for this round too, right? Draw 256."
Powerball draw 256. It was famous enough that even I remembered it. The jackpot was supposedly over 1.6 trillion won.
Sure, massive taxes meant the actual payout was under a trillion, but it was still an insane amount.
If I gave her the numbers and she cleared this game and returned to her world, could she win Powerball?
Of course, I didn’t actually know the numbers.
The thing I’d just told her about Lee So-hee marrying Kim Eun-woo? That was only because both were famous actors I could recall.
No one would remember Powerball numbers from eight years ago, even if they’d seen it in passing.
‘But I do know stocks.’
Even a shut-in like me knew a few big ones.
They might seem trivial to people from my era, but to Zixuan from eight years ago, they’d be priceless.
And Zixuan was undoubtedly from some chaebol family or filthy rich.
Her noble looks aside, the fact she personally knew actress Lee So-hee—or had a hobby like stunts, an extreme sport—screamed wealth.
She probably owned a fortune and could properly leverage any info I gave her. Making billions might be a joke to her.
If I shared the info and we split it halfsies—no, halfsies might be too greedy? Maybe a tenth...
As I sat there lost in thought, Zixuan smirked at me and said,
"Truth is, no one remembers Powerball numbers from eight years ago. It burns hot and fades fast over there."
I nodded.
"You’re right."
"But Si-hyun knows a few things, and if I get back to my world, I could use that info to make a fortune."
"What about the split?"
"Five-five. Or six-four?"
I chuckled.
"Five-five it is. Deal."
"Then tell me more about the future ten years from now."
Zixuan said it with her eyes sparkling like a kid’s.
After that, we chatted for a good while. She peppered me with questions, and I answered as best I could.
Talking with her so enjoyably eased my mental fatigue somewhat. I stood up.
The conversation was nice, and real-world stuff mattered, but right now, clearing the game and escaping this world was my priority.
Come to think of it, I’d left Professor Alex alone. Without new orders from me, he was probably still chained up.
I headed to the truck bed with Zixuan. The elderly professor was foaming at the mouth. ...He wasn’t dead, was he?
Fortunately, his heart was still beating. I asked Zixuan to treat him. She placed her hand on his head, and his whole body glowed with pure white light.
With her halo equipped, it was safe to say there was zero chance she’d fail to heal him.
That cured his rabies. As I watched him, his eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes. He spoke.
His voice was like cracked earth.
"Who are you people?"
He didn’t remember attacking me in his madness. Better that way, I thought.
According to the game lore, he’d killed his own students while rabid.
Even if unintentional, recalling that would hurt him more than help.
I looked him in the eye and introduced myself.
"I’m Park Si-hyun, leader of Shelter Apocalypse. I stopped by Hansol University and rescued you from captivity."
"I see. But how is my mind so clear? Clearer than it’s been in ages."
"That’s thanks to Zixuan here."
Showing him her miracle was easy. I nicked my hand with a knife, and blood trickled out from the cut.
"Do you really have to show it like this?"
Zixuan shot me a displeased look but healed me without complaint.
Professor Alex’s eyes widened. To a professor like him, her healing was nothing short of a miracle.
"I-It’s impossible! Is this the nanomachine I’ve only heard about? No, even nanomachines couldn’t heal trauma this fast..."
"Not just trauma. It can cure the zombie virus too. Not fully infected yet, though."
Eventually, it could cure zombies too. Eventually.
"Zixuan used her superpower to cure your rabies."
"I see that’s what happened... By the way, were there any survivors in the ag lab?"
I couldn’t say, ‘You killed them all, Professor,’ so I skirted it.
"No one."
"Where is this place? The building looks like it’s in an industrial zone, right?"
"Yes, exactly. But..."
I continued.
"We need your expertise, Professor."
Professor Alex let out a bitter chuckle.
"Expertise? I’m just an old man. A crazy old man who beats his wife now and then, to boot."
"Your agricultural knowledge. Not just anyone has that. And Shelter Apocalypse needs it."
Water could come from rivers outside the industrial zone, but food was the issue.
Our survivor numbers would keep growing, so food stocks wouldn’t last long. Farming had limits too.
"I... I..."
Professor Alex finally nodded. He had no real choice.
"I don’t know why this old man’s needed for some shelter vegetable patch... but I’ll help."
Who knows, it wouldn’t be just a patch. The whole industrial zone—no, the entire island—would become farmland.
"Do you have seeds? Ah, you must’ve looted the ag lab, so of course."
As he said it, he started explaining the seeds’ value.
"They’re genetically modified against pests. Can grow rice if conditions are right. They need a lot of water, but with all the rivers nearby, no worries..."
We’d lost a few boxes to the Tyrant, but the rest in the other two trucks were fine. I showed them to Alex.
"Fortunately intact."
"I plan to prioritize fast-growing crops first."
"Potatoes then. Let’s check the soil."
I showed him the plot we’d prepped in the shelter. Survivors were digging with shovels right then.
"No farm tools?"
"Unfortunately not. But we can make them."
"Making proper farm tools isn’t easy. And I don’t mean basic ones..."
I used Metal Creation to form a lump of metal from thin air. Professor Alex’s eyes bulged. I touched it and shaped it into a shovel with Metal Transformation.
Not some complex design—just a simple shovel. I could make as many as needed. And not just shovels...
"You’re a superhuman too?"
"My power lets me create things from metal."
Mass-producing tractors was beyond me yet, but once the mech factory was done and I could churn out worker androids, it’d be feasible.
"That changes things... How far are you expanding the shelter?"
"The whole industrial zone. No, the entire island."
Professor Alex’s eyes sparkled.
"Now that’s tempting."
Food problem solved. With his help, failure was impossible.
* * *
We hadn’t gotten the high-performance computer we aimed for at Hansol University. But I had no desire to go back.
Tyrants might still be there. I’d survived by luck last time, but I wouldn’t bet on doing it again.
So, high-performance computers from somewhere else. And I knew where.
Far from here stood Sky Tower, a skyscraper piercing the heavens. The computers were in the upper floors.
‘But I’m hesitant...’
I’d avoided Sky Tower from the start not just for the mutant zombies swarming it, but because its turf belonged to the Salvation Church.
Those same lunatics who ambushed the industrial zone scavengers. Going solo lowered the odds of running into them, but you never knew.
‘Still, no choice but to go.’
Church aside, expanding the shelter meant blocking zombies. Meaning more Sentry Guns.
Armed survivors couldn’t handle Chasers forever—there were limits.
Trucks would draw Salvation Church eyes, so I’d go by motorcycle only.
I stopped at the motorcycle factory. I had some already, but I wanted better ones.
Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine