Keisha Winsler (2)
Karlstein scratched his chin with a chuckle.
"Did I scare her too much?"
He'd been teasing her repeatedly ever since. Still, it had at least helped him figure out what she was actually after. Something like a technology pact, by the look of it...
"This girl really has no idea how frightening the Empire is..."
And not just any empire. The Galactic Empire. What did it mean to sustain an imperial structure across entire galaxies? It was certainly not the soft, cuddly something she seemed to imagine. An agreement or exchange could only ever be established between parties standing on equal footing.
"She clearly hasn't grasped where I stand yet."
It was understandable—he hadn't told the community the full details. Even if he had, she wouldn't have believed it. Interpreting 'MagicIsJustABonus's arguments, this was all Karlstein could make of them:
Voluntary colonization... please?
Yes, that was exactly how it felt. Granted, listening to her talk, there did seem to be some genuine desperation underneath it all.
Karlstein turned her non-proposal proposal over in his mind.
"Hmm. There is one job I could usefully hand off, actually."
Whether it was something she'd want was another question entirely. "It is a world worth using, I suppose(?)"
Though he'd responded playfully, he hadn't dismissed her out of hand.
"Space-capable magical engineering, hm..."
Compared to your average fantasy world, it was genuinely impressive. "But that's all it is."
The world he inhabited had 'dominated' space long, long ago—for so long that hundreds of thousands of years had passed since. What could a civilization that had only just crawled into the stars possibly amount to? 'Expansion' and 'domination' carried entirely different weights from the very first syllable. Compared to him, who could artificially fabricate, manipulate, and weaponize black holes themselves, she was practically a newborn.
"It's not like there's nothing to squeeze out of it, though..."
At present, by exploiting the Dimensional Relay to amplify astral signals and erecting transfer corridors through the antimatter-conversion of transmitted data, he could—barely—push goods through. Given that the Dimensional Store had been running without any major hitches, calling that stage a success wasn't wrong.
But what he wanted was more than that.
"And a relay is, after all, nothing but a relay."
Even if he installed a large-scale relay in 'MagicIsJustABonus's dimension, all it would do is widen the store's user base and efficiently cut down on the ether consumed by shipping. That was it. Her dimension wasn't even the coordinates where a large relay achieved maximum efficiency. His analysis and study of dimensional coordinates had revealed that, while there was no strict hierarchy between dimensions, certain points sat adjacent to many others and made transmission unusually convenient. One of those was the dimension where Hyperion resided.
A relay dimension, hm...
"That alone has its uses..."
But there was a role better suited to her world: the Dimensional Receiver and the Dimensional Transmitter.
The Dimensional Store could currently only fire goods outward, one-way from his side. And one-way transmission had obvious limits. The receiving side needed to be prepared as well, for all his plans to proceed smoothly. He needed at least one suitable dimension in which to research genuine two-way interaction across realities.
Yet the worlds capable of meeting his requirements could be counted on one hand. Without a minimum threshold of civilizational development and technical sophistication, it wouldn't even get off the ground. If he ordered them to throw up a dimensional research lab in some murim-style world, what result could he possibly expect?
Shaking my head—
He'd be lucky if they didn't end up erecting an altar for human sacrifice to the heavens.
But that didn't mean he could simply hand over a Dimensional Receiver or Transmitter either. Unlike a relay, the karma they consumed was beyond comparison, and the technology involved was on another tier entirely. It was easier to think of it as spinning up a dedicated alt in that field.
"Still, giving up isn't an option."
Preparing in advance for dimensional travel someday was the smart play. Run the Dimensional Store and other content for the short-term future; invest in and conduct research across multiple dimensions for the long term. That was the foundation of his current project.
And after that...
Viewed in that light, 'MagicIsJustABonus's world was a dimension that fit his palate nicely. Decent technology, decent civilization, decent dimensional position. Weighing all the conditions, she was an excellent candidate site.
Alright! Time to get a little friendlier.
Haha, a failure then? A burst of coarse language entirely unlike her usual composed image came back as the reply.
"Hahaha."
Karlstein found her bouncy reactions rather delightful. "Well, jokes aside, we do need to actually talk."
> You have been appointed as a Sub-Manager of the Dimensional Integrated Community.
"..."
A kaleidoscope of emotions played across her face before she let out a deep sigh. She looked more exhausted than she ever had, buried under her avalanche of daily work.
In the end, she had waved the white flag under the Head Admin's relentless blocking barrage. The thing known as a 'Patdak'—a Sub-Manager.
"Patdak..."
She was perceptive enough to know exactly what the position entailed, which was precisely why she felt so hollow.
"'Prove yourself at this job first, then we'll talk,' he says...!"
Given her standing, the assignment struck her as almost insultingly trivial.
She connected to the community and spent a while watching the posts scrolling past.
Most of them were deleted by the other Sub-Managers almost instantly, but even that brief exposure left her psychologically scarred.
She wanted to scream. Why?! How?! What for?! Why did she have to perform this job flawlessly of all things?!
Her head was spinning.
She stared at 'that thing' standing in the middle of her laboratory.
"A gift..."
The thing he'd promised to make permanent—no longer a one-week trial—if she performed his work well.
"Hmph."
His tone irritated her to no end. That subtle sense of superiority seeping through the phrasing—even if it wasn't factually wrong. A peculiar undertone that whispered, You can't win unless you submit, can you?
No, honestly, if it weren't for that smug tone alone, she probably would have accepted it gratefully.
As if she were the sort of woman who'd lose her composure over some trinket like this. The admin's taunts had sparked a stubborn defiance in her. Was he making light of her to this degree?
A one-week trial?
She could see the intent a mile away. Did he think that after a week she'd come crawling, begging to be allowed to keep using it?
She ran her hand over the sleek, glossy-black 'thing.' It was metal, yet warm and plush to the touch. She was more curious about the metallic materials used in its construction than in its intended purpose.
Zero-gravity ergonomics • Sleep Mode • Adult Mode • Work Mode
All fatigue — eliminated.
"..."
A massage chair. Hardly something one expects to receive from an SF absolute being...
"Just you watch."
She refused to be satisfied by some mere massage chair. Physical comfort was nothing compared to spiritual fulfillment. Humans experienced a fullness beyond any bodily pleasure as they savored knowledge and advanced themselves toward higher forms. And he would set aside such elevated rewards and offer her a massage chair? It was an outrage beyond measure.
"I'll simply ask for something more useful later. Books, perhaps..."
Yes, that would be better. She would show him that a reward like this could never satisfy her wants and desires.
She lowered herself into the sleek massage chair. If she was to prove that such a device couldn't subdue her...
Mmmph—
A curious sensation enveloped her entire body.
Oh... ohhh. It really is comfortable, isn't it.
Whether she wanted to recline or sit upright, it held her firmly in place—yet the moment she wished to shift, it yielded without resistance, reshaping itself in a smooth whisper of motion.
"A structure that deforms automatically based on center of gravity...?"
She couldn't even begin to guess what technology was at work. Following the product manual, she cautiously activated the massage chair.
"Oh—?!"
The gates of heaven swung open.