When Robert finally looked up from the mountain of documents piled across his desk, the sky outside had already faded into deep night. He rubbed the stiffness from his neck and let out a long sigh. At last, he had time to check out one of the new features added in the latest system update—the gacha wheel.
The moment he opened the system interface, a brilliantly colored wheel filled the center of his vision. It was divided into five equal sections: dark gray for Dilapidated, white for Common, blue for Fine, purple for Epic, and dazzling gold for Legendary.
Judging purely by the size of the segments, each rarity appeared to have an equal chance of being selected.
Theoretically.
As for the actual odds... only heaven knew.
"One thousand merit points per spin?" Robert frowned at the price displayed beneath the wheel. "What kind of greedy game developer charges that much?"
Still, one thousand merit points were affordable for him now. At least one spin wouldn't hurt.
He reached out and tapped the interface.
The wheel burst into motion, spinning so quickly that the colors blended into a kaleidoscope of light.
Gradually, it slowed.
The pointer began hopping from segment to segment, each click making Robert a little more nervous.
A thousand merit points wasn't pocket change.
Finally, the pointer slid past the blue Fine section...
...and settled firmly on Epic.
Robert's eyes lit up.
A lucky start?
A brilliant flash erupted.
When the light faded, a single gold coin rested quietly in his palm.
Name: Gold Coin at the End of the Rainbow
Type: Miscellaneous
Quality: Epic
Description: There truly are gold coins waiting at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately, ninety-nine percent of people fall at the final step. Give up, and you'll forever remain ordinary. Take one more step, and you'll become the miracle others speak of.
Robert stared at the coin.
"...An Epic item... and it's this useless?"
He pinched the beautifully crafted coin between two fingers. It shimmered faintly beneath the office lights.
"This gacha really is just a merit-point scam." He sighed. "And the description is literally motivational nonsense. Is the system trying to trick me into spinning again?"
With another sigh, he slipped the coin into his pocket.
"Well... at least it'll make a decent collectible."
He resisted the temptation to pull again.
An ordinary player might gamble away every last merit point because they only had themselves to answer to.
Robert couldn't.
Every merit point he possessed belonged to the Helldivers as much as it belonged to him. Wasting resources for personal curiosity was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Leaving the office, Robert headed straight for Tech-Priest Reddito's laboratory.
He wanted to see how the two players undergoing Astartes augmentation were progressing.
Entering without obstruction, he immediately noticed that both subjects had been sealed inside opaque black training pods.
Training pods...
Robert studied their square, angular shapes.
Those are just coffins.
Sliding coffins, no less.
Magos Reddito's aesthetic taste clearly left something to be desired.
"How's everything going?" Robert asked.
"Smoothly," Reddito replied, turning around. He was noticeably more cheerful than usual. "Nothing beyond my calculations has occurred. Every abnormal reaction matches the data gathered during previous experiments. The individuals you selected possess remarkably consistent biological characteristics."
Of course they do, Robert thought. They're literally the same two players every time.
Aloud, he simply nodded.
"Glad to hear it. It took quite a bit of work to arrange all this."
His attention shifted toward the two black pods.
"Mind if I take a closer look?"
"As you wish."
Robert stepped forward and rested a hand against one of the pods.
The surface was smooth.
Cold.
Yep.
Definitely a coffin.
He withdrew his hand and smiled faintly.
"Soon... we'll have two Space Marines."
"Believe me," Reddito replied, "their strength will exceed your imagination."
He looked toward the sealed pods as though his augmetic eyes could see straight through the thick metal.
"If the performance of those fallen Astartes led you to believe Space Marines can be defeated through superior numbers alone, then you have misunderstood them entirely."
His voice became unusually solemn.
"Only after performing the implantation procedures myself did I truly understand what kind of warriors the Emperor created."
He turned toward Robert.
"I can state this with certainty."
"If merely a dozen fully equipped Astartes committed themselves to waging guerrilla warfare throughout the Governor's Palace..."
He paused.
"...even if you accepted casualties ten times greater than theirs, you would not lay a finger on them."
"You misunderstand," Robert answered calmly.
"I've never doubted the lethality of the Adeptus Astartes."
He shook his head.
"To do so would be an insult to the nearly ten thousand Helldivers who gave their lives fighting them."
Silence settled over the laboratory.
Only the quiet hum of life-support systems and machinery echoed through the room.
Robert turned away from the two black "coffins" and began pacing slowly across the polished metal floor.
"I'm thinking about something else."
His footsteps echoed softly.
"Where should we fight the orks?"
He stopped and looked toward Reddito.
"If we make our stand inside the hive city, the dense urban terrain gives us every advantage. We can delay them long enough for Imperial reinforcements to arrive."
He paused.
"But the city itself would be devastated. Even if we win, rebuilding afterward would take years."
His gaze drifted toward the laboratory wall, as though he could see beyond it to the endless wasteland outside.
"On the other hand..."
"If we fight outside the hive..."
"Our factories survive."
"Our production lines survive."
"Our people keep their homes."
"But on an open desert..."
He frowned.
"...can we really stop an Ork Waaagh!?"
"Asking me is pointless," Reddito answered evenly. "As a Tech-Priest, I am neither qualified nor permitted to offer military advice."
He paused before adding,
"However..."
"As a Tech-Priest..."
"I strongly oppose allowing the enemy anywhere near my servitors, my production lines, or my industrial workforce."
Robert froze.
For a brief moment, he simply stared.
Then realization dawned.
A self-deprecating smile spread across his face.
"...You're right."
He laughed quietly.
"We went through so much effort just to pull those civilians out of danger."
His smile softened.
"So how can I be the one who leads danger straight back to them?"
He shook his head.
"I was overthinking it."