Chapter 5

Chapter 5

From Cosmic Rascal to Professor.

Episode 5: Contract With An Outer God (3).

I finished the Korean language workbook, which was close to 5 good episodes worth of content. I have to continue this for the next 20 days to complete the quest from the Outer God.

[Time Limit: 791 hours 01 minutes 08 seconds.]

I sighed. It was time to take a break after focusing for so long. I brought up the status window, finding a message from the Outer God.

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is satisfied with your concentration and diligence.]

[As a reward, you have received 100 pron!]

There was the reward. Now, what is Pron?

Simply put, it is a coin given by the gods, a currency that comes in handy when dealing with them. However, unlike ordinary coins, Pron requires caution in possession and use.

[If the PN (Pron) level exceeds a certain limit, it can lead to mental derangement, hallucinations, vomiting, chills, aphasia, damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, and even death.]

Pron must not be accumulated beyond a certain limit. Like it or not, they need to be used. If not, one goes mad, literally.

[Addendum: The etymology of PN Pron comes from Prion.]

For your information, Prion refers to an infectious protein. The well-known disease, mad cow disease, is caused by prions. Given that these Outer Gods are said to parasitize the brain, the name is fitting.

[Note: The maximum number of prons a typical human can store is up to 1000.]

A typical individual begins to exhibit madness upon possessing around 500 Pron. At 700, hallucinations appear, and at 900 prons, one becomes completely insane. Finally, reaching the max causes death. Of course, it is possible to increase the amount of Pron stored. For example, practice Ether.

I still don’t know how to handle Ether; probably the amount of pron I can accept is average. I checked the PN value for the first time without any expectations.

[PN Value: 150/NULL]

What.

[“What.”]

“…?”

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is shocked.]

NULL. Literally none. What? Does this mean I lack mental strength? Shocked, I scrolled up and down the status window.

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity] is adjusting your PN limit]

[Cannot be adjusted]

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is readjusting your PN limit]

[Cannot be adjusted]

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ temporarily sponsors you with 10000 pron.]

[PN Value: 10150 (Temporary)/NULL]

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is greatly flustered.]

The status bar plummets at an alarming rate, reminiscent of a compiling process. The Outer God attempted to push my PN value towards infinity, resulting in cracks forming across my body.

“Ugh…!” My head felt like it was splitting open. Tiny threads began to appear in front of my eyes, tailoring the world. It felt like my lungs were filling with water, leaving me breathless. My entire body tingled as if being beaten.

What is this? This sensation, I have felt it before…? While I was experiencing this déjà vu, the pain stopped, and the Outer God also grew tired.

[Unable to adjust PN value]

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is greatly interested in your mental strength.]

[Received 850 pron as a check reward.]

“Phew…” I brushed off the cold sweat roughly and laid down.

[PN Value: 1000/NULL]

I haven’t done much, but my Pron points were already at 1000. This is more than enough to kill a person. It was as if I had gulped down a pufferfish whole and still survived.

Ding! It was then that the status window updated.

[Notice: A store for the contractor has been unlocked.]

A store, huh. It seems to have been prepared by the Outer God. A store refers to a place where the advancements and innovations of the Outer Gods civilization can be exchanged.

Although it is revealed later in the story, Outer Gods are physical entities. They reside in the 7-dimensional space where the outer product of vectors is defined. In that place, one can rewind time or divide our universe. Naturally, their level of civilization was unimaginably high compared to us living in 4 dimensions. Whatever it is, if used right, it would mean there are overflowing elements that can be of help.1

To add, the type and quality of the store vary according to the Outer God’s capabilities.

[The Store given to you: Cartesia’s Secret Laboratory :)]

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ desires playfulness. Browse through the store and strengthen yourself.]

I entered the store. The space of reality vanished, and a dim world appeared. The boundaries of such a world were entwined with shining tentacles. Right in front of me, there were steles inscribed with letters.

[Analytical Solution of Helium Atom Wave Function: 1650 Pron.]

[Proof of Goldbach’s Conjecture: 1770 Pron.]

[Solution to the Reimann Hypothesis: 2800 Pron.]

Each stele listed the item for sale and price. They were all things I couldn’t yet buy. Actually, ordinary people would never be allowed to purchase normally. They can tell by the prices. To buy the Solution of Reimann Hypothesis, one would have to die twice and go mad thrice.

The gravestones were as numerous as the veterans of World War 1. Most of them were of no interest. What I was really looking for was something else.

[Time Limit: 789 hours 59 minutes 45 seconds.]

Time flows here too. I must find it and return as quickly as possible.

“… found it.” Swimming through the gravestones, I stopped in front of a small stone.

[Thought Acceleration(+1%): 10 Pron/Each.]

An immediately needed element. And an element that will be needed in the future. In game terms, it’s the intelligence stat.

I plan to invest heavily in this area for the time being. After all, the Goddess of Wisdom tends to give out many quests that can only be solved with good academic abilities.

[Would you like to bulk purchase ‘Thought Acceleration(+1%)’?]

Buy everything available.

[You have paid 1000 Pron.]

[You have acquired ‘Thought Acceleration(+100%)’]

[You have been forcibly expelled from the store due to lack of Pron.]

Poof.

“…” That was swift. Definitely, it got easier. The speed of my thoughts had doubled.

Whether it was my own strength or the help of Outer Gods isn’t important. There was no time to be choosy when time is short.

I decided to immediately test out the abilities I had gained. Without delay, I opened the next workbook to solve.

Wheing. Just then, the sound of the automatic door opening was heard. Before grabbing the pen, I turned around.

“… Young master?” A sky blue bob cut at the shoulders. Eyes as white and unblemished as snow piled on a snowy field. Including the tail wind decorations on both ears.

It was a beautiful android. She marveled as she placed the strawberry sherbet she made as a snack on my desk.

“Solving the workbooks again?”

“Yes.”

“This is already the third one today.”

“I will solve up to 4 before sleeping.”

Sonia was shocked. “Staying up all night is bad for your health.”

“It is fine.” If it isn’t done, then one can rest too.

A week had passed since then. During that time, Ceti visited Aidel every single day. Originally, she didn’t want to keep seeing that disgusted face. Yet, the guy kept doing things that left Ceti no other choice but to visit.

-Third young master has enrolled in online courses worth 3 million credits.

-Third young master has purchased college textbooks worth 500,000 credits.

-Third young master ordered shrimp and chicken….

“Ah, infuriating!” Ceti stomped her feet in frustration every single day.

‘How much money is that insane man spending!?’ She had earned around 4 million credits over the past week. But this guy had spent it all. Ceti was so angry she wanted to separate her property immediately.

“The young master said he couldn’t resist chicken.”

“That…! Ah, damn! This is none of my business!” Is 30,000 credits for good expenses a big deal? What is crucial is that the half-siblings are continuously squandering tens of millions of credits on frivolous items.

Ceti glared at Aidel and said, “Don’t waste time on useless pursuits.”

“I don’t care.”

“Do you really think you can gain entry to the Stellarium by behaving this way?”

“Absolutely.”

No matter what Ceti said, Aidel’s responses remained aloof. He calmly replaced the nib of his tablet pen as he spoke. On one corner of the desk, there lay over a dozen worn-out pen nibs.

“You won’t succeed.”

“If I fail, I’ll find a way to succeed.”

Ceti clenched her teeth, seething with anger. It felt as though steam was about to burst from her head.

“…sigh.” It’s okay. ‘Just bear with it.’ There’s less than 4 months left. ‘Endure until the academy entrance tests are over.’

Once this year concludes, this unbearable family tie will also come to an end. She endured the past 10 years. Saying she can’t wait for another 4 months is absurd. Ceti calmed her breathing and pursed her lips.

“Sonia, keep a close watch.”

“I’m on it.”

“This time, it’s serious. Ensure this troublemaker can’t spend any money.”

“Got it.”

It felt like déjà vu, but she brushed it off.

Ceti is also taking the Stellarium entrance test this year. Despite her focus on business, she dedicated herself to her studies, leaving little time to discipline Aidel, who lacked both academic prowess and character.

“Inform me immediately if anything seems amiss. Understand? I’ll be overseeing instead of father.”

“Understood… oh, there’s something unusual.”

“Really?” Ceti’s steps faltered, and she inquired, her cotton-like white hair fluttering. “What’s wrong?”

“The young master has improved in his studies.”

“…” Ceti’s expression soured. She glanced at her brother, who was engrossed in his workbook, not even sparing her a glance.

“Good at studying… you said?”

“Let me correct myself. The young master is damn good at studying.”

“… since when do you use slang like we do?”

“Please forgive my rudeness, miss. I could find no other better-suited word.”

“Enough, enough.” Ceti’s gaze once again fixed on Aidel.

‘Nonsense.’ … yet, it’s ambiguous to dismiss it outright. ‘Something seems different….’ But she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. ‘Definitely, the frequency of cursing had gone down.’

Ceti approached Aidel from behind, muffling the footsteps. Just as Sonia was about to speak, she brought her finger to her lips and shushed. Sonia went silent.

What Ceti saw was peeking over Aidel’s shoulder.

‘…?’ Aidel was solving a physics workbook. But can it really be considered as solving?

Swish. Swish.

Cratch.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Scratch!

Literally reading, writing the answer, and immediately turning to the next page in an endless loop. No process of solving, no moment of contemplation.

‘Is he a moron…?’ She barely stopped herself from chuckling.

Is he memorizing the answers? Or pretending to solve them and actually not even know the answer?

It didn’t matter what it was. The behavior is revealing the true color of one. Such petty tricks won’t work in Stellarium entrance tests. At least, she could relax now.

‘Foolish.’ Ceti clicked her tongue and turned.

Still, it is clear that there has been a mental change in her half-brother. Coincidentally, Ceti knew someone who had a good intuition about such things. She had met this person at the academy, who was a year older than herself and the same age as Aidel.

‘I should talk with Rustila sis about this.’ Asking if it is possible for a lunatic to solve physics problems in their head to exist in the world.

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is amazed by your audacity to place an additional order of workbooks!]

[You have received an additional 1500 Pron!]

There have been numerous changes throughout the week.

[Skill in use: Thought Acceleration(+320%)]

I poured all the pron I earned into thought acceleration. The processing speed has now surpassed a criminal level. I felt somewhat like I had turned into Von Neumman.

Ceti’s demeanor also appeared to soften. I get cursed daily for spending money, but it was necessary. What can she do if I say it’s for studying?

Instead of being harsh with her, I refrained from cursing or sneering. Regardless of what she said, I went along with it. The stress was intense, but manageable.

This treatment will soon come to an end. Soon, Ceti will be by my side. By involving her, I plan to establish her as the next head of the family in place of my troubled self.

With her business acumen, she could feasibly secure the budget required for the development of Graviton Bullets. It’s a plan to depend on her.

“He, hehe, hehehehehe.”

“Young master, you have finally gone mad.”

With Sonia’s sigh, I completed solving the physics workbook. Just one more… No, two more before I retire for the night.

ED/N: ‘7-dimensional space’ suggests a realm where Outer Gods exist, beyond our 4-dimensional (3 spatial dimensions + time) reality, allowing for advanced phenomena like manipulating time, highlighted by concepts such as the outer product of vectors. The “outer product of vectors” mentioned is a mathematical operation that can be applied in multiple dimensions. In the context of the story, it’s used to suggest that these Outer Gods possess the ability to manipulate reality in ways that are impossible in our four-dimensional understanding, such as rewinding time or dividing the universe. ↩️