Optional Music to Accompany the Chapter:
Rok Nardin - Do You Dare
https://youtu.be/pitxv0OKPKw
Chapter 27: Inescapable Fate
Late Afternoon - Early Summer : Year 0 | Month 1 : Arlington, Virginia | East Coast United States
World: Earth | Rank: 6 | Population: ~1,893,120,000
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Looking at the graph of Earth's population rank, tracing the slowly accelerating slope that mirrored the other graphs, I felt time twist with the race of my own thoughts.
Making the entire rest of the graph look like a pancake before it, the last point on the plot was dozens of times the height of the previous, forming an abrupt, perfectly vertical line that looked so out of place it was akin to a skyscraper in a village of mud huts. "Ah..." I honestly didn't even know what to say... Merely the knowledge that the graphs were supposed to mirror one another was enough to know what was going to happen because of it.
"~That spike there is a countdown to humanity's extinction.~" Visibly holding himself back with clenched fists, the glow of his halo intensified with rage brewed beneath the chains of restraint. "~The moment the System recognizes the imbalance between monster rank and population rank, a monster wave akin to the Lord's judgement will smite humanity.~"
Looking back at the other sections, I quickly spotted a comparably tiny, but still out of place spike in Earth's monster rank that occurred a couple hundred years ago with a marker on it labeled: '7-6'. -That must have been the last 'rankup'...-
They were events where a world's overall rank would increase, say from 7 to 6 like here with Earth, and the System would send a large wave of monsters to act as a tribulation I only came to know was actually intended to stimulate a world's growth in my later years.
To the eyes of the natives and younger mercenaries, rankups were world ending cataclysms. Intending to strike fear into civilizations so deep they'd let go of their internal struggles to unite and work together with whatever powers they could, the monster waves from rankups would be well beyond what any world could handle on their own.
That was where foreign system mercenaries came in. To supplement those doomed worlds with the genetics, knowledge, and technology or magic from other strong worlds, the System would send in the mercenaries of other worlds to help fight the wave. -With what Michael said, to raise the population rank, the System sends in mercenaries, and to raise the monster rank, it sends in monsters...-
Then, with the death of those newly introduced entities, monster or mercenary, the amount of mana on the world would increase, and in-turn support larger monsters and stronger mercenaries, growing the world's overall rank in a loop that doesn't end until the population collapses.
-So the 'mana rank' is essentially the regulator...- It was the guiderail that kept monsters and mercenaries on equal footing regardless of the imbalance or deficit between them. -The size of the deficit must dictate the number of monsters then...-
However, Earth wasn't undergoing a rankup where the initial difference between ranks was controlled. Unlike the game of chess the System normally played, where it would handicap itself and give guidance to its opponent like a grandmaster advising a child how to play at every move, the population rank had skyrocketed over of the monster rank, and the grandmaster deemed the additional assistance unnecessary. "...So until the monster rank climbs to match the population rank the System can't send foreign mercenaries here..."
Meaning Earth was completely on its own...
"~Earth has been deemed capable of facing a wall judged to only be 'possibly surpassable' by a population dozens of times stronger than it actually is, and we can't even ask for help.~" Trying to reign in his anger as his emotions flared with the growing feeling of helplessness, he gripped the bridge of his nose like he wanted to break it.
He absolutely despised me. If it were up to him, he would have taken my head off in that moment... But he had no one else he could seek for help. "Hm..." He didn't have a solution, so I had to find one. -The population rank didn't spike like this when I first arrived, so it must be from the bastard that followed me over...- "If I kill the person that rose the population rank so much, will it lower again?"
Michael's eyes snapped to me in a blink of rage before he pulled himself back with a heavy sigh. "~None of the subranks can ever be lowered with a 'System Correction' that can only be ordered. You'd likely only raise the mana rank faster.~"
-Ah.. that's not ideal...- It meant not only were Earth's people up against an insurmountable wall, around them was a landmine that couldn't be so easily diffused even if it was found...
...It was a battle of attrition they could never win, on a battlefield where they needed to be careful with every step...
"Haah..." But facing insurmountable challenges was my absolute specialty. -It could be worse...- Finding ease returning to my racing, scattered thoughts, I slowed my breathing and looked back over the graphs of each subrank with more control. "Mana rank determines the level of monsters regardless of population rank, correct?" Seeing Michael nod in response, my mind finally took off like a drag car given a green light. "Then this may not be so bad..."
Seeing the small spike in mana rank following my arrival, theories sprouted. -If that's from the Warden getting killed rather than me arriving, the monsters likely won't start unkillable...-
Humanity's fight was going to just be to keep up with the mana rank on their own. "With the population rank so high, the number of monsters will be insane, but that could end in our favor..."
Michael's expression darkened in an instant.
"With so many monsters, the amount of monster materials and mana cores that could be harvested could shift the entire direction of Earth's growth." Looking up toward the tops of skyscrapers peeking over the horizon, memories of other advanced worlds I passed through came to mind. "With Earth's population count and level of science, as long as they don't tuck themselves behind their walls like turtles in a shell, the disaster you see coming might not be as destructive as you think..."
"~Wait...~" MIchael's expression twisted with thought in a blink. "~The more monsters humanity kills, the faster the mana rank will rise, and the faster the monsters will get stronger... Going out to hunt will only hasten humanity's demise.~"
He wasn't actually wrong. The more monsters that die, the more the mana rank will rise, but... "If humanity hides, their growth won't just be stunted by the lack of leveling up, gaining items, and sharpening skills with experience, but their development of technology will slow with the scarcity of resources. Plus, the mana rank won't rise much faster than if you did no hunting at all. All you'll do by playing defensive is putting humanity in a larger deficit."
"~W..what do you mean..?~"
Noticing him not entirely following, I continued more bluntly. "Monsters will always consume one another and raise the mana rank regardless of what humans do. Each time one monster kills and consumes another, the gap between the rate of growth of humanity and the monsters will widen. To put it bluntly, the rate of the growth of monsters will accelerate ahead of humanity's with every monster that gets consumed by one of its own."
Motioning toward the railgun over the horizon, his eyes followed.
"Humanity will never be able to stop that consumption entirely, but the more they minimize it and make use of the resources it grants them, the more they can keep the gap small enough that it can be bridged by technology."
Essentially, as long as humanity kept the gap between their level and the mana rank low enough, the acceleration of technology could overcome the gap that would form from monsters killing one another. They simply needed to make sure they never fell victim to fear and succumb to the scarcity that would sprout from it.
They needed to be greedy, and aggressive.
...But Michael wasn't so certain. "~You have too much faith in humanity's ability to overcome the fear of death...~" Finally having his anger tempered, guilt started creeping onto his face. "~Humans have grown too soft in the generation of peace they have found.~"
It was his fault, but I didn't care to comfort him with dishonesty. "The culling will be unavoidable. As always, the weak and unfit will die..." Looking back at the horizon where dust bellowed from the crash landing of the airship, I paused, "But there will always be those who adapt and survive..."
Though, of course, things weren't nearly as simple as I made them sound. Thinking back to the chaos I saw at the airport in Richmond, the momentary glimmer of light in my eyes faded again.
"Humanity will get hit hard. A lot will die and even more will want to curl up in fear, but if there is a great enough reward before them, even the most cowardly will move."
This was not just going to be a war between humanity and monsters, but gods and people together. If Michael wasn't willing to be more than an idle guide for humanity, they were doomed to fail.
But... "If you and the other administrators work alongside humanity, I don't think it will be as fruitless of a path as you seem to believe." It all came down to them. I was a trump-card, yes.. if a monster they could not handle did arrive, I could bail them out...
But I couldn't be everywhere, and humanity couldn't carry the rest of the weight alone.
It wasn't going to be an easy path, nor was it a plan guaranteed to succeed—many factors had to come and work together for humanity to even have a chance...
But nonetheless, whether merely a sliver.. a breath.. or a glimmer.. a chance was a chance...
...Even if the hole humanity needed to thread could barely fit a hair...
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