The Mech Touch novel Chapter 318

A sense of cautious anticipation swelled inside Ves. The System held extremely high standards, and the golden lottery tickets should be worth the effort of retrieving that strange jewel from the core of the Glowing Planet.

"There’s no way the System will hand over a crappy reward for a B-rank mission."

From his frequent dealings with the System, he knew that it would never stint him on his rewards. It held itself to a high standard in terms of its offerings. As impersonal as the System behaved, it displayed a very rigid sense of class.

Still, lottery tickets never guaranteed a pay off. That was the nature of gambling. Ves had no doubt that if he bought a bunch of bronze or silver lottery tickets from the System, he’d waste far more DP than he would gain in value from his wins. _{frёeweɓηovel.coɱ}

Ultimately, the System profited.

That put Ves to thought. Why did the System work with Design Points? What did it actually represent?

"I gain Design Points for designing mechs and selling them to others. The more I design, the more points I earn. The more my mechs proliferate, the more points I receive."

The System obviously incentivized Ves to conquer the mech industry and make his designs ubiquitous. What he didn’t understand was what the System got out of it. DP was a currency that Ves could spend on very real benefits, such as upgrading his Skills or purchasing a powerful item from the Shop.

"It’s not fantasy money that the System uses to restrict my spending." He guessed. He didn’t think that the System came with an endless reservoir of energy and rationed some of it out to Ves in limited amounts. "It’s more as if the act of designing and selling mechs is empowering the System."

From what he could speculate, DP represented some form of higher energy, likely existing in the imaginary realm. Every mech he sold generated some of this energy, which the System somehow captured and digested it to fuel its own incredible workings.

A ridiculous level of technology underpinned these workings. Ves frequently admired the workings of the System. Whenever he thought he found its limits, the System surprised him with another capability. All of these wonders required an enormous amount of energy that not even a capital ship’s reactor could supply enough power to these processes.

"It’s impossible for me to figure out how the System works."

He lacked the technical background to even attempt such an analysis. Ves was like a caveman who stumbled upon an abandoned shuttle. He didn’t need to know how it worked to press a couple of buttons and get the shuttle to fly.

"It’s enough for me to work within the boundaries set by the System."

Even if the System had a nefarious purpose, for now Ves had little to fear. He only received plenty of benefits so far. It wasn’t too late to throw it away if it ever became a threat.

He moved on to the lottery tickets, which continued to hover in front of him. The projection appeared so realistic that he could almost touch them if not for his hazard suit getting in the way.

Using up the tickets on an isolated rooftop of an empty workshop didn’t seem very prudent, but Ves had nothing to fear so long as he kept up his trusty Privacy Shield.

Lucky also scampered nearby. With his pet on the prowl, no spy bugs should be able to get close enough to breach the Privacy Shield.

"Here goes nothing."

Ves extended a gauntleted finger and ripped apart the first golden lottery ticket. The entire thing shone bright before revealing the interface upon which he would draw his prize.

A bin materialized that held a bunch of golden balls. Each of them shone with an attractive luster, as if they hinted at a great treasure. Ves figured that he had to pick and choose which ball to take.

"Here goes nothing."

He held out his hand and dug it deep into the bin of balls. The balls all appeared to be made of solid gold, which made it difficult for his suited arm to extend into the bin, but he persevered. Once his gauntlet reached the bottom of the bin, he grabbed hold of a random ball that rested at the bottom and carefully retracted it out of the bin.

The ball he held began to shine. Its gold surface sparkled and dematerialized, revealing a great light hidden inside its hollow cavity.

[You have failed to draw a prize from your golden lottery ticket. Please draw again.]

"..."

Really? After so much fanfare, he wasted an entire ticket?

"Come on, System! This is such a big scam!"

Alright, so he confirmed that even golden lottery tickets could end up as duds. Even though he predicted the possibility, it never felt good to fail on the first draw.

Once he finished drawing the price, the bin stirred itself up and the balls began to bounce back and forth. Once the process finished, Ves could use up another ticket by drawing another ball.

"Next try then."

He drew out one of the balls at the top this time. When the golden ball began to shine, it split up to reveal a miniature object inside.

[Congratulations! You have received a 10-year production license of the following sensor component: Colchester Revisions 44-SBNC1341455A.]

"At least I got something this time."

His tone sounded remarkably flat, because he did not have a clue on the value of this sensor license. Neither the company name or the unspeakable codename revealed any hint of its true value. Just because he received a production license didn’t mean he could apply them immediately.

A license had to fit his vision instead of the other way around. In addition, chances were high that the sensor component either underperformed or demanded way too much exotics to be cost-effective. He’d have to check it out later to see whether the license held any use at all.

"If nothing else, I can always sell the rights to the license for a couple of billions credits."

In general, most production licenses could be sold or transferred to an interested party, though usually at a discount.

Ves put the matter aside and drew another ball.