100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 705 - Unexpected Helper

Not long after the announcement spread across the five continents, Lucien’s communication device received a message.

He expected another report.

Instead, the sender made him pause.

Solar Concordium.

Lucien opened the message.

[You should’ve invited me to something this fun.]

Lucien stared at the words.

Then realization struck him.

Right.

For countless years, Solar Concordium had been the one most closely associated with intercontinental competitions.

He had organized them, refined them, and learned exactly how to turn simple contests into events people actually wanted to watch and participate in.

More importantly, his Law of Combat made him exceptionally suited for what Lootwell was building.

Lucien’s thoughts accelerated almost immediately.

Perfect Calculation activated.

Several existing problems rearranged themselves in his mind.

Restriction fields. Combat balancing. Variable battlefield conditions. Safe suppression thresholds. Ways to make handicaps meaningful without turning them into arbitrary inconveniences.

Some of the work they had already planned could be simplified.

Other systems could be improved without disturbing the formation layers already being installed.

Lucien slowly smiled.

They had been missing someone obvious.

•••

He brought the matter to the others.

The response was almost universally positive.

Lilith approved immediately.

The Grandmaster saw obvious value in having someone with practical experience running large competitions.

Eirene agreed that Solar Concordium’s Law could help refine the restriction systems.

Even the Silent Monastery had no objections.

A veteran who understood both combat and spectacle could prevent the entire event from becoming technically impressive but painfully dull.

That mattered more than it sounded.

They were trying to train the world without making it feel like training.

If the competition was not enjoyable, people would stop coming.

Lucien returned to his communication device.

[It would be great if we had someone as capable as you helping us.]

The reply arrived almost immediately.

[I’ll be waiting.]

Lucien blinked.

He had expected more discussion.

Apparently not.

A short while later, he left the preserved region personally.

•••

Solar Concordium arrived later that same day.

The moment he stepped through the teleportation array beside Lucien, he stopped.

The preserved region stretched before him.

Solar Concordium looked around.

Then he looked at Lucien.

"How much have you finished?"

"The groundwork is mostly done."

Solar Concordium waited.

Lucien said nothing else.

His expression slowly changed.

"That is all?"

Lucien nodded.

Solar Concordium was silent for several seconds.

Then he looked back across the enormous region.

"You already announced the competition."

"Yes."

"You told the entire world it begins in three months."

"Yes."

"And you’re only finishing the groundwork now?"

Lucien considered the question.

To be fair, it was reasonable.

He eventually answered, "That is usually how things work in Lootwell."

Solar Concordium slowly turned toward him.

Lucien continued with complete seriousness.

"People work better under pressure."

Solar Concordium stared at him.

Then he burst out laughing.

It was not a polite laugh.

It was the kind of laughter someone made after hearing something so absurd that arguing against it became pointless.

Lucien waited.

Eventually, Solar Concordium wiped at the corner of one eye.

"I think that may be the worst reasonable explanation I’ve heard in years."

Lucien accepted that.

Solar Concordium extended his hand.

"It sounds enjoyable."

Lucien looked at him.

Solar Concordium smiled.

"Working with unreasonable people usually is."

Lucien took his hand.

"It’ll be good having you here."

Their hands clasped firmly.

"With you helping, we might finish in a little over a month."

Solar Concordium’s smile stiffened.

Lucien noticed.

The radiant man slowly released his hand.

"A little over a month?"

"If everything goes smoothly."

Solar Concordium looked back at the construction site.

For a moment, he seemed to reconsider every decision that had brought him there.

Then something changed in his expression.

Lootwell.

He remembered how quickly it had spread.

Branches appearing across continents.

Massive structures completed according to schedules that had originally sounded ridiculous.

The intercontinental teleportation network had been the same.

People had doubted the deadlines.

Then the arrays opened almost exactly when Lootwell said they would.

Solar Concordium looked around again.

A region already mapped down to dangerous battlefield impressions.

Formation designs completed before installation even began.

Perhaps it was not impossible.

Unfortunately, that thought produced another problem.

Now he felt pressure to keep up.

Solar Concordium exhaled.

Lucien’s earlier words returned to him.

People worked better under pressure.

He suddenly disliked how quickly that statement was becoming relevant.

•••

Solar Concordium spent the first day studying everything.

Lucien did not rush him.

The preserved region was too complicated to understand from a single projection.

By the time he finished, his earlier amusement had faded into genuine interest.

When he had first heard that Lootwell intended to use the infamous dead region of the Middle Continent, he had been skeptical.

The land had been avoided for generations.

Now he understood.

Lootwell did not need to manufacture every battlefield condition. The land already contained them.

Used properly, the preserved region was not a disadvantage. It was a resource.

Solar Concordium studied the plans more carefully. Then he noticed something else.

The competition itself was too practical.

Solar Concordium’s eyes narrowed slightly as he realized something.

Lootwell was not simply preparing a competition.

It was preparing people.

For what, exactly, he could guess.

He chose not to ask.

Not because he failed to understand. Because asking would ruin part of the fun.

Lucien noticed his expression.

Solar Concordium was smart enough to understand that there was more behind the project, yet he was willing to help without forcing Lucien to explain what he was not ready to reveal.

That was one thing he liked about Solar Concordium.

The man was intelligent enough to notice what mattered.

And strange enough to enjoy discovering the rest naturally.

•••

Solar Concordium joined the restriction and formation teams the next morning.

His presence changed several designs almost immediately.

The original systems were safe, efficient, and technically sound.

Solar Concordium made them feel like combat.

That distinction mattered.

A restriction that simply weakened someone taught them very little.

A good combat restriction forced a decision.

Solar Concordium suggested that some suppression fields should fluctuate rather than remain constant.

Not randomly, but predictably enough that attentive participants could adapt.

A Law might become heavier for thirty breaths, then recover.

A Domain might lose range but gain stability.

A movement technique could become more expensive while defensive techniques remained unaffected.

That forced people to recognize changing conditions instead of simply enduring discomfort.

The Loss Condition Zones received similar changes.

Rather than removing abilities without context, certain restrictions would be tied to battlefield events.

A captured objective might restore movement techniques.

A destroyed formation anchor could disable a team’s strongest offensive Law.

Protecting a support structure might preserve access to communication.

Now the limitations had reasons.

Participants could react to them, exploit them, and prevent them.

That made the battlefield more interesting while teaching exactly the kind of adaptability Lucien wanted.

Solar Concordium also helped refine the large-scale simulation rules.

He understood something many formation experts did not.

A battlefield could be perfectly balanced and still be terrible.

Too predictable, and strong factions would solve it once.

Too chaotic, and skill stopped mattering.

The environment needed enough structure for planning and enough variation to punish rigid thinking.

The Obsidian Collegium scholars recorded his changes eagerly.

Eirene adjusted suppression thresholds around several of them.

Lucien modified the formation connections.

The Silent Monastery checked that none of the new mental or authority effects crossed safe limits.

Nothing needed to be rebuilt from the beginning.

Most changes only required adjustments to layers that had not yet been sealed.

That was fortunate.

Kael would probably have suffered physically if they had started tearing apart finished structures.

•••

Construction continued.

Only now, another mind had joined the machinery.

Solar Concordium moved between districts with surprising energy.

One hour, he was arguing with scholars about battlefield scoring.

The next, he was standing inside an unfinished suppression field testing whether its restrictions actually forced meaningful adaptation.

Later, he could be found beside Anvil-Horn discussing whether a defensive structure should be breakable during certain events.

Anvil-Horn wanted it stronger.

Solar Concordium wanted competitors to be able to destroy it.

Their disagreement lasted half an afternoon.

Both appeared to enjoy themselves.

Lucien occasionally watched from a distance.

The preserved region had already been filled with builders, scholars, monks, craftsmen, spirits, and formation experts.

Now it had someone who understood competition itself.

The difference was subtle at first.

Then entire facilities began changing.

It’s becoming more alive.

The training grounds were slowly turning into something people would not merely endure because Lootwell told them it was useful.

They would want to return.

They would argue about strategies.

Compete over rankings.

Search for better methods.

Try again after failure.

Exactly as Lucien intended.

By the end of the week, several construction estimates had already shortened.

Lilith looked extremely pleased.

Lucien knew why.

He chose not to mention it.

Solar Concordium, meanwhile, stood above one of the unfinished battlefield sectors and looked across the changing region.

He had come because the announcement sounded fun.

Now even he was curious what the finished competition would become.

And for someone who had spent years organizing intercontinental competitions, that was probably the best sign they could have asked for.