I'm Trying To Go Broke, So Why Do I Keep Getting Richer?!-Chapter 225: Choice of the System

The goblin stood in silence with closed eyes as if he was lost in thoughts.

For a moment, Leo thought about taking advantage of the situation and taking him out, but he hesitated. Something about the goblin felt really strange.

While Leo was hesitating, he heard a loud roar which sent chills down his spine. He quickly looked at the sky, and saw a massive figure in the sky through the gaps between the leaves.

’Is that... A dragon?’ Leo thought, almost wanting to face palm himself.

A single breath from the dragon would’ve turned this entire place into ruins. Even if he was hiding, he wasn’t safe.

Fortunately, the dragon didn’t appear to attack. It transformed into a humanoid form, and landed behind the distracted goblin.

"Are they enemies? Is it going to attack?"

The humanoid form of the dragon looked like that of a woman with flaming red hair, that came down to her waist.

Two draconian wings were coming out of her back, albeit smaller than real wings.

Leo sighed in relief. In the human form, it appeared like the woman wasn’t going to destroy the entire place. Even if she hated that goblin, she could’ve attacked him directly.

However, that also seemed unlikely as the woman asked Leo, "What are you thinking about?"

The goblin opened his eyes and looked at the red-haired woman, his expression remaining unreadable. He didn’t seem surprised by the arrival of a creature that could level a mountain range.

"How interesting. In the last simulation, there was no such development. There were no signs of any dungeon’s discovery. So what could have changed?’

The goblin also appeared a little surprised, even though he didn’t show it on his face.

Although he could also change the future through the knowledge of the future gained from his simulations, that was only when he did something to change that future.

Not much was done by him since his last simulation which talked about constant growth of his monster empire for the upcoming year.

That was when his simulation had stopped since it could only simulate his future up to a year at most, unless he died earlier in the simulation.

For the one year that he had seen, there was no such development. Even the development at the end of the first year was his invasion of the central continent. But that was still far away.

Only a month had passed since he last performed a simulation and his slots were reset, but for a change like this, even he was left surprised.

"Ever since I came into this world and awakened this system, this is the first time something like this has happened."

The goblin king said out loud, thinking to himself.

"I still don’t understand what you say half the time." The dragon shook her head, unable to understand what Leo was talking about.

She had often heard him say such weird words like system, but she still didn’t know what it meant.

Unlike her, there was one person who clearly understood what the goblin king had spoken. It was none other than Leo, who was just as much at a loss but for a completely different reason.

Although the goblin hadn’t spoken much, his words had given away a lot. First, it was clear that he had a system as well. As for what kind of a system, Leo could only guess that it helped him perform some kind of simulation.

The most surprising thing that Leo learned from the Goblin King’s words was that he also wasn’t from this world.

"If he can simulate the future, then it is problematic. I can’t attack him. If I did attack him in the future, then he would’ve definitely seen it in the simulation. But if I don’t plan to do it, there won’t be any trail even in his simulations."

"The farther I stay from him, the better." Leo made up his mind, as he prepared to wait for the goblin king to leave.

Just as he had expected, the goblin king appeared to have made up his mind, and entered the cave, accompanied by the dragon lady.

Only then did Leo calm down. If it was a person with the system that had managed to dominate this world, then the chances were high that he might be able to kill the dungeon beasts, creating a path for his return.

Leo only had to sit back, and take the fruits of the goblin king’s efforts to return home. The only problem was that he didn’t know what kind of trouble a goblin with a system could create in his universe.

It was definitely more complicated than before, especially since Leo realized that there were definitely more systems, and he wasn’t the only person with one.

"That’s none of my concern yet. As long as I can make it back home, I’ll be fine." Leo thought, especially since he was more eager to return than to worry about his universe.

Just as he was thinking that he wouldn’t have anything to do with the goblin king in the future, something happened

A semi transparent screen appeared before him. It was the screen from his system, but something stood out.

He had already received a settlement just a few hours ago. Even if the time in this universe was faster, it wasn’t fast enough to give him another settlement within a few hours.

Out of curiosity, he went through the system notification, which left him wanting to curse out loud.

[Congratulations Host. A New system has been detected in your proximity]

[New Options have been unlocked. Please make a choice for your future path]

While Leo was going through the system screen, his lips parted.

The system was truly showing something beyond profit and losses which left him stunned.

[Option One: Kill the owner of the second system. The enemy system’s features will be granted to you as an add on feature upgrade. You will also be granted a power as a reward.]

[Option Two: Life is more important than a new system. You want to develop peacefully. Ignore the second system and focus on gaining losses. You will be rewarded with a hundred billion credits.]

Going through the system screen, Leo felt a cold sweat break across his forehead. The two options stared back at him, glowing with a faint light.

On one hand, one hundred billion credits. It was not an astronomical sum, but it was still enough for him since he didn’t have much in his personal account.

It was the ultimate coward’s prize, a reward for simply minding his own business and letting the Goblin King do as he pleased.

On the other hand, the System Integration.

If he killed the Goblin King, he wouldn’t just be eliminating a rival; he would be absorbing his power.

He didn’t know his system had a feature like stealing other people’s systems. It was a feature that really went beyond just giving him money.

The ability to simulate the future, to see the consequences of his trades and investments before they even happened, was a cheat code that would make his own system invincible.

If he had the system, he was sure that he wouldn’t have to be more cautious in his expansion. The first thing he would’ve done if he had such a system was to simulate what would’ve happened if he returned to Necropolis, which was something that he really wanted to know.

Still, it was dangerous. He didn’t even know how strong that goblin was. If he could gain control of this place which was filled with monsters and dragons, could he really be weak?

That wasn’t even counting the dragon’s strength who was accompanying him.

He wasn’t sure if he could afford to satisfy this greed.

"One hundred billion..." Leo mumbled, looking at the second option. "I could go home right now if I just sit back and wait for the dungeon monsters to be cleared by him. No more risks. But...’

He looked toward the dark mouth of the cave where the Goblin King and the Dragon Lady had disappeared. Peace was the logical choice. It was the safe choice. But then, a thought struck him like a physical blow.

If he can simulate the future, and I’m currently in his world, won’t he eventually simulate a version of the future where I’m a threat?

That goblin could really become a threat for him.

The Goblin King had mentioned that this dungeon discovery was a new development. The simulation had changed. Why? Because Leo was here. Leo was the variable that hadn’t existed in the previous year of the goblin’s predictions.

If Leo chose Option Two, he might get the money, but he would be leaving a predator with a future-seeing system right at his back.

Eventually, the Goblin King would find a way to simulate Leo’s existence. And when he did, he wouldn’t offer Leo a choice; he would just offer him death.