The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 264

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 264. Instruction (3)
My question about Probability [M].
Iliana couldn’t answer hastily.
She seemed to hesitate for a moment.
“…Probability is…”
And then, as if apologizing.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know much about it either.”
“…?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, Iliana spoke.
“The problem of probability is also listed in Arcanis’s 23 Difficult Problems.”
Arcanis Rilsein, the first sorcerer.
Considering the direction of magical development, he selected 23 difficult problems that the magical world must solve in the future.
These problems are said to carry profound magical significance merely by raising the question itself.
Four of them have been solved.
Seven have been partially solved.
Twelve remain unsolved.
And one of the seven partially solved problems is precisely.
“Probability.”
But it was only ‘partially’ solved.
It wasn’t completely resolved.
“If you look at the Monty Hall Problem, you’ll understand immediately.”
“The Monty Hall Problem?”
“It’s a problem raised in the past by a mage scholar named Monty Hall.”
Iliana paused to think, then continued.
“It’s a classic example showing how greatly one can err when interpreting probability intuitively.”
Stripping away the details and presenting only the essence, it goes like this.
1. There are three doors.
2. Behind one door is a goat.
3. You must find the goat.
4. When I choose one door, the host opens one of the remaining two doors and reveals it to be a losing door.
5. Then I’m given the opportunity to switch my choice.
“At this point, which is more likely to be correct—switching your choice or keeping it?”
“Aren’t they the same?”
Whether I switch or don’t switch.
Isn’t the probability 50%?
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“Switching your choice has twice the probability of being correct.”
“…???”
Twice as high?
“It doesn’t quite make sense, does it?”
“Honestly, it doesn’t.”
It was difficult to accept.
My heart refused to acknowledge it.
There was something peculiar about having my intuition contradicted.
“I feel the same way.”
“You as well, Iliana?”
“Yes.”
Iliana nodded softly.
Insight [L].
Iliana’s ability to grasp all phenomena intuitively.
She could comprehend even the origins of the complex world and the flow of energetic sources in a single breath.
Yet as the name suggested, it was merely ‘intuitive’.
Probability [M] lay beyond that reach.
A concept that intuition could not touch.
A gap that reason and logic could not fully explain.
Perhaps this was a fragment of truth that the world wished to conceal, or at least was reluctant to reveal.
“I don’t understand probability well either.”
Iliana lowered her head.
Probability [M], which even Iliana could not comprehend.
A concept that could render even Iliana—who had reached the very limit of intuition—utterly helpless.
That was Probability [M].
The origin that Infinity [M] harbored.
An unsolved problem even for Arcanis Rilsein, the First Mage.
In other words, this was the boundary.
The threshold the world would permit no further.
Nothing beyond this was allowed.
I could only stop here.
There was no way to increase my understanding of Probability [M].
Perhaps.
In the past, it surely would have been so.
“The reason a fact is difficult to accept isn’t because it’s wrong, but because the explanation contradicts intuition.”
A voice suddenly reached my ears.
I had known whose voice it was long ago.
Before I could even turn my head, Iliana spoke.
“Broombar?”
Broombar strode forward.
Iliana opened her eyes in surprise and asked.
“What brings you here…?”
Broombar glanced at me and then replied.
“I’ve come to tell you that I’ve refined all the Rune Iron you asked for last time.”
The Rune Iron needed for trade with The Empire.
It meant that the massive quantity had been fully prepared.
‘I thought it would take longer.’
It seemed that Rielin’s recovered strength through Yggdrasil had played a significant role.
In any case.
“But I happened to hear an interesting story.”
Broombar, the master of magical engineering.
“That problem about Monty Hall, you know.”
Broombar paused briefly before continuing.
“If we can just find the right explanation, what seemed counterintuitive can become intuitively clear.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Replace the doors with knights.”
There are three knights.
The goal is to find which one is the strongest.
“Of course, you don’t know who is the strongest.”
So you picked one at random.
Then Broombar brought the remaining two and made them fight.
A victor and a loser emerged.
Broombar brought the victor back and spoke again.
“I’m giving you a choice again.”
You can continue to trust the knight you chose first.
Or you can choose the knight who just won the fight.
“Wouldn’t most people choose the one who won the fight?”
Of course.
Because the fight provided proof of strength.
“Of course, the knight you chose first might be the strongest.”
“….”
“But which one do you trust more?”
A knight chosen arbitrarily.
A knight whose skill was verified through combat.
The choice may be the same, but the reasoning behind it differs.
“The same applies to that problem.”
Broombar’s voice dropped low.
“Your initial choice was made without any information. But after one door is eliminated, the remaining option becomes saturated with information.”
“How does that work exactly?”
It was Iliana who asked.
“The doors weren’t verified through any fight.”
“Why weren’t they verified?”
“Well—.”
“The host knows which door has the goat. So they can’t open just any door.”
“….”
“Therefore, the host must always leave a door with the goat unopened.”
“….”
“Then why did the host specifically leave that door unopened instead of opening it? Think about that.”
“…They couldn’t open it.”
“Right. Because there’s a goat behind that door, they couldn’t open it.”
“But!”
Iliana cried out in rebuttal.
“That’s only true if your first choice was a door without a goat.”
“So?”
“We also need to consider the possibility that your first choice was correct!”
“What’s the probability of that?”
“One in three.”
“And the probability that it’s not?”
“…Two in three.”
“Does that make sense now?”
Iliana fell silent.
And so did I.
I was at a loss for words.
‘What are they even talking about?’
I genuinely had no idea.
Magical Theory and Magical Engineering.
Insight and Implementation.
They were just playing their own game together, beating their own drums.
And then probability, elimination.
Information concentrating on choices.
‘Ugh, my head hurts.’
My mind was spinning.
‘Why don’t I just blast it with Celestial Dragon’s Wrath?’
That would be better.
Then the goat that doesn’t want to die would jump out the door with a “Baaah!!”
Whether they knew what I was thinking or not.
“And as I said before, probability is merely Magical Theory—in other words, just human reasoning.”
Broombar continued speaking.
And.
…Their conversation was far beyond my level of comprehension.
* * *
The continued discussion about probability.
Or rather, what should I call it.
It was closer to instruction.
Broombar was teaching Iliana in that manner.
Iliana had resisted at first.
But gradually, she came to accept it.
Now her face bore the expression of serious contemplation.
Between the two of them.
‘Should I raise goats in Whitewolf Territory 2 as well?’
I was losing my grip on reality.
I was listening to their conversation.
But my brain was rejecting it.
What was this thing called Probability [M]?
It didn’t just negate intuition—it obliterated it entirely.
Look here.
“Among ten balls, red and blue are mixed. What is the probability of drawing a red ball?”
Obviously, fifty percent.
But then what?
“Is ‘I don’t know’ the correct answer?”
“Yes.”
How could this make sense?
“Because you don’t know how many red and blue balls there are.”
“I unconsciously assumed the principle of equal probability distribution, didn’t I?”
“Humans think of probability only in that way.”
Probability [M] and all that nonsense.
I wanted to abandon it all.
Yet the reason I remained silent was.
“Ah…! So probability ultimately stems from ‘ignorance’!”
Iliana.
She was grasping something profound.
Thus, as the Wizard of Truth.
She was rapidly approaching the laws that constituted this world—the truths known only to the divine—surpassing even her previous life.
But what exactly was she grasping?
…I had no idea whatsoever.
Only Broombar continued his instruction.
“I have placed a goat behind one of four doors. What is the probability that a goat is behind door A?”
Obviously, twenty-five percent.
There was no condition to change one’s choice.
There was no reason to be confused.
I genuinely thought so.
“It could be zero percent.”
“That’s right.”
I’m going to lose my mind.
What do you mean 0%? Seriously.
There’s clearly a goat in only one door, and it’s one out of four, so why am I getting 0%?
I can’t just sit idle about this.
“How did that happen?”
I pressed the matter, and Iliana answered.
“It’s because Broombar already knows where the goat is.”
“…?”
“The point is simple. If you possess knowledge, the probability changes.”
“…??”
“In other words, Adrian and Broombar have different probabilities. Randomness is the absence of information—in other words, ignorance.”
“…???”
“Therefore, even in the same situation, probability shifts based on what information you possess, and from that moment on, probability loses its meaning.”
I shouldn’t have pressed the issue.
I should have just stayed quiet.
But I couldn’t remain silent indefinitely.
I needed to raise my comprehension of Probability[M].
Yet who was actually raising their comprehension?
It was Iliana.
Not that this was a bad thing.
But shouldn’t I be learning something as well?
“Forgive my interruption.”
I finally cut into their conversation.
Then, after deliberating on my question, I asked about something I’d seen in the vision.
-If an event with 0% probability is attempted infinitely, will it eventually come to pass?
Both their expressions grew serious.
A moment of silence passed.
“That’s something Starlight Sister could explain better than I could.”
Broombar passed the baton to Iliana.
Iliana thought for a moment longer, then spoke.
“First, we’d need to find the probability that all infinite attempts fail.”
“….”
“But if the success probability is 0, that means the failure probability is 1.”
“….”
“Therefore, what you said, Adrian, is exactly the same as this.”
Iliana unfurled her mana and inscribed words in the empty air.
[Is 1 multiplied by itself infinitely equal to 1?]
“Is that not correct?”
It was an obvious truth.
1 × 1 = 1.
1 × 1 × 1 = 1.
1 × 1 × 1 × 1 = 1.
No matter how many times you multiply 1 by 1, the result is always 1.
But then something unexpected happened.
“That’s not quite right.”
“…?”
“No one knows what happens when you multiply 1 by itself infinitely.”
“…????”
What in the world was she talking about?
If you keep multiplying 1 by 1, it’s just 1.
What do you mean no one knows?
“To be precise, that value isn’t fixed to a single answer.”
It could be 1.
It could be greater than 1.
Or it could be less than 1.
“You’re saying the result of multiplying 1 infinitely could vary?”
“Yes.”
“How is that possible?”
“You need to view it from the perspective of infinitesimals.”
Iliana waved her hand, unfurling mana before us.
1
1 + 0
1 − 0
“To our eyes, these all appear identical as 1. But from the ‘perspective of infinitesimals’—”
Iliana waved her hand again.
1
1 + ε
1 − ε
“—they each possess distinctly different values.”
“….”
“Therefore, multiplying 1 infinitely doesn’t necessarily result in 1.”
In other words.
“Are you saying that a 0% success rate could eventually succeed?”
“Yes.”
“….”
“To be more accurate, ‘we don’t know’ is the correct answer.”
“…?”
“Because attempting something infinitely is itself impossible.”
But what if it were possible?
A 0% success rate.
In the end, before infinity, there was no such thing as “absolute impossibility.”
This was the boundary of possibility that the speaker in the fantasy had mentioned.
It was simultaneously the reason I had been able to clear the Hidden Quest [Success Probability 0%].
◆Conceptual Skill, Probability [M]’s comprehension has increased.
…It was also the only teaching I could understand.
* * *
Iliana and Broombar continued their conversation.
I was completely beneath their notice.
I left the two of them to their discussion.
With my inferior intellect, there was no way I could follow such a topic.
‘Maybe I should devour a real dragon.’
Though dragons would need to be somewhat common for that.
Even if I devoured a dragon with Predation [S+], I’m not sure it would help.
Following their conversation right now seemed like it would be overwhelming.
Anyway.
After all the twists and turns and chaos, I managed to increase my comprehension of Probability [M].
Such a rare and precious comprehension.
I applied it to every skill I could.
And then.
◆Conceptual Skill, Probability [M] and Nutritional Synthesis [B] are fusing.
Unexpectedly, it fused with Nutritional Synthesis [B].
◆Fusion Skill, Over-Orbital Matter Synthesis [S] has been acquired!
◆Over-Orbital Matter Synthesis [S]
: When this skill is used, the player can synthesize materials with a 0% probability of existence within the natural world.
The synthesized materials manifest in reality while ignoring quantum mechanical conditions, and their contained energy exceeds biological energy units by [billions of times].
【This skill is a fusion skill created by fusing Probability [M] and Nutritional Synthesis [B].】
…I had obtained an extraordinarily unusual fusion skill.
But.
It didn’t quite sink in.
Honestly, I didn’t understand it at all.
True to form for a fusion skill of Probability [M], I couldn’t comprehend a single word of it.
In times like this.
‘Might as well just use it.’
◆Fusion Skill, Over-Orbital Matter Synthesis [S] is being used!
A flash of text blazed before my eyes.
At the same moment, my body erupted into turmoil.
The calories accumulated in my body ignited all at once.
Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates began to decompose at the molecular level, mixing and recombining.
‘…Ugh!’
My heartbeat stopped for a moment.
The space around me warped and twisted.
Something struck with a thunderous crash!
It embedded itself deep within my body.
Grrrraaaaaahhhhh…!!!
Energy billions of times greater than my previous capacity erupted outward in a violent explosion.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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