Chapter 382: Dice (5)
“…So, since both sides have that weapon, neither will launch a preemptive strike. If they shoot, we’ll shoot; if we shoot, they’ll shoot. Unless someone has a death wish, there’s hardly any reason to use it.”
“Oh, that’s ironic. But I get it. The more you have, the more you stand to lose. Only a madman would use it. In a way, it’s like it’s half-sealed, isn’t it?”
As I wiped my face with the handkerchief Rina had handed me, I explained the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD).
The idea itself was simple enough for Rina, a person from a medieval world, to grasp.
Put simply, it’s akin to “if I die, you die too.”
But the deeper you delve into it, the more flaws and limitations surface.
“But do you really think that can prevent war? I feel like the day will come when it gets used…”
Rina hesitated as she shared her opinion, looking at me apologetically. I handed the handkerchief back to her and replied calmly.
“The moment it’s used, the whole world will turn against you. Still, like you said, there are limits. If things go awry, there’s no room for flexible responses—it just devolves into ‘if I go down, you go down too.'”