[The Omniverse - Abyssal Data Headquarters]
The success of the Credit Default Swaps had generated trillions in liquid capital, but it had created a massive, unforeseen liability on the balance sheets of Abyssal Dynamics.
Elara, the CEO of Abyssal Data, paced anxiously in front of Victor Thorne's mahogany desk.
"Victor, our micro-loan division is toxic," Elara projected a massive, glaring red spreadsheet. "By sabotaging the heroes to win your bets against the Fates, you caused millions of adventurers to die or default on their surge-pricing debt. We are currently holding four trillion Omni-Credits in defaulted, worthless micro-loans. These heroes are dead. They can't pay us back."
Princess Ignis crossed her arms. "So we just write it off as a loss? We have the cash to cover it."
"A Tycoon does not take a four-trillion-credit write-off, Ignis," Victor said smoothly, taking a slow sip of his black coffee. "We do not hold toxic assets. We package them, and we sell them to someone else."
Victor tapped his gold-nibbed pen against the Tycoon's Ledger, extracting the millions of defaulted micro-loan contracts.
"These are Subprime Loans," Victor explained, his Tycoon's Aura radiating absolute corporate malice. "High-risk, zero-return garbage. Individually, nobody would buy the debt of a dead hero. But if we bundle ten thousand dead heroes together with one or two living, high-income Paladins..."
Victor slashed his pen, merging the digital contracts into sleek, glowing golden bonds.
"...we create a Collateralized Debt Obligation. A CDO," Victor smiled a cold, ruthless smile. "We package the garbage debt into 'Heroic Bonds' and sell them to the remaining independent Pantheons as a 'safe, high-yield investment vehicle'."
Elara gasped. "You want to sell worthless debt to other Gods? The Omniversal Trade Commission has a strict regulatory ratings agency! They will instantly flag a bond full of dead heroes as 'Junk Status'. No one will buy it!"
"The OTC Ratings Agency is a private, for-profit entity, Elara," Victor checked his gold pocket watch. "They are paid by the institutions that create the bonds."
Victor opened a spatial tear to the OTC Ratings office. With a flick of his pen, he transferred a 'consultation fee' of fifty million Omni-Credits directly into the lead auditor's offshore account.
Instantly, the glowing red 'Junk' rating on the bundled Heroic Bonds shifted. The text turned a blinding, pristine gold: [AAA - RISK-FREE ASSET].
"The rating agency just stamped our garbage debt as a flawless investment," Victor adjusted his midnight-blue cuffs. "Seraphina. Put the four trillion in Heroic Bonds on the open market. Market them to the Elder Gods as a conservative retirement fund."
By the end of the business day, the greedy, unsuspecting deities of the Omniverse had purchased every single bond, desperate for the promised high yields. Victor Thorne had successfully scrubbed his entire balance sheet clean, unknowingly handing the Omniverse a ticking, four-trillion-credit subprime time bomb.