Chapter 22

Doyugeon picked up the first piece of F-rank armor shaped as a square, then fell into thought.

“What’s this ‘piece’ nonsense for Gachapon?”

―We have items too.

Schrödinger indicated the weapons in one corner of the preparation room with his front paw.

“This thing breaks even on Orcs.”

―Then be more careful when using it.

“How am I supposed to carefully use a weapon in the middle of a fight?”

―Isn’t that just a lack of skill?

Schrödinger tilted his head then tapped the Gachapon machine.

―If you lack skill, just draw more! We’ve got better weapons right here.

The Gachapon machine glittered. Doyugeon placed the first piece on top of the machine and asked.

“How many pieces are there?”

―Nine!

“Does the number repeat?”

―Of course. You’ll have to draw more than nine times to collect all the pieces.

“Is that so? Current Sky, why don’t you try drawing one? Check the price while you’re at it.”

“Judging from the situation, it doesn’t seem like the price will be impressive.”

The system probably didn’t set it too cheap. She pressed the machine’s button. A small square popped out.

[F-rank Weapon Piece – #7]

I didn’t expect anything.

A price tag appeared above the button.

4.99 USD.

What? This is cheap. I expected something that’d cost several ten-thousand won per draw. How can a real weapon or armor come out at this price?

Looking further down, there was an additional note.

Experience Points.

“What are these ‘Experience Points’?”

―Experience Points!

“I get what that is…”

―You can consume Experience Points to draw. Drawing too much will lower your level.

“Will my level decrease? Can levels even decrease?”

Does level down mean it’ll undo the level-up effects without affecting your physical adjustments? Surely, it won’t degrade or harm my physical state, right?

While all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind, I didn’t voice them.

Doyugeon stacked the two pieces into a tower-like shape and started adjusting it while asking. He looked somewhat upset.

“If my Experience Points are consumed, how many draws would I get at level 1?”

―It’s hard to express it due to many variables. At your and the Master’s hunting speed, you could draw around thirty times a day, assuming you did so individually.

“Thirty times in a day is quite little…”

Exactly.

―No no. We’ll calculate it based on today’s hunting. Should you hunt all day, you’d get far more than thirty times.

Today we hunted for about three hours.

“Oh? Without being active for a full 24 hours, can you only draw thirty times because Current Sky gets tired?”

While staring at the pieces, Doyugeon looked over at Schrödinger.

―Yes! Only till the owner gets bored. You’re already pretty fast at hunting, so thirty should be enough.

“But I don’t get bored.”

“But those thirty draws assume you’ve given up on leveling up.”

―That’s right.

Both of them are ignoring him. What’s going on? Have I unintentionally annoyed them? Hmm… I don’t remember doing anything, but…

“What do I need to do to draw items then? Should I increase my time or my speed? Since we already boosted speed today, I guess that’s not an option. Current Sky.”

The guy who was muttering while crossing his arms glanced over.

“What?”

“Why do you look so glum?”

“Do I? No, I’m not. Why?”

“About extending hunting time, what do you think?”

“Absolutely not. You’ve already made my academy schedule tight. Adding more here would be excessive.”

The guy leaned against the Gachapon machine.

“To be honest, it’s not entirely my fault.”

And what’s that supposed to mean?

“You told me you’d go to the academy if your grades dropped, but you didn’t study properly.”

“That’s true, but you insisted on sleeping by 10 PM, so you wouldn’t extend the time for our hunts during weekdays. If the academy made our time stretch later, you should’ve pushed the end time to maintain our total hunting time. That way, we wouldn’t have been crunched.”

So you’re blaming me for this.

―That’s right! Should I treat you like a kid who needs to sleep at 10?

I briefly glared at Schrödinger. Upon catching my eye, he looked away and started licking his white fur.

How should I handle Doyugeon? Should I tell him to stop interfering in my personal lifestyle? Or should I lecture him for shifting the blame elsewhere?

When I approached him, he subtly took a step back.

“…What are you planning?”

“I’m not mad.”

I patted his head. The height difference makes it look awkward. Why does he have to be so tall?

His expression is bewildered.

“Did you really want to draw items this badly? Enough to pressure your childhood friend?”

The guy avoided direct eye contact, lowering his head and coughed awkwardly.

“Not that…”

“Uh-huh. Not that?”

“So, you see, um…”

His voice is getting quieter. I slightly leaned in closer to hear him better.

“Uh. What is it?”

“Sorry, it’s my fault. Log out.”

And he vanished.

What? I just wanted to gently warn him this time.

Hmm… Well, he did apologize, so it’s fine, I guess. It would be nice if he grew emotionally as well as physically.

A white cat caught my eye in the corner.

“Schrödinger.”

―Yes, Master.

“Why do you keep calling me ‘Master’?”

―Is that so? Why do I?

“Either have some decency, or stop addressing me as ‘Master’. Pick one.”

―The world isn’t black and white, you know.

Indeed.

Ignoring Schrödinger, I went to the Gachapon machine. With Doyugeon gone, I might as well try drawing some items.

“Does this machine accept cards?”

But upon checking the machine, there’s no card reader.

―No, it only accepts cash.

The machine accepts magic, yet it doesn’t accept cards. How odd.

I don’t carry much cash. I took out five 50,000 won bills.

“Surely it doesn’t only take dollars, right?”

I’m skeptical, but I’ve a feeling it might.

―That’s 4.99 USD.

“Fine.”

―We accept reserve currencies other than USD. The Korean Won has an unlimited currency swap agreement with the Canadian Dollar, so we’ll take that too. However, a 10% fee applies to currencies other than USD.

That’s quite a hefty fee. Are these people scam artists?

“Then how do you use money?”

The Gachapon machine has neither a card reader nor coin slot like regular ones. It’s just a rectangle with a button. Who would design something like this?

―Just place it on top to charge.

Oh, so advanced tech.

Just as I was about to place the money, I sensed magical energy nearby. Turning, Doyugeon popped out mid-air. So he didn’t leave.

I roughly stuffed the cash back into my pocket.

“Why are you here?”

“Cause you haven’t eaten.”

Looking at where he was pointing, I saw a lunchbox. I hadn’t realized I hadn’t eaten. But I didn’t expect him back after that.

“Don’t you have something to do?”

“I was just talking to Schrödinger.”

I should save drawing the items for later.

*

I was scrolling through the Explorer Guild bulletin board on my smartphone.

▷Title: What exactly are the prohibited standards?

▷Writer: CrossBowAdvocateCommittee

Today, I logged in with my beautiful custom crossbow, but I couldn’t bring it into the prep room.

Why is this?

Is the system ignoring the good old crossbow enthusiasts? Is that the case?

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