Chapter 23

After going through the abbreviated classes for the college entrance exam and passing through November, we took the final exams.

Doyugeon’s grades improved, likely due to the cram school. It was only natural since he was forced to study when he hadn’t before.

The boy was happy about the improved grades but, on the other hand, disliked that the cram school seemed to have been effective.

“If only my grades had dropped, I could’ve quit the cram school happily.”

“Why not aim for first place with these improved grades and negotiate with your parents?”

“That sounds so easy.”

During this time, the level kept increasing.

[Level Up]

14 → 15

Level 15. Schrödinger had mentioned once that our party’s hunting speed was fast, but our level-up pace wasn’t fast. Explorers using firearms for hunting would easily outpace other explorers. Before the job update, the dense forest somewhat leveled the playing field, but when the Fire Mage easily set the forest ablaze, the gap widened.

Naturally, the information for level 15 monsters was released. It was goblins. After progressing from goblins through slimes to orcs, the sequence had returned to goblins. Good old goblins. They don’t dissolve forests or break trees with a single punch—much saner.

But these goblins were too sane. Based on the usual pattern, many assumed that if it were goblins, they would naturally be a tougher variant—a game-related prediction. It sounded plausible.

But it wasn’t the case. These goblins were 1st level goblins. Just ten of them, matching the maximum party size as if arranged that way. It was like they were implying, “If a one-on-one fight with a goblin is easy, then ten-on-ten should be doable too.”

These ten goblins consisted of five spear-wielding warriors and five archers. They approached in a two-row formation, the warriors ready to thrust their spears while the archers loosed arrows. Fortunately, they didn’t have shields.

“What’s all this about?”

“Huh? Not sure. I don’t get it either.”

As usual, Schrödinger lacked any real thinking.

The internet was flooded with cries about how to defeat them. Until now, by becoming proficient in coordinated attacks, it was possible to clear enemies without taking any damage, but that was impossible with these monsters.

“Pour money into the gacha!”

“Quit showing off with passive skills pretending to be helpful when you’re clearly part of the system.”

This whole commotion about the goblins didn’t really concern our party. If we couldn’t handle it, we could use in-game monetization. Doyugeon might resist, but he’d accept it if hunting became impossible.

At the center of a slime-dissolved path through the forest, ten goblins appeared.

“Don’t charge recklessly like last time.”

“I won’t this time.”

Though skeptical, I glanced at Doyugeon. He cleared his throat and continued.

“Anyway, they haven’t fired their arrows yet.”

True, the goblins were in formation, but the archers just had their arrows on the strings without firing them.

It’s because we’ve just emerged from the forest. Even if they fired, we could hide behind trees, so they’re likely conserving their arrows for now.

In such a stalemate, a wizard typically casts a spell to get the enemy to move, inducing chaotic combat inside the forest. However, since we have two wizards…

Why not try casting on a larger scale? We might be able to defeat them, but Doyugeon didn’t get a chance to use his sword.

“Could we defeat ten of them without injury?”

“We have healing magic, right?”

No, that wasn’t the real question. Even considering the fact that logging out would heal with an even stronger magic, that’s not the core issue. It might mean we would regularly have experiences where we’d have an arm cut off and it would heal.

Idle levelling shouldn’t be detrimental to one’s mental health.

“Even with healing, it’d still be painful to get hurt.”

“Miss Current Sky is so concerned. In my opinion, I can easily handle ten goblins on my own without injury.”

“What kind of confidence is that?”

“Confidence based on evidence.”

Shaking his head, he conjured a fireball and launched it at the goblins. One goblin archer drew his bow and fired, intercepting the fireball and causing it to explode, shaking the nearby trees.

“Against opponents of this level?”

“Of course it’s possible. I’m a genius, after all.”

Doesn’t that embarrass him? It embarrasses me just standing next to him.

“Sir.”

“Aha, you don’t believe me, do you? If you doubt it, I’ll show you now!”

Doyugeon unsheathed his sword and charged forward. Despite saying he wasn’t going to charge recklessly again, what a liar he was.

Arrows flew toward Doyugeon. He summoned magical power, disrupting their trajectory. Two arrows, which were too late to be deflected, headed straight for him, but he effortlessly batted them away. Phew, so he can deflect arrows—that’s impressive. Or is it? Is it even realistic? What did I just witness?

At that moment, an impact struck my shoulder, and I fell to the ground, unable to resist the force. A sharp pain surged through my shoulder. What…?

Looking at my shoulder, I saw an arrow.

—Master, are you a child?

The voice sounded exasperated.

—Where did you put your magical barrier to still get hit by that?

Indeed.

“Could you at least heal me?”

The wound had surpassed the level curable by any simple healing magic available.

—I’m on it. This lack of pain you’re feeling now is due to the magic effect, not adrenaline.

The arrow dislodged itself, and the deep wound healed. Blood vanished, and the torn cloth mended itself. Wow, excellent after-service.

“You’re more useful than I expected.”

—Excuse me?! Up until now, what did you think I was?!

Ignoring Schrödinger’s protests, I brushed off the dirt and stood up. Doyugeon had reached right in front of the goblins.

The five archer goblins aimed their bows at Doyugeon and fired simultaneously. He dodged three and deflected the other two. What? How did he do that?

The five warrior goblins all simultaneously thrust their spears. Doyugeon deflected their attacks with the tip of his sword, creating an opening, which he then exploited.

“One Sword Enhancement.”

He swung his sword once, severing all five spears. The ten goblins discarded their weapons and drew their daggers, charging at Doyugeon.

Chaotic combat ensued. Golden powder swirled around, dirt kicked up, but no blood was spilled.

The ten goblins fell, and Doyugeon turned to look at me, completely unscathed.

“Haha! See? It worked!”

What worked about that?

“Miss Current Sky! Do you have anything to say? Your expression says it all!”

“It’s realistically impossible. If you’re going to fight ten-on-one, you should use guerrilla tactics, not a frontal assault.”

Just have some common sense.

“Are you still talking about reality? The world is already fantastical! Whoa!”

The boy spun around with both arms outstretched, extremely ecstatic.

I approached to check for wounds, but he was spinning, so it was hard to see.

“Yeah, yeah. Calm down first.”

He stopped.

“Hmph. There’s no wound, so no need to check. Hey, you got dirt on your pants.”

Looking, it was true. Probably hadn’t brushed it off since the earlier fall. I brushed it away.

“Still dirty after falling just now?”

“Flying around and falling? What is this? Is extreme lack of exercise really like that?”

“Apparently.”

Doyugeon checked, but luckily he had no injuries.

*

The gacha system was added, and Schrödinger was informed of the plan, but we hadn’t engaged in any paid gacha yet because we lacked the cash.

It was evil that the gacha existed, but since neither cards nor bank transfers were accepted—and despite having cash, it was useless, since we couldn’t get it online—it was impossible to play. At best, we could do minimal gacha, but such an amount wouldn’t accomplish anything.

But it was different today. After a month’s preparation, dollar bills were ready.

Holding a rectangular document case, I logged in. As expected, it was 6 a.m., and Doyugeon was absent.

“Schrödinger.”

I looked around the preparation room but couldn’t find Schrödinger. Where could he be? Here when I don’t need him and absent when I do.

—Yes, yes. I’m here.

A white cat appeared out of nowhere. The Apprentice Mage’s Magic Dictionary is supposed to be inactive, yet it disappears and reappears at will. Where does it go normally?

“I need to do a gacha, so help me.”

—Me? Why?

Unexpected.

“Since I’m your master.”

—Wow.

“What does that exclamation mean?”

—I’ll faithfully assist you!

Schrödger leapt onto the gacha machine.

—Just place the money on the machine.

“I know.”

—Are you aware of that? That’s impressive!

What is that supposed to mean? Is it sarcasm?

I placed the document case on the machine and opened the lock.

“Cash recharge.”

The hundred-dollar bills burned. It burns quite well.

“Why burn it if you’re going to accept it anyway?”

—The burning is just a transmission effect!

Ah, that makes it seem unnecessarily elaborate.

[$1,000,000]

The replenished amount was displayed on the machine, and so did the options.

[Buy now!]

Item Shards Auto-Combination Privilege $9,900

Unlimited Storage Privilege for Item Shards $9,900

“Really, what’s the mentality behind charging for such trivial conveniences?”

—We’re just providing a convenient service. Is there something wrong with that?

“Is it reasonable to charge twenty million for mere convenience?”

—Master. Free magic does not exist.

“Do you think this privilege is worth twenty million?”

—No.

—It should be higher.

How confident he was! What does that even mean?

“Anyway, there should be a minimum demand prediction and optimal pricing before launching a product. Who would buy at these prices?”

—Master. Why did you call me here?

“To discuss this.”

—If you keep bringing this up, I know nothing about the system. I’m just your Magic Dictionary. Remember your identity.

Though not entirely trustworthy, I nodded. Let’s put it aside and get to the gacha.

“I’ll pull a hundred times. Oh, and by the way, isn’t there a bonus benefit for every 10 consecutive gacha?”

Though I didn’t see it online, the system was usually unfriendly, so I just inquired.

—That’s a game. This is reality.

Fair enough.

I pressed the gacha button. Light shone, and one square shard dropped.

[F-grade Ornament Shard – 4]

After pulling a hundred times, what exactly?

—Didn’t you forget about the free daily gacha?

“Ah, you’re right.”

Glancing, the price just appeared.

[$4.99]

“I’ll pull a hundred times.”

I pressed the gacha button again. Light and several square shards fell.

[F-grade Ornament Shard – 8]

[F-grade Armor Shard – 4]

[F-grade Armor Shard – 4]

…

[E-grade Weapon Shard – 6]

A few shards rolled away from the machine. Shards buried Schrödinger until he shook them off, scattering dozens more to the ground.

Too many.

I sifted through the F-grade shards, collecting them into sets of nine. Not knowing what I was doing, I squatted down and arranged them in a square pattern from 1 to 9 on the floor.

The shards sparkled and disappeared, producing an item.

[F-grade/Babieon Co.’s Low-Quality Dagger]

Just a regular dagger. As expected from the unfriendly system, there was no item description, but judging by the F-grade, it’s a basic dagger with no effects.

I looked around the room, seeing piles of shards. How long would it take to sort these and convert them into items? As heard online, it’s really bothersome.

With $999,501 remaining… That’s two hundred million shards. Wow, sorting out usable pieces from these two hundred million shards should do it.

I stood gripping the gacha machine.

“Purchase Combination Privilege and Storage Privilege.”

—An excellent choice!

The scattered shards disappeared from wherever they were, and their details appeared on the machine. So convenient.

I roughly calculated the balance in my head.

“I’ll pull nineteen million six hundred thirty-two times.”

I pressed the button. Without any system window, the machine dazzled brightly, and the results appeared.

S-grade shard: 0.

Naturally.

A-grade shard: 0.

Uh… Knowing the odds were bad didn’t help. Extremely bad news for mental health. Still, $12 million? That’s just too much.

B-grade shard: 1.

—That’s actually a good draw with one B-grade shard.

The odds are terrible. My motivation was fading.

“Make the gacha results for party members non-public.”

I set the system so that Doyugeon wouldn’t know I did a gacha. Should I go back to the room?

—Master, it was a predictable result. Why are you surprised if you’ve already seen the internet?

“There aren’t many posts of billion-dollar pulls.”

Since companies haven’t aggressively invested yet, there are indeed very few. I dismissed the cases with billion-dollar losses. Still, it’s just B-grade. Even with ‘A’ in the name, shouldn’t I have drawn a B-grade shard by now?

—Isn’t it too greedy to want a B-grade item for only twelve million?

You’re the problem here.

—For you, the greedy master! Here’s a free trial! Try it out now!

Schrödinger slapped the ground with his paw, and a staff appeared.

[B-grade/Wise Rambie’s Sunshade.]

“Does the term ‘wise’ denote a low rank?”

—No. It ranks below Grand Mage. A level you cannot reach.

“If that’s the case, doesn’t the grade seem off?”

—I’m not sure.

I picked up the staff. The star design at the end looks nice, though a little big. It’s short for me, but too large to carry practically, so I let it float beside me with my magic power.

I left the prep room and headed to the hunting grounds, holding the staff with both hands.

“Isn’t this dangerous?”

—You’ll be fine as long as you just use it briefly.

“What if I use it longer?”

—With your skill level, you won’t last long enough.

Hmm. I pointed the staff’s end to the sky and channeled my magic power into it. The magic attached to the staff usually comes out from the tip.

Time passed. The staff continued to absorb my magic power. My focus is tired from constantly pulling magic power. If my skill wasn’t decent, I’d collapse.

“When will this absorbance stop?”

—Master, it took longer because of your lack of skill, but it’s almost done.

More time passed. The staff still hadn’t used the magic yet. My arms were starting to ache badly, so I adjusted my grip lower. What’s this random pain?

“Didn’t you say it’d be done soon?”

—Yes! Right now!

The magic was cast. Magic circles, magic power arrangements, and other unknown elements combined into an enormous spell, blanketing the sky.

Dark clouds appeared. They obscured my vision and exceeded my magical perception range.

—Even though you have talent and managed to use it, this is still small-scale.

The rain drowned out Schrödinger’s voice.

Focusing my mind, I expanded my senses. I confirmed the entire area, stretching over hundreds of meters and even kilometers. It was raining everywhere.

Is this considered small-scale?

—How does it feel? Doesn’t the urge to gacha arise now?

“Not at all.”

I should go home and shower again.

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