Gacha Time Is Back (3)

I stared at the summoned machine, frozen in agonizing dilemma before feeding in a single coin.

At ten coins per pull, my current stash of two thousand meant that going completely braindead and betting the farm would yield twenty 10-pulls—two hundred rolls in total. Should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I squeeze my eyes shut, throw caution to the wind, and blast through all two hundred in one glorious binge? Or should I pace myself with an initial hundred-pull first, keeping the bigger picture in mind for whatever disaster lay ahead? Decision paralysis seized me entirely.

As I stood there agonizing over my choices, Cheonma hopped up onto the platform.

She sidled right up beside me, her crimson eyes glittering with undisguised longing as she practically radiated her desire to grab that lever. Ah, right... I almost forgot I promised her a turn. Look at her, practically vibrating with childlike anticipation. If I had selfishly burned through two hundred rolls right in front of her face, the ensuing fallout didn't bear thinking about.

"...Do you want to roll first?" I asked.

"Huh...? Me first?"

"Yeah. Your face is screaming that you're dying to pull. Honestly, if there were a mirror around here, I'd show you."

"Was I... really being that obvious?"

Obvious? Lady, you were being so blatantly transparent that even a dense brick like me could read you like an open scroll. And having played my fair share of gacha games, I know the vicious cycle all too well: once you're hooked, there's no crawling back out until you pull what you want. Especially when you've already tasted 'Beginner's Luck' like you have.

If I struck gold today while standing right next to you, and you walked away with absolutely nothing... what on earth would happen to your sanity? A martial powerhouse who scaled the peaks of the demonic path through sheer, bloody-minded obsession... facing a brick wall for the very first time in her life.

Parting with my hard-earned coins stung, but I offered her a genial smile and urged her to take the first shot anyway. If I promised her rolls and then backed out, now that we were on somewhat friendlier terms, she would undoubtedly beat the living tar out of me. There was no sense in shouldering such a lethal risk.

Besides, according to the sacred superstitions of gambling, letting someone else soak up the bad luck ahead of you primes the machine for the big ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hit later. Cheonma! Become my sacrificial lamb!

Yet, as if peering straight through my vile, scheming heart, Cheonma shook her head.

"No... You go first."

"Me first?"

"Mm. I prefer being the grand finale."

"...Okay, got it."

"Okay...?"

"Never mind, just an expression."

Damn it. Here I was trying to use her as a lightning rod, and she deflected it... Tch, fine. Guess I'll just pull first.

I took a deep, steadying breath.

Clatter—

Feeding the coins into the slot until I had loaded up enough for a hundred pulls, I locked my gaze onto the display, drew another deep breath, and yanked the lever down.

One thousand coins... That's fifty percent of my entire net worth vanishing into the ether right now! I'm torching half my fortune in a single shot! Please, for the love of god, just give me at least one good drop!

Chime!

...

.....

Ch-ch-ch-ch-chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!

With a deafening mechanical roar, the machine spun in a blur of motion before text flashed across the screen beneath three large question marks.

For now... 'Skip' clearly meant dumping the haul directly into my inventory without revealing it one by one. But what was that question mark prompt?

Last time, junk drops were shuttled straight into my inventory with zero fanfare. Don't tell me... Could it be?! Did I hit something big?!

How could any self-respecting gamer pass up a mysterious prompt like that? Especially in a gacha! Highlighting the '???' with the cursor, I slammed the button. Instantly, the display filled with the face of a smug, cheeky little brat with glittering star-shaped pupils.

What the hell? Who's this kid?

Waaaaaaaah!

(Thump-thump!)

Clasping her little hands together as if praying in utter delight, the girl beamed with sheer glee before vanishing from the screen.

...?

Wait!

Could that have been... a summon animation? A guaranteed-hit tell?!

In every proper gacha game, landing a top-tier prize always triggered some theatrical tell—a character flashing a wicked grin, thunder crashing across the sky, or golden feathers raining down... Tension tightening in my chest, I began tapping through the results one by one.

Then, on the twenty-seventh press—

From the base of the display, a tempestuous pillar of crimson fire erupted, completely engulfing the screen. And as if that weren't spectacle enough, the roaring inferno punched right through the top of the casing, blasting skyward with an earth-shattering boom!

BOOOOOOM!

FWOOOOOOOSH!

It raged like a towering hurricane wrapped in roaring flames. The fiery beacon climbed so high into the clouds that every monster for miles might spot it, but right now, I couldn't have cared less. Overwhelmed by the sheer absurdity of the special effects, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had struck gold. A shriek of pure, unadulterated ecstasy tore from my throat.

"IT'S A HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! I didn't know what it was yet, but I definitely hit something insane!

Having secured one major prize, greed immediately sank its claws into me. Could there... be another?

With another tap of the button, the thrashing fire pillar dispersed. Watching it fade left a slight twinge of longing, but my heart hammered with runaway excitement as I pressed on. While no more earth-shattering fireworks exploded, the screen pulsed rhythmically with purple, blue, green, and black lights.

...Showing Common, Normal, and Rare drops, I take it?

Then, at long last, I pressed the button for the hundredth roll.

A magnificent seven-hued rainbow beam pierced the sky once more, ripping through the machine's crown and bathing the entire fortress in blinding brilliance!

"HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

Unable to contain the tidal wave of euphoria, I let loose a string of foul curses, locked my trembling fingers behind my head, and dropped straight to my knees. It was indisputable. Universal law dictated that rainbow light meant SSR! After swimming through an ocean of torment and grueling suffering, fortune had finally smiled upon me. The sheer, electric rush of having every drop of blood, sweat, and tears repaid in a single miraculous instant was downright intoxicating.

"...So that's... what gacha looks like..."

I glanced sideways. Cheonma was gazing up at the receding rainbow pillar with eyes like a maiden stricken by love. Her heart clearly set ablaze by the spectacle, she looked down at me, her expression brimming with restless eagerness.

"Hey... Can I roll mine now...?"

"...Heh... Snf... Yeah, go ahead..."

Watching her sashay toward the machine, her hips swaying with giddy excitement under the absolute conviction that she was about to strike it rich just like me, an old war story popped unbidden into my head—a tale told by a junior enlisted during a freezing winter night on guard duty back in the military.

'Man, it's so damn cold... I swear to God, after discharge I'm never even pissing in the direction of Gangwon Province again. Whew... Hey, what did you do before enlisting?'

'Me, Sergeant Kim?'

'Who else? It's just the two of us freezing our balls off out here. Nothing kills time like shooting the shit. Come on, spill it—what was your hustle?'

'...I worked as a dealer up in Gangwon.'

'...A dealer? Like, at the casino?'

'Yes, Sergeant.'

'Holy shit... That's the holy land of high-stakes gambling. You must have some killer stories. You're covering our entire two-hour shift with anecdotes, got it?'

'Ah, isn't that an abuse of rank, Sergeant Kim?!'

'Quit whining, you know what I mean! Come on, start talking.'

'Well... Sergeant Kim, have you ever heard of "Beginner's Luck"?'

'...Isn't that when first-timers win big right off the bat?'

'Exactly. Having seen how the industry works from the inside... my real dream after I finish my service is to run my own private sportsbook.'

'Whoa... A future illegal bookie! ...Wait, is that really okay to say out loud? Won't you end up in the slammer if someone reports you? Private betting rings are illegal, aren't they?'

'Not at all, sir! That's practically legal nowadays...'

'...Where did you pick up that sketchy accent?! Pfft, though from what I remember, it's definitely not legal.'

'Come on, sir... As long as you pay out on time, it's as good as legal.'

'You crazy bastard, haha! Well... fair enough. Keep your hands clean and pay the dividends without skimming, and people won't complain. Anyway, what does that have to do with beginner's luck?'

'...If you ever happen to step foot into our line of work, Sergeant, remember this golden rule: always take special care of someone who hits beginner's luck.'

'...Why's that?'

'Because once someone tastes that sweetness, they can never forget it. Especially people who have achieved massive success in other fields... they can never pull themselves out of gambling addiction. If you nurture that kind of customer properly, you can make a fortune off them.'

'Wouldn't high achievers have plenty of capital, though? Even if they lose, they can afford to claw it back since they have deep pockets.'

'The greater their success in life, the less familiar they are with hitting a wall called defeat. They don't know how to judge whether they can break through that wall or if they should cut their losses and walk away. That's why their natural instinct is to double down and charge headfirst into the abyss...'

'Look at you, a certified psychology professor of the tables... So what you're saying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is, the more accomplished the person, the easier it is to hook them?'

'Precisely, Sergeant. In industry terms, we call them a "sucker".'

'You little punk...'

...And that sucker...

Was standing right before my eyes.

Cheonma...

Gacha was far more sinister than ordinary gambling.

Welcome to the world of suckers.

Once she started borrowing coins from me on credit, she would be wrapped around my finger for the rest of her life. Hitting that rainbow banner was truly a divine stroke of tactical genius. Once ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she's done rolling, I'll take my sweet time checking what epic loot I actually got.

Clatter—

Cheonma hummed a jaunty little tune as she fed her coins into the slot. Then, eyes wide with feverish anticipation, she gripped the lever, yanked it hard, and stared unblinkingly at the screen.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"THIS IS A SCAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Pure internal energy erupted from every pore of Cheonma's body in a tempestuous shockwave. Her face twisted in apocalyptic rage as she whipped around to glare at me.

I knew it.

Did you think gacha was a charity walk? Not a chance in hell. Total goose egg!