Time to grow (7)
Lost~
"Aaaaaaagh-!"
Thud-
I had been standing back with my arms crossed, watching Cheonma immerse herself in a psychological battle with the machine to secure a large amount of Gacha Coins. When the machine announced she had lost, she slammed her fist into it and screamed. I just shook my head and stepped down from the machine.
It was a GOD-tier item, after all; it wasn't about to break just because the strongest being in the human realm threw a tantrum.
I could only imagine the shock of the strongest in the human realm—someone who had lived without knowing defeat—being beaten repeatedly by a mere object, not even a living creature.
"Temper, temper... I’d say, but she’s been praised as the best her whole life. This is probably her first time being toyed with by a thing. I can see why she’s so addicted to the Gacha."
It reminded me of the anti-gambling education sessions we used to have, where they’d warn us about the dangers of addiction and tell us not to start betting because once you lose, you might not be able to stop. I chuckled to myself as I stepped away from the machine and spotted Judang sitting nearby, legs tucked in, fingers interlaced over her knees, head bowed low.
Judang, why are you being so pathetic over there...
I walked over to her slowly.
I reached her and silently stroked her bowed head.
Then, a voice filled with gloom drifted up from her.
"Is it... foolish of me to be like this, when I claim to believe in the Buddha, Little Hero...?"
"..."
From the tone of her voice, I could guess the state of her heart.
Judang...
She’d been crushed by consecutive losses in the Gacha game.
Wait, come to think of it...
Consecutive losses... did that remind me of a junior from back in the day?
That junior was... unique. Despite being the grandson of a major conglomerate owner, he’d insisted on fulfilling his military service.
We never stood night guard together, but I remembered him because he was the grandson of a defense contractor who’d made some legendary remarks. One day in summer, when the rain was pouring down, he was told by the sergeant to dig a drainage ditch with a pickaxe while wearing a poncho that reeked of rot. He’d told the sergeant to his face, "The military is barbaric, and so are the officers." The sergeant, absolutely livid, had him transferred to another unit. That’s why I remembered him so well.
From then on, we called him "Military Junior." Whenever something went wrong in the unit, or when the officers gave us busywork on our weekends off, we’d joke with the other seniors and juniors, "Military Junior, winning streak!"
Heh-
"Waaaaaah!"
Noticing the suppressed laughter, Judang wailed even more sorrowfully.
Oh, come on... it’s not because of you.
I tried to soothe her, feeling a bit guilty.
"...Why are you doing this, Little Hero..."
"..."
Wait a minute.
Look at this. She’s not actually crying. She’s pretending.
There’s no real emotion behind the tears. Her voice doesn't have that telltale tremor.
I was going to share some coins, but motion denied, Judang.
Where did you learn to act like that!
Huh!?
Do you think Sergeant Kim, who spent his holidays binge-watching every drama in existence, is that easy to fool!?
It’s time to show her the wisdom of Sergeant Kim, the man who could manufacture proverbs out of pure experience.
Judang looked up at me without a word. I held her gaze for a moment, then sat down right beside her.
I opened my mouth, my voice gentle.
"You know, Judang?"
"...Little Hero?"
"If the Buddha shows up whenever you want, is that really the Buddha? I believe the true Buddha is the one who arrives exactly when you’re in real danger."
"...Exactly when I need to be found...?"
"I think those kinds of beings show up when you’re in a moment of dramatic peril. The gods I knew... and the Buddha you believe in, too. As you can see, the Gacha... you’ve lost repeatedly, but you aren’t in any real danger, are you?"
"..."
She frowned, not quite understanding. I pointed to the darkened sky and continued.
"Look at that sky. It’s so dark you can’t see a thing, right?"
"That is true... I see nothing."
"Exactly. The path of the Gacha is like that—you have to move forward without being able to see an inch in front of you. All while praying that you’re on the right track."
"...?"
"They might show up dramatically even if we fall into despair... but they might not come at all. And then..."
"And then...?"
"Then the weak one, me, will be the first to die."
"N-no...! You dying! That’s...!"
Judang’s eyes went wide, startled by the thought of me dying.
I stood up, looking down at her.
"You don’t like that? Then... stop moping and get up."
"...Little Hero...?"
"My ability, Gacha, is even more volatile than 'seven parts luck, three parts effort.' Even if you try your absolute hardest, it’s a coin toss. You saw it yourself. The absurd abilities. I even gave up the chance to grow quickly, aiming to grow alongside my comrades. Don't just wait for the Buddha to show up... believe in your own luck, thinking that you will hit the jackpot. So... diligently collect coins and challenge the Gacha. That’s the only way to protect it. The connection between you and me."
Damn it-!
Cheonma’s voice, filled with annoyance, echoed from the machine at the same time as the final part of my sentence.
Pfft!
Heh heh heh heh
Judang, who had been listening intently, turned bright red—just like Cheonma had a moment ago—and a nosebleed erupted from her. I don't know what she was thinking.
Like Cheonma, she quickly pressed a pressure point to stop the bleeding.
What is she thinking about...
What is she muttering?
"...The connection... between you and me... a child...?"
???
Excuse me?
A child?
You erotic-delusion monk!
What are you thinking about!
It seemed Judang, filled with erotic delusions, had misheard me and fallen into her own fantasy.
I need to bring her back to reality, fast...
"And besides, the Gacha... it contains the ultimate liquor you desire. I think it’s safe to say your future lies in the Gacha."
"Little Hero!?!!!! Is that true!?"
At the mention of "ultimate liquor," Judang’s eyes, looking up at me, sparkled.
"Does that strange object really... really, really, really, really, really produce the ultimate liquor!?"
"...Yeah. I’m telling you, it does. If you want it, it’ll come out. Someday. So collect your coins and pull. The most important thing when challenging the Gacha... is an unyielding heart."
"...The most important thing... is an unyielding heart..."
...
I’d seen clearly how Judang would get tipsy and start acting like a drunkard after just one glass. Seeing her eyes sparkle at the mention of ultimate liquor, I knew she’d make a great sucker.
Go ahead, keep building up my mileage.
Ding-
A system sound rang in my ears, and a hologram appeared before me.
Quest: You’ve been deeply discouraged! Receive comfort from a comrade (1/1)
Details: You have received comfort from a comrade with an unyielding heart.
Reward: 100 Gacha Coins granted.
Huh? What is this... quest hologram?
Wait, don't tell me... Judang... did you... act just now to clear this quest?
No... I guess she really was discouraged when she stepped down from the machine earlier...
Still, it’s a bit devious that she didn't tell me there was a quest.
She was building up to this?
Judang’s voice, driving a wedge into the shocking reality, reached me.
"I... I did it..."
".....What?"
"Little Hero... by any chance... can you see my information?"
"No, I can't? Did something pop up on your system?"
I feigned ignorance, asking her what had happened while denying her claim.
"Well... thanks to you, Little Hero, I overcame the trial of the 'Quest' and obtained coins!"
"Thanks to me? What was the quest about?"
I was... the sucker...
They say if no one else is the sucker, then you’re the sucker... that saying was spot on.
Experience is terrifying.
I was shocked to realize that the person I thought was the sucker—Judang—wasn't the sucker at all; I was. As Judang stood up, I heard her muttering something under her breath.
"For... the child... with the Little Hero... I will try my best to spin the Gacha..."
??????
Judang, you just said something quietly... what was that?
"Judang, what did you say?"
"O-oh, it’s nothing! Little Hero! Anyway, I’m going to challenge it again with these 100 coins I got from overcoming the trial of the quest!"
"...That’s a great mindset, Judang!"
Right. You shouldn't be discouraged like that.
I patted Judang on the back, then raised my hand and pointed toward the heroes at the machine.
"...Little Hero?"
"Let’s go. Let’s go announce Judang’s return."
"Understood!"
I watched Judang, excited and wiggling her hips, as she climbed back onto the machine, and I fell into thought.
If a quest occurred without me knowing, it meant... I had no idea what quests were being given to the hero comrades once they were a certain distance away from me. I’d confirmed that through Judang today.
This is a variable... no, wait, I can use this.
Since they’ll keep getting coins through quests like that... there’s no reason for me to bother figuring out the quest details myself.
The heroes will have no choice but to rely on me, the expert in this field (?), so if they need something, they’ll come and ask.
And if they don't, I can just go near them and drop a few hints like advice, and someone will surely bite.
I suddenly remembered a famous quote from a teacher: "If five or more humans gather, there is always one piece of trash."
Applying that... there was a high probability that among these six heroes, at least one was the type to spend coins as fast as they earned them, since getting 100 coins a day was easy.
The most likely candidate was Cheonma.
People like Cheonma, who are particularly sincere about Gacha and obsessed with it, are very easy to turn into slaves of debt.
I’ll lend them my own coins to make them challenge the Gacha... and since it’s hard to hit the jackpot with an overwhelming number of coins, they’ll keep borrowing from me to try again.
Of course, if they do hit a big jackpot, I’ll just encourage them to leverage it even further.
Cheonma is such a pushover, she’ll fall for it easily... Cheonma is first-class in martial arts, but third-class in Gacha.
Among them... Lancelot, who handed over 3,000 coins to me without any ulterior motives, was the only one I suspected would diligently save coins.
Like a salaryman’s paycheck... she was the type to save coins 100 by 100, looking at the large sum with satisfaction and finding joy in it.
To make them take on debt under the guise of helping comrades who have no coins... I’ll have to keep checking the status of the comrades’ coins.
Should I climb onto the machine too?
Our Cheonma... she should be at zero coins by now.
#!%!###$!###%@@@@
!##$#%!&^&%%&@#$!
#%!#@!
!%^!!
As I followed Judang up, the voices of the heroes reached my ears.
As expected.
When I got on the machine, I saw the heroes bickering, unable to help themselves.
"Hey! Why are you coming back up? You don't even have any coins!"
"The Little Hero lent them to me!"
"W-what? R-really? T-then me too..."
"I’m joking. I received a trial from that existence called 'System' earlier, and these are the coins I got from overcoming it. But... Cheonma, you only have one coin left, don't you... shouldn't you prepare to step down?"
"....Grrr! Don't make me laugh!"
Tap-
Cheonma pressed the machine’s button hard.
Lost~
Naturally, she lost her composure and lost.
"Ugh, come on, let me win and earn some coins!"
"Hehehe! Who knows? Maybe if you go and fawn over the Little Hero, he’ll share some coins?"
"Why would I ever do something like that!"
"Then stop whining and move! After the other heroes are done, I have to challenge it again! To try without even that much effort and mindset! You fool!"
Judang, look at her? Cheonma fawning over me...?
Huh? This is a possibility.
Wait a second...
I can use this...
I’ll pretend I can’t win and lend coins to Cheonma, naturally making her fall into debt?
Oh... thank you, Judang?
Cheonma, who had ended up in the same boat as Judang—kicked off because she had zero coins—was walking away, dejected, when she made eye contact with me as I climbed up.
!
Pitter-patter pitter-patter
Cheonma, having locked eyes with me, widened her eyes and trotted over to me as if happy to see me.
And then...
Cheonma, who had approached me, fidgeted, unable to meet my eyes, looking shy, and opened her mouth.
.
..
...
"U-um... so... c-coins, please..."
Aha...
You’ve finally come to me.
Cheonma.
No...
I love you ♥, my favorite sucker.