Chapter 16
Chapter 16
The Beginning of Legend
Evan stared at the gacha window.
1,736 coins remained.
He had once had over 5,000 coins after killing the hero candidate Leon.
Now this was all that was left.
His chest tightened.
Compared to the beginning, it was still a lot.
But for him, it still wasn’t enough.
I’m hungry.
Give me more coins.
How am I supposed to get them?
He needed too many coins. Far too many.
Biting his lip, he inserted 1 coin.
Click.
“You have failed to learn Fire Breath. Failure.”
“I knew it.”
He kept pressing the button, 1 coin at a time.
Failure.
Failure.
Failure.
Failure.
Failure.
It kept repeating endlessly.
At this rate, all his precious coins would disappear.
This was money earned by sacrificing so much.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
Gacha was truly brutal.
“10 coins!”
Failure.
Failure.
He was going insane. Frustration kept building.
Right. He needed encouragement.
At a time like this, Ria was perfect.
“Ria!”
“Yes, Master!”
She now called him “Master” instead of “young master.”
Good. Very good.
He had trained her well.
“Ria, I need another catalyst for alchemy!”
“A catalyst? Then… my underwear?”
“No! Something bigger!”
“Then… a bra?”
He froze.
That actually sounded convincing.
Why hadn’t he thought of that?
“…Fine. Give me your bra. No, forget going to your room. Right now. This is for saving the world.”
“Yes, Master!”
She obeyed immediately.
A perfect obedient maid with outrageous proportions. A dream combination.
But the bra gave no coins.
A disappointment.
Still, he needed real encouragement.
So he made her wear a party dress and taught her the Zero Two dance.
She picked it up immediately.
Watching her shy movements was strangely effective.
“Good! Yes, that’s it! A little more hip movement!”
Then something unexpected happened.
“You have received encouragement from virgin heroine Ria.”
“50 coins have been obtained.”
This was insane. It actually worked.
“Keep doing the Zero Two.”
Then he tried again.
20 coins.
Failure.
25 coins.
“Success. You have learned Fire Breath.”
“Yes!”
He hugged her.
“Thank you! It’s all thanks to you!”
Heat began gathering in his lower abdomen.
A faint, small flame.
Mana.
He was thrilled.
The word “magic” had finally become real.
But then he realized something.
“…How do I use this?”
He opened the book again.
Still unreadable.
So what if he had a flame inside his body?
He didn’t know how to release it.
“Haah…”
Fire Breath was the most basic spell.
What now?
Right then.
A system window appeared.
“Skill: Magic Skill Substitution (Active).”
“Effect: Replaces skill learning conditions with specific actions.”
“Activation cost: Large coin consumption.”
This was it.
Activating it immediately.
“Do you want to substitute Fire Breath?”
100 coins were consumed.
Substitution condition: “Burning firewood in a stove increases Fire Breath proficiency.”
“Increasing proficiency consumes coins.”
He stared blankly.
Burn firewood to learn magic?
This system was insane.
He had to test it immediately.
“Ria! Go buy firewood. A lot of it!”
“Yes, Master!”
She returned quickly with twenty female mercenaries.
All of them were unusually beautiful.
Why only attractive ones?
He didn’t care anymore.
Time mattered.
Then he noticed something odd.
They were all wearing revealing outfits.
Still, fine.
He paid them small silver coins and collected their undergarments as usual.
Again, no coins were obtained.
But he didn’t care.
He had firewood now.
He threw logs into the stove.
The flames rose.
At that moment, the Fire Breath inside him reacted violently.
It was growing.
His coins decreased steadily.
But he felt exhilarated.
This was magic.
By night, the firewood was gone.
He called more mercenaries.
Two hundred arrived.
Again, all women.
Again, revealing outfits.
Still fine.
He kept feeding the fire.
His mana kept rising.
Then it happened.
A surge exploded within him.
Something broke.
He felt like he was ascending.
“I’ve… done it.”
He had become a 0th-circle mage.
In just three hours.
History had never seen such speed.
He immediately learned the next spell, Flame Spark, through the system.
Then used substitution again.
More coins were consumed.
But he didn’t care anymore.
He threw burning wood into the air like a training exercise, repeatedly.
All night.
Then morning came.
He raised his hand.
“Flame… Burst!”
Flames erupted violently.
The entire courtyard turned to ash in an instant.
Ria fell to her knees behind him, crying.
“Congratulations, Master…!”
“After fifteen years of failure… you have finally awakened…”
The useless “magic trash” Evan was gone.
In just one day.
He had become a 0th-circle mage.
A speed unmatched in the empire’s history.