Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Hero Candidate Leon
For a mage, producing fire is the most basic act.
Controlling flame is difficult for ordinary people, but for a mage it is simply the most fundamental expression of mana.
Of course…
That excludes Evan, the pathetic “mana premature discharge” type mage whose original body I now inhabited.
But even without such useless mana circuits, an ordinary human can still produce fire.
That is the essence of modern capitalism.
Click. Fsssh.
Lyria, despite not being a mage, was handling fire.
I looked at her with a strangely gentle gaze.
“Lyria. You do not need a job.”
“But my lord… at this rate we cannot even maintain the magic faculty expenses.”
“I told you already. Instead of wasting time earning pocket change, we must prepare for the coming apocalypse. Stay by my side and act only as my alchemy assistant.”
Good thing the system window is invisible to others.
I reached into empty air.
There was still a trace of doubt lingering in Lyria’s mind.
I had to erase it.
Only then could she become the perfect assistant.
A tool that obeys any command.
System. Open the gacha window.
Current coins: 260c
My chest hurt.
It really hurt.
It felt worse than losing seven million won worth of coins I had painfully saved.
Originally it should have been 460 coins.
But 200 were forcibly consumed earlier when I peeked at the hero’s future during the plaza incident.
The system is garbage.
Still, coins are not earned by saving them.
You spend to earn.
Money makes money.
“Lyria.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Now witness an alchemy that no one in this world can replicate.”
A proper audience.
Proper materials.
Time to impress the gullible.
“Watch closely. You will see the world differently.”
Sometimes quality doesn’t matter.
Quantity does.
Now was one of those times.
One-coin gacha.
Click. Click. Click.
With dazzling effects, items began raining from empty space inside the ruined house.
[F-rank: Chocolate Set]
[F-rank: Cream Bread Set]
[F-rank: Instant Ramen Cup Set]
[FAIL!]
[F-rank: Turbo Lighter Set]
[F-rank: Pistol and Ammo Box]
[F-rank: Polaroid Camera]
[F-rank: Sunglasses]
[F-rank: Basic Cosmetics]
[FAIL!]
[E-rank: Healing Potion]
[E-rank: Holy Water]
[F-rank: Jajangmyeon Set]
[F-rank: Ramen Set]
[F-rank: Tuna Can Set]
[F-rank: Snack Set]
Items piled up on the table.
I wanted to continue, but coins were too precious.
I stopped.
There was no mana fluctuation.
Nothing mystical.
Just matter being created and dropping from nowhere.
“H-Hah…!”
Lyria covered her mouth with both hands.
Her silver-blue eyes widened as if they would pop out.
Truly a beautiful maid.
Even a sword expert’s senses could not comprehend this divine phenomenon.
Creation ex nihilo.
Ancient alchemy manifesting before her eyes.
“L-Lord…! Congratulations…! I beg forgiveness for ever doubting you…!”
“Not lord. Say ‘master’. I like that better.”
At my calm smile, she flushed red and collapsed face-first onto the floor.
“Yes, master!”
Good.
Perfect trust established.
System notice appeared.
Lyria’s affection changed: +35 → +50
+15 coins obtained
Nice.
Now to put her to work.
“Lyria. Where is my younger sister?”
“You mean Lady Sylia? She has entered the Holy Faculty of the Academy as top student in the healing department.”
“What? She’s at the academy too?”
I stopped myself.
Right.
Sylia hates Evan.
Of course she wouldn’t travel with him.
“And why is she not staying in the same house?”
“Lady Sylia purchased a luxury estate in the capital using her savings for dignity expenses. Meanwhile, my lord spent his funds on gambling dens… and alchemy materials.”
Ah.
So the sister lives in a penthouse while the brother lives in a dump.
Classic Evan.
“Lyria. Your next mission is clear. Retrieve a second material for saving the world.”
“Yes, master!”
“Go to Sylia’s estate. Offer to help with laundry due to manpower shortage… and bring me her underwear. All of it. It must be worn.”
“…Pardon?”
Lyria froze.
“As I said before. The world’s destruction is tied to catalysts containing residual mana of the ‘pillars’. Sylia is one of them. Collect everything. Even the maids’ underwear.”
If we’re doing this anyway, might as well go all in.
Even I felt a faint sense of self-disgust.
But also…
Was this… efficient?
Lyria swallowed hard.
Then nodded solemnly.
“I understand. I will complete this sacred alchemy mission.”
She pulled out a turbo lighter.
This version was different.
More advanced.
Flame roared instantly.
“I will carry out your divine will, even if it stains my soul!”
I had no idea how my nonsense was being interpreted as scripture, but at least it worked.
“Good. Let’s eat ramen first.”
I opened the instant ramen.
Lyria trembled.
“It burns! My lips… my tongue…!”
“You can’t handle spice?”
“But it is delicious!”
Days later…
Lyria returned from the noble estate infiltration.
She brought more loot.
This time, tuna cans and jajangmyeon.
She devoured them without stopping.
“This… is the essence of alchemy…”
I stored Sylia’s underwear and others into my inventory.
A total of 225 coins gained.
I muttered quietly.
“Still no hidden heroines…”
Time passed.
The duel approached.
Then it happened.
Swoosh.
A shadow slipped through the window.
A man wearing a grotesque bone mask.
An assassin.
I almost reached for a weapon, but he knelt instantly.
“I have completed the request.”
He placed a heavy bundle on the floor and vanished.
Lyria drew her dagger.
Too late.
Gone.
“…An elite assassin. I would not survive a direct fight.”
“What the hell did he bring?”
I untied the bundle.
And froze.
Underwear.
Pantyhose.
A mountain of them.
127 pairs of underwear.
79 pairs of stockings.
“What the actual hell.”
Then realization hit me.
Evan’s original setting.
A degenerate who paid criminals to collect women’s underwear.
“Just how much money did you waste… you absolute trash…”
But as I stored them into the system—
A notification appeared.
[Sylia’s underwear x10 → 250 coins]
[Iliana’s underwear x10 → 250 coins]
[Other items: no value]
“…What.”
500 coins.
Total gain exceeded 700 coins.
Evan…
I take back everything I said.
You are still trash.
But you saved my life.
“System. 50 coins.”
[FAIL!]
Again.
[50 coins used.]
[C-rank item: Scroll Synthesizer (1 use)]
Useless.
Remaining: 612 coins.
I clenched my teeth.
“All-in.”
Gacha.
A rainbow explosion.
Golden particles filled the room.
Then—
[UR rank obtained: One-person spatial teleport scroll]
UR.
But…
A teleport scroll?
No attack.
No defense.
Just movement.
And it required a target.
Useless in a duel where the opponent won’t stand still.
Still…
I stared at my inventory.
Then an idea formed.
[B-rank item: Banana peel that guarantees slip for a specific target]
[UR item: Teleport scroll]
If I combine them…
If everything works…
I might turn a 99.999999% death into a 0.000001% miracle.
And for the first time since arriving in this world…
I smiled.