Gacha (2)

Time, was it?

Why would she ask about that?

It couldn't possibly be a date invitation.

"May I ask why you wanted to know my schedule?"

"Ah, it's just that I owe you a debt for saving my life, Mr. Hajun. I wanted to express my gratitude and treat you to a meal."

Ah. So that was it.

Honestly, it was nice to see she hadn't forgotten a debt owed — but somehow, it felt like a burden all the same.

"If it's merely a token of thanks, the thought alone is enough."

At my words, a faint flicker of disappointment crossed Han Gain's face.

Ugh. Even her disappointed face was devastatingly pretty.

Most celebrities wouldn't even be able to hand her their business card.

If Han Gain ever decided to use her beauty as a weapon, I doubted there was a man alive who wouldn't fall for it.

"To be completely honest with you, I was planning to offer my thanks — and also make you a recruitment offer on behalf of my clan."

Oh. A recruitment offer.

Han Gain was from the Seolhwa Clan — one of the Five Great Clans, no less.

Ha. I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the irony of her proposal.

The guy who'd been dumped by his girlfriend and groveled at her feet had grown to the point where one of the Five Great Clans was trying to recruit him!

Ahem. I steadied the trapezius muscles that were trying to creep up my neck and gave her my answer.

"I don't intend to bind myself to any organization just yet. Could I think the offer over and give you my answer later?"

"Oh, of course, of course. I didn't mean to pressure you. Think it over carefully and reach out when you can."

"Yes, I will."

Truthfully, a recruitment offer from one of the Five Great Clans was tempting.

But I didn't think this was the time to attach myself to anyone just yet.

That conviction only deepened the more I came to understand the true power of the Sage trait.

The vessel of my trait isn't something meant to play around within this one country.

It was a vessel meant for the world stage.

If I let myself be drawn in because the Seolhwa Clan's embrace looked cozy right now, I might well end up locking my own shackles in place.

Anyway.

With that, we wrapped up our conversation cleanly — and then got straight to clearing the rest of the dungeon.

We harvested the cores from the fallen goblin golems, each one as good as a mana stone, and then left the hidden stage to return to the original boss room and take down the boss itself.

"Screeech! Screeeech!!"

The boss of this dungeon was a Level 4 goblin priest.

The hidden boss had been Level 10 — so why was the actual dungeon boss only Level 4?

The answer was simple: boss monsters normally spawned at the dungeon's recommended level. The hidden stage had been the anomaly.

In other words, clearing a hidden stage was supposed to be impossible in almost every case. And we had just conquered that insane difficulty.

So when the goblin priest came out flanked by a dozen-odd elite goblins—

Easy. Too easy.

Having faced five hidden bosses, it all felt trivially simple to us.

As a result, sweeping the boss room clean took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠less than five minutes.

Ziiiiing!!

The moment the raid ended, an exit portal materialized in the boss room, and we hurled ourselves — and the unconscious Park Changwon — through it.

FLASH!

A blinding white light swallowed our vision.

Growth earned inside a dungeon was only settled upon leaving through the "exit" portal.

The system message chimed the moment we stepped outside.

Oh!

I had cleared just a single dungeon starting from Level 3 — and managed to level up.

The growth earned from killing the hidden bosses must have been enormous.

Well, I did take down five boss-tier monsters at Level 10. A level-up was only natural.

The euphoria of the level-up washed over me.

Dopamine flooded out of my frontal lobe, and my body trembled with it.

That was when Han Gain blinked at me.

"Did you just level up?"

"Ah, yes."

"Wow! Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

Han Gain.

At first she'd seemed so aloof — was it because we'd crossed the line between life and death together?

Now she was acting remarkably warm toward me, nothing like that first impression.

I suppose the saying is true — looks really are a weapon.

When a woman as beautiful as Han Gain was friendly to you, it put you in a good mood for no reason at all.

Exactly as I'd always said: judge people by their faces first, pretty or handsome.

Oppa! Men need to put effort into their appearance these days too, you know. You were born with that great base face, so why do you just leave it to rot?

Out of nowhere,

the words my ex-girlfriend had once thrown at me flickered through my mind.

It was the first moment I'd ever considered actually putting some effort into my appearance.

But that was a problem for another day.

I pushed aside the idle thoughts and pulled up my status window.

I'd leveled up — time to see how my stats had grown.

Oh!

Checking my status window, I clenched my fist where no one could see.

The stat I'd been longing for — Magic Power — had finally, finally gone up by a single point.

Wow. Without the Sage's Tome, my Magic Power would still be 2 at Level 4.

If this were a game, no trash-tier character could compare. Not even this.

I shook my head at my absurdly slow magic growth.

The desire to complete the Philosopher's Stone as soon as possible smoldered even hotter.

"Great work today, everyone."

We divided the dungeon's loot according to each person's contribution, and that concluded the raid.

They'd suggested running another dungeon together afterward, but I agonized briefly and declined.

Why?

Because with this much gold, solo play is absolutely doable now.

As long as I could stock up on enough mana potions—

On the 1st Floor, I was the emperor. The archmage. A god.

With Mythic-grade Thunderbolt and Sage's Aura, there was nothing to fear.

Forget the impoverished past when I couldn't even afford a lowest-grade mana potion!

I'd earned enough gold now to buy a small home on the Sky Tower's 1st Floor!

I decided to douse myself in mana potions and grind levels at a blistering pace.

And so — team raids ended here!

From now on, it was time to enter SOLO KING mode.

"That's a shame. Well then, once your reward is ready, I'll contact you again soon!"

Han Gain had said she owed me her life and would repay it properly — she'd reach out the moment a reward was prepared.

Honestly.

I'd tried to refuse at first, but when they insisted on giving it anyway, well.

Being one of the Five Great Clans, I was seriously curious what kind of reward they'd actually offer.

Secretly, I was looking forward to it.

But the thing I'm really looking forward to... is this.

Grinning, I pictured the Jewel Cube tucked safely inside my coat.

I had to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get home and open it right away.

What would come out, I wondered?

It was a Legendary Jewel Cube, so the worst case would still be a Hero-grade item or skill.

Preferably something Legendary, if I could be choosy.

I started for home with an excited spring in my step—

—and then suddenly remembered a certain man I'd forgotten all about.

Is that guy okay?

Park Changwon.

The man who'd been seized by greed and met with an unforeseen accident.

He'd suffered injuries severe enough that he'd have died on the spot if not for Han Gain.

We'd shipped him straight off to a treatment center on the 1st Floor the moment we left the dungeon.

How had he fared, I wondered?

A treatment center on the Sky Tower's 1st Floor.

"U-UAAAAAAAH!"

On ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the hospital bed, a man with a bald crown began convulsing violently.

"Ascender Kim! Park Changwon's seizing again!"

"Damn it!"

The healer known as Ascender Kim cast Light of Healing over Park Changwon.

A soft glow!

Gradually, the convulsions subsided.

"Hoo..."

The healer shook his head as he looked down at the man.

"His post-traumatic stress hit him far too hard. His days as an Ascender are over."

Park Changwon.

For indulging his greed, he paid with his retirement from the life of an Ascender.

"Hoo!"

Back home, I filled an empty bowl with water and knelt before it with the solemnity of a pilgrim.

For prayer, of course.

What prayer?

Praying that something good comes out of the Jewel Cube, obviously.

Legendary grade.

And preferably a skill!

Please and thank you!

"I beseech thee!"

The moment I began, Ellaon materialized from the bracelet.

"Tsk, tsk. What an undignified spectacle! Nothing good will come of groveling like that."

"It's the only way I can settle my conscience. Besides, I believe prayers genuinely do get answered."

"Answered, he says! If anything, the jinx will turn what would've been Legendary into Hero grade."

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see about that, won't we?"

Was it just me, or was I getting fired up out of spite now?

It was thanks to my fervent prayers that I'd managed to pull the Sage trait in the first place — did he really not remember that?

At any rate, Ellaon reacted to my behavior with supreme cynicism.

I paid him no mind and kept praying.

Thirty minutes passed like that.

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I set the Jewel Cube down before me.

"Now is the hour to answer my prayers!!"

"Hah. How many times must I tell you? Wishing will not make it so."

I lightly ignored the old man's words.

"Opening!"

I twisted the Jewel Cube and cracked it open.

FLASH!

A cascade of rainbow light poured out of the cube.

The light coiled around my body, spinning a radiant aurora of color behind my back.

"Wow."

Long after it faded, that sight would remain seared into my memory — it was breathtakingly beautiful.

For a moment, it felt as though I had become an angel of light.

I stood there, drunk on the resplendent spectacle, gasping in awe.

And a few moments later,

the colors of the light began to thin and fade.

Something floated gently up before my face — an object wrapped in a translucent membrane.

"Th-this is!"

"...!"

A single card, radiating golden brilliance.

A skill card!!

And a Legendary one at that!!

"M-madness. This actually works?"

"AHAHAHA! I told you it would!!"

I clutched the golden card in both hands and broke into a jubilant dance.

Ellaon stared dumbfounded, his gaze swinging between me and the golden card.

Well, well. So the old man can pull that kind of face too.

"Ah-hem. It seems you were simply born with absurd luck, that is all..."

Ahaha. It's not luck, I'm telling you — it's the power of prayer.

Unable to hold back my laughter, I immediately learned the skill.

Ooooh.

So what could this skill do?

I pulled up the skill information right away and discovered that it detonated a colossal water droplet, dealing massive damage to everything around it.

"This could even combo with Thunderbolt, couldn't it?"

I itched to test Water Bomb in actual combat as soon as possible.

At this rate, I was going to get dungeon addiction.

Holding back the urge to charge straight back into a dungeon that very instant, I used my freshly earned gold to stock up on several bottles of lowest-grade mana potions.

With this, solo dungeon raids were officially GO!

The very next day, the moment dawn broke, I sprinted straight for the Sky Tower—

and pulled off the feat of reaching Level 5.

And with those words—

a small tree materialized before my eyes like a hologram.

It looked strikingly similar to the God Tree on the 1st Floor.

"Wh-what is this? Is that the God Tree?"

"No. This is the World Tree of Pangaea — Yggdrasil."

"...!"

This was Yggdrasil?

The instant I gasped in shock,

waves of golden light began rippling before me, one after another.

The source of those waves was none other than the leaves of Yggdrasil.

Hundreds of them, it seemed, began orbiting slowly around me in perfect, ordered formation.

"From among these, you must choose one."

I'm sorry — I have to choose from these?

Don't tell me this was a gacha too!

Teacher, you distinctly told me that once I reached Level 5 and received my perk, I'd gain something that would temporarily solve my mana premature ejaculation problem, didn't you?

"Indeed. I said precisely that."

Then how am I supposed to know which one will help with it?

Should I just close my eyes and pick at random?

"No. Would I ever let it come to that?"

Ellaon said this with a sly grin.

And then he continued without missing a beat.

"Right now, at this very moment, I may aid you just once more. Use Sage's Sight."

At his words, I activated Sage's Sight immediately — and as Ellaon gave a light snap of his fingers, a cool, tingling freshness washed over both my eyes.

And then—

I could see it.

"Ah!"

The countless engravings hidden behind the golden leaves.

A star, a mountain, a sword, a staff, a river, a sea, a book, a dragon, a demon, an angel...

And even a triangular flask.