If I Hit It Here, It's Profit
Farming them for points was pure profit.
Far better than running around and clearing things myself, at least.
A little annoying, sure—but handing out quests wasn't exactly hard work.
After hearing the Goddess out, she'd had a mountain of questions left, but today's session was over. And the Goddess's Daily Word ran a full 2,500 points. Half off today made it 1,250—but starting tomorrow it would be full price. With roughly 45,000 points left, buying one every single day was going to sting.
"Can't I pre-order? I'll take ten at the discount."
Limited-stock items cannot be reserved for purchase.
"Just do it."
Limited-stock items cannot be reserved for purchase.
"You a parrot?"
Limited-stock items cannot be reserved for purchase.
"……"
Looks like she'd locked in the bit hard. Lea shook her head at the stubborn old hag's messages and turned to browse the QP Shop listings.
Whatever else, she'd been handed a status window. Annoying as it was, there was zero reason not to use it.
"If I've got it, I'm using it."
It wasn't free, either—every point had been scraped together by dumping quests on the heroes. She was going to wring every last drop out of the system.
"Buy Cola."
Discount applied! 2 QP deducted.
Remaining Points:45,838
"The point-five a freebie?"
The old hag was impossible to like, but she wasn't completely inflexible. Or maybe she just couldn't be bothered with the math.
Lea plucked the red cola can that had dropped out of thin air. Three hundred years since she'd last seen a drink like this. Her past-life memories were hazy now, but her hands still knew exactly how to crack the tab.
Pssst!
Cool fizz hissed out; dark carbonation bubbled inside. She watched it for a beat, then took a sip.
Gulp. Gulp.
"Sweet."
Had cola always tasted this good? She'd thought prickly-pear juice was junk-food enough and plenty tasty—but real junk food still won. Three centuries later, that cola beat every drink she'd had since reincarnating. Honestly, five points for one little can had felt steep…
Hic.
"Yeah. Totally worth it."
This much, she could accept. She crushed the already-empty can in her grip; compressed aluminum dropped into the trash.
"Buy ten Colas, ten Ciders."
Discount applied! 20 QP deducted.
Discount applied! 20 QP deducted.
Remaining Points:45,798
"They only sell the small ones? No 1.5-liter bottles?"
Whether that was the Goddess's sales strategy or something she'd simply missed, the only size on offer was the 350 ml can.
"Oh. Cider's good."
Cola had been great, but cider was every bit as delicious. In under five minutes she'd drained all twenty cans, then bought and tried the other drinks one by one. Everything beat prickly-pear juice—but cola and cider still sat at the top.
"Should I stock up?"
Once today ended, the fifty-percent discount was gone. Buying early was the smart play.
"Buy five hundred Colas, five hundred Ciders."
Discount applied! 1,000 QP deducted.
Discount applied! 1,000 QP deducted.
Remaining Points:43,706
A thousand cans materialized in midair. She stacked them neatly into a small subspace box—an artifact from the Magic Kingdom whose internal mana kept everything chilled, ready to drink cold whenever she wanted.
Beyond the drinks, she ordered food one item at a time and tried it all. Even the eight- and nine-hundred-point steaks and lobsters couldn't match the punch of cola and cider.
"…Tastes about the same as what I've already been eating."
Maybe she'd just had too many rare delicacies over the years. The expensive stuff wasn't particularly better. Not bad—just not worth the points.
"Mmm."
Ah—but the seasoned fried chicken was good. They had chicken here too, but nothing could touch that particular flavor and the memories that came with it.
And so the shopping binge rolled on. Before she knew it, five hours had passed.
"Huh."
Remaining Points:36,510
Nearly seven thousand points, gone in a blink.
"I barely bought anything?"
She'd eaten a few pricey dishes, sure—but factor in the fifty-percent discount and that was fourteen thousand points spent. And yes, the seasoned chicken had been good enough that she'd ordered about a hundred birds.
What am I supposed to do if it doesn't fill me up?
This QP Shop was not dragon-friendly in the slightest. If she got another chance to talk to the Goddess tomorrow, she was demanding a dragon-sized ultra mega seasoned chicken be added to the menu.
"Food's done. Next… gacha?"
─ F-Rank Random Box — 500 QP
─ E-Rank Random Box — 1,000 QP
─ D-Rank Random Box — 2,000 QP
─ C-Rank Random Box — 4,000 QP
· · ·
─ EX-Rank Random Box — 500,000 QP
True to a gacha-addict old hag, only the random boxes glittered in the list, practically begging to be selected. Ranks ran from F all the way up to EX. She had no idea what came out of them—but given the Goddess's love of gacha, they wouldn't have been slapped together carelessly. She'd probably cackled the whole time while building them with deadly seriousness.
Ideally Lea would ignore the boxes entirely and leave the expectant old hag looking crestfallen…
But I still need that ultra mega seasoned chicken added.
For the chicken's sake, she could at least pretend to pull a few.
"Maybe just one."
Purchase an F-Rank Random Box?
The odds of a good item from an F-Rank Random Box are extremely low! Purchase anyway?
"Yep."
Discount applied! 250 QP deducted.
Remaining Points:36,260
A white box tied with a brown ribbon descended from the air. The moment she untied it, a drumroll thundered and the box burst open with ridiculous fanfare.
All that noise for a single F-rank pull? Everything else got tossed at her like garbage, and this was the one thing they'd polished. Absurd—but she watched anyway.
You obtained a Netflix 7-Day Pass!
"…Oh?"
She caught the white slip of paper fluttering down. Inside was the familiar red logo she remembered from her past life. A Netflix pass meant…
Shop Price:2,000 QP
"…Four times the value?"
Base cost of the box was five hundred points, and she'd pulled a two-thousand-point item. Pure profit, right?
"…Mmm. No. They might've juiced the first pull on purpose."
Sales tactic. Classic sales tactic. Soften you up with a good first pull, then vacuum the rest of your points. Obvious. Transparent.
Did they really think she'd fall for that?
"You're so pathetic I'll fall for it one more time."
Purchase an E-Rank Random Box?
The odds of a good item from an E-Rank Random Box are fairly low! Purchase anyway?
"Yep."
Discount applied! 500 QP deducted.
Remaining Points:35,760
Another box dropped the instant she bought. Same ribbon color family as the F-rank. This time it would be a dud for sure…
You obtained Review Service!
Thud.
"?"
Shop Price:5,000 QP
"…Five times?"
Last time fourfold, this time five? And it was practically custom-built for her. Buy a fifty-point meal, get the five-point drink free—basically a permanent ten-percent food discount for someone planning to live on seasoned chicken. No expiration, either. Permanent use.
She folded her arms, thought it over, then looked up at the ceiling.
"…For reeeal?"
Was the system just that generous? Or was she just that lucky?
……
"It's the flow!"
This was a hot streak! Miss the ride and she'd regret it for sure. Tomorrow the boxes might spit nothing but duds and trash. She had to settle this today, while the discount was live.
Roughly thirty-five thousand points left. The best random box she could afford right now was SS-rank.
Purchase an SS-Rank Random Box?
The odds of a good item from an SS-Rank Random Box are high. Purchase?
"Yep!"
Discount applied! 32,000 QP deducted.
Remaining Points:3,760
Thud.
A distinctly luxurious box, bound in a golden ribbon, arrived in front of her. She'd gone broke in an instant—but it didn't matter. She could just dump more quests on the heroes and earn the points back, and besides…
"If I hit it here, it's profit."
A tenfold pull from this and she'd come out way ahead. The SS-rank box's full price was 64,000 points—she'd already pocketed a 32,000-point discount just by buying it today.
She set the SS-rank box on the bed and carefully untied the ribbon.
"Come on out! Broken OP item!"
Flash!
"Ooooh! What an incredible li—"
Creeeak…
The next day.
In the corridor outside Lea's room, two disciples who had been waiting with their hearts in their throats snapped their heads down the moment the door opened.
"L-Lea-nim!"
"We're truly sorry. We failed to consider your feelings, and we—huh?"
"……"
Haring and Nya-nya froze.
If Lea came out of her room, they'd expected one of two reactions.
Rage—or disappointment.
That had been the pattern through yesterday, and even if the anger cooled, those disappointed eyes would still be waiting. So they'd stayed in the hallway, ready to beg forgiveness. But Lea's expression was something else entirely.
"…Old hag. Damn old hag. Hundred-million-year-old hag."
"L-Lea-nim? Are you all right?"
"What's that doll?"
"…Should've just bought a bunch of C and D ranks… but if I hit SS, it's still profit, right?"
"Lea-nim?"
Whatever she was so bitter about, Lea kept muttering under her breath. Her face was deadly serious—and completely at odds with the unbearably cute pink rabbit plush she was hugging to her chest. A carefully made, rather high-quality rabbit doll.
Noticing their stares, Lea spoke as if it were nothing.
"The old hag gave it as a gift. Cute, right?"
"Uh—y-yes, it's cute…"
"Yep. Cute. That's it."
Heh heh.
Lea laughed for a long while, then looked up at the two of them with a sly little smile.
"You liked quests, right?"
"Pardon?"
"Go earn me some points. Now."