Gacha Jackpot
Even until the moment the gacha hit big, I couldn't fully believe it. But after seeing her actually hand out twenty silver coins to Yeonhee, I found myself looking back at the faces of the people who had been on this team. Twenty silver wasn't much—only a few tens of thousands of won—but for some it could be a full day's wages. Earning that much from a single hour-long fight was a solid haul if nothing else. Just watching the corners of Yeonhee's mouth curl upward as she fiddled with the silver jingling in her pockets was proof enough.
"Alright, let's wrap it up. Everyone worked hard..."
With the nameless leader's closing remark, the hunters scattered like the tide going out. We slipped away as well, choosing a direction no one else had taken. After walking for about five minutes we reached a clearing, and Yeonhee sat down.
"We did pretty well this time, didn't we? Felt kinda pro, right?"
...In what way?
I had no idea what she was talking about, but my head was already nodding enthusiastically.
"I mean, we got thrown in like mercenaries, but we still protected people and everything! We even got applause and recognition for our contribution, so we received a share of the loot too. Hehe—"
It still didn't connect to anything "pro" in my mind, but I roughly understood the feeling she was chasing.
Helping people in a tangible way and getting fairly compensated. That must be the picture Yeonhee wants.
There was a certain fun in slowly learning more about her, so I kept nodding along.
"But if you get too carried away with stuff like this, you might come off as arrogant. Time to get back to our real work, Ilwol."
In the end, isn't it still just beating up goblins?
There were plenty of openings for a retort, but I let it go. By the time we exited the dungeon we had taken down another twenty-five goblins, bringing our total earnings for the day close to three hundred thousand won. I also managed to level up once more.
To maintain balance I added points to Strength and Mana, and for the first time invested in Recovery as well. Our maximum stats had risen and our teamwork was improving, which meant longer fights; I felt we needed faster recovery for both stamina and mana.
The Recovery stat restores five points per hour. It might seem like a small return for the investment, but we rarely fought back-to-back, and five points an hour would be noticeable during travel.
After briefly stepping into the Dark Space and returning, I saw her hugging Wangwang and rubbing her face against him while he greeted me.
"Okay—today's earnings were the best we've had except for the day we got the rune, so this big sis is in a great mood, you two. Hehehet—"
Wangwang—!!
Clack clack clack!!
"To celebrate, today we're going to unbox an Ancient Summoning Scroll~ Hehe, actually I was planning to open it today anyway."
Ooh, finally. Does that mean we'll get to see a summon higher than us?
Yeonhee touched the brown scroll she had manifested in her hand.
Ancient Gray-Brown Summoning Scroll — A tome of summoning created by the first summoner to call forth beasts from another world. — Has a very slim chance of summoning a mid-tier beast.
Oh— so the default is low-tier, and sometimes you hit the jackpot with a mid-tier one?
"Whew— Honestly, I'm a little nervous too."
Yeonhee stretched her arms far behind her, then began chanting while following the characters written on the scroll with her eyes. After some time, a small flower bud began to bloom a few steps away from us.
"Whoa! Is it a flower?"
Having finished the chant, Yeonhee joined me in staring at the bud that had sprouted from the ground, its light-green and pale-pink hues blending beautifully.
Whirrr—
Something inside the bud made a mysterious sound and cautiously extended what looked like antennae. Then it suddenly shot upward.
Parararak—
"Waaah... That's..."
What is that? A bee?
A palm-sized winged insect flew up, wobbling through a few loops before heading straight toward us. It had a round, plump body with several dragonfly-like wings on its back—an oddly familiar yet strangely alien creature.
Hovering in place about thirty centimeters in front of Yeonhee, it gave a shy little bow.
(It is an honor to meet you, Master. My name is 'Ran'.)
—!!
"Kyaa!! I-it talks? I can hear it directly in my head! Whoa! D-don't tell me?! A spirit from another world? Is it a spirit? Oh my gosh, this is huge!"
Good grief... Suddenly it's a spirit? Does that mean we beat those ridiculous odds?
Even the lowest-ranking spirit probably wouldn't be classified as low-tier. It seemed we had truly gotten lucky and summoned a mid-tier beast, just as the scroll had promised.
(So that is how we are referred to in this world. I have noted it. Whenever you call, 'Ran' will fly to you without hesitation. Please use me as you see fit.)
Parararak—
Buzzzz—
At first I thought it was some kind of insect, but up close its plump body resembled a slightly chubbier sparrow. Its wings beat so fast, like a hummingbird's, that it looked perfectly suited for hovering.
"Uwaaah, no... My mana..."
Still too much for her, huh.
A mid-tier summon was too high-grade for an F-rank hunter below level twenty to maintain. Ran nodded as if understanding and flew back toward the portal it had emerged from.
(Master, it seems I must return after only greeting you today. I shall eagerly await our next meeting.)
(Ah, my fellow summons. I hope to see you again once you have grown stronger. Until then.)
With those words, Ran dissolved into particles of light before the portal and vanished.
Cute-looking little guy, but that formal speech is hilarious. Being able to communicate telepathically means it's definitely no weak summon.
"Haaah, I'm exhausted...!!"
Thud—
Yeonhee collapsed on the spot as if all strength had left her.
"It's tiny, but the mana cost is no joke... This is bad."
Just wait. There's a pretty decent artifact in the Big Boar Dungeon.
"But seriously, even a mid-tier summon costs this much? That's insane! And it's a support type too!"
"Tak—"
Support?! Really?! We hit the jackpot!
"The wind spirit 'Ran'... So higher-grade summons are born with names? Its specialty is the skill [Acceleration]... and it even has an area buff trait?! It raises allies' Agility by five within its range!"
"Clack clack clack!!"
That's ridiculous!! We just won the lottery—!!
Kyahahaha—!!
Yeonhee jumped up, grabbed my hand, and spun around in circles, shouting with joy. Then—
[Hey, could you keep it down?!]
"Eek... Shh— shh— It says to be quiet, Ilwol."
We immediately held our breath and dropped flat against the floor at the irritated shout from next door. Suppressed giggles—
Still in that position, Yeonhee laughed for a long while before clenching her fist and speaking.
"I really want to go into a dungeon right now, Ilwol. Next time we'll raise our rank to E... and boost our mana too. Whew— we've got a lot to do."
Nod—
Yeonhee kept chattering about future plans for a while after that, and even though I'd heard it all before, I responded enthusiastically.
"Hoo— I've still got one more Gray Summoning Scroll. Should I open this one too?"
"Clack clack clack!"
She fiddled with the scroll she had received from the level-up, debating whether to break her usual routine of one summon per day.
When the momentum is good, you should strike, right?
"Alright! Let's do it."
Woooom—
Her chant, carried on a beautiful voice, began to fill the space. Another small portal opened, and something started crawling out.
Ah...
"Ahang!"
Swish swish—
The jelly-like, light-green amorphous creature was a slime.
(......)
It couldn't communicate, of course, and began slowly sliding toward Yeonhee.
"C-can I touch it?"
With an "up we go," Yeonhee lifted the slime—which was small enough to fit in both hands—into her arms.
Squish—
"Whoa... It's so squishy— The texture is... really fun."
Wanting back-to-back jackpots was probably asking for too much.
From my perspective—someone who possessed all the traits and skills of slimes—it was inevitably disappointing. If even a lowest-tier summon of a different type had appeared, we might have been able to create some synergy.
"Still, let's try taking it along. And while I was touching it, I had a thought—couldn't we use this one for defense?"
"Clack clack clack!"
When Yeonhee said that, a fragment of memory clicked into place. I recalled her wrapping a slime around her arm to block a monster's attack.
Since it has high resistance to physical attacks... theoretically it's possible, but in reality only Yeonhee can actually control the slime.
A defensive method only she could use. And just like in her previous life, she had come up with the same idea this time.
"Hehe— Should we try practicing right now? Hmm— First we need to give it a name. What should we call it?"
Squish squish—