A Single Pebble Tossed into the Pond
After Lim Sarang disappeared, nothing much happened.
"Are you people insane? Do you have any idea how much I've already spent? It needs to come out, and soon."
Pulling an SS-grade option was no easy thing. It was day four, and not a single one had shown itself. An S had flashed up once in the middle, but it wasn't even a special option, and it vanished so fast I never saw what it was.
"Ha."
"I'll go next week's."
"Ha..."
Spending days on end at the roll was familiar by now. I was, after all, someone who had already cleared one towering wall just to get in, starting from the class draw itself. The boredom, though, was another matter. Even so, a virtual reality that felt like the real world beat a world made of nothing but class-draw cards. Between pulls I ate, loafed around the house, and killed time on movies screening inside Haven.
And yet the viewers only kept climbing. My average concurrent count had risen to around two hundred thousand, but three hundred thousand was probably people tuning in on the hope that a four-star SS option was about due.
"Three hundred thousand people thinking, yeah, it's about time it drops."
Even rolling only ten hours a day on average meant 7,200 option pulls. An SS ought to show up at least once. Of course, probability being what it was, it wouldn't be strange if one never appeared at all.
"Sigh. That's just my luck."
Still, there was a pleasure in window-shopping the options. Someone had caught an S-grade option flashing by for a split second on the replay, screenshotted it, and posted it to the community.
From four stars up, the options that stuck weren't just excellent. The numbers themselves ran high. Even most respectable four-star users had apparently never seen this one, and they couldn't hide their awe.
Even so, it was an option that had scrolled past in five seconds, and I didn't particularly regret it. If Magic Penetration had come up at SS, I might have felt a sting. I would have kept rolling anyway. I didn't think I needed to chase any more damage options here. Raw damage has its moments, of course. But I had already made up my mind back at three-star SS.
There is a reason the odds of a special option are so low.
Skill Grade +1.
Only two skills had received it, and their performance had gone completely insane. What kind of special option was waiting at four stars?
"Please. Let it drop today."
I stepped back into the hyperbolic time chamber. It would drop someday. Now and then I checked my balance, took comfort in an account that still sat exactly where it had been, and let my mind settle. Then I wandered the community and killed more time.
An interesting article had gone up.
"Huh?"
People murmured. Reading the piece only confirmed that she had sold it. Why was nowhere in the text. Everyone was guessing, and I had a guess of my own. No. I was nearly certain.
"Don't tell me she's hopping on the little ball I tossed up. Joining the five-star class draw?"
People laughed. A few, of course, sided with me.
And then there were the ones who piled on even harder.
Just picturing it was a happy little scene.
"Tch."
I wanted to toss in a word, but until it came out of her own mouth, saying anything felt rude, so I swallowed it. I was curious, though. She had said she would, so she probably would. Could she actually pull it?
Honestly, nearly two weeks had passed since this mood set in, and not a single person had come forward claiming a five-star. The rate wasn't 0.0000000-something for nothing. The final figure was supposed to be something like 0.001%, and if that was Haven's official word, what could you do? Still, I prayed. If it was Lim Sarang, I could congratulate her with a full heart even if she pulled a five-star.
The regrettable part was that she was doing it with her stream off. I wanted to sneak in a donation while pretending to be someone else.
"Ah. I want to pop this four-star SS already and just watch other people spend their money."
"Be quiet. This fucking sucks."
How many days had I been milking a single option pull for content? At this point you'd think the audience would get sick of it and drop off. I still couldn't stop rolling. I couldn't just go kill the King Slime when the goal I had set was this clear.
"I'm not even this kind of planner. My goal is to go in fully built and take at least seventy-five percent of the King Slime."
"Haa."
And somewhere in the middle of it, today's session ended. In the end I hadn't finished the setup in time for the King Slime's spawn.
"I'll go next week. Tomorrow I'll pull options... and I have to roll skills too. Tsk."
Only two things were really left. I had already completed a full five-star set. What remained was the four-star SS special option, and skills: the slots that had opened at level 11, expanding the ones that could still be expanded, and pulling at least an S-grade skill to fill them.
"Ugh... skills are something I'm actually drawing for the first time, so I've got no confidence. Can't they just let me keep rolling until it shows up, like this?"
My head hurt, but there was no room to think about anything else.
"What am I even worrying about? I can't have this problem until this thing drops anyway. I'll be back tomorrow."
I ended the stream and, just in case, dug through every class-draw broadcast I could find, even the ones with almost no viewers. Lim Sarang's stream was nowhere.
"Hmm."
I was dying to watch. I held it down and soothed myself.
"It won't be easy."
Worry crept in anyway. And even as it did, my head tilted.
"She's not really someone I need to worry about."
She had just sold a single building and come into more than sixty billion won. All I wanted was for even a decent four-star to be enough, so we could start running together soon.
Lim Sarang notified her agency.
"Sir. Please clear every one of my schedules. For about a year. Maybe two."
"...Did something happen? Is this about that scandal lately?"
The CEO asked with the worry anyone would have felt. Lim Sarang was the agency's flagship. Lovely was the flagship, yes, but among them Lim Sarang was a major star whose personal schedule was packed solid. She had already fulfilled her contract terms and stood on the verge of renewal, an extremely sensitive moment. If he tried to throw his weight around just because he was the agency's president, it could blow up badly.
"It's not that. I want to look at my own heart and be sure. I'd like to pause activities for a year—no, about two—and rest, quietly doing what I want to do."
Can't we at least finish the schedules you're already on, and talk then?
He wanted to say it, but a fair number of those schedules had already been cleared. Anything already filmed could simply be released even if she went off to rest. A few regular programs were a problem, but she could step down and they could find other panelists. That would be the end of it. There would be some loss, but Lim Sarang's expression looked utterly firm. The face of someone who would not care even about a penalty fee.
"If I... say no, that won't work, will it."
"I held off on retiring because of the Lovely girls."
"If it's hard, you rest. Of course. You've been running too long. A year? Did you say a year?"
"Two years."
"Two years... a full twenty-four months, packed tight... then... the renewal..."
"Oh! That would be wonderful! While you're resting, if you need anything, just say the word. Don't let yourself be uncomfortable. Are we strangers? We're family. We'll help with whatever it is."
Her mind could change over two years of rest. Of course, two years of rest also meant Lim Sarang would be two years older, but the CEO was certain. She would still be a star at least until her thirties were behind her.
To that CEO, Lim Sarang asked a question.
"How much of my contract fee can you advance me?"
"...What?"