The Level 5 Badge

In truth, Berry's grumbling wasn't the sort of thing most players could really sympathize with.

Even if a Root Class really did exist, and even if two classes of the same five-star rank could perform on entirely different levels, that didn't do ordinary players any real harm. Nothing came of it. So no one could make sense of a five-star whining that their class fell short of a Root Class.

That was the majority reaction, but not everyone felt that way. For four-star players and the rankers, this was a much bigger problem than it looked, and hardly something they could wave off.

It was perfectly random. You could see it by comparing what Kim Siwoo and Lim Sarang — the ones presumed to hold Root Classes — had spent against what Bulldog had spent to roll his Skeleton Summoner. Spending more didn't grant you one, and spending less didn't keep you from one.

Rankers, and the players who actually cared about Haven, put their heads together, dug into it, and arrived at something like a conclusion.

People more or less got the shape of it.

The players despaired — and the ones who had already thrown their characters away and started rolling for five-stars despaired most of all.

Not that they were in any position to be worrying about it.

Across the world, a flood of red pills rained down on the players who had looked at the fantasy and the reality of five-star classes and decided to take the plunge. Confusion crashed over everyone who had seen the crimson truth.

Bulldog's face went scarlet as he machine-gunned bans across the chat.

"Get lost, you piece of shit."

"You son of a bitch. You're out."

He was angry, sure, but the reaction was understandable up to a point. Eighteen billion won. Cash. Even a crypto tycoon sitting on four hundred billion still hated parting with money. He had steeled himself, spent eighteen billion, and rolled what was supposed to be the final-tier class — only to learn it wasn't truly final at all, just a final tier with a slight defect. Who would feel good about that? It was a reality he didn't want to believe, and the viewers showed up just to needle him.

"Keep fouling up the chat with unverified garbage some scrubs are yapping about, and I'm banning every last one of you."

The rest of the viewers scrambled in a tear-jerking effort to dodge the ban hammer. Once the needling comments disappeared, Bulldog made his declaration.

"Root Class, my ass. I'm taking down the Dragon Words Mage with this. Just watch me, boys. Throw enough money at it and you can beat anything anyway. How much of a gap can there be between two five-stars, Root or not? It's just a little difference in options. There's bound to be an upside somewhere else."

Watching that stream, a thought hit me.

"God. I want to donate so fucking bad."

After I'd bolted in a hurry the day before, I checked the community myself. I'd known the truth would surface eventually, but I hadn't expected it this soon. And it surprised me. Not a single Root Class among the existing five-star players. Well — if the lucky bastards who'd rolled five-stars had landed Root Classes on top of that, they'd have had no conscience left. Then again, maybe Lim Sarang and I were the shameless ones. Either way, I was glad that turning the stream on today had produced a scene this entertaining.

"Root Class, huh... Nice ring to it. Dragon Words really are the root of magic."

"Same here. I'm the root of the healers? It feels like I've become the protagonist."

And right on cue, I had something perfect to reveal.

"Everyone. I ended the stream in a hurry yesterday, remember? I said something came up. You probably thought it was a level 5 Badge, but no. Sarang rolled a three-star SS special option."

"Yeah. She says it ran her about five hundred and fifty million. She pulled it incredibly fast."

I hadn't planned to reveal it. I'd meant to keep it hidden and spring it as a surprise around the time someone in chat caught on during a hunt. With the current buzz, though, putting it out now seemed like more fun.

"It's a guess, that's all. It might just be a five-star exclusive special option."

Crescent Moon's Blessing already produced an effect identical to a critical at a twenty-eight percent chance.

"We'd have to test it to know. Either way, if a crit lands, the shield's going to swell like crazy."

"Hey now. Please don't make jokes that crude."

"....."

She'd only just managed to let it pass as if it were nothing, and the moment I saw Lim Sarang duck her head, I hurried to shut the viewers down.

After several hours of nothing but idle talk, a brief lull settled in, and I took out the Badges.

"We've rested long enough. My turn to roll."

Eight level 4 Badges had stacked up. Originally I'd planned to take a single shot the moment I had five, then wait until fusion produced the rest. While I'd been gawking at the sudden controversy, three more had gotten made.

"All right. Let's pull a level 5 bracelet and give the options a spin."

I thought the same. The hardest thing in Haven was rolling a Root five-star class, and I had already pulled a Root Class out of the five-stars. Surely a modest three-percent miracle could show up on the first try for someone like me. Holding on to that hope, I fed in five level 4 Badges.

"I'll go for a level 4 too!"

"Oh. Nice. Let's do it together."

Lim Sarang had come prepared to fuse four level 3 Badges. Her goal, she said, wasn't level 5 — just level 4. However closely she chased me, her wallet still had a ceiling.

"Want to count us in, Sarang?"

"Shall I?"

"Yeah."

"Three, two, and we go on one."

"We go when I say one, right?"

"Yep."

Lim Sarang pressed her palms together and prayed.

I prayed along with her.

Please. Please, just hit.

The reason I wanted it on the first try was simple. Because I wanted it over with fast? No. Given nothing but time, I was certain I'd pull a level 5 eventually. But it had to be now — while Bulldog was boiling over, while he was declaring he'd catch me no matter what. This was the moment I had to show it off.

"Pleeeeease!"

"Three. Two."

The count landed.

"One!"

"..."

"..."

They had shouted one, but the Badges never started to spin.

"...Why didn't you press it?"

"Ah... my finger slipped. Why didn't you, Sarang..."

"Because you weren't pressing, Siwoo..."

"Let's go again."

Three, two, one! The count came once more, and I shut both eyes and hit fuse.

The three-percent miracle had arrived.