Gacha Keys to the Death Tower
Mu-hyuk resumed hunting the goblins right in front of him.
"Let's breeze through the first floor for now."
After taking down a few, a diamond dropped this time.
"A new gem?"
"A diamond..."
He pressed forward, dispatching the next goblin, and a few more rubies and diamonds tumbled out.
After slaying dozens like that, a topaz finally dropped.
"Whoa, another new gem!"
"Topaz, huh?"
"How many of these jewels are there anyway?"
Ruby, diamond, topaz.
Mu-hyuk already knew these were the only three.
And he knew their secrets, too.
"We'll find out if we keep hunting."
He suppressed his foreknowledge as he spoke, lightly shoving the goblin in front of him with his shield.
The goblin crumbled pathetically, dropping a ruby.
A few minutes of securing it and advancing brought them to what seemed like the end of the first floor.
"Looks like the end?"
"There's a door, but..."
Gacha System Activated.
He naturally reached out and touched the door.
A massive chest materialized in front of it.
To proceed to the 2nd floor, acquire the corresponding key via gacha. Use coins to attempt gacha; keys appear at low probability.
The chest's interior was hidden, but the three gem slots at the bottom, the lever, and the item outlet made its function obvious at a glance.
"I, uh, wanna try this?"
Sung Min-woo stepped forward first.
"Go for it."
"Alright, let's give it a spin!"
With a hint of excitement, he slotted a ruby and pulled the lever.
The chest vibrated faintly several times before something popped out of the outlet.
"Ah, damn...!"
Goblin hide.
Utter junk with no use anywhere.
"Whoa, this is trash for real."
Irritated, Sung Min-woo fed in another gem.
Clunk.
Another worthless item.
"Come on...!"
No matter how many times he tried, same result.
"Shit."
He finally backed off after burning through all his gems.
Ye-rin stepped up next, slotting a ruby, diamond, and topaz all at once.
"Whoa, all in one go?"
"Yeah, that works, right?"
"Beats me."
Sung Min-woo shrugged, but Ye-rin pulled the lever without a care.
After the usual racket, something shot out of the outlet.
"Huh...?"
A rather impressive pair of earrings.
She checked the options right away.
"Whoa, wow...!"
An exclamation escaped her naturally.
"Nice?"
"Yeah!"
She'd hit the jackpot, apparently.
Sung Min-woo grumbled.
"Man, some people got it, some don't."
The ones who have it, have it; the ones who don't, don't.
He was reciting that timeless wisdom.
Moments later, it was Mu-hyuk's turn.
What to do.
He knew the gem ratios that boosted key odds, but he wasn't sure about using them right away.
Illusion TV was on, too...
Some viewers might copy him and expose the trick.
He didn't agonize long.
Time to mix it up.
He'd hide the ratios.
First, an extra ruby.
Clunk.
Junk into inventory, then two rubies.
Another junk.
Next, one ruby and one diamond.
Probably junk again.
Next pull, he'd use the ratio that upped key chances.
But.
"Huh...?"
Incredibly— or luckily— a key popped out.
"Got it?"
"Jackpot...!"
Mu-hyuk was a bit surprised himself, but good was good. He composed himself and grinned at his companions.
"On to floor 2?"
"Crazy bastard."
"Hey, why curse my bro?!"
"Ahem, just too damn lucky."
"We're a team, so what?"
"R-right."
Sung Min-woo slumped, suddenly the loser. Kim Ji-yeon sidled up, gave him a look, and murmured with her small lips.
"Ch-cheer up."
"Ah...!"
Sung Min-woo's face lit up again.
"Heh, let's hit floor 2!"
Mu-hyuk chuckled and inserted the key into the hole at the door's right center.
A turn, a rumble, and the door swung open.
They climbed the revealed stairs to the second floor.
You have entered the Death Tower 2nd Floor.
Cleared: 115,773 teams
The message for reaching the second floor and the clear count appeared.
"Similar to floor 1?"
"First ten floors should be easy?"
"Oh ho. Looks like monsters get tougher per floor, and key odds drop."
Sung Min-woo's guess was spot on.
"Didn't think you had it in you."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"Oops, inner thoughts slipped."
"Unbelievable."
The two chuckled despite themselves.
"Oppa, quit messing around and let's go."
"Yeah, yeah."
Orcs appeared ahead.
"Floor 2's orcs, huh."
A bit stronger than goblins?
They dispatched them easily and picked up the gems.
By the time they reached the end of floor 2, they had a hefty stockpile including floor 1's haul.
Gacha System Activated.
To proceed to the 3rd floor, acquire the corresponding key via gacha. Use coins to attempt gacha; keys appear at low probability.
Time for random gacha again.
*
Christmas Eve arrived in a flash.
The family gathered to prep the party.
"Hey, gotta top the tree with a star!"
"Whatever you say."
"Wanna get hit again?"
Kang Ji-yeon grumbled nonstop during tree setup.
Mu-hyuk smirked meaningfully, done tolerating it.
"Hit me?"
"Yeah!"
"For real?"
"Totally, you think I'd fake it?"
"Got gifts ready, too. Guess I'll return 'em."
"What...?"
"Nah, nothing."
As Mu-hyuk casually reached for the center star.
"Star belongs in the center."
"Hm?"
Kang Ji-yeon flipped her attitude.
"Tree looks right with the star in the middle."
"Right?"
"Course, my lil' bro said so."
"Fine, bulbs on top then."
"Yay, got it!"
Mu-hyuk watched her overact, then added casually.
"Oh, there's a priest partying with us right now."
"Yeah?"
"Name's the same as yours."
"No way."
"Yep."
"Must be pretty then?"
"..."
"Kidding, don't get serious."
They refocused on the tree amid the banter.
Soon it was done, and Father and Mother brought out the cake.
"Everyone, sit."
Sofa-bound, cake in hand.
"Merry Christmas, all."
"You too, Dad— Merry Christmas!"
Exchanges all around.
"Speaking of, New Year's in a week means another birthday."
"Ughhh, don't remind me...!"
Kang Ji-yeon shuddered at the age talk.
"New year, new start though."
"Yeah."
"Play Illusion more."
That was the point.
Illusion trips.
Mu-hyuk nodded with a smile.
"Tree looks great anyway."
"Ahem, gifts ready too."
Perfect timing— Mu-hyuk handed out his killer presents.
"Oh, son...!"
"Ahem, bit much, but thanks."
"Yo, bro. Thanks, punk!"
Mu-hyuk felt satisfied seeing their delight.
*
Christmas Day, he spent with Ye-rin.
Gifts swapped, of course.
Evening, Sung Min-woo showed, plus Ye-rin's friend.
Intros all around.
But the bold Sung Min-woo hung back surprisingly, leaving the setup awkward.
Still, a fun day for Mu-hyuk.
Teasing material acquired.
"Sigh, that was four months ago already...!"
"Was it?"
"I was off my game then!"
"So you went timid cosplay?"
"Yeah, I did. So?!"
"Man up, dude. Tsk."
"Urgh...!"
He'd poke Sung Min-woo with that story whenever bored.
"Door already?"
"Whew, yeah. Drop it and gacha time."
Sung Min-woo slotted gems and yanked the lever.
Clunk.
He flung the junk aside.
"Nah, I'm out."
"Fine, I'll do it."
Mu-hyuk stepped up, burning gems.
He slipped in key-boosting ratios occasionally, but no luck.
After exhausting Ye-rin and Kim Ji-yeon's gems too, they backtracked, respawned monsters, and farmed more.
Repeat hunts, gem hoarding, back to the door.
Most gems spent.
"Got it...!"
"Ooh!"
The awaited key appeared after six days.
*
Viewers' chat exploded from steady scroll.
That's when Mu-hyuk and crew ascended to the next floor.
"View sharing, switching on briefly."
Viewers scrambled.
What viewers wondered was simple.
The clear team count popping up on ascent.
Mu-hyuk reached the stairs' end.
You have entered the Death Tower 40th Floor.
Cleared: 9 teams
They rubbed their eyes at the hologram.
The rest of the team reached floor 40.
"Summon."
They called their summons and advanced cautiously.