Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: What You See Isn't Everything (1)
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There’s an old saying that comes up a lot when playing gacha games—pulling games, that is.
-You don’t break 4-stars.
Of course, “breaking” or “duping”—boosting a character’s performance through duplicates—is something people usually only talk about for 5-stars or SSRs and the like.
So why tell people not to dupe 4-stars?
Duping boosts performance, right?
Even if it’s still technically a 4-star, hitting 6 dupes turns it into something like 4.3-stars or even 4.7-stars.
Convenience skyrockets, or it becomes a f2p player’s beacon of hope—performance goes up either way.
‘Because there’s no ceiling.’
You could go bankrupt pulling.
Bankrupt is just a joke, of course, but within your budget, you might find it impossible to dupe the character you want.
5-stars have a ceiling. 4-stars don’t.
For example—
-Uh... Ah...!
“Ah, dude. Seriously.”
Right now, I’ve pulled 80 times trying to get 3 dupes on a character from a game aimed at female players, and I still haven’t gotten a single dupe.
“Is it... good luck?”
Elaine glances at me nervously while scrolling through her smartphone.
She must think the rates are rigged or something. She’s digging through the game company’s community forums, hunting for info.
“Master. It seems almost no one has reached 6 dupes. Nothing comes up even when I search.”
“It’s not that they don’t exist. It’s that they’re not worth posting about online.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s a character no one cares about, and even full dupes don’t give a huge spec boost.”
It’s frustrating as hell.
In the time it took to pull three 5-star guys, not a single 4-star cat showed up.
Other 4-stars keep popping even if they’re off-banner, but the one I want? Nothing. It’s driving me insane.
“Is this what they call a greed sensor?”
“Pardon?”
“Not like the universe granting your deepest wish or anything. More like it deliberately denies you the one thing you crave.”
“.......”
“Ugh... I keep spending, but it’s like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it.”
New 10-pull.
At this point, I’m praying for 4-star effects—purple sparkles—instead of those rainbow 5-star ones.
“Ah.”
-You and me! We’re the best partners, nyang!
“Finally.”
“There she is.”
Cat Swordsman.
The expensive one(?) has arrived.
I could only clasp my hands in gratitude at her appearance.
“No ceiling, and you came quick. Thank you.”
“What’s this one’s name?”
Maybe because she’s a new comrade (prospective), Elaine’s showing real interest.
“The name... it’s two, actually?”
“Ah, this is her codename. Her real name in the lore is super long.”
I minimized the game screen for a sec and pulled up the wiki on my browser.
“Here.”
“[Kiharu]?”
“Yeah.”
Kiharu.
A character with a strangely catchy name, known by another special title in the game’s world.
“She’s part of a special unit the protagonists formed with their contacts, so they use codenames. That codename is—”
“There’s a strikethrough here saying ‘Water Kkeluk.’ Is that the name?”
“...No. That’s just community memes.”
Water Kkeluk.
Water element.
Kkeluk because cat.
Her heal is [Water of Healing], sprinkling magical water on allies to mend wounds.
Turn-based RPG character, so she has a revive skill too, but mobile gachas rarely need revives.
Not when the limited 5-star DPS crushes everything before then.
“It’s just a nickname, so don’t worry about it.”
“I see... it’s listed like this. Then... hm?”
Elaine’s eyes shift to the right side of the wiki page while skimming.
“.......”
“Ah.”
The most recent edit.
Just one minute ago, a page titled [Elaine (S-Rank Hunter)] had been updated.
“This is...”
“Wait, don’t click.”
I grabbed Elaine’s hand as it hovered toward the S-Rank Hunter link.
“No telling what’s in there. I’ll check first and fill you in.”
“Isn’t it just people writing stuff?”
“They are, but no clue what they’re adding in real-time.”
Even a plain character page worries me, but a ‘Cosplay Maid’ page? God knows.
“No need to see S-Rank Hunters arguing over who’s stronger. The talk page’ll be full of that crap.”
“Comparisons to other S-Rank Hunters...”
“Yeah. Clearing an S-Rank tower they couldn’t? Big shock for them.”
“Can’t anyone edit these? Is that why you’re blocking me?”
“If it’s just randos editing in good faith, fine.”
If they’re just regular folks.
“But some edit with malice, smearing your name. No need to see that terrorism.”
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“No matter how others judge me, Master’s opinion comes first.”
Elaine smiles gently and steps closer.
“Do I seem like someone who’d get hurt by whatever randos edit in real-time, in Master’s eyes?”
“.......”
“If you’re worried just in case, I won’t look. Not even out of curiosity.”
“...Elaine. The internet’s a deeper abyss than you think.”
Coming from a medieval fantasy world, she doesn’t know the sleaze—the so-called ‘dark web’—lurking online.
“Still okay?”
“Yes. ...With Master by my side.”
No tremor in Elaine’s eyes.
Her clear gaze, fixed solely on me, had a magic that dispelled doubt and confusion.
...Not like some demonic eye or anything.
Even if it were a hypnotic power, it’d be her flawless maid confidence elevated to supernatural authority.
“Master.”
“Elaine. By any chance—”
Elaine draws closer—
“Your hand stopped.”
She joins me on the mouse, guiding it to the 10-pull.
“You forgot what you were doing. What bewitched you?”
“.......”
Saying she did would feel unfair, so I silently skipped through the pulls.
-You and me!
-You and me!
“...Two?”
4-star luck?
Or Elaine’s good fortune?
Our second full-dupe target, Kiharu, inches toward completion one by one.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “While the pull screen’s going, keep the wiki open beside it. Flag anything weird.”
“Understood.”
I resized the game so both wiki and pulls were visible, resuming.
With the Cosplay Maid page open next to us.
“...Master.”
“Yeah.”
“They’re debating her next cosplay target right now.”
“......?”
Why?
Elaine is Elaine—
“...Ah, right.”
Cosplay.
Something I wouldn’t think of, as her Master. It’s the outsiders’ gaze I hadn’t considered.
“Interesting. Elaine, any weapons besides sword you handle?”
“If I wanted something else... there is one I’d like to learn.”
Elaine searched not for herself, but something else.
“I’d like to try guns.”
“...Gun-toting maid?”
The Elaine (S-Rank Hunter) page overflowed with vandalism about her next ‘appearance.’
-Coser Hunter!! Please grace our game too!!
“.......”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ [NPia Corporation. Head Office.]
Gathered in NPia’s head office—the game company whose cosplay maid character is skyrocketing their real KOSPI-listed stock to daily limits—was a crowd.
“I called you all here for an emergency meeting on selecting key characters for next sales.”
A young woman in a white suit runs the meeting.
“Very important.”
Those seated gulped at her badge reading ‘Head of Division Lee Min-jeong,’ hanging low, and listened intently.
“Case: Cosplay Maid cosplays a character from another company’s game, not ours.”
The head swipes the screen.
Female characters galore, some looking like internal dev leaks.
“Um, Head?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that leaked community stuff? The Japanese company’s...”
“Exactly.”
She snaps her fingers.
“Other companies... this isn’t just competition. Subculture mobile games aren’t Korea-only. Japan, China, even America makes ‘em.”
“America’s not at cosplay level, though...?”
Beep.
At a dev team lead’s words, she pulls up a screen.
“Even this?”
A YouTuber pulling. A woman crosses arms in an X, blasting laser beams and whipping foes.
The team lead lets out an ‘ah.’
“She won’t turn from maid to Wonder Girl overnight, but who knows with people?”
“Hmm...”
“So, one thing upfront.”
She swipes to team roadmaps.
“Scrap all plans through next year.”
“What?!”
“Plan One: [The Whole World is Elaine].”
Click.
She taps; a schedule floods rightward, Elaine claiming a full month.
“Elaine collabs in every game.”
“B-but lore...”
“Make it work. Gate to her world, or slap her in story-less. Every team makes top-tier Elaine. Got it?”
“......That.”
“What?”
“We have Elaine, so easy. What’s Plan Two?”
“Selection.”
Next screen: a pet cat drawing a crescent moon, acting cute.
“Pray S-Rank Hunter Coser picks our company character next.”
“Um...”
“A ‘new character.’ Female.”
“......What’s with the cat?”
“Cute. The kind you wanna scoop up and keep.”
“So...”
“We become that cat. Release something so cute Coser picks our non-Elaine char.”
Team leads’ eyes sparkled one by one.
“Killer PV, cute art, SNS pickup teasers. Not existing chars—hype the new ones so she cosplays ‘em. Like...”
Her gaze lands on a listening team lead.
“Fermata 8X there. Release your story’s ‘true final boss’ early.”
“...Pardon?”
“Problem? She’s the [Goddess], true final boss in your lore.”
“No, that’s...”
The Fermata dev lead panics.
“Huge spoiler, can’t say...”
“Joking? Our stock’s hitting limits daily. If she cosplays ours next, it’ll triple—ten times.”
“No, but...”
“Not like Elaine—pick sellable chars. Prep now so she can cosplay!”
“...She can’t cosplay ‘people’ chars right now...”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ -You and me! We’re the best partners, nyang!
“Phew. All pulled. Time to summon.”
“.......”
“What’s up, Elaine?”
“Nothing. All good.”
Elaine shrugs at the beaming cat.
“A cat, so no issues, right.”