Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Isn't It Going as Planned?
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Dim alley.
Under the streetlamp.
A capsule gacha machine that once sold dreams to countless kids in front of the stationery store, but now worn out and broken.
In front of it, I opened my mouth.
"You... are the Rational Gacha Machine."
You always have definite merchandise,
and dispense it according to perfectly fair probabilities.
Because gacha games are your reason for existing,
you want to play exciting gacha games
with as many people as possible.
To do that,
you need to fill your transparent glass display case
with all sorts of valuable items.
Put in something someone desperately wants
and give them the conviction that it's real,
and they'll play gacha to their heart's content.
As a stationery store gacha machine that kids used to play with,
you only accept cash for the game cost.
You don't demand anything else.
And through a completely fair game,
when the player finally draws the merchandise they want,
you feel great joy too.
I spoke.
The settings.
And then I thought.
"A bit... precarious?"
At first, there was definitely a bizarre conviction.
This will work.
This time, a ghost story will be born.
Inspiration rising unbidden. A sensation like pulling something out from deep within.
It was just like when I made the Responding Bear Doll in every way.
It was sure to work.
But.
This time, I didn't just speak whatever came to mind.
"I was a bit greedy."
I didn't want to make a ghost story like the Responding Bear Doll that kills people and farms their corpses.
I wanted one that coexists with people, helps them, and helps me too.
So, this was a setting I consciously refined from the rising inspiration.
I even nailed the name as "Rational Gacha Machine."
To avoid becoming one of those absurd, irrational ghost stories that pop up all over internet horror tales.
I paid attention to the first paragraph in that context too.
You always have definite merchandise,
and dispense it according to perfectly fair probabilities.
Don't mess with the merchandise.
Don't be one-sided or deceptive.
The next paragraph I mostly went with the flow, but I put thought into it there too.
Put in something someone desperately wants
and give them the conviction that it's real,
and they'll play gacha to their heart's content.
A ghost story where someone desperate for an item shows up in front of it.
Of course, they'd have to pay money to draw it... but desperation means even throwing money at it might not get it. Like a favorite idol's concert ticket or a limited-edition figure.
Of course, it could be purely lack of cash, not scarcity.
But this is gacha.
So, even with a small amount, there's a chance to draw it.
Yeah.
This was my win-win strategy.
This ghost story provides what people need anyway, and it's thoroughly fair in the process. Just that alone made me think it could help someone.
And in the final paragraph, I crammed in my worries as much as possible.
As a stationery store gacha machine that kids used to play with,
you only accept cash for the game cost.
You don't demand anything else.
You're a machine that played with kids, so this gives it plausibility—you can't be cruel.
Strictly cash only. No eyeballs, ears, skin, fingers—please, no that stuff.
And through a completely fair game,
when the player finally draws the merchandise they want,
you feel great joy too.
Emphasizing once more: completely fair.
No malicious tricks.
Because you feel joy when they draw the item.
So you can't act wicked.
You're a good stationery store machine that played with kids, right?
I poured in my desired conditions almost blatantly to create the setting.
If it worked just like this, wouldn't a ghost story be born that helps people without harming them?
But,
"This... gonna work for me?"
Would a ghost story really be created from this setting I forced out by racking my brain?
"..."
It was quiet. Only the sound of wind under the streetlamp.
"..."
Nothing happened.
"Argh."
I clutched my head.
I overdid the constraints in the setting. Should've just blurted out the inspiration as it came.
But then it'd be meaningless. I'd have no control at all...
No.
Maybe the Responding Bear Doll appearing was just a fluke.
The comments back then—which are gone now—said stuff like that.
That doesn't happen often.
Only to legend-tier folks if it does.
Has to be a coincidence of coincidences.
Ah, what am I doing out here in the middle of the night.
My mind was a mess, and suddenly a cold wave of reality hit my chest.
"Hoo..."
I let out a deep sigh and turned around.
And then.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Please insert initial merchandise. "Huh?"
I definitely heard it.
A stiff, mechanical voice from behind me.
"You?"
I turned back.
"Initial merchandise? What's that? Can I just put in anything?"
...
No answer came.
"Hey? You there. What should I bring?"
...
"Will you answer me?"
...
Hold on.
Maybe this is it.
I subtly turned my back. Facing away from the gacha machine.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 5 million won. 1 eyeball. A voice came right away, like it was waiting.
Oh.
I see.
Can't look at it, huh?
Still facing away, I asked.
"Oh, five hundred? 5 million won? Hey, isn't that too expensive? And why an eyeball...? Don't forget, you're a good stationery store gacha that played with kids."
...
No answer.
Damn thing.
"Anything else? Don't you need something else?"
I tried changing the subject, but.
...
No answer.
Just watch.
Some weird stubbornness rose, and I gritted my teeth.
"How about 7 million won?"
And,
...
Still no answer.
"Haa..."
I scratched my head, feeling oddly relieved.
"What the hell are your criteria anyway. So vague."
I glanced back at the gacha machine and started walking home.
But man, 5 million is no joke.
+++
"Ugh... uugh..."
I brought it in the end. 5 million won.
Out of the 7.3 million the Responding Bear Doll made by catching two people, I took a whopping 5 million.
"Such a waste..."
But this is the right call.
The reason I made a gacha machine ghost story was ultimately for myself.
A stable money-maker that doesn't harm people.
The money and body parts from the people the Responding Bear Doll killed were passed to me.
So, wouldn't this gacha machine pass me what's left after its own use?
I set it to take cash, so it'd be cash.
That makes me the stationery store owner position.
Just sit back and the ghost story gacha machine brings in steady cash.
Not sure if it'll really work like that, but...
I believed it would when I started, so let's give it a shot.
So, steeling myself, I brought 5 million won.
Hands shaking, I shoved it through the broken part on top of the gacha machine.
"Hmm."
Then I looked around carefully, confirmed no one was there three or four times, and pulled out the glass bottle I'd hidden in my coat.
A glass bottle with one eyeball floating alongside its optic nerve.
Lest anyone see, I hurriedly shoved it into the gacha machine, and
Clunk!
The gacha machine suddenly sprang up,
Thud!
and hit my forehead as I bent down to insert the eyeball.
"Ack!"
My vision flashed white!
A heavy impact pierced through my forehead and out the back of my skull. The whole world tilted.
"Guh..."
When I came to, I was rolling on the ground.
The world wobbled drunkenly, my vision blurry like I'd just woken up, unable to see straight.
"Ugh, what the hell..."
Panting, I finally steadied the dizziness and lifted my head.
There, towering before me, stood a capsule gacha machine as big as a vending machine, as flashy as a claw machine.
The massive aquarium-like display taking up over half its body glowed with convenience-store-bright lights, filled with capsules the size of two fists combined.
"It really worked?"
Forgetting the pain, I jumped up.
A ghost story.
A ghost story was born.
Right in front of my eyes.
The tiny gacha machine had evolved into a gigantic capsule dispenser I'd never seen before!
Even though I'd expected it, it felt unbelievable.
"Hah..."
That thing suddenly grew and hit my forehead?
Even the horrific pain now felt like a pleasant ache confirming this insane reality.
"So, really. My setting. Became reality."
My lips crept up my cheeks.
"Other people can see this too? For real...?"
My heart pounded.
More than I expected.
It was a ghost story made to help people and let me make some money, but...
The first thought that hit me was pride: it really happened. Other people will see this too.
I rubbed my bruised forehead and examined the gacha machine up close.
⚔ USAGE RULES ⚔ "Oh."
Large text on the front of the machine, in the most visible spot.
"Usage rules, huh. Didn't think of that. Right, having rules stated clearly is fair."
Even though I didn't specify the details, it neatly provided them itself.
My lips crept higher up my cheeks. Gonna meet my eyes at this rate.
Grinning, I read the usage rules.
1. Can only be operated with cash (coins).
Yes. Just as I wanted.
But only coins?
That's how those machines usually work... but won't that limit earnings? Who carries coins these days...
Looking at the coin slot, it only fit one coin. Old-school stationery store style: insert coin, turn handle, capsule drops out.
...Kinda worrying. I invested 5 million, and it'll earn pennies? If I'd sold the eyeball too, it'd be 3 million.
2. Draw probability changes based on the amount of coins inserted.
Hmm. That's reasonable.
If they put in little money, low chance for good prizes, right?
3. To increase win probability, designate the desired merchandise. Draws switch from duds to wins, raising probability for that item.
Reasonable too.
Regular capsule gachas often give something no matter what, but this focuses solely on the targeted item.
Definitely.
The ghost story turned out just as I wanted.
4. To further increase win probability, appropriate penalties replace duds proportional to the boost. Penalties are notified in advance and can be anything.
Huh?
Wait a sec.
5. If a possessed item is demanded as penalty, secure it yourself and insert into the slot. If not recovered within 3 days, collected forcibly with interest.
Huhhh?
Penalties?
Anything can be a penalty?
Forced collection?
No.
Didn't I say only cash?
You only accept cash for the game cost.
You don't demand anything else.
I said it crystal clear.
A thought flashed by.
Wait.
Hold on.
You don't mean...
"Penalties are just penalties... not the 'game cost'?"
The 'don't demand' phrasing, but since it's a natural game penalty, it's not a demand? That kind of interpretation?
A hollow laugh escaped.
"You... really ghost story-like?"
Ghost story.
A bizarre tale beyond human prediction.
Yeah, that's a ghost story. The kind I love.
A chill ran down my spine.
And ridiculously,
I felt a slight thrill too. Am I crazy?
But anyway,
things just got complicated.
If anything can be collected as penalty.
Eyeballs or skin coming in again?
What the hell did I create...
Dazed in shock, I squeezed my eyes shut then lifted my head, and
"Huh."
My gacha machine was gone,
leaving only the empty streetlamp light leaning against the alley wall.