Chapter 539: Verdurous Giant Spear (1)

Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 539: Verdurous Giant Spear (1)

It had been three days since the end of our second rainy season. Though if I measured from the day we entered the labyrinth, today was day seventy-four.

We've gathered about a billion mana stones from this island, and that along with the six hundred million we gathered before that...

Made for a total of 1.6 billion mana stones.

Of course, that money had been gathered by dozens of people, and after we split it between all of us, my cut would be much lower. Thankfully, however, this problem was resolved by a simple discussion with the other members of our group.

Now, there was only one thing left to do.

"Everyone can rest as much as they want! We won't be doing anything for the rest of the day!"

After having finished collecting the mana stones across the whole of Giant Island, our group returned to the cave. Naturally, it was the very same cave that the Hektz Clan had been staying in when we first rescued them, and the one where we found the headstone.

Now that I think about it, we got really lucky.

We had completely mapped out Giant Island. There were quite a few other caves around, but this was the only one so deep that it went underground. It also had a special characteristic that meant monsters didn't approach the entrance for some reason. It was honestly the safest place we could set up camp.

And the Hektz Clan had managed to find it in the middle of all that chaos.

Please let some of that luck rub off on me as well.

What I was about to do weighed heavily on my mind, as it relied almost entirely on luck. And the issue was that I wasn't all that lucky. Or, well, in truth...

My luck is average.

It was only recently that I began thinking this way. After all the misfortunes I went through as a child, there had been multiple times throughout my life that I was convinced I was cursed. But thinking back on it, I wasn't particularly unlucky. Even after going through all of those things, I was still alive.

"It seems he's going to start soon."

"Bjorn! I don't know what you're doing, but good luck!"

In fact, I was quite lucky to have met such great people during my lifetime.

Erwen, my night companion turned friend from my first adventure.

Ainar, my trustworthy fellow barbarian warrior.

The allies I made at the Bloody Citadel fighting against that mutant, Raven and Hikurod.

Team Loser's Missha, Rotmiller, and Dwalkie.

In those early years when I truly had nothing, meeting them went beyond something as simple as "luck."

Let's not get my hopes up.

I shook off my cowardly inclination to hand off this responsibility to my lucky teammates, like Ainar and Missha.

I am a lucky man.

I repeated that in my heart again and again. What I needed right now wasn't doubt, but an unshakeable certainty.

I...was a lucky man.

It was then that the shift happened.

"I..."

Something finally clicked in my mind. My jaw, which had been clenched with nerves, relaxed ever so slightly, and my hands stopped their subtle shaking. I'd reached what could only be described as a moment of enlightenment. The question of the half-full glass... It wasn't up to the people around me to decide if the glass was happy or unhappy. The only person who could decide that was me and me alone.

"...I'm lucky."

"Huh?"

"What's he talking about? He hasn't done anything yet."

Hadn't done anything?

Anything in this world was up for the taking if you just put your mind to it. Just as the future engraved on the Records Stone was bound to come true, the moment I made up my mind was the moment my future was decided. That was a universal truth and an unchanging fact.

"Heh heh..."

However, since there was no way these fools could understand all that even if I explained it, I simply laughed and saved my breath.

"There's a cool breeze today."

The spiritual energies of the universe embraced me like an old friend.

"The sun is warm."

Certainty and certainty alone filled my heart.

"We're inside a cave. What is he talking about the wind for...?"

"Maybe he's trying to say he's chilly?"

"But then he said the sun's warm..."

"Mister... Are you sick?"

I ignored the ignorant questions of the unenlightened mortals around me and picked up one of the mana stones laid out on the ground. Then I slowly lifted it to the necklace. There wasn't a single reason to rush.

Water is water, and the wind is the wind.

It was that obvious to me.

Shaaa!

My future was guaranteed.

[The gift of the Great Alchemist Garphas senses the power of creation in your offering.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

All right, let's do this.

***

No. 7777: Garphas's Necklace.

The way this necklace worked was simple. Whenever someone touched the necklace with a mana stone, it absorbed the stone and in turn randomly generated bread, water, metal, and other such things.

Like so.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Every time a mana stone went in, the item shown on the gem of the necklace changed, and you could take out the item if you wanted it. Since there was no point in taking out stonebreads, I didn't bother and kept spinning the wheel.

But... why hasn't the item changed yet?

What was happening?

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stone...]

Seriously, six stonebreads in a row? Even though these were rank-five mana stones and not even rank-nine ones?

When using rank-five mana stones, the probability of getting back stonebread is only around 4 percent. This means the probability of that happening six times in a row is...

I choked.

The moment I ran the numbers, my Zen Barbarian mode nearly shattered, but I managed to school myself with my disciplined mind. Early gacha rolls were all about stacking the odds in your favor, anyway.

"...I'm lucky."

"Huh?"

"What's he talking about? He hasn't done anything yet."

Hadn't done anything?

Anything in this world was up for the taking if you just put your mind to it. Just as the future engraved on the Records Stone was bound to come true, the moment I made up my mind was the moment my future was decided. That was a universal truth and an unchanging fact.

"Heh heh..."

However, since there was no way these fools could understand all that even if I explained it, I simply laughed and saved my breath.

"There's a cool breeze today."

The spiritual energies of the universe embraced me like an old friend.

"The sun is warm."

Certainty and certainty alone filled my heart.

"We're inside a cave. What is he talking about the wind for...?"

"Maybe he's trying to say he's chilly?"

"But then he said the sun's warm..."

"Mister... Are you sick?"

I ignored the ignorant questions of the unenlightened mortals around me and picked up one of the mana stones laid out on the ground. Then I slowly lifted it to the necklace. There wasn't a single reason to rush.

Water is water, and the wind is the wind.

It was that obvious to me.

Shaaa!

My future was guaranteed.

[The gift of the Great Alchemist Garphas senses the power of creation in your offering.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

All right, let's do this.

***

No. 7777: Garphas's Necklace.

The way this necklace worked was simple. Whenever someone touched the necklace with a mana stone, it absorbed the stone and in turn randomly generated bread, water, metal, and other such things.

Like so.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Every time a mana stone went in, the item shown on the gem of the necklace changed, and you could take out the item if you wanted it. Since there was no point in taking out stonebreads, I didn't bother and kept spinning the wheel.

But... why hasn't the item changed yet?

What was happening?

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stone...]

Seriously, six stonebreads in a row? Even though these were rank-five mana stones and not even rank-nine ones?

When using rank-five mana stones, the probability of getting back stonebread is only around 4 percent. This means the probability of that happening six times in a row is...

I choked.

The moment I ran the numbers, my Zen Barbarian mode nearly shattered, but I managed to school myself with my disciplined mind. Early gacha rolls were all about stacking the odds in your favor, anyway.

"Bjorn! Are you all right? Clear your throat!"

"...Move. I'm fine."

...Doubt was the mind-killer, a deadly poison that ate away at your heart and only made life harder.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

That was why I set aside my feeling heart and continued to mechanically insert mana stones into the necklace.

Not just six times, but nine times in a row...?

No, that didn't mean anything.

The future was already decided.

[You have crafted Steel Ingot.]

Yeah, the probability is just that—a probability.

The thing I was looking for was bound to show up. All I needed was to have faith.

"Oh! Bjorn's expression changed...!"

"Oh, I've heard a tale of this! When His Lordship wears that expression, it is a sign that he truly believes in himself!"

No matter what happened, I kept my cool and kept on feeding the gacha mana stones.

Minutes passed.

I think it should start about now...

[You have crafted an Iron Longsword.]

Just then, the necklace that had been spitting out bread, metals, bricks, and other random nonsense finally produced some proper equipment. This didn't particularly come as a surprise to me. Unbeknownst to most, there was a hidden trick to Garphas's Necklace.

The equivalent of about 7,777 rank-nine mana stones, give or take.

In other words, around 1.55 million stones when converted to Rafdonia's currency. Once you fed the necklace the mana stones needed to add up to that amount, it was guaranteed to spit out a random useful item.

[You have crafted a Lithinum Breastplate.]

This would repeat every 1.55 million stones. I must have already spent 3.1 million stones to get this lithinum breastplate.

That's not too bad for an early roll, actually.

Of course, that was only a passing thought. I didn't care about a good early roll since I had no intention of stopping here.

"Huh? Bjorn! Why are you putting more in? It's not just a stonebread this time! What a waste."

Yeah, no, if I stopped here and pulled out an item, I would need to start stacking from the bottom all over again.

I had a feeling Ainar would keep bugging me if I didn't give her some kind of bare minimum response, but thankfully, Amelia spoke up in my stead before I even had to open my mouth.

"Fenelin, quiet down," she said from her spot next to me. "Don't disturb him."

"Oh, but I just...I was just wondering why..."

"Zip it."

"Ah, fine... I won't bother him..."

This was perhaps the best demonstration of why establishing a proper hierarchy was important. After the beating she took in the Witch's Hut, Ainar was especially reluctant to argue with Amelia.

Anyway, back to business.

[You have crafted a Redwood Longbow.]

Next up was a longbow made with grade-two materials.

"Bjorn! Are you all right? Clear your throat!"

"...Move. I'm fine."

...Doubt was the mind-killer, a deadly poison that ate away at your heart and only made life harder.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

That was why I set aside my feeling heart and continued to mechanically insert mana stones into the necklace.

Not just six times, but nine times in a row...?

No, that didn't mean anything.

The future was already decided.

[You have crafted Steel Ingot.]

Yeah, the probability is just that—a probability.

The thing I was looking for was bound to show up. All I needed was to have faith.

"Oh! Bjorn's expression changed...!"

"Oh, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I've heard a tale of this! When His Lordship wears that expression, it is a sign that he truly believes in himself!"

No matter what happened, I kept my cool and kept on feeding the gacha mana stones.

Minutes passed.

I think it should start about now...

[You have crafted an Iron Longsword.]

Just then, the necklace that had been spitting out bread, metals, bricks, and other random nonsense finally produced some proper equipment. This didn't particularly come as a surprise to me. Unbeknownst to most, there was a hidden trick to Garphas's Necklace.

The equivalent of about 7,777 rank-nine mana stones, give or take.

In other words, around 1.55 million stones when converted to Rafdonia's currency. Once you fed the necklace the mana stones needed to add up to that amount, it was guaranteed to spit out a random useful item.

[You have crafted a Lithinum Breastplate.]

This would repeat every 1.55 million stones. I must have already spent 3.1 million stones to get this lithinum breastplate.

That's not too bad for an early roll, actually.

Of course, that was only a passing thought. I didn't care about a good early roll since I had no intention of stopping here.

"Huh? Bjorn! Why are you putting more in? It's not just a stonebread this time! What a waste."

Yeah, no, if I stopped here and pulled out an item, I would need to start stacking from the bottom all over again.

I had a feeling Ainar would keep bugging me if I didn't give her some kind of bare minimum response, but thankfully, Amelia spoke up in my stead before I even had to open my mouth.

"Fenelin, quiet down," she said from her spot next to me. "Don't disturb him."

"Oh, but I just...I was just wondering why..."

"Zip it."

"Ah, fine... I won't bother him..."

This was perhaps the best demonstration of why establishing a proper hierarchy was important. After the beating she took in the Witch's Hut, Ainar was especially reluctant to argue with Amelia.

Anyway, back to business.

[You have crafted a Redwood Longbow.]

Next up was a longbow made with grade-two materials.

[You have crafted an Iron Shield.]

Then came a plain old shield that came nowhere near approaching the quality of my own, and so on.

After rolling nine similarly useless pieces of equipment, it was about time for the tenth to pop up. More precisely, the moment I put around 15.55 million stones in cash, or something like 777,777 rank-nine mana stones, into the necklace, something new happened.

[You have crafted No. 9981: Castaway's Ring of Vigor.]

A Numbered Item appeared for the first time.

Of course, financially speaking, this wasn't exactly a big win. It wasn't like all Numbered Items were worth a handsome sum.

This one was around two million stones, right?

I had somehow gotten an item that cost even less than the lithinum breastplate from earlier. Not that it mattered, of course. I kept going.

[You have crafted a Cloud Candy.]

[You have crafted a Training Magic Staff.]

[You have crafted a High-Density Mana Herb.]

[You have crafted Wyvern Leather Armor.]

[You have crafted a Temporary Use Spell (Light Orb) Scroll...]

It was all medicines, equipment, materials, and the like. I barely registered and skipped past most of them as I continued to pour mana stones into the necklace.

"...Huh?"

Then, suddenly, I froze for one reason and one reason alone.

[You have crafted Mystium Ingot.]

What the...? A grade-six metal?

Considering the common scroll that popped up right before it, I suppose you could call this regular gacha probability at play, but...

"I-It's mystium!"

"I-Isn't the price of one ingot in the hundreds of millions?"

If I stopped here, I would be able to profit tens of millions off of this thing.

Damn it.

I was trying to get all the trashy items out of the way now, so why was I getting so lucky in the early game? I sighed inwardly and let go of any lingering hesitation. And then, I went back to putting mana stones into the necklace.

"Ahhh!"

"Huh?!"

The crowd around me let out shouts of shock.

Hey, don't jinx me.

Though I couldn't really blame them. How could little minds hope to understand the thoughts of a giant? And so, I continued to push onward for quite a while despite their lack of support.

Flash!

About 155 million stones in cash, or 7,777,777 rank-nine mana stones later, the necklace suddenly turned red for the first time.

[Garphas's gift has been damaged due to excess amounts of mana.]

Put simply, after this round of gacha was over, I wouldn't be able to spin anymore.

"Bjorn... is the necklace okay? I think there's a crack going through it now..."

It wasn't okay at all. But like I said at the start, I had no intention of backing down.

Let's look at what I got.

I checked the surface of the red gem. Probability-wise, there was a chance I might pull a single-digit Numbered Item here. If something good popped up now, I could cut my losses and quit while I was—

[You have crafted an Iron Shield.]

Then came a plain old shield that came nowhere near approaching the quality of my own, and so on.

After rolling nine similarly useless pieces of equipment, it was about time for the tenth to pop up. More precisely, the moment I put around 15.55 million stones in cash, or something like 777,777 rank-nine mana stones, into the necklace, something new happened.

[You have crafted No. 9981: Castaway's Ring of Vigor.]

A Numbered Item appeared for the first time.

Of course, financially speaking, this wasn't exactly a big win. It wasn't like all Numbered Items were worth a handsome sum.

This one was around two million stones, right?

I had somehow gotten an item that cost even less than the lithinum breastplate from earlier. Not that it mattered, of course. I kept going.

[You have crafted a Cloud Candy.]

[You have crafted a Training Magic Staff.]

[You have crafted a High-Density Mana Herb.]

[You have crafted Wyvern Leather Armor.]

[You have crafted a Temporary Use Spell (Light Orb) Scroll...]

It was all medicines, equipment, materials, and the like. I barely registered and skipped past most of them as I continued to pour mana stones into the necklace.

"...Huh?"

Then, suddenly, I froze for one reason and one reason alone.

[You have crafted Mystium Ingot.]

What the...? A grade-six metal?

Considering the common scroll that popped up right before it, I suppose you could call this regular gacha probability at play, but...

"I-It's mystium!"

"I-Isn't the price of one ingot in the hundreds of millions?"

If I stopped here, I would be able to profit tens of millions off of this thing.

Damn it.

I was trying to get all the trashy items out of the way now, so why was I getting so lucky in the early game? I sighed inwardly and let go of any lingering hesitation. And then, I went back to putting mana stones into the necklace.

"Ahhh!"

"Huh?!"

The crowd around me let out shouts of shock.

Hey, don't jinx me.

Though I couldn't really blame them. How could little minds hope to understand the thoughts of a giant? And so, I continued to push onward for quite a while despite their lack of support.

Flash!

About 155 million stones in cash, or 7,777,777 rank-nine mana stones later, the necklace suddenly turned red for the first time.

[Garphas's gift has been damaged due to excess amounts of mana.]

Put simply, after this round of gacha was over, I wouldn't be able to spin anymore.

"Bjorn... is the necklace okay? I think there's a crack going through it now..."

It wasn't okay at all. But like I said at the start, I had no intention of backing down.

Let's look at what I got.

I checked the surface of the red gem. Probability-wise, there was a chance I might pull a single-digit Numbered Item here. If something good popped up now, I could cut my losses and quit while I was—

[You have crafted No. 535: Polar Region Shield.]

Polar Region Shield was a shield I used pretty often for my Shield Barbarians before I could get my hands on the best shield in the game.

Nah.

The shield wasn't bad, but a triple-digit here?

Who're you trying to scam?

I quickly passed on it.

Although it was the most valuable item of all the ones that appeared thus far, no one around me freaked out about what I'd done. They probably didn't even know what it was. After all, there were very few weirdos in the world who went around memorizing every single Numbered Item.

Next.

I put in another mana stone and checked what I got.

Next.

I kept vetoing items. As the number of mana stones I used continued to climb, the number of high-quality items that popped up increased as well, including a few interesting ones.

[You have crafted No. 2988: Mark of the Guard Corps.]

The earrings I was already using.

[You have crafted a Staff Imbued with the World Tree's Power.]

A staff created from the grade-six material, the World Tree, that had Versyl drooling.

[You have crafted Five Arc Ingots.]

I had even gotten the maximum amount of the grade-six material arc possible.

[You have crafted a Divine Elixir.]

Then came a special potion that I knew had a certain probability of appearing only on the ninth floor's Rift.

[You have crafted No. 7777: Garphas's Necklace.]

Now that, I didn't know was possible. Was this like a matryoshka or something? In any case, the point was that I had seen plenty of items and had skipped them all.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

I was nearing the finish line.

After putting in so many mana stones, I didn't know what my exact count was anymore, but I could sense it.

Only ten more.

I would reach my goal after about ten more mana stones.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

In cash, it was a grand total of around 1.55 billion stones.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Or about 77,777,777 rank-nine mana stones.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Hmm...

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Huh?

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Wait...

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stone...]

I got nine stonebreads in a row at the very end. Of course, it didn't actually matter whether they were stonebreads or steel ingots or whatever, but...

Gulp.

My hands stopped for a second, my palms drenched in sweat for some reason. Revelation. The experience I was having right now felt like a revelation. Like the universe itself was trying to tell me what lay ahead.

[You have crafted No. 535: Polar Region Shield.]

Polar Region Shield was a shield I used pretty often for my Shield Barbarians before I could get my hands on the best shield in the game.

Nah.

The shield wasn't bad, but a triple-digit here?

Who're you trying to scam?

I quickly passed on it.

Although it was the most valuable item of all the ones that appeared thus far, no one around me freaked out about what I'd done. They probably didn't even know what it was. After all, there were very few weirdos in the world who went around memorizing every single Numbered Item.

Next.

I put in another mana stone and checked what I got.

Next.

I kept vetoing items. As the number of mana stones I used continued to climb, the number of high-quality items that popped up increased as well, including a few interesting ones.

[You have crafted No. 2988: Mark of the Guard Corps.]

The earrings I was already using.

[You have crafted a Staff Imbued with the World Tree's Power.]

A staff created from the grade-six material, the World Tree, that had Versyl drooling.

[You have crafted Five Arc Ingots.]

I had even gotten the maximum amount of the grade-six material arc possible.

[You have crafted a Divine Elixir.]

Then came a special potion that I knew had a certain probability of appearing only on the ninth floor's Rift.

[You have crafted No. 7777: Garphas's Necklace.]

Now that, I didn't know was possible. Was this like a matryoshka or something? In any case, the point was that I had seen plenty of items and had skipped them all.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

I was nearing the finish line.

After putting in so many mana stones, I didn't know what my exact count was anymore, but I could sense it.

Only ten more.

I would reach my goal after about ten more mana stones.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

In cash, it was a grand total of around 1.55 billion stones.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Or about 77,777,777 rank-nine mana stones.

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Hmm...

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Huh?

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

Wait...

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stonebread.]

[You have crafted Stone...]

I got nine stonebreads in a row at the very end. Of course, it didn't actually matter whether they were stonebreads or steel ingots or whatever, but...

Gulp.

My hands stopped for a second, my palms drenched in sweat for some reason. Revelation. The experience I was having right now felt like a revelation. Like the universe itself was trying to tell me what lay ahead.

...Nonsense.

I forcefully shook my head and steeled my mind. This was just a strange coincidence. There was no point trying to assign any meaning to it.

In fact, this could be a good thing.

From a different perspective, this could be an optimistic sign. Although I wasn't the superstitious type, even I had a habit where sometimes when I played games, I'd invest time in upgrading a piece of equipment just so I could blow it up and go and upgrade my real gear after.

Yeah, so...

I inserted another mana stone with faith in my heart.

Flash!

The mana stone shattered and the necklace flashed with a blinding bright light.

[You have reached the limit of mana stones that can be absorbed by the necklace.]

[Please be wary. From this point on, the necklace may shatter at any moment.]

Now began the real test of luck. After absorbing 77,777,777 mana stones, Garphas's Necklace turned into a guaranteed gacha. In other words, it now had a floor.

From this point on, I had a 100 percent probability of pulling the highest-ranked Numbered Items, from No. 1 to No. 35.

So, how did my first attempt go?

Tsk.

Yeah, I figured this wasn't going to be easy.

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

Of course, Rake of Naraka was an excellent item in its own right. It was a claw-type weapon that came in a set of two, and it had lots of great effects. Amelia would get a lot of use out of it in battle.

But am I going to settle for No. 35 after spending 1.5 billion?

The math just didn't make sense.

One more time.

Since I had already reached the absorption limit, putting another mana stone into the necklace would definitely get me—

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

Huh?

Why didn't the item change? I definitely used a mana stone...

...Am I dreaming right now?

Even as disbelief made my heart pound, my mind calmly took stock of things. The Rake of Naraka had appeared again.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.

Blood rushed to my head and my vision began to narrow. My mouth felt strangely dry, and something like a chill crept down my spine. I slowly inserted another mana stone.

[Please be wary. From this point on, the necklace may shatter at any moment.]

Although that warning lingered in the back of my mind, I wasn't particularly worried about it. I knew that the necklace wouldn't self-destruct until after the third turn at the very least.

...Let's not stress.

This was all stacking up, you know? My future was guaranteed to be full of sunshine and rainbows—

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

"...One more time."

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

"What the fuck, are you kidding me?"

Curses flew from my mouth despite my best attempts to stay calm. I just couldn't hold it in anymore. My mind was scrambled and every single thing that had happened so far was suddenly suspect. Especially those multiple stonebreads in a row.

Garphas's Necklace.

Not to mention that item that popped up during one of my many rerolls. Maybe that had been a bad omen? A warning from the universe that today wasn't my day and I should give up and try again later.

"...Yandel, are you all right?"

"Ah... Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're pretty pale..."

"...That's not true. I'm lucky."

I forcibly raised my spirits right as they began to sink into despair.

Four rakes in a row?

Who cared? This was just one more obstacle to overcome. The sweet fruits of victory were always hidden behind the thorns of hardship.

I need to believe in myself.

I repeated the revelation I came to earlier and inserted one more mana stone with full confidence.

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

It was still fine. It hadn't blown up yet, right?

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

Hmm, considering it still wasn't exploding, the universe was clearly just messing with me a bit—

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

...Maybe it's broken?

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

...This was getting dangerous.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!

My heart pounded at a rapid clip.

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

In the end, I raised the white flag.

"...A-Ainar?"

Ainar Fenelin—a woman who lived a life of very little critical thought but who always ended up fine thanks to sheer dumb luck.

"Hm? What is it?" she asked, tilting her head. She had stopped paying attention to what I was doing a while ago and was now gnawing on some jerky a short distance away.

"Hey..."

"Yeah?"

"C-Could you come here... and put in a mana stone?" I asked politely.

"Oh! Really? I've been wanting to try it at least once!"

Thankfully, Ainar gladly took up my offer and rushed over.

[You have crafted No. 3: Wall of Aegis.]

I learned a new universal truth that day.

"...Oh? It's a shield. Is it a good one?"

I should just let Ainar ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠handle stuff like this from now on.

...Nonsense.

I forcefully shook my head and steeled my mind. This was just a strange coincidence. There was no point trying to assign any meaning to it.

In fact, this could be a good thing.

From a different perspective, this could be an optimistic sign. Although I wasn't the superstitious type, even I had a habit where sometimes when I played games, I'd invest time in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠upgrading a piece of equipment just so I could blow it up and go and upgrade my real gear after.

Yeah, so...

I inserted another mana stone with faith in my heart.

Flash!

The mana stone shattered and the necklace flashed with a blinding bright light.

[You have reached the limit of mana stones that can be absorbed by the necklace.]

[Please be wary. From this point on, the necklace may shatter at any moment.]

Now began the real test of luck. After absorbing 77,777,777 mana stones, Garphas's Necklace turned into a guaranteed gacha. In other words, it now had a floor.

From this point on, I had a 100 percent probability of pulling the highest-ranked Numbered Items, from No. 1 to No. 35.

So, how did my first attempt go?

Tsk.

Yeah, I figured this wasn't going to be easy.

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

Of course, Rake of Naraka was an excellent item in its own right. It was a claw-type weapon that came in a set of two, and it had lots of great effects. Amelia would get a lot of use out of it in battle.

But am I going to settle for No. 35 after spending 1.5 billion?

The math just didn't make sense.

One more time.

Since I had already reached the absorption limit, putting another mana stone into the necklace would definitely get me—

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

Huh?

Why didn't the item change? I definitely used a mana stone...

...Am I dreaming right now?

Even as disbelief made my heart pound, my mind calmly took stock of things. The Rake of Naraka had appeared again.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.

Blood rushed to my head and my vision began to narrow. My mouth felt strangely dry, and something like a chill crept down my spine. I slowly inserted another mana stone.

[Please be wary. From this point on, the necklace may shatter at any moment.]

Although that warning lingered in the back of my mind, I wasn't particularly worried about it. I knew that the necklace wouldn't self-destruct until after the third turn at the very least.

...Let's not stress.

This was all stacking up, you know? My future was guaranteed to be full of sunshine and rainbows—

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

"...One more time."

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

"What the fuck, are you kidding me?"

Curses flew from my mouth despite my best attempts to stay calm. I just couldn't hold it in anymore. My mind was scrambled and every single thing that had happened so far was suddenly suspect. Especially those multiple stonebreads in a row.

Garphas's Necklace.

Not to mention that item that popped up during one of my many rerolls. Maybe that had been a bad omen? A warning from the universe that today wasn't my day and I should give up and try again later.

"...Yandel, are you all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right?"

"Ah... Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're pretty pale..."

"...That's not true. I'm lucky."

I forcibly raised my spirits right as they began to sink into despair.

Four rakes in a row?

Who cared? This was just one more obstacle to overcome. The sweet fruits of victory were always hidden behind the thorns of hardship.

I need to believe in myself.

I repeated the revelation I came to earlier and inserted one more mana stone with full confidence.

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

It was still fine. It hadn't blown up yet, right?

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

Hmm, considering it still wasn't exploding, the universe was clearly just messing with me a bit—

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

...Maybe it's broken?

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

...This was getting dangerous.

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!

My heart pounded at a rapid clip.

[You have crafted No. 35: Rake of Naraka.]

In the end, I raised the white flag.

"...A-Ainar?"

Ainar Fenelin—a woman who lived a life of very little critical thought but who always ended up fine thanks to sheer dumb luck.

"Hm? What is it?" she asked, tilting her head. She had stopped paying attention to what I was doing a while ago and was now gnawing on some jerky a short distance away.

"Hey..."

"Yeah?"

"C-Could you come here... and put in a mana stone?" I asked politely.

"Oh! Really? I've been wanting to try it at least once!"

Thankfully, Ainar gladly took up my offer and rushed over.

[You have crafted No. 3: Wall of Aegis.]

I learned a new universal truth that day.

"...Oh? It's a shield. Is it a good one?"

I should just let Ainar handle stuff like this from now on.