Chapter 1: I Became a Trash Character in a Gacha Game (1)
Chapter 1: I Became a Trash Character in a Gacha Game (1)
"Shitty gacha game."
I got wrecked.
I failed to pull the limited character from a banner with no pity system.
I poured three truckloads of gems into it, and I still failed.
"Fuck. Woof woof."
I couldn't even speak like a human being anymore.
It wasn't just about the money I'd blown.
All the 'Adventurers' I'd pulled had been ground down into gems.
But I still couldn't get this limited character—a so-called 'Human Rights' character.
I'd already exceeded my credit limit.
There was no way left to spend.
If I wanted to whale any harder, I’d have to take out a loan on a negative pressure account. Was this character really worth going that far?
The rerun won't be until next year, right?
Yeah.
If I pull now, it’ll definitely drop!
Without a Human Rights character, I’ll be kicked out of my clan. Then I’ll fall behind in the rankings and become a total has-been. Eventually, all the money I’ve sunk into this game will just become a sunk cost—nothing more than a pile of digital scraps.
Should I seriously take out a loan?
I feel like I could succeed if I just opened a small line of credit for about a million won.
Honestly, after pouring in this much without a single copy, she has to be standing right behind the door, hand on the knob, just waiting for me.
—I’ll give my everything to you, Captain!
"Yeah. How am I supposed to play without Human Rights? This character is essential for clan wars, raids, and Infinite Labyrinth exploration."
Today was the final day of the pickup week.
Her performance had already been proven on the first day, and there were countless cases of people who failed to pull her—like me—pulling a 'quit-and-delete.'
"...It’s a 0.1% rate. If I did 1,000 pulls, shouldn't she have shown up at least once?"
The gems I’d accumulated were already a mountain.
Since duplicate heroes are converted into gems for Limit Breaking, the amount of gems I’d gotten while trying to pull for Human Rights was enough to 5-star every other character I owned with plenty to spare.
"The time remaining is..."
One hour.
There was only one hour left until the gacha ended. If I didn't pull her in that hour, I’d drop from the rankings.
Rank 1?
I wasn't aiming for the very top.
But I couldn't tolerate a Gold Badge instead of a Platinum one. It would be like someone pissing on my sparkling gems.
"...I'll scrape together whatever's left."
Before I took out a loan, maybe one last single pull would grant me my Human Rights.
Where can I squeeze out some more gems?
Character Affinity stories? Already cleared them all.
Main story rewards? Sub-story rewards? I’d picked them clean before I even started this session.
Three-star clears on story dungeons? If there were even a few I hadn't finished...
"Fuck, I worked way too hard on this."
How the hell did I 100% every single stage on the map?
This meant I couldn't even do mission grinding...
"......Missions?"
Wait.
Was there an achievement I could complete right now to get gems?
Right now, within the hour—
"Yes! There is!"
—The Young Lord’s Lewd Delusion.
My fists clenched involuntarily.
The Young Lord.
As the Young Lord of the Labyrinth City that served as the game's setting, he was a 1-star joke character—a trash-tier unit that couldn't even be used for fun.
A pathetic character who acted as a punching bag in the 4-panel comics.
Despite being a 1-star, his summon effect was that of a 3-star, a character the developers clearly made just to fuck with the players.
That little shit, Ruji...
At the same time, he was a 'villain' in the main story. I’d skipped most of it, so I didn't know the details, but he was part of the 'death squad'—destined to be executed along with the fall of his family.
A character who was nothing more than a plot device, failing to show even a hint of coolness until the very end, just so the player character could become the master of the Labyrinth City.
There was one achievement for this character.
—"Clear it for me." Clear the Infinite Labyrinth with a party consisting of the Young Lord and five 5-star female characters ( 0 / 1 ).
Reward: 100 Lapis Lazuli.
It was end-game content.
The Infinite Labyrinth practically required all six members to be at peak performance to clear. Trying to clear it while carrying the un-leveled Young Lord was next to impossible.
But with a Human Rights character, it was doable.
The irony was that I needed the Human Rights character to complete the achievement, but I needed to complete the achievement to get the gems to pull the Human Rights character.
"...I'll brute-force it."
I’d use every trick in the book.
Making a harem party for the Young Lord felt disgusting, like my female adventurers were being snatched away from me, the player. But was I really in a position to be picky?
"If I succeed... that's three single pulls."
It was possible.
It wasn't impossible.
Since there were definitely people who had cleared it, it should be possible even without the current meta character.
I’d already ground a small car's worth of money into this game; I couldn't afford to miss out on my Human Rights here.
So.
I must.
Through every tactic, skill distribution, and retry—
"...I did it!!"
Victory.
Against the final boss, all the female characters were wiped out, and the Young Lord, the sole survivor, landed the finishing blow by throwing a bomb.
"If I get my Human Rights, I'm maxing out the Young Lord."
100 gems.
A single pull cost 30.
I only had 18 gems left, so I was 2 short of a fourth pull. Just three single pulls.
"......."
Summon.
With a flashy effect, resumes scattered through the air.
Since it was a single pull, only one resume appeared, and that resume—
—I shall become your sword, Captain.
<Notice> Converted into 10 Magic Stones.
"Okay. One 'bad luck' stack out of the way."
Two left.
With a trembling heart, I pressed the summon button again.
"She's gonna come out now, hand on the knob, huff...!!"
A rainbow-colored resume.
Stardust falling from the sky.
Three stars stamped onto the adventurer's evaluation form!
This was definitely the aura of a limited-rate-up—
—The name's Cerberus!
<Notice> Converted into 50 gems.
"You bitch...!!"
Why are you coming out now?
No, I appreciate you showing up, but not now.
"...No way."
Did I just burn my rainbow rare stack, meaning the next one will be a 1-star?
That can't be it, right?
Surely, that's not it...?
"...If I don't get her, I'm seriously opening that credit line, okay?"
This was a battle of pride.
Even if I had to live off three packs of cheap ramen tomorrow, I was going to get my Human Rights.
"Is it... the big one?!"
A resume descending from the sky.
It was white light, and there was nothing yet, but...
"Rainbow...!!"
A resume shimmering with rainbow light!
Stars sparkling brilliantly on the rarity scale!
—Hahaha! This Young Lord has deigned to become your ally!!
<Notice> Converted into 1 gem.
I was screwed.
It was over.
It was so absurd I couldn't even bring myself to touch the screen.
What was the Young Lord so happy about? Those developer bastards even gave him a Live 2D animation just to piss people off.
"Fuck..."
My Human Rights were vanishing.
Only three minutes left.
If I’d known it would come to this, I would have pulled the loan or a credit card cash advance earlier.
I’d already dumped all the emergency savings I had—equivalent to a month's salary—into the account. The only thing left was to break my savings account.
"Ugh...!"
Bye-bye, my beautiful Gaudi!
Your emblem will shine brilliantly as a platinum-colored Human Rights character in the Labyrinth City.
"Emergency withdrawal... Emergency withdrawal... Huh?"
[■■ Bank is currently undergoing emergency system maintenance.]
What.
"...Is the world seriously conspiring against me?"
I felt hollow.
On the screen, the Young Lord was still smiling proudly at me, and the clock struck the hour.
"......."
If I left the screen like this and got the login gems tomorrow, could I pull again?
Maybe server lag would extend the gacha by a day?
No such luck.
I pressed my middle finger against the Young Lord's annoying eyes. As soon as I returned to the lobby, the 'Pickup' sign had vanished.
Human Rights.
Extinguished.
Until the next Human Rights character came out, until the next limited banner, my damage output in raids would be pathetic, and I’d be the guy leaking golden piss in the rankings.
"...This sucks."
The 2-star trash I usually never even called.
The traitor who showed up as a 3-star right when I needed the pickup character.
And the goddamn Young Lord who mocked me until the very end—they all sucked.
"Should I just scrap everything?"
If I used the App Store's refund policy, I could probably get back the money I spent on this gacha.
At the very least, I could recover exactly one month's salary from what I’d put in so far.
But if I did that, my account would be blacklisted and banned. I’d never be able to see the data I’d played until now ever again.
"...Fuck."
Only curses came out.
Should I just scrap everything, leave only the Young Lord, and post it for the clout?
"Shitty game."
See if I ever play a gacha game again in my life.
"Dammit. The bastards who released a limited character without a pity system are the ones at fault."
It was the game company's fault.
The publisher's fault.
And it was the fault of that trash PD who put in an animation where the Young Lord appears at the last second and changes a 3-star into a 1-star.
"No Human Rights? Just scrap 'em all~"
Dismantle. Dismantle. Dismantle.
And if I was going to go for the clout anyway...
"Young Lord 5-star, let's gooooo!"
Max level.
Max upgrades.
And I even shoved all the special items—the ones I’d saved for a character I truly loved, of which only ten could be obtained in the entire game—into the Young Lord's stomach.
"Ah, I'm satisfied. This shitty, ruined game."
They say it's hard to climb up but nothing to go down; that was exactly how I felt.
If there were stairs nearby, I’d feel like dancing my way down them.
"...I'll apply for the refund when I wake up tomorrow. Goddamn game."
I tossed my phone aside and lay down on the bed.
It was already late. I just hoped the 'scrapping verification' post I’d impulsively shat out would make it to the top of the forums.
"Fuck..."
And so, without my Human Rights, I closed my eyes.
"Time to wake up, Young Lord."
"...Huh?"
I was screwed.