Chapter 49: A Severe Case of Gacha Addiction
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 49: A Severe Case of Gacha Addiction
With the help of my navigation system, I escaped the Great Forest without a hitch. I untied the horse I’d left at the edge of the woods and rode straight for Vestia.
Before sunset, I reached a nearby city. Halt. Identification. A slave trader? Clink. Okay, pass. I went through the motions and entered.
I found a decent inn and collapsed onto the bed.
I’d seen a bunch of notifications pop up earlier. It was time to check my delayed rewards.
First, the 50,000 points I got for liberating Alfia. It seemed that fully liberating a main slave was fixed at 50,000 points.
Considering that a slave with no story relevance barely yielded 500 points no matter how much you raised them, and even someone as significant as Narsha only gave 5,000, this was a substantial amount.
Next were the skills that felt like they were there and not there at the same time.
[Generous Master].
- The effects of items given by the master are slightly increased.
Simple enough. Basically, if I gave someone a sword, its cutting power would increase, and if I gave them a potion, its healing effect would improve.
I suspected it was an upgrade reflecting how much alcohol I’d plied Alfia with.
Then there was the new skill I’d just acquired.
[Blessing of the World Tree]
- The energy of the World Tree flows through you.
- The elf race will view you with favor.
- The abilities of your elf slaves are enhanced.
- The probability of a rare spirit inhabiting your elf slaves increases.
I can’t believe I got this.
In the original game, this was a skill you could only get by fully liberating 100 elves. It was the ultimate, essential skill for raising elves.
And I’d just gotten it for liberating a single elf, Alfia. The World Tree, moved that I had helped Alfia before she was completely broken, must have thrown in a bonus.
If this is how it works, I might get extra rewards for twisting the original story and liberating the other slaves, too.
I might get my hands on other rare rewards.
Of course, I had no intention of recklessly stirring up trouble. Alfia’s case had turned out well, but there was no guarantee the next one would.
I’d just keep in mind that this was a possibility.
And now, for the last thing.
Not a skill, but a new system.
[Slave Gacha]
Consumes 10,000 points. You can acquire various items, as well as a Slave Clue at a low probability.
The gacha is here!
A lottery where you could spend points to get items and slaves. It was an essential element of any otaku game.
Originally, it was a system unlocked after clearing the tutorial with Mirabelle to prevent endless rerolling.
It hadn't appeared back then, so I’d assumed there was no gacha, but here it was now.
What’s a ‘Slave Clue’?
I’d never seen that before. I had a rough idea of what it might be, but there was no reason to rack my brain over it. I’d find out when I pulled one.
Hooo, but 10,000 points is so expensive.
It was excessively steep. I wasn’t in a situation where I could leisurely raise slaves, and I had no idea when I might need money and items.
Mindless spending in such a situation could lead to irreversible consequences.
But something new had appeared. It would be rude not to try it.
Just a taste?
I still had plenty of points.
Just one little taste.
I spent 10,000 points and pressed the pull button.
A faintly shimmering blue orb appeared before my eyes.
Just as the light was about to deepen into a more brilliant, vivid color…!
Thud.
“Huh?”
A single item fell limply onto the bed. A crude, gray bracelet.
[Half-Finished Bracelet by a Meister]
A Meister was making this when, whoops, his hand slipped.
Equip Effect: Stabilizes a slave’s mind and body. Slightly enhances the effects of magic.
…That’s it?
The fruit of 10,000 points was a single cheap-ass bracelet?
I could commission a custom-made magic tool several times better than this for less money.
Ah, I get it. I just built up one stack. The more you pull, the higher the probability gets.
Which means I have to pull one more time.
Another 10,000-point investment.
Once again, a blue orb looked like it was about to burst forth in a more radiant light…!
Thud.
No such thing happened.
A provocative, pink, heart-shaped frame, the kind a succubus might have tattooed on her lower abdomen, fell out.
I knew what it was for without even reading the description.
And it was obviously trash.
Blue meant trash.
The most malicious part was how the color teased you, looking like it was about to change, but then didn't.
It was fucking infuriating. It was toying with me.
[Points Remaining: 63,120pt]
A-Already 20,000 points?
My precious, hard-earned points had turned into garbage?
Should I stop now?
No.
Stopping now is for amateurs. A pro sees the angle to recoup their losses.
“If I go all in now, I’ll get it!”
[Points Remaining: 13,120pt]
“Gasp, gasp…”
Moisture drained from my entire body.
My heart pounded against my eardrums like a drum.
My body, pickled in dopamine, trembled.
Have I ever struggled this much before?
Even in moments when my life was on the line, I was only scared for a moment before getting over it. But right now, I felt like I was suffocating to death.
Seven pulls. Every single one was a blue light. I hadn’t even caught a glimpse of a higher-grade light.
It’s not too late. If I back out now…
If I spent any more points, it could hinder my future progress.
Right, let’s stop here.
I got a taste of what it’s like, right? And 10,000 points is still a decent cushion.
Just then, a devil popped into my head and began to tempt me.
‘You’re gonna endure this? You’ve failed seven times. Statistically, the next one is a guaranteed hit. Stopping now is a loss, but if you get something good, you can make it all back.’
Ugh. Is it because of my skills? The devil’s words sound incredibly plausible.
No, I can’t be swayed.
Angel, help me!
Pop.
‘Wow, a super S-class beautiful girl slave is waiting right behind the door, and you’re just going to leave your hand on the knob without opening it? What a fucking pussy.’
…?
What the hell.
Isn’t one of you supposed to stop me? Where’d the angel go?
‘What angel would a slave trader have?’
I see! So I only ever had one choice to begin with!
There was no need to hesitate.
My mind grew calm.
I took a deep breath.
I gathered the power of three Karamis.
North, south, east, and west.
“I see it. The thread of opportunity!”
Diri-diri-ring, bleep. My points dwindled as if my life points were being chipped away.
A blue orb appeared.
The orb trembled, teasing a change, over and over. Then, like the break of dawn, it was dyed in a brilliant golden light.
“It’s a hit!”
My judgment was right after all!
Yeah, I’ve made it all back in one go.
A light so dazzling it was ecstatic to behold filled the room. When the light, which had reached its peak intensity, turned white, the orb shattered, and a single piece of paper fluttered down.
I snatched the paper with the speed of a beggar grabbing a breadcrumb off the floor.
[Slave Clue: Highest Grade]
A Slave Clue.
This didn’t exist in the game. In the game, when you pulled a slave, they were added to your character window like in any other gacha game, and you could start raising them immediately.
But what about now? I thought maybe they’d be summoned to my location, but that wasn’t it.
The paper contained random clues about a slave: their background, abilities, and the specific place and conditions to encounter them.
It was a system that helped you meet slaves this way. It could be a slave I knew from the game, or it could be a completely new one.
Well, time to find out.
I wonder what kind of pretty slave it will be~
With a pounding heart, I began to read the [Slave Clue].
[Slave Clue: Highest Grade]
In Eisengar, the endlessly frozen permafrost at the northernmost tip of the continent.
Tarkind of the Northguard, the Ironblood Warrior, from the orc horde that attacked his village───
“Ah, fuck, a male character.”
I knew it just from the name.
What kind of otaku game gives you a male character from a gacha pull?!
“I spent 80,000 points just to get… an ice dick?”
I tore the paper to shreds.
“You can just go die…”
*
80,000 points. Converted to gold coins, a whopping 8,000 of them had just vanished into thin air.
I’d been played by the gods. They must have seen me raking in points and, worried about inflation, decided to wipe my account clean.
I didn’t have any more points to pull with, and I was too mentally exhausted.
See if I ever touch the gacha again.
If I do, I’m not a man, I’m a monkey.
Even though my points were gone, I still had a job to do. To meet the third main slave, I had to go to the beastkin nation of Vestia.
Vestia. Such a wonderful place.
In the Traul Kingdom, false rumors spread about me being the Slave Reaper who killed slaves, but not in Vestia. My social standing there was completely different.
After all, I had healed countless beastkin slaves and sent them to Vestia. I can still vividly recall that day.
The memory of the beastkin, so grateful that they tried to chase after me as I left, crying so sorrowfully.
If I get the chance, I’d like to see those kids again.
I arrived at the border where the kingdom and the beastkin nation met.
On one side stood the kingdom’s soldiers, and on the other, the soldiers of Vestia faced them.
Amidst the strict entry procedures, I spotted a wolf beastkin with an impressive gray tail. I walked straight up to her.
“Well, well, Miss Seira. It’s been quite a while.”
Seira was an immigration officer for Vestia. She was the woman who took custody of the beastkin slaves I brought over.
Her default expression was one of indifference, but now she frowned. She must have had a bad day.
“What business do you have in Vestia? Are you here to hand over more beastkin?”
“Unfortunately, not today. I have some personal business in Vestia.”
“You do?”
“Yes. May I enter?”
No matter how good my reputation was in Vestia, I was still a slave trader. It was different from the cities in the kingdom, where a little bribe would get you in.
But it was fine. Seira knew better than anyone what a kind slave trader I was. I was certain she would let me in without question.
“Finally, the day has come… Please, come in. We have been eagerly awaiting your arrival in Vestia.”
“Haha, I didn’t expect such a passionate welcome. I’m not sure what to do with myself. Well then, excuse me.”
I took a few more steps and crossed the border. As I followed closely behind Seira, the kingdom’s soldiers disappeared from view.
“Miss Seira, are the slaves I freed doing well?”
“Doing… well?”
“I can’t get the image of their sad faces when we parted out of my head. Since I’m in Vestia, it would be nice if I could see them.”
At that, Seira stopped dead in her tracks.
Her gray fur stood on end.
“Just how much more do you intend to hurt them…!”
“Excuse me?”
“But that ends today.”
It was then that a sense of weightlessness enveloped my body. The world turned upside down. An instant later, excruciating pain shot through me.
When I came to my senses, I was sprawled on the ground.
It didn’t end there. My arm was twisted behind my back. In a flash, Seira was on top of me, pressing my wrist down with her knee.
“M-Miss Seira? What is the meaning of this?”
“The meaning? You should be asking your own conscience that.”
I tried to turn my head to see her expression, but my neck, stretched to its limit, wouldn’t go any further. Still, I could feel an intimidating gaze bearing down on me.
“Slave Reaper, Karami. You are under arrest on charges of serial beastkin abandonment.”