Pre-Season Ends (2)

Too many messages. My head was spinning. Undefeated through the whole Pre-Season? Couldn't you just fight a handful of matches and then go AFK?

This was a god-game, though. They'd probably already plugged every loophole. I dismissed the finished messages and checked the list.

The second I saw the first entry I stopped reading the rest and opened the details.

Not a feature I particularly needed. They'd thrown up all those upgrade messages just to hand me this?

Whether someone got pregnant was my decision, not the skill's, and eggs hatched just fine if you left them alone.

Whoever the god was that set the rewards had zero sense of taste. I went back to the list—and the letters started wriggling like earthworms.

"What the hell."

"Mad Demon. Art thou perchance looking at thy rewards?"

"Yeah. Come to think of it, you never got the undefeated reward, did you?"

"This lady was defeated by thee before she became Lady Sophia's minion, was she not?"

"Ah."

Cheonsol looked genuinely heartbroken. The message still refused to form proper letters and just kept squirming, so I had a moment to comfort her.

Squeeze.

I pulled her into a tight hug. The message thrashed as if it were angry, then finally resolved into text.

Just reading the names already had me torn. I wanted every single one. And I only got to pick three?

Fine. One at a time.

What was I supposed to do? I'd only looked at two options and already wanted both. Better check the rest.

I couldn't pick these alone.

I needed to know how valuable a legendary recipe actually was, how you normally got a World Tree seed if they were already selling them, and what the hell Constellation Play even was.

There was only one person who knew all of that.

"Lady Sophia!"

"Wha—?! Ah!"

Sophia jumped so hard she flailed and stabbed at empty air. A single sheet of paper fluttered down.

"Wrong button..."

"Lady Sophia?"

"No, it wasn't the wrong button. That was the one I was going to pick anyway, but still—ugh, seriously!"

She muttered to herself, then exploded.

"I only picked a reward because Yohan startled me!"

"Uh... it kind of looked like you were going to pick that one either way..."

"Which is the only reason you're still alive."

Sophia shook a tiny fist at me.

"If I'd grabbed the World Tree seed, you'd be dead by my hand."

"You got a World Tree seed too, Lady Sophia?"

The reward system really had no creativity. How did the master and the minion end up with overlapping options?

"'You too'? Don't tell me Yohan also—"

"Yes. Sharing my screen."

"This lady wishes to see as well."

"Lan-lan-i too!"

"Me too..."

—Me too. Let me see what an undefeated reward actually looks like.

—Me as well...

—It's already crowded! Stop shoving your face in! Get lost!

Lirota had shrunk itself down to the size of little Lan-lan-i from the old days and squeezed into the huddle. Even its face had gone cute and SD-chibi.

I achieved enlightenment. The same annoying behavior becomes forgivable the moment it's adorable.

"You crafty little bastard, Lirota."

—Pardon?

"I'll let it slide this once."

Because it was cute. Once it went back to full size I'd add "being too damn smug" to its list of crimes and work it twice as hard.

"It's better not to buy a World Tree seed."

"!!!"

Evni, who had been grinning ear to ear the second she saw the words "World Tree," took the news like a physical blow. The way she looked up at Sophia with glistening eyes was heartbreaking.

Sophia panicked and pulled her into a hug. Buried in that soft, generous flesh, Evni finally settled.

"The 'Do' family in the description is Dohoyo's family. Their main income is growing World Trees on planets and selling the seeds. I never expected one to show up as a reward."

"Meaning...?"

"With Evni here I was already planning to buy a World Tree seed from Dohoyo soon. Friend discount, a little cheaper."

"!!!"

This time Evni looked at her with pure reverence. She wrapped both arms around Sophia's enormous chest and held on tight.

"Mistress..."

"I'm just as good as Daddy, right?"

"No... less good..."

Wow. Evni was getting crystal clear with her opinions. Feeling how much she loved her dad filled me with pride.

"Must be nice being Yohan!"

Tiny-hearted Sophia snapped.

"Anyway, World Tree's out. Talent Upgrade's out too."

"Why?"

"I already picked it."

She waved the paper that had fallen earlier. So that was what it was.

"Then only three options left. I can just take all three. Could you explain what Constellation Play is?"

"Alright."

Constellation Play was exactly like the constellation novels that had been popular on Earth. It looked fun, but it didn't really hook me.

"So you can't actually summon the human you pick as a constellation into the Divine Realm?"

"Right."

"What if I raise them properly and turn them into a minion?"

"That got banned because of an evil god who mass-produced minions through Constellation Play and sold them off."

"Evil gods are never helpful, are they. Good thing I never ran into one in a battle."

"What are you talking about, Yohan? The Arachne goddess and Meschu were both evil gods."

That was so plausible it actually threw me. Arachne was obviously evil by racial trait, and Meschu only used male minions—of course that lunatic was evil.

Thanks to those bastards, my plan of pretending to be a constellation, summoning people to the Divine Realm, and then knocking them up was dead. Next time I met them I'd make them pay for this frustration.

"Then Constellation Play has basically zero upside."

"Hm? No. The biggest merit of Constellation Play is that it gives minions a way to earn divinity on their own. I heard that once the regular season starts, minions can use the market too."

"Then I need it even less."

I could just keep crafting items and selling them the way I already did. A feature that didn't even let me have sex was useless.

"So only three choices left. Skill Upgrade, Talent Upgrade, Legendary Recipe."

"Mm. Then there are two Talent Upgrades. I still have to pick one more myself..."

Sophia muttered under her breath.

"Minion gacha tickets are pointless with the kids we already have. Yohan's just going to keep using that skill no matter what I say, so that's even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more pointless. I'll buy that one!"

Was she telling me to keep pumping out new minions with Impregnating? Well, a goddess's wish was a goddess's wish. I ought to grant it.

Time to pick my own rewards. The moment I finished clicking, three sheets of paper fluttered down.

"Lady Sophia. What's an elixir?"

"One second."

Sophia worked the interface, and a moon rose over the Divine Realm that until now had only ever had an artificial sun. Were we finally getting day and night?

"Well? It's a permanent skill-and-talent acquisition item! Even at 0.1%, if you're lucky you can awaken two talents a year!"

"That's actually a really good item."

Anyone who'd ever played a gacha game knew the truth. 0.1% rates got cracked more often than you'd think.

Krista, who had been watching with sparkling interest, was impressed too.

—A moon as a reward... If Lady Sophia plays this right she might even make it into the Central League.

"Of course we're making it!"

Sophia clenched her fist and declared her ambition. Me, the other minions, and the spirits all broke into applause.

"Yohan, what legendary recipe did you get?"

"Elixir."

"Whaaat?!"

Sophia jumped so high it looked like a cartoon. A little higher and I would have known whether she was wearing panties.

A shame, but the glimpse of those pale thighs was enough to keep me happy.

"An elixir? You mean that elixir? The one that raises level correction, has a chance to strengthen skills or talents, and is just generally good for the body?"

"That elixir, yes."

"What are the materials? Show me the materials!"

"One second."

I read off the ingredients for the elixir.

"High-ranking spirit's blood, phoenix feather, essence of the negative dimension, dragon heart fragment, and blood of an S-rank skill holder. Five ingredients total."

I turned greedy eyes on Lirota.

"We've already secured one material."

Sophia licked her lips and looked at me.

"Make that two materials secured."

"Ah."

Right—my Impregnating was an S-rank skill, so that was two ingredients already locked in. Happy and sad at the same time. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠finally understood how Lirota felt every time someone drained its blood.