141
Chapter 141
Tosun's Mom pulled a stem out of the field.
Without using any mana, relying solely on strength.
"Bear......?"
Wait, really?
Does that make any sense?
Did she sneak some mana in without me noticing?
It looks like she's just pretending to pull it out with pure strength.
I had that suspicion for a moment.
However, I quickly dismissed those doubts.
I might suspect someone else, but there's no way our Tosun's Mom would lie.
Tosun's Mom isn't the type to trick me over something so trivial.
To think that could be pulled out with just strength....
It seems that if your strength is abnormally high, you can pull it out without using mana. The reason Tosuni and I had to use mana last time was simply because we lacked strength.
"Uhuhum. Son-in-law Bear, didn't you say it was absolutely impossible to pull out without using mana?"
"Beaaar...."
Tosun's Mom put on a triumphant expression.
...Yes, you are truly amazing.
I wasn't being sarcastic; she was genuinely incredible.
To have the strength to turn the impossible into the possible.
As expected, a monster with a power level of 1500 is just built differently.
It seemed like Tosun's Mom had a lot of power invested in physical strength as well.
But well....
Isn't that somewhat obvious?
Come to think of it, if there were a stem so amazing that even a being with 1500 power couldn't pull it out, that would be even stranger.
And this incident actually put me at ease.
If this field had a stem that even Tosun's Mom couldn't pull out with pure strength, it would prove that the owner of this dungeon, somewhere in the Gacha Field, was incredibly strong. Of course, even if Tosun's Mom couldn't pull it out with strength, it wouldn't mean they had power similar to hers. It would just mean it was designed not to be pulled by strength alone.
"Uuum, but I don't know what I just pulled out."
Tosun's Mom held the object she just pulled out and looked it over.
What came out was a round gourd.
"I'm not sure if it's edible. I should check what's inside first."
Smack-!
Tosun's Mom crushed the gourd with one hand.
Wow, her strength is really terrifying.
"Uum?"
The inside was completely empty.
It was a gourd without a single thing inside.
"Could it be a dud...?"
"Bear bear."
Looks like it.
When I answered like that, Tosun's Mom, who had been so triumphant a moment ago, had her ears droop down.
Her sullen expression looked exactly like Tosuni.
Tosun's Mom looked around.
Then she grabbed another stem and pulled.
Plop.
"Uum?"
It was a gourd identical to the one she just pulled.
Tosun's Mom immediately crushed it.
But this time too, the inside was completely empty.
"Uuuum?!"
"Bear bear."
Pfft.
She really has no luck.
"Uuuum... This is weird, there's no way my luck could be this bad......?"
There's definitely a way.
Don't deny reality.
Tosun's Mom scratched her head, then soon pulled out another stem.
This time, what Tosun's Mom pulled out was a gourd as well.
No, why does she keep pulling out only that?
Did she make enemies with gourds in a past life?
"U-Uum......."
Tosun's Mom's eyes wavered.
Tosun's Mom gulped, then crushed the gourd with a nervous face.
The result?
Ta-da- It's another empty gourd!
Tosun's Mom had drawn a dud three times in a row.
"This can't be! Three duds in a row!"
Tosun's Mom stomped her feet.
She continuously pulled out one more stem.
What she pulled out this time was a gourd too, and when she crushed it, the inside was empty.
Wow, she's amazing.
It's not easy to only pull out duds like that.
Isn't it actually on the difficult side?
Tosun's Mom was pulling off that difficult feat.
"Uuuuuum!!!"
Tosun's Mom's ears turned bright red.
More accurately, her fur became even more vividly red.
Whether she was heated up or not, Tosun's Mom, huffing and puffing, roughly grabbed another stem.
Plop-!
A gourd!
The gourd was once again completely empty inside.
Hehe.
I covered my mouth with my hand and let out a small laugh.
Tosuni and I have never pulled out that gourd before.
Looking at the results so far,
I figured that pulling that gourd itself was just drawing a dud.
Because every single gourd up until now had been empty.
Or maybe a vast majority of the gourds are duds, but a small minority might contain something incredibly good.
Regardless.
The fact that Tosun's Mom only pulled duds remained unchanged.
"No! Why am I only pulling out duds?!"
How should I know?
It's your own luck.
"Don't give me weird things like this, give me a carrot too!!!"
Plop-!!!
Tosun's Mom pulled the stem while crying out to the earnest wind.
But unfortunately, she ended up pulling out another gourd.
The inside of that gourd was unfailingly empty as well.
Seriously, she has no luck at all.
It's pretty severe, considering she isn't even under a misfortune debuff.
Feeling bad for her, I secretly wanted to give her a luck buff.
Of course, I naturally didn't give her a buff.
Because I'm a judge who needs to be fair, ahem.
Even after that, Tosun's Mom continued to only pull out gourds.
Just like that, she reached her tenth attempt.
She pulled a gourd this time too, and there was nothing inside it.
"Uuuuuuuuuum!!!"
Whoa, calm down.
You're way too excited.
"...Uum? Wait a second."
Before I could even calm her down.
Tosun's Mom calmed herself and made a face as if something had just occurred to her.
"Could this be...?"
Tosun's Mom carefully grabbed a stem.
The eleventh attempt.
Pop-!
Finally, something other than a gourd popped out.
The carrot that Tosun's Mom wanted so badly had been pulled out.
Bear bear! Congratulations!
Was she overcome with emotion?
Tosun's Mom just stared blankly at the carrot for a long time.
Before long.
Tosun's Mom shouted as if she had figured something out.
"...I realized it!"
It was a face that seemed to say she had realized something incredible.
I think that's the kind of expression Archimedes must have made when he shouted Eureka.
"Bear?"
Realized what?
When I asked, Tosun's Mom looked at me with an 'uhuhum' laugh.
"About this stem! You're not supposed to pull it out with strength! Because I kept pulling it out with only my strength like the wind, they were duds!"
Hmm... Is that so?
Then again, pulling ten duds in a row really didn't make sense.
No matter how terrible your luck is, that was a bit too much.
That's why I told you from the very beginning.
You absolutely have to channel your mana.
In the end, my words about never being able to pull it out without using mana were right. You might be able to physically pull it out, but you won't get a proper item.
That's practically the same as not being able to pull it out, right?
By my standards, I don't count pulling a dud as pulling it out.
"Uumcha!"
Plop-!
Tosun's Mom pulled the stem.
And she pulled out another gourd.
Huh? Did she just use her strength to pull it out again?
Even though she just said she realized something?
"Uhuhuhum. I get it now!"
"Bear bear?"
What did she figure out this time?
As I expressed my doubt, Tosun's Mom placed the gourd on the ground.
"I was wondering whether the items buried in the ground were predetermined or if they were decided as they were pulled out, but it seems to be the latter."
Tosun's Mom slowly reached her hand toward the gourd on the ground.
"I'm certain that all items are originally buried in this form. When they are buried in the ground, they exist in this form that can't be pulled out with ordinary strength, but the moment you channel mana into the stem, this round thing disappears and the item is generated. And because the round thing is gone, anyone can pull it out easily."
Tap.
Tosun's Mom placed her hand against the gourd.
However, she didn't crush it like she did earlier.
"Now, watch. If you destroy it with strength, you won't get anything, but if you channel mana like this......."
Pshhhh-
Tosun's Mom channeled a visible amount of mana.
Then, the skin of the gourd softly melted and met its Annihilation, revealing the contents hidden inside.
It was a very plump carrot.
"You can get an item. Uhuhum."
She's actually right?
So it was a system where channeling mana makes the gourd's skin disappear and generates an item.
Then, just like Tosun's Mom said, those gourds must be buried everywhere under the Gacha Field. And it seemed true that the reason the rest of us, excluding Tosun's Mom, couldn't pull the stems with strength was entirely because of those gourds, and the reason we could pull them by channeling mana was precisely because the gourds disappeared upon touching mana. It was all exactly as Tosun's Mom guessed.
"Bear bear...."
Our Tosun's Mom.
She was unexpectedly smart.
She suddenly looked like a different person.
No, should I say she looked like a different rabbit?
Anyway, I'm sorry for secretly thinking you were dumb until just now.
"Uhuhum!"
We wouldn't have figured out this information if it wasn't for Tosun's Mom.
Thanks to her pulling the stem with only her strength, we learned about the existence of the gourds buried in the ground, and she made that deduction based on that. If it weren't for Tosun's Mom, we would have remained completely unaware of the gourds' existence.
...Wait, could the Luna Rabbits pull them out with just their strength too?
I don't know.
I'll have to ask them later.
***
Tosun's Mom wandered around here and there, telling everyone about the information she found out as if showing off.
She was the type to secretly enjoy showing off.
Among the ones who heard her story.
The one with the best reaction was the Little Yellow Dragon.
"Yong yong! So that was it? I gained some fun and useful knowledge! Thank you!"
"Uhuhum!"
"Since I heard some good information, I'll tell Great-grandmother a piece of information too!"
"Uum?"
"I found this out while I kept pulling, but pumping a lot of mana into the stem doesn't mean you'll pull out something good. In fact, there are times when nothing comes out if you channel too much mana!"
"Uuuum! Is that so!"
Too much of a good thing is bad, huh.
I guess you only need to channel an appropriate amount of mana.
"And right now, I'm in the middle of a new experiment."
"What kind of experiment?"
"I'm checking to see if there's such a thing as the perfect amount of mana that fits the stem. If there is a perfect amount of mana, and if you channel exactly that much mana, I think something better might be pulled out!"
Our Little Yellow Dragon truly had a strong experimental spirit.
But I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect amount of mana.
In my opinion, as long as you aren't channeling an excessive amount of mana, what gets pulled out is purely decided by luck. Even if a perfect amount of mana does exist, there's no way that amount would apply identically to all stems.
Well, it still wasn't a useless endeavor.
You naturally figure out new information by trying out all sorts of things like that.
***
Tosuni and I, the judges.
We took our seats, sitting closely pressed against each other, and slowly took in the sight of everyone participating in the contest.
"Hoee? Even if you pee on the stem, it gets pulled out!"
"Kkyua? That's because mana comes out with the pee."
"Hoeeek?! Give me back my mana!"
"Why are you asking me to give it back? Don't pee then!"
The Fox was with the Red Panda today as well.
The two of them have been hanging out a lot lately.
By the looks of it, it seemed like the Fox was looking after the Red Panda.
The Red Panda was the new kid on the block.
It felt like she was always helping out by her side so that the one who joined our dungeon late could adapt well without any problems, so she wouldn't be lonely, and so she could get close and mingle with everyone.
Even though our Fox is an idiot, she has a kind heart.
"Babo-jjang, I just thought of something fun!"
"Kkyuhuh! You actually know how to think?"
"Hoee?"
"Kkyua?"
"Stop saying stupid things, and listen to this fun idea I thought of!"
"What is it? It better not be boring."
"Huhihi, what it is, is... Eh? I forgot."
"Kkyua?"
"Since that's a bust, let's play poke Gom-jjang's cheek and run away instead!"
"That sounds fun. But can we do it after the contest? I need to win."
"Got it! We definitely have to do it together after the contest! It's a promise!"
"Kkyua."
Why do they want to poke my cheek out of nowhere.
I was looking at them with a dumbfounded expression when it happened.
Whoooosh-
Suddenly, a cold wind blew in, and then,
"You lot."
A shabby-looking Scarecrow appeared before us.
"Whose permission did you dare get to harvest here?"
What the, when did it approach?
I didn't notice it at all.
Is that the Owner of the Gacha Field Dungeon?
I immediately checked its information.
[Scarecrow lv.100(Max)]
┗Pw.100
┗Rnk.Normal
[Domain: Creation]
┗Rank - Divine
...Huh? Level 100?
Max Level?
Compared to us, its power was nothing to look at.
Its species rank was also the lowest, Normal.
However, it was a monster that absolutely could not be ignored.
"I asked, whose permission did you get to harvest here?"
A monster that had reached the Ultimate Realm was bound to possess a Unique Skill.
Who knows what kind of dangerous Unique Skill it might have, so underestimating it would be a huge mistake.
Not only that.
Its Domain was also immense.
A Divine rank Domain named Creation.
Whether it was species rank or domain rank.
Excluding my Luck Domain, this was my first time seeing a Divine rank.
I don't want to fight an opponent like that.
I'd rather avoid a fight if possible, so let's approach this politely first.
Regardless, invading the Dungeon was indeed our fault, so I should apologize first.
"Bear bear, bear bear bear bear bear."
I'm sorry.
I didn't know this place had an owner.
Adding a white lie, I apologized with a gentlemanly pose.
Then, I shamelessly asked for a favor.
"Bear bear bear bear bear, bear bear bear, bear bear bear?"
It's a bit late, but would it be okay to ask for permission now?
We just want to play here a bit, bear.
"......."
The attention of everyone participating in the contest focused on us.
Perhaps thinking it was a volatile situation, a few subtly took up combat stances.
The Scarecrow stared at me intently.
If you don't like it, we'll leave.
Just say the word.
I also stared right back at it.
Then, the Scarecrow finally opened its mouth.
"Hmm. Yes, that's how it should be. You must ask for permission like that. Nowadays, everyone harvests without permission and then runs away when I catch them, or they just attack me outright... You have quite the good manners."
Whoooosh-
The cold wind blew once again.
"Very well, I shall grant you permission. Play safely and go on your way."
Leaving those words behind, the Scarecrow.
Disappeared from our sight along with the cold wind.
...Bear?
It actually allowed this?
It was a cool Scarecrow.
It was a relief that we didn't have to fight.