Dungeon Gacha Life Chapter 6

 Chapter 6: The First Ten-Pull

The day after two days of dungeon attacks, I spent Wednesday just taking it easy.

More fatigue had built up than I'd expected, which just went to show how demanding the Explorer profession really was on the body.

Then, come Thursday, I pushed as far as Floor 3 and started beating down Horned Rabbits. The method hadn't changed from before, so it was just more of the same routine. Maybe just a bit tougher than the rats, if anything.

By the end of the day, I'd reached Lv 10. Without pushing myself, I wrapped up the day on a schedule that let me finish settling up by 4 p.m.

For what it's worth, neither Tuesday, when I hunted on Floor 2, nor Thursday, my first time on Floor 3, brought in earnings of more than 3,000 yen a day.

Seriously this is a harsh world.

And now, today — Friday.

I showed up at the Guild around 10 as usual and got a slightly exasperated look from Shimotsuki-san. Then I was sent off with a relieved expression on her face, which brings us to now.

My not-pushing-myself policy apparently made a good impression on her.

"Touya-san. I really think something's off here."

In the middle of all this, Lapis — arms crossed in her safe zone up above, even as a rabbit lunged at her — spoke up.

At first she'd just been shrieking her head off, but by now she'd developed a real presence as a decoy. Good, very good.

"This isn't really exploring, or adventuring, or hunting monsters... it's just work, isn't it?"

"What's wrong with that?"

I cut down the rabbit bouncing around beneath Lapis and answered her.

Work? Sounds great to me. It's safe, isn't it?

"No, well... it's just, this isn't quite the life I imagined, or something like that..."

She fidgeted with her index finger, looking distinctly unsatisfied.

"You... think back on what you've been doing these last few days."

"Ugh! You've got me there, but..."

This one had been nothing but trouble, sticking by my side even outside the dungeon. Even something as simple as shopping turned into being the center of attention.

Go to a convenience store, and the clerk would be startled. Go to the supermarket, and the cashier lady would strike up a conversation. Ride the bus, and a bunch of elementary schoolers on their way to school would make a scene.

No matter where we went, she drew every eye in that place.

And on top of that, this thing had needlessly high social skills, getting along with everyone no matter where we went. Getting a free extra at the supermarket — what is that about?

I'd lost count of how many times I'd had to explain that I was an Explorer, and that Lapis was the Support Fairy that came out of my Unique Skill.

Well, you did see Explorers with familiars on TV every once in a while. Though it was a pleasant miscalculation that it hadn't caused as much trouble as I'd expected.

Anyway, ignoring what she said out loud, Lapis was clearly enjoying modern society way more than she had let on. The Churu I'd bought her to try got tossed aside. Apparently it wasn't to her taste.

"Well, just bear with it for now. Until I pull the gacha, I'm no different from any ordinary Explorer."

"That's true! My Level's about to go up soon too, and then it's finally time, isn't it!?"

The self-proclaimed fairy of Gacha apparently got fired up whenever the topic turned to gacha itself.

Curious, I pressed her on it — "Is there any benefit to you from me pulling the gacha?" and "Why are you so obsessed with it, anyway?" — and she just froze up, wearing the exact blank, spaced-out stare of that "space cat" meme.

That's a topic I'd rather not think about.

I cut down the rabbit Lapis had lured in and activated my Detection Skill. There was a cluster of signals nearby. Guess that's next, then.

Just a little more until the ten-pull. Whether it is work or not, all I could do was to keep pushing forward steadily and unbothered.

* * *

Before I knew it, I'd reached Lv 11. My Status at that point was as follows.

――――――――――――――――――

[Name] Suzukaze Touya

――――――――――――――――――

[Lv] 11

[HP] 78/78

[MP] 15/70

[STR] 30

[VIT] 24

[AGI] 28

[DEX] 27

[INT] 32

[MND] 38

――――――――――――――――――

[SP] 1

[Skills Possessed]

・Appraisal　・Detection Lv3　・Physical Enhancement Lv1

・Slash Lv1

[Unique Skill]

・Gacha

――――――――――――――――――

As for stats like STR, the average starting value was 10, and the median increase per Level was 2.

Which meant the median for Lv 11 worked out to 30. Add those together and you got 180. My total came to 179. Yep, right around average.

As for tendencies, my INT and MND were growing well, and my MP was climbing along with them, so maybe I was better suited to a back-line role. Something to keep in mind going forward.

As for Skills, I'd picked up "Physical Enhancement," which improved how well my body moved. And I'd spent 3 SP upgrading "Detection." I'd held 1 SP in reserve.

"Alright, it's finally time to pull the gacha. There's no one else around, right?"

"...Yes, I think we're fine."

Even the two of us couldn't help but keep a serious face at this moment. Lapis wasn't goofing around as usual either, seriously scanning our surroundings.

Since she's actually a pretty girl underneath it all, it kind of annoys me how good she looks doing it.

"—I just felt some kind of unreasonable wave of energy right now, didn't I!?"

Tch. She is sharp.

Alright, that's enough of goofing around.

I brought up the Status board and tapped the Skill "Gacha." Two options appeared, lined up as follows.

[Single Gacha Pull]

・Consumes 1 Level

[Ten-Pull Gacha]

・Consumes 10 Levels　・1 guaranteed SR slot

"Listen up, Lapis. Every single bit of the gacha presentation is getting cut, got it?"

I gave Lapis, peering at the Status screen beside me, a warning. I really don't need any flashy lights or music, you hear me?

"Ugh... fine, I get it."

The fairy of Gacha crumpled, sniffling.

Is it really that big a deal to her?

"But... but that's basically the only reason I even exist!?"

It was a cry from the soul.

I wondered if the characters standing on gacha screens in mobile games felt the same way.

Not that I felt sorry for her, though. Anything that stokes people's gambling instincts to squeeze money out of them is evil, plain and simple. No doubt about it.

Besides, this one had the important job of being a decoy, too.

Anyway, here goes the gacha, though I wasn't expecting much.

With rates like SSR 0.5% and SR 4.5%, this was a gacha that was straight-up mocking you.

Honestly, expecting anything from a plain, unguaranteed pull was asking too much. You'd need to do twenty ten-pulls just for one to maybe show up at all. How am I supposed to trust that?

Even SR, outside the guaranteed slot, only showed up about one time in three.

Basically, it was gentler on the stomach just to assume a ten-pull meant 9 R's and 1 SR, full stop.

What was actually inside was another matter... but at this point, all I could do was leave it to luck. Fortunately, the hassle of pulling again wasn't all that bad.

If I focused on hunting Floor 3 going forward, I'd probably be able to do a ten-pull about once every three days. 27 more days until the pity cap. Even with proper days off factored in, that worked out to under two months.

There was no urgent need to rush, so why not take my time and steadily work toward that pity cap?

...Even so, no matter how much I told myself that, I couldn't help getting my hopes up. Gacha really is evil, after all.