《A 3% Chance for Glory》 Chapter 1: The Woman with a [Curse] ¡°Weber, are you done with that inventory check yet?¡± ¡°Ah, not yet, sir. I¡¯ll need another hour, I think.¡± ¡°You have thirty minutes. We need to get this to Procurement by the weekend.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I ignored my sleepiness and forced myself to focus on the task of checking the list of items in the warehouse against regular stock levels, making a note whenever one of the items fell short. The list easily had more than five thousand entries, so manually checking each was tedious. Furthermore, there were instances where the reported inventory didn¡¯t match up with the transactions record, so I had to call the warehouse to clarify, wasting even more time. I had been at this task for the better part of two days, trying to rush it out ¨C I had even slept at the office last night. ¡°Bryn, the documentation for the new software is in, could you review it later please?¡± ¡°Alright, just leave it on my table. I¡¯ll take a look after I¡¯m done with this. Thanks, Ami.¡± My table shook slightly as a large ring file was placed upon it by Ami, my co-worker. I nodded my appreciation, but never once took my attention off the screen, determined to finish the required check within the time I had been given. ¡­ When I finally exited that cramped office, the number of cars on the road had dwindled to barely a few per minute. Reviewing the new documentation had taken longer than expected. I checked my phone ¨C 11:30 p.m. My stomach growled. Come to think of it, I haven¡¯t eaten anything all day. With the new financial year rolling in soon, the office was a hectic mess; I¡¯d chosen to forgo lunch in favour of getting more work done. If not, I probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to finish up the inventory check. I changed directions and walked towards the convenience store. As I did, I fired up the newest mobile game I¡¯d installed on my phone. I particularly liked the art for this one: it opted for a chibi approach, which was super cute, and the setting was a futuristic, sci-fi setting. I¡¯d completed the tutorial on the way to work yesterday, and the gameplay wasn¡¯t the best. Not very engaging. The game mostly played itself, with only a few button taps required in battle. A little disappointing, to be sure, but I didn¡¯t play these games for the gameplay. I played them for the gacha. Gachas are a microtransaction model that have come to largely dominate the mobile gaming industry in recent years. Games that utilise this gacha system tend to be marketed as ¡°Free to Play¡±, but in reality, made a lot of money. These games are ostensibly free to play in that they have no subscription fee, and installing them is free, but one can purchase special currency within the game using microtransactions. This currency is then used to open a type of lucky draw box, which is often the only way to attain the most powerful items or skills in the game. Essentially, it is a form of gambling. Generally, there¡¯s something like a 3% to 5% chance to get a good item, a 20% chance to get one that¡¯s decent but not amazing, and a 75% or so chance to get something that¡¯s effectively useless. If one wanted to become strong in a gacha game, spending money on the special currency to attempt the gacha was the way to go. Of course, any game where it was only possible to get stronger by paying would lose a large portion of its players. Resultantly, games often included ways to acquire the special currency other than paying, albeit at lower quantities. This allowed free players to keep up with the paying players, though it took much more time and effort. That said, this system can also be understood as a way to get free players to keep playing with the illusion of being able to stand with paying players on an even field. And eventually, when they had just about caught up and exhausted their resources, they would consider spending money to make that last jump, thus becoming one of the paying players. As for myself, I was a free-to-play player. I played these games for the rush of pulling the gacha, and that rush felt so much more satisfying when it was done on occasion, rather than whenever I paid money. I didn¡¯t much care for the games themselves, either, so I had little incentive to fork out money. I had played over seventy different gacha games, and played up to five at once, and yet I had never forked out money for any of them, even those with gameplay I genuinely enjoyed. That was a point of pride for me.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. As I opened the app, I was greeted with a message congratulating me on finishing the tutorial, along with a notice that I had been awarded 3000 of the special currency for doing so, the equivalent of 10 attempts on the gacha. I gleefully licked my lips and proceeded to the gacha screen. Since the setting was sci-fi, the chance of my usual [curse] triggering was low. I checked the rates. 80% Rare, 19% Super Rare, and 1% Special Super Rare. I whistled. These rates were even lower than usual. Still, like in most games, rolling on the gacha 10 times at once guaranteed getting at least one Super Rare or higher item. I braced myself and hit the button to make 10 attempts. As the animation flashed across the screen, I held my breath. One by one, nine weapons flashed across the screen, all of them Rares. I felt a little disappointed. Even though I was used to this sight, it was still depressing. The screen flashed, prompting me to tap it to check the guaranteed Super Rare. As I did, the screen changed colour, and the letters ¡°SSR¡± popped up. ¡°Yes! Score!¡± I pumped my fist in the air and grinned widely. I quickly retracted it and glanced around, self-conscious, but the late hour meant I was pretty much the only person walking around. I gleefully watched the light on the screen morph and take the shape of a gun, then read the weapon¡¯s name, listed in rainbow letters at the bottom of the screen. ¡°Oh come on, you¡¯re fucking kidding me¡­¡± The name displayed there was [POC9821 Valkyrie]. ¡°Not this stupid ¡®curse¡¯ again¡­¡± I, Brynhildr Weber, was the victim of a terrible [curse]. Whenever I played a gacha game, my first highest-rarity item would always be something associated with my name. Whether it was another character named Brynhildr, or a weapon or skill related to a Valkyrie, for every game I had played, this single point stayed the same. In all five of the games I currently had installed, each of them had some item or character which was connected to my name and to Norse mythology in some way. I sighed. I hated my name. Growing up as a half-German in Japan was hard enough, what with how different I looked from my peers, but the fact that my name was so hard to pronounce, coupled with the fact that it was in a ton of anime and games and other form of multimedia meant that I had been the subject of a lot of jokes as I was growing up, mostly concerning my distinct lack of athletic ability. I know my German father had good intentions when picking my name ¨C he wanted me to grow up strong and proud ¨C but I often wished he¡¯d stopped to consider the implications of such a ridiculous name. And so, my [curse] constantly reminded me of a painful childhood of being teased and laughed at. I locked and stowed my phone, annoyed. Besides, I had found my way to the convenience store. ¡­ As I walked back home, munching on a sandwich bought from the store, I casually went through my other four gacha games, clearing the daily quests to accumulate the special currency. As I was clearing the daily boss fights for the last game of the lot, I got a text from Weber Misaki ¨C my mother. I read through it briefly and sighed, annoyed. It was the usual thing about how I was doing and asking me to visit home occasionally. Both of those I was okay with answering, but she had also added her usual concerns about the fact that I was going on 28 years of age, and yet unmarried. Furthermore, she informed me that she had taken the liberty of playing matchmaker and wanted me to meet her friend¡¯s son, claiming that she thought I would like him. I hesitated, but ultimately replied agreeably. If she had taken the time to set it up, it was the least I could do to acknowledge her efforts. Of course, it wasn¡¯t going to work out. The other party was a guy, after all. My mother would probably be upset when it didn¡¯t work out, but I figured it would probably sting less than finding out I was gay. I crushed the empty sandwich wrapper and tossed it into a nearby bin, then climbed the stairs to my apartment and unlocked it. The moment I saw the welcome sight of home, I kicked off my shoes and staggered to my bed, collapsing on it without even changing. I was just that tired. I turned my head and glanced at my phone. 12:30 a.m. I slowly pushed myself up. I couldn¡¯t have myself falling sick ¨C I had to work in the morning. I decided to at least change and finish up the daily quests for the last game on my phone before sleeping. While removing my working pants, I used my other hand to manipulate my phone, scrolling to the screen that held my games. When I did, I froze. ¡°Eh? What¡¯s this?¡± An app icon with no name had appeared on the page. Its image was just a black background. I stopped changing and focused my attention on the phone. I found myself moving my finger towards the icon. With no hesitation, I tapped on the icon, holding the icon so as to drop it into the trash. But when I let go of the icon over the trash icon, it immediately reappeared in its original spot. ¡°What the fuck?¡± As I stared at my phone in surprise, the screen flashed twice. Then it turned white, shining brightly. Then I felt myself being drawn toward the phone, tugged, as if someone was pulling on me. Panicking, I let go of the phone and let it fall on the bed, but it was too late. The next thing I knew, I was in a forest, in the middle of a clearing, with bright daylight illuminating the world around me. Chapter 2: Is my [curse] gone yet? I blinked. And again. Contrary to expectations, the forested landscape didn¡¯t disappear. I didn¡¯t return to my room. I was stuck here, in the middle of a forest for some reason, with no idea where I was, when I had just been in my room staring at my phone. ¡°A dream?¡± No. Not likely. Far too coherent to be a dream, and besides, the fact that I was able to calmly ask myself that question suggested that a dream was unlikely. Furthermore, dreams were always created from our own experience ¨C and I knew for a fact that I had never seen this clearing in my life. I mean, I¡¯m a city girl. How would I have the chance to see a clearing as pretty and a sky as unpolluted as this? Even if I had seen it on television or in a movie, this landscape was far too detailed to be the result of such memories ¨C besides, I hadn¡¯t had the time to watch those in a week. There was no rational explanation for a dream like this, and therefore, it being a dream was unlikely. As I cast my gaze around, trying to think of an alternative explanation, I noticed that as I moved, something else moved in my field of vision as well. As I calmed myself and took in my situation, I noticed that a red bar was floating in the corner of my field of vision, with numbers above it that read [100/100]. Just below it was a shorter, green bar which bore the numbers [50/50]. ¡­a HP bar? I was no stranger to HP bars, given the amount of games I had grown up playing ¨C and the number of gacha games I played to this day. But I had never seen an actual, physical HP bar before, and certainly not one that seemed attached to my field of vision. As I rotated my head, the HP bar moved along with it. ¡°¡­ Virtual Reality?¡± The presence of the HP bar immediately called to mind another possibility for what was going on. Perhaps that app I had found had some sort of VR technology in it, some super-amazing new innovation that was able to create VR environments that were this ridiculously detailed, and I was just watching a VR simulation right now. ¡°¡­right, no, that¡¯s stupid.¡± No way. I didn¡¯t even own any VR gear, and I was completely sure that I was not wearing any form of external apparatus when that light appeared on the phone. My own state of dress testified to that: I was still in a half-dressed state, with my pants gone but my shirt still on. It was evident that whatever had happened, I was still in exactly the same state as I was when my phone had started freaking out. ¡°¡­my phone.¡± I searched around me, trying to locate my phone. Despite the rest of myself being as I was at the moment the light had started, my phone was not with me. It was nowhere near me ¨C the ground around me was vacant apart from my own body. I closed my eyes and massaged my forehead. The loss of my phone was reasonably annoying, but nothing very significant ¨C all my game progress and important info were backed up on cloud servers, anyway. More importantly, if this wasn¡¯t a dream, and it wasn¡¯t VR, then it left one likely, but ridiculous, explanation ¨C and the presence of a HP bar, of all things, confirmed this. ¡°¡­It can¡¯t be¡­ another world?¡± That was the kind of nonsense that happened in fiction. The character getting sent to another world, other than their own. A very popular trope, as it happened. I really didn¡¯t want to seriously consider the option that I had been somehow shifted to an alternate world, but my other possible explanations were quickly running out. And, as a certain fictional detective is often quoted saying: when all other possibilities have been eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. I opened my eyes and glanced back to the HP bar. It seemed that I had been somehow transported to an alternate, game-like world. Of course, in retrospect, the moment my phone had started acting weird, all common sense went out the window. Eh, let¡¯s start by finding out more about this HP bar. I reached out and touched the HP bar, which was floating a couple centimetres away from my face. I expected my fingers to pass through it, but the moment I made contact, a radial menu popped out from the HP display. Six circles were displayed: [Status], [Equip], [Quest], [Inventory], [Class] and [Gacha]. My eyebrow twitched when I saw the last circle. I resisted the overwhelming urge to click it, and instead opted to first check my [Status]. As I tapped it, a square, translucent panel appeared in front of me, with details scrawled across it.
Status
Name Brynhildr Weber
Class Gachamancer (¡î¡î¡î¡î)
Level 1 / 40
Stats HP 100 + 0
MP 50 + 0
Strength 2 + 0
Endurance 2 + 0
Magic 2 + 0
Resistance 2 + 0
Agility 2 + 0
Luck 0 + 30
Skills Gachamancy Lv.1 Login Bonus Lv.1 Item Box Lv.1 Class Change
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I blinked. My status screen raised several questions, particularly about my class. I¡¯d played many games in the past, enough to know that pretty much anything could be considered a class, but even so, this was my first time seeing a class like [Gachamancer]. I tried tapping on it, which created an additional text box, floating in front of the status panel.
Class: [Gachamancer]
One who tempts fate. Uses Gacha Points (GP) to roll the [Gacha], risking all for the chance to attain new power.
Stat Correction: +30 Luc
My eyebrow twitched in annoyance. This was certainly a perfect class for me, the gacha addict, but the very fact that it fit so well made me feel a little terrible about my choices in life. I shook my annoyance away and looked over my stats. It was clear that my class was weak. It seemed my only outstanding stat was Luck ¨C even though I felt like Luck made no sense as a numerical stat. Perhaps it was related to the [Gacha]. I had an idea of what ¡®Skills¡¯ referred to, but I decided to check it, just in case. I tapped the box. A textbox explaining what skills were popped out, as well as five other textboxes, each explaining one of my skills.
Skills
Special abilities or attributes gained from one¡¯s [Class].
Gachamancy Lv.1
Allows the user to call upon mystical energies in the [Gacha]. Consume GP to summon forth a random weapon or class. Gacha pool is determined by physical location. This skill can be used as long as the user¡¯s [Class] or [Subclass] is [Gachamancer].
Login Bonus Lv.1
Grants the user 1 GP per day. Grants the user a starting stock of 35 GP. Skill remains even if user changes classes.
Item Bag Lv.1
User can summon a magical bag which can store up to 30 distinct items per category, regardless of physical size. Storage Capacity can be increased by expending GP. Skill remains even if user changes classes.
Class Change
User is able to change classes if in possession of a [Class Crystal]. Skill remains even if user changes classes.
[Subclass]? What¡¯s that? I searched around for an explanation, but found nothing. Oh well. There were more important issues at hand. I narrowed my eyes as I came upon the part of the [Login Bonus] skill that said I had been given 35 GP. I tapped the [Inventory] button on the radial menu, next to my HP bar. Instantly, the button became greyed out. At the same time, a black messenger bag appeared, slung around my torso. It seemed to be made of high-quality leather, and it was about the size of a briefcase. It seemed I could tap this button to summon the bag, after which it remained summoned. I deduced that tapping the button again would dismiss it, but I kept it materialised since it was in a convenient shape, anyway. I opened it and looked inside. ¡­Well, that¡¯s new. The inside of the bag was much bigger than the outside ¨C no surprise, since it was a magical bag ¨C but more interestingly, the base of the bag was split into a neat 6-by-5 grid of squares. Of these, the first two squares were occupied. In the first square was what looked like a crystal, with a myriad of different colours swirling within. When I focused on it, white letters appeared above it, reading [Class Crystal (Gachamancer)]. This must be for the [Class Change] skill. And that means that the item right next to it is what I¡¯m looking for. The square next to the [Class Crystal] held a stack of multi-coloured orbs, their gradient identical to my [Class Crystal]. Each was about the size of a pearl, and a white number in the bottom-right hand corner of the box read ¡°35¡±. I focused on them, and true enough, the words [Gacha Point] appeared above it. Out of curiosity, while continuing to look inside the bag, I shook it around vigorously. Nothing happened. The items in it did not move. I briefly wondered how it worked, but quickly realised that I was trying to figure out the workings of a magic bag and gave up the endeavour. This was far from the most bizarre thing I¡¯d seen in the last hour, so there was no point in trying to figure out this particular bit of absurdity. I closed the bag, then turned my attention to what had been tempting me since I saw it: the [Gacha] button. I touched the button, and three panels appeared in front of me.
Weapon Gacha
Spend 5 GP to attempt a roll for a weapon of up to SSR rarity! Spend 25 GP to attempt 5 rolls, with one roll guaranteed to be an SR or above! Availability: [Tigrynaresh, The Hallowed Forest] Rates: 3% SSR, 22% SR, 75% R
Class Gacha
Spend 30 GP to attempt a roll for a class of up to SSR rarity! Spend 150 GP to attempt 5 rolls, with one roll guaranteed to be an SR or above! Availability: [Tigrynaresh, The Hallowed Forest] Rates: 3% SSR, 22% SR, 75% R
Beginner¡¯s Gacha
One time only! Spend 5 GP for a guaranteed SSR weapon! You¡¯ll also get a [Beginner¡¯s Starter Set] for free! Availability: [Beginner¡¯s Pool]
¡°[Tigrynaresh, The Hallowed Forest]... I guess that¡¯s the name of this forest.¡± The [Gachamancy] skill description had said that gacha pools were based on my physical location. I presumed that meant that different locations would have different weapons or classes that could be drawn. Well, for the moment, that didn¡¯t matter, since I had no idea how the location affected the pool ¨C and even if I did, I knew nothing about this forest or this world, so the best course of action was to just wing it. I licked my lips in anticipation, the gacha addict in me coming to the forefront. With my starting amount, I could roll on the class gacha once, as well as on the guaranteed SSR once. I could do a 5-pull on the weapons gacha, but I would probably get more mileage out of a second class other than my [Gachamancer] ¨C based on my starting skills, that seemed to be what my class was intended to do. Besides, I could use the weapon gacha once every 5 days because of [Login Bonus] ¨C as opposed to the class gacha, which I would have to save a month¡¯s worth of GP to use. It made more sense to go for the more expensive item first, since I was given the option. With that, I decided to roll the class gacha first. I was curious as to what kind of classes there were in this world ¨C the fact that there existed a gacha for weapons suggested that this was a world where I could expect conflict to occur, so I wanted to see if the class gacha gave combat or non-combatant classes. This would probably affect what I decided to do from this point, so it was arguably more important than rolling for a weapon. Of course, the real reason was because I wanted to know if my [Curse] had been broken. My decision made, I touched my hand to the [Class Gacha] panel. A second text box appeared.
Please present 30 GP.
I reached into my bag and grabbed the GP. I grabbed a random handful, but when I did, the number in the bottom-right changed from 35 to 5. It seemed that it read my intent and only gave me exactly as much as I needed. Very convenient. I held the handful of pearl-like GP up to the textbox. For a second, nothing happened. Then they started shining brilliantly, floating up, off the palm of my hand. I clamped my hands together and squeezed my eyes shut as if in prayer. Please let the [curse] be broken. Please. This is a different world, you know? Curses from the old world shouldn¡¯t cling to their past glory, you know? That¡¯s how politicians lose power, you know? So please just leave me alone, my [curse]. I¡¯m begging you. A white light enveloped the cluster of pearls, then they slowly began to change shape, turning into the shape of a [Class Crystal]. As the process continued, the light abruptly changed colours, becoming golden instead of white. I leaned forward in excitement. After a few more moments, the light disappeared, leaving in its place a golden-coloured [Class Crystal], hovering in the air. A text box appeared in front of me once more. I peeked at it through a slowly-opening eyelid. ¡°¡­Oh come on, you can¡¯t be fucking serious!¡±
New Class Obtained!
SR Class [Valkyrie] has been obtained.
Chapter 3: Beginners Special ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡­ the stupid [curse] followed me even to another world¡­¡± After a few minutes of cursing and swearing at nothing in particular, I decided to stop complaining and actually confirm what my new class did. I couldn¡¯t do anything about the fact that my curse seemed to have followed me, so it was a pointless endeavour to spend so much time dwelling on it. Better to use the time and do productive things. I reached out and took hold of the floating golden [Class Crystal].
[Class Crystal (Valkyrie)]
A crystal containing the sealed power of the [Valkyrie] class. Use with [Class Change] to change into a [Valkyrie]. Unsellable, Untradeable
¡°Uh¡­ [Class Change]?¡± When I uttered the name of the skill, the [Class Crystal] began to shine brightly, its light enveloping my body. I felt my clothes disappear, replaced by a new set. The whole process took about thirty seconds, and I ended up back on the ground, in a new set of clothing. I found myself clothed in a full set of plate armour and chainmail ¨C a collared breastplate over my chest and around my torso, segments of plate on my forearms, with chainmail filling the gaps. My legs were similarly clad in plate armour. A pressure on my forehead caused me to move my unarmoured hands towards it to check, and I found that a helmet had appeared around it. I removed it and took a good look. It was shaped like the front half of a cowl, with two wings appended to its side. It was designed so that it would protect my head without obstructing my vision. It left enough room for my hair to flow out behind it, but somehow it still felt like it fit snugly. I decided not to question it and chalk it up to another absurdity of my current situation. I slid the helmet back on and experimentally moved my body. Surprisingly, though I was covered in metal, my body didn¡¯t feel any heavier than usual. I was able to make rapid, erratic movements without issue. Odd. I then noticed that a text box had appeared over the spot where I had used the [Class Crystal]
Class has been changed to [Valkyrie] Stat correction has been applied. Check Class details and skills under the [Class] menu
I opened the radial menu next to my HP bar and selected [Class].
[Valkyrie]
Chooser of the Slain. A maiden of war who acts as a vanguard of the gods. A well-balanced warrior skilled in both melee combat and healing magic.
Level 1 / 40 Limit ¡î¡î¡î¡î
Stat Correction +400 HP, +150 MP, +30 Str, +30 Mag, +30 End, +30 Res, +15 Agi
Skills
Lance Proficiency o Grants a 1.5x boost to power when using [Spear] weapons Healing Proficiency o Grants a 1.5x boost to power when casting [Healing] magic Divine Eye Lv.1 o Grants the user the ability to analyse living beings, displaying their Level. Armour of Valhalla Lv.1 o User is clad in armour granted by the gods. Increases in power as the user¡¯s level increases. o Current bonus: +20 End, +20 Res Divine Favour o User is a chosen vanguard of the gods. Increases all damage dealt by 10%, reduces all damage received by 10% Auto HPMP RegenerationThe story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. o User passively heals 10% of max HP and MP every 10 minutes. Divine Magic: Shieldmaiden Lv.1 o War Cry [25 MP] ¨C Forces all enemies in range to attack the user. May be resisted. o Divine Scream [30 MP] ¨C Deals damage to all Evil-aligned enemies in a 20m radius. o Holy Shield [25 MP] ¨C Surrounds 1 target with a barrier of holy magic that reduces all damage taken by 25% for 1 minute. o Bless Weapon [25 MP] ¨C Blesses a weapon. For 15 minutes, the blessed weapon gains the [Holy] attribute in addition to its other attributes. [Lance Arts] Lv.1 o Comet Strike [10 MP] ¨C A lightning-fast attack using a spear. o Spear Cyclone [30 MP] ¨C Spins a spear rapidly in a circle, dealing damage to all nearby enemies. Basic Magic (Supportive): Healing Lv.1 o Prayer [30 MP] ¨C Heals all allies in a 10m radius o Cure [25 MP] ¨C Cures 1 status ailment for 1 target in a 30m radius
Okay, that¡¯s a lot of skills. Let¡¯s see here¡­ I carefully scanned through the list of skills, trying to get a rough idea of what they did. As far as I could tell, the skills listed under [__________ Arts] and [__________ Magic] were active skills, and the other were passives. It seemed that the skills I could use were grouped according to weapon type, or otherwise according to my class. Based on the [Proficiency] and [Arts] skills, it was clear that my [Valkyrie] class specialised in using spears and healing magic. [Divine Eye] seemed to be the equivalent of an appraisal-type skill. It would probably be helpful once I started coming into contact with living things. The amount of information it could provide me was rather underwhelming, but the [Lv.1] next to it suggested that it might get more powerful in the future. [Armour of Valhalla] probably referred to the armour I was currently wearing. It meant I wouldn¡¯t have to go out of my way to acquire other armour, so that was nice. Furthermore, it seemed able to increase in strength as I grew, so I was unlikely to outgrow the armour anytime soon. It gave bonuses to Endurance and Resistance, which meant that those two were likely to be the defensive stats. Going by gaming conventions, Endurance would refer to my physical defence, while Resistance would refer to my magical defence. I had no way of confirming it at the moment, but I decided to move forward under those assumptions. [Divine Favour] and [Auto HPMP Regeneration] sounded ludicrously strong as far as passive skills went ¨C [Divine Favour] was basically free stats at no penalty, while [Auto HPMP Regeneration] meant I didn¡¯t have to worry about my health ¨C resting long enough would recover my HP and MP back to full. Furthermore, both were scaling effects ¨C which, in my experience, tended to be the most ridiculous effects in the long term. Of course, this was assuming the world I currently inhabited followed the same conventions as a video game, but so far, I had been given no reason to suspect otherwise. Those stat corrections sounded ridiculous, though. That¡¯s what, three times higher than my previous class? I was about to close out of the [Class] window to reconfirm my stats, but then I noticed another, smaller text box below the [Class] information screen.
Set a [Subclass]
Hold up a second [Class Crystal] to this window to set it as your [Subclass]. [Subclasses] grant you their stat corrections and gain experience equivalent to 50% of all experience gained by the main [Class]. Skills of the [Subclass] are not accessible, unless otherwise stated.
Ah. I recalled the description for my [Gachamancy] ¨C I could use it even if the class was set as my [Subclass]. With that in mind, I quickly registered my [Gachamancer] crystal as my [Subclass] and closed out of the window, re-opening the [Status] window.
Status
Name Brynhildr Weber
Class Valkyrie (¡î¡î¡î¡î) / Gachamancer (¡î¡î¡î¡î)
Level 1 / 40
Stats HP 100 + 400
MP 50 + 150
Strength 2 + 30
Endurance 2 + 50
Magic 2 + 30
Resistance 2 + 50
Agility 2 + 15
Luck 0 + 30
Skills Basic Magic (Supportive)
  • Healing Lv.1
Divine Magic
  • Shieldmaiden Lv.1
Gachamancy Lv.1 Login Bonus Lv.1 Item Box Lv.1 Class Change Lance Proficiency Healing Proficiency Armour of Valhalla Lv.1 Divine Eye Lv.1 Divine Favour Auto HPMP Regeneration Lance Arts Lv.1
Those are way higher stats than before. On top of that, I get stats from the [Subclass] as well?! With only my prior status as a basis for comparison, the difference in stats seemed ridiculous. But I didn¡¯t know what was the baseline for this world ¨C perhaps I was now only just at the average. Still, it was nice to be stronger, even if only slightly. Now then, it¡¯s finally time¡­ I greedily rubbed my hands together. I¡¯d been waiting for this moment since I saw that the option was available to me. I navigated to the [Gacha] menu, tapping on the panel for the [Beginner¡¯s Gacha].
Please present 5 GP
I retrieved the remainder of the GP in my bag and held it up to the prompt. Like before, the 5 pearls began to shine with a brilliant light ¨C only this time, instead of turning golden, the light turned into a rainbow-coloured light, the seven colours alternating and intermingling. The pile of GP floated off my palm and started to change shape, into a new form, into¡­ ¡°¡­A book?¡± The light was morphing into a shape that was very clearly that of a book. After a while, the light dispersed, revealing a single, bound tome. Its cover was pure white, with the image of a woman¡¯s face on it, eyes closed, lips open as if speaking. A strange script flowed across its cover in a language I couldn¡¯t read. The book hovered in midair for a moment, before dropping into my outstretched hand.
New Weapon Obtained!
SSR Tome [Sibylline] has been obtained. [Beginner¡¯s Starter Set] has been placed in [Inventory].
Chapter 4: Sibylline I stared at the book in my hand for some time. A book? Seriously? I¡¯m not a mage, you know? I¡¯m a physical class, you know? Looking at my skills and stats, I¡¯m obviously meant to be a tank, you know? Why a book?! I don¡¯t even have tome proficiency! I blinked stupidly for several seconds, then released a great sigh. Well, that was the nature of gacha. It was impossible to know exactly what you were going to get, and it was always possible to get a result that didn¡¯t synergise with your existing setup at all. Well, this is the only weapon I have, so for the time being I¡¯ll confirm its stats. I focused my attention on the book, and a window appeared.
Sibylline
SSR Magic Tome Level: 1 / 40 (¡î¡î¡î¡î)
Magic Attack: 20 Physical Attack: 5 Stat Corrections: +10 Mag, +50 MP [Unique Magic: Time Lv.2] [Foresight Lv.1] [Small MP Regeneration] [Time Savings] [Halftime] Unsellable, Untradable
¡­Why does a book have a physical attack stat? Am I supposed to smack people with it? Well, the much higher magic attack suggests that I should be properly using it to cast spells though. Also, don¡¯t the stat corrections seem a little low for an SSR weapon? My [Valkyrie] job has better stat corrections, and it¡¯s an SR. Maybe classes just had a greater impact on stats than weapons. Well, enough of that. Skills, skills~ I tapped each of the listed skills to confirm their details.
[Unique Magic: Time Lv.2]
[Haste] ¨C Speeds up the user, increasing Agility. 20MP. Lasts for 10 minutes. [Slow] ¨C Slows down a target, reducing Agility. 20MP. Lasts for 10 minutes. [Stop] ¨C Stops the movement of time for a target. 80MP. Lasts for 10 seconds. [Delay] ¨C Interferes with a target¡¯s flow of time, doubling casting time of all magic. 80MP. Lasts for 1 minute.
Foresight Lv.1
Allows one to perceive danger 1 second before it occurs.
Small MP Regeneration
User recovers 1 MP per minute.
Time Savings
Skills from the [Time] tree have their MP costs reduced by half
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Halftime
Passive [Skills] that trigger based on time intervals have their intervals halved.
Wait, why are all the spells support and buff types? What about attack spells? There are none? What kind of useless tome is this?! I furrowed my eyebrows. My first and only weapon was a magical tome with no attacking spells. A part of me was extremely worried about how I would proceed from this point, but I decided to avoid reality by checking the other skills. ¡­ [Small MP Regeneration] was simple enough to understand. Simple and effective. Same with [Time Savings] ¨C the skill meant that the [Haste] spell would cost me only 10 MP per cast, and given that it lasted 10 minutes, that meant the MP would be completely refunded by [Small MP Regeneration]. Additionally, given that I had [Auto HPMP Regeneration] from the [Valkyrie] class that gave me 20 MP per 10 minutes, I could indefinitely sustain Haste on myself and Slow on two targets. Simple skills, to be sure, but very effective ¨C even though I still had no idea how I was going to attack. [Foresight Lv.1] seemed useful, though I didn¡¯t know how useful it would be in practice. Knowing when danger was coming would undoubtedly be helpful, but isn¡¯t 1 second too little time to act? What really caught my attention, though, was the [Halftime] skill. Passive [Skills] that trigger based on time intervals ¨C Without a doubt, that included [Small MP Regeneration] and [Auto HPMP Regeneration]. Based on the skill description, I guessed that it halved the trigger time. In other words, instead of recovering 1 MP per minute, [Small MP Regeneration] would recover 1 MP per 30 seconds. That was good enough by itself, but more importantly, my [Login Bonus] skill triggered based on time interval. It gave me 1 GP per day. With this skill, would it become 2 GP per day?! That meant I could roll the gacha in half the time! That meant I could get a weapon in 3 days! 2 [Classes] a month! The possibilities were endless! Oh, praise be to you, [Halftime]! You are truly the greatest of skills! Thank you for gracing me with your presence! Ah, wait, no. That¡¯s bad. I let my excitement get to my head and ended up thinking some embarrassing thoughts. Calm down, calm down. In the first place, could I even equip the weapon? As I thought that, a system prompt appeared informing me that the [Sibylline Scripts] had been equipped. It turned out to be a moot concern. With my first class and my first weapon ¨C if you can call it that ¨C obtained and evaluated, I turned my thoughts to what I was going to do from here. I was in another world, a game-like world. An opportunity like this didn¡¯t come easily. I could go make a living as an adventurer, or become a merchant and live in luxury, or maybe even go exploring. Maybe I would even find a girlfriend! There were so many things I could do, now that I had landed in this strange world. Hm? Going home? Why would I want to go home? All that was waiting for me back there was work, work, and then even more work. And when I finally got off work, nagging from my mother. Didn¡¯t have any friends, either. There¡¯s nothing waiting for me back there, so why would I want to go back? I¡¯d much rather live a life of romance and adventure in this new game-like world. ¡­Well, I was a little worried about my mother. She should be financially secure thanks to what Father left her, but she would undoubtedly be panicking about my absence. That said, it¡¯s not like I had any inkling of how to get back home, so there was nothing I could do about that for now. I guess I¡¯ll keep an eye out while continuing to explore this world. First, though, I had to figure out how to get out of this forest. A map would be nice. Ah, wait, that¡¯s right, the [Beginner¡¯s Gacha] was supposed to come with a [Beginner¡¯s Starter Set]. Maybe it contained a map. I opened my bag and peeked inside. Sure enough, there was a medium-sized cardboard box in one of the slots. I picked it up and removed it from the bag. Then I opened it.
Items Obtained
You have acquired: [Lesser HP Potion] x5 [Lesser MP Potion] x5 [World Map] [Map of Tirgryanesh (33%)] 30 Gold.
The box dissolved, leaving only its contents behind. I immediately unfurled the rolled-up [World Map]. Apart from a single forest labelled [Tigrynaresh, the Hallowed Forest], the rest of the map was blank. A prompt informed me that the map would be filled in as I found new locations or information about new locations. In other words, for the moment, the map was useless. I opened the second map, the one that detailed my current area. Similar to the [World Map], most of it was blank, but about a third of it was filled in, detailing water sources, open spaces and danger zones. A pulsing green blip on the map indicated my current location. Focusing on a particular part of the map caused a prompt to appear, listing what kinds of animals and plants could be found in those locations. Most of the plant names I didn¡¯t recognise. Some of the animals I recognised, such as [Deer] or [Boar], but there were also animals that I had only seen as monsters in fantasy games or novels ¨C just south of my position was a large gathering of [Slimes], and to the West, next to the lake, was what appeared to be an encampment of [Pixies]. To the East was the uncharted area of [Tigrynaresh], but the parts of the map that bordered the unexplored zone were all marked by a red cross ¨C the indication of a danger zone. Unlike the other zones, I could not read any information about those zones. Yeah, that just screams danger. Let¡¯s stay far away. For the time being, I plotted a course through the forests that was the shortest route to the outside, while also passing by a water source. The good news was that based on the scale of the map, the route was only a little over 12 kilometres ¨C I could cover that within a day. The bad news was that it passed right through the Pixie encampment. If they were friendly, it might be possible to avoid conflict, but if they were hostile to humans, then, well, we would have a problem. Well, to be honest, I was kind of looking forward to it. I wanted to see what actual, real-life Pixies looked like, and more importantly, I wanted to test out my new abilities in combat. Most pressingly, I had to try and figure out a way to fight using my extremely unusual weapon. With that thought in mind, I stowed the items and began my march. Chapter 5: Pixie Circle ¡°Welcome to our village, Lady Valkyrie. Please, make yourself at home. If you have anything you need, please ask, and we¡¯ll do our best to provide it.¡± Uh. That was unexpected. I mean, I had wondered whether the Pixies would be friendly, but I certainly hadn¡¯t been expected to be received like a guest of honour. For that matter, I certainly wasn¡¯t expecting to be greeted by rows upon rows of Pixies, bowing before me. Their appearance as tiny, winged, beautiful girls matched my image of a Pixie. The maid outfits didn¡¯t. I blinked for several seconds, unable to comprehend the situation. The front-most Pixie tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Um, pardon my insolence, but Milady seems distressed. Is something the matter?¡± ¡°Ah, no, just ¨C I¡¯m wondering why you¡¯re treating me so well when I just waltzed into your village.¡± ¡°Hm? Milady is a Valkyrie. A shieldmaiden of the gods. What more reason would we require? It is an honour to welcome you into our halls.¡± Still a little confused, I focused my attention on the Pixie. A prompt appeared.
High Pixie
Level: 18 HP: 6000/6000 A servant of the gods. Pixies act as maids and groundskeepers for the gods ¨C service is the calling of their life, and nothing makes them happier than to fulfil their duties. They show great contempt to most others, but will speak to those affiliated to the gods with reverence and admiration. The High Pixie acts as a head maid of sorts within an enclave of Pixies.
Ah. That explains it. Pixies were maids for the gods, and Valkyries were basically higher ranked. So my class had saved me the trouble of fighting through a village of Pixies. I had mixed feelings about that. I decided to make use of the offered hospitality. ¡°Would it be possible to get a drink and some food? I¡¯ve a long journey ahead.¡± The Pixie bowed. ¡°Certainly, we can arrange for the water immediately. Regrettably, we are unable to provide the food immediately ¨C we were just about to go on the hunt when we sensed Milady¡¯s presence. If you would be willing to wait for about an hour, we would be able to procure some boar meat and prepare it for you.¡± Boars, huh? I had really only asked for the food on a whim, but I was getting rather hungry. If I was going to have to wait anyway, it was more efficient to use the opportunity to try out my abilities in combat. ¡°About the boars ¨C is there an area to hunt them nearby? I¡¯d like to try my hand at it.¡± ¡­ The Pixies led me a little East, opening into a clearing where four large boars were grazing. I focused on one of them.
Forest Boar
Level: 4 HP: 300/300
Unlike with the High Pixie, the prompt for the Forest Boar only showed its level, HP and nothing else. Eh? What¡¯s with this different treatment? Ah, it¡¯s that, probably ¨C the High Pixie deferred to me as a higher being and let me know its information, while the boar didn¡¯t give me that permission. I see. Well, it¡¯s a bit inconvenient, but nothing serious.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The boars were covered in a glistening coat of fur, with two long, swordlike tusks aligned with their mouths. They were grazing peacefully, but the moment we stepped into the clearing, they stiffened and looked at me. The High Pixie floated in front of me and took a battle stance midair, both hands in front of her as preparation for casting magic. ¡°Milady, please allow us to handle this rabble, which dared to raise their heads in your presence. We shall teach them their place.¡± The other Pixies held out their hands in a similar fashion, but I raised my hand to stop them and shook my head. ¡°Stand down. I want to fight them.¡± ¡°As you desire.¡± The host of Pixies immediately lowered their hands and fell back, hovering behind me. Well then, let¡¯s see how this goes. First off, let¡¯s make things a little quicker. I held out [Sibylline]. ¡°[Haste].¡± [Sibylline] glowed and opened, its pages flipping of their own volition to one of the pages within the book. I felt a slight drain as my MP bar fell by a miniscule amount. Nothing dramatic happened ¨C the world didn¡¯t suddenly start moving in slow motion ¨C but I felt a lot faster. I opened my status window and confirmed that my Agility had doubled. I took one step forward. Immediately, the boar closest to me turned towards me and charged. It was moving at an incredible speed, but somehow I was able to follow its movements ¨C likely because my Agility had increased. ¡°[Slow].¡± I targeted the boar with the spell and watched as it slowed down. It was still moving, but to me, it was like looking at a still image, even as it charged toward me ¨C I had those two images in my mind simultaneously. It was like looking at a single object through two lenses with different configurations, one where it was normal speed, and another where it was slowed down. It should have been confusing, but somehow I managed to process that information without any trouble. I glanced at my MP ¨C it had decreased by 20, but was quickly being refilled by [Small MP Recovery]. Between that and [Auto HPMP Recovery], I could maintain [Haste] and [Slow] indefinitely. So now I was fast and the boar was slow. If I wanted to, I could walk up to it and hit it. The problem, though, was what I was going to hit it with. I still had no weapon other than [Sibylline], and that was hardly a weapon designed for physical combat. Well, for the time being, I guess I¡¯ll try to punch it? I strolled up next to the charging boar and drew back my fist. ¡°Hiyaaaaa!¡± I drove my fist into the boar¡¯s abdomen, yelling out a battle cry. The boar was knocked out of its charge, but its HP only dropped by 11 ¨C less than half of my Strength value. A prompt appeared.
Unarmed Penalty
Warning: You are attacking an opponent unarmed ¨C your attacks will have a 0.5x modifier.
¡­What¡¯s with this discrimination against fighting barehanded? Isn¡¯t this a little unfair? I mean, it¡¯s not like I have a weapon other than [Sibylline]. The book does have a physical attack stat¡­ I guess it couldn¡¯t hurt to try using it as a blunt weapon? I turned my gaze down to the book in my left hand and sighed. Then I snapped it shut and dashed toward the boar, transferring the book to my right hand. I brought it up, then slammed it into the boar¡¯s flank. ¡­eh? What? Seriously? The boar got sent flying just from a single strike from a book? It¡¯s not even that heavy. ¡­Eh? Confused, I checked the boar¡¯s status. Wait, that attack did 155 damage?! What¡¯s with that ridiculous difference?! It¡¯s a book, you know? A book! Wait. The book has a ¡°Physical Attack¡± stat of 5. Don¡¯t tell me¡­ that¡¯s a multiplier? My Strength stat is 32, so multiplying it by 5 would give me a total of 160¡­ Assuming that the missing 5 damage is from the boar¡¯s Endurance stat, the numbers check out. In that case, the ¡°Magical Attack¡± stat of 20 would let me offensive magic hit for 20 times my Magic stat. Isn¡¯t that way too high? Even at my current level, that means that using an offensive magic would deal 640 damage. More than enough to overkill the boar. ¡­Actually, isn¡¯t my offensive magic capability somehow super amazing? I don¡¯t have any offensive magic though. As I wasted my time thinking about silly things like that, another boar charged me. This one wasn¡¯t affected by [Delay], so it was still running at a reasonably fast speed. I would be able to avoid it if I wanted to, but I wanted to test my defences. So I just stood there. The boar crashed into my body from the side¡­ and was repelled, landing a short distance away. ¡­Eh? I checked my HP. No change. The boar¡¯s attack had done no damage. ¡­No way. Isn¡¯t that a little ridiculous? I mean, the boar is 3 levels higher than me, you know. Even though I have 56 Endurance because of the [Valkyrie] class, it should at least be doing some damage, right? While I marvelled at how tanky my class made me, the other two boars also charged at me, swinging their tusks wildly. Zero damage. It began to sink in ¨C I could hurt these boars, they couldn¡¯t do anything to me. A grin spread across my face. I hefted my book with a feeling of anticipation. A rampage of helpless boars getting their heads smashed in by a magical tome was about to start. Please become my EXP and food. Let the hunt begin. Chapter 6: Waylaid I strolled along the roadside, occasionally checking my map. It had been about half a day since the Pixies had cooked the boars for me and brought me to the edge of Tigrynaresh. Given that it had taken me about half a day to get to the Pixie encampment, that made it a full day since I had arrived in this world. Incidentally, the boars tasted just like the pork back home in Japan, except slightly tougher. I¡¯m not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed about the fact that it wasn¡¯t anything more exotic. During the course of my journey so far, I had managed to ascertain that the [Halftime] passive from [Sibylline] did, in fact, apply to my [Login Bonus] passive skill ¨C I had 2 GP in my bag that stood testament to that discovery. At this rate, I would be able to roll another weapon in a day and a half ¨C hopefully something that fit my class better. I mean, in all fairness, [Sibylline] was a great weapon, but something about going around a fantasy world hitting monsters with a book didn¡¯t sit well with me. It lacked an element of romance. Yes, I¡¯m a nerd. Anyway, the fight with the boars had let me level up thrice, so I was currently Level 4. Incidentally, it seems that my base stats don¡¯t increase with level, but the stat corrections offered by the class increased with every level. My current status looked something like this:
Status
Name Brynhildr Weber
Class Valkyrie (¡î¡î¡î¡î) / Gachamancer (¡î¡î¡î¡î)
Level 4 / 40 | (2/40)
Stats HP 100 + 430
MP 50 + 180
Strength 2 + 36
Endurance 2 + 56
Magic 2 + 36
Resistance 2 + 56
Agility 2 + 21
Luck 0 + 31
Skills Basic Magic (Supportive) - Healing Lv.1 Divine Magic - Shieldmaiden Lv.1 Gachamancy Lv.1 Login Bonus Lv.1 Item Box Lv.1 Class Change Lance Proficiency Healing Proficiency Armour of Valhalla Lv.1 Divine Eye Lv.1 Divine Favour Auto HPMP Regeneration Lance Arts Lv.1
It seemed that apart from HP and MP, which rose by 10 per level, all other stat corrections provided by the [Valkyrie] class increased by 2 per level. Meanwhile, my [Gachamancer] subclass that had risen to Level 2 had also improved, giving me 31 Luck instead of 30. The fact that the [Gachamancer] only improved by 1 point upon reaching level 2 made it clear that different classes had different growth rates. [Valkyrie] was a generalised class, so it had well-rounded stat distributions, but it was possible that a Strength-focused class would give 5 Strength per level or something equally ridiculous.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡­That said, isn¡¯t the growth potential of the [Gachamancer] a little too pitiful? 1 point per level is kind of sad, isn¡¯t it? Well, the ability of the [Gachamancer] is powerful ¨C if unreliable ¨C so I suppose the bad stats balanced out. I¡¯ve already accepted it as a non-combat class, anyway. I took out my [World Map] and made sure I was headed in the right direction. The moment I had left the Forest, two new locations had immediately appeared on the map: the Town of Kronshire to the East, and the Snowvelt Mountains to the South. Focusing my attention on the Snowvelt Mountains had generated a prompt that informed me that the average level of monsters residing there was 38, so obviously I chose to head to the town instead. Incidentally, the average level for Tigrynaresh was only listed as [????]. Furthermore, on its outskirts, a thick fog descended that made it impossible to navigate ¨C if not for the guidance of the Pixies, I would never have made it out. That particular forest was a strange place. Thankfully, there was a road just a short distance from where I had emerged from the forest, a road which, according to the [World Map], led right to Kronshire. Of course, a road from a town had to lead to somewhere. In the case of this road, the map indicated that it led to a military garrison named [Kron Fort]. I had no business going near a military installation, so I figured that it was a good decision to go the other way. The journey was generally uneventful, and I got to Kronshire without any issues¡­ is what I¡¯d like to say, but unfortunately, I quickly ran into a group of soldiers, patrolling the road. When I came into sight, the soldier leading the group held out his hand, signalling for his group to stop. He stepped forward and walked toward me. ¡°Ma¡¯am. May I ask where you¡¯re headed?¡± Huh. Interesting. He was clearly speaking in a foreign language, but I heard it as Japanese. It was like listening to a badly dubbed audio track, where the original language was still audible beneath the dub. ¡°Um, I-!¡± I tentatively tried to respond in Japanese, but the words that came out of my mouth were the words of that foreign language. I started a little in shock, but quickly collected myself. It¡¯s probably part of the whole different-world package. Yeah. Thinking about it¡¯s only going to give me a headache, so let¡¯s just ignore it for now, yep. I resumed my explanation. ¡°A-Ahem. I¡¯m heading toward Kronshire.¡± ¡°On what business?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m intending to try and find work as a mercenary, or at least as a guard for hire. I¡¯m a bit strapped for money.¡± I breathed an internal sigh of relief. I almost said I wanted to be an adventurer. That was the usual template, but I didn¡¯t even know if adventurers existed in this world. Mercenary was a safer bet. ¡­Wait, but what if mercenaries are illegal? Wouldn¡¯t I be in huge trouble? I fidgeted as the soldier who was questioning me stared at me, suspicion painted clearly on his face. ¡°...Your armour certainly doesn¡¯t seem to suggest that you¡¯re low on funds.¡± Ah. Right. My divine armour. It was really pretty and ornate, and at a glance, it looked expensive. Officer, this armour was free. A gift. It¡¯s true. I¡¯m actually poor. Ignore the fact that I have a legendary book and 30 gold in my magic bag, I¡¯m poor, I promise. As expected, I can¡¯t possibly give an excuse like that. Then again, the way the soldier put it seemed to be that kind of template where they demand my armour as compensation for letting me go free. Was this guy a corrupt soldier? Well, it¡¯s not like I could do anything even if he was. I was outnumbered ten to one, and they were all at least level 15. I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance. Besides, even if they took my armour, it would just reappear on my body when I wished for it ¨C I¡¯d already tested that when I bathed in the lake at the Pixie village. The leader stepped forward, closer to me, still glancing at me suspiciously. I mentally prepared myself for the vicious request and sinister laugh that I knew was coming. ¡°¡­Do you have any form of identification?¡± Eh? He wasn¡¯t going to ask for my armour, or say ¡°repay our generosity for letting you go with your body¡± or anything clich¨¦d like that? He was actually doing his job? Eh? Could it be? Was it possible that he was a proper, normal soldier and not corrupted? Was I just jumping to conclusions? ¡°Ma¡¯am, your papers, if you would?¡± Ah, right. I should respond. ¡°Um, I, uh, don¡¯t have any.¡± Fuck. I was so shocked by him doing his job normally that I accidentally blurted out the truth. He immediately narrowed his eyes, like a hawk that had secured its prey. He motioned to one of the soldiers standing behind him ¨C that soldier handed him a clear jewel and what looked like a clipboard. Meanwhile, the other soldiers took up their arms and stood alert, watching me. Is it just me, or is my situation getting worse by the second? Cold sweat started to collect on the back of my neck. What was the punishment for moving around without identification? Prison? Slavery? Was my adventure in a different world going to end just like that? The soldier who had been questioning me raised the clear jewel to his eye and stared at me intently through it. ¡°¡­!¡± A textbox appeared in front of him, like the kind that relayed system prompts to me. He set down the crystal and perused the screen. Was he checking my status? As his eyes moved down the screen, they widened in surprise. He looked up from the screen to me, then back to the screen. Then he touched the screen, closing it, and placed his right fist over his heart while bowing his head slightly. It looked like a gesture of respect. I tilted my head slightly, immensely confused. Thankfully, before I could ask him what was going on, he spoke up. ¡°Lady Valkyrie, I apologise for my disrespect. It¡¯s just that bandit attacks along this highway have been increasing in frequency recently, so we¡¯ve been on the lookout for armed individuals. You have our deepest apologies for suspecting you.¡± The moment he said ¡°Valkyrie¡±, the soldiers behind him started. Then they followed his example and bowed their heads with their hands over their hearts. ¡­Eh? Don¡¯t tell me, these soldiers respect the gods as well? Actually, could it be that my class was actually super important in this world? It¡¯s just an SR though. For the time being, I decided to pretend I knew why they were so respectful. In other words, a bluff. ¡°¡­Please, raise your heads. You¡¯re not at fault. I¡¯m certain that it has been a long time since you last encountered one of my kind. We don¡¯t often descend upon this realm, after all.¡± Please let Valkyries be rare please let Valkyries be rare please let Valkyries be rare. ¡°I thank you for your mercy, though it is wasted on the likes of me. Even though it has been 300 years since a Valkyrie last descended on this world, that is no excuse for showing such disrespect to a shieldmaiden of the heavens.¡± My eyes widened. 300 years?! So it was a rare class! Nice bluff, me! I quickly forced myself to drop the surprised look and instead adopt a smile. The soldier bowed his head once more, then straightened up and continued speaking. ¡°Lady Valkyrie, it is likely that you will be stopped at the gates of Kronshire due to your lack of identification. To spare you this inconvenience, and as an apology for my actions, I will write you a letter to show the guards at the gate. In truth, I would prefer to escort you to the town myself, but we have to complete this patrol. In my stead, Alan and Reese will accompany you.¡± He signalled to his soldiers, and two of them near the front stepped away from the file. The leader turned back to me as he removed ink and paper from his bag. ¡°Now, if you would wait for several minutes, I will begin drafting the letter.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± I was a little disoriented by how nice he was suddenly being to me. As he began to write, I mused on what had just happened. First the Pixies, and now these soldiers. Were Valkyries really that important in this world? It seemed a little too important to be just an SR rarity class. Well, it¡¯s convenient, so I guess that¡¯s all that matters ¨C until I get a new class, anyway. Chapter 7: Lodgings When we got to the gates of Kronshire, the two soldiers escorting me brought me right up to the captain of the guard, ignoring the long line of people queueing up to gain entry into the city. Once the captain had read the letter, he quickly bowed his head to me in respect and prepared two documents for me ¨C the first, an identification paper stating my name and class. The second, a visa that permitted me free entry and exit into Kronshire for thirty days. Both these documents were sealed with the captain¡¯s wax stamp. As I was being ushered into the city, I noted that a good number of people in the queue were glaring at me with hostility. Well, in all fairness, I could understand their irritation. I, too, would be considerably annoyed if I had to queue up for a long time, only to see someone skip the queue entirely. ¡­I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t expect this either. If you want this privilege, then work hard and become a magnificent Valkyrie. You don¡¯t get these kinds of privileges without putting in a lot of effort, you know. That said, I got the class for free and without effort, but that¡¯s not relevant to this situation. If I say it¡¯s not relevant then it¡¯s not relevant. Yup. The two soldiers bid me farewell once I was safely within the city walls and went back out onto the road, resuming their patrol without even taking a break. How admirable. First order of business: find an inn. After a bit of asking around, I managed to get directions to [The Red Raven], an inn that was apparently famous for having good service and a comfortable environment at a reasonable price. The innkeeper was a young woman, probably around my age. She raised her head as I walked through the door and smiled as a greeting. ¡°Good afternoon. Are you looking for a room? I walked up to the counter. ¡°Yes. What are the rates?¡± ¡°It¡¯s 5 silver per night, 7 if you¡¯d like meals included. Usage of our stables and storage spaces are available at 5 silver per day per lot ¨C a lot is 2-and-a-half meters high and 5-by-5 meters large.¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll have a room and meals. 3 nights.¡± ¡°Very well. That will be 21 silver. Do you have any form of identification?¡± ¡°Ah, yes, here.¡± I handed her my papers. Her eyes widened when she saw my class, but she quickly regained her composure. She consulted a ledger and wrote my name in an empty space, before retrieving a set of keys from a drawer. I reached into my bag, but then realised that I only had gold coins, and I had no idea how the conversion worked. I tentatively retrieved 3 coins, assuming that 1 gold was equivalent to 10 silver, and placed it on the counter. The innkeeper smiled and shook her head, returning one of the gold coins to me. ¡°Lady Valkyrie, 1 gold coin is equivalent to 20 silvers, not 10.¡± With that, she collected the remaining 2 coins and returned me 19 silver coins as change. I placed them into my bag, and noted that they occupied a different slot from the gold coins. I felt my face heat up, embarrassed by my error. The innkeeper seemed to notice my discomfort, but laughed and consoled me.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lady Valkyrie. It¡¯s not unusual for you to be unfamiliar with the currencies of us humans. I¡¯ve heard it¡¯s a common trend among those of your station to accidentally overpay.¡± I¡¯m a human too, though. Even though I have this Valkyrie class. Does that mean that Valkyries tend to be non-human? What kind of super-rare class is this?! ¡°These are the keys to your room. You¡¯ll find it on the second floor, all the way to the back. Meals are served every morning and night. Please go to our restaurant to take your meals ¨C it¡¯s in the room to your right.¡± She gestured toward a door in the side of the room. ¡°Just show your key at the entrance to the restaurant, and you¡¯ll be guided to a seat.¡± I gratefully accepted the coins and the keys. I briefly considered going to the room to put my luggage down, but then I realised I didn¡¯t have any luggage. So instead I asked the innkeeper another question. ¡°Um, is there any way I could get a map of the city? I¡¯m afraid of getting lost.¡± ¡°Certainly. Are you hoping to see anything in particular?¡± Even if you ask me that, I don¡¯t know anything about this world. I wouldn¡¯t know where to start. ¡°Uh, just something that showed the main buildings and landmarks would suffice.¡± The innkeeper nodded knowingly. ¡°Ah, I see. Your Ladyship wishes to see how we humans live our lives, to see if we are worthy of salvation.¡± For some reason, revealing that I¡¯m a human after coming this far feels like it would be a defeat. So let¡¯s just play along. ¡°Indeed. I wish to see the beauty of the humans¡¯ way of life.¡± I sound so self-important holy shit. The innkeeper ducked beneath the table and pulled out a map, placing it before me and unfurling it. It was a map of the town, with important facilities marked out, their names written on the map in the language of this world. Incidentally, it was the same case with the other maps, but even though the words were written in a foreign language, somehow I understood what they meant in Japanese when I read them. Probably another feature of the whole alternate-world package. I¡¯d given up on caring about how it worked. Anyway, the map listed several locations, including the [Mayor¡¯s Residence] and the [Magic Academy]. What caught my attention, however, was a large building in the middle of the town, labelled [Adventurer¡¯s Guild]. So adventurers did exist in this world. In novels and games, the expected development now would be for me to go to the [Adventurer¡¯s Guild] and register as an adventurer so I could make a living. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was going to follow that template exactly, but it was still probably a good idea to head over there and find out more about the world I was in. And if I happened to get scouted to be an adventurer, and if I happened to agree due to seeing others in help and happened to register with the Guild as a matter of course, then so be it. It¡¯s not like I¡¯d secretly always harboured dreams of becoming an adventurer in a fantasy world or anything juvenile like that. It¡¯s not like just the idea of there being an Adventurer¡¯s Guild was enough for me to get excited. I¡¯m not childish like that. If I say I¡¯m not then I¡¯m not. ¡°Could I purchase this map? It would be useful for navigating around this city.¡± The innkeeper shook her head frantically in response to my question. ¡°Oh, no, Lady Valkyrie. Please, bring it with you. No need to pay. Consider it a gift, as thanks for working to protect this world.¡± Please don¡¯t place those kinds of expectations on me. I¡¯m only level 4. ¡­Actually, wouldn¡¯t this technically be a kind of bribery? Is that really okay? No, I should probably pay. What if whoever Valkyries are supposed to work for punishes me for taking a bribe? That would be a pain. I shook my head and spoke to the innkeeper. ¡°Nay, it is the way of the world. If I take something, I must pay. Please, do not show me preferential treatment on account of my station ¨C here, I am only another customer.¡± Hm? What¡¯s that? I¡¯d already abused my station to get into the city easily? That was that, this is this. Hypocrisy is just a matter of perspective. The innkeeper frowned, then nodded with a resigned sigh. ¡°Very well. 3 silvers, please. It¡¯s how much we normally charge for such maps.¡± I placed 3 silver coins on the table and took the map. A system prompt appeared, informing me that I had acquired a [Kronshire Map]. Very helpful. I began making my way toward the [Adventurer¡¯s Guild], my heart racing in anticipation. Chapter 9: A Generic Development ¡°Hmmm¡­ [Wyvern Subjugation]. This looks promising. Oho, that¡¯s a nice reward. Ooh, what about this one? [New Dungeon Exploration]. Let¡¯s see¡­ first pick for all the loot?! That¡¯s amazing!¡± I was currently looking through the job listings pinned on the board for Rank D and above adventurers. Most of them were related to monster extermination, and many of them had very good rewards. It seemed that rank C was around the time when one could begin to be called a veteran adventurer, so being rank D meant that one had already accumulated a good amount of experience, and was on the way to becoming a veteran. Incidentally, since I was rank G, I wasn¡¯t allowed to take on any of these requests. Eh? Why was I looking at them? It¡¯s important to dream, you know! Setting goals for myself will motivate me to achieve them! I read that in a self-help book. Also, the rank G quests were all boring things like [Delivery Request] and [Pest Extermination]. Not very adventurer-like. At least the rank F ones were things like [Medicinal Herb Gathering] or [Goblin Subjugation] which seemed more like the kinds of jobs a novice adventurer would take on. While I was staring at the board, a large-sized man in armour stepped in between me and the board. He was about one and a half heads taller than me, and I had to incline my head upward to look at his face. He had a square-set jaw and small, beady eyes. No matter how you look at it, isn¡¯t this a guy that seems like he¡¯s up to no good? ¡°Oi, oi, miss G rank, aren¡¯t you looking at the wrong board?¡± Ah, so it¡¯s this template. This man is probably going to try and intimidate me into letting him have his way with me. Incidentally, the reason he was able to know my rank was because I wore my [Adventurer¡¯s Proof] around my neck on a lanyard ¨C a card with a picture of my face on it and my rank, printed as a single large letter that was clearly visible. Presumably it was to help Adventurers find parties of similar skill more easily, but it also opened up the opportunity for this kind of harassment. Well, it wasn¡¯t mandatory to display one¡¯s rank, so I supposed it wasn¡¯t that big of a problem, usually. ¡°If a rank G newbie like you goes on a rank D quest, you¡¯ll just die. It¡¯s not easy, you know. But tell you what: I¡¯ll take you along for one of mine. I¡¯m a rank C, right and proper, see?¡± He took out his [Proof] from a pocket the location of which I¡¯d rather not disclose and dangled it in front of me, causing me to angle away my head in aversion. Disgusting behaviour aside, the [Proof] did indeed have a picture of his ugly mug, alongside a large letter ¡®C¡¯. ¡°I¡¯ve got a party of three ready. We can take you along, maybe even give you some of the loot. All you have to do is to go out for drinks with us afterward. Sounds like a good deal, no?¡± Adventurers were usually restricted to taking on requests that matched their rank, or at most requests that were one rank above theirs, if they had special permission. However, one way to get around this was to join a party. Parties were groups of adventurers, limited to a maximum of 6 people in any one party. Parties were allowed to take quests up to a rank that corresponded to the average of its members. If three rank C adventurers entered a party with me, the average rank would be rounded up to a D, and I would be allowed to take the quests on the rank D board. Well, I¡¯d rather die than party up with someone so distasteful, though.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I appreciate your offer, but humbly decline. I believe it far more fitting for me to take on meagre rank F quests. [Medicinal Herb Collection] seems particularly exciting and educational.¡± The man scowled. ¡°Come now, no need to be shy. You clearly want to take on these quests. We¡¯re giving you the chance. All we want in return is your company. Surely that¡¯s not an unreasonable demand?¡± Two other men, of similar build, suddenly walked up, flanking me on both sides. Wow, they really are sticking to the template, aren¡¯t they? Well, I suppose, in accordance to the template, this is where I show my hidden power and overwhelm them. I may only be rank G, but I¡¯m a [Valkyrie], you know? A warrior chosen by the gods, you know? In preparation for the thrashing I was about to deliver, I focused on the man who was the leader, attempted to view his status.
Lead Hooligan Name: Unknown Title: Aide to the King of the Underworld Level: 31
No way, no way. Impossible, impossible. There was no way I could win. Eh? What¡¯s that? Even though I¡¯m a [Valkyrie] I¡¯m feeling scared? No, no. This isn¡¯t me being scared. This is me being practical. There¡¯s no way I can win. He¡¯s more than seven times my level, you know? No matter how powerful my class is, there¡¯s just a fundamental difference in numbers, you know? Not to mention, there¡¯s that clearly troublesome title. It¡¯s better to give in to his demands and avoid trouble. Eh? What about my pride? Pride won¡¯t be of much use if I¡¯m dead, you know. If I say no here, he might get violent, right? Well, maybe not in here, since this is the Guild and all, but once I leave he might ambush me? That title is clearly bad news, right? Maybe he¡¯s like the Yakuza? If I say no I might find myself at the bottom of Tokyo Bay, you know? We¡¯re not in Tokyo though. I stepped back a little, but the three men closed in, malice evident in their eyes. A little whimper escaped my lips. Seeing no other way out, I prepared myself to agree to their proposition. But just as I opened my mouth to speak, a figure appeared in front of me. It was a small girl, her head reaching somewhere around my chest. She was maybe half the size of the men who were in front of me. Her hair was a deep violet, falling in a neat bob cut around her face. Her dress was that of a shrine maiden, complete with oversized, detached sleeves and pure white kneesocks. There was a cute little sakura hairclip that kept her fringe in place, and the whole ensemble was so cute it made me want to scream. ¡­Wait, isn¡¯t there a bigger problem at hand? Little girl, what are you doing?! This isn¡¯t a place for children like you, these bad men are going to hurt you. You need to run, now! I can already see their eyes becoming dangerous! The little girl, seemingly unaware of the danger to her life and purity, took the chalkboard she held under her arm and scribbled on it, then turned it to face the three men. I watched their eyes as they read the words she had written on it, upon which their faces contorted in rage. The leader roared in anger. ¡°What did you call us, you little shit?!¡± The girl hurriedly turned the chalkboard back to herself and erased what was written, then began scribbling again. Since the chalkboard was hidden by her small body, I couldn¡¯t quite see what she was writing, but the edge of the chalkboard peeked out, and I could see that the corner of the chalkboard had a really cute doodle of sakura petals. Her writing done, she turned the board back to the three men. Again their eyes moved across the board, and again they became agitated. ¡°You little-! Don¡¯t think you can get away with saying that kind of shit just ¡®cause you¡¯re a kid. We¡¯re C rank adventurers. We don¡¯t need to take your shit.¡± The three men began to advance menacingly. I should have stepped in at this point, being the responsible adult in the group, but I was far too entranced by the cuteness of the specimen before me to do anything. The girl reached into a small pink pouch tied to her sash and retrieved a small, plastic card. Eh? Is that an [Adventurer¡¯s Proof]? She showed the card to the three men, raising it high above her head, such that I could see through the back of the transparent card. ¡­Eh? The men, seeing her [Proof], took a step back, eyes opening wide. Then they turned and quickly fled from the premises. The little girl then stowed her [Proof] and turned to me, her green eyes skittering about my body as though searching for something, before her eyes rested on the book I held in my left hand ¨C [Sibylline]. Then the A-ranked adventurer in front of me reached out and began tugging at the edge of my only weapon. Chapter 9: A Generic Development ¡°Hmmm¡­ [Wyvern Subjugation]. This looks promising. Oho, that¡¯s a nice reward. Ooh, what about this one? [New Dungeon Exploration]. Let¡¯s see¡­ first pick for all the loot?! That¡¯s amazing!¡± I was currently looking through the job listings pinned on the board for Rank D and above adventurers. Most of them were related to monster extermination, and many of them had very good rewards. It seemed that rank C was around the time when one could begin to be called a veteran adventurer, so being rank D meant that one had already accumulated a good amount of experience, and was on the way to becoming a veteran. Incidentally, since I was rank G, I wasn¡¯t allowed to take on any of these requests. Eh? Why was I looking at them? It¡¯s important to dream, you know! Setting goals for myself will motivate me to achieve them! I read that in a self-help book. Also, the rank G quests were all boring things like [Delivery Request] and [Pest Extermination]. Not very adventurer-like. At least the rank F ones were things like [Medicinal Herb Gathering] or [Goblin Subjugation] which seemed more like the kinds of jobs a novice adventurer would take on. While I was staring at the board, a large-sized man in armour stepped in between me and the board. He was about one and a half heads taller than me, and I had to incline my head upward to look at his face. He had a square-set jaw and small, beady eyes. No matter how you look at it, isn¡¯t this a guy that seems like he¡¯s up to no good? ¡°Oi, oi, miss G rank, aren¡¯t you looking at the wrong board?¡± Ah, so it¡¯s this template. This man is probably going to try and intimidate me into letting him have his way with me. Incidentally, the reason he was able to know my rank was because I wore my [Adventurer¡¯s Proof] around my neck on a lanyard ¨C a card with a picture of my face on it and my rank, printed as a single large letter that was clearly visible. Presumably it was to help Adventurers find parties of similar skill more easily, but it also opened up the opportunity for this kind of harassment. Well, it wasn¡¯t mandatory to display one¡¯s rank, so I supposed it wasn¡¯t that big of a problem, usually. ¡°If a rank G newbie like you goes on a rank D quest, you¡¯ll just die. It¡¯s not easy, you know. But tell you what: I¡¯ll take you along for one of mine. I¡¯m a rank C, right and proper, see?¡± He took out his [Proof] from a pocket the location of which I¡¯d rather not disclose and dangled it in front of me, causing me to angle away my head in aversion. Disgusting behaviour aside, the [Proof] did indeed have a picture of his ugly mug, alongside a large letter ¡®C¡¯. ¡°I¡¯ve got a party of three ready. We can take you along, maybe even give you some of the loot. All you have to do is to go out for drinks with us afterward. Sounds like a good deal, no?¡± Adventurers were usually restricted to taking on requests that matched their rank, or at most requests that were one rank above theirs, if they had special permission. However, one way to get around this was to join a party. Parties were groups of adventurers, limited to a maximum of 6 people in any one party. Parties were allowed to take quests up to a rank that corresponded to the average of its members. If three rank C adventurers entered a party with me, the average rank would be rounded up to a D, and I would be allowed to take the quests on the rank D board. Well, I¡¯d rather die than party up with someone so distasteful, though.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°I appreciate your offer, but humbly decline. I believe it far more fitting for me to take on meagre rank F quests. [Medicinal Herb Collection] seems particularly exciting and educational.¡± The man scowled. ¡°Come now, no need to be shy. You clearly want to take on these quests. We¡¯re giving you the chance. All we want in return is your company. Surely that¡¯s not an unreasonable demand?¡± Two other men, of similar build, suddenly walked up, flanking me on both sides. Wow, they really are sticking to the template, aren¡¯t they? Well, I suppose, in accordance to the template, this is where I show my hidden power and overwhelm them. I may only be rank G, but I¡¯m a [Valkyrie], you know? A warrior chosen by the gods, you know? In preparation for the thrashing I was about to deliver, I focused on the man who was the leader, attempted to view his status.
Lead Hooligan Name: Unknown Title: Aide to the King of the Underworld Level: 31
No way, no way. Impossible, impossible. There was no way I could win. Eh? What¡¯s that? Even though I¡¯m a [Valkyrie] I¡¯m feeling scared? No, no. This isn¡¯t me being scared. This is me being practical. There¡¯s no way I can win. He¡¯s more than seven times my level, you know? No matter how powerful my class is, there¡¯s just a fundamental difference in numbers, you know? Not to mention, there¡¯s that clearly troublesome title. It¡¯s better to give in to his demands and avoid trouble. Eh? What about my pride? Pride won¡¯t be of much use if I¡¯m dead, you know. If I say no here, he might get violent, right? Well, maybe not in here, since this is the Guild and all, but once I leave he might ambush me? That title is clearly bad news, right? Maybe he¡¯s like the Yakuza? If I say no I might find myself at the bottom of Tokyo Bay, you know? We¡¯re not in Tokyo though. I stepped back a little, but the three men closed in, malice evident in their eyes. A little whimper escaped my lips. Seeing no other way out, I prepared myself to agree to their proposition. But just as I opened my mouth to speak, a figure appeared in front of me. It was a small girl, her head reaching somewhere around my chest. She was maybe half the size of the men who were in front of me. Her hair was a deep violet, falling in a neat bob cut around her face. Her dress was that of a shrine maiden, complete with oversized, detached sleeves and pure white kneesocks. There was a cute little sakura hairclip that kept her fringe in place, and the whole ensemble was so cute it made me want to scream. ¡­Wait, isn¡¯t there a bigger problem at hand? Little girl, what are you doing?! This isn¡¯t a place for children like you, these bad men are going to hurt you. You need to run, now! I can already see their eyes becoming dangerous! The little girl, seemingly unaware of the danger to her life and purity, took the chalkboard she held under her arm and scribbled on it, then turned it to face the three men. I watched their eyes as they read the words she had written on it, upon which their faces contorted in rage. The leader roared in anger. ¡°What did you call us, you little shit?!¡± The girl hurriedly turned the chalkboard back to herself and erased what was written, then began scribbling again. Since the chalkboard was hidden by her small body, I couldn¡¯t quite see what she was writing, but the edge of the chalkboard peeked out, and I could see that the corner of the chalkboard had a really cute doodle of sakura petals. Her writing done, she turned the board back to the three men. Again their eyes moved across the board, and again they became agitated. ¡°You little-! Don¡¯t think you can get away with saying that kind of shit just ¡®cause you¡¯re a kid. We¡¯re C rank adventurers. We don¡¯t need to take your shit.¡± The three men began to advance menacingly. I should have stepped in at this point, being the responsible adult in the group, but I was far too entranced by the cuteness of the specimen before me to do anything. The girl reached into a small pink pouch tied to her sash and retrieved a small, plastic card. Eh? Is that an [Adventurer¡¯s Proof]? She showed the card to the three men, raising it high above her head, such that I could see through the back of the transparent card. ¡­Eh? The men, seeing her [Proof], took a step back, eyes opening wide. Then they turned and quickly fled from the premises. The little girl then stowed her [Proof] and turned to me, her green eyes skittering about my body as though searching for something, before her eyes rested on the book I held in my left hand ¨C [Sibylline]. Then the A-ranked adventurer in front of me reached out and began tugging at the edge of my only weapon. Chapter 10: Blessed Miko The small girl continued to tug away at my book. Did she want to see it? I brought it closer to her, so she could see it better. Then she started to tug on it harder, as if to wrench if from my grasp. ¡­Wait. You can¡¯t, you know? Stealing is bad, you know? At least ask for permission. Such an ill-mannered young girl. Well, it can¡¯t be helped. As her elder, I will graciously use this opportunity to teach her a lesson in politeness. I knelt down so that our eyes were level, then spoke very slowly, very carefully. ¡°Now, look here. I don¡¯t mind showing you the book. But you have to ask permission properly, understand? It¡¯s not nice to start pulling things without permission. Now, be a good girl and ask for it properly.¡± The girl glared at me, anger apparent in her eyes. Ehhhhh? Isn¡¯t this normally the part where she¡¯s supposed to nod bashfully and ask me for the book in a super-cute voice? Did I do something wrong? Why is she looking at me while on the verge of crying? Ehhhh? While I panicked, she swiftly took out her chalkboard and began scribbling furiously on it. Then she turned it around to face me. I¡¯m mute, you dumb fuck. Learn to read the mood a little, for fuck¡¯s sake. ¡­Eh? Somehow the words written on the board don¡¯t align with my image of this girl. Maybe I¡¯m mistaken. There¡¯s no way a girl this cute would be cussing like that. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the board again. As expected, it was unchanged. Ehhhhh?! Don¡¯t tell me she¡¯s that kind of character ¨C the kind of girl who looks cute at first, but once they open their mouth, they only say words that shouldn¡¯t be coming from a young girl¡¯s mouth. But even then it¡¯s still a little cute. Weird, but somehow cute. Is this some kind of gap moe? ¡­Actually, more importantly, the board says she¡¯s mute. So when I was telling her to ask nicely, that was¡­ ¡­Fuck. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! Please forgive me!¡± I ended up in a dogeza, apologising profusely while holding out the book to her with both hands as a peace offering. I glanced upwards to measure her reaction. She smugly put her hands on the book and tugged. I let go of it, but the moment it left my hands, some strange force pulled it back again, the book lodging itself firmly between my fingers. A prompt appeared in front of me.
Error
(SSR) [The Sibylline Scripts] is an untradeable object.
Ah. I forgot that it was untradeable. So I guess any sort of transfer of possession counts as trading it? I wonder why the clause is there. Maybe to stop me from selling the thing? Yeah, that¡¯s probably it. If I could sell off or give away legendary weapons, the balance of this world would probably be destroyed. So I guess it can¡¯t be helped. I peeked up from my dogeza pose to check on the girl¡¯s reaction. Oi, oi, oi. Don¡¯t look at me with those teary eyes. This isn¡¯t my fault, you know? What¡¯s more, aren¡¯t we making a scene in the middle of the Guild building? I think I just heard someone whispering something like ¡°making a little girl cry, how horrible¡±. Oi, I said it¡¯s not my fault, you hear me?! But taking her to a different location under these circumstance would totally make me a suspicious person, right?! So I can¡¯t do that. I¡¯m not a suspicious person! I¡¯m just a regular, energetic woman. I mean, sure I¡¯m feeling an immense urge to hug this girl and pat her head, but that¡¯s just a natural reaction to such a cute girl, right? Eh? No? It¡¯s just me? Nonono, it must be normal. If you can see such cuteness without responding then clearly you¡¯re the abnormal one. I got up from my kneeling position and looked the girl in the eyes. ¡°Look, I wouldn¡¯t mind letting you look at it, but apparently I can¡¯t give it to you. Something is stopping me from doing it.¡± The girl furrowed her brow, as though deep in thought. Then she sighed and turned, walking away. I watched her go for several moments, before she turned and walked back toward me. She reached out and tugged on my hand ¡°¡­Do you want me to follow you?¡± She nodded. Huh. I thought she¡¯d given up, but I suppose she still had something she wanted to try. Wait, she¡¯s not going to drag me into an alleyway and kill me to take the book, is she? I gulped, cold sweat rolling down my back. No way, right? Such a cute little girl couldn¡¯t possibly be thinking such evil thoughts. Yes. It can¡¯t be. I¡¯m sure she just wants to bring me somewhere else so that we¡¯re not being a bother for the nice people at the Guild. Such a considerate child. She led me to the city square, up to a wooden bench by the fountain. She patted the bench. ¡°You want me to sit down here?¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. She nodded and patted the bench again. I obediently sat down at the indicated spot. Then she plopped herself down on my lap. UOOOHHHHHH-! Are you trying to assassinate me with cuteness?! Was this your plan all along, little girl?! Truly, you are a worthy opponent! She rubbed her backside a little, wincing, and gingerly adjusted her seating posture on the plate armour that covered my thighs. Jumping onto a bed of hard metal probably caused a non-negligible amount of pain. Then she tugged at my arm again, the one that held [Sibylline]. She brought the book up in front of her, with my hand still plastered to the cover, and opened it, beginning to read. Ah, so that¡¯s what she wanted to do. I wasn¡¯t allowed to give the book away, but turning that reasoning around, that meant that I was able to do anything short of trading or selling the book. In other words, as long as I didn¡¯t let go of the book, there was nothing to stop me from letting someone else read it. The reason for our current position, with her quietly reading on my lap, was likely due to the fact that this was the least strenuous position for reading a book held by someone else. This was clearly a display of consideration on her part, so I had no particular complaints. Well, it¡¯s not like I would have complained anyway. It¡¯s not every day I get to have such an adorable specimen of a girl snuggling up with me. I instinctively brought up my hand to pat the girl on the head, but just before I made contact, she stiffened and glared at me, prompting me to withdraw my hand. ¡­I get it. No headpats. Sniff. Actually, the way she¡¯d been acting had taken me by surprise and caused me to forget all about it, but this girl was an A-rank adventurer. Or at least, that¡¯s what her [Proof] had said. Clearly there was a mistake? She was just a child. Ten years old, at most. There was no way she could be considered a veteran adventurer ¨C and an elite one, at that. I decided to find out myself by checking her status. While she read through the book, I focused on her, expecting the system window to appear. ¡°Ow!¡± I was headbutted in the chin by the girl sitting on my lap. She glared at me, then took out the chalkboard and scribbled on it. Don¡¯t look at someone¡¯s status without permission, you pervert. ¡°Guh-! Pervert¡­ Pervert, she said¡­ I¡¯m a pervert... I¡¯m the worst¡­ I should go die¡­¡± While I was reflecting on my infinite shame, the girl read to the middle of the book, then paused. Then she flipped a few pages forward. Then back. Then forward again. Hm? Is something the matter? I peeked over her shoulder to see what had her so puzzled. The book was blank. Or rather, the remainder of it was blank. The writing in the book ended abruptly near the middle of it. Eh? What kind of rip-off book was this? Incidentally, I hadn¡¯t actually tried reading the book. The language used was way too convoluted for me to understand ¨C if I were to make a comparison to Japanese, it would be like trying to read the ancient Kojiki texts. Actually, if this girl could properly read the text, doesn¡¯t that make her super-amazing? One of those child genius types. The girl closed the book and jumped off my lap, dusting off her skirt. Her face bore a look of disappointment. When she shows me such a sad look it makes me want to give her a hug. Ah, but if I do that she might headbutt me again. Better to distract her. ¡°Didn¡¯t find what you were looking for?¡± She shook her head dejectedly, then pulled out her chalkboard and began writing on it, lacking the vigour she¡¯d previously displayed. It¡¯s the right tome, but it¡¯s at the lowest level of growth. It¡¯ll need to grow and evolve before the remainder of the pages fill up. Did you not use the Sibylline at all? ¡°Uh, I¡¯ve been holding it and equipping it pretty much ever since I got it a little over a day ago.¡± The girl¡¯s eyes widened as she quickly scribbled on her board. You just got it recently? Where did you find it? Was it nearby? How¡¯d you get a hold of it? ¡°Uh. Yeah, I got it over in [Tigrynaresh]. As for how I got hold of it¡­ well¡­ I guess you could say the gods gave it to me?¡± Trying to explain that I was from another world and had obtained the weapon from a gacha would be a pain. Best to just give a vague response. When I mentioned the word ¡°gods¡±, the girl¡¯s eyes narrowed dangerously. She wrote a new message on her board. I¡¯m going to look at your status. May I? ¡°Only if you let me see yours.¡± She nodded. I focused on her, willing the window to pop up. At the same time, I felt a strange feeling from within my body, as if a cold surface was being placed against my skin.
Status
Name Fuwayuri Kyoko
Class Blessed Miko (¡î¡î¡î¡î)
Level 28 / 40
Stats HP 200 + 240
MP 350 + 770
Strength 2 + 0
Endurance 22 + 58
Magic 122 + 388
Resistance 22 + 58
Agility 62 + 254
Luck 30 + 0
Skills Basic Magic (Elemental)
  • Fire Lv.6
  • Water Lv.6
Basic Magic (Supportive)
  • Healing Lv. 6
Ritual Magic
  • Purification Dance Lv.8
Unarmed Proficiency Healing Proficiency Purification Proficiency Regalia of Faith Lv.6 Divination Lv.6 Precognition (Weak) Auto HPMP Regeneration Mana Conversion Exorcism Arts Lv.7 Bruiser Arts Lv.6
...What¡¯s with those super-optimised stats?! Did you follow a strategy guide or something?! Even if the gap in stats between us could be attributed to the difference in level, she had a ridiculous number of skills, and they were all high-levelled. She was easily ten, no, twenty times stronger than me. ¡­How can such a small girl have this ridiculously large amount of raw power?! I focused on her class.
[Blessed Miko]
Rarity: SSR The Devoted Priestess. A maiden who has dedicated her life in service to the gods. A battle-specialised devotee adept in combat at all ranges, with a vast amount of spiritual power.
¡­Her class was of a higher rarity than mine. What¡¯s more, it was also a class related to the gods, just like my [Valkyrie] class. Did that mean that she ranked above me, who was treated like some super-important VIP? I raised my gaze from the system prompt and looked at Kyoko, who met my gaze. She seemed to think about something for a good while. Then she sighed and wrote on her board. I wasn¡¯t expecting you to be a member of the Divine Host. Well met, Valkyrie. ¡°Um, yes, I¡¯d prefer it if you¡¯d just call me Bryn, but hello.¡± You were looking for a party? I¡¯ll accompany you for the time being. Between the two of us, you should be able to take on rank D requests. ¡°Eh? Is that really okay? Taking on higher level quests and growing stronger will help that book grow in power. So it aligns with my goals. ¡°Then I¡¯ll gladly take you up on that offer, Fuwayuri. A pleasure to meet you.¡± I held out my hand as a gesture of friendship. She looked at it, then wrote something on her board and showed it while she took my hand. Call me Kyoko. Please take care of me from now on. Chapter 11: Gacha, again. With a snap of her fingers, a surge of flames shot out from Kyoko¡¯s outstretched hand, skewering the side of the [Rock Wolf] that jumped out at me. [Flame Pierce]. A Level 2 fire magic attack spell. The actual attack power of the spell was low, but it had the useful ability to ignore a proportion of the enemy¡¯s armour. Additionally, the spell inflicted a [DEF Down] debuff on the opponent, leaving it more susceptible to damage. Perfect for our purposes. With my speed boosted by [Haste], I dashed up to the Rock Wolf that had lost 85% of its HP. ¡°SIBYLLINE SMASH!¡± With a spirited yell, I swung Sibylline down and into the side of the injured Wolf. What I shouted was the name of my greatest special technique. Of course, it was not an actual technique from the [Arts] skills. It was just me smacking the enemy with my impossibly heavy book. I only gave it a name to make myself feel better. What¡¯s that? Why did I have to shout the name out if it wasn¡¯t an actual technique? ¡­Don¡¯t question me! Anyway, my single strike was enough to finish off the Wolf, and my level rose to 8. Kyoko dusted off her clothes and sighed. She was currently helping to powerlevel me so that I could unlock Sibylline¡¯s higher-tiered effects more quickly. The method was to go to a field with higher-levelled enemies than me, after which Kyoko would weaken the monsters before letting me have the final blow. Although it seems that the EXP would normally be shared equally among everyone that contributed to the fight, the EXP adjustment based on level made it such that she received no experience from the fights, resulting in all the EXP going to me. I felt a little bad for her, so I offered to give her the rewards for the subjugation missions we were clearing on the side, but she refused, insisting that she only needed me to hurry up and unlock Sibylline¡¯s power. Kyoko tugged on my sleeve and showed me her slate. We¡¯ll go fight the Greater Wolves next. Incidentally, the Rock Wolves we had been fighting were Level 8. Since I had reached the same level as them, I would still receive EXP from fighting them, but since I had a carry, it was more efficient to migrate to another training ground and benefit from the [Underlevelled Bonus]. I checked the [Bestiary] that the Guild receptionist had allowed me to transcribe. The [Greater Wolves] were located in the next area and were Level 12. They were individually only slightly stronger than their lesser cousins the [Rock Wolves], but they tended to travel in large packs and excelled in squad-based tactics. If we managed to fight them one at a time it would be a simple matter, but if we encountered them in a pack, it might get dangerous. Well, I had the ridiculously strong [Blessing Miko] Kyoko with me, so I wasn¡¯t particularly worried. ¡°Want to get some lunch first?¡± Kyoko nodded quickly and took out a staff topped with bells. As I worked to lay out the picnic mat, she began to dance barefoot in a sort of ritual dance, her cute Miko robes fluttering about her. As she danced, pulses of magical energy were sent outward, rushing over my body. Then she tapped the staff lightly on the ground, and a Golden-coloured [Magic Circle] filled with Sanskrit-like symbols appeared beneath us. A Golden light formed a dome around us, filled with holy magic. [Barrier of Repulsion, First Dance]. A Level 3 spell from the [Purification Dance] branch of [Ritual Magic]. It created a barrier that would keep monsters lower-levelled than Kyoko away, allowing us to eat lunch in peace. Today¡¯s lunch was a set of [Hearty Sandwiches] from one of the delis in the restaurant district of town. Each set came with 4 sandwiches. The bread was toasted wholemeal with the crust removed, and the middle of the sandwich contained lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, basil leaves, and some kind of meat. I tried to analyse it, but unfortunately, my [Divine Eye] didn¡¯t seem to be able to provide me more details on it. Maybe if I levelled it up a little, I might get some information. Well, it seemed to be popular with the deli¡¯s customers, so I supposed that it couldn¡¯t be all that bad. The sets were rather affordable, too, with each set costing only 25 Coppers, or a fourth of 1 Silver coin. I passed one of the two sets to Kyoko, then opened the lid of my own set. Despite the fact that over 4 hours had passed since we bought these, they were still as hot as when we bought them. It seemed like my [Item Box] skill was a lot more impressive than I had given it credit for. Well done, [Item Box]!Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I munched on one of the sandwiches, and immediately my face loosened into an expression of delight. ¡°Delicious~ The meat is juicy and tender, and the juicy tomato slice lends a sour tang to the pork-like taste of the meat. The refreshing bitterness of the vegetables counterbalances the sour-and-salty taste, preventing it from becoming overwhelming. A hint of vinegar serves as the understated glue that unifies the taste and cleanses the palate, leaving one ready for the next bite. I could eat this all day and still be craving for more~¡± ¡­Ah. Crap. Somehow I was overwhelmed by the taste and produced a gourmet report-like statement. I turned to glance at Kyoko, dreading to see her reaction, but she seemed not to have noticed me at all. Her eyes were closed and her expression loose as she chewed on her sandwich with one hand on her cheek. ¡­Cute. As I was slowly reaching towards her, losing to the temptation of patting her head, a chime informed me that I had gained another Gacha Point. Any thoughts I had of cuddling Kyoko were immediately dispelled by the sound. I quickly opened my [Item Box] and checked inside. A small number [25] was displayed on the bottom right of the cell dedicated to GP. Finally, it¡¯s hereeeeeeee!!! I had been saving up my GP for the 5-roll, since it came with a guaranteed SR. I had thought of saving up another 5 for the [Class Gacha] instead, but I reasoned that since the Valkyrie was a combat-oriented class, it would be better to level it up a bit more for now. Besides, it was a really convenient Class that had gotten me a lot of benefits so far, so I decided that it was less of a priority to get a new class than to get me some actual weapons so I could stop hitting enemies with a book. I pulled the 25 GP out of my [Item Box], holding the 25 pearl-sized orbs in my palm. Kyoko looked over at me, eyes brimming with interest. Come to think of it, I had told her about my [Gacha] skill, but this was her first time seeing it in action. After all, it was the first time I had used it since leaving Tirgryanesh. ¡°[Gacha].¡± The dialogue box appeared in front of me, asking me to confirm. Yes, yes, yes, of course I want to roll, yes. The orbs shined with light and floated out of my hand. The mass of light split into 5 distinct white orbs and began circling around me. With a flash of light, they changed colour. Three of the orbs remained white, two of them turned gold. The five orbs descended to the ground, then their shape began to change, turning into the weapons they were supposed to be.
R Polearm [Simple Halberd] has been obtained. R Staff [Wooden Staff] has been obtained. R Bow [Simple Shortbow] has been obtained. SR Orb [Fenris Orb] has been obtained. SR Tome [Harrower¡¯s Tome] has been obtained.
¡°¡­Seriously? That¡¯s it?¡± I was unable to prevent my disappointment from showing. All of these were useless. With the exception of my [Sibylline], I could only equip weapons that my Class had proficiency in. Or, well, nothing was stopping me from just taking them and swinging them around, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to use any of the weapon¡¯s skills or benefit from proficiency bonuses. In other words, I would do more damage by hitting things with the book. The [Valkyrie] class had [Lance Proficiency] and no other proficiency skills, meaning that my best bet was to look for spears. I sighed and stowed the five weapons in my [Item Box]. If I ever got a Class that could use those weapons, I would give them a shot, even if they were low rarity weapons. Well, perhaps I could find a way to sell off the Tome, since I already had an SSR one. So is that what you meant by the gifts from the Gods? Kyoka held up her slate with an unimpressed expression. Well, I can¡¯t exactly blame her, considering that what came out of the Gacha was relatively useless. I nodded in affirmation. ¡°Yep. It¡¯s a chance-based thing. So it¡¯s possible for me to get amazing legendary equipment, but it¡¯s also perfectly possible for me to get absolute trash.¡± What¡¯s the chance of getting Legendary Equipment? ¡°About 3%?¡± Isn¡¯t that way too high?! Not really. It was a pretty standard rate. If anything, I felt like it could stand to be more generous. But, well, such is the nature of the Gacha. Go in without expectations, leave feeling fulfilled. That¡¯s the F2P mantra. ¡­Hm? I noticed my [Skills] tab in the corner of my vision blinking, so I focused on it. The moment the [Skills] window opened, a notification popped out.
Skill: [Gachamancy Lv.1] has become [Gachamancy Lv.2]! Luck increased! You have one unused [Weapon Gacha] 5-roll available. Will you use it now?
It seemed that I was allowed to get free rolls when the skill levelled up. Convenient. I briefly contemplated saving the roll for next time, or maybe some sort of promotion or rate up. Of course, I had no way of knowing whether rate up events were even applicable for this Gacha. Most compellingly, I was still annoyed at my lacklustre results from the previous roll. As a result, against my better judgment and my instincts as a full F2P player, I selected the [Yes] option. Five white orbs appeared in the air around me once again, circling around me slowly. With a flash, they changed colours. Of the five orbs, three remained white. One became golden. One became dyed in the multi-coloured hues of a rainbow. A rainbow. ¡°YESSSSS!!!!¡± I yelled out suddenly, causing Kyoka to fall over in surprise. I made a note to apologise later, but for now, I had something more important to worry about. Rainbow in a Gacha could mean only one thing. I waited with bated breath as the orbs approached the ground and took on their new forms.
R Shield [Wooden Buckler] has been obtained. R Shield [Wooden Buckler] has been obtained. R Bow [Simple Longbow] has been obtained. SR 1HSword [Fang Sword] has been obtained SSR 2HSword [Durandal] has been obtained. Chapter 12: Unyielding Blade, Durandal Of the five items on the floor, one clearly stood out. A shining, silver 2-handed sword. The blade glinted in the sunlight, revealing an uncommon sharpness. The handle was wrapped in cloth, but otherwise unadorned. No ornamentation of any kind was to be found on the guard, but the blade itself had an intricate, ivy-like pattern etched across its surface. I quickly stowed the rest of the useless stuff that had appeared alongside [Durandal] into my [Item Box], leaving only the SSR 2-hander on the ground. Kyoko, intrigued by the weapon, moved closer to take a better look. Then she tapped my shoulder and showed me her slate. This feels a little different from an ordinary sword. Does it have a name? ¡°Yeah, this sword is called [Durandal]. Seems to be a strong weapon- Kyoko? Is something the matter?¡± When she heard the sword¡¯s name, Kyoko immediately fell backward with her eyes wide open. She glanced at me disbelievingly and began to scribble on her slate. Durandal? The Mountain Cleaver? Mountain Cleaver? That was a strange title. I focused on the weapon and checked its information.
Durandal
SSR 2H Sword Level: 1 / 40 (¡î¡î¡î¡î)
Magic Attack: 0 Physical Attack: 30 Stat Corrections: +5 Str, +15 End Skills: [Enduring Defence Lv.1] [Enhanced Recovery] [Durandal Arts Lv.1] [Ignore Armor Lv.1] Unsellable, Untradeable
Huh. It had similar total stats to my [Sibylline]. I focused on each of the skills in turn.
[Enduring Defence Lv.1] Reduces all incoming damage by 10% [Enhanced Recovery] Doubles the effects of health restored when healed by any means [Ignore Armor Lv.1] Attacks made ignore 10% of total Defence [Durandal Arts Lv.1]
I always thought that 2-Handed Swords were for berserker-types that ignored defence, but some of these passives were actually surprisingly defence-oriented. ¡­Actually, wouldn¡¯t this sword be pretty broken if it was used by a class with a lifesteal passive? That [Durandal Arts] skill seems pretty strong too. It seems to be a skill that¡¯s unique to the weapon. Actually, now that I think about it, my [Time Magic] is a unique magic, too. Maybe every SSR has one? I shrugged and stored the Durandal away. I couldn¡¯t use it, anyway, and the ability of the Sibylline to generate more GP was too good to pass up. I briefly wondered why I was able to equip the Sibylline but not the Durandal, but decided that it was likely a side benefit of the fact that the Sibylline was from the [Beginner Gacha]. It would be a pretty shitty system if the guaranteed SSR turned out to be unusable, after all. When I turned back to Kyoko, I found her prostrating herself before me with her slate in front of her. O great Lady Valkyrie! Forgive my impertinence for thinking myself stronger than you, you are truly blessed by the Gods. That you had possession of the Divining Book Sibylline should have been sufficient proof of that, but my weak faith caused me to doubt you. But there can be no more doubt. Durandal the Unbreakable Blade is the greatest proof of that. Only twice in the annals of history has it descended upon this world, and both times its wielder was a great hero sent by the Gods to bring peace to the land. To think that I would see it in this lifetime! O Lady Valkyrie, I beg you to forgive my sinfulness. I pledge my life to you, I am forevermore your servant!If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡­Uh. I think this girl has a bit of a misunderstanding here. I only got the Durandal and Sibylline through sheer luck, after all. Even my [Valkyrie] class was a product of the Gacha, though that could potentially be attributed to my [Curse]. I wasn¡¯t really some kind of divine being sent down from heaven. Then again, correcting this misunderstanding seemed like it would lead to no small degree of inconvenience, so I ran with it. ¡°Uh¡­ Raise your head, Kyoko. There is nothing to forgive. I may not be well-versed in the matters of humanity, but I know that it is difficult to take strangers at their word. I can find no fault in your actions.¡± Uwah, I totally sound like one of those creepily benevolent kings that turn out to be the bad guy in games. Is this really me? Somehow, Kyoko managed to change the words on the slate without leaving her prostrating position. I was thoroughly impressed. I am undeserving of your mercy, O Divine One. I am yours to the end of time. I will do anything. I will offer anything. If you desire it, I will give my life right this moment for my impurity. Please, command me as you will. ¡­Okay, I¡¯m all for having strong faith in your deity but this is getting a little out of hand. ¡°We-Well, in that case, heed my first command.¡± Kyoko¡¯s shoulders tensed, but she remained in her prostrate position. ¡°I order you to be my friend.¡± It seemed that it was too unexpected for Kyoko; she looked up at me in surprise, before realising the nature of her action, after which she hurriedly touched her forehead to the ground again. I placed my finger under her chin and raised her face to see me, but she closed her eyes, like she was afraid of looking directly at me. ¡°Oh come on, there¡¯s no need to change how you look at me now. We¡¯ve been in a party for weeks!¡± She timidly opened her eyes, then shut them again. I sighed. ¡°Look, I ordered you to be my friend. Not my servant, my friend. You¡¯re not acting like a friend, so you¡¯re disobeying me.¡± Kyoko blinked, then blinked again. Then her eyes started to move wildly around in swirls. Clearly she was confused by my instructions conflicting with her upbringing. I could almost see steam rising from her head. ¡°No need to think about it so hard, Kyoko. Just treat me the same way you always have, and I¡¯ll be happy. Understood?¡± Kyoko took a long look at me, then nodded. ¡°Good. Now, there¡¯s something else I wanted to check before we move on to the next hunting ground.¡± In that last Gacha attempt, I had gotten a duplicate item ¨C the [Wooden Buckler]. I could probably sell it for a bit of cash, but there was a particular function I wanted to test out, so this was a good opportunity. I opened my [Item Box] and focused on one of the Wooden Bucklers. A tiny menu popped out, with three options: [Convert], [Upgrade] and [Limit Break]. Leaving the last two aside for now, I wanted to know what [Convert] did, so I selected that option. A confirmation dialogue appeared, informing me that I would lose the item used for [Convert]. Since it was just a duplicate R shield, I selected [Yes]. The Wooden Buckler in my [Item Box] shone brightly then transformed, turning into a glowing white crystal. I inspected it.
[R Weapon Essence (Shield)] A special material used for upgrading weapons. Provides 20 Weapon EXP when used to upgrade a Shield-type weapon and 10 Weapon EXP when used to upgrade any other type of weapon. Untradeable, unsellable.
Ah, so it¡¯s this kind of system. The player rolls the Gacha for strong weapons, then uses the weaker byproducts to upgrade the stronger ones. Since the Essence had ¡°R¡± in the name, rarity of the Converted item probably affects the effectiveness of the Essence generated. I decided to test my theory. I selected the SR [Harrower¡¯s Tome] and Converted it. This time, the crystal produced was golden in colour. I inspected it.
[SR Weapon Essence (Tome)] A special material used for upgrading weapons. Provides 100 Weapon EXP when used to upgrade a Tome-type weapon and 50 Weapon EXP when used to upgrade any other type of weapon. Untradeable, unsellable.
Woah, isn¡¯t the disparity in EXP a bit too much? I happily focused on Sibylline in the holder on my waist and selected [Upgrade] from the menu that appeared. A message box appeared, prompting me to touch the Essence I wanted to use. I selected the [SR Weapon Essence (Tome)]. The golden crystal dissolved into golden light, which flowed into Sibylline, causing it to level up to 5.
Sibylline
SSR Magic Tome Level: 8 / 40 (¡î¡î¡î¡î)
Magic Attack: 60 Physical Attack: 15 Stat Corrections: +20 Mag, +100 MP Skills: [Unique Magic: Time Lv.2] [Foresight Lv.2] [Small MP Regeneration] [Time Savings] [Halftime] Unsellable, Untradeable
The stats rose as expected, but [Foresight Lv.1] also changed into [Foresight Lv.2]. I could now perceive danger up to 3 seconds ahead of time, instead of 1. I picked up an unresisting Kyoko and put her on my lap, then placed Sibylline in front of her, with my hand still holding on to the cover. ¡°Has anything changed?¡± Kyoko, who had finally regained enough of her composure to act normally around me, rapidly flipped through the pages. After a while, she trembled. She turned toward me and nodded vigorously. Looking over her shoulder, I could see that some of the space that had previously been blank was now filled with words and diagrams. ¡°¡­I see, so that¡¯s how it works after all.¡± It seemed that when Kyoko had mentioned increasing Sibylline¡¯s power and helping it grow, she was referring to the book¡¯s Weapon level. The higher level the book was, the more it would fill up. Kyoko was hoping that when it began to fill up, it would contain whatever it was she was looking to learn. I subconsciously patted Kyoko¡¯s head while she sat on my lap, and she leaned into my hand, casually enjoying the feeling while reading intently. ¡­Cute. After a while, Kyoko snapped the book shut and shook her head. ¡°I see, not yet, huh¡­¡± Well, at least now I knew how to upgrade the book, I could slowly work my way to unlocking whatever it was that she wanted to learn. I decided to make it my priority. Though, knowing how Gacha games liked to work with scaling Weapon EXP requirements, it would likely take some time. I got up off the ground and stowed the picnic mat away as Kyoko dispelled the barrier. That was a good break, but it was time to get back to the grind. Chapter 13: More Grinding! The area in a circle around Kyoko shimmered with blue light, then erupted into a volley of spears made from water that had appeared from nowhere, skewering the Greater Wolves that surrounded us, sending them high in the air. [Aqua Launch]. A level 4 attack spell from the Water subcategory of Basic Magic. Although the damage multiplier on this spell was considerably low, it had a good [Area of Effect] and the ability to launch lighter targets into the air, making it a very cost-effective crowd control spell. Making sure that the ten airborne wolves were all in my field of vision, I snapped my fingers. Sibylline, which was suspended midair in front of me, opened, its pages rapidly flipping. ¡°[Haste]! [Accel Bang]!¡± Sibylline shone purple for a moment, then I felt its magic entering my body. Time slowed down, even more so than with [Haste] alone. Time seemed to stop, the wolves suspended in midair. Next to me, Kyoko¡¯s hair was frozen midair, mid-flutter. I focused on the wolves and picked my three points, making sure that the path of traversal crossed all the wolves. Then I kicked off the ground. The next moment, I found myself at the third point I had selected, and time resumed its flow. There was a moment¡¯s pause, and then each of the ten wolves¡¯ bodies suffered an immense blow, as if they had been struck by a large blunt object. They were each flung to the ground, reducing their HP to zero. I lightly landed on my feet, and Sibylline zoomed towards me, landing in my hand. About 10 meters away, Kyoko was applauding with admiring eyes. I sighed. The girl had gotten like this ever since she concluded that I was some sort of divine being. All I did was let her see my [Gacha] in progress. I didn¡¯t expect that it would cause her to make such strange assumptions. Well, she was a little cuter now than when she was acting cold and distant, so I didn¡¯t really consider it a problem, though. The spell I had just used, [Accel Bang], was a Level 3 spell from my Time Magic skill. It allowed me to select up to three points, each up to ten meters away from the last. Upon selection, I would rapidly move through all selected points, ending at the last point. The gimmick was that the time spent moving would be erased ¨C in other words, it was practically instantaneous teleportation. Additionally, upon the end of the movement, the sum of the kinetic energy that should have accumulated in the course of the movement would immediately be turned upon all enemies along the path of movement, dealing damage that increased based on the amount of gathered kinetic energy ¨C in other words, damage that scaled based on my speed and mass. It was classified as a [Special Spell] rather than an [Attack Spell], because it lacked a damage modifier. It also used up a large amount of MP ¨C 100MP per cast, five times the MP cost of [Haste]. Even though it was reduced to 50MP by the [Time Savings] passive, in terms of cost-damage ratio, it was very inefficient, but it was my only means of attacking multiple enemies at once, so it was efficient for the powerlevelling we were currently attempting. Incidentally, Sibylline¡¯s [Time Magic Lv.2] had upgraded into [Time Magic Lv.3] when I raised Sibylline¡¯s level to 10 using the Essences from Converting the other 2 SR weapons I had gotten in the gacha, the [Fenris Orb] and the [Fang Sword]. [Sibylline] was currently Level 13, but I had unfortunately run out of weapons to Convert. I did still have the [Durandal], but it was probably a bad idea to Convert an SSR weapon at this point where I still had only two of them. Since I was now level 11, the EXP from 10 Greater Wolves was unfortunately insufficient to level me up, even though it had been enough to go from level 8 to 9. It seemed that the EXP obtained from monsters scaled in relation to the level difference ¨C based on my calculations, I would need to kill another 85 Greater Wolves if I wanted to hit level 12. Well, given the speed at which I could kill them with Kyoko¡¯s [Aqua Launch] and my [Accel Bang], the only real issue was finding the Wolves to kill.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. I moved over to the dead Wolves and removed the canines and claws of seven of them. Then I placed the remaining three in my [Item Box] to sell later. Rock Wolves were useless in terms of materials, but Greater Wolves, which were anatomically closer to the wolves from my world, were considered to be prime meat, and their fur, unlike the rocky coats of the Rock Wolves, fetched a high price as materials for use in making clothing. Ideally, I would have liked to store all ten corpses, but the [Cadaver] tab of my [Item Box] only had 15 spaces, so I had to be conservative about it, since the corpses took one slot each. The fangs and the claws of the Wolves all stacked together in the same slot, so I made sure to pick those up, at least. Wolf ivory could be crushed into a fine powder that was a key component in making healing potions, so there was always demand for it. If it were up to me, I would butcher and skin the wolves myself, since it seemed like monster components stacked together in the [Item Box], even if the corpses didn¡¯t. However, I didn¡¯t have the prerequisite knowledge or skills, so that wasn¡¯t an option available to me. Even though this was very much a game-like world, there wasn¡¯t such a thing as the monster disappearing in a puff of smoke and leaving behind a treasure chest. I suppose that was a bit too much of a stretch even for a fantasy world. When we were done collecting the materials, Kyoko tapped me on the shoulder. Are we continuing, or should we return? I checked my [Item Bag]. We were running dangerously low on supplies. After setting aside the supplies for the half-day trek back to Kronshire, I estimated that we had enough for another half-day of hunting or so. ¡°Hmm¡­ If the mobs were appearing at the same rate as in the beginning, we would have had enough time to level again, but at this current appearance rate, it might be a little tough¡­¡± When we had first entered the [Wolf King¡¯s Plains], Greater Wolves had actively sought us out, appearing in droves, to the point where we were fighting back-to-back battles without a break. It would have gotten dangerous if not for Kyoko being overlevelled. But as we killed more and more wolves, their rate of appearance began decreasing. At one point, we even had a pack of six Greater Wolves run away from us. It seemed that killing too many of a certain enemy type in one area within a short amount of time caused that enemy to start avoiding you. I guess it was kind of like one of those mechanics in games designed to stop players from hoarding all the monsters in one area to themselves? I briefly wondered whether this avoidance would reset after some time. Whatever the case, it meant that continuing to farm here would be inefficient. ¡°No, let¡¯s return and plan our next hunting ground. I want to go sell these materials, anyway.¡± Kyoko gave me a salute and nodded. With her child¡¯s stature, it looked unbearably adorable, like a toddler pretending to be a soldier. I cupped my hand to my mouth to stop my squeal from leaking out. I took out the map of [Wolf King¡¯s Plain] that I had bought from the Guild. I found the green blip that indicated my current direction. A helpful arrow next to the blip showed me where I was facing. I started to look for where I currently was, and searched for the direction to get back to the main road. ¡­Wait. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. No change. The map was unchanged. I wasn¡¯t mistaken. We must have gone in deeper than I¡¯d thought. This was bad. I turned to Kyoko. ¡°We need to leave. Now.¡± Kyoko didn¡¯t question me, but immediately grabbed my hand and began to run in the direction that the map had indicated as heading to the road. While we ran, a deep howl resounded. A vision of being slashed in half and chewed to pieces. My [Foresight] activated, causing me to pause in my tracks and yank Kyoko back by the collar of her miko outfit. A large shadow pounced on the place where we had been about to step on, its sharp claws glinting in the sunlight. Kyoko launched a swift kick into its side, sending it flying back while we regained our composure. The large wolf skidded to a halt about 30 meters away. It righted itself and lowered its body, baring its fangs and growling deeply. ¡°Uwah¡­ not good.¡± Standing before us was the [Boss] of the Wolf King¡¯s Plain, the level 25 [Wolf King Byron]. Chapter 14: [Wolf King Byron] The [Wolf King Byron] growled at us, pacing a circle around us. ¡°A [Boss], huh¡­ I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d have to face one so soon.¡± This world was divided into many different sections known as [Areas]. Among these [Areas], a vast majority were monster-infested zones, with specific [Areas] being home to specific types of monsters. The rest of the [Areas] that were not monster-infested were known as [Safe Spaces], and were commonly used as locations for cities. The city of Kronshire, for example, was considered an [Area] by itself. It was possible to turn a part of a monster-filled [Area] into a [Safe Space], but it required the use of a large-scale [Ritual Magic] that involved a large number of mages and a lot of preparation. Anyway, every [Area] that wasn¡¯t a [Safe Space] had a specific monster within it referred to as the [Boss]. The [Boss] was far more powerful than regular monsters, with stats that were higher than usual for its level. Additionally, [Bosses] tended to have unique [Skill] compositions, causing them to be extremely dangerous to fight without thorough preparation beforehand. As an added quirk, unlike normal monsters that bred and gave birth normally as with other living creatures, [Bosses] had bodies formed with magic. They were unable to reproduce, but they would respawn after some time if they died. Nobody quite understood how it worked, but some scholars had theorised that [Bosses] were entities created by the [Area] as a sort of security system. The mana that went into creating them seemed to come from the [Area] itself. Incidentally, I only knew all of this because of the amazingly detailed [Kyoko Note] that contained information about the world along with cute illustrations of cats. Anyway, despite the existence of these abnormal enemies, people continued to venture safely within territories. That was because each [Boss] had its own sub-territory within its presiding [Area]. They would not leave these sub-territories, so one would not have to fear encountering a [Boss] if one kept out of their territory. Unfortunately, while grinding, we had accidentally crossed over into the sub-territory of the [Wolf King Byron], leading to the current precarious situation. Kyoko raised her hand in the direction of the Wolf King and activated the Level 5 Fire Attack Magic, [Inferno Barrage]. Twenty fireballs appeared behind her and launched themselves at the Wolf King. The Wolf King simply stood there and received them all head-on. As we waited for the dust to clear, the Wolf King suddenly leaped out of the explosion toward us, claws extended. ¡°-! [Haste]! [Accel Bang]!¡± I frantically sped myself up and used [Accel Bang] with all three points set to the side of the Wolf King. In a flash, I found myself slamming into the Wolf King, and it was sent flying by the impact. The shock jarred my arm, taking off a chunk of my HP. I focused on the Wolf King and confirmed its status. It had lost 300 of its 16000 HP. There was no way my attacks were going to bring this thing down. ¡°Kyoko! Take the front!¡± Kyoko nodded and took up an unarmed fighting stance. Her body shined blue as she activated [Mana Conversion] - a skill that swapped her Magic and Strength stats. With that, her usually magic-specialised stats became stats that were specialised for physical attacks. That, coupled with her high Agility, meant that as long as she stayed in the [Mana Conversion] state, she was more than a match for any melee expert at or even above her level. The downside, of course, was that her Magic stat became pitiful, rendering her magic attacks useless. But in our situation, she would do more damage with her [Mana Conversion] stats than I would with my lower levelled, defensively-oriented stats, so it made more sense to have her be the main damager. I casted [Haste] on her, maintaining the buff on both of us. Then I turned my attention to the Wolf King.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°[Stop]! [Slow]!¡± A red indicator flashed in my vision, indicating that [Stop] had been resisted. Thankfully, [Slow] was working normally. The Wolf King¡¯s movements became sluggish ¨C though it was still faster than a human. ¡°Kyoko, go!¡± Kyoko nodded, then disappeared. She reappeared next to the Wolf King and struck it hard with an uppercut. She then jumped up into the air and slammed the Wolf King back down with a hammer blow. I confirmed the target¡¯s HP. That combo had done 2200 damage ¨C the Wolf King had 13500 HP left. A few more of those combos and we would win, but the problem with this combo was that it left Kyoko in the air, defenceless. The Wolf King turned its fangs toward Kyoko and crouched down, preparing to jump. ¡°Not on my watch! [War Cry]!¡± For the first time, I activated a skill from my [Shieldmaiden] tree of magic. A white aura surrounded me, causing the Wolf King¡¯s head to turn toward me sharply. [War Cry] was a skill that forced enemies to target me. In this way, I could draw aggro away from Kyoko. The Wolf King¡¯s hind legs kicked off the ground to change its orientation such that it faced me, then it leapt. ¡°[Holy Shield]!¡± A large illusory kite shield made of light appeared in front of me, protecting me from the Wolf King¡¯s charge. The shield was nothing more than an illusion, with no substance, but the magic had the effect of cutting all damage I took by 25%. The Wolf King leapt towards me, jaws open, but I blocked its charge with my gauntleted arm. A sharp pain tore through my arm as it bit down hard and latched on to me, reducing my HP by 30%, but I endured it and swung it away, in the direction of Kyoko, who had safely landed on the ground and had taken up another stance. As it flew, I activated my next skill. ¡°[Bless Weapon!]¡± The drain on my HP indicator from earlier had alerted me to the Wolf King¡¯s damage type ¨C it was an Evil-aligned creature. That being the case, it should be weak to Holy attribute damage. I targeted Kyoko¡¯s hands, feet, and knees with my skill, causing them to be coated in white light. Just before the Wolf King slammed into Kyoko, she activated her Level 6 Bruiser Art [Dancing Bloom]. First, she stopped the Wolf King¡¯s flight with a single, powerful punch. Then she began moving in a circle around it while raining down innumerable attacks on it from all angles, striking unrelentingly with a furious assault. Finally, she jumped up and struck it with an axe kick to finish it off. Or rather, she was going to. At the moment she jumped up, the Wolf King immediately raised its jaw, a mass of black-coloured light coalescing within it, pointed in Kyoko¡¯s direction. Fortunately, I had expected something like this. After all, bosses in games tend to have some super-powerful trigger attack when close to death. The moment I saw it acting unusual, I released the skill I had been preparing. ¡°[Divine Scream]!¡± An illusory pair of white, feathered wings made from light appeared on my back as a strange sound emitted from my mouth. The Wolf King flinched and closed its maw. Kyoko¡¯s axe kick connected, smashing the Wolf King into the floor. This time, rather than waiting for the dust to clear naturally, Kyoko forcibly cleared it by flipping into a handstand and revolving rapidly while generating a draft from the fast movement of her fan-like spread legs. ¡­Spinning B*rd Kick? Are you Ch*n Li? Ignoring Kyoko¡¯s physics-defying manoeuvre, I quickly confirmed the status of the [Wolf King Byron]. Its HP had dropped to 0. As I watched, it glowed and dissipated into mana particles, spreading out through the [Area]. Various notifications appeared on my screen. --- Title [Protector] acquired. Title [Wolf King Slayer] acquired. Title [Conqueror of Wolf King¡¯s Plain] acquired. Title [Challenger] acquired. Level Up! [Valkyrie] Level 12 attained. Level Up! [Valkyrie] Level 13 attained. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Level Up! [Valkyrie] Level 17 attained. Level Up! [Gachamancer] Level 8 attained. Level Up! [Gachamancer] Level 9 attained. Level Up! [Gachamancer] Level 10 attained. Level Up! [Gachamancer] Level 11 attained. Chapter 15: Loot I glanced at Kyoko and checked her status. Even though she was of a higher level than the [Wolf King Byron], she had levelled up twice just by beating it, putting her at level 30. It was likely that there was some kind of modifier applied to the EXP gained due to the fact that the Wolf King was a [Boss]. She had also gained similar [Titles], though she had gained [Fist of Destruction] instead of the [Divine Protector] Title I had obtained. She made a victory sign with her fingers, grinning at me. Overwhelmed by the sight, I patted her head. ¡°Good job.¡± She blushed and averted her eyes. Uh¡­ Isn¡¯t her behaviour way too different in comparison to before she saw me pull the [Gacha]? Incidentally, why does she now have [Brynhildr¡¯s Devotee] as a title? Well, it¡¯s cute, so whatever. I had gained a lot of levels from that fight, and several of my skills had levelled up significantly. But I decided to confirm the effects later. First off, I had to deal with the loot from the Wolf King. [Boss] monsters didn¡¯t leave bodies behind when they died, but instead, they left behind a mass of mana that condensed into several red treasure chests, one for each person that had made significant contributions during the fight. These chests contained materials, weapons, treasures and various other types of loot. Additionally, they could only be opened by the person that spawned them. Why does it turn into a treasure chest? It just does, that¡¯s how this world works. Don¡¯t question it. If I mind it, I lose. Anyway, I knelt down by my treasure chest, opening it to see the contents. --- Item: SR Dagger [Byron¡¯s Fang] obtained! Item: [Wolf King¡¯s Pelt] obtained! Item: R Blunt Weapon [Iron Mace] obtained! Item: [SR Class Fragment] obtained! Item: [Class Gem] obtained! --- ¡­Huh. Putting aside the weapons that I couldn¡¯t use, there were a couple items that I had never seen before. The [Wolf King¡¯s Pelt] looked to be a low-grade material, I could probably sell it or use it for crafting something. What caught my interest was the [SR Class Fragment] and the [Class Gem]. --- [SR Class Fragment] ¨C Material. Gachamancer Exclusive. Gather five of these to combine them into an [SR Class Amp] to raise the level cap of an SR or lower class, in place of a duplicate copy of the Class. [Class Gem] ¨C Material. Gachamancer Exclusive. Use it in place of 30 GP for pulling the [Class Gacha]. --- ¡­Oi, oi. What¡¯s this? I can get free Gacha rolls from [Boss] type monsters? It¡¯s bad to tell me that, you know? I¡¯ll start overhunting them you know? Well, fantasies of beating up [Boss] monsters to get free rolls aside, the [SR Class Fragment] looked promising. I hadn¡¯t given much thought to limit breaking my [Valkyrie] class, since I had yet to hit the current level cap, but I knew I¡¯d have to find a way eventually. At least I now knew that there was a way to do it without using a duplicate copy. I decided to put the [Class Gem] aside for now. I would use it for sure, but first I wanted to confirm the improvements that my [Valkyrie] class had gotten from the levelups. I turned to Kyoko. ¡°How was it? Got anything good?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Kyoko shook her head and showed me her haul: a [Minor Healing Potion], a [Wolf King¡¯s Pelt], 2 [Wolf King¡¯s Claws] and an R Staff weapon, the [Wooden Staff]. Huh. You win some, you lose some, I guess. I opened up my [Status] window and checked my [Valkyrie] class. Aside from the increase in stats, several of my [Skills] had levelled up. --- [Basic Magic (Supportive): Healing] Lv.1 -> Lv.2 [Heal] Learnt! [Barrier] Learnt! [Divine Magic: Shieldmaiden] Lv.1 -> Lv.2 [Holy Charge] Learnt! [Divine Eye] Lv.1 -> Lv.2 [Armor of Valhalla] Lv.1 -> Lv.2 [Lance Arts] Lv.1 -> Lv.2 [Shining Javelin] learnt! New Skill [Shield Arts Lv.1] acquired! New Skill [Shield Proficiency] acquired! [Shield Bash] Learnt! --- ¡­Well then, it seems like I finally get to use an actual weapon! Is a shield really a weapon, though? I equipped the [Wooden Buckler] in my inventory. It wasn¡¯t a very big shield, but it seemed sturdy enough. Next, I checked on my [Gachamancer] class, which had risen to Level 10. The stat corrections had improved, but the Skills remained the same. I was a little disappointed, but I didn¡¯t let it get to me. After all, my main combat class, the [Valkyrie], had gotten a lot stronger from this level up. Having confirmed everything I wanted to confirm, I rubbed my hands together. It was finally time. ¡°Kyoko, come watch this. If you thought the previous Gacha was amazing, you¡¯re going to love this one.¡± Kyoko leant forward, her eyes sparkling. It might have sounded strange to aggrandise my [Class Gacha] like that, especially since it was likely I would end up pulling an R class, which would be less impressive than the SSR [Durandal] I had shown her previously. However, that¡¯s only according to my knowledge about game rarities and my gamer¡¯s logic. In truth, apart from special cases where one is born with the aptitude, gaining a [Class] in this world requires years upon years of training, hard work, and dedication. An individual would only be granted a [Class] by the world after they had completed their training and reached various milestones. For instance, attaining the [Knight] class required one to first undergo a one-year training programme and then receive the approval of someone with noble blood. Most classes were obtained in a similar way, through training and experience. Exceptions were [Divine Classes] like Kyoko¡¯s [Divine Priestess] or my [Valkyrie] that could only be conferred directly by the gods. In other words, having the ability to spontaneously obtain a new [Class] with no training or achievement necessary, as my [Gachamancy] allowed me to do, could be said to be a ridiculous cheat. In other words, no matter what came out, it would likely impress Kyoko more than the [Durandal]. I opened up the [Class Gacha] window. A new option had appeared, offering me the option to use a [Class Gem] to pull on the Gacha. I selected that option, then the confirmation screen displaying the rates popped up. ¡­Eh? The SSR rate had increased from 3% to 4%. Why? Even when my [Gachamancy] skill became Lv.2, the rate had not changed. So what caused it to change now? I opened my [Status] window and reconfirmed it. Nothing unusual, nothing that would correspond to an increased SSR rate¡­ Wait. No. I see something. My [Luck] stat. With the [Gachamancer] hitting Level 10, its [Luck] stat correction had increased from 30 to 40. That was the one change that might have affected my Gacha rates. ¡°In other words, my SSR rate is my [Luck] divided by 10, is it¡­?¡± My thoughts leaked out of my mouth, causing Kyoko to give me a confused look. I absentmindedly patted her head while thinking about the implications. My [Gachamancer] had an initial [Luck] correction of +30. Getting it to Level 10 had increased the stat correction to +40. In other words, an increase of +1 per level. Since the [Gachamancer] had a level cap of 40, that meant that without raising the cap, I could have up to a 7% SSR chance. More if I raised the cap. There were four empty stars next to the [Class] level ¨C given that this world was similar to a game, it was safe to assume that the level cap could be raised four times. If each cap break added 10 levels to the cap, that would mean that the [Gachamancer] could potentially max out at Level 80, giving me a whopping +110 Luck and an 11% SSR rate. 11%. I could feel myself drooling at the thought of having an SSR rate that high. I decided to make it a high priority to max out and cap break my [Gachamancer] class. I shook my head free of my fantasies and returned to the Gacha. It would be a long while before I could even think about cap breaking my [Gachamancer], so I decided to focus on what was in front of me for now. While still continuing to pat Kyoko¡¯s head, I moved through the confirmation screens of the gacha, then held out my hand with the [Class Gem] in it. As before, the [Class Gem] rose in the air, shining white light. The flash of light came, but it didn¡¯t change colour. I felt a little disappointed, but I had expected such a result. I reached out and touched the [Class Crystal]. --- R Class [Archer] Obtained! Chapter 16: Archer I showed the [Class Crystal] to Kyoko. She tilted her head and wrote on her slate. What¡¯s that? ¡°A [Class].¡± Her eyes widened. Well, it was to be expected. I raised the [Class Crystal] up to the light and focused on it. A system message popped up. > Would you like to install the [Archer] class? Yes. > [Archer] class acquired. Level of new [Class] has been set to half of current [Class] level. Please access the new [Class] through [Class Change]. Oh? That was unexpected. So new [Classes] got pre-levelled up based on my main [Class] level? How newbie-friendly. I turned to Kyoko, who was looking at the spot where the [Class Crystal] had vanished, and tapped her on the shoulder. ¡°Fufu. Watch this, Kyoko. [Class Change]!¡± A menu with a list of classes available to me appeared. Well, there were only three at the moment, [Gachamancer], [Valkyrie] and [Archer]. I picked the newest class and felt magic filling my body, changing me. My [Armour of Valhalla] disappeared, leaving me in my underwear. Well, underwear in this world consisted of a comfortable inner shirt and shorts, so it wasn¡¯t exactly erotic or anything like that. If I had ended up in my bra and panties, though, I might have screamed. Anyway, I opened my status and confirmed that my class had changed. I grinned at Kyoko. ¡°Appraise me.¡± Kyoko blinked several times, darting her head around me as if searching for where I¡¯d hidden the armour, but she nodded and stared intently at me. Again, I felt the sensation of having my information being read. Then her eyes opened, hew jaw dropped, and her slate fell from her hands to the floor. I laughed at seeing her reaction. Not that I didn¡¯t understand it, of course. Your [Class] was the culmination of years of hard work. While changing your [Class] was possible, it often took years of training to achieve, as you had to completely re-learn a new skill set. Furthermore, you would have to start at Level 1 in your new [Class]. That was the common sense in this world. In the face of that common sense, I had just changed my [Class] in an instant. Not only that, but I had changed to a [Class] that was already Level 9. Thinking from Kyoko¡¯s perspective, it must have been absurd. As if to prove this, Kyoko had picked up her slate and was frantically scribbling. Then she prostrated herself before me and offered the slate. Uh oh. This situation felt familiar. Never in my life have I seen a miracle such as this! You truly are blessed by the Gods! I am unworthy to stand in your presence! Oi, oi. If you say ¨C or, well, write ¨C something like that I¡¯ll be troubled at how to respond, you know? ¡°Er¡­ Um, it¡¯s fine, please don¡¯t treat me differently. I¡¯m happy with being your friend. So stand up.¡± Kyoko jumped to her feet and nodded with conviction, her short bangs flying around with the speed of her nodding.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Cute~ Anyway, I decided to check on what skills my new [Class] offered me.
[Archer]
A long-ranged attacker skilled with the bow.
Level 9 / 40 Limit ¡î¡î¡î¡î
Stat Correction +140 HP, +165 MP, +28 Str, +18 Mag, +18 End, +18 Res, +38 Agi
Skills
¡¤ Bow Proficiency o Grants a 1.5x boost to power when using [Bow] weapons ¡¤ Dagger Training o Can use [Dagger] weapons ¡¤ Survival o User is able to cook food out in the field over a fire and locate clean water sources ¡¤ Fletching o User is able to make arrows from monster materials ¡¤ [Bow Arts] Lv.1 o Bludgeoning Swing ¨C A heavy blow using the bow as a blunt weapon. High knockback, but reduces durability. o Tripleshot ¨C Fires three arrows at once, dealing heavy damage to up to three targets.
¡°Hm, fewer than I thought¡­¡± The new [Class] only had 5 skills, which was less than what I expected. Perhaps I had been expecting too much. [Archer] was only an R rarity [Class], after all. It was a bit unrealistic for me to expect it to match up to the SR [Valkyrie] class. Well, that¡¯s not to say that I wasn¡¯t happy. In fact, the [Archer] class had given me one skill that I was very glad to have acquired. Of course, that was [Survival]. The primary factor that was limiting our grinding and powerlevelling was our finite supplies. Health was no problem since I had access to [Healing] Magic, and Kyoko had access to [Purification] Divine Magic which contained several powerful healing rituals. As long as we had MP, we could recover from any wounds. And even if we ran out of MP, we could always recover it with [Auto HPMP Regeneration]. Moving under dim visibility was no issue either, since the [Map] showed our bearing and location regardless of the level of visibility ¨C furthermore, it was backlit, so darkness wouldn¡¯t stop us from reading it, either. Fatigue was potentially a problem, but we could each get about 5 hours of sleep every night by alternating the watch, so that was a solved issue. Therefore, the biggest problem was our food and water supply. We¡¯d managed to find a clean water source by luck around the halfway mark, so we had been able to refill our stock of clean water, but it would only last us another 2 days, 3 if we rationed. Furthermore, our stores of dried food that we had bought in Kronshire were almost depleted. If we wanted to extend our expedition, we would need to find some way to supplement our stores. [Survival] was perfect for that. Being able to cook in the field would allow us to turn the monsters we killed into more food for our stores, while being able to locate water supplies would solve the water shortage problem. With this skill, we could continue to grind. The question then was which [Class] I intended to level. Of course, I wanted to level up [Valkyrie], my main [Class], more, but it was not good to neglect my new [Class]. After all, it might be a prerequisite for a quest somewhere down the line, and it was always good to have more combat options. The other option was to use the 2 [Classes] as [Main] and [Sub], but that would mean removing [Gachamancer], which I was reluctant to do. ¡°Well, I guess I should at least get my [Archer] to the same level as [Valkyrie].¡± I spoke my thoughts out loud, causing Kyoko to prick her ears up and listen. She scribbled on the slate. No Arrows? ¡°Geh.¡± She was right. I had no arrows on me, and it was hard to train as a bow user without arrows. Of course, since I had the [Dagger Training] skill, I could probably use a dagger without suffering any penalties, but I really wanted to try out the [Bow Arts] skills; I had yet to use any [Weapon Arts], after all. A cursory glance at the new [Fletching] menu informed me that I was unable to make any arrows due to a lack of feathers. I bit my lip, wondering what I should do. At that moment, I noticed a notification in the bottom right of my vision. I hadn¡¯t noticed it at first since it didn¡¯t shine or make a sound as notifications usually did, but the blue exclamation mark had undoubtedly appeared. I opened it. > New Gacha [Arrow Gacha] is now available! Well, that was convenient. Chapter 17: Of Monsters and Miko With a [Wooden Shortbow] in hand, I ran ahead of Kyoko, charging toward the pair of [Greater Wolves] that were running in our direction. As we ran, I nocked a [Fire Arrow] from my quiver and pulled the string. A targeting reticle appeared in my vision, matching the movement of the arrowtip. I aligned the reticle with the closer of the two Wolves and loosed the arrow, causing its target to burst into flames, writhing on the ground in agony. The other wolf continued its charge, leaping at me once it got within striking distance. Not missing a beat, I threw myself into a slide, passing underneath the Wolf as Kyoko jumped over it. As I passed under the Wolf¡¯s belly, I took another Fire Arrow from my quiver and shoved it forcefully into its soft abdomen, causing it to meet the same fiery demise as its companion. However, although the immediate danger was gone, I did not stop moving. From my sliding position, I kicked my legs down hard and launched myself into the air, performing a backflip midair. In the brief moment where I was suspended in the air, I swapped weapons to my [Wooden Longbow] and nocked three Fire Arrows, drawing the string. My field of vision was replaced by a game-like zoom scope, allowing me to three wolves in the distance running toward us. Additionally, as long as I was midair or in the middle of any acrobatic manoeuvre, entering the zoom mode would cause me to experience time in a slowed state, extending my airtime and making it easier for me to aim. I quickly moved my reticle such that all three of the Wolves were marked. Then I activated my skill. ¡°[Tripleshot]!!!¡± Three burning arrows flew out from my bow and struck the three Wolves squarely on their heads ¨C an instant kill. As I put away the bow, time returned to normal, and I began falling from my vantage point in the sky. Kyoko quickly caught me and set me gently on the ground. ¡°Thanks, Kyoko.¡± I hurriedly checked the hem of the miko robes that Kyoko had lent me, making sure that they hadn¡¯t been dirtied during my acrobatics. Thankfully, not a stain was to be found on them. Apparently, they were blessed by a spell from Kyoko¡¯s [Purification Dance] tree of [Divine Magic] that made them unable to be dirtied. She had kindly lent me the robes since losing the [Divine Armour] from the [Valkyrie] class had left me in my underclothes. Wearing them was a nostalgic feeling. I had spent some time helping out at a local shrine in high school, so that I had something nice to put on my resume. I had worn a similar outfit back then. I was actually really popular, especially with tourists. Seeing a girl with German features in a miko outfit was relatively rare, after all. Lots of people wanted to take photos with me. There were also some creepy folks that asked me to pose in various ways for them, but let¡¯s not go into that. Needless to say, I always refused. Incidentally, the near-inhuman acrobatic manoeuvres that I had performed were, of course, not something I had done unassisted. Reaching level 10 on the [Archer] class had unlocked the [Acrobatics] skill, which allowed me to move in ways that I had previously thought impossible. Kyoko even told me that a higher-level [Advanced Acrobatics] skill existed. I wondered what kind of moves that let you pull off. Double jumping, maybe? The five Wolf kills had gotten me another level, bringing me to Level 14. Unfortunately, no new skills unlocked. That said, I suspected that new skills, if any, would be unlocked at level 15, just because my past experience with games told me that levels which multiples of five were common places to put skill upgrades, and this world so far was game-like enough that it was reasonable to assume a similar system would be in place here. I glanced at my quiver to check on my remaining ammunition. From the initial 50 Fire Arrows that I had gotten by spending 5 GP for a single roll, I had only 9 remaining. Looking at the time, I was due to get another GP from [Login Bonus] soon, but I wondered whether it would be wise to continue relying solely on the [Arrow Gacha] for arrows. If possible, I wanted to save my GP for the [Class Gacha], or the [Weapon Gacha] at least. On top of that, we had apparently hunted too much in the [Wolf King¡¯s Plains] ¨C Greater Wolves had started actively avoiding us. The frequency of their appearances were becoming few and far between. Any longer and the field would no longer be an efficient grinding spot. On the other hand, this was the only [Area] that we had brought a [Map] for. Trying to hunt in a new, unknown area without a [Map] would be too dangerous. Thus, I decided to end the grind session for the time being.Stolen story; please report. I informed Kyoko of my decision, and we began the long trek back toward Kronshire. As we journeyed, to pass the time, I inquired about Kyoko¡¯s past. It took a little time, since she insisted on drawing illustrations to go with her story, but it was cute, so I didn¡¯t mind it. It appeared that Kyoko was from a long line of mikos and priests who had served in the largest temple of the country. Even among those of her lineage, Kyoko was considered a genius beyond compare, easily picking up all the rituals and the various exorcism arts, as well as being extremely skilled at combat. Despite her young age, her accomplishments and talent had been enough to earn her the Class of [Divine Miko], a Divine Class that could only be conferred by the gods. In the history of this world, there had only been five individuals with this class, and they had all attained exceedingly high positions in the faith ¨C they were considered to be existences similar to the [Saints]. Kyoko started acting a little boastful as she went into detail about how quickly she had mastered various skills, but it was cute, so I didn¡¯t mind it. Incidentally, [Saints] were people who were chosen by the gods to be their messengers in the mortal realm, and were usually treated as demigods. There was only one [Saint] in the world at any given time, and currently the position was unoccupied. Anyway, moving on with her story, it seemed that Kyoko hadn¡¯t always been mute. An accident in a Level 8 [Purification Dance] had stripped her of her ability to speak. This was, of course, a problem for her, since [Purification Dance] magic above Level 6 tended to require a song as well as a dance, and if she was unable to speak, she would hence be unable to perform the duties required of her. She lost many things from that accident. The failed ritual took the lives of her parents. The loss of her ability to speak caused her to lose her position. She lost the joy of singing ¨C one of the things she loved most. The people in the temple who had once sought her acquaintance with fervour started to distance themselves from her. Her remaining relatives ¨C her aunts and uncles that had treated her kindly when her parents were alive ¨C used the occasion to cast Kyoko¡¯s competence into doubt, using that as the justification to deny her the position of Head Miko, a position that should have been hers by inheritance. Stripped of her voice, her position, and her friends, Kyoko decided to leave the temple and search for her own way. In the course of her travels, to ease her transition from place to place, she signed on with the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and took on requests for extra money whenever a convenient request was available. Due to her intelligence and high martial skill, she had rapidly risen through the ranks to where she was today, a respected Adventurer, the youngest B-Rank in history. However, she had never given up on returning to the temple; she had never given up on searching for her voice. She heard tell of a book, the [Sibylline Scripts], a tome that contained information on all things, past, present, and future. She saw the book as a lead ¨C if anything could tell her how to regain her voice and reverse the effects of the failed ritual, it was [Sibylline]. And she had made searching for the [Sibylline] one of her main goals. It was mere coincidence that she had run into me at Kronshire. She had, in truth, been merely passing through when she detected the strong magic emanated by this tome ¨C on Appraisal, she had confirmed that it was [Sibylline]. The rest, so to speak, was history. I¡¯ll admit that I didn¡¯t know how to respond to Kyoko¡¯s story. I hadn¡¯t expected her background to be quite so¡­ tragic. I briefly apologised for making her talk ¨C well, write ¨C about it, but she quickly shook her head and wrote out a reassurance that she was not offended. She stated that it was her own arrogance that had caused her to make a mistake in the ritual, but I saw things otherwise: it was unreasonable to have a girl that young, no matter how talented, attempt such a dangerous ritual. I could only see it as an attempt to make her fail and discredit her. Still, I decided to keep this view to myself. She had more than enough things to worry about without having to listen to my conspiracy theories. Before long, we reached the area in front of the Kronshire gates, where people were lining up to get in, much like the first time I had been here. However, as I started to step toward the gates, a red notification icon appeared in the bottom right of my field of vision, causing me to stop in my tracks. I focused on it, causing a window to appear.
New [Character Recruitment Quest] is available. Requirements: [Durandal] must be equipped.
¡­what¡¯s this? Chapter 18: [Curse] of the von Daigs I [Character Recruitment Quest]¡­ It was probably a fair assumption that it referred to a quest which would unlock a new party member for me. That said, it was my first time receiving a Quest notice of any kind through my strange HUD-like field of vision, much less a character recruitment one, so I stopped in my tracks, surprised. A new character, huh¡­ it was a welcome development ¨C more party members meant safer grinding, after all ¨C but I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what had triggered it. Was it completely random chance? Considering the condition of having [Durandal] equipped, that was highly unlikely. Kyoko, who had continued walking ahead, turned to me with a quizzical look, as if asking me whether anything was out of the ordinary. I shook my head. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing important, just¡­ hm¡­¡± Come to think of it, I had also met Kyoko because of the [Sibylline] I had drawn from the [Gacha]. Just like that time, an SSR [Gacha] weapon was a key point to a character recruitment event¡­ ¡°¡­Could it be that?¡± One of the numerous gacha games I had played, Gr*nblue Fa*tasy, had a system where you pulled weapons from the gacha, and those weapons came with characters which you could then slot into your parties. It was possible that this world worked on a similar principle. This conclusion did raise the question of why I hadn¡¯t received a similar notification for the case of Kyoko, but I also had an explanation for that: since I already had [Sibylline] at the time, there was no need to inform me; the quest organically occurred. From my deliberations, I came to 2 conclusions. First, whenever I drew an SSR weapon from the [Gacha], it was likely that I would be able to use it to activate a new [Character Recruitment Quest]. Second, any individuals that I met through this method would likely be of an equivalent power level to Kyoko when I first met her. ¡­Of course, all this raised numerous questions about free will and self-determinism, but I felt like thinking about those things would result in unnecessary headaches and unwanted depression, so I focused on happy things. ¡°¡­I hope the new person is nice.¡± Kyoko tilted her head further down, emphasising her confusion. I laughed and caught up with her, patting her head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Kyoko pouted and moved like she was trying to escape my hand. ¡­It¡¯s not very convincing when you push your head harder into my palm, you know? As we walked, I equipped [Durandal], stowing [Sibylline] away and fastening [Durandal] at my side. Losing the accelerated [Login Bonus] hurt, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make if it meant I would be able to get a new party member. Kyoko looked at me with curiosity when she saw that I had equipped a weapon I was not proficient in, but another round of headpats quickly dispelled her concerns. We entered Kronshire without incident, much to my disappointment. I had been hoping that the [Quest] would begin while we were queueing, but even though I had changed my [Class] and wore the borrowed miko outfit, the guards recognised me from the last time and waved me in, ahead of the crowd. As we headed back to the same inn where I had stayed during my first visit, we took the longest possible route with numerous detours, all in the hopes of encountering any event that might trigger the [Quest]. No luck. It seemed like it was impossible to force the [Quest] to trigger. I sighed and resigned myself to waiting patiently for the trigger event to occur organically, and entered the inn. The innkeeper greeted us with a smile, welcoming me back.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°You¡¯re in luck, lady Valkyrie. There¡¯s only one room left available for tonight, and it just so happens to be the same room that you stayed in the last time.¡± Her eyes twinkled meaningfully. I took that to mean that she had secretly kept the room available for us while claiming to her other guests to be fully booked. Since I happened to like that room¡¯s view of the central plaza, I was grateful for her willingness to turn away customers for my sake. I made a mental note to leave her a generous tip, and was just about to thank her for her consideration, when the door to the inn burst open. A tall, skinny man marched in through the open doorway. He wore expensive clothes, woven with fabrics that were clearly of high quality. His hair was kept in a frankly ridiculous-looking bowl cut, and he had a goatee that made him look like one of the conniving villains you see in period dramas. Pretty much everything about him screamed ¡°generic villain¡±. He was just¡­ not very memorable. Arguably the thing that stood out about the man was, ironically, the ordinary-looking sword clipped at his waist. It was clearly a high-quality weapon, and the sheath was ornately decorated with various patterns, but it was aesthetically tasteful and contrasted heavily with the gaudiness of the rest of his clothing. It was a curious contrast ¨C I would have expected someone like this to wear an ornamental sword inlaid with jewels or something. However, any thoughts I had about the sword vanished when I saw the woman who entered behind him. I choked in surprise, while Kyoko next to me flushed red and averted her eyes. The woman, seeing our reactions, averted her own gaze and blushed intensely. The woman was wearing a metal bunnysuit. That was literally the only way I could describe it. It seemed like it was made of the same material as ordinary plate armor, but it protected¡­ basically nothing. It was a bunnysuit like you would see in adult films, except it was made of metal, and her entire midriff, starting from just above her waist to around the halfway point of her chest, was exposed by a large window ¨C though at that size, perhaps calling it a balcony would be a more accurate description. It gave onlookers a generous glimpse of the underside of her B-cup chest, and it basically offered no protection at all since it exposed literally all of her vitals to enemy attack. The suit rode up her inner hips to her back, where it was cut so low that a part of her butt was showing. Her feet were clad in metal greaves, but they had been designed to look like high heels, which must have been extremely uncomfortable to walk around in. I was surprised ¨C and thankful ¨C to find that she had, at least, not worn a bunny-ear headband. In a word, it was an extremely distasteful outfit. The woman trailed behind the villainous-looking man, keeping her head down as she followed his steps. The man ignored me and shoved me aside, taking my place at the reception desk. ¡°I need a room for tonight. The best one you have. I hear this is the best inn in the city, and I hope I won¡¯t be disappointed.¡± The innkeeper tore her eyes off the woman and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry, sir, but we are completely booked for tonight. Perhaps you could try the Blue Lyric down the street? As much as it pains me to admit, their rooms are just as-¡° ¡°Bah. Nonsense. If you don¡¯t have a room, make room. Throw someone out.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir, but I couldn¡¯t possibly do that to my guests, our reputation would-¡° ¡°Julienne.¡± ¡°Y-Yes!¡± The man said a name. The bunnysuit girl jolted and answered, flustered. ¡°Draw your weapon.¡± The girl glanced at the innkeeper, then at the man, then back at the innkeeper. Then she looked at the man with pleading eyes. ¡°Please, Your Excellency, don¡¯t make me-¡° ¡°I said, draw your weapon, Julienne von Daig.¡± The girl winced when he spoke her full name. She glanced at the sword fastened to the man¡¯s waist ¨C the one that looked out of place ¨C and hung her head. Then she reluctantly drew the rapier clipped to her side. Hm? She kept glancing at the sword. Interesting. I focused on the sword and appraised it. ¡­Oh? An interesting development, indeed. ¡°Point it at the innkeeper.¡± The innkeeper¡¯s eyes widened. The girl bit her lip and glanced at the sword again, then did as she was instructed as tears started to gather around the corner of her eyes. The man smiled at the innkeeper. ¡°Now, are you absolutely sure that you cannot make special arrangements for me?¡± Next to me, Kyoko¡¯s eyes were burning with anger. She started to take a step forward, but I clamped my hand firmly on the shoulder. This was not the way to resolve the situation. There was no need for this to escalate into a fight. I cleared my throat to make my presence known and looked to the innkeeper. ¡°Give him my room. I can find somewhere else for tonight.¡± The innkeeper stared at me, and then nodded gratefully. Interestingly, the bunnysuit girl also bowed her head repeatedly in thanks. The man, seeing her behaviour, scowled and slapped her across the face, before glaring at me. ¡°Good that you know your place, peasant. You should feel honoured to be of service to I, Earl Klarent.¡± He dismissed me with a wave and turned to the innkeeper, holding out his hand for the keys. The girl ¨C Julienne ¨C stood beside him, holding her hand to her cheek where she had been struck. Unable to stand the sight of this man any longer, I turned my back on them and left the inn, Kyoko in toll. Once we were outside, Kyoko turned to me and crossed her arms while glaring at me, demanding an explanation. Well, I expected this, and her angry face was kind of cute, too, anyway. ¡°Just now, I appraised that sword around that man¡¯s waist.¡± Kyoko blinked, then tilted her head, then signalled for me to continue. ¡°According to my appraisal results, that sword was called [Durandal (Artificial)].¡±