Chapter 173


Ellie’s artificial arm has been fixed, and I’ve received the answer that once I wrap up what I’m doing, I’ll join them. Now there’s only one thing left.

Gacha, damn it…

“The boss has completely lost it because he hasn’t seen Jonah.”

“I saw him practicing what he would say if Jonah came by while standing in front of the mirror today. I almost died from teasing him…”

  

“Right, right. That’s your fault, Apple.”

Lemon is being dramatic, and I shrugged toward Apple, who has a bump on her head.

Lydia and Benny also congratulated Ellie on her new arm and were about to happily do some gacha when those two rushed over to find me.

“How could you be so heartless! How could you do that to Apple!”

“Right! The boss doesn’t matter, but there’s a bump on my cute head! You better empathize and sympathize with me!”

Apple said as she pushed her head forward. I pressed down on the protruding bump.

“Ugh.”

“Gaah!”

Apple shrieked and collapsed. Lemon, holding her fallen body (just kidding) cried out.

“Apple!!! You can’t die! Unlike me who squandered all my money on horse racing, you’re supposed to give me the guild savings you saved up…!”

“…No, you crazy Lemon! That money was for gear we agreed to buy when we get to the Second Floor!”

Ah, Apple has resurrected.

“I didn’t do anything wrong! I just wanted to get better gear since we’re buying gear!”

“You silly Lemon! Don’t you know that the gear we were planning to buy is practically half price thanks to the boss and Jonah? Cradle Association cut us a lot of slack on that…”

From what I gathered, as usual, Lemon causes a ruckus, and Apple cries while cleaning it up.

“Wait. You guys are heading to the Second Floor now?”

“Ah, yes. Last time, seeing Jonah fighting at the Cradle Association gave me a bit of a motivation boost.”

“What are you going to do on the Second Floor! Lemon’s gear is so bad that you can’t even catch a Kobold!”

“Hmm. Equipment just gets upgraded as you keep pushing forward, right…?”

It was said only half-jokingly, but Lemon and Apple began to foam at the mouth in protest.

“That’s because Jonah is special! Typically, you change your weapon at least once per floor, sometimes even multiple times on the same floor!”

“Only someone like a giant clan heir or a well-off noble uses top-tier gear made from the highest-grade unicorn horns starting from the First Floor!”

“What, am I just supposed to use weapons? There’s armor and little tools, you know. I even made a sub-weapon recently.”

“That armor and sub-weapon was made from the entire Guardian of the Second Floor! Just the cost of materials alone would be more than we’ve earned so far!”

“If you pull that kind of trick one more time, I’ll do a handstand and shower you with lemonades!”

“Why are you picking on me here…?”

“Then stop wasting money and start earning it back.”

Oh dear. The thought of Lemon doing a handstand to spray lemonade is too terrifying that it makes me want to brag one more time without realizing it.

…Of course, if I did, Lemon and Apple would probably collapse from high blood pressure. So I’ll stop right here.

Honestly, I know it too. I’ve benefited a lot from the gear thanks to gacha.

The Minotaur Greatsword and the leather armor made from its bones and skin were not obtained from gacha… but without the skills and equipment drawn from gacha, it would have been nearly impossible to take it down by myself.

There are also items like the Transparent Cloak and the Haste Boots, which Lydia would absolutely covet, even if Lemon and Apple don’t seem to realize it.

Yeah. The benefits from equipment are definitely significant.

The Third Floor isn’t a low-level floor, but even so, compared to other adventurers at the same floor, my gear is overwhelmingly better.

Of course, I can’t stick with my current equipment forever. There will come a time when I’ll need to completely overhaul my gear.

Even if the monsters on the Third Floor are particularly resistant to physical attacks, I can hardly utilize the Unicorn Dagger.

The Fourth Floor is mainly filled with Undead, so I should find plenty of opportunities to showcase purification effects… but starting from the Fifth Floor, even moderately tough monsters will barely take any damage.

The same goes for the Minotaur Greatsword. It’s made from the horn of the Guardian and is a powerful greatsword, and it synergizes well with the Mountain Seed Blessing I possess… but…

Wouldn’t the Fifth Floor be my limit? No, it won’t even match with weapon types there.

The Fifth Floor is the resting place of the Thief God. It may not sound impressive at first glance, but in reality, it possesses significant power.

It’s because it tends to hide so well and is quick to escape, managing to survive until the end of fights.

Perhaps due to that deity’s influence, the entire Fifth Floor is filled with monsters specialized in stealth and speed, making it hard to fight with a dull weapon like a greatsword.

In the end, it means I’ll need to change my entire weapon set when I head to the Fifth Floor.

“Let’s see…”

The Unicorn Horn is rank 3, so if I get a rank 4 material or weapon, it should last me until the Sixth Floor.

As for the Seventh Floor, who knows? The labyrinth’s difficulty increases exponentially with each descent.

Anyway, is it the gacha that holds the answer yet again? Given that I’ve received a huge sum of money this time, I should splurge it all without keeping a dime.

As I was nodding to myself, suddenly, I thought of Lemon’s forlorn face after he blew all his savings on horse racing.

…I better hurry up and get out of here before he starts cheating.

I pushed Lemon and Apple away as they bickered and spoke.

“Hold up. Eve wants to see me, right? Got it. I’ll show my face soon, so you should start heading back.”

“Ah, are we making a promise? I’ll let the boss know!”

“Silly Lemon. It’s much more exciting to not say things like this. …By the way, why are you trying to rush me out?”

“I suddenly remembered I have something to do.”

“Is that really it? Are you just trying to kick us out because we’re annoying?”

“Honestly, there’s a reason I’m saying this. What could be so important that you’re in a hurry?”

“Oh come on. You keep bugging me? I’m going to have some happy time from now on, so don’t be stupid and scram!”

“Ah! Happy time, is it that? Can I check if it’s real or not?”

“Shh. You better not think about peeking if you don’t want to get knocked out by that hero!”

Apple sneaked a glance at Ellie, then dragged Lemon away hurriedly.

Meanwhile, Ellie pretended to mind her own business, glancing over here coquettishly…

Well, it’s Ellie after all. She wouldn’t have the courage to truly peek. Besides, we’re still in business hours.

I waved casually toward Ellie, who seemed oblivious, and headed up to my room on the Second Floor.

I carefully locked the door and took out the Goddess statue.

“Just as I thought.”

Perhaps because I exerted a lot of power this time, I couldn’t feel the influence of the Goddess of Love from the current statue.

It hardly served the purpose of illumination or as a totem, but rather had become a mere ornament. I suppose the connection with the goddess has also been severed by now.

No, I mean, since I’ve been hugging it to sleep for a while, it probably doesn’t have the strength to move. The connection might still exist.

Either way, it doesn’t matter. I was planning to store it in the display case to avoid being swept up in gacha results.

After carefully placing the Goddess statue inside the display case, I switched on the lights to stave off boredom, then opened the gacha system.

Ding!

SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1WDloV0h4SDFlV0lCbCsxZXJjVlRQam5UTmxCSlVRcm10Mkh2a2tXb3R5dw

[Normal Draw]

– Spend cash or corresponding magic stones to obtain items and skills randomly between ranks 1 and 5.

[Single Draw] [10+1 Draw]

[Pickup Draw]

– Spend cash or corresponding magic stones to obtain items and skills randomly between ranks 1 and 5.

– Pickup targets: [4-star Skill: Meyna’s Swordsmanship], [5-star: Magic Sword – Fangs of Gluttony].

– Remaining period: 22 days, 12 hours, 48 minutes.

[Single Draw] [10+1 Draw]

“What? Is this pickup all about swordsmanship?”

I don’t know who Meyna is, but given that name attached to a 4-star skill, she must be quite skilled.

As for the Magic Sword named Fangs of Gluttony, I don’t know what kind of sword it is either… but it’s highly likely made by the God of Gluttony.

The Pan Continent was once a battleground for the gods, so most of the top-tier 5-star items are related to deities.

Be it items created by the gods, items that defeated gods, or even items used to kill gods…

In that sense, if a magic sword has such a name as Fangs of Gluttony, it’s very likely that it might be a sword made from the god’s own teeth.

As expected in a fantasy setting, swords are a very versatile and common weapon among many.

However, ordinary swordsmanship doesn’t quite fit my style.

For that reason, I hesitated in front of the gacha interface this time, but ultimately reached for the pickup gacha.

“If a 5-star sword pops up, I can use it all the way to the last floor, and since my current weapons are a dagger and a greatsword, getting a swordsmanship skill should give me some synergy.”

Given that it just says swordsmanship, it’s likely a long sword skill, but anyway, it’s about swinging and stabbing with a blade.

I’ll probably pick up some techniques applicable to both the dagger and greatsword.

And what’s even more enticing is how my physical abilities might change when I acquire the swordsmanship skill.

Up until now, most of the skills I’ve obtained have focused on mana or aura manipulation.

It’s only natural to expect how much my physical specs would rise when I finally gain a properly moving combat skill.

Well, I’ve got 150 gold, so while I might not expect a 5-star, getting at least a 4-star should be achievable.

…Though the thought lingers that with that money, I could buy a dagger to use in the Fifth Floor.

I brushed aside those thoughts, holding the pouch of gold coins in one hand, and began smashing the gacha button.

  

“I wonder if the magic swordsman Jonah will pop up…!”

With my desperate voice, the room filled with an assortment of junk.

After putting in my last gold coins, not long after, a result list appeared.

Ding!

“No, but damn, is this for real?”

Get the manager out here!!!