Chapter 3: Beware the Gacha Machine

The night after I’d been bedridden recovering from the trauma inflicted by my sadistic, lolicon-leaning master, he returned from what was supposed to be a simple goblin hunt. Instead, he’d somehow slain a wyvern—a beast even veteran adventurers struggle with—and used the feat to rank up. Oh, and he also brought back my freshly minted guild card while he was at it.

I don’t get it. Why go out to hunt beginner-tier goblins and end up taking down a wyvern solo? It makes no sense. To top it off, he even managed to trigger some kind of romantic flag with the arrogant little mage girl who’d accompanied him. Damn cheats.

And just to be clear, my master isn’t some oblivious brick. He knows exactly what’s happening, and he’s ignoring it on purpose.

『I-I didn’t ask for your help or anything! B-but I do appreciate it… maybe!』

“…That’s what she said. Real-life tsundere types are such a pain.”

He laughed wryly as he said it. The sheer sadism of it made my skin crawl.

Naturally, I had to ask what he thought of me, a real-life genderbent loli elf—a truly bizarre creature if there ever was one. The moment I brought it up, he nearly pounced on me. I don’t get it. Why is a real-life tsundere a no-go, but I’m apparently fair game? If he’s into anything cute, shouldn’t she be fine too? And if he’s not, shouldn’t he be steering clear of me?

Hmm. This calls for further study. Ideally, I’d like him to find a suitable woman to latch onto while I settle comfortably into the safe and stable role of housekeeper. That’s the plan. These kinds of efforts matter. Unfortunately, he’s been quite clear that he has zero interest in human women, so my peaceful future still seems a long way off.

Thankfully, it seems he hasn’t sunk so low as to assault a sick girl in bed. That night, he only held me while we slept. That said, I barely got any rest—paralyzed by fear. If we were back in modern Japan, I could probably sue and get a solid seven-digit compensation payout. Where are all the human rights lawyers when you need them?

“What are you doing?”

Still half-asleep and trying to stay quiet, I eventually noticed my master—tracing his fingers through empty air, his gaze locked on nothing. It was eerie enough to finally push me to speak up. For a second, I seriously thought he’d gone completely off the deep end and snapped.

“Looks like ranking up as an adventurer unlocked a new feature.”

He pointed at the air as he spoke. Too bad I don’t have cheats—so I couldn’t see anything. Still, we’re from the same world and roughly the same age, so I had a pretty good guess. But from an outside perspective? Yeah, he just looked like a crazy person playing with invisible things. One of those tragic pretty boys. Pffft.

“You’ve gotten a lot more cheeky lately, Sora. It’s more fun bullying you now.”

Hmph. I will not yield to threats or violence! My will and my heart belong to me alone! No matter what tactics a sadistic bastard uses, I won’t break! …So please, I’m begging you, spare me.

“Haha. This new feature is basically a gacha.”

He explained that you can spend some kind of price and get a random item or skill. Of course. Another gambling mechanic, huh? But wait—if you can’t get rid of a bad skill, then drawing a terrible one could be disastrous. He mentioned a cost… does that mean money? Sounds like it could get pricey fast.

“Since we’ve got it, why not try it out? Apparently party members can use it too.”

“A-alright.”

Ugh… why do I want to try it so badly? Is this what they call the male psyche at work? If so, well… I guess I’m glad to see I still have some of that left. But lately, my master’s been working really hard to crush my spirit. It’s exhausting.

“This is the price.”

From the void, my master produced a medal with a glowing blue-and-white design of wings and scales. Where did that come from—oh right, cheat item box. Apparently, you get these medals very rarely when you defeat certain monsters. One medal gets you one spin, and he has five of them. He said I could use two.

As expected, master’s pretty generous. Ideally, I’d like to get a skill that lets me overturn the social order. Not in any nighttime-related way. That’s important. Really important. I’m not wishing for that kind of thing.

“Alright, let’s see if this works.”

After fiddling with what was probably a menu window, my master spoke—and with a soft poof, a golden gacha machine appeared on the bed. It even had a slot for the medal and a crank to spin.

“You go first, Sora.”

“Okay!”

Then I’ll gladly take you up on that offer. The key to victory, right in my hands! I slid in the medal and gave the crank a strong spin. With a satisfying click, a glowing orb rolled out. The moment I touched it, a semi-transparent window popped up in front of me, showing the item I’d obtained. Apparently, once something appears like this, other people can see it too.

Now then, let’s see what I got...

【Skill Acquired
“Charm” – Passive
Enhances any affectionate or friendly feelings others have toward the user.
Additionally, the user’s gestures and words will be perceived just a bit more positively by others.】

“Why!?”

On instinct, I smacked the floating window with a pillow. It went flying and ricocheted off the wall... Wait—hold on. I can touch these things!? It eventually faded away like it melted into the air, but... is that okay? Is this a bug? Is the system stable!?

“Another one that suits you perfectly, Sora.”

“I’m not happy! Not even slightly!!”

This skill is dangerous. I have a very bad feeling about it. It’s like there’s some invisible malice working against me. What is going on here!?

Still, I couldn’t help hoping that maybe the next one would be better. The mindset of a gambler heading for ruin, I know. I inserted the second medal and gave the handle a spin. Another glowing orb popped out, and a new window appeared. Gulp...

【Skill Acquired
“Angel’s Kiss / Pretty Kiss” – Passive
A kiss that restores a small amount of HP and MP to the target.
Requires physical contact but can be activated without cost.
Longer kisses enhance the effect.】

“Gyaaaaaaah!!”

I grabbed the window and smashed it against the wall. It shattered with a lovely crash! Wait, I could grab it again!? And it broke!? …Okay, setting that aside for now.

More importantly—what the hell is this skill!? This goes beyond malicious! It’s murder!! Especially coming from that smug, smiling pretty boy sitting next to me!!

“Guess it’s my turn now.”

Completely ignoring my grief, my master started spinning the gacha. I hope he pulls the worst, most useless skill imaginable. Something so terrible he suffers endlessly for it. Then I could finally rise up and overthrow him! Always strike your enemy at their weakest—basic strategy.

“…Oh?”

Another orb rolled out. It burst open in a flash, and in his hand appeared a ridiculously cool-looking longsword, decorated with blazing red flames. A window appeared next to it. Apparently, everyone could see this one too.

【Item Acquired
“Levantine” – Longsword / Rank A
A magic sword infused with the power of fire.
When filled with mana, it heats up and becomes wreathed in flames.
Its red-hot blade can cleave through massive boulders like they were butter.】

“Why is there such a massive gap between us!?”

He pulls a jackpot weapon on the first spin!? What kind of luck cheat is that!? No—this is a luck cheat! It’s all the fault of cheats! Damn you, cheat bastard! As I cursed him silently, the cheat bastard himself kept calmly spinning the gacha.

【Skill Acquired
“Gifted Swordsmanship” – Passive
Boosts natural talent with the sword and accelerates growth.
With normal effort, you’ll become first-rate. With serious effort, top-tier.】

“Uwaaahhh!!”

Why does he keep pulling such straightforwardly powerful skills!? This sadistic lolicon bastard! Is this some kind of petty jab at me!? I think I’ve earned the right to get a little angry here!

“This’ll be the last one.”

“Ughhhh... Fine! Let’s see the twist ending! A giant reversal that topples everything so far! Come on, give this perverted sadist some skill so awful it drags him into the depths of despair and ushers in my era!”

“…Perverted sadist, huh…”

As the last medal was inserted, the gacha let out another satisfying clack as a glowing orb rolled out. Let’s see… looks like another skill. I wonder what kind it is this time.

【Skill Acquired
“Virile Beast” – Passive
Greatly increases stamina and sexual vitality…】

Without sparing a single glance back, I flung the door open at full force and bolted out of the room.

W-where’s a room with a lock!?

◇◆ADVENTURE RESULT◆◇
【EXP】
MAX Combo: 12 <<new record!!
BATTLE TOTAL: 16
◆【Sora Lv.2】+16
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Sora Lv.2 [19] → Lv.3 [35] Level Up!!
【RECORD】
[MAX COMBO] >> 12
[MAX HIT] >> 16
【PARTY】
[Shuya] [Lv20] HP291/291 MP480/480 [Normal]
[Sora] [Lv1] HP2/17 MP30/30 [Normal]
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【Comment】
“I now understand the suffering of slaves who have to serve masters with those kinds of skills...”