Weapon Gacha and Summon Gacha Hit the Jackpot, Oh My God (1)

I told her first.

"Ms. Hyunseo, your clothes."

"My clothes… Hyaaahhhh!!?"

Then Hyunseo panicked and covered her chest.

Her face flushed red.

Tears welled in her eyes, too…

'I feel terrible.'

Should I have given Baekrihyang a little more training in the safe zone before sending her off?

As a seller, I feel a bit guilty.

'Can't be helped. I'll have to spend a little more time on this.'

Grab.

I took out a sticky note and pen.

Hwang Hee-chan would be here soon, so I had to switch back to communicating in writing.

-Scratch scratch. Slap.

[Why Floor Five?]

I slapped the sticky note onto the back of her hand.

I asked why she had suddenly brought up Floor Five.

I got an answer after Hwang Hee-chan came running over.

"What happened…."

"Mister, could I borrow your outerwear!!"

"Pardon? Ah, yes."

Without knowing what was going on, Hwang Hee-chan handed over his suit jacket.

Only after putting it on did Hyunseo let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew… Sorry, mister. Baekrihyang said it was uncomfortable and suddenly took off her underwear…."

"Ahem, ahem. I see."

"Anyway, mister. What do you think about challenging Floor Five?"

Hyunseo hurriedly changed the subject.

It was a rather out-of-the-blue topic, but perhaps they had already discussed it between themselves.

Hee-chan took it naturally.

"It'll probably be too much for a while. We've run out of potions."

"If Iron Gangmin were to challenge it…."

"……."

I listened in silence too.

Judging from the circumstances, they were saying this for me to hear, so I intended to quietly absorb the information.

And after the conversation ended.

I let out an exclamation inwardly.

'So that's what the Management Bureau does….'

From what I'd heard, the state supported Awakeners who climbed the Hard Tower.

So that's why the Management Bureau kept saying, 'Don't go to the Hard Tower; if you want to go, consult with us first, then challenge it.'

If someone showed promise, they seemed to plan to lavish support on them and increase the number of high-ranking Awakeners.

"I used up all my potions climbing Floor Four…."

"……."

Along the way, I also learned why I couldn't find a single potion in the auction house no matter how hard I looked.

Since potions were practically extra lives in the Hard Tower, they bought them up as a top priority.

Apparently, they were treated as strategic assets, or something.

…So that's why there hadn't been any potions no matter how much I searched the auction house when making the Intermediate Potion.

I had just thought there were none listed.

"I hope you'll contact us too, Mr. Iron Gangmin, when you challenge Floor Five."

"You're an Awakener responsible for the nation's security, miss. If you're aiming beyond that, South Korea ought to step in and help."

While I was alone making sense of it, the conversation ended.

In short, it was, 'Get plenty of equipment support when you go to Floor Five.'

My reaction to hearing that?

'I don't need it, though?'

Of course I was going to climb the Normal Tower.

At least until Floor 49, there was no chance I'd get hurt at all.

I would tackle at least Floor 49 and the Boss Floor on Hard mode to get the First-Clear reward and power up Dohwa, though.

With my current specs, I shouldn't get hurt under ordinary circumstances.

'I should just tell them I don't need it….'

I could breeze through without it, so they should support another hardworking Awakener.

I wrote that on a sticky note.

I was about to hand it to Hwang Hee-chan, but…

-Freeze.

'No, wait?'

Just as I reached out.

I suddenly realized something.

The Management Bureau had run out of potions, but I caught the scent of an easy windfall.

'They may have run out of potions… but what about weapons and armor?'

Potions were rewards limited to the Hard Tower.

So naturally, there would be few on the market.

But weapons and armor?

They gave those out in the Normal Tower too.

Most of them would probably be Common-grade.

But to me, each one was worth 0.1 Rares.

I could just fuse them and use the results.

'Maybe I can get these for free…?'

After thinking for a moment.

I crumpled the sticky note in my hand, put it in my pocket, wrote a new one, and handed it over.

Hwang Hee-chan and Hyunseo's eyes went round.

Then could I receive weapons and armor? Common grade is fine.

"Common-grade weapons… Come to think of it, Cheonghwa has piles of them too, right?"

"The Management Bureau probably has a considerable stock as well. They'd want to accumulate plenty of materials."

The two of them continued chatting as if deliberately letting me hear.

To put it simply, they had Common-grade items in rotten abundance.

The Management Bureau had Awakeners who fused items to evolve them into higher grades, but they needed weapons from the same category to do that.

So they collected them for now.

-Glance.

"Of course, even if you fused them, Rare grade would probably be the limit…."

The way Hyunseo let her voice trail off suggested she thought it was really nothing special, but…

'This is freaking sweet.'

She didn't know.

I was drooling internally.

I was even more excited than she had been when she saw kimchi jjim in the Tower.

'I have no conditions on Fusion.'

Other Awakeners had poor fusion efficiency and a chance of failure, apparently.

But my trait was Mythic-grade.

Zero chance of failure.

If I collected ten pieces of equipment of the same grade, regardless of type, I could always evolve them to the next grade.

Sometimes, a Great Success popped up too.

Common-grade items, for someone like me?

Bring them here.

Bring me every last one you've got!

-Scratch scratch.

If the price is reasonable, I'd like to receive Common-grade weapons and armor. As many as possible.

I handed over the sticky note right away.

The response I got was one of stunned disbelief.

"Common-grade… No way?"

"That's impossible…!! Just how many traits…."

Hwang Hee-chan's expression hardened.

Hyunseo covered her mouth.

They must have guessed the moment they saw it.

I had a trait related to Fusion.

I was going to fuse the items and use them—that was what they inferred.

'Should I play dumb for now?'

I have a Stigma that consumes equipment durability.

I blamed it on a Stigma for now.

I wanted to avoid letting them identify my trait.

Even as I said it, I wondered if they'd believe it, but,

"Ah, ahh…! That would make sense. If you have a Stigma that consumes equipment…."

They believed it right away.

Well, most people only had one trait, after all.

It was more believable than an Iron Gangmin who'd cleared Floor Four of the Hard Tower having a non-combat trait.

In reality, I had thirteen Mythic-grade traits alone, but anyway.

"Common-grade equipment… We'll have to prepare as much as possible."

"I'll speak with the Management Bureau."

The two nodded without knowing a thing.

It was only three days before I would be buried in Common-grade equipment.

* * *

Getting the equipment wasn't difficult.

Cheonghwa secretly opened a warehouse.

My inventory sucked it all in.

I looked just like the pink, chubby rice-cake character from some game.

State support required revealing my identity, so instead the Management Bureau had to buy them for about ten million won apiece, but…

'Even so, it was only a few billion won.'

The one-trillion-won tab I'd run up didn't even look any smaller.

Of course, I would never spend this kind of money in cash, but that was money I had to receive in goods anyway.

I could never use it all in my lifetime, so I boldly asked them to deduct it from my tab.

The payoff was unbelievably sweet.

'A thousand weapons alone!!'

Ten would make a Rare, a hundred a Unique.

A thousand? It guaranteed a Legendary.

And if a Great Success triggered?

It would duplicate the Legendary item.

Ultra-rare items, of which there were only a handful in the entire world and which surpassed artifacts, would come pouring out.

'Serin is being discharged tomorrow, so I need to finish this before then.'

-Swish—!

I drew the curtains across the window.

I spread cardboard boxes across the living-room floor.

All that remained was an endless grind.

'Serin is being discharged tomorrow, so I'll finish this before then!'

"Trait Enhancement Swap, Fusion!"

Ding, ding. Ding.

Notifications poured out before my eyes in rapid succession.

Every so often, a golden light flashed too.

It took about three hours to turn 1,000 Common-grade weapons into 90 Rare-grade and 10 Unique-grade weapons.

-Slurp.

'I'll eat first….'

After wolfing down a cup of instant noodles, I resumed working.

This time, I fused the Rare-grade weapons into one.

If a Great Success triggered, it would become Legendary right away.

I prayed that a trait would trigger every time I made one.

Unfortunately, no golden light appeared this time.

"Bummer~."

Still, I wasn't all that disappointed.

Ten Great Successes had appeared during the 100 Rare-grade fusions, so the odds were roughly ten percent.

But I'd only fused Unique-grade items nine times.

It might not show up.

More importantly,

'I can treat it as a sacrificial offering.'

A failed attempt at duplicating a Legendary?

Even better.

Statistically, it was due to happen now.

Not a Legendary…

Something beyond it.

-Gulp.

'Two chances!'

I set down the fused weapons.

The ten Uniques that had appeared when fusing the Rares.

The nine Uniques I'd just fused.

Finally,

-Clatter.

'Thanks for everything, Moonlight Sword.'

The Moonlight Sword I'd put to good use on Floor Four whenever I ran short on mana.

It was an item I'd grown attached to, but…

I figured I could somehow manage the mana shortage with traits now.

Thanks for everything.

Bye-bye.

"Dohwa, summon."

"Whiiine…?"

"I'm going to scratch a lottery ticket now, okay? Cheer me on from the side."

"Kaeng!!"

I summoned Dohwa as a totem too.

Dohwa then leaped up and spread her front paws into a Y.

Squirrel Thunder… no, Dohwa Thunder?

Cute. I like it.

'Then shall we begin.'

"Fusion."

I assumed a prayerful pose as well.

I placed my hand over the ten Unique-grade swords.

Ding.

A clear sound rang out.

[Using the trait 'Fusion+'….]

[Crafting complete.]

[World Tree Sword (Legendary)]

A wooden sword made from a branch of the World Tree Yggdrasil.

It was not suited for cutting things,

but instead was imbued with the blessing of the Spirit King.

It could imbue the sword with an element of the desired attribute.

(Currently available attributes: light, darkness, fire, water, wind, lightning)

"……."

'A really useful one came out.'

In other words, it was this.

Swing the sword, and fire or lightning or something would shoot out.

Of course it was useful.

Traits that enabled elemental attacks were rare in themselves, and with this, I could use every type.

Normally, its performance would be enough to make me bow down and accept it, but…

'A little disappointing, though?'

…It hadn't produced a Great Success nine times in a row.

So it had to show up now.

A Mythic had to come out.

"Ugh, my luck really is something."

"Whiiine…?"

As I sighed, Dohwa started watching me anxiously.

Hmm, I had asked her to cheer me on, so being so blatantly disappointed was a bit much.

I quickly reached out.

-Grab.

"No, Dohwa, it's not your fault."

"Kaeung…."

"I'm really okay. This is super~ good too."

Well, this alone was a jackpot.

It could already do elemental attacks, and I was a man who could cut anything with the Ten Thousand Blades trait.

I could already picture the monsters getting electrocuted after being cut by that wooden sword.

So I shouldn't be greedy.

People would curse me for being spoiled rotten if they saw me like this.

'I should do the last one too.'

Swish—

I reached out while holding Dohwa.

I was going to fuse the ten Unique-grade swords, including the Moonlight Sword, as well.

A Legendary would come out anyway.

There was no harm in having two swords.

Without much expectation, I fused them.

I muttered softly…

-Freeze.

"……."

Silence for about ten seconds.

I withdrew my trembling hand.

Then I grabbed Dohwa.

"Dohwa… I knew you were the one."

"Kaeng?"

"You really are my lucky charm!!!! Damn it, I love you so much, Dohwa!!!!"

Beside me, as I rubbed my cheek against Dohwa's cheek, a brilliant golden light was pouring out.