Summoning the Holy Grail that had been dormant in the Revelation, she placed it on the ground and began filling it with divine stones that cluttered as Ark scattered them.
Johanna stole a glance at Ark’s face.
‘Celestia’ was a city where chosen heroes gathered.
Of course, there were people who had lived there from the beginning,
But Ark, the ‘shopkeeper,’ had appeared in the city at some point, just like the heroes.
He bought things you wondered why anyone would buy and sold things you questioned if anyone would need.
And he always wore his hood deeply over his face, never revealing it to anyone.
There were times when they joked about him while chatting with other heroes who visited the sanctuary.
Someone once said his robe must have a perception-disruption spell on it because no matter the angle, you couldn’t see his face clearly.
‘I even questioned why anyone would need such a thing.’
But now, seeing the face under that hood today, wow. Damn.
It made sense why.
Some heroes in the city were quite fond of men, and if they saw him, their eyes would turn, and they’d cling to him instantly.
And that man had eyes that sparkled with pure innocence, like those of a child, staring intently at his fingertips.
It was the complete opposite of the cold, lifeless gaze of the other-dimensional herald they had seen earlier—a face devoid of emotion.
‘Haa…..’
Thinking about it made Johanna’s chest tighten suddenly.
“Johanna? Are you okay?”
“Oh, uh, yes! Shall we start?”
It was as if Ark had perfectly sensed her being consumed by negative thoughts.
His kind and pleasant voice pierced Johanna’s ears.
If only Ark were the real herald.
Johanna was startled by the sinful thought that had crossed her mind as a saint and shook her head vigorously.
She couldn’t let worldly distractions taint the revelation.
Focus, focus.
***
For free-to-play users, gachas were a serious matter.
The act of gathering divine stones while progressing through the story and clearing stages was colloquially called ‘mining.’
When you collected all the stones in-game, it was called ‘exhausting the mine.’
The key for free-to-play players was how close they could come to completing their deck before the mine was exhausted.
And now, the first opportunity to achieve that was unfolding before their eyes.
…No, it wasn’t the first.
They had already spun the tutorial gacha before the protagonist ran off.
But it was Johanna’s first time.
“Beloved Sweetie Goddess, your lowly servant humbly offers a prayer to you…”
Johanna began muttering her prayer.
Suddenly, the sky darkened, and white flames flared up from the Grail placed on the ground.
“Oh, it’s the gacha animation.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, nothing. Ari, could you pray with me too?”
“Sure!”
She couldn’t help but mutter to herself.
She had seen this scene countless times on smartphone screens and monitor apps, but seeing it in real life was something else.
The flames crackled and sparked impressively.
As the flames grew stronger, they gradually turned a brilliant golden color.
It was a straightforward system:
If the result was a maximum of 3 stars, the flame would stay white.
If it was 4 stars, it would turn gold.
If it was 5 stars, it would become a radiant rainbow.
…Of course, since a 4-star was guaranteed in a 10-pull, gold was expected.
Still, there was a chance the flame could turn rainbow mid-pull if a 5-star appeared.
‘Tough luck.’
Well, expecting a 5-star in just 10 pulls was greedy.
Finally, a giant beam of light shot straight up from the Grail.
Shiiiiiing!
Following the trajectory of the beam, a single white shooting star fell.
A 3-star. Well, that could happen.
Then, one by one, shooting stars began to fall in sequence.
White.
White.
White.
White…
No, come on.
Not this many.
By the sixth white star, I couldn’t help but yell, “Rainbow!”
But cruelly, another white star fell.
“Raaainbooow!!”
“Rainbow~?”
Ari chimed in beside me.
Yes, let’s pray.
Let’s keep praying.
Beloved Sweetie?
Goddess, your name…
“Ah! What am I thinking? Rainbowww!!”
But no luck.
The eighth and ninth stars were also plainly white.
And finally, as if granting mercy for her blasphemous thoughts, a single golden star plopped into the flame.
“Huuh…”
While rerolling gachas, this was a sight you’d grow accustomed to, but seeing it in person was five hundred times more frustrating.
Still—
“Too bad. Johanna, you did your best.”
The accumulated stack of blasphemy penalties had to be cleared.
“Ah, um… Yes, thank you, Ark…”
Had her faith reached the saintess?
Johanna’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit once more.
Penalty cleared.
I won’t doubt you anymore.
Next time, you’ll give me a rainbow, right?
With heartfelt determination, she relaxed her twisted lips into a smile.
Johanna reached into the flame, now extinguished, and shuffled around.
She pulled out nine white papers and one golden one.
It stung a little.
“Wow, gold paper…!”
It’s guaranteed.
Saintess, must you act like such an amateur?
Accepting the papers Johanna shyly handed over, she fanned through them like counting money.
At least there was some satisfaction in the process.
[3-Star General Hero Contract x9]
[Contracts that allow you to recruit 3-star heroes gathered to resolve the anomalies in the Tower.]
That aside—
Let’s see.
Who was it?
Who made the golden sound?
[4-Star Hero ‘Setis’ Contract x1]
[A contract for Setis, a mage from the City of Flames. Her composed nature is evident in her signature.]
[※ Setis only appears on the field after clearing the Tower’s 3rd floor.]
Even for someone like Johanna, her expression stiffened at this pathetic fragment that seemed freshly forged from a fiery hell.
Like most gacha games, there were 3-stars stronger than some 5-stars and 4-stars weaker than 3-stars.
Even, I as a master of free-to-play flame decks, who frequently wrote guides that trended on forums.
I had no use for this garbage-tier hero, leaving them to gather dust in the alchemy workshop.
And to top it off, I couldn’t even recruit her immediately due to restrictions.
A total dud.
With nothing to do for now, Johanna shoved the contracts into her inventory.
“Johanna, Ari, are you tired?” she asked out of courtesy.
“A little…?”
“I’m fine!”
Ari looked a little tired but perked up instantly at the sight of the spare experience potion bottle being shaken.
It was like seeing a child thrilled with a Santa Claus gift bag.
Such excitement deserved a reward later.
***
Zone 5 was the first area where long-range attacking monsters appeared.
As they ascended higher floors, the monsters became more troublesome, targeting rear-line dealers instead of just front-line tanks.
For now, though, everything went down with a single arrow.
If it had been auto-battle like in the original game, the AI would’ve prioritized attacking melee slimes first, but—
“Ari, can you target that slime with the horn first?”
“Leave it to me!”
When given specific instructions, Ari executed them precisely.
It was healing for the pain of past frustrations when I nearly threw my phone multiple times.
“…Johanna? Why are you healing me?”
“Ah, just… for fun.”
I really was being healed.
It must have been bored.
“I’ve got a little potion left. If you drink it, even with that book, you could probably smack the slimes around. Want some?”
“Ah, nooo! I’m fine!”
She shook her head so violently it was like watching a headbanging rocker.
As expected of the saintess, she must have realized the importance of empowering the party’s main damage dealer first.
While they were chatting—
Swish!
Boom!
The impact felt satisfying.
If the original had this level of impact, it would have been a masterpiece.
[Cleared Zone 5 of Floor 1 – Verdant Earth!]
Remaining stamina: 80.
Zones 6 to 9 require 40. Zone 10 with the boss requires 20.
Should I push on to Zone 2 of Floor 2?
No, pushing too hard on the first day might lead to rebellion.
I’m not a prophet, I’m a shopkeeper.
So, let’s take it easy.
“Everyone, let’s just go to the end of Floor 1. Aren’t you curious about what kind of monster is waiting for us?”
“Ark…?”
Jingle, jingle.
“Let’s go.”
Motivation, achieved!
Past slimes of various shapes and dull colors.
Zone 8.
“The slime’s color is different!”
“Let’s see. According to the Revelation, monsters have attributes. If you attack using a counter-attribute power…”
While the tutorial saintess fulfilled her duties,
“Ari, just shoot.”
I gave a calm command.
Matching attributes deal 1.5x damage.
Against opposite attributes, it’s 0.75x damage.
But against overwhelming power?
Bang!
“Well done, Ari.”
When strength is overwhelming, compatibility means nothing.
The earth-attribute slime, weak to wind, fell in one shot of an arrow.
Jingle, jingle.
The divine stone, deliberately stored in a pocket instead of inventory, clinked pleasantly as it moved.
Before I knew it, we were at Zone 10.
“That’s really big…”
King Slime, Level 10.
The boss had appeared.
“Hey, Ark. Are you sure I can handle that alone? I’m terrible at close combat…”
Once again, courage drained from Ari’s body.
“You can do it, Ari.”
“I can do it… I can do it!”
Courage recharged.
Ari pursed her lips.
From observation, it was a kind of habit—a silly look she made when concentrating.
Standing casually with my hands behind my back, I watched Ari.
A gentle breeze swirled around her feet.
The blue energy on her arrow became more vivid.
The bow, trembling faintly, steadied.
Fire!
“Kyaaa…!”
The arrow pierced the slime’s plump belly, leaving a clean hole.
“It’s not dead?!”
“One more shot, Ari. Johanna?”
“Blessings of the stars.”
Perhaps because of the saintess’s buff, which included psychological stability, Ari quickly steadied herself before her sanity could drop.
She fired another arrow.
Screech!
A Singular Strike!
With dazzling effects bursting forth, the King Slime exploded, splattering sticky fluids everywhere.
“Oh no.”
That’s all material.
Gotta pick it up.
I moved quickly, gathering it all into my inventory.
[Cleared Zone 10 of Floor 1 – Verdant Earth!]
[You can now access Floor 2 of the Tower of Hope.]
[New Feature Unlocked: Guild House]
[New Feature Unlocked: Hero Dispatch]
A status window appeared, congratulating us a moment late, and new features unlocked with a burst.
But that wasn’t the important part.
“No way, no way…!”
My entire body trembled with excitement.
Where the King Slime lay, now gone with its “X_X” face,
a single card had dropped.
Picking it up carefully,
[King Slime Card]
[A card depicting the boss of the Verdant Earth, ‘King Slime.’ It’s adorable expression is a masterpiece.]
[Equipping it on a weapon increases the hero’s critical hit rate by 5%.]
According to user data, this was a rare loot with only a 0.5% drop rate!
Since higher floors made critical hits crucial for clearing, some poured hundreds, even thousands of stamina into farming this card.
Though my gacha luck was terrible, maybe that earlier prayer helped.
Feeling refreshed, I smiled brightly.
Today,
“Luck is on my side.”
***
“…Ark? Are you seriously going to sleep here?”
“Hmm… I’ll head back to the sanctuary. I’ll visit the shop in the morning.”
My luck was great, but the world loves irony.
The ‘Guild House,’ which should’ve been somewhat habitable after the tutorial,
was a total wreck—more like a haunted, abandoned house YouTubers would visit.
[Guild House]
[Provide recruited heroes with a comfortable home to boost their efficiency.]
-Current capacity: 1/8 heroes.
-Comfort: 0.
-Splendor: 0.
The shameless traitor Johanna, having found her own place to rest, fled swiftly.
“Ark, this… this can’t be right?”
Behind me, Ari spoke in a trembling voice.
I turned quietly and gently cupped her face.
“Ari, you’re the best. You can do it.”
“I’m the best… No, this is still too much!”
Tch.
Didn’t work.
It looked like tonight was going to be a long one.