I Level Up With In-app Purchases

I Level Up With In-app Purchases – 51

EP.51 The Frontlines with Grim Rumors (4)

How many times would I have to roll a 10-pull gacha to get an SSR?

In truth, this was influenced by the stat known as luck, which was difficult to quantify, making it hard to calculate an average.

Moreover, imagine if an SSR character appeared as a duplicate.

While duplicate characters could be strengthened up to 5 stars, it was uncertain if this function would carry over into reality.

‘Just like how character summoning was unlocked when I entered the academy, I’ll find out if duplicates appear.’

How well the game system had been adapted to reality remained to be seen.

Or perhaps, like unique equipment, once one appeared, it wouldn’t be summoned again.

Since I couldn’t predict which method my ability would adopt, I decided to wait until the day came when I could see the results.

“It’s here. Damn, why is this here already! This is supposed to be obtained through mileage; this is crossing the line.”

I couldn’t decide whether to be happy or not that the day to see the results had come sooner than expected.

“Sigh.”

Today, I used the remaining guaranteed SSR character summon ticket.

It was so anticlimactic that it felt like a waste of mileage—‘Shine’ appeared as a duplicate.

While it was true that I cherished Shine, who had grown admirably, I couldn’t extend that affection to duplicates.

[A Complete Orb Containing Shine’s Soul]

“Should I see it as a new feature?”

There was no need to be entirely disheartened.

My ability had not yet been fully explored.

It wasn’t strange for new features to appear.

And sure enough, something new that I had never seen before was now in my hands.

“A Complete Orb Containing Shine’s Soul.”

Usually, when you summon an SSR, there are all sorts of flashy effects, and then the character appears. This time, however, I got an item called ‘A Complete Orb Containing Shine’s Soul.’

In other words, if I used this orb well, I might be able to further enhance Shine’s abilities.

Of course, it did cross my mind whether I was investing too much in Shine, who was a Tier 2 character….

‘What can I do about it now that it’s already here?’

It’s not like I could use it for something else.

Since it had appeared, I had to use it.

I held the ‘Complete Orb Containing Shine’s Soul’ in my hand and twirled it around.

The red orb wasn’t just hard; it was moist and soft, making it pleasant to touch.

Should I show this to Shine?

Since there wasn’t a separate enhancement window like in the game, I thought I’d have to take it to Shine to see any changes.

‘I can’t just go to her while she’s in class, so I’ll have to keep this for now.’

I decided to store it in my inventory without putting it anywhere else.

After all, the name was quite significant.

The phrase ‘Containing Shine’s Soul’ was not something to be taken lightly.

I didn’t want to manage it carelessly and end up causing problems.

“Still, what do I do about the duplicate? This is becoming troublesome.”

I had thought this was the perfect moment to summon a new SSR character, which made this situation quite frustrating.

The only silver lining was that on the day I introduced Fran, Shine had given me monster byproducts as a reward for helping her.

If I sold those, along with the monster fangs she had hunted herself, I would have enough capital to roll the gacha again.

However….

‘Is this the start of serious gacha now?’

I began to worry about how much money I would need to spend to get an SSR.

It would feel very different from when I was summoning unique equipment.

Determined, I sold everything that could fetch a good price at the shop.

“Sell.”

Chime

[880,000 won]

“Sell.”

Chime

[450,000 won]

I sold everything Shine had gifted me without hesitation.

A total of 1,330,000 won.

It was encouraging to have surpassed one million won, but it was still uncertain how many SSRs this would yield.

‘Is reaching two million impossible?’

It felt stingy.

Even though the fangs were valuable, it was petty to price the monster byproducts Shine had received from her family at only 880,000 won.

How could they be worth only 880,000 won?

I was very dissatisfied with the price, but there was no one to complain to.

Even if I argued that the price was too low, would my ability listen?

It was a tough business.

The more frustrating part was that, as the ‘subordinate,’ I couldn’t rebel.

“How many rolls can I do with 1,330,000 won?”

Each roll typically cost 30,000 won.

I wouldn’t even be able to do 50 rolls.

“Could this place be considered a lucky spot?”

The place where Shine appeared as a duplicate.

In fact, the initial start here wasn’t bad.

Wasn’t this the place where Rebecca was summoned?

But the second one was a duplicate.

A duplicate summon was the worst possible outcome in my current situation.

“Have I already used up all my luck?”

This waterfall had already become a famous spot among students and the general public.

While it was less crowded at dawn, the frequent visits by people might have influenced this place.

“No, let’s give it one more try!”

Just as I was thinking it might be best to give up on this spot, I suddenly changed my mind.

It wasn’t good to seek a lucky spot with such a weak heart.

I needed to be steadfast.

I had to trust and follow my own decision.

What if I ended up squandering my fortune in a place worse than this while searching for another spot?

It was a time to be cautious.

“I’ll trust it one more time.”

Resolutely.

To receive the waterfall’s blessing, I reached out my hand nearby.

Gush, gush, gush, gush, gush!

As I watched the powerful stream of water crashing down, I opened the character summon window.

With my soaking wet hand, I firmly pressed the summon button.

[R R R R R R R R R R]

…It was summer.

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***

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The newly summoned R-grade characters found their places and moved on their own.

The area around the waterfall became filled with newly summoned characters, then emptied, only to be filled again with another batch of summoned characters, repeating the cycle.

And after a certain amount of summoning…

[Duplicate, Duplicate, Duplicate, Duplicate, Duplicate, Duplicate, SR, Duplicate, Duplicate, Duplicate]

Amidst mostly duplicates, an SR started to appear occasionally.

The R-grade characters that came out as duplicates turned into [Complete Orbs Containing ***’s Soul] and were stored in the inventory.

I looked at the hundreds of souls piling up in the inventory with a heavy heart.

By the time I reached the 25th pull, I had a gut feeling that it was time for something to appear.

“It’s here!”

Shoooooooong!

Flash! Flash! Flash!

The dazzling effects, distinctly different from the start, snapped me out of my summoning monotony.

“Ooooooh!”

Amidst the lightning striking all around, the glimpses of green leaves caught my eye.

“Leaves mean…!”

Could it really be?

Whoooooosh!

Crash!

Finally, the light struck the ground, forming a glowing mass that soon began to transform into a person.

As the light particles dispersed into the sky, revealing the figure, I clenched my fist in excitement.

“Green!”

A small stature with large black eyes that seemed to take up half the face.

And the dazzling, shiny ebony hair that looked like it emitted light on its own.

As expected.

“Ariane. It’s you, after all.”

Sometimes, even if you fail, persistently pushing forward is the right answer.

Ariane, who appeared before me, looked bewildered.

“Huh?”

Ariane looked puzzled, wondering why she was in such a place.

As usual, the characters I summoned exhibited similar behaviors before disappearing somewhere.

I considered their actions as a form of ‘downloading.’

By summoning them, I was downloading their existence into this world.

The confusion would only last for a moment.

Soon, Ariane would start moving to return to her original place.

“Uh? Why am I here?”

Standing at just 153 cm, she gave off more of a girl-next-door vibe than that of a young lady, even though she was 19 years old and would be enlisting in the military next year.

Moreover, Ariane was a Tier 1 assassin character.

If Fran was a must-have healer, Ariane was the Tier 1 character known as the hope of free-to-play players.

Her scenario wasn’t difficult, and even if her stats weren’t great, she had high damage potential.

That’s why she earned the nickname ‘hope of free-to-play players,’ but that didn’t mean she wasn’t valuable to paying players.

‘Her absolutely broken skill, Execution, is appealing even to paying users.’

It was a powerful attack that always landed as a critical hit.

Ariane also had a skill that could poison enemies, and when this poison stacked up to five layers, using the Execution skill could deal enormous damage.

It was almost like an ultimate skill.

‘And then there’s her stealth.’

There was a time when the evasion deck was quite popular. Instead of raising defense to reduce damage taken, raising evasion for a chance to completely avoid damage was considered more efficient.

‘I benefited a lot from that.’

No matter how high the defense was, a powerful critical attack could still deal significant damage. However, if you were lucky enough to trigger evasion, the damage would be zero, which made the evasion deck highly sought after.

The developers must have thought it was too overpowered, so they nerfed it several times.

And the skill that boosted evasion the most was stealth.

After using a powerful skill like Execution, aggro would shift, causing all the monsters to target Ariane. Using the stealth skill at that moment would remove the aggro and increase her evasion rate.

‘I wonder how evasion will be treated here.’

Even though several patches had nerfed it, evasion remained a beloved stat among users.

‘And lastly, the poison stacks.’

The damage dealt when the poison stacked up to five layers was enormous.

I could confidently say that there was no character as effective as Ariane when it came to hunting bosses.

Especially since Ariane was an excellent main dealer, I was even more pleased.

Of course, Rebecca, the fusion dealer, also performed well, but compared to Ariane with her exceptional skill Execution, Rebecca lacked impact.

“Shine was Tier 2, Rebecca was Tier 1.5, Fran was Tier 1, and now Ariane is also Tier 1.”

It seemed my luck with SSR summons wasn’t as bad as I thought.

Not all SSR characters were Tier 1, but I had managed to summon some of the best.

“Should I try summoning one more?”

Ending it with just one SSR while luck was on my side felt like a waste.

The thought of ‘one more time?’ clouded my mind, and soon enough, I couldn’t resist the temptation and started summoning again.

Unfortunately, the result was… a complete failure.

Author’s Note (Author’s Afterword)

Ariane

Age: 19

Height: 153 cm

Flat chest