I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

409 - Tear-Stained Graduation Thesis 4

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/Week Mon-fri

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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Was it the final bit of luck left by Lukius the Lucky One, or was it the first sunny day for Han Se-ah, who had been running around with messed up quests all this time?

"This is a real safe zone this time. We can rest here."

"It won't suddenly change just because we stayed here, right?"

"No way. There are already several adventurers and mercenaries who've set up camps in other safe zones."

Thanks to the assistance of NPCs, from Lukius to Maelis, Han Se-ah's quest line progressed smoothly without getting tangled or stalling.

In the past, recklessly breaking through layers meant missing important clues or quests and getting stuck after moving up. But this time, they were confirming and clearing all quests and important clues while maintaining speed, making it theoretically perfect gameplay to stream.

They'd discovered fake safe zones, learned about monster army units, experimented with named-level mana stones, and were already roaming the 55th floor. With nothing missed and nothing blocked, they were progressing steadily, making viewers exclaim that it was fun to watch.

"But we're not making any money because we have to stuff mana stones into fake safe zones. Was this gimmick designed to be cleared slowly and steadily, like an army vs. army, territory-capturing concept?"

-Or maybe other factions need to join in to push through with sheer numbers lol How can one party defeat an army?

-One party can't defeat it, but one Roland can

-Enemy army unit confirmed ahead! Tactical Roland deployment!

-Aren't you just advancing too quickly? lol Looking at how things are going, you'll need Magic Tower support this time too

-Later adventurers trying to match her speed won't just split their legs, their whole bodies will be torn in half for real lol

According to the Magic Tower's research results, thankfully, purifying fake safe zones required monster mana stones. Even without rare named-level stones, stuffing in goblin, orc, and centaur stones would eventually purify them.

And there was only one reason we hadn't noticed this until now.

"By the way, shit, mana doesn't leak from stones stored in the inventory... Isn't this just designed to screw over players?

I mean, what gamer would carry mana stones in a pouch on their waist instead of using their inventory?"

-That's true lol We wouldn't have known if we didn't cash in mana stones midway

-If mana stones in the inventory disappeared, we probably would've noticed right away while eating. That would've been too easy

-The real asshole move is that the stones don't shrink as they're drained, just change color lol

-Where are those RGB-eyed bastards, come out again

-So when are we gonna do special equipment enhancement since we lost that ogre mana stone lol

It was because of Han Se-ah's inventory.

When a fake safe zone was filled to the brim with mana, like refueling, a four-leaf clover flower bloomed in the center, purifying it into a real safe zone.

And if people stayed in an unpurified zone, the mana that should be used as fuel was drained away, kidnapping humans from outside when it reached zero.

In short, it was a gauge control often seen in territory-capturing gimmicks. If you had plenty of mana stones, you'd purify it. If you were short on stones, you'd use the safe zone cautiously. If you failed to balance it, you'd get penalized with weak mid-to-low ranks clinging to the hero party as deadweight.

Other adventurers didn't notice mana leaking from stones in their pouches as they wandered around, so people weren't kidnapped. But our hero party had stuffed all the stones into Han Se-ah's inventory, so people were summoned en masse overnight.

The mages speculated that only weak humans were summoned because strong humans couldn't be killed and absorbed if kidnapped, so they forcibly kidnapped mid-to-low ranks who ambiguously carried mana. Just like how carnivorous plants can dissolve flies or caterpillars but can't be fed elephants.

"The exploration is going smoothly, and the mages' research seems to be progressing quickly. Do you think they'll find a solution by the time we finish exploring the 55th floor and return?"

"But is there even a solution? In the end, it's about putting mana-containing objects in, but adventurers won't all carry those around."

In the golden meadow of a real, not fake, safe zone, we sat comfortably on the ground, chatting casually without needing to hand over the mana stones we'd collected.

It was too early to sleep, and there was no guarantee of finding another safe zone if we forced ourselves to continue exploring, so we had no choice but to rest thoroughly. It was better than wandering around aimlessly just because we had energy left, then setting up tents and camping anxiously in places with no safe zones.

As a result, as the group prepared meals from their inventories and leaned against fluffy cotton lumps from their sleeping bags, the main topic of conversation was how to purify fake safe zones. Having to stuff in mana stones for purification basically meant having to spend money.

Even the hero party wasn't a group of enlightened Buddhas completely uninterested in money earned from killing monsters.

They discussed ways to purify with mana instead of mana stones, speculated about stabilizing magic or magic circles, and wondered if they just needed to prevent people from being summoned using installable magical devices. As they talked while dipping bread in warm soup, viewers chimed in, agreeing with "our mama" or praising the girls, turning it into a peaceful talk show.

All while we couldn't imagine what conclusion the Magic Tower would reach during our exploration.

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Raei Translations

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Fake safe zones used the mana people carried to protect them when they entered. However, if that mana ran out, the fake safe zone activated the Demon King's army's trap, randomly kidnapping people.

The way to prevent this was either not using fake safe zones or replenishing mana so it didn't run out. The best method was to pour in an overflowing amount of mana to purify the fake safe zone into a real one.

But purification required much more mana than just using it. I couldn't give exact figures since I wasn't a mage, but the mages explained it in terms of gold coins.

In short, it took only a few mana stones, about 1-2 gold coins, for people to stay half a day, but nearly fifty gold coins to completely purify.

Well, there's bound to be a huge difference between renting a motel room for a few hours, staying overnight, and buying out an entire motel room, right? To purify a fake safe zone, you'd need to stuff in at least a named-level monster from the 55th floor.

So the solution the Magic Tower came up with was very simple, crude, and effective.

"What? We have to pay 100 gold coins and buy a magical device to go up from here? This is absurd--"

"Brother, if you have complaints, let's have a little chat. If you'd just visit the temple for a moment..."

"It's absurd, yes! How can it cost only 100 gold coins to purify the Demon King's evil magic with the Goddess's blessing? What will be left if you bestow such grace?"

"Ho ho, you're a more devout brother than I expected."

If the problem was people without mana stones entering fake safe zones and getting kidnapped, why not just stop those without stones from going up at the 50th floor?

The solution the Magic Tower's mages came up with was to prevent those without mana stones from using the gate, and the knights and temple forces, fearing for their lords and innocent brothers and sisters being dragged away, raised both hands in praise of the mages' simple and clear solution.

The Magic Tower, the Temple, and the Knights.

These three terrifying armed groups, who mercenaries and adventurers could barely make eye contact with, started price-gouging and forcing sales of mana stones. The powerless adventurers and mercenaries had no choice but to buy them, albeit grudgingly.

"Ugh, shit... A hundred gold coins."

"Should we just catch some mountain goats and sell them to the harpies?"

"No, if we solve this request well, we'll end up profiting. Let's go up to the prairie."

Of course, it wasn't an unreasonable amount.

While a hundred gold coins for gate usage was enormous, most adventurers going up to the 51st floor had reached senior rank. It wasn't mid-rank mercenary bands recklessly trying to hunt ogres, but adventurers who had reached senior rank could afford that much.

With five-person parties being the norm and each party needing to buy one mana stone-embedded magical device, it amounted to a 20 gold coin entrance fee per person. And for senior adventurers, 20 gold coins could be earned by completing two or three requests.

Once they paid and went up, they'd hunt goblins, orcs, or centaurs, so unless they kept encountering fake safe zones consecutively, profits would shrink sharply but they wouldn't incur losses. It was also a way to filter out mid-rank groups that only had numbers, so things were running better than expected.

"Whew, shit. 20 gold coins for gate usage."

"Hey, lower your voice. There are knights behind us."

Returning to the 50th floor for supplies after finishing exploration of the 55th floor, I finished assessing the situation while eavesdropping on the grumbling adventurers and mercenaries. A very minor issue was that due to the sharply reduced profits, earnings were about the same whether on the 40th or 50th floor... but what could be done? They were just mercenaries and adventurers after all.

Our party was promised exemption from gate usage fees, and on top of uncovering the purification method for fake safe zones, Han Se-ah had planted a straw in Maelis, so we could get free mana stones when we left.

If you don't like it, you should rise up the ranks. This was a medieval world where the term "privileged class" existed.