‘Pipipi, pipipi’
“…Hnah.”
I start fumbling with my hand, and stop the alarm.
The clock reads ‘20:10’.
So I slept for about three hours.
I haven’t napped lately, but it feels surprisingly refreshing.
But once I turn the lights on, I feel like my heart almost stops.
“!?”
There’s a girl sleeping next to me on this narrow bed.
It’s Maki.
I look behind me, and there’s nothing there. So Aki isn’t here.
But why this again? I’m pretty sure she wasn’t around anyone that was drunk this time…
Anyway, I slowly get up, trying not to wake her up, and get ready.
She really is fast asleep, so I put the blanket over her.
I heard on the way back from the dungeon that Aki is so active, that she not only works as a receptionist, but also visits dungeons on her own time for fun. And apparently she uses her Appraisal ability to investigate.
But Maki does office work, and doesn’t really leave the association. And we’ve been going around the dungeon all day… Actually, it’s more that she went around collecting items for me.
I look at her sleeping face one more time before turning the lights off and leaving. And then I see Aki, who was waiting.
“Oh? You’re up?”
“…And I had a great hugging pillow in there.”
“Yes. I’m sure she’d happily do that every day.”
“…That’s not something I should say here.”
“So you do get it.”
“Sorry…”
“It’s fine if you’re aware of it. I was getting a bit worried.”
She looks solemn. I’ve been seeing more of her expressions lately.
“Aki. Give me time, I’ll say it properly.”
“Yes, I’ll wait. Let’s get ready then. It’s time to start planning.”
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Me, Aki, and Youko. Then five receptionists who are also investigators who have the Appraisal skill, and fifteen seasoned adventurers to protect them.
Twenty-three people are gathered by the entrance to the first floor, with Youko leading the way.
“Thank you for coming, everyone. An unconfirmed, new rare monster has been found in this dungeon today. I believe you watched the video, but this here is the one who found it, and the linchpin of this operation, Amachi.
You are all forbidden from leaking any details of this operation or anything that happens to the outside. He will take down the rare monster, so the dropped items will also be his. Although I trust you all, and I’m not worried about you betraying me.”
This many people got onboard with my idea? That makes me a little nervous.
“First, we are going to form teams of one investigator and three or four adventurers. Teams A through D will stand by spots near the edges of the map. Team E will stand by a slightly elevated open area in the center. Every team’s investigator has a specialized transceiver, so be ready to respond at any time.
As planned, Amachi will go near the spots marked on the map, and will try summoning a rare monster. I’m sure you all have your misgivings about today’s plan, but the director of the first headquarters gave us his permission. Sorry, but stay with us until morning.”
““Yes!!””
“Good answer. Everyone, move out!”
I start stretching, as everyone takes off running, and Aki tells me to sit down.
“What?”
“Here’s your dinner.”
“Ah… I forgot.”
“Good grief, be more careful. You can’t move on an empty stomach. Maki made this, so enjoy it!”
“Really? Can I eat now?”
“Fufu, I don’t see why not. There’s no one here to bother you.”
“Your part of the operation starts in ten minutes, so take your time.”
“Well then…”
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Maki’s meal really brings me energy. Well, she’s not home, so it’s a mixture of stuff sold here, but just the way she lined up the side dishes really changes the taste.
I have a transceiver, and I’m heading to the first point.
“A team, we’re starting the operation. Any problems in your area?”
“This is A team. No abnormalities to report.”
“Understood. Sorry, but I’m not confident I can make it spawn a hundred percent of the time. It might take some time, so wait patiently for me.”
“Understood. Awaiting signal.”
I activate the map, and see monsters lined up around here. And I see four white spots where I fought the golden worm.
We already know it spawns there, so we shouldn’t need to test it there. But the idea that they spawn in the closest place is just my rule of thumb. We can’t just accept it as fact.
Because of that, we need to really check if a rare monster will spawn there, once I give the signal.
I told Youko pretty casually, but she’s hiding the whole condition of taking down a certain number of monsters. Even if someone at the top is instructing them to stay quiet, who knows if they will. Therefore, we made it sound like I’m spawning rare monsters by defeating monsters in a special way.
Youko says she trusts them, but do I? I haven’t even told two very important people about needing to take down a hundred monsters.
Speaking of which, that’s what I’m going to do now, but…
“I’m finally alone.”
It’s the long awaited gacha time!
I activate it behind a big tree in the outer circumference of a forest just in case, and press the ten spins button.
Clank claaaaaank!
I get one green, four red, and five blue capsules.
『R Physical Strength ＋8』
『R Dexterity ＋8』
『R Constitution ＋8』
『R Agility ＋8』
『R Intelligence ＋8』
『SR Magic Power ＋18』
『SR Intelligence ＋18』
『SR Intelligence ＋20』
『SR Skill: Physical Strengthening Lv1』
『UR Skill: Hawk Eye』
＊＊＊＊＊
Name：Shouta Amachi
Agility：249 (+226)
Intelligence：214 (+193)
Luck：518
Skills：Level Gacha, Appraisal Lv3, Appraisal Obstruction Lv5, Automatic Mapping, Hawk Eye, Adamantine Armor, Physical strengthening Lv8, Super Strength II, Adamantine Strength, Swift II, Adamantine Wall, Foresight, Swordsmanship Lv1, Throw Lv2, Fire Magic Lv1, Water Magic Lv1, Magic Energy Recovery Lv1, Magic Energy Transfer
＊＊＊＊＊
“Ultra rare!? Why this out of nowhere… Wait, my Luck passed five hundred! So that was it… It’s all about Luck. Hn? All about Luck…?”
Could it be…
No, but it has to be.
I remember the rare monster’s smoke.
The difference between me and Aki and Maki. Between regular adventurers…
That has to be it.
“So we can’t see the smoke if we don’t have enough Luck…? Could it be that they won’t even spawn at all if Luck hasn’t reached a certain number?”
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