I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

Han Se-ah and I were walking a tightrope.

A precarious balance where one slip meant falling into the abyss.

I needed to subtly convey that Roland wasn't just an NPC but human, guiding her to clear the game. If I failed this balancing act, I'd probably be trapped in the game forever, dying as an NPC reduced to data fragments.

Han Se-ah's tightrope was obviously dealing with our night together. Though it felt somewhat self-inflicted and I was responsible for preventing the reset... well, she shouldn't have peeked at night. If she hadn't been such a voyeur, maybe we'd have found another way.

"Speaking of capturing ogres, where would we keep something that big?"

"We'll have to ask the Magic Tower about that too. They'd probably make space if they think of it as storing research specimens."

"Or we could ask the stone dwarves to dig underground caves."

"True, master craftsmen like stone dwarves could probably make really sturdy chains?"

Thanks to this, even as Grace and Irene discussed ogre capture plans while giving me suggestive looks, the viewers' minds were in the gutter.

The stone dwarves in the underground kingdom below the Harpy Kingdom. A master craftsman race that could work with both regular and special enhancement stones, excavating underground with bizarre laser beams. But while such a race was about to collaborate with the Magic Tower under the hero's name, viewers were busy teasing Han Se-ah.

She'd only let out one cute "Hieek!" off-camera, but that was enough to send viewers into a frenzy.

-lol what's with that female mating call lololololololololololol

-Someone clip that quick and post it to the forum or cafe, need infinite replay

-The moment Roland got close she went "Hieek? Hyat? Hyang?" lololololololololol

-So what happened off-camera, did you get surprise kissed? Reset the day and show us again dammit, why am I the only one who didn't seen/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What surprise kiss! He just suddenly came close and grabbed my hand tight so I was startled. He was holding Mom Irene's hand tight earlier too, Teacher's too used to skinship with women, really."

-Well of course he's used to it lol With that face how could he not be familiar with women?

-Even if he sat in his room scratching his belly like the average Heroes Chronicle player, girls would hunt down his house lol

-Doesn't Teacher mention high society stuff when talking about his past? Think he mentioned it during the voyeur camera incident

-So did you like it? So did you like it? So did you like it? So did you like it? So did you like it? So did you like it? So did you like it? So did you like it? So did you like it? So did you like it?

-Mom I wanna be Han Se-ah's right hand when I grow up Mom I wanna be Han Se-ah's right hand when I grow up Mom I wanna be Han Se-ah's right hand when I grow up Mom I wanna be Han Se-ah's right hand when I grow up Mom I wanna be Han Se-ah's right hand when I grow up

These were the same people who made videos of that arrow hitting my ass. No way they'd stay quiet when Han Se-ah gave them such a clean high-pitched scream perfect for editing.

Already there were Hanki-yak remixes harassing Han Se-ah. Whether Earth-4's latest hit or an old song, Han Se-ah's "Kyaaaak" screams matched the repeating EDM beat.

Yet she kept speaking her mind despite the various taunts. Well, she was a woman with strong mental fortitude who'd endured sexual harassment during workout streams and toxic comments during gaming streams. This level of teasing over her screams probably felt like child's play.

"So, should we post capture requests at the Adventurers' Guild and commission the Magic Tower?"

"Shouldn't we talk to the Magic Tower first for cost estimates? We need somewhere to keep them after capture."

"Just discussing it today should be fine, right? We've only encountered them twice ourselves, so requests shouldn't bring in more than we can handle in a few days."

Thanks to all this teasing and suspicion, we'd returned to the Harpy Kingdom through the plains and emerged in the city via gate. Either satisfied with their teasing or losing interest at the sight of the Magic Tower, viewers finally started discussing ogres.

The topic followed Katie and Grace's points about how many ogres adventurers might capture.

Being named-level, we'd only encountered them twice during Han Se-ah's breakthrough from floors 51 to 60. Come to think of it, there weren't any mid-bosses either. Since it was organized as an army, maybe the dark mage mid-boss would appear alongside the general boss monster.

"Well, let's check the Magic Tower first. We need to hear about ogre capture methods before we can set request fees."

"Ah, Hanna's right. We do need to decide how many gold per ogre for requests."

While thinking this, Han Se-ah smiled and led everyone to the Magic Tower, having counted only donation amounts despite all the malicious comments.

※

The Magic Tower stood tall as always, seemingly unaffected by events in the Empire or tower.

Some called it an ivory tower built of knowledge, others a golden tower feeding noble vanity. But to me and the viewers with modern knowledge, seeing the Magic Tower could only bring one thought:

Super graduate school...!

"Ah, so you want to know about ogre capture requests? Mari, if you would."

"Yes, my lady."

2★ 'Ambitious' Charlotte Cavendish's face had an odd shine to it after so long. Unlike her past struggles finding research topics, she now commanded dozens of assistant mages, so her face glowed with authority.

The young lady who'd fled to the Magic Tower to avoid a political marriage now controlled dozens of mages with a nod.

At her slight chin gesture, a blue-haired maid waved her hand. The thin bracelet on her wrist must have been a magitech device, as assistant mages moved en masse at her signal. Seeing these people in robes worn like hoodies moving around with haggard faces made it seem worse than grad school.

"Capturing berserk ogres appearing from floor 51 plains... ah, here it is. Fortunately it's a lab I have connections with."

"Oh really?"

Rather hopeful words came from Charlotte's mouth. Whether from nearly monopolizing research projects thrown their way by the hero party, or expanding her influence befitting her 'Ambitious' title, she seemed to know everyone worth knowing.

The resulting negotiation barely deserved to be called one.

Perhaps due to the hero's medieval fantasy authority over a mere Magic Tower mage, Charlotte slashed prices to an almost ridiculous degree.

"Just 40 gold per head for sleeping potions, storage space, and sealing magic circles?"

Sleeping potion 5 gold, berserk ogre management 5 gold, large specimen cage rental 10 gold, sealing magic circle 20 gold. An astronomical sum that common folk couldn't dream of, but pocket change to top adventurers earning hundreds of gold per expedition.

These were giants that required either mastery of aura at the senior level, or dozens of intermediate fighters with specially made giant monster ballistas to barely hunt. Monsters that cracked the ground like bombs when stomping and crushed boulders like tofu with their fists - yet only 40 gold to safely contain them.

Targeting 10 ogres meant roughly 400 gold. Though adventurer request fees needed separate calculation, it wasn't a big burden given our party's finances.

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"Yes yes, don't worry hero. I have connections that let me offer lower prices. Plus following your plan means getting to directly observe a rare case of named monsters fighting a boss monster."

So with cheap labor from grad students' blood, sweat and tears, discounts through connections, and that distinctly mage-like "willing to pay to satisfy curiosity" attitude, the heavily reduced price was quite satisfactory.

Han Se-ah seemed satisfied too - though unfamiliar with mage labor costs, she could tell it was quite cheap compared to her usual bomb production expenses. Only Grace, Irene and the viewers trembled at the 40 gold cost, knowing the true value of gold coins.

"Um, Roland? Is 40 gold really okay? Thinking about Adventurers' Guild requests, it should be nearly 100 gold per ogre."

"That's fine. Our party has saved quite a bit, and if we think of it as investing in special enhancement stones for equipment upgrades, that amount is definitely worth spending."

"I-is that so...?"

Irene whispered while gently tugging my sleeve in her characteristic shy way.

Grace seemed to understand somewhat from watching Han Se-ah spend gold on bombs while making alchemical arrowheads, but for Irene whose biggest luxury was buying meat skewers for temple orphans with earned gold, it must have seemed an enormous sum.

To adventurers, equipment was as precious as life. Most adventurers dumped their entire savings from years of work into the Magic Tower or blacksmiths just to change equipment once - so 100 gold for a special enhancement stone was cheap.

"Hey now, calling me a penny-pinching bitch? As I've said many times during this stream, if you're salty then start with a natural 6★ golden spoon super tank."

So stop antagonizing viewers.

Who's the kid here, really?