I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

385 - Mercenaries of the Tower 5

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/Week Mon-fri

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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The tower relentlessly swallowed people.

This didn't mean that people were abducted en masse. Even nobles from the Empire had taken interest in the tower after realizing an entire mercenary group had vanished beyond the kingdom's borders.

On top of that, mages began flocking to the tower, their eyes gleaming at its anomalies - or as they'd put it, "long-distance spatial teleportation magic that triggers no mana reaction across continents." As a result, even mercenaries with no connection to the tower started pouring in, lured by the promise of gold.

If they found a clue, mountains of gold coins would rain down - enough to live a life of leisure forever. And if they managed to stop this wicked tower that threatened the higher-ups by uncovering its secrets, the reward promised wasn't just a lifetime of leisure, but generations of it.

A vast and bountiful estate, heaps of gold coins that needed carts to move, gems you could stuff in sacks like grain, the Goddess's blessing from the temple, and fame rivaling that of heroes. The promise of a reward that went beyond a reversal of fortune to a complete upheaval of one's life drew all the top-tier talents to the tower.

"They've really set up camp, haven't they?"

-No, it's not a metaphor, they've literally set up camp lol

-Weren't monsters supposed to stay away from the safe zone? A tent city has sprung up near it

-If people are getting abducted from the safe zone, then occupying the entire safe zone is the solution

-Were there this many high-rank adventurers on the continent? Why are there so many people

-That doesn't look like adventurers, more like knights. Nobles must've sent them lol

As a result, the safe zone near the gate was in utter chaos. The safe zone wasn't just a golden grassland with monsters lurking right at its edge - monsters wouldn't come within several hundred meters. Naturally, adventurers began establishing bases on the 51st and 52nd floors as well.

Just as they'd built palisades in the safe zone of the orc-infested forest, and mages had solidified the ground in the miasma-filled swamp.

The open field of the plains, with its clear line of sight, was actually quite advantageous as a base.

"Damn, another bust. We traveled southwest for a week and found nothing."

"Really? You're lucky then. There've been four reports of mutant ogres from the south. From what I've checked, looks like two of them are prowling around."

"Two of them? If we'd had bad luck, we might not have made it back."

That's how it went in the safe zone of the 52nd floor, packed with people. No matter how tempting the reward, it was impossible for a single party to explore the vast space completely, so information naturally got exchanged.

Two ogres spotted approaching from the south, be cautious in combat. The west was full of monsters with no safe zones or gates. Judging by the delayed return of adventurers who headed north, they were either dead or there was a gate to the 53rd floor—

As we were gathering this intel, someone quietly approached us.

"Hello there, Hero. How are you?" a voice called out.

"Uh, who are you?" I asked.

A long-haired man approached with a sly smile. His curly long hair hung messily to his shoulders, and his chin was covered in an unkempt beard. Still, he must have had that ★ birth buff, as his handsome features gave him a strangely alluring air.

He sauntered up as naturally as if he were part of our party, settling in before opening his mouth. He pulled out a mercenary badge from his chest and tossed it to Han Se-ah.

"Well, I'm just a mercenary here to make some money. And also someone who knows information that could be worth a pretty penny."

"Oh really? Information worth money..." Han Se-ah's eyes rolled at those words.

She was obviously scanning him while pretending to size him up, but the sly man showed no signs of discomfort. If anything, he spread his arms wide, as if inviting her to pat him down.

Of course, he looked like a weathered mercenary, but there was no way for him to know Han Se-ah was looking at his status window. 5★ 'Lucky One' Lukius - I guess everyone who'd made it this far was at least 5★, huh.

But what caught my eye, Han Se-ah's, and the viewers' attention wasn't the 5★ part, but the title. With "Lucky One" written so blatantly, it was hard not to be curious. After all, titles weren't something you got easily.

"Lucky One... How lucky does one have to be to earn a title like that? I'm genuinely envious of that one," Han Se-ah mused.

-Ah don't be jealous 'Butterfingers' Han Se-ah, you're plenty (un)lucky as it is

-But if he's lucky, can't we just keep him around as a good luck charm? lololol

-Is this the phenomenon of a pack mule hiring another pack mule? A pack mule hired by a pack mule hiring another pack mule...

-What is this, some kind of matryoshka doll? Feels like we're headed for a pack mule gestalt collapse lololololololol

Based on Han Se-ah's stream and other streamers' experiences, titles in Heroes Chronicle could be broadly divided into two categories: those that described the person, and those that described their job or related attributes.

It was hard to explain in words, but easy with examples.

Titles like Novice Ranger, Saint Candidate, Sword Princess, Mercenary Queen, Paladin, etc. were related to a person's job. On the other hand, titles like Ambitious, Lewd, Pious, Strict Housekeeper, etc. described the person themselves.

But titles like that were usually given only due to their most outstanding traits. Just as Han Se-ah, despite her voyeuristic tendencies, didn't get the title of Lewd Hero, while some merchant in Ertta who'd drag anyone remotely attractive to bed, regardless of gender, did.

So 'Lucky One' Lukius must have been exceptionally lucky, even compared to your average NPC.

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Raei Translations

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5★ 'Lucky One' Lukius.

Lukius, an adventurer from the Empire, had been called lucky since he was very young. The country bumpkins thought he must have received the Goddess's blessing, given how incredibly fortunate he was.

He started talking about his childhood when asked about the information he was selling, which reminded me of titles like Oversharer or LA Baseball Player Park, but anyway.

"No, skip the childhood stuff. What's the information you want to sell?" Han Se-ah interrupted.

Just as I was wondering how long this rambling would go on, Han Se-ah, used to cutting off others' chatter and maintaining her own flow as a streamer, urged him on. For the first time, that sly face showed a hint of confusion.

But it was only for a moment. Lukius swallowed the lucky incidents from his childhood down his throat and got straight to the point.

"I found something by chance in the safe zone that seems related to the tower's anomaly."

"What?" I asked.

"Well, that's after you promise me a reward... Oh my, how generous of you. Thank you very much."

More precisely, it was my emergency money pouch at my waist that did the talking. Though it was only the size of a fist, it was full of gold coins, so Lukius looked rather surprised when he received it.

He seemed taken aback that I'd hand over such a large sum without even verifying the information, but... A high-ranking mercenary should make enough that he wouldn't try to scam for just this much. Besides, the moment he ate and ran, I could brand him as a Demon King's lackey for obstructing the hero's progress.

Unaware of my sinister thoughts, Lukius, looking oddly touched, didn't even check the contents of the pouch before he started speaking. He leaned forward, whispering as if sharing a secret.

"I thought all safe zones were the same, but they're not."

"...Huh?" I responded, confused.

"See, when the mages asked for samples to study the vegetation in the safe zone, I walked around just in the safe areas and noticed something strange."

As everyone's heads instinctively bowed at this ominous information, viewers laughed about us doing some kind of skit or comic dialogue, but our group seemed to be taking it quite seriously.

After all, the tower's safe zones had been absolute spaces until now. In plains, forests, caves, swamps, and alpine regions, they'd always been responsible for adventurers' lives. So hearing that something was wrong with these safe zones sounded serious.

Seeing our expressions, Lukius guided us through the busy crowd of mercenaries and adventurers.

"Now, look here. Like this."

As he suddenly squatted down in the center of the safe zone, people's attention briefly turned to us, but they were all too busy with their own tasks to do more than glance.

Thanks to this, we were the only ones who could see Lukius's fingertips digging through the grass in the center of the clearing.

"In a real safe zone, flowers like this are hidden. Strangely, you can't pick this one by hand. I even tried using a knife to sell it to mages for a high price, but it wouldn't cut."

"Oh my, this is..." Irene gasped.

Pushing aside the wild grass tinged with gold revealed a tiny wildflower about the size of an index finger. A flower that looked like a golden bead embedded in the center of a four-leaf clover swayed gently at Lukius's gesture.

As if to prove his point, even Lukius's rough attempt to break the stem with brute force seemed like nothing more than a gentle breeze to the flower, which continued to sway softly.

Irene was the first to react to this sight. She seemed to have detected the faint divine energy emanating from the petals, rather than being surprised by the jewel-like beauty of the flower.

"If what Lukius says is true... it means there are fake safe zones, right?" she asked.

"Then perhaps, the people were summoned by fake safe zones..." I mused.

First the continent-sized Empire got an update, and now even safe zones had knockoffs? As I clicked my tongue in disbelief, Katie, with a serious face, tapped my shoulder and asked a question.

"Roland, how spread out are the adventurers who've entered the 51st and 52nd floors right now?"

"What if about half of those adventurers triggered fake safe zones?"

...Ah, fuck.

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