Stay-at-Home Summoner

Gacha, or rather, when playing a gacha game, there is a saying that often comes up.

“Do not break through 4 stars.”

This phrase is commonly associated with the act of “breaking through,” which means enhancing a character’s performance through duplicate pulls, typically reserved for 5-star or SSR-rated characters.

So why is it said that one should not break through 4-star characters?

Breakthrough means increased character performance, doesn’t it?

If you break through 6 times, wouldn’t a 4-star character’s performance be elevated to something around 4.3 or 4.7 stars?

Whether it significantly increases convenience or becomes a beacon of hope for free-to-play users, something about performance should improve.

“Because there are no ceilings.”

Because one might go bankrupt while pulling.

Of course, the idea of bankruptcy is usually a joke, but within the allocated budget, breaking through that character might become impossible.

There is a ceiling for 5-stars, but there is none for 4-stars.

For example—

“Uh… Ah…!”

“Ah, bro. Seriously.”

I have pulled for this character released for female-oriented users 80 times while breaking through three times, yet I haven’t managed to break through even once.

“Is my luck… good?”

Elaine is glancing at me as she scrolls through her smartphone.

It seems she thinks something about the odds is manipulated; she’s looking for related information in the game community.

“Master, it seems there are very few users who have broken through 6 times. I cannot find any even with searches.”

“It’s not that there are none; it’s just that it’s not worth posting about online.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a character with no interest; even if you break through to 6, the specs don’t increase significantly.”

I feel frustrated.

While I pulled 5 male characters three times, I haven’t seen a single 4-star cat.

Other 4-stars keep popping up, even if they’re not the pickup characters, but with only the character I want not appearing, I’m about to go mad.

“Is this what’s called a material desire sensor?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s not like the universe grants my desperate wishes; it’s just that it refuses to grant this specific one.”

“…….”

“It’s…ha. I keep spending money, but it’s not like I’m pouring water into a bottomless pit.”

A new, ten-pull.

At this point, I now hope for the 4-star effect, the purple sparkle, instead of the rainbow 5-star effect.

“Ah.”

– You and I! We are the best partners!

“Finally.”

“It’s here.”

The cat swordsman has appeared.

I couldn’t help but bring my hands together in gratitude for its arrival.

“Thank you for coming quickly even though there’s no ceiling.”

“What’s this child’s name?”

Perhaps because it’s a character that is set to join my party, Elaine shows significant interest.

“It has… two names?”

“Oh, this is the code name. The original name is vastly long based on the settings.”

I briefly closed the game menu and opened the internet to bring up the wiki.

“Here.”

“[Kiharu]?”

“Yes.”

Kiharu.

A character with a somewhat peculiar name, which is known by another special name in the game’s world.

“The main character and friends organized a special group, so they use a code name. That code name is—”

“It says ‘Mulklook’ with a strikethrough here, is that a name?”

“…No. That’s just people’s joke.”

Mulklook.

Its attribute is water.

Kiharu, since it’s a cat.

Healing is a technique called [Healing Water], which heals allies by sprinkling magical water.

There is a resurrection technique, being a turn-based RPG character, but in mobile gacha games, there aren’t many situations where resurrection is needed.

Before being suppressed by the overwhelming damage of a pickup 5-star limited dealer.

“It’s just a nickname, so you don’t need to pay much attention to it.”

“Indeed… it comes out like this. Then… hmm?”

Elaine turned her gaze to the right of the wiki page while browsing through the information.

“…….”

“Ah.”

The most recently edited document.

Just a minute ago, the document that was edited contains none other than the name ‘Elaine.’

Under the title of [Elaine (S-Rank Hunter)].

“This is….”

“Wait, don’t click on it.”

I grabbed Elaine’s hand as she tried to move the mouse toward the S-Rank Hunter section.

“I have no idea what kind of content is written there, so let me check it first and I’ll tell you.”

“Isn’t it written by people?”

“Yes, but I don’t know what content may be being written in real time.”

Just the character named Elaine raises concern, but what if it’s a page about ‘Coser Maid’?

“There’s no need to unnecessarily delve into how other S-Rank Hunters compare… Hmm. There’s no need to see who’s stronger. Surely, the document will be filled with such content at the bottom.”

“Comparisons with other S-Rank Hunters…”

“Surely, it would be a considerable shock to them to even say they conquered an S-Rank Tower they failed to conquer themselves.”

“Anyone can edit this. So they are trying to block me from seeing it.”

“It’s okay if a simple civilian makes changes out of pure intentions.”

If they are just ordinary people.

“There are also those who harbor ill will toward you, and edit it as they please. There’s no reason to see what those who make a mockery of others have so recklessly edited, right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re fine?”

“No matter how others assess me, Master’s evaluation is my priority.”

Elaine approaches me with a gentle smile.

“Does it seem like I would be hurt by seeing what indefinite masses keep editing in real time, in your eyes, Master?”

“…….”

“If you think that I might, I won’t view it at all. Not even out of curiosity.”

“…Elaine. The internet is a deeper abyss than you think.”

Having come from a medieval fantasy world, she does not know much about the sordidness happening in the realms of the internet, known as the so-called “dark web.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yes. …as long as I am with Master.”

In Elaine’s eyes, there is no tremor to be found.

The gaze fixed on me is clear and definite, with a kind of magic that effortlessly sweeps away doubt and confusion from the viewer.

…It’s not some kind of magical eye, is it?

Even if having a charm in spellbinding people is a special ability, it’s likely just the manifestation of her confidence as a perfect maid.

“Master.”

“Elaine. By any chance—”

Elaine gradually comes closer to me—

“Your hands have stopped.”

She holds the mouse with me, placing her hand over the pull for the ten consecutive pulls.

“You’ve forgotten what you were doing. What enchanted you?”

“…….”

It felt wrong to say I was enchanted by her, so I quietly skipped the pull screen.

– You and I!

– You and I!

“…Two?”

Is it because they are 4-stars?

Or is it that Elaine has good luck?

The breakthrough of the second existence, Kiharu, that we aim for full awakenings is gradually increasing one by one.

“Then while switching to the pull screen, let’s keep the documents next to us. If you notice anything, just let me know.”

“Understood.”

I adjusted the game screen so that both the game and the wiki windows could be viewed simultaneously and continued the pulls.

With Elaine next to me, pulling up the Coser Maid documents.

“…Master.”

“Yes?”

“People are currently discussing what the next cosplay target will be.”

“……?”

Why?

Elaine is Elaine—

“…Ah.”

Cosplay.

This was a part I had not thought of regarding the perspective of ‘unknown people,’ as I am her master.

“…This is interesting. Elaine. Do you have any other weapons you can handle besides a sword?”

“If I were to want to handle a weapon other than a sword… there is a weapon I would like to learn.”

Elaine searched for something other than herself in the search bar.

“I want to learn about firearms.”

“…A shooting maid?”

In regard to Elaine’s next ‘appearance,’ the page for Elaine (S-Rank Hunter) was rife with all sorts of vandalism.

– Coser Hunter!! Please let us have our game too!!

* * *

[NPia Corp. Director’s Office.]

Several people gathered in the director’s office of NPia, where the stock price is skyrocketing—indeed, the listed stock price in the KOSPI has unexpectedly hit the ceiling day after day, the company behind the Coser Maid game.

“We’ve gathered you all here today to conduct some urgent meetings regarding the selection of key characters for the next sales revenue.”

A young woman in a white suit leads the meeting.

“This is a very important issue.”

The attendees swallowed hard at the word ‘Director Lim Minjeong’ inscribed on her employee badge that hung down.

“If Coser Maid don’t cosplay characters from our company’s games, but characters from other companies’ games…”

The director flipped through the graphs on the screen.

There, a myriad of female characters filled the display, and some documents appeared to be internal development materials of the company.

“Excuse me, Director?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that leaked information circulating in the community? From a Japanese company…?”

“Precisely.”

The director snapped her fingers.

“Other companies… This matter isn’t something that can simply end as competition between companies. Do subculture mobile games only exist in Korea? Japan, China, and even the USA are making them.”

“Is there anything cosplay-worthy from the USA?”

Beep.

At that, the director moved her hand to display another screen.

“How about this?”

It showed the scene of some YouTuber pulling gacha.

The female character appearing, crossing her hands in an X shape, unleashing laser beams and swinging a whip toward the enemy made the development team leader exclaim, “Ah.”

“Of course, a maid won’t suddenly become Wonder Girl, but you never know what can happen.”

“Hmmm…”

“Thus, let me say this in advance.”

As the director turned to the next screen, a roadmap organized by team began to unfold.

“We will completely scrap the plans for next year.”

“What?!”

“First plan. [The Whole World Is Elaine].”

Click.

As the director pressed the screen, Elaine appeared on the schedule, occupying an entire month in the timeline of games stretching to the right.

“We will have an Elaine collaboration in all games.”

“But, but the settings…”

“Squeeze it out. Whether she came through a gate or simply created the character with no story, I want each team to produce and launch Elaine at the highest level possible. Is that clear?”

“……What?”

“What is it?”

“Given our own Elaine, we can deliver; what’s the second plan?”

“Selection.”

As the director pulled up the next screen, a cat was seen making a circle like a crescent moon, being affectionate.

“S-Rank Hunter, a Coser, will be allowed to pull our company character for the next cosplay.”

“Um…”

“That too, a ‘new character.’ As a female character.”

“……What’s that got to do with the cat?”

“It’s cute. It’s the kind of thing you’d want to take home and raise.”

“So….”

“We become that cat. The Coser Maid wants to pull a character from our company other than Elaine, and we’ll be releasing something that resembles that pretty cat.”

As the director spoke, the team leaders began to light up one by one.

“An epic PV, lovely illustrations, teasing the next character pickup on social media. …It’s not just about cosplaying existing characters but appealing to their liking while cosplaying new characters for release. For example….”

The director’s gaze landed on one team leader who had been quietly listening.

“You there, Fermata 8X. Let’s have your ‘true final boss’ from the storyline released ahead of time.”

“…What?”

“What’s the problem? The ‘true final boss’ in your storyline is [Goddess], right?”

“No, that’s…”

The Fermata development team leader was in a panic.

“It’s a very big spoiler, so I can’t say…”

“Are you kidding me? Our company’s stock is hitting ceilings every day. If we release a character that cosplay our characters again next time, the stock will triple, or even increase tenfold.”

“No, but…”

“When it’s not Elaine, we must choose characters that will definitely sell. Be prepared now. So that they can cosplay!”

“…That character can’t be cosplayed right now by a ‘person’…”

* * *

– You and I! We are the best partners!

“Ah, I’ve pulled everything. Now I just need to summon.”

“…….”

“What’s wrong, Elaine?”

“No. It’s fine.”

Elaine shrugged toward the beaming cat.

“Since it’s a cat, it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

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