Stay-at-Home Summoner

[At that moment, in a certain apartment in Gyeonggi-do. A young man in a small room.]

“Is it really a patch for an old character? Am I seeing this right…?”

The young man clicked his tongue while looking at the split-screen content displayed on the monitor.

On one side was a community discussing the situation in Ganghwa Island.

On the other side was a community discussing the situation in the game.

On a normal day, he wouldn’t have given the former a second glance, but the achievement of ‘conquering S-Rank Tower consecutively’ made even the young man, who had little interest in reality, curious about the tidbit from the real world.

“Wow, crazy. When a hunter cosplays and conquers, the game changes.”

The young man pressed the post button in the community and poured out his thoughts candidly.

Is it right to abandon the game company’s philosophy and patch characters?

If an old character’s skills are changed this way, does it mean only a select few are saved, while others are discarded?

Will other hunters cosplay and do this, changing and patching characters in such ways?

“Hehehe.”

So-called trolling.

Behind the mask of anonymity, the young man wrote down all his grievances.

Most of the responses were similar.

– Even if they do everything, it’s nonsense—

That’s right.

Philosophy or whatever, if my patched character’s value rises, it’s something to be welcomed with open arms.

If that allows the young man’s favorite character to benefit from it, he’s reaping the rewards thanks to the tidbits from reality.

Talk about how S-Rank Towers have now disappeared from Ganghwa Island leading to a rise in real estate prices in the metropolitan area, or how salaries for those who just drain taxes and get called for government events to take photos need to be cut—so-called ‘real-world stuff’ started to catch his attention.

“Hmm.”

But does that mean the world is changing?

Towers will continue to sprout everywhere.

In the world of awakened beings, non-awakened ones are merely sidekicks.

In a situation where the number of ‘frustrated individuals’ quitting their jobs due to deprivation has been increasing since the awakening of a million, the young man is just one among such frustrations.

“The conquest of an S-Rank Tower doesn’t benefit me…”

Will it truly have direct benefits? I don’t know.

Although they say the world is drawing closer to peace, the only ones who might see an increase in wealth are those who bought land or houses near Ganghwa Island.

For the young man, who only has a rented home and the latest smartphone and game accounts, the colossal issue that an S-Rank Tower has been conquered in reality is just a passing story—

“…Hmm?”

After refreshing the community, suddenly posts with short titles like ‘Wow,’ ‘Crazy,’ and ‘Amazing’ started pouring in.

“What is it?”

After refreshing a few times, the young man checked the post that received the most recommendations from people.

“!!”

A short notice posted by the head of the developers.

“Are they giving out 30 draws to celebrate the conquest of the S-Rank Tower? Have these guys gone mad?”

They’re crazy.

This is truly insane.

“Heh, hehehe…!”

For a ‘light user’ who only spends 5,900 won a month and can draw once a day, receiving such sudden benefits felt significant.

“This might fill my wallet, haha.”

For a young man who merely lived watching the game, the issues in reality have suddenly become beneficial to his wallet.

“…Coser maid.”

The young man cautiously put his hands together.

Although he doesn’t have a religion, he couldn’t help but direct his faith and joy towards the woman who conquered the S-Rank Tower.

“No, the Great Rain.”

He doesn’t know the name.

He knows she has American citizenship, but suspicions arise that she might be a Korean who hastily acquired American citizenship.

All that is known is that she was bold enough to wear a cosplay maid outfit in front of the President of the United States.

And that she is a powerful S-Rank hunter as strong as her determination and individuality.

Thanks to that, the young man now had 30 draws.

“…Perhaps.”

Human greed knows no bounds.

“Will they give out 30 draws again next time if she cosplays as Elaine and conquers the S-Rank Tower?”

Swallow.

Is this just my selfish thought?

Perhaps not.

In the community, like the young man, someone anonymously posted a joking remark saying, “Let all S-Rankers just back off and let the new Rain conquer.”

“……Two means 60 draws.”

The young man’s hand trembled as he held the mouse, and the moment he clicked on the newly recommended post in the community.

“Wow.”

He opened his mouth as he saw Elaine looking up towards the sky in a gray photo.

“The Great Rain.”

* * *

Thirty draws have arrived.

The game company distributed drawing currency under the guise of Elaine’s conquest of the S-Rank Tower.

Now he has reached the stage where he is no longer concerned about money, but 30 draws effectively meant they distributed the maximum amount they could give.

‘Human greed is truly terrifying.’

In the past, he might have worried about the company’s finances due to the sheer amount of money distributed like this.

Normally, when a game gives away a massive amount of drawing currency, it’s a celebration for a service-ending event, where they say, ‘Enjoy pulling characters before the game ends.’

Of course, 30 draws aren’t that extreme.

But it’s not pleasant to receive that much because a service is ending.

So if he thought purely to congratulate on receiving 30 draws, this currency should be preserved for the game.

“Elaine. I’m not going to use this to pull for a new character; I’m going to use it for your artifact stamina.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m planning to take my time thinking about the third summon.”

Elaine suggested summoning someone she knows from her world.

“I understand what you mean. You don’t want to see a case like this among various characters.”

“How rude to say I should do such a thing.”

“Yes, the next 4-star release. Therefore, a goddess trapped in a cat’s body who is a terrible character.”

“Kiyashaa!!”

Though she spoke harshly under the influence of alcohol, Kiharu only hissed at me without scratching or attacking.

So far, this is WWE.

But if it goes deeper than this, it turns into UFC.

Elaine is the same.

“Elaine. No matter how much I originally planned to pull for the next limited pickup character, who, according to stories in the test server, is a historically powerful healer and a new true human being, and has a 5-star limited character that’s beautiful, kind, and seems to have some hidden background, and all those merits seem plenty—”

I lifted Kiharu.

“But we have Kiharu. Isn’t Kiharu enough as a healer?”

“Thinking about it, the one to be mad at seems to be this side.”

I grabbed Kiharu’s body and pushed her forward, and Kiharu threw a cat punch towards Elaine, growling.

“Just because this body is currently in a cat body doesn’t mean you can look down on me! Once I gain my true powers, I could be a destroyer of the world as a judgment of humanity!”

“Isn’t the idea to bring in someone you ‘know’ to control those variables as much as possible?”

Thinking about it, Elaine’s suggestion isn’t entirely bad.

“In-game performance is the total amount of power we can exert in this world. If we are to fit the standard of S-Rank hunters as deemed by the people of this world, then at least the most recently released characters should be considered. And I happen to have such a person.”

“Who is that?”

“They are kind and diligent. To borrow the expression used in our Master’s game, they belong to the ‘true spouse’ category.”

“True spouse category…”

Hmm.

“Absolutely not.”

“May I ask why?”

“Too much pressure.”

Honestly, that’s true.

“The feelings illustrated by a true spouse character are based on the narratives formed within the game.”

Yandere is a bit.

“And I can’t help but think about this….”

I pointed at the computer.

“I would want the third to be someone with abilities rather than fighting.”

“Are you saying an internet expert?”

“Then how about this?”

Kiharu broke free from me and pretended to rub something.

“Someone who doesn’t have dangerous thoughts from humanity’s perspective, who can blend into the Earth’s environment decently, and can support partners rather than directly aiding in combat.”

“Such a being…”

“If you look for one, there should be at least one, right? Someone who lives in the shadows and understands humanity’s dark side, someone who can handle it on their own and is an expert in electronic warfare.”

“…….”

“If you have thoughts, you should take a look.”

Kiharu pointed at the computer.

“If we summon that friend, the code name could be [The Eraser].”

“Kiharu. I don’t have such a person. Are they from your world?”

“No. The friend from our side isn’t time-limited, and…”

Kiharu glanced at me.

“What is it? I don’t mind if it’s a spoiler. Just say it.”

“They’re male.”

“…….”

“They’re a psychotic person who lives believing they’re female. Healing them from that insanity while they discover their gender identity will likely make them develop as a protagonist’s sidekick.”

“…….”

“Of course, if this partner decides to summon based on their ‘performance,’ that’s fine too. I appreciate a partner who can care for such beings.”

“Thanks.”

In-game performance versus actual performance.

Is there a need to pull a being that satisfies both?

“…Not everyone needs to be an S-Rank hunter.”

We’re not just crazily focused on combat alone anyway.

“If we need a fighter, we can recruit a new combatant then. For now, Elaine is enough, so if we summon, it should be someone with an advantage that isn’t about combat. For example… right.”

While the actual performance might not fit, the narrative performance could be a genius hacker who made waves in the era.

“It would be nice if we can preemptively block those trying to extract information about us. At the same time, avoiding regulatory proposals, and just erasing the things that inconvenience us.”

In any creative work.

“…If you have someone with the ability to back up your servers.”

In a world set after modern times, especially one set in a futuristic background, hackers are an absolute necessity.

“Sorting people out is the issue, but isn’t the endless cycle of leveling the bigger problem?”

I have a black card.

“Surely there’s at least one person with human rights among the hackers.”

There’s a surplus of gacha games in the world.

---