Stay-at-Home Summoner

Full Breakthrough.

For those who mainly engage in “gacha” mobile games, this word may be somewhat familiar.

Full Breakthrough.

Full Refinement.

To put it simply, in gacha games, just pulling one character does not allow you to use all of its abilities.

When you pull again (1st Breakthrough), a special skill is granted.

And when you pull again (2nd Breakthrough), the level increases dramatically.

Is pulling a character enough to solve everything?

No.

You need to pull weapons that are optimized for the character’s abilities—only then can those abilities be unleashed.

Moreover, even if that specialized weapon grants a 24% increase in critical hit probability when pulled once, if you pull it a total of five times, it is designed to increase the critical hit probability to 48% after pulling it four more times.

This scenario of obtaining all specs is what we call a Full Breakthrough.

You need to pull character number one and proceed with six breakthroughs, and pull five of the same weapon to achieve a total of ‘Character 1 + Breakthrough 6 + Specialized Weapon 5’ pulls.

While the cost of purchasing this gacha currency varies by game company, most spend about 25,000 won to conduct 10 pulls at once.

Going too deep into discussions about ceilings and such can be somewhat convoluted, and since the 10-pull prices of the mobile games I’m running vary, roughly speaking:

-Spend 2 million won~!!

On average, the money spent on fully breaking through and refining a character is 2 million won.

Of course, you can save money by purchasing gacha tickets with in-game currencies, rewards from check-ins, or currencies obtained through story clears (such as crafting stones, soul gems, or jewels).

2 million won is when you splash cash like hitting the ground headfirst.

In fact, without luck, 2 million won can easily turn into 2.5 million or, in the worst case, even 3 million, which is the reality of gacha games.

-Spent 12 million won but no Moonlight came out-

“…Ugh.”

My head briefly hurt, but that was a somewhat exceptional case so I gathered my thoughts.

Yes, I need to gather my thoughts.

Otherwise, as the person causing this unprecedented situation, responding ineptly could lead to significant repercussions.

[This is a new record for humanity! How did you conquer the tower?!]

A reporter rushes in with a microphone.

Extending a microphone emblazoned with the emblem of the oldest broadcasting company, the reporter thrusts it somewhat excessively toward none other than “Elaine.”

Clearly, this is evidence of excitement.

Considering that the interview they are conducting right now will spread across all of South Korea, or rather all of humanity, it is natural for someone in the profession of journalism to be excited.

Such commotion is understandable by anyone.

If only the subject of that interview wasn’t my summon, Elaine!

[I merely conquered the tower as instructed by my Master.]

Elaine responds calmly.

Her accent reveals her as a genuine Korean, born and raised in this country for over 20 years.

The reporter flinches at that.

[M-Master…?]

[Yes. My Master instructed me to conquer the tower, and I dealt with all the monsters that emerged inside.]

Elaine nods toward the camera.

There’s no particular expression as if what she did was something ordinary, and the message conveyed by her gaze was clear.

A signal to me, indicating that the mission was accomplished.

If the crowd surrounding us hadn’t been there as soon as I left the tower, I might have—

“Ah.”

There’s no way to contact.

I had said that if the need arose, I could use the messenger app installed on my sub-phone and call through a Wi-Fi egg, but with so many people gathered like that, it would be difficult to sneak away.

Furthermore, if the people are this close, taking out my smartphone to contact someone could potentially reveal my identity.

‘Good judgment.’

Elaine probably knows it too.

Her alien presence.

Had she been of a vague personality or mentally disconnected, she might have gotten flustered, but Elaine is a perfect maid.

She would never do anything to put her Master in trouble.

‘I need a way to transmit a message.’

Is there no way to send a signal to Elaine to return home without anyone noticing?

A method to discreetly conceal my presence, without those outside shouting, “It’s the 23rd floor!!” while knocking on our front door, using the wind that enters through the window of this apartment.

If there’s a way to send a signal without taking out my smartphone—

“…….”

It seems telepathy won’t do the trick.

Then I have no choice but to borrow the power of another supernatural ability.

‘What if I use the system’s power?’

It might be possible.

“Status window. System. …Summon management?”

There’s no reaction no matter what I say.

In that case, I can only hope for the one being who can offer guidance in this situation.

“Alice.”

[Yes, did you call?]

“I want to summon Elaine to me. Is there a way? Like for an emergency escape.”

[…….]

Alice falls silent for a moment.

Then, with a ‘pop,’ a window suddenly appears in the computer.

“…A game?”

The game in which Elaine was summoned.

I couldn’t help but press the game button in a daze.

“……!”

And I saw it.

Elaine was not present in the character window where she should be.

And in the party selection window on the far right, there she was, arranged in a party where she should not exist.

“……This place is 2D.”

Elaine’s more familiar appearance shines on the screen.

In a waiting motion different from her usual, it was clear that she was contemplating something while silently bearing the gaze directed at her, so I turned my eyes to the TV.

‘Synchronization?’

If the Elaine in reality and the Elaine in the game are synchronized, the way to bring her out from there is—

“Remove from party.”

Pop.

Upon pressing the button, Elaine in the TV vanished.

[Ah! W-Where…?!]

[Is this a Hunter’s ability? L-Look around! We can’t stay like this!!]

The reporters who had gathered around panicked at missing the scoop, and I was no different from them.

Just in case.

Though it might not happen.

‘She wouldn’t end up getting summoned to some strange place, would she?’

Or worst-case, she would be summoned in front of that fountain.

“…….”

Again, party selection.

Nothing happens.

However, this time the newly installed app on my smartphone, the ‘Alice’ app, began to glow.

“…….”

Inside the app, a small SD pop-up window with Elaine’s face drawn, along with some special UI, appeared.

[…Update complete. From now on, all summons can be managed through this app. Would you like to input the [Summon] command?]

Alice’s somewhat stiff words were strange, but I pressed the button as guided by her.

Pah-.

Elaine appeared before me once again.

She looked little different from when she came back from conquering the dungeon, but felt somewhat unpleasant—

“…Master.”

Elaine opened her mouth with a serious expression directed toward me.

“From now on, I will physically move away, so I would appreciate it if you refrain from ‘reverse-summoning’ me.”

“Reverse-summon?”

“Yes. That….”

Elaine cast a complicated gaze at the monitor screen.

“It feels like I’m being sucked back into that place, and to be honest, I’m afraid it feels like I won’t be able to come out ever again.”

“Ah.”

I understood.

The only reason Elaine can exist in reality is that I am summoning her.

‘Pikachu?’

Isn’t it the same for the yellow electric mouse carried by the Pokémon Master from the starting village?

When inside the Monster Ball, it doesn’t feel comfortable; instead, it feels like being trapped in an abyss, wanting to be outside.

If a real existence is trapped in a two-dimensional virtual world, and the way to escape there lies in the complete choice of another person?

“I got it. I won’t call you like this again.”

“You can do that if it’s dangerous for you, Master. What I mean is, I would like you to keep me by your side as you normally do.”

“…Alright.”

It must not be a pleasant experience.

“So, if something like this happens again next time, what will you do?”

“I will physically create distance, and in the gap when no one is around, I will sneak from the roof of this building to get back in.”

“…….”

“For the time being, I’ll enter through the window—”

“Elaine.”

I calmed Elaine down.

“First, let’s choose our clothes.”

I pulled up the internet window I had opened earlier.

“Clothes?”

“Yes. Clothes. Just like people are saying….”

[…The organization will spare no effort to find the whereabouts of the ‘Cosplay Maid’ who set a new record in conquering the world’s towers….]

“We can take off the maid outfit, right?”

If people are looking for heroes, we need to disguise ourselves in everyday life.

“The clothes….”

“Master.”

Elaine tapped the air lightly, then pretended to swipe a card towards me with a smile.

“A reward for conquering the tower has come out. How about spending this money first?”

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