I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

327 - Head Hunting 2

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: Posted in discord

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It was natural for people to flock to where the money was, following the flow of the economy. Even in RPG games, people gathered around lucrative opportunities, causing auction house prices to fluctuate. So, in the virtual reality of Heroes Chronicle, it was inevitable.

The only difference was that it wasn’t players but NPCs gathering, their eyes gleaming with desire, coming up with all sorts of methods to converge. After all, mana stones held a more immutable value than gold or oil for the kingdom’s residents.

“If so many mana stones are being released, won’t the price plummet?”

“That won’t happen. Oh, the price as a luxury item might go down.”

“Huh?”

It was natural for Han Se-ah, who was sitting at the guild’s table as Ellis requested, to murmur her mixed concerns and curiosity.

Katie firmly stated that such a thing wouldn’t happen.

She then looked at me, as if asking for a further explanation. It was almost aristocratic, this natural tendency to shift responsibility.

“Katie’s right. No matter how many mana stones come out of the tower, their price won’t drop.”

Three pairs of eyes filled with curiosity turned towards me. Unlike our noble lady educated in a prestigious family, it seemed the country-born huntress and the temple-raised future saintess shared a similar curiosity with Han Se-ah.

Mana stones were like gold, jewels, oil, and electricity. The economy wouldn’t be shaken by the supply from just one tower.

Unless some fantasy version of Kim Seon-dal[1] monopolized tens of billions worth of mana stones and manipulated the market, the price of mana stones would remain stable.

And such a fantasy Kim Seon-dal would be erased without a trace by the psychopathic mages, whose eyes turned red at the slightest provocation.

Mages were the primary users of mana stones, and the Magic Tower controlled their price almost like a cartel.

“Really? Won’t more supply make it cheaper? Like, when there’s a bumper crop, prices drop, right?”

“Mana stones are used everywhere, so a few hundred adventurers can't affect their price.”

Seeing her eyes dart around, it was clear Han Se-ah was borrowing the viewer’s analogy as she asked her question. I started explaining the kingdom’s common sense I had learned over the past ten years.

The reason I thought of mana stones as gold, jewels, oil, and electricity was simple.

Gold - stored as wealth by nobles

Jewels - used as luxury items like diamonds

Oil - used as materials for various magical tools

Electricity - used as fuel for created magical tools

It was amusingly fitting for K-fantasy, with its vague ‘everything is okay with magic!’ vibe, but what could we do?

As the game became reality, every flimsy setting had been patched up with mana stones, like how random dungeons and treasure dungeons scattered across the continent had become part of the natural environment.

“That’s why. They’re used to make the equipment from the Magic Tower we’re wearing, as catalysts in alchemy, and as fuel for the lights above our heads. Unless some territory discovers a mana stone mine that produces tons monthly, the price won’t drop.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize it was that significant…”

The three pairs of eyes widened in amazement as I listed where mana stones were used. Even nobles smeared them on their dresses for parties, so it was bound to be surprising.

I felt the same way at my first social event.

They adorned chandeliers with mana stones for beautiful lighting, lined the walls and instruments of the banquet hall with them for superior acoustics, applied them to clothes to prevent stains during the party, and even coated utensils and plates to enhance the taste of food… It was like some magical cure-all.

Of course, only the wealthy high-ranking nobles in the central regions did such things, but having once collected a few mana stones, suffering mental rather than physical agony as a novice adventurer, it felt truly disheartening.

As we chatted, the guild’s door, made of wood instead of stone but still bearing the craftsmanship of stone dwarves, burst open with a bang. Despite the loud sound, the door seemed perfectly intact.

“Hey! Is there anyone in charge here?!”

“Mr. Reynold? Isn't that a bit too rude…?”

“Don't worry! Do you know who I am?!”

Who the hell are you?

This time, the uninvited guest was… a mercenary trying to scam some country bumpkin?

A scruffy man with long, unkempt hair and a bushy beard made a racket while a large young man with an innocent look tried to stop him. The scruffy man’s armor looked poorly maintained and shabby, but the young man next to him was neat and well-equipped.

Katie suddenly stood up from the table where we had been discussing the 47th floor and chatting to help Ellis. Clearly bored, Katie decided to confront them.

She was better suited to intimidating others than I was, given her bone-chilling ice aura. I’d have to grab something and break it to be threatening, which was just annoying.

“What’s the matter?”

“Huh? Haha, do kids like you come here too? Kid, no matter how amazing the gate is, you shouldn't follow the knights here.”

To deal with such an idiot who couldn’t gauge the situation, Katie was more effective than I was. Her icy aura could intimidate even in a well-maintained underground city that was supposed to be warm.

Just like the scruffy mercenary in front of us.

He probably didn’t call her a kid to belittle her. There was no malicious intent, so he seemed more like a braggart than a scammer. Judging by the innocent person next to him, he might be a boastful man full of action and unsolicited help.

Such types were common in the adventurer or mercenary business, where people frequently died. I, too, had received much help from seniors as a novice, and after settling in this fantasy world, I had gifted various equipment to eager novices who approached me.

But dealing with Katie, a precious gem of the Grand Duke’s family, was a very different matter.

“No matter how amazing the Temple Knights are, something dangerous could happen, so argh-!”

“Mr. Reynold!”

With her spotless skin and glossy hair, anyone should have suspected her to be a noble lady, so what gave him the confidence to act like this?

He might have been skilled as a mercenary, but he was definitely clueless.

He probably thought a rich merchant’s daughter had come to watch adventurers… looking at her gear, oh.

“It’s because of Hanna.”

“Huh? Me, all of a sudden? …Ack, cold!”

-So it's your fault, lol. If the master says so, who can argue?

-As expected of our Roland, immediately spotting the party’s problem like a senior adventurer

-So when does Roland’s mana stone Economics Part 2 start?

-But do nobles really sprinkle mana stone powder on their clothes? Lol, it’s not like enchanting avatars

-Even in real life, rich people wore gold and diamond masks during the pandemic, and had gems on their foreheads. Putting them on clothes is nothing

“No, I think we were mistaken because we looked too clean. Thanks to inventory magic, we might look like rich kids who’ve never been on a long adventure.”

Adventurers without inventory had to carry food and potions, making it hard to stay clean. But Katie, who treated maintaining her weapons as a hobby, had gear so spotless it was almost ridiculous, both in durability and appearance.

Han Se-ah, finally grasping the situation after my explanation, turned her gaze forward again.

Katie, with her light blue aura wrapped around her armor instead of her sword, was glaring menacingly at the loud-mouthed mercenary. As a result, the guild lobby started filling with cold air, as if an air conditioner had been replaced with a freezer.

In the middle of an expedition, such an act would be close to a waste of mana, but scaring off a intermediate-level mercenary wouldn't take even a few minutes, just a few seconds. Even if it was an inefficient use of mana, it wouldn't matter much.

Katie wasn’t genuinely angry but rather found the situation ridiculous, intending only to scare him with the cold emanating from her aura. Thinking this, I leisurely watched the farce unfold at the guild entrance. But then something unexpected happened.

“Stop, isn't this too much?!”

“…What?”

The gentle-looking man who had been standing beside the mercenary stepped forward to shield him from the cold.

No matter how intense the cold, Katie wasn’t a monster who killed people with her aura. At most, it would feel like a chilly wind on a cold winter day or ice being rubbed on the nape of the neck, causing a stinging sensation on the skin.

But blocking it was a different story altogether.

How could a person block cold with a sword?

If you put a professional baseball player in a room full of air conditioners and fans and told him to swing his bat to drive away the cold, could he do it?

“He’s blocking it?”

“A natural 5★?”

But it turns out some talents can do that, damn.

---

[1. raei: Not sure if the guy is real but Kim Seon-dal is a famous con man (movie).]

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