Ch.139[Episode 139] Restoration

In the wastelands on the outskirts of Gacha Land.

“The Imagine Builder event is coming up soon.”

“Huh? Don’t you have Imagine Builder? Oh, right. You said you couldn’t exchange for it because you were short 2 points.”

A boy and girl sat side by side on a rocking chair in front of a wasteland garage, eating ice cream.

The purple-haired boy spoke politely to the black-haired girl wearing glasses.

“By the way, you changed your avatar after a long time? Well, I guess a human-like boy is better than a purple monster.”

“What are you saying? I didn’t want to change my avatar either.”

The purple-haired boy sighed deeply.

This boy was none other than the Governor.

He was the pioneer of this wasteland.

“But why did you change your appearance? You said you’d live with your old customization forever.”

“My deputy found out how much I spent trying to get Sir Dominic.”

“Ah,” the girl sighed, looking closely at the boy.

For some reason, she noticed the boy’s bitter expression, looking somewhat thinner.

“By the way, why did you come here, Clan Leader?”

Here, the girl’s identity was revealed.

The girl was the leader of the clan to which the Governor belonged.

The Governor asked the girl.

In response, she pulled an officer’s hat from her pocket and pressed it down firmly on her head as she spoke.

“What, do I need a reason to visit? I just came to chat.”

“Take off that hat when you speak. Anyone can see you’re here on official business. Is it about the raid?”

“…Yes.”

The Clan Leader nodded.

“To be precise, I came to request the deployment of your Sir Dominic.”

The Governor nodded at the Clan Leader’s request for help.

In fact, this wasteland wasn’t made up of just one area.

The wasteland was a dimension split into thousands, or even tens of thousands of parts.

And the position of Governor was to manage one of these dimensional fragments.

Naturally, there were Governors in other split dimensions as well.

The Clan Leader was one of those Governors.

“I need Sir Dominic for the Imagine Builder event too.”

The Governor made a troubled expression.

The Imagine Builder event was a story about blocking enemy attacks, launching counterattacks, and capturing the Imagine Builder.

It was an event with tremendous difficulty, a reaction to the relatively easy Desert Terror event.

Moreover, the Governor’s troops were in such a weak state they could be called glass cannons.

Without Sir Dominic, they might repeat the situation from last time where they couldn’t complete it properly and ended up 2 points short.

“This raid boss is insanely strong. If we mess up, our guild ranking might drop to Gold.”

“…Gold, you say?”

Clans in Gacha Land received special benefits according to their rankings.

Until now, the Governor’s clan had consistently maintained Platinum rank.

They didn’t aspire to Diamond, but they certainly didn’t want to drop to Gold either.

“As you know, all Governors’ troops are glass cannons. One hit and you’re done, one hit and I’m done.”

Reducing defense, increasing attack power, or dealing additional damage.

That had been the raid strategy until now.

But this raid boss was different.

If you couldn’t break the “gimmick,” you couldn’t even deal damage.

How long you could endure to break that gimmick had become the dividing line for scores.

“That’s why I need Sir Dominic. If we can somehow endure with Sir Dominic’s damage reduction… we might even aim for Diamond rank.”

The Governor nodded.

Sir Dominic was literally a character specialized in endurance.

Above all, he possessed skills that allowed the glass cannon troops to survive a bit longer.

Anyone could see this was a situation that required Sir Dominic.

However, the Governor fell into contemplation.

Imagine Builder versus the raid.

In truth, the Imagine Builder wasn’t particularly necessary for the Governor, but completing the collection was the issue.

If he captured the Imagine Builder, he could complete 100% of the Season 3 collection and receive a special weapon selection ticket and a large amount of Gacha Stones as a reward.

It had taken about a year from the previous Imagine Builder event to its rerun, so the next opportunity would likely be a year away.

As for the raid, what he could gain were raid rewards and benefits based on the guild’s rank.

Above all, Diamond benefits were about 1.2 times better than Platinum benefits, making it a sufficiently profitable situation.

While the Governor was lost in thought, the Clan Leader fidgeted with the brim of her hat, waiting anxiously.

“I’m sorry, but—”

Finally, the Governor made his decision and opened his mouth toward the Clan Leader.

That’s when it happened.

A cheerful classical tune played from the Governor’s phone.

Someone was calling.

“…Would you mind if I answer this? It gives me a little more time to think.”

“…I’m sorry. Just a moment then.”

The Governor hurriedly turned his head and checked the caller.

The Commander.

One of his eternal rivals.

Why would the Commander call the Governor?

In fact, they weren’t close enough to call each other.

The Governor wondered whether he should answer, but thinking it must be urgent for the Commander to call like this, he pressed the answer button.

“What is it, Commander?”

[“Look at this?”]

Look at what? he thought, turning his head toward the phone for a moment, when he realized this was actually a video call.

The Governor’s mouth, which was about to ask why the Commander had made a video call, clamped shut.

He saw Sir Dominic’s card in the Commander’s hand.

Two of them, in fact.

“…Where did you get those?”

As far as he knew, the Commander had never drawn Sir Dominic’s card before.

So either the cards in the Commander’s hand were fake, or…

[“I drew them. Just now.”]

It was a rerun.

[“That’s not the important part, Governor.”]

The Commander’s gas mask rippled.

He was undoubtedly smiling brightly, to the point of being vicious.

[“The important thing is… the new card.”]

The Commander revealed a card from the back of his hand as if performing a magic trick.

[Rider Sir Dominic (★★★)]

The Governor’s eyes widened.

A card he had never seen before.

What this card meant was clear.

Along with the rerun… a new card had been released.

And above all…

[“This time, I win. Hehehahaha!”]

Click. The call ended.

And the Governor’s reason snapped with it.

“…Are you okay?”

The Clan Leader cautiously asked the Governor.

But the Governor had already lost his reason.

Anger at being surpassed by someone he considered a rival.

Self-loathing for not knowing about the new card release.

Resentment, pain, despair, sorrow, rage, darkness.

All those negative emotions dominated the Governor.

“Um…?”

“Clan Leader.”

They say when emotions run high, one becomes eerily calm.

That was exactly the Governor’s situation.

“Huh? Yes?”

“By any chance, could I receive an advance payment instead of sending Sir Dominic?”

“An advance?”

The Clan Leader thought for a moment, then nodded.

Considering the future benefits and the increased prestige of the clan, an advance payment was certainly possible.

“How much?”

“120,000 Gacha Stones.”

The Clan Leader’s eyes grew round.

120,000 Gacha Stones.

Considering that Sir Dominic’s house cost about 7,000 Gacha Stones, this was enough to buy 17 such houses.

However, the Clan Leader seemed surprised for a different reason.

“Is that little amount really okay? I thought you’d ask for about 1.2 billion.”

The Governor looked at the Clan Leader in disbelief.

Come to think of it, the Clan Leader had been around since the early days of Gacha Land.

The early days of Gacha Land were a hellish den that had descended upon the human world.

A world where even those who spent billions of Gacha Stones were left behind.

Having survived such a world, the Clan Leader’s sense of scale was still a bit different from ordinary people.

“Let’s do this then. I’ll give you about 120 million. And for the remaining billion or so, 100% if we reach Diamond, 90% if we stay at Platinum. How’s that?”

The Governor nodded.

In truth, the Clan Leader would have accepted even if he had asked for more, but intimidated by the enormous figures, he had accepted right away.

The Clan Leader handed over 120 million Gacha Stones in cash to the Governor on the spot.

An impressive mobilization of funds.

The Governor held the heavy, cool pouch in his hand and fell into contemplation for a moment.

He still hadn’t paid back all the Gacha Stones he had borrowed previously.

But he didn’t care about such things.

What he needed was Sir Dominic’s new card, and he had the money to draw the new Sir Dominic.

That was all that mattered.

“Sir Dominic.”

“What is it, my lord?”

In response to the Governor’s call, a clone of Sir Dominic appeared, similar to the original but still retaining an android-like quality.

“I’m issuing an order now. Follow the Clan Leader’s commands for the time being. That is all.”

“Indeed. I shall follow my lord’s command.”

Sir Dominic’s clone raised his right hand and tapped his left chest twice.

The Clan Leader rose from her seat, having achieved what she wanted.

“Oh, and by the way.”

The Clan Leader spoke as she pressed down her officer’s hat and straightened her posture.

“About Sir Dominic’s card. I’d like to have one too, but I don’t want to take yours… if you happen to draw duplicates, would you sell one to me? I’ll pay twice what you spent to draw it.”

“I can’t seem to draw what I want because of my cursed account trait,” she said with a bright smile.

The Governor nodded as he draped a slightly oversized coat over his body.

Right there, the contract was sealed.