Ch.204[Episode 204] Gacha Land 4-1 Epilogue

“Ugh. This round wasn’t fun at all.”

“To be honest, it doesn’t make sense for a 3-tier tank to be rampaging around here.”

The Story Mode lobby began to fill with people.

Those who had remained after Stage 4-1 ended and those who had been spectating were all pouring out at once.

Normally, most would be discussing strategies and tactics or heading out for a casual drink, but today was different.

While Sir Dominic’s party collected 1000 points, the other parties had gathered a mere 0.

The game had ended with a perfect score, leaving everyone with a sense of emptiness rather than any thoughts about strategy or tactics.

A sniper from the Serpent Clan sighed.

“To be honest, looking at Sir Dominic’s party, they weren’t particularly strong.”

“That’s true. It was actually a standard commander-dealer-supporter party.”

“I know because I’m drinking buddies with Gregory, but they weren’t this strong back then.”

The skeleton who claimed to be Gregory’s drinking buddy grumbled.

“It’s stability. Stability.”

An artilleryman wearing a Tengu mask munched on sugar cubes as if his blood sugar was dropping.

“That Sir Dominic fellow has a passive that applies damage reduction to the entire allied force. From what I could see, today it seemed to reduce damage by somewhere between 9 and 12 percent…”

The artilleryman with the Tengu mask had calculated almost exact figures.

Among the dealers, some were so absorbed in their own damage output that they remembered these numbers precisely, and the Tengu-masked artilleryman was one of them.

“That’s not the issue.”

A sumo wrestler carrying a powder keg joined the conversation.

“Isn’t this too much? I mean, I could accept it when the dealer was running wild with three traits last time. But even for a tank, this is excessive.”

The sumo wrestler grumbled as he forcefully set down his powder keg.

Due to Gachaland’s nature, the impact alone wouldn’t cause the powder keg to explode, but it was enough of a performance to make those nearby flinch.

“But Sir Dominic only has one trait. And just one skill.”

A mad chemist with pigtails said.

“A simple trait. A simple skill. That’s all there is to it.”

“That’s exactly the problem.”

The sumo wrestler countered the chemist’s point.

“The simpler it is, the easier it should be to patch. Yet they’re not patching it, which means…”

The sumo wrestler turned his head to look in the direction of System Industries.

“Isn’t this a sign that Gachaland is heading downhill?”

His words were met with silence all around.

The sumo wrestler’s statement was something everyone would say jokingly, but no one could take it as a joke.

“Anyway, let’s go now. Let’s just think of today as encountering a natural disaster.”

A samurai who had been listening intently to the sumo wrestler’s words tried to smooth over the situation.

He thought it wasn’t appropriate to discuss such matters here openly.

The members of Dragon Clan and Serpent Clan who had participated in 4-1 began to leave the Story Mode lobby one by one.

…

At the same time people were leaving, Sir Dominic was still in 4-1.

He had many questions he wanted to ask Jugashvili.

“I think it’s time you told me.”

Sir Dominic asked Jugashvili.

“Why did you use [Purge] so recklessly, and why were you so obsessed with that hill?”

“Ah, right.”

Jugashvili replied as if he had forgotten.

“It’s nothing special, comrade. I just… wanted the achievement.”

“Achievement?”

“Yes. Achievement.”

Jugashvili nodded.

“This one, specifically.”

Jugashvili pointed to the system window that had just appeared.

[The system broken by hammer and sickle has been revived through capital and democratic procedures.]

[Beginning delayed settlement…]

[Your party has recorded the highest score ever. Yes, even including the records of exiles who used hacks and bugs.]

[Sir Dominic: 3 achievements have been added.]

[[Perfect 41]: Finished the game in 4-1 without allowing other parties to earn a single point. (0.00% have this achievement. (rounded))]

[[4-1=?]: Finished 4-1 in under 10 minutes. (7.33% of players have this achievement.)]

[[Survivalist: 41]: Survived until the end of 4-1. (67.74% of players possess this achievement.)]

Sir Dominic looked at the achievement window that appeared before him.

Come to think of it, he had a similar experience before.

He remembered it was probably the [Neck Romancer] achievement… Sir Dominic thought.

While Sir Dominic was momentarily lost in thought, Jugashvili spoke.

“I’ve unlocked most achievements so far, but I was missing this one.”

With those words, Jugashvili opened his bear fur coat.

Inside, achievements in the form of medals were attached like barnacles below his belly.

“What’s the point of collecting achievements like that?”

Sir Dominic looked at those achievements, not understanding.

“It makes me feel good, comrade.”

Jugashvili grinned.

That was just a glimpse of the madness commonly seen in Gachaland.

…

When Sir Dominic left 4-1, there was no one there.

The others had already left or headed to different stages.

“Then we’ll be on our way too. Hope to see you again, comrade.”

Jugashvili and his companions bid farewell to Sir Dominic and left the Story Mode lobby.

Left alone, Sir Dominic looked at the reward table displayed in the system window.

Now there was truly no one in the lobby except Sir Dominic…

“Um, Demon Lord? There will be other opportunities, so please stop crying now.”

“…”

Sir Dominic looked in the direction of the voice.

He wasn’t the only one in the lobby after all.

Princess Teu Le Vante and the Chief of Staff were there too.

Princess Teu Le Vante was sitting on the ground, shedding tiny tears as if she had lost her country or the sky had fallen.

The Chief of Staff sighed deeply.

He understood why the Demon Lord was so immersed in sadness, but it couldn’t be helped.

“What’s the matter?”

Sir Dominic showed interest in the deeply sobbing Demon Lord.

“…It’s you.”

The Chief of Staff spoke warily to Sir Dominic.

It was an unconscious reaction from the Chief of Staff, who thought that bad things happened whenever Sir Dominic appeared.

Of course, he had already forgotten that most of those ‘bad things’ stemmed from his own misunderstandings.

“Do you think I would tell you tha-“

“Why are you crying so bitterly?”

Realizing he wouldn’t get an answer from the Chief of Staff, Sir Dominic instantly changed his conversation target to the Demon Lord.

“Ha! Even I, the Demon Lord’s most loyal subordinate, am struggling right now, so how could you possibly communica-“

“!”

The Chief of Staff looked at Sir Dominic in disbelief, but contrary to his expectations, the Demon Lord immediately ran to Sir Dominic and clung to his leg.

While the Chief of Staff had a strict and unapproachable image to the Demon Lord, she had a prejudice that Sir Dominic was a kind and good person.

The Demon Lord continued to gesture wildly to Sir Dominic.

From past experience, Sir Dominic knew he couldn’t properly understand the Demon Lord’s higher-dimensional language.

Instead, Sir Dominic had a good eye for detail and could derive similar answers from these general actions.

It was the same now.

“So, you’re sad because there was something you wanted as a reward but couldn’t get it?”

“!”

The Demon Lord nodded vigorously at Sir Dominic’s words.

Had it not been for the tennis balls attached to the tips of her horns, Sir Dominic might have suffered a serious injury from the Demon Lord’s horns, so vigorous was her nodding.

Sir Dominic thought about the Demon Lord.

To begin with, Sir Dominic hadn’t cleared Stage 4-1 for any particular reason.

Which meant he wasn’t particularly interested in the rewards either.

Having reached that conclusion, Sir Dominic unconsciously said to the Demon Lord:

“What did you want? If you need it, I’ll give it to you.”

“!”

The Demon Lord stopped crying abruptly.

And looked up at Sir Dominic with surprised eyes.

It was as if she was saying, ‘Really? Will you really give it to me?’

Sir Dominic nodded at that look.

“Of course.”

“…!”

The Demon Lord’s expression brightened instantly.

The Chief of Staff was so surprised by this absurd situation that he could only stand frozen, stammering.

“But since we can’t communicate, I don’t know what you want…”

Sir Dominic looked at the Demon Lord, pondering.

However, the Demon Lord, as if familiar with the situation, jumped onto Sir Dominic’s shoulder.

And pointed at the system window, gesturing as if to say he could choose from there.

“I see. You can show me here.”

Sir Dominic nodded as if it was a good idea.

The Demon Lord wobbled momentarily from the slight movement, but with demon-like reflexes, she regained a stable position on Sir Dominic’s shoulder.

That day, the Demon Lord was able to get the three-headed Chihuahua she had so desperately wanted.

And as a bonus, her favorability toward Sir Dominic increased slightly.

…

“Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominicus in excelsis…”

Two people still remained in Stage 4-1 after even Sir Dominic had left.

Archbishop Arcus, who continued to make the sign of the cross and pray, amazed by the incredible glory he had just witnessed.

“…Let’s go now. You’ve prayed enough.”

And Ogreson, who was equally surprised but more concerned about the archbishop’s condition.

Arcus looked at Ogreson with a haggard expression.

His own reflection in Ogreson’s eyes was hardly what one could call normal.

Ogreson, startled by those eyes full of madness, said as if making an excuse:

“It’s fine to praise Sir Dominic, but wouldn’t it be better to do so with a more presentable appearance?”

Arcus pondered Ogreson’s words.

And soon realized that Ogreson was right.

It might be sacrilegious to appear so disheveled in this sacred and great hall of warriors.

“You’re right.”

Arcus stood up.

His robe was covered in dirt around the knees from praying so fervently.

“I should go and put my body and mind in order. You’re right. To behave so shamefully in such a sacred place…”

“…Did you eat something bad? No, that can’t be. We’ve been together, so you wouldn’t have had time to eat anything strange…”

Ogreson blinked in surprise at Arcus’s suddenly changed behavior.

Regardless, Arcus continued in his faith-filled voice:

“By the way… where’s the exit?”

Ogreson blinked again at those confident and devout words.

After all, Ogreson didn’t know the way out either.

And so once again, Arcus and Ogreson missed their chance to meet Sir Dominic.