After learning the situation, Bell didn't go looking for Goddess-sama. She was currently resting at Hephaestus-sama's place, so it wouldn't have been appropriate for him to go over. Since it was already nighttime, he just lay down on his bed. This was his own time now, and it was the perfect chance to try out the gacha feature of the Type-Moon System.
'Even though I'm 200 million Valis in debt, using a bit of spare change for gacha should be fine.'
Bell knew full well that paying off 200 million Valis wouldn't happen anytime soon. Of the 26.4 million Valis he had on hand, 20 million could go toward the debt, and the remaining 6.4 million would cover daily expenses. Early-stage ten-pulls didn't cost much—just 10,000 Valis was enough.
Waiting for future level unlocks would be too late. Sure, the required level for gacha would eventually unlock, but so would the cost. Right now, a single pull might only be 1,000 Valis. But what about later? It could rise to 10,000 Valis—or even 100,000. So now was definitely the cheapest time to roll. Even if most pulls only yielded one- or two-star Craft Essences, Bell figured even low-star ones were far more useful here than in the game.
Of course, there was another reason behind his decision.
Bell distinctly remembered that among the three-star Craft Essences, one of them was "Divine Construct." That CE was meant to boost Saber's Noble Phantasm in the game. So if he really pulled that card here, could he actually get Excalibur?
There was also the "Jeweled Sword Zelretch." Would pulling that CE really give him a sword with Second Magic capabilities? And there were others, like "Ley Line" and "Dragonkind." Anything related to dragons was bound to be strong. Sure, in the game, these CEs might seem unimpressive due to their star ranking, but if the game's limitations didn't apply, then all these three-star Craft Essences would be incredibly powerful.
So, while gacha was still cheap, it would be a waste to pass up this opportunity. In the future, both single and ten-pull prices would rise, and the pool would become more complex. Who knew if he'd still be able to draw the three-star Craft Essences he wanted?
Bell pulled out ten 10,000 Valis coins from his four-dimensional space. No need for extra words—time for a ten-pull.
As the ten gold coins appeared, they began to glow brilliantly. A crack opened in the void, and all the golden light was drawn into it.
It was the first time Bell had seen the Type-Moon System absorb coins like this, and he was momentarily stunned. The coins turned into golden particles and vanished into the crack. What exactly was the Type-Moon System absorbing? Was it really just the gold coins?
'It looks like what the Type-Moon System needs isn't the coins themselves, but something valuable tied to them. Aren't coins just symbols of trust? Could it be that the system is actually after something like faith?'
Bell couldn't quite grasp it. These ideas were still too far removed from his understanding. What he did know was that the Type-Moon System didn't accept magic stones for exchange. Logically, magic stones should contain energy. Yet the system didn't want energy—it specifically took gold coins, which in Bell's eyes only had monetary value. That meant there had to be a reason why coins were required.
"Let's do the ten-pull."
After accepting 100,000 Valis, the Type-Moon System immediately kicked into action. Instead of mobile-game-style spinning animations, a hundred cards flew out from the void. Bell gave them a quick glance—most were one- or two-star Craft Essences. Aside from the guaranteed three-star CE from the ten-pull, there wasn't even a single extra three-star.
Not that he was surprised. Even though he had the "Heaven's Luck" skill, Bell could easily guess that the Type-Moon System had blocked all external influences. In other words, being lucky in the outside world didn't mean you'd be lucky in this system.
'As expected, looks like my luck only gets me the guaranteed minimum. Still, once the one- and two-star Craft Essences are maxed out, they're not bad. I'm just not sure what kind of practical use they'll actually have.'
Bell had never done gacha before, so he had no idea if these Craft Essences would really be useful. "Personal Training," for example, was an Early Bloomer-type CE that simply boosted experience gain. It was basically useless in the game, since by the time you could exchange for it, you already had more than enough EXP. But in the real world, the value of something like "Personal Training" was enormous.
After getting a taste of blatant cheats, Bell no longer saw experience as something trivial. In this world, a skill like "Early Bloomer" was invaluable. Just having it could drastically shorten the time needed to achieve success and accelerate one's growth. It was, in essence, a straightforward god-tier ability.
One- and two-star Craft Essences in the game were mainly for boosting the output of Three Color Cards. That wasn't what Bell needed. What he really wanted were those that could enhance his skills. Since you could only carry one Craft Essence at a time, anything that could be directly absorbed into his strength was what truly mattered. For now, though, there probably wasn't anything better than "Personal Training."
Bell shook his head and shifted his focus to the ten guaranteed three-star Craft Essences. He could look over the lower-tier ones later. The real key was these three-stars. But the moment his eyes fell on them, he couldn't help but mutter in his heart, 'Damn, not bad at all.'
[Three-Star Craft Essences: "Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu" ×2, "Hidden Blade: Pheasant Reversal" ×5, "Kuji Kanesada" ×1, "Hydra Dagger" ×1, "Spell Tome" ×1.]
'Kuji Kanesada should be the katana Shiki Ryougi uses, right? Not exactly a divine weapon, but still a Ryogi family heirloom, so the quality shouldn't be terrible. Then there's "Pheasant Reversal"—that has to be a variant of Tsubame Gaeshi. I'm not sure if it's the same in function, though. "Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu" is a healing-type CE—might even help with hunger.
'The Hydra Dagger's not a bad piece either. But from the start, it wasn't made for killing—it's a tool for poisoning. The thing's got tons of barbs and is double-edged. Great for ambushes, not so much for proper combat.'