I woke up and, as soon as I tried to raise my head, a sharp shock ran down my spine. I reflexively grabbed my heart, but this caused me immense pain. It was like every muscle in my body was being stretched to the breaking point.
Perhaps because of the frustration I felt yesterday, I didn't sleep well, and my body hadn't fully recovered from the mana depletion.
It was hard to concentrate, and I couldn't take a step out of bed.
Yet, I pushed through, looking for my phone, only to see that Roy and Sam had sent quite a few messages in our group chat.
They spoke about how Roy's neighbor, the man he was counting on to heal him, had not returned home yesterday.
He'd be back tonight, but this meant Roy couldn't go to the Dungeon with us.
Sam felt sympathetic to him and asked if we could pause the Dungeon Raids until he got better. Roy also apologized for 'dragging everyone down' and 'stopping us'.
A sentiment I couldn't agree with.
Sure, they were facts, but I didn't feel like he was at fault. Any one of us could've gotten hurt at any time; it was par for the job.
Besides, the only reason he got hurt in the first place was that he volunteered and insisted on taking the most dangerous enemy.
Same as last time, his only mistake was in evaluating himself.
However, his courage and eagerness were commendable. Had things worked out, we'd be singing about how reliable he was.
Having someone ready to do what's necessary, regardless of difficulty or danger, was a stroke of good luck. Especially since it balanced out with the way I worked.
Sam also said something about how unrealistic it would be to expect everyone to be free every day or prioritize only the Dungeon Raids when they weren't paying the bills for us.
The last messages were from Roy...
He thought that if he reached a hospital fast enough, he could still make it today, but he gave up after seeing the charges, only to then search for potions and be thrown further into despair.
I couldn't help but laugh a little, picturing the desperation in his face while he typed his messages.
Having reached the end of the chat, I left a few messages of my own. They were pretty simple stuff, just telling him to get better and joking about the whole thing.
Still, that meant the two wouldn't go to the Dungeon today, and I was left wondering what I should do...
Sam had made a good point about how important rest was.
Not every city was as peaceful as ours.
The chances of a Rampage happening were fairly low since the Dungeon we raided was so populated.
Realistically, the worst that could happen would be a Divine Event, but Earth ranked so low last time that both Catherine and the other God who sponsored Earth, Hwa, seemed too displeased to have us participate again.
According to the participants and her believers, at least...
Still, the chances of us being selected for a Divine Event were ridiculously low.
The most dangerous thing about Catherine was that she could use her power to change the world again, but that hadn't happened since the First Contact.
Maybe there was a reason for this, maybe she couldn't do it anymore, maybe she didn't care enough to do it, but regardless...
We were safe, and we could rest. This was a privilege fought for by the older generations.
But if I headed to the Dungeon and got stronger, I could do more rolls and avoid results like yesterday...
Raiding the Dungeon alone would be difficult, though... Even if I got a little stronger than when I first started.
I could stay close to the settlements, where only weaker monsters could be found, but what would be the point? They wouldn't give me enough experience for a level-up.
Forming another party could also be problematic. We were making decent progress. I felt like our synergy was increasing, even if slowly. Sam and Roy were also good people, and that could be hard to find again.
With all of us having at least one combat skill, we were practically guaranteed to kill the floor boss.
In the end, I couldn't convince myself to go.
The risks were too high and the rewards too low.
I was still feeling the mana depletion, too, so I kicked back and relaxed a little in bed.
After a few minutes, I decided that since I wasn't getting a level-up today, there'd be no reason not to claim my daily [Gacha Tickets] and [Kingdom Points].
Since the rolls from yesterday were so bad, I swore to myself that, if the next ticket I used on the [Skills Banner] were a dud, I'd use the other ticket on something else. Anything else.
With this ticket, I got something unbelievable.
[Faster Tree Climbing
The holder of this skill can climb trees faster.
This skill has no mana cost and can be deactivated at any time.]
I wanted to laugh so bad.
Actually, I might've laughed a little.
I couldn't tell.
I was just so frustrated...
This was the banner I had the highest hopes for. The one that had given me so much, yet...
Everything was falling apart.
This skill would be a stain on my status. Forever.
Even if I tried to rationalize it, this skill sucked.
Sure, not all Dungeon floors were cave-like. Some Dungeons resembled forests and jungles.
And if there was a cat stuck on a tree...
Yeah, no.
There was no way to make this seem useful.
The most I could say about this skill was that it gave me the perfect excuse to try a new banner.
Nothing I could get from the gacha would be worse than this.
Even if I got a plastic sword from the [Weapons Banner] or another useless ring from the [Armor Banner].
Hell, even if I got an expired potion from the [Potions Banner], I'm sure I could still scam some dumbass-
The point was that there were many banners I wanted to try, and tomorrow I'd have more tickets anyway, so...
Considering everything, I felt oddly attracted to the [Companions Banner].
I thought that if this gave me a fairy, like those tutorial npcs from games, to help and guide me, I could raid the Dungeon by myself, if I ever felt like it.
Maybe I could get a little robot, or a dog. Maybe even a spirit or something...
As long as something had my back, I'd be happy.
Besides, just trying something new and interesting was already enough to guarantee I wouldn't be disappointed.
So, I renewed my hopes.
Despite other banners being more rational, I allowed myself to have fun with my Gift during my day off.
Like it always happens, I rolled into the banner, and my mind went blank for a second.
My senses returned a second later.
I finally opened up my eyes.
And then, I saw it.
Something that made me wonder if I was still dreaming.