The shimmering sky-blue rectangle hovering in the air did not disappear.
Rylan blinked once. Twice. Then a few times again in a flurry. If this was a hallucination, it was a remarkably persistent one.
His gaze turned towards the ground below, observing the people around the nearest campfire for any sign of change. Someone was boasting loudly—even from where he sat atop the watchtower, the voice carried clearly enough to hear fragments of the story. Something about a hunt. Something about a boar twice the size of a horse.
No one was pointing upward at him, nor did anyone seem particularly alarmed. Instead, life in the camp continued exactly as it had a moment before.
He blinked again, slower this time, as if patience might break whatever illusion his exhausted mind had conjured.
Still there. The words remained perfectly clear.
[Welcome to the Unlimited Gacha System]
[Name: Rylan Ash]
[Level 1: 10 Draws Available.]
Rylan stared at it, wary.
It had sharp corners and perfectly straight edges, as though someone had cut it into shape. The glow it emitted was not bright enough to illuminate the stones beneath him, yet it remained unmistakably present against the darkness.
He frowned, leaning closer towards the shape, eyes narrowing at the words. The letters were too perfect, too regular.
Although he was no mage, he had seen enough of them in action to know that magic, when manifested visibly, usually carried traces of its element. Flickers of flame, drifting motes of light, swirling currents of water that flowed like living things. Even illusion spells, which were meant to deceive the senses, tended to shimmer and bend faintly at the edges when observed closely.
This thing did none of that. Though the words were clearly made of light, there was no sign of light magic being used.
Seeing as there was still no change, Rylan slowly reached out with one hand, finger extended as if a child reaching towards flames for the first time.
His finger hovered just short of the glowing surface. For a brief moment, he hesitated.
Rylan Ash was not a particularly brave man. Anyone who claimed otherwise had likely never seen him during his first week at the training grounds, when a stray fire spell had singed the edge of his sleeve and he had nearly thrown himself off a bench in surprise.
But he was stubborn. And curiosity, unfortunately, had always been stronger than caution.
He pressed his finger forward onto the space next to the words. At first, nothing happened. Then suddenly, the surface rippled.
The glowing rectangle distorted outward in a small circular wave from where his finger touched it, much like the surface of still water after a pebble had been dropped into it.
Rylan jerked his hand back instinctively.
The rectangle stilled again. He stared at it, then diverted his sight down at his finger.
“…That reacted.”
His voice was quiet, more breath than sound.
The camp below continued its low murmur of voices and crackling firewood. Somewhere in the distance, a horse neighed. Someone laughed loudly at the end of the boar story.
None of them seemed aware of him. So, Rylan leaned forward again, even more carefully this time.
His finger touched the rectangle once more, causing another ripple to spread across its surface.
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This time, the glowing panel flickered slightly—the words shifted. The original text slid upward, rearranging itself neatly as new lines appeared beneath it.
[Draw]
[Inventory]
[Probability]
Rylan blinked again.
The list hung there silently, each word glowing faintly against the night sky. The meaning of the first option, however, was obvious.
Draw.
Rylan stared at it for a long moment, the word stirring a vague memory.
Traveling merchants sometimes brought strange festival contraptions when they visited larger towns—wooden boxes filled with small capsules. A child would pay a coin, twist a handle, and receive whatever prize chance decided to spit out.
Sometimes it was candy, sometimes it was a small toy, other times it was nothing worth the copper spent.
The merchants always smiled the same way either way.
Gacha, that was the word they had used.
Rylan looked back at the glowing panel.
Ten draws available.
His brow furrowed slightly. “Surely not.”
It sounded ridiculous even thinking it, but it seemed to be the only reasonable conclusion, seeing as how this thing addressed itself as the Unlimited Gacha System.
His hand lifted again. His finger hovered over [Draw].
For several seconds, he did nothing.
Rylan had lived long enough to know that strange things rarely came without consequences. Even gifts from friends and relatives often came with hidden expectations.
Yet, the panel continued to float silently before him, offering no warning.
“…One won’t hurt.” It was muttered more to himself than anyone else.
He pressed it, and the panel flashed. For a moment, the sky-blue surface dissolved into swirling light. A circular pattern formed at its center, lines of pale energy spiraling inward like a whirlpool.
Rylan leaned back slightly in a mix of anticipation and doubt.
The spiral tightened, and the light grew brighter. Then—
Pop.
Something small dropped out of the glowing circle and landed on the cobble of the watchtower with a dull tick.
The panel stabilized again, and new text appeared.
[Item Obtained]
[F-Rank Equipment]
[Level 1 Pebble]
[Description: An ordinary pebble. You can use it to distract someone.]
[Dismiss]
Rylan stared at the panel. Then, he slowly looked down at the object resting near his boot. It was, without exaggeration, a pebble. A perfectly ordinary pebble. Gray, round, and slightly dusty.
He bent down and picked it up between two fingers.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
The pebble weighed exactly as much as a pebble should. Not more. Not less.
Rylan turned it over in his hand, examining it carefully, as if some hidden blade or rune might reveal itself if he looked at it from the right angle. Nothing, just a rock.
He looked back up at the floating panel and pressed [Dismiss]. The panel morphed once again.
[System Notice]
[Gacha Draws consume one charge each]
[Each Draw produces one random item with level matching the system’s current level]
[See [Probability] for item rarity and potential distribution]
[Draws Remaining: 9]
[Dismiss]
He sighed: “Of course.”
Rylan dropped the pebble back onto the stone, staring at it as though it might suddenly transform into something extraordinary.
It did not. It was just a pebble.
“Fantastic,” he muttered, voice low and bitter, the corners of his mouth twitching in disbelief. “Thanks for nothing.”
But even as he scowled, he could feel the faint pulse of the system’s presence in the air. He looked back at the panel, once again pressing [Dismiss].
[Draw]
[Inventory]
[Probability]
The first option still glowed faintly. Rylan’s hand itched. There was a strange magnetic pull, as if the system itself was teasing him.
“Nine more,” he muttered. “Let’s see if the next one’s at least slightly less disappointing.” He pressed [Draw] again.
The swirl appeared immediately, this time spinning faster.
Pop.
A thin scroll fell onto the floor this time, rolling slightly before stopping. Rylan bent down and picked it up, reading the system notification.
[Item Obtained]
[F-Rank Scroll]
[Level 1: Old Map Fragment]
[Description: Find the other fragments to make sense of it.]
[Dismiss]
He unrolled the scroll cautiously; faint lines sketched the outline of a forest, a river, and what looked like a triangle marking a hill. The details were crude but legible.
“Well,” he muttered, tilting his head, “at least it’s something?”
[Draws Remaining: 8]
“Alright,” he whispered, fingers hovering again. “Just one more.”
He pressed [Draw] for a third time.
Lines of pale energy spiraled outward, faster this time, coiling around themselves like twin serpents chasing a prey that didn’t exist.
Pop.
The sound was softer than before, almost muffled, but the thing that dropped was… heavier. Larger. It landed with a muted thud on the rough stone, and Rylan instinctively recoiled, gripping the edge of the tower for balance.
The panel stabilized, glowing faintly, words rearranging themselves.
[Companion Obtained]
[SSS-Rank Heroine]
[Level 1: Akane Kitsune]
[Dismiss]
