Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World

“Explosive Flame.”

A bluish-white fireball flew in an arc with a small murmur.

At most, it was about the size of two fists. But the moment that flame touched the body of the Human Golem.

BOOM!!

A shockwave that shook the ground and a deafening roar. And a massive explosion ensued.

Not only I, but even Lydia, who seemed to have no thoughts, and Benny, who had sensed something unusual midway and was flinching, all widened our eyes and stared at the freshly created, steaming crater.

Although it contained a fragile brain inside, its body was crafted through alchemy and forged from solid alloys in a smithy.

Yet, all of it disappeared without a trace.

“…Huh.”

My hands and feet began to tremble at the realization that the first monster we defeated on the 3rd Floor was worth nothing.

“Huh? Eh?”

It turned out that the trembling was not due to psychological shock, but rather because of mana exhaustion, causing my body to not obey me.

“Be, Benny…potion…ugh.”

Mid-sentence, my body toppled backwards. Fortunately, Lydia quickly caught me, and Benny, understanding immediately, brought a mana potion to my lips.

As I gulped down the mana potion like a baby bird, Lydia, who was supporting me, repeatedly uttered short words in a slightly clipped voice. She must have been really surprised.

“Benny! Jonah! Is it dangerous? Are you okay?”

“Calm down, Lydia. It’s nothing serious. It’s just mana exhaustion, so I’ll be up soon.”

Benny, who answered leisurely, opened another mana potion and brought it to my mouth. Shadow, who was watching this closely from a little distance away, had just swallowed the empty potion bottle, but it probably wasn’t a big deal.

“Sigh. Where did you learn such magic again? It seems like you got a spellbook from the Cradle Trading Company this time… No matter how good the magic is, you shouldn’t just pick it up and use it like this.”

“Mm. Mmm.”

“Yeah, yeah. Drink the potion first and then talk. I don’t use it much, but since it’s a mid-level potion, drinking about two bottles should solve the immediate problem.”

As instructed, I swallowed the second bottle of potion. Then, warmth really began to rise from deep within my heart… Mana surged up, and I felt a bit better.

“Phew. Ah, Miss Lydia. You can let go now.”

“Yeah.”

As soon as I was released, I lightly moved my limbs. My body moved without any major issues. Although there was some dizziness, it was quickly subsiding.

As Benny said, and as I felt, it was purely a symptom of shock caused by using too much mana at once, and the lack of mana in my body. I’ll get better quickly as long as there is enough mana.

“Phew. It would have been dangerous if I had come alone. Thank you as always, Miss Lydia, and you too, Benny.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Ahem.”

“Hmph! Even if you praise me like that, nothing will come out of it, you know?”

I didn’t know what it was, but since I praised them, Lydia puffed up proudly, and Benny, though snorting, had a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

Seeing the clear difference in their personalities, I chuckled, and Benny tilted her head and started speaking.

“So? What was that magic just now?”

“Um… It’s a magic spell called Explosive Flame. I recently learned it, but I’ve never used it before, so I tried it out this time, and it turned out to be more powerful than I thought. It also consumed a lot of mana.”

In hindsight, it was only natural. The system where you draw skills through gacha and grow is designed to forcefully raise your specs so that you can at least cast the skill once, ensuring you don’t waste the hard-earned skill.

And after drawing Explosive Flame this time, the excruciating pain that felt like my heart was being squeezed continued for a while.

While my mana capacity increased accordingly… In other words, it means that this much mana is barely enough to cast it once.

This time, along with the Skill, a large quantity of Magic Herbs came out. Thanks to the portion that was absorbed and became part of my mana, I didn’t faint immediately but just collapsed with a limp body.

If I hadn’t eaten that much Magic Herbs, I would have fainted in an instant.

The reason for giving out Healing and Magic Herbs is probably to reduce the burden on the body after obtaining a new Skill and using it thoughtlessly.

Of course, that’s just my guess.

As I nodded inwardly, Benny asked me.

“So where did you learn that magic? It’s not Circle Magic, is it? Then you must have self-studied from a rather rare magic book… No, wait. Now that I look at it, your mana has increased a lot too? What is this? Did you really have some kind of enlightenment?”

I smiled gently at the confused Benny, clasping my hands in front of my chest.

“It’s all thanks to the blessings of the Goddess of Love, who cherishes her apostle.”

“Lies. Troublesome.”

Benny shaking her head while imitating Lydia. Well, even though the Goddess of Love is the last remaining god, it’s natural not to believe it since there’s never been a story about her casting magic.

But? If the gacha is the Power of the Goddess? Wouldn’t the result of the gacha be from the Goddess?

With that thought, I smirked.

“That’s because Benny isn’t the apostle of the Goddess.”

“…Sss. It sounds like nonsense, but it’s true that the apostle of the Goddess of Love hasn’t appeared since the War of the Fallen Gods, so it’s hard to be sure.”

Benny, who had been looking at this side with suspicious eyes, let out a deep sigh and changed the subject.

“Well, fine. Jonah, it’s not like your suspicious behavior is anything new. Just, put that magic away for a while. Don’t use it unless your life is in real danger, you’ve ensured the safety of those around you, and you have a potion ready in your mouth. Got it?”

“Yup. Honestly, it scared me too.”

It’s good that the magic is powerful. Until now, my attacks have heavily relied on the Unicorn Dagger.

I have to get close, and even when I do, it’s hard to inflict a fatal wound on large monsters, and there are monsters resistant to physical attacks like Minotauros or the golems on the 3rd Floor.

So, while it’s welcome that magic becomes a viable option… There should be a limit, right?

As Benny said, it’s best to seal it away for now, except for when it’s absolutely unavoidable.

“Well, it’s a shame the first monster is gone, but let’s move on to the next one. Was it called a Human Golem? I know the name, but I can’t remember what’s valuable. Lydia, do you remember?”

“Yes. The Human Golem’s metallic cloth encasing the brain and the Magic Stone are valuable. The turquoise metal that forms the outer shell can be sold, but…compared to its volume and price, it’s too cheap compared to other drops. The recipe has already been discovered.”

“Aha.”

The 3rd Floor is a level where technology more advanced than the current Pangrave is found.

Perhaps they obtained the recipe for this alloy during exploration or discovered it by researching the metal.

In the past, it might have been different, but nowadays, there are few things on the 3rd Floor that are worth a lot of money.

Wouldn’t it be strange if they still knew nothing after researching for hundreds of years?

My mana is still a bit lacking, but my body is fully recovered and in great shape. Shrugging, I pulled the Unicorn Dagger out this time.

Srrng.

“Alright. Shall we move on to the next one?”

Although the money I’ve earned outside the Labyrinth recently is quite substantial, the amount earned inside the Labyrinth is not insignificant either.

That’s because I get to keep all the money I earn.

Lydia gets hers from Ellie, and Benny accompanies me in the Labyrinth in exchange for me helping her with her research.

So, I shouldn’t dawdle and need to earn quickly.

…More than anything, the 3rd Floor is a sort of romance for me.

I couldn’t exactly put cyberpunk into a fantasy, so I added steampunk, and it turned out to be pretty awesome.

Of course, it’s just the image in my head.

With a pounding heart, I took the lead and started down the path.

Was it just the area around the Safe Zone that was shrouded in heavy fog? The further I went, the clearer the visibility became. However, the overall haziness remained unchanged.

While stealthily moving through the monolithic metal buildings, whose entrances were indiscernible…

I began to faintly hear clanking sounds and the hissing of steam being released.

It must be another Human Golem nearby, just like earlier.

Gripping my dagger tightly, I hid myself and tried to locate the direction of the sound. But…

Hiss. Clank. Hiss. Clank.

“Uh.”

The sounds started coming from all directions. My frozen brain took a half-beat longer to arrive at the answer.

“Could it be that they were drawn here by the sound of my magic?!”

“Yeah. The 3rd Floor is different from the 1st or 2nd Floors.”

“Lydia’s right. Unlike the monsters we’ve encountered so far, which are like beasts with only instincts remaining due to their devolved intelligence, the monsters here aren’t much different from us.”

“Except for their values.”

Taking turns speaking, Lydia and Benny smirked. It was a bit annoying to see.

“You guys are too much! Couldn’t you have given me a heads-up?!”

“Some things you just have to experience for yourself.”

“It’s okay. If things go south, Lydia or Shadow will handle it somehow. Just relax and get chased around!”

“What about Benny?!”

“I’ll be watching Jonah run for his life.”

“Ugh!”

Calming my grudge against Benny for now, I spread my abundant aura in all directions, in place of my lacking mana.

The intangible energy stretched out like a thin net. While pretending to be sick in the infirmary, I had learned presence detection from Lydia, complaining of boredom because I couldn’t move.

I’m still not used to it, so I can only recognize large chunks or quantities…but it’s better than knowing nothing at all.

“Five of them?”

No less than five golems were approaching. And as if to encircle us, from all directions.

It definitely seemed like they were aware of our presence and had devised an efficient strategy to capture us.

As Benny said, their intelligence seemed no different from that of adventurers.

Well, of course. Even though they had become golems, they still had human brains inside.

I focused on the crest pinned to my chest and the boots enchanted with haste, taking a deep breath.

And the moment the closest one entered my range.

“Heup!”

I dashed forward in an instant.

As I emerged from behind the wall, the distinct figure of the Human Golem finally came into view.

The area covered in wide metallic plates, as if wearing plate armor. However, the joints were made of intricate gears, and hydraulic cylinders periodically vented steam from the shoulders.

Pssshhh—

With a frown, I leapt, as if it were breathing.

“Die…!”

Speed unmatched on the same level. And though I didn’t get the non-virgin bonus, the Unicorn Dagger was still good, even if a bit lacking against golems.

Even if I couldn’t kill it in one hit, I hoped to deal significant damage as I closed the distance. And then.

Pssshhh—!

The golem responded faster than I expected, throwing a punch.

But it was too fast. Perhaps it panicked, seeing only my speed, and hastily attacked.

…It didn’t take long for my misconception to be shattered.

Boom!

With a small flame, the Human Golem’s outstretched fist was launched from its body.

“Rocket Punch?!”

This bastard! Using such a cool technique of its own…!