"What on earth is a gacha system?"
Sebastian stared upward at the invisible Angel with a blank expression.
"You really are dense, aren't you. Can't you figure it out from the name? It's an incentive system — like those prize-draw games from your world."
Angel paused for a moment before continuing.
"Actually, the people upstairs set it up because they were worried you'd end up with excess mission points and nowhere to spend them. A considerate way to help you burn through them.... though most of you lot are broke anyway."
"The way you're describing it makes this gacha system sound absolutely terrible. Is this some kind of money pit?"
Sebastian's mouth twitched as he eyed the yellow button.
"Oh, don't say that — it's quite a bargain! One mission point per draw, and if your luck is extraordinary, you might pull something like a high-tier class upgrade directly!"
"What are the drop rates on the prize pool?" Sebastian asked, testing the waters.
"That information is unavailable." Angel's tone shifted immediately.
"Then go peddle this to someone else — I'm not touching it."
Sebastian declined without hesitation and moved to close the system panel.
This kind of thing was for children. A mature adult like Sebastian would never fall for it. The fact that his annual bonus in his past life had reliably disappeared into exactly these kinds of systems was entirely beside the point.
"How can you be like this! Don't you have any courage? You're my personally appointed adventurer — where's your spirit of adventure?"
For some reason, Angel seemed genuinely invested in getting Sebastian to use the gacha system. When gentle persuasion failed, she switched to provocation.
"Because it's obviously a trap set up to fleece me. Why would I step into it voluntarily?"
Sebastian replied flatly.
"Don't put it so harshly. Promoting the gacha system is a key performance target for every heavenly realm guide! If I don't hit the metric, I'll have my bonus docked again — you're my adventurer, the least you could do is consider my situation!"
Ah. So that was why she was so invested.
Sebastian clicked his tongue and closed the system panel without hesitation.
"What's going on? Sebastian, you've been standing there staring into space — are you alright?"
Back in the real world, he opened his eyes to find Iori and Imamura both watching him with intent expressions.
"Nothing. A fly was talking to me. Bit distracting." Sebastian said mildly.
"You cold-hearted wretch! I come to you for help just once, and you can't cooperate for even a moment?!"
Angel's voice arrived in his ear again, now distinctly flustered.
"Fly or goddess, makes no difference to me."
"Could you please watch what you say?! I am your direct superior deity!"
Sebastian felt Angel's invisible ice-cold little hands close around his neck again.
"Cough cough — let go! Even if you strangle me here, I'll file the complaint the moment I get back upstairs!"
"You infuriating—!!"
The threat proved effective. Angel released his neck with a sound of frustrated defeat.
"Sebastian, are you having an episode? I just watched you shaking again — should I contact a hospital?"
At this point, Imamura's voice drifted over from the real world, wearing a thin disguise of concern.
"Would you please be quiet? I get the distinct feeling you two take every available opportunity to insult me sideways. If you've got nothing better to do, go — I want to be alone."
"Sure."
Iori and Imamura exchanged a look, stared at Sebastian for another odd moment, then turned and left.
"Thanks to you, Angel, those two now think I'm having some kind of breakdown!"
Sebastian drove his fist into a nearby tree in frustration. A shower of leaves came pattering down.
"What does this have to do with me? If you didn't act so unhinged all the time, they wouldn't think you were losing your mind!"
"Talk like that, and you can forget about me ever using your gacha system."
Sebastian ground his teeth in warning.
"I was wrong."
The goddess with no sense of dignity folded immediately.
"That's more like it.... But one thing needs to be said. You're this invested in getting me to use that system, which means there's something in it for you. Tell me — what's my compensation."
"There's no compensation, it's just part of the job...."
Angel's voice carried a distinctly unconvincing quality.
"Say that again and there's nothing more to discuss." Sebastian said coldly.
Someone this chronically lazy coming to negotiate something with him — if there was nothing in it for her, he'd eat his beach shorts.
"Ugh, you..... Fine. How about this: every twenty draws you make, I'll give you one enhancement fruit as a rebate. Deal?"
"....Five."
Sebastian cut that number down by more than half without blinking.
"Who negotiates like that?!" Angel erupted.
"Take it or leave it. When you really think about it — what kind of goddess drops someone into another world without warning and then ignores them? I refuse to believe every deity operates this way. As long as I don't end up getting assigned to you again in my next life, the moment I make it back upstairs, I am filing the most comprehensive complaint you've ever seen."
For a moment, the entire world seemed to go quiet.
"Is... that really necessary? I mean, I do think a guiding goddess should really be providing more benefits to her adventurer.... Fine, five it is."
Something in those words had apparently hit a nerve. Angel's tone went flustered, and her attitude softened at once.
"Now we're getting somewhere." Sebastian gave a small grunt of satisfaction.
With the agreement settled, Sebastian saw no reason to spend any more words on Angel. He turned and headed toward the classroom building.
A short while later, however, Angel's voice reappeared in his ear — pitched carefully, soft and just slightly wheedling.
"So, Sebastian-chan~ what you said earlier... that was a joke, right?"
She asked this with great caution, testing the ground.
"What did I say earlier? And could you possibly not speak in that voice — it's deeply unpleasant and I am not accustomed to it."
Sebastian stopped walking and looked up toward the sky with a mildly puzzled expression.
Angel's voice went rigid for a moment before she caught up.
"Is — is that so, ahaha.... Sebastian, you absolute — "
"Hm?" Sebastian's eyes narrowed in an instant.
"Ah — no, I mean, dear adventurer Mr. Sebastian, you are truly a man of great wisdom.... In that case, I'll leave you to it. Do make use of the gacha system regularly — ta-ta~"
And with that, Angel's voice finally, properly, disappeared.
Sebastian looked up at the clear blue sky and stretched out a long, lazy yawn.
He'd finally managed to put that insufferable little goddess in her place. Immensely satisfying.
He could only imagine how she was stomping her feet and cursing him somewhere out of earshot.
But — well, that was no longer his problem.
He'd secured the benefit he wanted. From now on, there was no need to spend mission points buying enhancement fruits outright — he just had to use the gacha system and wait for Angel to pay out the rebates.
"Shame I already spent points on an enhancement fruit before any of this...."
Sebastian shook his head with a faint trace of regret. The grin spreading across his face, however, was entirely beyond his ability to suppress.
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