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"Damn it… the system didn't seriously stick me with a haunted building, did it?"
Staring at the structure smothered in black, chilling energy, Asher swallowed hard.
"So, Kagura, what's going on here exactly?"
In response to his question, Kagura, the system spirit, answered calmly.
[Host, all identities and residences assigned by the system are randomized.]
[As for why this situation has occurred, even Kagura doesn't know.]
Hearing that, Asher didn't even know what to say.
Figures. A system tied to one of those infamous three-letter gacha games.
It never learns the good things, only the worst habits.
By now, it was already past midnight.
If he didn't go in, he'd be sleeping on the streets.
After weighing his options, Asher decided to enter the building and take a look.
Surely he wasn't unlucky enough to run into a final boss before even leaving the beginner zone.
Besides, he still had an unused reward.
With that thought, he scanned the surroundings and found a relatively hidden corner.
"Kagura, use the beginner ten-pull!"
[Ding! Beginner ten-pull activated. Drawing now…]
A rustling sound like talismans fluttering in the air echoed around him.
At his feet, a five-pointed star formation lit up.
Moments later, several oddly shaped white silhouettes appeared around the summoning circle.
After who knew how long, when the light of the formation finally faded, five bizarre figures of different shapes, sizes, and builds came into view.
[Ding!]
[Beginner ten-pull successful!]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained shikigami: Lantern Ghost, Parasitic Soul, Tomb Robber Imp, Broom Spirit, Mountain Bunny (3-star), and Spirit Scroll ×3!]
Asher snapped out of his daze when the system's voice rang in his head.
He looked at the five shikigami he had summoned and wore the expression of someone who had just swallowed a fly.
Wasn't a ten-pull supposed to guarantee at least one SR?
Forget an SR. What the hell were Spirit Scrolls?
Among these summons, aside from the ever-reliable Mountain Bunny, the rest were bottom-tier shikigami. Even in his previous life, they would've been nothing more than fodder.
Sensing his frustration, Kagura spoke again.
[Host, the system's gacha has no pity mechanic. All rewards are completely random.]
[If multiple copies of the same shikigami are drawn, their star level increases accordingly. For example, you drew three Mountain Bunnies, so it is now 3-star.]
[Each shikigami has a maximum of 6 stars. Once maxed, it will no longer appear in future draws.]
[As for Spirit Scrolls, they are required to summon guardian spirits. Once you collect 100 scrolls, you may randomly summon one guardian spirit.]
[Guardian Spirit List: Azure Dragon, White Guardian, Black Panther, Peacock, Ghost Trooper Division.]
[Ding! Since the Host has obtained shikigami, the status panel is now unlocked.]
[Host: Asher Onmyoji Rank: BeginnerSkills: Basic Techniques, Word Spirit: BindInventory: Onmyoji Robe ×1, Spirit Scroll ×3]
[Shikigami List:N-rank: Lantern Ghost, Parasitic Soul, Tomb Robber Imp, Broom SpiritR-rank: Mountain Bunny (3-star)]
(Shikigami rarities: N, R, SR, SSR, SP)
"..."
Asher stared at the flood of information in silence, taking a long time to process it all.
"Well… having something is better than having nothing."
At least he now had five shikigami. That alone was a massive boost in combat power.
And honestly, even if the system claimed there was no pity system, if he eventually maxed out all low-tier shikigami to six stars, every future pull would have to be high-tier. It was a kind of twisted pity system, just with a brutal cost.
How hard it would be to earn gacha pulls, he had no idea. That was a problem for after he survived tonight.
After briefly checking the abilities of each shikigami, Asher waved his hand and stored them all in the system space.
Once everything was ready, he looked again at the building shrouded in black energy.
He took a deep breath.
Then he stepped inside.
The moment he entered the stairwell, an even colder aura wrapped around him, making him pull his clothes tighter.
Worse, he felt it. A faint, almost imperceptible gaze, watching him from the dark corners.
There was no turning back now.
With that thought, Asher kept climbing without hesitation.
He reached the third floor in one go. The cold only intensified.
But nothing happened.
That made him uneasy in a different way.
Had he misjudged things?
Was this building just creepy, not actually haunted?
With that thought, he soon arrived at the fourth floor.
The system-assigned apartment was at the very end of the hallway.
Stepping out of the stairwell, Asher lifted his head and saw the long, desolate corridor stretching into darkness.
The blackness at the end felt like the gaping maw of some enormous beast, silently waiting for its prey to walk in.
It was deep into the night. The surroundings were unnaturally silent. Even the faintest breeze drifting through the corridor sounded loud.
Asher frowned.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he moved forward.
There didn't seem to be many residents in this building.
On the first three floors, he had occasionally seen shoes placed outside some doors.
But the fourth floor was completely deserted.
He walked past more than ten doors, and none of them showed any signs of recent habitation.
That only confirmed his suspicions.
Even without seeing anything directly, something was definitely wrong with this place.
The building wasn't located in some remote area. There was no way it should be this empty.
Yet apart from a handful of residents on the lower floors, the fourth floor was barren. And there were still the fifth and sixth floors above.
As Asher continued thinking, drawing closer and closer to the room assigned to him—
Suddenly.
A sound came from behind him.
His foot froze in mid-step.
"....."