Chapter 25 - Gacha Addiction!

The pale full moon stares down like a giant eye. The dark sky was aglow with luminous city lights. A blanket of stars appeared, stretched to infinity.

It's a beautiful night outside.

At this point in time, Mai was just about to go to sleep. She had already worn her pajamas and everything. But, no matter how long she lay down on her bed, she just couldn't take a rest.

She felt uneasy, like she had forgotten something, but what is it? She can't seem to remember. Therefore, she simply called the system, and asked, 'Ai-chan, is there something I neglected on?' But all she got is-

[H-Hmph! ┬┴┤~•)]

'Awww~, come on, Ai-chan! Didn't I already apologize for what happened this morning?' Mai reasoned, playfully. She knew the system wasn't really mad at her.

[┬┴┤﹏•)?]

'Ai-chan, you're so cute~! Come here~, meow~ meow~!'

[I-I'm not a cat! ┬┴┤∆≦)!]

'So, Ai-chan... Can you tell me?'

[H-Hmph! The host forgot to do her daily mis-]

Before the system even finished speaking, Mai had already sprang up from her bed.

[-sion. Host! Don't ignore me! ┬┴┤Д°)╯ ┻━┻]

She turns her gaze to a clock on the wall. There's still around one more hour before midnight. She then quickly opens her mission tab, and takes a look at its content.

[Mission]

- Incident: Vigilant Yaksha! (Ongoing)

Prize: 29.565.656 Incident Points (Collect?)

- Daily Mission: Help Somebody (0/1)

Prize: 1 Gacha Ticket

Mai was stunned on the inside. 'Helping someone? Isn't that too easy? Can't it just be done unconsciously? Why haven't I done any of that today?' She asked herself, before she instantly recalled, 'Oh... After having breakfast in that restaurant, I isolated myself inside of my room without getting out, and played handphone, just like usual...' It was really sad. Fortunately, she could cook on her own, even if the taste was so-so.

She thus wondered, 'Is that what they call internet addiction? Wait, what about gacha? Am I addicted to gacha? There's no way, right? I mean, I can stop anytime I want to. But it's just not now!' Mai wanted to contemplate it more, but then, she remembered that she still had to do her daily mission.

'I'm so sorry Ai-chan~! Let's continue our chat later! I've got a gacha to pu- I mean, someone to save!' Mai heroically announced, ignoring her word's mistake.

[(╥_╥)]

After changing her appearance into her fake identity, Mai overlooked the door and directly jumped down from her window. She then landed on the backyard, 3 floors below. Subsequently, she leaped off the 2 meters iron railing that surrounded the apartment like a high jump champion.

When Mai was out, she lurked in the shadow, peering everywhere for someone in need without using her ability, sending goosebumps to numerous people.

After searching for a few minutes, she then heard the cry of a child with her enchanted hearing. From the pitch, it sounds like it was coming from a girl.

"Jackpot... I mean... Don't worry lass, I'll come and protect you..." Mai flatly said to nobody.

[Host, what are you trying to convince yourself? (;¬_¬)]

'Shhhhhhhhh!!!'

[ヽ(ー_ー )ノ]

She then arrived at a narrow and barren alleyway. What is it with another alley? It felt like Mai was fated to always find herself into another weird situation, whenever she's in that location.

Traversing through the only damp path that she can find, the wailing noise can be heard as it gets louder and louder for every step she takes, confirming that she's going in the right direction. It also reverberated with the steel walls, bringing about a creepy sound and an eerie atmosphere.

'Wow, is this what I think it is?' Mai asked herself. She's not scared, but excited. Other than herself, she hasn't seen anything that seems supernatural in this world. There are only human mutations and boring science.

But her excitement quickly faded when she turned to the left and saw a little girl sitting on the ground, with her head peering down, her hands hugging her own legs, while her back was leaning against the wall.

From what Mai can discern, the girl has long, messy, and unkempt pale blue hair. She's wearing a plain dress with the same design as what was usually worn by slaves from a fantasy story. Mai also heeds her attention to a small brown horn poking out from the right side of her forehead.

'Wait, I think I know who this girl is. Her name was... was... was... What was it again? Wait, Ai-chan, can you check on the memory from my past life?' Because she forgot, there's only one solution. Ask for help to Syst-emon.

[Sorry, host! I can only read your mind, not checking your memory! (ᗒᗩᗕ)]

'Well, never mind then...' Because of the system's uselessness, ignoring the rather intimidating-

[┬─┬ノ(ಠ_ಠノ)]

-in the background, Mai decided to walk closer and asked the child's name herself.

It was then that she took notice of something weird. Even though Mai has forgotten her name, she still remembers that the little girl was a victim from some sort of human experiment. No, it's not Mai's joyous human experiment, but the tortured kind of one.

However, Mai can't seem to found any scar on her body. It was smooth If you ignored the soil, mud, and other dirty stuff that was stuck to her skin.

The little girl, who heard someone else's footsteps getting near her spot, stopped her crying and warily look up in the direction of the sound. When she saw Mai, she had an absolutely frightened look on her face.

In the child's perspective, what she saw was a figure of a pale woman, having a really long jet black hair, staring at her with a truly cold look that sends shivers toward her spine. Also, the bright full moon in the background didn't help the situation at all. The little girl then remembers what her grandpa told her from the storybook that he narrated.

"Ba-Bakemono! P-Please don't eat me! I-I'm not tasty at all! Uwaaa!" After she said that, the little girl continued her crying, but it was more intensified than before.

As for Mai, she stopped on her track.

'What. did. this. brat. just. said. to. me?' Mai asked herself in disbelief.

[Uh-Oh! (￣□￣; )]

She slowly crept toward the crying little girl, making the already eerie atmosphere became much more alarming.

The little girl knows that 'the thing' is getting closer, but her legs were shaking. She can't seem to stand up and run away from this place. So she stopped trying and resigned herself to what she was, hoping a hero would come and rescue her.

The little girl then felt her neck was being grabbed and she was yanked upward before she died miserably.

Well, that was what she imagined. Mai hasn't done anything yet.

Regardless, she does have a plan to do that. But then, she heard the system's voice.

[Host, remember, gacha! You haven't forgotten about why you're here in the first place, right? (｡ŏ_ŏ)]

Mai calmed herself down. 'Yeah, gacha... Gacha... GACHA!!!' She can't stand it anymore and immediately crouches to grab something with both of her hands. She then clenches it tightly, until it became something that has to be censored if it were to appear on a tv show.

It was an empty can of cola that lies right beside the crying girl. The little girl was startled because of the crunching sounds that were made.

After Mai was done applying her anger toward what was a can, she threw it away, and it landed inside of a trash bin right behind her. She was responsible enough to keep the environment nice and clean, even when she was infuriated.

After that, Mai fixes her gaze toward the girl once more. And then she asked with a flat tone, "Little girl, do you need any help?" From her choice of words alone, it was clear that Mai wishes for this mission to end as soon as possible.

"No! No! I-I didn't need any help! Please, leave me alone... Uwwaaaaa!!!"

"Umm-"

"No! No! Go away!"

"Hello..."

"Uwwaaa!!!"

"Can you please sto-"

"UWWAAAAA!!!!!"

But it didn't seem to be that easy. The system informs her that there are only 3 minutes left before the day's reset. Mai was in a crisis.

'Should I used that to this brat?' Mai reckoned to herself, before she immediately shook her head and refused. She doesn't like it, if she has to manipulate other people's emotions to get what she wants. Even when she did her experiment on the orphanage, she always uses adequate emotion for the situation that happened to them. Perhaps, she'll only use it when there's no other option left.

But it's different from the current circumstance. Mai knows that positive emotions from her ability would most likely stop the girl's crying and make her mission easier to complete.

Still, forcing a happy emotion to someone who's clearly sad wasn't something she requires to do. There are surely many other alternatives that she can work out to solve her current dilemma. It's just that the time wasn't on her side.

When there are only 2 minutes left, Mai still can't seem to talk some sense to the girl. She's not sure if she can make it. But there's one thing that she's sure of. She wouldn't give up.

Because...

'There's no way the dream I saw in the morning has no meaning. It's must be a sign of something. Today's gacha ticket should be giving me Immense luck! Yeah, it most likely would happen, no, it must happen!' That's what Mai believed. It was truly foolish. But it just happened anyway.

So, when there's still no progress, and with just one minute left, she'll just do the usual thing. Violence really is the best solution, after all~

Mai didn't know that, right now, the system is getting worried about its own host's sanity.