Chapter 13

‘This is supposed to be a special item?’

Yeah, no. I don’t do gacha. Scoffing, I was about to close the window when the words ‘Check contents’ slipped into my line of sight, and I froze.

“……”

I’d just look. That’s all. Seriously.

With a slightly trembling finger, I tapped ‘Check contents.’ A new pop-up appeared instantly.

I rubbed my eyes.

A hundred million coins?

The smallest amount this box could spit out was 500 coins. The lower the amount, the higher the probability.

And it wasn’t just coins—there was a whole jumble of miscellaneous items mixed in.

There were quite a few items that looked genuinely useful—but also a lot that were just absurd.

‘Hanwoo¹…what the….’

I mean, if I got it, sure, that’d be great. It’d be nice to eat meat again for once.

‘But why in the world would they include something like a hamster-pattern kimchi vest?’

They had to be messing with me. What a vicious system.

And the item I really, really wanted was this one—

This was exactly what I needed right now.

The problem was that the effect was random….

Sure, it could free me from the hamster-pattern roof—but it could also land me with something even worse.

‘What a trash game….’

Would it kill them to let me choose the color? It’s my house!

Still… this random box was unexpectedly tempting.

A 0.100000% chance wasn’t that bad, right? And it was only 100 coins each.

There was, however, a daily purchase limit.

Ten boxes meant… 1,000 coins.

‘And the coins I have right now….’

Damn it.

I’d been restocking household items while living in this place, and this was all I had left.

A bigger, better pot than before, a proper frying pan… If I was cooking for two, those things were necessary.

…Okay, fine. I’d also bought some pretty dishes just because I wanted them. But still! Food tastes better when you eat it off nice plates!

‘My materialism is justified. These were all necessary purchases.’

Muttering like I was brainwashing myself, I did the math.

I had about a thousand coins right now… couldn’t I just buy five boxes?

The contents weren’t half bad, and if I got lucky, I could even hit a hundred million coins….

‘The odds aren’t completely insane, either….’

Yeah. I’d just buy five. That’s it.

Having made up my mind, I put Random Boxes A, B, and C into the cart.

A was red, B was blue, and C was yellow.

I couldn’t tell whether the contents differed by color or if it was just cosmetic.

‘The remaining two… hmm.’

I’d once heard that yellow was my lucky color. Probably just superstition, but still.

“Since I’m choosing anyway….”

I added two more yellow Random Boxes C to the cart and hit the purchase button.

Just like always, five boxes came tumbling out of a black-hole-like void.

“Master, these boxes are…?”

“They’re so colorful and pretty~! Master!”

Lycian and Ninabel, who’d been watching me closely for a while now, crept over, clearly curious.

I lied without batting an eye.

“Items bestowed by the gods.”

“Oh, I see.”

“So that’s it~!”

One was a fanatic, the other an idiot. Thank goodness for that.

“Ahem!”

Clearing my throat for no reason, I grabbed the gold ribbon on the red box. I planned to open them in order: red, blue, then yellow.

‘Please let it be the Roof Design Change Ticket…!’

A hundred million coins would be amazing, of course, but the odds were low.

Thump, thump—

Heart pounding, I lifted the lid of the red box.

And then—

Fwaah!

A blinding light burst out of the box, and the item inside floated up, wrapped in radiance.

As the glow slowly faded, its true form was revealed…!

“…….”

You little—

I almost spewed a string of curses before barely managing to swallow them back.

Hah, haaah…. Calm down. The system might actually be a god—I couldn’t just hurl abuse at it….

Meanwhile, the tactless spirit was happily chattering about how much she liked the hamster-pattern kimchi vest.

“Master~! The god must really love hamsters! Nini likes hamsters too!”

If you like it so much, you wear it. I put—well, more like plopped—the hamster-pattern kimchi vest onto the hamster-shaped dewdrop spirit.

“Whew. Stay calm.”

After taking several deep breaths, I picked up the blue box next.

This time, please—please—let it be the roof ticket….

“…….”

Are you kidding me?

My eyelids twitched violently as rage boiled over. I paid 100 coins for this?

‘For f—‘s sake! Total trash game! Only trash games peddle probability-based items!’

I really wanted to beat up my past self for spending 500 coins on random boxes.

Now there were three boxes left in front of me.

All of them were yellow.

‘…System god, please. I’m begging you. Enough with the hamster pattern.’

On the verge of tears, I opened a yellow box. I didn’t even need the roof ticket anymore—just please, anything but hamster—

“Aaagh!”

In a fit of fury, I hurled the oven mitts. They slapped Lycian square in the face—smack—then dropped to the floor with a thud.

Blinking rapidly in shock, he bent down to pick them up, forcing an awkward smile.

“Well… I don’t think the pattern is that bad. Do you really dislike it, Master?”

Trembling all over, I answered,

“No, it’s not that I hate it… not exactly….”

I’m just angry!

Because I can clearly see how the system is messing with me!

Swallowing my frustration, I opened the remaining boxes. At this point, I didn’t even expect anything good.

“…….”

Well. That was better, at least.

Fine. I’ll eat it gratefully….

Oh—wait. I don’t have any salt!

Grumbling about how you’re supposed to grill meat without salt, I opened the final box.

And out came—

“…!”

I staggered a little from the sheer shock.

The bluish status window still hovered there, displaying those words. Roof Design Change Ticket.

“R-really…?”

The ticket was a glittering piece of gold paper. It fluttered through the air and gently settled onto my palm.

Printed on it in Korean were the following words:

…So it really does exist?

Staring down at the ticket in a daze, I let out a hollow laugh.

My mood had gone from awful to euphoric in seconds… it felt like riding a roller coaster.

And then it hit me—

‘So this is why people get addicted to gambling….’

The dopamine rush is so intense you can’t escape it…! Truly, utterly evil!

‘This is the last time. There won’t be a next time. I’m never buying these again!’

Making a firm vow, I tore the ticket. The shimmering scraps of paper fluttered up like butterflies, scattering multicolored light over the roof.

From the point where the light touched the very top… the roof began to change.

‘P-please…! Just something normal! Please!’

Hands clasped tight, I prayed desperately. And a moment later—

“…!”

Aaaah!!

I jumped in place like a rabbit, screaming internally—no, cheering.

I did it! I actually did it!

I finally changed it to a pretty roof~!

“Master…?”

“What do I do… I’m so happy. I didn’t say anything, but that hamster-pattern roof was driving me insane. Who in the world lives in a house with a hamster-pattern roof? Seriously. Anyway—ah! I’m just so happy!”

At some point, I’d grabbed both of Lycian’s hands and was practically dancing with him.

He looked at me and let out a helpless chuckle, then gently wrapped an arm around my waist, as if dancing a waltz with me.

Spinning smoothly, he lifted me slightly with one arm and turned in a circle.

So strong….

“Why are you so adorable?”

“W-what are you saying? Let go.”

His gentle smile and words made my heart drop into my stomach.

Flustered, I wriggled out of his arms and scurried away.

---

Footnotes

1. 한우 - Premium Korean beef ↩