CH 277

May 17, 2023

“Are you not going in?”

“You don’t have to make me say it; I know if I step in now, I’ll just die instantly.”

Rinne had only been watching the battle from the sidelines when she exchanged these words with Shuten. She had done nothing from the start of the fight until Sukuna had called for help.

The reason Shuten Douji’s shadow was fighting Sukuna instead of targeting Rinne was because, at first, the target was aimed at Sukuna who was close by. Also, Rinne had not gained any hate because she hadn’t done anything so far. If she were to support Sukuna with magic attacks, barriers, or healing, the target would likely shift after a few of those action. However, at this point that would mean certain death, so she couldn’t move carelessly.

If the shadow attacked, there would be no way for Rinne to survive. Rinne’s current level is 91. Considering that she couldn’t play as long as Sukuna due to handling many cases off-stream, it’s still an extraordinary leveling speed. However, there is still almost a double-status difference compared to a level 170 shadow.

Sukuna can compete against the shadow because she has taken on a powerful physical specialization after defeating three Named Bosses and receiving corrections to her status due to her race-exclusive equipment. Well, Sukuna might be able to evade the shadow’s attacks even with Rinne’s avatar… but that aside, there’s no doubt that a magic class like Rinne would have no chance in close combat. Therefore, it was necessary to carefully provide support without shifting the target.

Sukuna realized this and went to get the target hate quickly, figuring that if she could buy time like that, she’d be fine. The reality, however, is not so sweet. Sukuna may not be aware of it, but her concentration as a vanguard is clearly lacking. To put it bluntly, Sukuna looked dreadfully sleepy, as if she was about to close her heavy eyelids as she desperately endured the shadow’s attacks, which were cute in their own way.

(She’s already past her limit. I’ve pushed her too hard during the BATTLER, and she’s been pushing herself too much since her return. This is one of Nana’s habits, when she’s expected to do something, she can’t help but get excited.)

Rinne struck the ground with her staff while lovingly watching Sukuna, who was barely keeping her head together at her limit.

“There are many ways to do it… but since it’s a special occasion, let’s use a technique I haven’t shown Nana yet. [Summon Thunder Spirit – Izuna].” {Rairei Shoukai: Izuna}

In response to Rinne’s incantation, a legless fox clad in purple lightning appeared from the void. The fox floated around Rinne like a ghost, gently drifting around her.

This is a spirit. And by giving orders to this spirit, a spirit magician can use spirit magic. Seeing Izuna, who approached Rinne like a dog that had become attached to her, Shuten Douji raised a slightly surprised voice.

“Oh, an Onmyo-class thunder spirit? And it’s a named fox-type spirit, that’s quite a rare contract partner. Fox-types generally have quirks… but if you can master it, it’s quite impressive.”

Shuten Douji’s surprise stemmed from the fact that the spirit under Rinne’s control was classified as a very rare type.

☆

Just after the [Defeat the Apostle Battle], Nana was under login restriction for two days due to her [Furious Rage].

In that time, Rinne had secured a streaming slot from early morning and had logged into WLO promptly, leaving the sleeping Nana behind.

“Anyway, I’ve put in 10 million, so I’m going to spin the spirit gacha now.”

<Lol>

<As always, you’re going all out>

<Lol>

<lol>

<That’s 10 million times my annual income>

<↑No matter what you multiply by 0, it’s still 0>

<Spirit gacha #what ?>

<Is Nana okay?>

“Nana’s under login restriction. She’s planning to stream later, so if you want to see her, go check her out later.”

While operating her status card, Rinne watched a pile of rainbow-colored crystals accumulate at her feet and chatted with her viewers.

There’s a term called [spirit gacha] that has been a hot topic in some parts of WLO.

The term originated from the fact that the spirits, which are contracted to enable the use of [spirit magic], are summoned through a random selection process.

Fairies, spirit, or even mysterious beings exist in legends and folklore from ancient to modern times, regardless of the country or region.

From the countless possibilities and unique legends of this world, contracted spirits are chosen randomly.

The required item for a contract is the rare [Spirit Contract Emblem], a special item given to players who can use spirit magic.

Players who have the [Spirit Contract Emblem] can summon uncontracted spirit by preparing a catalyst.

The number of contracts increases as the player becomes stronger, but there is only one contract until level 100.

It’s fine to repeatedly summon until a spirit suited to the player appears or to nurture bonds with the first spirit that appears.

Since the contract can be canceled and the same spirit can never be encountered again, as long as there are enough catalysts for re-summoning, the system is quite flexible.

The basic catalyst is a “Attribute Crystal” or a rare item of similar value, but preparing even one costs tens of thousands of Iris due to its scarcity.

And this catalyst is a valuable high-rare item that can be obtained with real money via in-game purchases. This is why it’s known as [spirit gacha].

“The summoning catalysts are these rainbow-colored crystals. Each crystal will allow for one gacha spin, and each crystal costs 1,000 yen. Fortunately, it is cheap.”

<Wow>

<So, 10,000 spins…?>

<Is there no limit!?>

<What’s even the prize in this gacha?>

<My money sense is going crazy>

<Rinne’s 10 million is worth less than our 1,000 yen>

<Can you do a bulk draw with this?>

“No, I don’t know what I’ll get and I can only do single draws, that’s why I need to do this quickly. I won’t be doing 10,000 draws, but when you’re at my level, even spending on smaller amounts like the 100 or so draws I’m doing now can be annoying.”

<Yikes>

<Please stop your in-game purchase flex>

<What kind of situation is this>

<Well, for Rinne, 10 million is just small change>

<Drawing 10,000 singles would take forever>

<We better get going>

“I’ve seen some information about other attribute spirits as well. There’s no difference in rarity, but there are the most winged fairy-type (pixie) spirits, which are simple in terms of firepower, and animal-type spirits tend to be more support-type. About 90% of them are these two types. Anyway, it’s a mixed gacha with all kinds of fairies, monsters, and spirits from various legends with animal motifs, but at the end of service of a social game, there are gachas with gods from all kinds of myths, so it’s pretty much the same thing.”

<Humans sure do love their myths>

<Myths are convenient when you want to give variety to strong characters>

<It’s a good thing that they’re easy to understand>

“Also, named spirits often have special abilities. The chances are low, but let’s verify that this time as well. I think the summoning method was… um, to hit the emblem with the catalyst.”

Rinne hit the rainbow-colored crystals, nearly 100 of them rolling at her feet as a paid item, against her [Spirit Contract Emblem] in a casual manner.

Then, a magical circle with a suitable shape appeared on the ground, and from within it, a large butterfly appeared with a popping sound. It was obvious that this was a lightning spirit, as it was surrounded by crackling thunder.

“An animal-type. It has no name, and the magic it can use is… defense specialized. Not needed.”

Spirit magic is basically a technique to either “activate magic of [designated] spirit magic skill through the spirit” or “activate the magic that the spirit itself has learned.”

As the former, all spirits have the same specs. This is because the effect of the magic depends on the player’s status, not the quality of the spirit.

Therefore, the latter is more important. It’s about the “unique magic possessed by the spirit.”

For example, the butterfly-shaped spirit that appeared now specialized in [defense magic] such as shields and barriers as unique magic.

Rinne quickly checked the status card, recorded the status while showing it on the stream for just a second, and returned the spirit without making a contract. The spirit, which apparently couldn’t speak, disappeared with a popping sound just like when it appeared.

“Let’s do this quickly, one every 30 seconds. This is going to be a long haul.”

<It was beautiful, though>

<At this pace, it’s 120 times per hour>

<I can’t see the status because she’s just flickering it>

<We don’t even know if it’s a good one>

<What kind of spirit does Rinne want?>

“Please rewind and check the spirit status later on your own. As for me, I’d like a spirit with a lot of cards in its hand even if its individual performance isn’t strong. Lightning attribute magic is already heavily focused on offense, so I don’t need specialized types.”

While checking the comments, Rinne hit another catalyst, and a nameless winged fairy (pixie) appeared.

She glanced at its performance, showed it on the screen, and immediately sent it back. To get through hundreds or thousands of single gachas, she had to keep a good pace.

Pop. Swipe. Pop.

<Even fairy-types have subtle differences>

<These fairies aren’t that cute…>

<They feel like the original mischievous fairies>

<Give us something like Tinkerbell>

Pop. Swipe. Pop.

<A penguin!>

<Looks slow-moving>

<There are quite a few types of animal-types>

Pop. Swipe. Pop.

<It’s a sardine>

<Looks weak>

<Wriggling on the ground…>

<So, there are ones like this too>

<Hurry up and return it>

During the first hour, she managed to optimize the process so that she could perform one cycle in 20 seconds, repeating 150 summonings, getting 90 spirit-type, 58 animal-type, and 2 named spirit.

In the next hour, she performed 180 summonings, obtaining 170 unnamed spirit-type and animal-type combined, 3 unnamed yin-yang animal-type, 5 named spirit-type, and 2 named animal-type.

After about two hours of continuous summoning, she learned a few things.

“Just because they have a name doesn’t mean they’re strong. When you balance the merits and demerits, ease of use and difficulty of use, named and unnamed ones are at a margin of error level.”

<So the conclusion after spending more than 300,000 is this>

<Spirit-type just have a margin of error level differences in appearance, so it’s boring>

<Animal-type is diverse and interesting>

<The struggle with the stress of single summoning>

“If ordinary people were allowed to perform 10 consecutive summons, they would go broke quickly. Therefore, it’s a good thing that they are only allowed to do one at a time.”

While continuing the summoning and taking advantage of any opportunity to show off her wealth to her bored viewers, Rinne noticed that the variation of spirits she got after 200 summons started to decrease.

Thus, the gacha livestream that started early in the morning went through lunch, dinner, and beyond, with the fastest summoning RTA taking place.

In the end, Rinne stopped pulling the spirit gacha after consuming 2 million yen worth of catalysts and reaching 2,000 summons.

☆

Izuna appeared on the 458th pull of the spirit gacha and was deemed a rare and excellent spirit by Rinne, who kept it without exchanging it during the following 1,542 pulls.

As Shuten Douji said, Izuna is part of the rare “yin-yang” category, featuring spirits with motifs of spiritual beings like youkai and shikigami from Eastern folklore.

Izuna’s model is the kuda-gitsune (pipe fox). Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a pipe, but Rinne considers it as just a theme.

In addition, Izuna is a named spirit.

A named spirit in the yin-yang category is quite rare, with either of these features having an appearance rate of around 1% or less.

It was actually strange that Izuna appeared after only a few hundred pulls, so it was natural for Shuten Douji to be surprised.

“Is the training done?”

“It has only been two weeks since we formed our contract. I can’t say it’s well-trained yet. However, today we have a special incentive, so there’s no need to force its use.”

While answering Shuten’s question, Rinne gave instructions to Izuna.

Spirits do not have an NPC-like self-awareness. However, there is a simple numerical value for affection, and if you treat them like pets, their affection will increase.

As their bond grows, the spirit’s latent abilities are unlocked, their magic accuracy increases, and their MP consumption decreases. Therefore, frequently summoning them and using magic helps a spirit mage grow.

Rinne doesn’t have much free time to meticulously meet these requirements, so the bond she has nurtured with Izuna is still in its early stages.

However, there is a way for spirit mages to forcibly unlock a spirit’s latent abilities, regardless of their bond.

“[Thunder Spirit Control: Decree]”

This is a spell for exerting control .

By sacrificing a large amount of affection or offering rare items as a reward, the spell forces the spirit to unlock all its abilities and takes over its control. In other words, it allows one to freely use spirit magic during battle.

“[Multiform Transformation: Tsukumo’s Seven Pillars]”

The unique magic of Izuna, an extremely rare Inyō (yin-yang) system fox-type spirit, is called [Multiform Transformation: Tsukumo’s Seven Pillars]”.

It creates seven clones, each with their own unique magical effects. There are clones for attacking, healing, increasing attack power, and even acting as shields. Its versatility and variety of actions make it one of the best among spirits. This abundance of options was the main reason Rinne couldn’t let go of Izuna.

However, as a trade-off, Izuna’s unique magic has very low power compared to other spirits.

Its power is only about one-fifth that of a spirit-type spirit. Nevertheless, Rinne chose Izuna because of its convenience.

“It really is crazy that it takes 30 seconds to activate a single magic spell.”

Watching Izuna split into seven, Rinne sighed and said this. Although the incantation itself isn’t long, the time-consuming process of appearing and splitting, with its accompanying effects, is a major drawback of spirit magic.

“Well, we’re ready, so let’s dance. We don’t have to force ourselves to win, but we need to do our best since Sukuna asked for our help.”

In her line of sight stood Sukuna, bravely fighting and believing in the words “endure for one minute.”

With the seven clones of Izuna at her side, Rinne directed her fingertips toward the shadow puppeteer, like the conductor of an orchestra.

===*

Trivia: among spirit mages, the nameless spirit-type spirits are the most popular.

This is because they are easy to obtain and have exceptionally high firepower.

TL note:

My hunch is correct, the author really separates the terms of Fairy and Spirit(yousei), well they are not exactly the same anyway… wouldn’t it be strange to call fox shaped spirit a ‘fairy’?

but this chapter cemented it, I think its safe to use ‘spirit’ from now on.