Whack!

“Ow!”

I gave her a disciplinary smack on the forehead for shouting ‘Mana Stone Duplication!’

“Ouch… That hurts…”

Lim Ga-eul’s eyes welled up with tears more than expected from the impact.

“Of course, if you’re my junior, you can hit me as much as you want… But still, could you tell me why you hit me?”

She asked, rubbing her reddened forehead.

“Do you really not know?”

‘Ugh, this airhead.’

“Yes, why did you hit me?”

She asked, her forehead tingling.

“Because you deserve it. Senpai. I don’t even know where to get a Mana Stone Charger.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, and even if I did find one, it would take about two weeks to fully charge a high-grade mana stone.”

“…Two weeks? Wouldn’t that be enough?”

I stared at her with a cold gaze.

This time, it took about a week to use up a high-grade mana stone completely, so if she used it more sparingly, she could use it for about two weeks. That’s probably what she’s thinking.

But I knew for sure that it would never happen.

Her hopeful scheming now reminded me of myself from long ago.

-Whew, I have to draw this time. I’ve saved up a truckload of items from daily rewards. If I only draw from these, it’s free.

Velvet School Life is a pretty girl gacha game. You have to draw characters and items through the gacha, but theoretically, you can enjoy drawing just from the rewards given for attendance.

-Last time, it took 80 tries. This time, let’s do it in 40! Please, come out this time!

But that’s not how it works.

Human desires aren’t that rational. They’re closer to that of a beast.

-…Oh, right. I’ve already used up all the attendance rewards? Oh, I see, originally I was just going to draw from the freebies. I wasn’t going to spend any more money.

100 draws.

200 draws.

300 draws…

A runaway locomotive.

The sense of emptiness when I burned through my monthly salary in an instant was truly astonishing.

-Phew, it’s okay, right? Even if I draw now, I’m just buying at cost. The expected value was originally 500,000 won…! It’s not a loss! It’s not!

-Already spent 700,000 won, but I can’t stop here. Let’s just fill it up to 1,000,000 won and then draw.

-I’ve already lost this much, I can’t give up now… If I’m going to be an idiot whether I win or lose, I’d rather be a winning idiot!

-Damn it, this sucks… Stop being ridiculous. Stop it!

That sense of emptiness when I blew my entire month’s salary in a moment.

Lim Ga-eul shouting ‘One more!’ after using up a high-grade mana stone in just one week was reminiscent of myself back then.

‘Hmm, but then again, it doesn’t seem entirely bad…’

It was her inherent character to be mild, accommodating, and inclusive, despite screwing up the first button.

Listening to her story, Lim Ga-eul seemed to be addicted to ‘helping others.’

Suddenly gaining power, not paying back when she had been overlooked, and actively using it to help others, even if it could have been used to take advantage of others.

Well, that’s her style, but…

And she probably doesn’t really intend to exploit others.

She probably thinks that if she can’t pay back the gemstones, but she can pay back the money.

Her parents are renewed dessert makers in her neighbourhood, so she probably gets a fair amount of pocket money at home.

“Senior, you do know that the highest-grade mana stones aren’t just readily available jewels, right?”

“Mm, I know… even when I tried to find them, there weren’t any available…”

Since the mana stones inflation hadn’t occurred yet, the highest-grade mana stones available now aren’t items you can simply purchase with money. Eventually, since there’s no one else but me as the supplier, her addiction can easily be cut off just by not providing them.

However, I decided to take advantage of her ‘desire.’

“I understand, I’ll give it to you.”

“…Huh!? Really?”

She didn’t expect permission to come so easily from my mouth, and Lim Ga-eul’s eyes sparkled with surprise as she said.

“Of course, I can’t give it to you right away.”

“Aww.”

She made a disappointed expression again. I chuckled.

“For now, I’ll provide the highest-grade mana stones when we engage in public activities, and I’ll retrieve them once the activities are over.”

During dungeon raids, battles, and practical gate training, her abilities are needed.

This is also a lure.

If I cut her off completely, there will come a moment when she thinks, ‘Hmm, was I a bit crazy? Maybe I can manage with lower-grade mana stones after all.’

So, by allowing her to use the highest-grade mana stones once a week, I keep her constantly thirsty.

“…Then what about during regular times?”

“Endure with lower-grade mana stones using your wit and strength.”

Then she resigned herself to it, as if there was no other way. Ah, you have to listen to people until the end.

“And, based on Ga-eul’s performance, I’ll give her one highest-grade mana stone at a time.”

“…Performance?”

I smirked.

The reason I set these conditions.

Originally, Lim Ga-eul had a mild and inclusive personality, generally possessing a relaxed and easygoing demeanor.

“But you can’t just say that’s good.”

Soup was always diligent in training and self-improvement.

As for Kang Do-hee, well, once he secures the rival position, she naturally will grows vigorously while igniting her fighting spirit.

And Shin Se-hee, as long as you manage her mental state well, she manages her self-discipline perfectly.

However, in the case of Lim Ga-eul, she lacked considerable enthusiasm or will.

In other words, that means the training efficiency is significantly lower!

Moreover, while I had been contemplating how to raise this older sister, this method seemed quite convincing.

“Yes. For every 10-point increase in the total ability score in the status window, I’ll provide one highest-grade mana stone. Oh, of course, excluding mana.”

“!”

You can get mana stones just by increasing your ability score!?

“Huff, huff okay. That’s  good… But why are you doing this much for me…? As you said, it’s not just a readily available jewel.”

Lim Ga-eul asked with a bewildered expression.

A woman who was just shouting for mana stone is hesitating again now that he’s actually giving them. Why does she seem to dislike just receiving them for free?

“Well, at the Utopia Party, Ga-eul is responsible for the speed of dungeon conquests, so her role is quite important. Investing in the highest-grade mana stones wouldn’t be a waste.”

“…Then, isn’t it enough to just raise skill proficiency like now?”

Nonsense.

I tilted my head.

“If you only raise skill abilities, will you be able to keep up with our pace? It was quite challenging for you to catch up this time as well.”

In the last Dungeon, unlike Soup and Kang Do-hee who had sufficient stamina, it was quite a strain for her as a supporter to just keep up with us.

“So, senior, what you need to improve now is not your skill proficiency, but your basic stats.” “…Ah.”

“Repay with effort rather than money. How does that sound? Quite reasonable, right?”

Lim Ga-eul nodded her head as if it had a motor.

“Yes, yes! I’ll work hard!”

“Alright, cheers?”

I lifted my beer glass and lightly clinked it against her empty one.

.

.

.

One drink.

Two drinks.

The drinking session that started lightly with just the two of us went on for quite a while.

Gulp, gulp—

Empty glasses piled up in front of Lim Ga-eul.

Hehe.

Hmm, this nuna drank more than I expected. Not just mana stones, but other things too?

“Junior, these days it really feels like a dream~”

Lim Ga-eul, feeling happy, sat beside me and spoke in a loose voice.

“I’m so happy to have such a cute junior! I never imagined a day like this would come!”

Thunk.

She stopped drinking and grabbed my cheeks with her hands.

“You know, I used to always be a burden to others, right?”

“…Senior?”

“Getting scolded in class, getting scolded in training, everyone sighing when they were in the same group as me… I could see everyone avoiding me, and all I could say was sorry.”

It’s nice that she’s being honest while drunk, but I’d appreciate it if she let go of my cheeks. People are staring, senior.

“But thanks to you, I found out about my abilities and now I can help others with them… I’m so happy because I feel like I’m useful now.”

“Um, I just helped you realize the abilities you already had.”

Even if I hadn’t told her, Lim Ga-eul would have eventually figured out how to utilize the mana stones. She was already depicted using mana stones in the character gacha.

“No, it’s all thanks to you.”

But Lim Ga-eul shook her head, indicating that wasn’t the case.

“Thank you, junior.”

Saying that, she suddenly hugged my head.

Soft.

My face was buried in her chest.

“Mmph!”

I tried to get out, but her grip on my head was stronger than I expected.

“In fact, I’ve always wanted to thank you. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been useless just like in my first year… I would’ve been treated like a nuisance, right?”

“Mmph!”

“And eventually, unable to endure it, I would’ve gone back to my hometown and lived a life making bread. Although I enjoy making bread, I wanted to become a hunter who could directly help people.”

I twisted my face to create a breathing space.

“As I said, I didn’t really do anything…”

Squeeze—

“Mmmpf!”

“You keep saying you did nothing, but you’re wrong. If it weren’t for you, I probably never would’ve known my abilities. Do you know how big a help that is!”

Puhah—! I finally escaped her chest and took a deep breath. Lim Ga-eul looked disappointed.

Then, in a serious voice, she said to me,

“Thank you… junior, for taking care of a useless senior like me. Actually, I called you today because I wanted to say this.”

“…Ga-eul senior.”

I stared straight into her eyes.

“Don’t try to create a mood now, especially when you came here asking for mana stones.”

“Oh.”