Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 33: Hungry Pups

"Ten rolls!"

Cecilia’s rolling command now sounded more like a threat, gritted out through teeth clenched with the fury of someone being financially and spiritually extorted by a capricious, cosmic slot machine.

"Grrr... Again! Ten rolls!"

The metaphysical points vanished into the void. The whirl of light and sound in her mind’s eye was a taunt. Nothing. Again.

"Oh... please, come on..."

"Ten rolls!"

She was a gambler on a losing streak, chasing the dragon of a four-star recipe.

DI-DI-DING!

The different chimes. Brighter. Golden light erupted in her vision.

[Five stars Oathran Alicei!]

Well. At least this dragon was expected. She’d been awaiting the next bond copy of her own husband for a while now. She didn’t feel joy, just a squint of disgust at the system that had, once again, made her hit the hard pity.

And still no potion recipe, despite the big, flashy "RATE UP" banner that was clearly a lie. Yes, yes, statistically, getting a specific four-star item in the gacha pool was harder than getting the guaranteed item. But you understand, right...?

Scammy!

[Resonating Bond Copy...]

[Rank 3: Telepathy, unlocked!]

"Huuuuuh, liar, liar," Cecilia frowned, the expression of a consumer reviewing a product that didn’t match the advertisement. "You said I could read his mind, not telepathy. This is different than promised."

DING!

[You may still read his mind through telepathy!]

...Well, actually, that made sense. She’d been suspicious since Rank 2, ’Sense Sharing,’ had also turned out to be a mutual affair.

She sighed. This was more fair, perhaps. She’d have to tell Oathran about this later. The idea of her thoughts potentially leaking back to him was... complicated. What if he heard her mentally cursing the system’s entire bloodline?

"Come on, we need another ten ro—"

"Excuse me, lady..."

A gruff and hesitant voice cut through her internal gacha-induced meltdown.

She turned. Towering over her were three werewolves in their half-beast forms, a wall of muscle, fur, and poorly-contained nervous energy. They didn’t look threatening. They looked... shy. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Their massive shoulders were hunched, their ears were flattened against their heads, and their claws, which could probably shred a tree trunk, were fidgeting awkwardly.

Ah.

"Aren’t you... the three guys who followed Lord Dawnoro to cross the river?"

These were the very same overgrown pups who had, with a stunning lack of self-preservation, been about to approach her by the river, seeing her seemingly alone.

Their advance had put her on high alert at the time. A lone woman in the wild had to assume the worst. For all she knew, they were bandits with a fur coat addiction.

"Lady, we were sent by Lord Arkai to apologize," the tallest one blurted out, his voice a gravelly rumble that tried and failed to sound meek.

Cecilia blinked.

Apologize?

"At the time, when we were about to cross the river, we smelled something delicious," the second one added, then flinched as if realizing how that sounded. "Uh... no, no, it wasn’t you, it was what you cooked on the fire!"

Cecilia tilted her head. Oh. The elk meat...?

"We were thinking about asking you what you were cooking there, and we were rude. We shouldn’t have disturbed you."

The trio, Joric, Stig, and Bram, though she didn’t know their names yet, stood there. Seeing a lone, gorgeous woman cooking something divine in the middle of the woods, their brains had apparently short-circuited, bypassing all common sense.

They’d forgotten she could be a forest nymph luring them to their doom, while also forgetting their own intimidating, hulking appearances.

"We didn’t mean to intimidate you or threaten you. We were... actually just kinda hungry..." the third one admitted, scratching the back of his head with a claw that could gut a bear.

Cecilia raised her eyebrows, a snort of laughter escaping her before she could stop it. "Pfft..."

Hungry pups...

All that tension, all her readiness for a fight... They weren’t monsters or threats, just three big, dumb, snack-driven himbos who had gotten a stern talking-to from their alpha.

"It’s okay, I get it now," Cecilia nodded, a genuine smile finally softening her features. The truth was, the moment she’d seen their alpha, that imposing, black-haired man, lead them away with a respectful nod, the tension had already bled from the situation.

She hadn’t known who he was, but the gesture spoke of a pack with discipline, not just brute force. It had been a misunderstanding.

"I will cook you all something delicious after we are done with the rescue and body retrieval work," she declared, promising treats to a group of very large, very earnest children. "For now, help me distribute something."

The three werewolves Joric, Stig and Bram, widened their eyes at the promise, their tails giving an involuntary wag. But the gesture was followed by a sad smile.

Her immediate pivot back to the grim work at hand and their shared priority had forged a bond of respect. She was one of them at this moment, shoulder-to-shoulder in the ashes.

"Please use us, Lady. What do you want us to distribute?"

Cecilia closed her eyes. With a focused thought, she liquidated her assets. Every last gold coin from her inventory, every stray gold from pouches acquired, all of it was converted into capital for the system’s bargain bin.

She purchased three hundred and twenty-seven vials of the Three-Star Healing Elixir.

A golden light streamed from her chest. From that light, the vials materialized. Not in a clumsy pile, but floating, cradled in the air within the circle of her arms. The sight was so inherently divine, so out of place in the monochrome devastation, that it commanded a hushed reverence.

All around them, the relentless activity of the rescue site ground to a halt. Shovels and claws stilled. Conversations died mid-word. Every head turned, every eye was drawn to the woman standing amidst the ruins, her arms full of gently glowing light.

Including Oathran and Arkai, who had just returned from their grim sweep of the wilds.

While their faces full of weariness from finding too little, they stopped in their tracks. Two powerful leaders were brought to a standstill.

Oathran’s eyes warmed.

Again.

She’s doing miracles again.