Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 47: Unprepared
"TELEPORTATION?!" Cecilia shrieked. "WHAT?!"
First, it was Sense Sharing. Then, it was Telepathy. Now it was instant, cross-continental personnel delivery?
"How could these abilities become more and more ridiculously overpowered?" she asked, clutching her chest as if her non-existent heart might give out.
[But remember, Cecilia, since you still have a low Love Affinity Level with Five Star Oathran Alicei, Ranks 4 and above will be difficult to manage effectively. You can lose too much mana in the process!]
[Please be careful!]
That, at least, made a sort of sense. Sense Sharing and Telepathy were passive skills. Summoning a dragon from another kingdom probably required a greater mana output.
"I assume... if Oathran knows about this, he can also summon me to him too?"
DING!
[Correct!]
Wonderful. So not only could she accidentally yoink him from anywhere, but he could, in a fit of pique or passion, pluck her from any given moment and plop her directly into his lap. The potential for social catastrophe was infinite.
She took a deep breath. The banner was still live. The recipe was still out there. Panic later.
"Alright," she said. "Let’s continue rolling."
DI-DI-DING! 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
"WHY?! IS THERE NO LIMIT FOR ME TO LOSE 50/50 IN A ROW?" Cecilia cried.
DI-DI-DING!
"Finally," she breathed. "Now, more rolls."
DING!
"Here we go! The recipe! Thank youuuuuu!"
DI-DI-DING!
"Oh! Early! Let’s go!"
DI-DI-DING!
"AH! WHY?!"
DI-DI-DING!
Finally, after 260 rolls, proving she had the kind of luck that would make a black cat cross its own path, the last chime echoed.
[Resonating Bond Copy...]
[Rank 5: Skill ####0011 01101000 01100001 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100111, unlocked!]
Cecilia blinked.
Eh?
[Resonating Bond Copy...]
[Rank 6: Me#### #####010 01100101 01100001 01100100 01101001 01101110 01100111, unlocked!]
This... wasn’t right. The notifications were glitching, large portions of the ability names replaced by strings of binary code.
[Resonating Bond Copy...]
[Rank 7: S### ######01 01100101 01110010 01100111 01101001 01101110 01100111, unlocked!]
"What is this... huh? Error again?" she muttered, leaning closer to the translucent screen. "But why? Didn’t I get the copies fairly?"
She’d paid the toll in rolls and sanity. The product should be delivered intact.
DING!
[Congratulations! You’ve obtained Hidden Achievement: All the Way!]
[Met specific condition: Fully ranking up your bond with a Love Interest using only their exclusive banner!]
"Huh?" Cecilia’s brow furrowed. "Isn’t that supposed to be the normal way to play this...?"
Since when was using a love interest’s banner to get the love interest considered a hidden achievement?
DING!
[Congratulations! You’ve obtained Hidden Achievement: Emotional Roller Coaster!]
[Met specific condition: Fully ranking up your bond with a Love Interest before reaching Love Affinity Lv. 25!]
Something was amiss. Hidden achievements for doing things in an unusual reckless order. She’d brute-forced a deep bond with raw rolls before cultivating the foundational affection to support it, huh?
DING!
[Congratulations! You’ve obtained Achievement: Emotional Whale!]
[Met specific condition: Fully ranking up your bond with a Love Interest!]
The final, bluntly named achievement landed. Then came the explanation.
[We are sorry, Cecilia. Because your Love Affinity level with Five Star Oathran Alicei is too low, the last three Rank abilities of Five Star Oathran Alicei will not be accessible.]
Hmm... So it wasn’t a glitch. It was a lock. The abilities were there, fully unlocked on some backend server, but shrouded, inaccessible, waiting for a key she didn’t yet possess.
"When can I access them?" she asked, her voice flat.
DING!
[You can access them when you’ve levelled up enough! The upper ranks require a deeper affinity connection between you and the Love Interest!]
So, she bought the premium package, but she hadn’t read the instruction manual. She needed to spend time with her dragon. Talk. Hold hands. Build a life. The fancy powers come later.
She needed more time. Not rolls, not currency, but the slow and mundane currency of shared moments.
Cecilia leaned back. It was actually already overpowered enough with four ranks. Sense Sharing, Telepathy, Summon... she had a psychic link, a direct hotline, and a dragon delivery service to a man she’d known for a week. What more could she possibly need on a Tuesday?
She needed to be satisfied with it for now.
But this... this felt like unpreparedness.
Could it be... they never thought she’d get his bond copies this quickly? That she would amass enough resources to brute-force her way to the pinnacle of a bond in a handful of days?
The system seemed to have its timeline scrambled. Perhaps it was designed for a slow-burn romance. For a gradual accumulation of affection points over shared sunsets and whispered secrets, not for a tactical nuclear strike of emotional commitment via loot box.
Well... she had to admit, she’d kinda cheated.
The foundation wasn’t laid in the frantic seven days since the bond snapped into place. The emotional bedrock had been poured, stone by stone, over seventeen years of distant and steadfast guardianship.
Oathran hadn’t fallen for the woman she was in this chaotic week, he’d been meticulously cataloging the legend of Cecilia Araceli for nearly two decades. His devotion was a slow-burning fuse that had finally reached its payload, not a sudden spark.
So, in a sense, she’d started the race halfway down the track.
But even with that considerable head start... perhaps it was still quite the anomaly. To go from that latent, long-distance reverence to a fully-ranked, system-verified bond in a week... The system, designed for incremental payments, had simply never seen a withdrawal that large.
Food for thoughts.
It was then she noticed the small, shadowed shape at the doorway.
Rinne was peeking around the frame, his wide, dark eyes fixed on her, full of awe and confusion. He looked like a pup who’d stumbled upon a goddess doing the washing-up.
Cecilia’s contemplative and stern expression melted into a smile. She beckoned him in.
The boy padded forward, his small boots soundless on the stone. He stopped a respectful distance away, his manners warring with his curiosity. "Lord Mother," he began, the title still awkward on his tongue, "have you eaten?"
Cecilia chuckled. "I have. Have you?"
He nodded vigorously.
"I see," she nodded. "What’s your favorite tonight?"
"My favorite... is the elk meat. The one you... pulled from your chest. In the light."
He said it shyly, with the reverent tone one might use to describe a miracle, which, to be fair, it was.
Cecilia’s laugh was fuller this time. Warmer, richer. "Ah, that one. Well, you should thank His Majesty Oathran for that. He’s the one who hunted the elk for me."
She leaned in slightly, as if sharing a secret. "I just cooked it by the river. He has excellent taste in game, your... Sir."
"Really?" Rinne blinked.
She watched as the information processed in his young mind, connecting the majestic, terrifying dragon to the simple act of providing dinner. Like his own dad.
Hmm...
It was a strange bridge to build between a child and a legend. It was better not through tales of fiery breath or epic battles, but through the perfect, tender quality of an elk steak.
"Lord Mother," the boy said, looking up at her. The question had been simmering beneath his awe. "Were you hurt by my Older Cousin, Arzhen?"
Cecilia’s gentle smile stilled. The warm light in her eyes faltered.
But the boy wasn’t looking for a comforting lie. He was clever. He’d seen his father’s fury, heard the hissed warnings, smelled the new, tangled scents of claim and protection. He was connecting the dots.
"Is that why Lord Father mated with you?"
To... take responsibility?
