The holographic screen updated once more.
Rewards:
• 1× SR-Rank Gacha Ticket (Each)
• 1× R-Rank Penalty Ticket (Each)
Staring at the display, both Akira and Erika spoke at the exact same time.
"…What the hell is a penalty ticket?"
Shock spread across their faces. No one had said anything about a penalty.
Selena coughed lightly.
"Well, the Equilibrium Function is… fair," she said. "If you pass, it gives you rewards. If you fail, it will give you punishments."
She paused, then added, "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be."
Akira frowned.
"Can't you just make it give rewards only?" he asked. "Why did you even add a penalty?"
"Listen," Selena said. "As I told you before, I can't make a system that just hands out infinite power with no cost. The old system our family uses works like this, do something amazing or achieve something great, and you get stronger. But it never gives amazing power easily."
She continued,
"So I designed the Equilibrium Function so you get better rewards if you win and get punished if you lose."
Akira narrowed his eyes.
"Then why didn't you mention this to me before?"
Selena shrugged.
"I thought you wouldn't fail a mission this easily. You can't blame me for that, brother."
"…Excuse me?" Akira shot back. "Who was the one who didn't add a way to check mission progression to the system?"
Selena crossed her arms.
"Why does someone who casually operates at three hundred IQ and has perfect memory forget about quest details?"
"That's not how it works," Akira said sharply. "Sure, I have perfect memory, but I still need to actively think about what I want to remember to remember something."
"That's just excuses," Selena replied. "If you really wanted to…"
As they continued arguing, Erika finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Both of you, stop fighting."
Her voice carried a pressure that felt eerily similar to an angry mother dealing with two problem children.
Akira and Selena froze mid-argument.
Erika crossed her arms, clearly irritated.
"If you keep going," she said firmly, "I'll make sure both of you will…"
She stopped.
Her brows furrowed as she tried to think of something threatening.
And failed.
"…I'll punish you somehow," she finished, not very convincingly, but with enough seriousness that neither of them wanted to test it.
The room fell quiet.
Erika exhaled slowly.
"Just stop fighting. We still need to figure out the rewards and the penalty."
"…Fine," Akira muttered, looking away.
"…Fine," Selena echoed.
The argument dissolved just like that.
Erika relaxed slightly, sighing inwardly. They had been completely fine when separated, yet the moment they met again, they immediately started fighting.
She thought with a sigh. "Why do all girls my age have really good childhood friends, and here I got two problem children? Is it my fate?"
Just then, Selena coughed lightly.
"Let's check the rewards."
Akira and Erika nodded and turned their attention back toward the large screen.
They stared at it.
Then stared some more.
But even after a while, nothing happened on the screen.
Selena tilted her head.
"…Why are you two still looking at that?"
"I mean, the rewards," Akira said, gesturing toward the unmoving screen.
Selena blinked once.
"They should already be in your inbox. Check the system."
"Oh."
"Oh."
Both Akira and Erika looked down at their status windows. A moment later, their inboxes lit up.
"…They're here," Erika said.
"So," she added after a brief pause, "who's opening first?"
"I will," Akira said immediately, straightening slightly. "Please be something cool."
He tapped the gacha ticket.
A holographic animation burst to life in front of him, a glowing star falling through space, trailing light as it descended.
Akira squinted.
"…Why does this look like a Genshin gacha animation?"
Selena waved it off tiredly.
"I'm too tired and too lazy to make something else."
"…Understandable." Akira nodded.
They watched in silence as the falling star flared brightly.
Then shattered.
REWARD ACQUIRED
Skill: Golden Rule
Rank: B
A compact skill panel unfolded in front of Akira.
Golden Rule (B)
A fate-bound prosperity skill.
Ensures the user is never troubled by wealth
• Money, assets, and resources naturally gather through lawful and "reasonable" means
• Functions across worlds by adapting to local economic systems
• Does not create wealth directly, but aligns probability so wealth comes effortlessly
Akira stared at the panel.
His expression went completely dead.
"…Why?"
He lowered his hand slowly.
"This is like… one of the least cool skills I could've gotten."
Selena glanced at him.
"Don't be sad. It's not a bad skill. You can get a lot of money."
"I already have infinite money," Akira replied flatly. "Our parents left us that."
"It's not infinite," Selena corrected. "Just huge enough that you won't be able to spend it in your lifetime."
"It's the same thing," Akira said.
Erika leaned in slightly, peering at the panel.
"…Is it a bad skill?"
"No," Selena said. "It's actually really useful for him. He'll never be troubled by money, no matter which world he goes to."
"…Sure," Akira muttered, turning away. "But it's not a cool one. I was expecting something cooler, and I could make money in any world perfectly fine."
"Ignore him," Selena said. "Erika-chan, check yours."
Erika nodded and activated her ticket.
The same falling-star animation appeared before her, softly illuminating her face as it descended.
The light burst, then.
REWARD ACQUIRED
Skill: Breath of the Planet
Rank: C
Her skill panel unfolded.
Breath of the Planet (C)
A fundamental mana-circulation technique.
Absorbs magical energy from the surrounding environment through controlled breathing
• Continuously replenishes mana at a stable rate
• Prevents mana exhaustion under normal combat conditions
• Mana generation efficiency is comparable to a low-output Dragon Core
"…Is it good?" Erika asked, glancing between the panel and Akira.
"That's not fair," Akira said immediately. "That's Archetype: Earth's skill, right?"
Selena looked at him.
"You do realize you got a similar skill to Gilgamesh, right?"
"Yeah," Akira said, pointing at Erika's panel, "but this one is actually cool."
Erika looked back at the description.
"So… is it good?"
"Yeah," Akira said. "With this, you can practically never run out of mana."
"Really?" Erika asked in surprise.
"Yeah. You just gain mana by breathing it in. It's a really useful skill." Akira explained.
Selena added,
"It replenishes mana, not stamina. So be careful when you use it, okay?"
"Don't worry, I will." Erika said she is also a bit happy inside, since she started training way later she mana capacity is way lower than Akira's, so getting this skill might help her close the distance a bit.
Akira tilted his head.
"Why not try it?"
Erika hesitated for a second, then nodded.
"Sure."
Erika took a deep breath.
Instantly, even Akira and Selena felt the mana around them being drawn toward her, flooding into her body and supercharging her.
Erika looked at her hand, sensing the mana flowing through her.
"…This feels powerful."
"It is," Selena said. "It's a perfect skill for you."
"Yeah," Akira admitted. "It's a cool skill."
He glanced back at his own panel.
"…Unlike mine."
"Stop sulking, if you…" Before Selena could finish, a sharp system warning snapped open in front of both Akira and Erika.
Red borders.
Urgent text.
The Penalty Ticket had activated automatically.
The warning window didn't appear for both of them at once.
First.
Akira's system reacted.
A red-bordered screen snapped open directly in front of him.
Penalty Applied — Hoshino Akira.
[Penalty Type: Forced Response Condition]
Penalty: Compulsory Confession Response
When a non–Star Chaser makes a heartfelt romantic confession to the user
• The user must respond verbally with the exact phrase: "I love Emilia."
• This response is mandatory
• Emotional state, intent, or actual feelings are irrelevant
• Penalty remains active until system conditions are satisfied
• The confessing individual must not be aware of the penalty
Akira stared at the screen.
"…Huh?"
He blinked once.
"…What?"
This was not the kind of penalty he had been expecting.
Erika, who had also read the window, slowly turned her head toward him.
"…Who is Emilia?"
Akira didn't answer. He was still staring at the red-bordered text.
"…Why this?" he asked instead, looking toward Selena.
Selena shrugged lightly.
"Well, the mission failure wasn't that serious. Only two demons survived. Physical punishment would've been too much, so the system went with emotional damage instead."
"…Oh."
"Forget that," Erika said, stepping closer. "Tell me who Emilia is."
Akira finally looked at her, confused by her reaction.
"Why is she freaking out?It's a pretty famous line…"
Then it hit him.
"…Oh," he muttered. "Right, it's still March 2016 in this world."
Selena nodded. "That anime isn't out yet. Though the web novel exists, I guess."
"What are you two talking about?" Erika asked.
"Emilia is an anime character," Akira explained. "The anime isn't out yet, but the line 'I love Emilia' is… well, it's a famous line from it."
He hesitated, then added,
"I'll explain it to you later."
Then he pointed forward.
"Look. Yours is showing."
Just then, Erika's system reacted.
A new window unfolded in front of her.
Penalty Applied — Erika Sendo
[Penalty: Social Compliance]
The user must publicly embarrass the person she loves the most
• The location must be a public place
• The audience must not be Star Chasers
• Must be witnessed by at least 100 people
• Embarrassment must be genuine
• Failure to comply will keep the penalty active
Erika stared at the screen.
Her mind went completely blank.
For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.
Even Selena and Akira froze as they read the text.
Then all of them said at the same time.
"…WHATTTT?"
That's all they could say about the absurdity of the penalty.