Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World

When I opened my eyes, everything had returned to its original state.

The hand of the God of Machinery was projected in its original place, and the body of the Lord of the Clock Castle was pierced by the greatsword.

Lydia, flustered, stood as if to protect me, looking around, while Benny had somehow created a bone-like cage to protect me.

It’s not that their reactions were slow. It doesn’t make sense for a high-level adventurer active on the frontlines to be weak.

It’s just that the hand of the God of Machinery was much faster.

It left some sort of message for me, but beyond that, it didn’t seem particularly harmful, so I spoke in a bewildered voice.

“Uh… I think you can all let your guard down. I don’t feel any pain or anything strange.”

At my words, Lydia glanced back at me and shouted with narrowed eyes.

“But Jonah! Your hand…!”

I glanced down at my hand. My right hand was slightly swollen from swinging the weapon a few times, but otherwise, it was normal.

This much will heal quickly with the additional effect of the Moist Skin Power, so it doesn’t matter…

“Huh?”

I felt something off when I turned my gaze to my left hand.

“My hand…?”

Unlike the intact right hand, the left hand was completely stained silver.

What is this? Please give me back my hand.

“Ahhh!!”

I was so shocked that I screamed and shook my left hand wildly. Of course, since it wasn’t like a drink had spilled, no matter how much I shook my hand, it wouldn’t return to its original state.

“Do you really have to shake your hand like that?!”

Benny, who had been watching from behind, blushed and screamed, but I let it go in one ear and out the other as usual.

Sigh. I just shook it up and down as if holding something in my hand, so why such a reaction?

Shaking my head, I looked down at my left hand once more. A bit more closely.

First of all, the sensation in the hand is no different from usual. There’s no difficulty in moving, and it doesn’t hurt or itch.

It simply feels like only the color has changed. But it’s not like the skin color has changed.

It’s as if something smooth, like a coating of mercury, is thinly spread over the hand, not the skin.

The range isn’t that wide. It’s only from the fingertips to the wrist.

Moreover, it’s not just a simple silver color. How should I put it? Should I say it feels like it’s sucking in one’s mind?

The object itself shines in silver, but the light reflecting off it when it hits the hand splits into vivid colors, making it clear that it’s anything but ordinary material.

Even if real silver were melted or mercury poured into it, it wouldn’t be this brilliant.

…Looking at it, it’s kind of cool.

However, this can’t be it, is it?

That’s because the hand dyed in silver exudes a familiar yet unfamiliar aura… A certain divine power can be felt.

The unfamiliarity must be because it’s my first time sensing the power of the God of Machinery.

Feeling its inherent divine power and exuding an atmosphere as if it’s not of this world? I knew all too well what characteristic that was.

“Power?”

No matter how much I think about it, it’s the characteristic of Power. But in the process of obtaining this, there wasn’t any accompanying pain…

“Aha.”

The hand of the God of Machinery pointed at me, and the moment that index finger pierced my forehead.

For a moment, my mind had wandered elsewhere. If the Power was imprinted during that time, it makes sense that I didn’t feel any pain.

The pain when a Power is engraved usually ends quickly and intensely.

In fact, the method to solve all these questions is simple. If this is truly a Power, the usage method would have been imprinted in my mind as well.

“Let’s see…”

I closed my eyes for a moment and focused my mind. Imagining a scene where I rummage through the bookshelf of memories, organized (or rather disorganized) according to my pattern, searching for a newly added book.

At some point, when trying to find out about externally injected knowledge such as Skills and Powers, I ended up going through this process.

No matter how much is engraved, I can only speculate that it ended up like this because I have taken in too many things that aren’t originally mine.

Although it’s a bit uncomfortable, there’s no confusion in memory or any mix-up when recalling something.

It’s just a rite of passage needed when recalling something for the first time.

Anyway, as I rummaged through, I was able to quickly find the information on the Power, as expected.

“Argetlam?”

It’s a Power with an unfamiliar name. Originally, the Power I had set as the reward for the 3rd Floor was Deus Machina.

A name inspired by the term Deus Ex Machina that you, I, and everyone else knows. It was a Power I intended to for the God of Machinery.

Divine power, mana, aura, or even special minerals or life force would be fine. It had the effect of summoning a cogwheel summon that possessed abilities equivalent to the consumed resource.

Originally, it was set to wildly summon cogwheel soldiers to have a war game against the undead’s onslaught on the 4th Floor.

However, the effect of the Argeltlam I obtained was entirely different.

“Enhancement of tools?”

The method of use is simple. Activate the Power, touch the item you want to enhance, and express your will. That’s it.

The only peculiar point is that the more complex the structure of the tool you want to enhance, the more maximized the enhancement effect becomes.

“Hmm… Is it like this?”

I lightly placed my left hand that was glowing silver on the Minotauros Greatsword.

Vwoom-

With a small resonant sound, the silver light from my left hand transferred directly to the Greatsword.

As if it were a living creature, the silver Power wriggled and enveloped the Greatsword.

Once it completely covered the Greatsword, its appearance changed drastically.

The rough Greatsword, as if made from rock, seemed to have transformed into a design forged from steel.

Holding it in my hand, I could roughly gauge the extent of its improvement in performance.

Durability enhancement, sharpness enhancement, aura conductivity enhancement, mana resistance enhancement…and removal of weight control ability.

Thud!

“Gyaa!”

As I suddenly let go of the now heavier greatsword, it crashed into the ground with a loud noise.

Indeed. So this is how it feels.

Its artificial functions as a tool achieve overall enhancement, but the inherent strength of the material or the Power of another god imbued within seems to weaken.

When I touched the silver blade, the silver liquid-like substance slithered back into my left hand as if nothing happened.

Out of curiosity, I tested it on the Unicorn Dagger as well, but the result was the same.

Its performance as a dagger greatly improved, but the power of the Unicorn’s Horn was almost gone.

“A bit iffy.”

The deeper you go into the Labyrinth, the more you rely on equipment made of special materials.

It makes sense since defeating monsters yields better materials, so why would you waste them?

Naturally, Pangrave’s technology developed to utilize these, and all strategies are based on this.

For example, to defeat a monster called A, a poison refined from the venom gland of a monster called B is effective.

However, completely ignoring this and insisting on a weapon made purely by human hands… No matter how powerful the Power is, it’s inefficient. But.

“If it’s a secondary weapon, then the story changes.”

Hehe, I smiled while looking at my left hand. Specifically, at the small crossbow mounted near the wrist.

At first, it was just an ordinary crossbow, miniaturized in size and power, but now it’s different.

Through its multiple level ups via the gacha, its original form has long since vanished.

Its power is similar to or slightly surpasses that of a full-sized crossbow, it can fire three shots consecutively, and the reloading speed has dramatically increased.

I can assure you that to find a better auxiliary weapon than this, you’d have to look for the top-grade ones used by high-ranking adventurers.

…On this Floor, it didn’t perform much due to its insufficient power, just like the Unicorn Dagger.

Still, judging by conditions alone, it’s a piece that receives the effect of Argetlam directly.

The material itself isn’t imbued with anything magical, nor does it contain the Power of another god, and its structure isn’t exceedingly complex.

With a slightly pounding heart, I tilted my silver-coated hand upward.

Then, the touch of the crossbow on my fingertips. Simultaneously, the silver liquid being absorbed into the crossbow emitted a dazzling light, transforming its shape.

The body extended from the wrist to near the shoulder. The wings of the crossbow also lengthened, connecting the ends of my vision, and the loaded arrow swelled to fit the crossbow, shining in a brighter silver.

Lastly, the unknown devices clinging to the top of the crossbow. But at the end of all those connections, there was a single lens.

Thanks to that, I could clearly tell what it was used for.

“Sniping…?”

With a heart pounding with excitement, I aimed the enhanced crossbow at the distant wall.

Stretching my shoulders straight and positioning my entire body to control the recoil is a bonus.

Feeling like I’m a launch pad for the crossbow, Lydia and Benny try to stop me with giggles from the side.

“Jonah. Can you handle it?”

“You’re barely standing because of the recoil right now. Maybe it’s better to shoot it later?”

“Ha! You don’t get it! Sometimes a man just has to shoot first!”

A ridiculously big gun is every man’s dream, and Doom proves it.

“Let’s go!!”

Excitedly, I pulled the trigger. And then.

Boom!

A sound similar to thunder roared, and a silver flash shot out. Of course, the wall I was aiming at had a large hole.

…But, unable to properly control the recoil, I hit my head on the rebounding crossbow.

Smack!

“Ouch.”

I barely managed to give a thumbs-up as my vision blurred.

Anyway, the result is satisfying.