SSR Waifu Summoner

Just about 8 days left.

That number sat in the back of Nero's mind like an annoying guest who stayed too long.

The 2nd Trial countdown kept moving, and while most awakened people were probably panicking or training themselves half to death, Nero already knew what mattered to him.

First on the list?

More waifus.

Always more waifus.

He had spent enough time in Legendor to pick up on something strange about the skill difference between the locals and his summons.

If he compared any random craftsman or warrior from the city to even his R-tier girls, the gap was obvious.

Not extreme, but definitely there.

His R-tiers were simply better.

More cute…

And definitely more reliable.

… Maybe around a third better if he had to guess.

Is that an exaggeration?

Maybe.

But the pattern is too consistent after some observation so far.

Aria's old explanation floated back to him with that cheerful tone she always had.

[R-tier summons might be the lowest rarity but they are still skilled professionals in their crafts! Do not let their rarity fool you, master!]

It actually made sense.

The word rare still meant something even at the bottom of the gacha ladder.

These girls were not random civilians or your typical professionals.

They were truly skilled professionals, even if not the genius type.

SR-tiers were the truly experienced masters of their fields.

SSR-tiers were the outliers who broke common sense.

But regardless of tiers and usefulness would keep them.

Because in the end, a waifu was still a waifu.

And manpower was manpower.

Every one of them mattered.

Every one of them contributed.

He had no plans to exchange any of them anymore into coins for the shop exchange in the system.

… Right now, though, weapons came first.

'Let's start with relics.'

His hand rested on Dawnbreaker's hilt, the familiar weight still comforting even with everything he knew now.

Aurelia's gift still cut through most things he fought, but after facing SR-tier threats, the limits were showing.

The metal felt like it was one bad clash away from turning fragile.

One heavy hit from something truly dangerous and it would snap.

But throwing it away was not an option.

The sword meant something.

It was the first gift his angel ever gave him.

A reminder of the time when he was weaker and she was the reason he survived anything at all.

'I will figure something out later. Maybe turn it into a backup or just keep it near me as a memento.'

He pushed the thought aside and looked at Luna.

"Ready when you are."

"Already done."

Luna lowered her hands from the last seal, and the magical patterns slowly faded from the dungeon walls.

Her mismatched eyes gleamed faintly as she checked the barrier.

"No outside interference can enter. Whatever your system releases will stay inside this room. Now hurry and do your thing."

"Alright, alright."

Nero laughed lightly and opened his interface.

The familiar dark RGB layout appeared with that soft glow.

The clean style never stopped looking cool, and the moment he saw his ticket count, he grinned.

95 Premium Relic Tickets and 40 Premium Waifu Tickets.

Beautiful numbers from the massacr– ehem… relentless "training" he had been doing on dungeon monsters these past few days.

He moved to the relic tab, scrolling through the menus until something caught his eye.

'Oh? There is a new limited banner?'

===

– Relic Banners –

<< Premium Relic Banners >>

★ Premium Divine Relics ★

<< Time-Limited Weapon Banners >>

★ "Bloomfield of Elements" Relics ★

===

The limited banner glowed with an effect that basically yelled "new content available!", and before he even tapped it, Aria's voice burst out with enough enthusiasm to make his ears ring.

[Master! Master! Aria sees you're checking the new banner! This is so exciting! There are amazing weapons featured this time! Aria can't wait to see what Master pulls!]

Nero let out a short laugh and shook his head.

The system always sounded way more thrilled than he ever did during moments like this.

Almost like she cared about his gacha results more than a program should.

"You're way more hyped than I am, you know that?"

[Of course! Aria loves seeing Master get stronger! Every pull is a chance for something incredible!]

"Alright, alright. Let's see what we're working with here."

He opened the Time-Limited Relic Banner and the display shifted.

Three SSR-tier weapons appeared in rotating holograms, each one clear enough to spark his inner gamer on the spot.

They had sleek designs, stylish but practical, the kind of gear that gave off legendary-drop energy without forcing it.

One is a dagger with curved edges that looked like it absorbed surrounding light.

Another is a rapier so thin it seemed like it could stab through concepts instead of skin.

Then the last is a delicate-looking crystalline staff that pulsed with dense energy.

But his eyes moved toward the object set slightly apart from the rest.

A single UR-tier weapon.

The first legendary he had ever seen in any banner since getting the system.

And it looked broken?

No, not broken in stats but LITERALLY broken as in physical state…

The weapon showed up as a fractured sword, the rustic blade snapped roughly a third of the way from the hilt.

Its jagged edges glowed faintly with something that felt different from the SSRs.

It came off as more alive and strange, yet somehow weaker in presence compared to the others.

'Why the hell is a broken sword UR-tier?'

"Aria, quick question. Why is that thing legendary when it looks like someone snapped it in half during a bad day?"

[Oh! Master noticed the special one! That's not just any broken sword! It's an intelligent, unawakened weapon! Super rare! It's a sword but also a weapon for all!]

Nero blinked.

'A weapon for all. What does that even mean?'

[It's like a morphing catalyst of weapons! The blade can transform into different forms based on the wielder's needs and desires! Right now it's dormant and will need a base, so it looks broken, but once awakened it could become whatever Master needs most in battle! Isn't that amazing?]

He stared at the hologram for a few seconds while the idea sank in.

A weapon that could shift forms.

Adapt to what he needed.

Turn into whatever suited the moment.

'... That is actually insane if it works the way I'm imagining.'

Still, thinking about it would not help. The UR rates were low enough to bankrupt his tickets if he aimed for it directly.

Might as well roll and see what happened.

"Well, no point overthinking it. Let's get this party started."

He picked the 10x summon option.

95 tickets dropped to 85.

*Whoooosh!*

Light shot out of the interface, cards forming one by one with the usual gacha sound that triggered his brain in all the familiar ways.

Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze…

Every single flash came out in the same dull shade that meant R-tier gear.

Nero did not react at all.

'As expected. Let's check the rates real quick just to remind myself why this is a pain.'

He looked over the gacha rate details again to see exactly what he was dealing with…

===

[ Gacha Rate ]

- R: 97.949%

- SR: 2.000%

- SSR: 0.050%

- UR: 0.001%

===

"..."

'Right… I forgot, I used all of my luck when pulling for Luna and Valraeth…'

The numbers stared back at him like the universe flipping him off, but Nero had played gacha long enough to know that complaining helped no one.

You either pulled or you didn't.

And he wasn't stopping until something golden and shiny appeared.

'Alright, round two.'

He hit the 10x button again without hesitation.

85 tickets dropped to 75.

*Whoooosh!*

Another burst of light came out, another set of cards formed in the air.

Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze.

Not a single silver.

A complete miss.

'Seriously? Not even one SR?'

[... I-It's fine, Master! Keep going!]

'... Right.'

Nero sighed, finger already hovering over the button again.

This was gacha.

You pushed through the garbage until the RNG finally got tired of bullying you, and there was never any pattern or logic behind it outside of chance… or whatever deity watched over drop rates.

'Third time's the charm. Has to be.'

He pressed the 10x summon again.

75 tickets dropped to 65.

*Whoooosh!*

Cards appeared in a row, and this time a different light flickered.

Bronze. Bronze. Silver. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Silver. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze.

Two silver flashes broke the dull pattern, their faint shine marking them as something better.

SR-tier relics.

Nero checked the results.

Two polished top-tier weapons.

Definitely above Dawnbreaker.

But still not what he wanted to see.

'Again!'

His gambler brain was fully active now, fueled by the feeling that he was getting closer even if the odds were miserable.

The kind of feeling that made people drain their savings chasing jackpot dreams they never caught.

Except Nero had tickets to spare and zero shame about burning through them.

He clicked again.

65 to 55.

Bronze spam.

Again!

55 to 45.

More bronze with one silver tossed in like a pity bone.

Again!

45 to 35.

'Come on... give me something good…!'

***

Off to the side, Velraeth's amber eyes narrowed.

Her draconic pupils shifted, activating layers of vision that let her see beyond the usual limits and into the deeper truths beneath the surface.

"Those are..."

The floating cards were not just visual projections.

They carried energy.

Real, solid energy that existed independently from mana or any force she'd encountered in her countless years of life.

Potent.

Concentrated.

Completely foreign to the rules she understood about power in this world.

Her thick tail swayed without her noticing while she studied the phenomenon, her mind absorbing details with the precision of someone who spent millennia perfecting her craft.

'What kind of system creates objects from nothing with energy I cannot identify?'

She had heard his explanation earlier, saying the process was the same as how he summoned before.

Before he entered the dungeon after learning of the SR-tier monster outbreak, he told her and the elf beside her that he would also be doing a "summoning" and asked if they wanted to watch.

Curiosity got the best of her, especially when she saw the rare spark of excitement from the usually proud and stoic high elf next to her.

And now seeing this,

'... What an unusual method.'

The cards turned into real weapons the moment they were selected.

Not illusions or something pulled from storage as pre-made.

It was created.

Formed out of a strange dimension his "gacha" drew from.

The idea bothered her more than she liked.

She did not understand the mechanics behind something so core to this human's power.

But it also intrigued her.

The mystery surrounding him only grew stronger.

'Heh… how amusing.'

A dangerous grin spread across her lips.

***

Meanwhile,

'... So that is the flow it follows.'

Luna stood completely still.

Her pink eye glowed with shifting patterns, magical circuits reacting instinctively as she tried to understand what she was seeing.

She caught flashes.

Fragments of energy flow that flickered for microseconds before disappearing, like observing particles that changed the moment you tried to measure them.

The system's energy traveled through channels that should not exist in normal magical theory.

It bypassed laws she thought were absolute.

It followed principles so unfamiliar that her centuries of research felt outdated in comparison.

'Interesting...'

Luna Arcania rarely encountered phenomena she could not decode within a few observations.

Her analytical skill was famous for a reason.

And today, she identified yet another tiny trait within this strange system her master possessed.

But even so, the structure behind it was still too mysterious for her to unravel.

It was a puzzle that resisted every attempt to solve it, yet teased her with enough visible hints to promise that answers existed somewhere in reach.

Her fingers twitched, the urge to drag Nero into her laboratory and start testing almost overpowering.

She held back.

Barely that is…

***

"YES!"

Nero's shout snapped both women's attention toward him.

His face showed pure excitement, eyes locked on the interface where golden light poured down like a glowing waterfall that made the earlier pulls look pathetic.

Not one card.

… Not two.

But three…!

THREE.!

*Gliiimmm…*

Three golden cards appeared in front of him, each one radiating a level of power that shifted the air in the sealed chamber.

The energy felt heavier than the SR pulls, thicker, carrying a presence that made standing close to them slightly uncomfortable.

*Woooosh…*

A sudden breeze blew through the room, displaced air reacting to whatever the system was dragging into reality.

Velraeth's eyes widened a little, her draconic senses detecting the change in pressure.

Luna's gaze sharpened, magical patterns inside her vision intensifying as she tried to capture every possible detail.

But Nero either missed their reactions or simply did not care.

His full focus was on the three golden cards hovering in front of him, his grin stretching wider than sanity allowed as his gambler instincts hit peak satisfaction.

'Three SSRs in one pull?! This is absurd!'

Even he could hardly believe it.

The odds were ridiculous.

He probably had a better chance of getting hit by an asteroid at this point.

In fact, Nero was sure he had already used up all his luck when pulling for Luna, only to end up getting her and Velraeth at the same time though…

But turns out he was wrong this time.

Because here they were, three legendary weapons waiting to be revealed. His hand moved toward the first card, anticipation making his pulse rise.

"Alright... let's see what we got."

He reached out.

And the golden card pulsed once in response.