An Ordinary Civil Servant’s Transfer to Another World A Gacha-Dependent Life Relying on Luck
I headed out to the town early in the morning, aiming for the apothecary.
Yesterday, I made a profit by scouring stalls for hidden gems, but without items to source, there’s an inherent limit to what I can achieve.
Today’s goal was to explore the possibility of making money using medicinal herbs, potions, and other drug-related items.
There was only one apothecary on the town’s main street. Conversely, since there was only one, it explained why medicines were also being sold at outdoor stalls.
Upon entering the shop, shelves were lined with bundles of medicinal herbs, potions, antidotes, stamina recovery medicine, and small bottles containing suspicious powders. Each item had a small tag attached, displaying its price.
“Welcome! What are you looking for today?”
The shopkeeper greeted me with a warm smile.
“Let me take a look around the shop.”
To investigate prices, I carefully examined the shelves.
My eyes landed on bundles of medicinal herbs at the end of a shelf, priced at one silver coin each.
Using my Appraisal skill, the display read 【Healing Herb】. It was in demand as a material for stamina recovery, but its quality was average.
Next to it were potions being sold for five silver coins each—these were finished products.
What caught my eye next were antidotes. Bottles of pale green liquid were neatly arranged, priced at eight silver coins each. Using my Appraisal skill, their quality ranged from average to intermediate.
“Hmm… I see.”
Unlike the outdoor stalls, the items here were more expensive but came with guaranteed quality.
“Thank you. I’ll come again.”
After thoroughly touring the shop and understanding the prices and inventory, I left to check if I could find similar items at cheaper prices at the outdoor stalls.
The stalls were bustling with energy.
Merchants displayed their goods, and customers crowded around, voices flying back and forth. Amidst this, I walked around, searching for stalls selling medicinal herbs and potions.
“Hey there, how about these medicinal herbs? Six copper coins per bundle!”
The first stall I came across belonged to a merchant selling a variety of miscellaneous items.
Taking his suggestion, I picked up a bundle and used my Appraisal skill. The result displayed: 【Healing Herb (Low Quality)】.
“Thank you. I’ll keep looking around.”
After thanking the merchant, I moved on to other stalls.
Soon, I found another merchant selling the same herb for eight copper coins per bundle.
Upon appraising it, the result showed 【Healing Herb (Average Quality)】. The quality matched what I’d seen in the apothecary, but the price was much lower.
Next, I noticed antidotes in small bottles, priced at four silver coins each—one silver coin cheaper than in the apothecary. Appraising them revealed their quality was “slightly lower.” While inferior to the apothecary’s stock, considering the guild’s 20% commission, there was still a slim chance of making a profit.
“Hmm… Is it worth testing? The effort-to-return ratio seems too low.”
If I were an adventurer in need of herbs, buying cheap but decent-quality ones from stalls would be a valid choice. However, it seemed that medicinal herbs and potions weren’t suitable for generating significant profits like yesterday’s finds.
With the guild’s 20% commission and the perishable nature of these items, bulk purchases wouldn’t yield substantial returns.
“So, I’m back to square one…”
This was troubling.
So far, I’d earned three gold coins and two silver coins. I still needed around twelve more gold coins. My deadline was tomorrow evening. I only had the remaining hours of today and all of tomorrow left.
Pulling out my notepad, I listed possibilities.
High-value items:
- Special weapons or armor
- Special recovery potions
- Noble clothing (unlikely)
- One-of-a-kind items from stalls
- Slaves (unlikely)
- Gacha (last resort)
“Gacha, huh?”
In my mind, I desperately weighed the possibility.
If I threw all twenty gold coins I currently had into gacha pulls, I could perform two 11-pulls, netting me 22 items or skills. Among them, there were sure to be some high-performance items. Selling those might help me reach my goal.
But…
“The risk is just too great.”
The danger of selling gacha-generated items in this country was immeasurable.
Most of the items I’d seen in town were common relics, typical of dungeon drops. If I were to sell a high-performance gacha item here, it would stand out immediately due to its unnatural qualities. That was the problem.
Selling it in this town would be fatal. If I were in a neighboring country, I could pass it off as a random dungeon drop with some excuse, but in this town, such excuses wouldn’t hold water.
“Gacha really is the absolute last resort.”
Another issue was the risk of appraisal failures.
The 【Swiftwind Bracelet】 had been deemed unsellable in this town.
Given that even a small hammer couldn’t be appraised by the minister, the possibility of unappraisable items couldn’t be ruled out.
“If only this were a magical mallet from Japanese folktales…”
――――――――
【Old Small Hammer (R)】
Grants a weapon or piece of armor with an empty slot some kind of ability. When wielded by someone skilled in blacksmithing, the effect of granting abilities significantly increases. Limited to five uses; three uses remaining.
――――――――
“Wait a minute… High-priced items in this town right now… special weapons or armor, perhaps?”
“Could it be that I can use this hammer to add new abilities to weapons with empty slots? The minister’s failure at the castle might’ve been because he used it on ordinary weapons…”
The hypothesis excited me, my heart racing.
Was this hammer just an old tool, or did it hold some special power?
If this hypothesis was correct, it could be a huge opportunity.
“I’ll bet on this hypothesis.”
With that thought, I headed toward the town’s weapon shop.
In terms of versatility, weapons were preferable over armor.
Entering the weapon shop, swords and spears lined the walls, catching my eye.
Among them, the most striking were the expensive swords.
“Hello, what are you looking for today?”
The shopkeeper greeted me.
“I’d like to see swords with ability enhancements.”
The shopkeeper looked slightly surprised but brought out several swords from the back.
“These are ability-enhanced swords. They cost around six gold coins each, but the quality is guaranteed.”
I picked up one sword. It looked like an ordinary steel sword, but using my Appraisal skill revealed its details.
【Steel Sword (Slot 1: +3 Strength)】
“I see, so this is an ability-enhanced sword.”
It was shaped like an ordinary steel sword, but it had a strength-boosting effect in its slot. Adventurers would kill for such a weapon.
Priced at six gold coins, it was close to the lowest price for ability-enhanced swords.
What if there were weapons with empty slots in this shop?
Suppressing my excitement, I decided to appraise every single weapon in the shop.
One by one, I used my Appraisal skill on swords, spears, axes, bows, and more, carefully checking their information.
【Steel Sword (No Slot)】
【Iron Knife (No Slot)】
【Wooden Bow (No Slot)】
Every weapon I checked lacked slots—they were all just ordinary weapons.
“Damn it, is this all they have? Just regular weapons?”
Appraising quietly drained both my stamina and mental energy.
By the time I realized it, evening was approaching, and closing time was near. I had appraised nearly 100 weapons, but none had empty slots.
“Sorry, customer, we’re closing soon. Please head out.”
“Sorry for staying late. Thank you.”
Despite my words, the reality of leaving empty-handed weighed heavily on my chest.
As night fell over the town, I trudged back to the inn.
Past closing time, there was nothing left to do.
“Not a single weapon with an empty slot…”
The higher my expectations had been, the greater my disappointment now.
Was this hammer truly capable of granting abilities, or was it just a swing and a miss? Without answers, I collapsed onto the inn’s bed.
“Tomorrow’s the last day. I’ll have to think of another way…”
Should I just throw everything into gacha?
Exhausted from two full days of constant appraisals, I didn’t even have the energy to jokingly pull up the gacha screen and instead fell into a deep sleep.