Capitalist Monster Hunter - Chapter 11

Exciting Random Box (1)

There was a black box on Yuseong’s lap. A big question mark was drawn on it.

Just looking at the question mark made Yuseong strangely annoyed.

“What’s wrong, Yuseong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Hmmm. Well then, let me explain the random box! There are five grades: lowest, low, medium, high, and top. But, the contents inside the box are the same no matter the grade!”

“Then what’s the difference?”

“It’s all about probability. The lowest grade gives you a 0.1% chance, low gives 0.5%, medium 1%, high 3%, and top 5% to get the best item!”

“Hm. What a ridiculous chance. It’s like they’ve thrown away any sense of fairness straight out into the universe, huh?”

“Haha… It’s… a little low, isn’t it?”

“A little?”

“Sorry. A lot.”

“Good. At least you admit it. Gods really seem to cherry-pick the most annoying ideas for these systems, don’t they?”

Hearing Yuseong’s voice rise a little, Titania’s chatty mood dampened. Even her fluttering wings droop.

She really does look like a puppy when she gets like this.

The chat was buzzing too. Some were calling him out for insulting a system created by the gods, while others were just repeating, “True, true.” Truly, a wide range of gods and spirits had gathered.

Yuseong closed the chat again. It was annoying him.

“All right, now that the distractions are gone, should I keep going?”

“Did you… turn off the chat…?”

“Yep.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to leave it on?”

“Why should I? I’ll turn it on when I want. Should I block their view too, so they can’t peep at me? Titania, that’s doable, right?”

“Yes… but, unless it’s for something super personal, I wouldn’t recommend it. Gods and spirits live for watching the Hunter Channel, you know? If you shut it down completely, they might throw a fit…”

What she was saying made sense. These lazy gods and spirits seemed to spend their whole day watching hunters for entertainment.

They were the same ones, just because it amused them, had sent all kinds of support to Yuseong, who really didn’t have much to offer. It would be Yuseong who’d end up losing if he crossed them.

“Yeah, you’re right. If I blocked their view, they’d go nuts. And some twisted one might throw a curse my way.”

“Ha…haha…”

Titania could only force a laugh, unsure how to respond to Yuseong’s harsh tone.

“Fine. I’ll turn the chat back on.”

Yuseong reopened the chat.

“All right, should I open the box now? Oh, wait, Titania.”

“Yes, what’s up?”

“Isn’t there something where if you open ten, you get one free?”

“There isn’t.”

“If you’re going to copy stuff, do it right. This is half-baked.”

At his words, the chat suddenly started scrolling.

[Goddess of Mischief: Hey, I said we should’ve made it so that if you open ten, you get a bonus!]

[Great Archangel: Why should we follow a system created by humans?]

[666: You’ve copied so much already, lol.]

[Black Star: Agreed.]

[War God: But there’s still a difference between ten and eleven, right?]

The chat was a mess of debate. Yuseong considered turning it off again.

“No bonus, so let’s just open it.”

Exciting!

Yuseong’s heart always raced when he opened a random box. Even though he knew it’d be a worthless item, there was still the hope that something good might come out.

‘Maybe this time…?’

‘Could it happen?’

Even though he knew it wouldn’t, he always opened the box with a little bit of hope.

The sound of his heartbeat filled the hospital room. Yuseong opened the first random box.

Flash!

As the box opened, a bright light burst out… and a broken, rusty sword appeared.

“Oh, come on.”

The effect was grand, but the contents were disappointing.

– A sword that’s not only old but also broken, with only the hilt left. You might be able to sell it to a junk dealer for about 100 won. What might it have looked like in its prime?

He checked the item info with some hope but was only met with disappointment.

“Why’d they even put garbage like this in here? Couldn’t they at least give me a low-level potion or something?”

What were they thinking, putting this junk in a random box?

Even if he sold that scrap, he’d barely have enough for a cheap snack.

“Right. No way I’d get a good item in one go.”

He calmed himself down. With a random box, it was rare to get a rare item right away. And this was just the second-lowest grade, low.

To get anything decent, you’d need a medium or high box. For low, it’d be a miracle to get even a halfway useful trinket.

Yuseong opened the next box.

Flash!

– A sword that’s not only old but also broken, with only the crossguard left. You might be able to sell it to a junk dealer for about 100 won. What might it have looked like in its prime?

“Ah.”

Yuseong’s face twisted as he read the description.

It was that sword again. Last time, it was the hilt; this time, the crossguard.

“What am I, a junk dealer? Why do I keep getting this junk? Next, it’ll probably give me Broken Blade Piece 1, 2, 3, or Broken Scabbard.”

He joked, but it soon became reality.

[<Battered Broken Sword – Blade Piece 1>

[<Lowest Grade Healing Potion> acquired.]

“Seriously… unbelievable.”

Did he jinx himself? The boxes kept spitting out broken sword parts. It was so bad that he felt lucky even getting the lowest-grade potion.

Yuseong was speechless. He never expected such a disastrous outcome. Even if it was low-grade, this was too much.

[Goddess of Mischief: A potion, lol]

[Dragonslayer: Wow… your luck is terrible, huh?]

[Fairy King: Hang in there.]

[666: If I were you, I’d just give up.]

[Black Star: Is this a junkyard or what? lol]

[Earth Mother: Oh dear… poor thing…]

Even the gods were shocked at the dreadful results. They were so bad that even the gods watching thought it was unfair.

[Goddess of Mischief has sponsored <Low-Grade Random Box x 10>.]

[Goddess of Mischief: Hey, Hunter! Big sis felt too bad for you, so here’s 10 more boxes!]

Seeing Yuseong’s devastated expression, the Goddess of Mischief took pity and sent a donation. She sent him 10 more of the same low-grade boxes he’d just opened.

[Goddess of Mischief: Let’s go!!!]

[666: Let’s go to the river!]

[Black Star: Box time!]

The chat exploded with chants of “Let’s go!” and Yuseong pulled himself together.

“Thank you, Goddess. I’ll try again.”

He sincerely thanked the Goddess of Mischief.

“Phew…”

Yuseong took a deep breath, calming his flushed face with a few slow breaths.

“Please…”

He clasped his hands together in prayer.

Praying he wouldn’t see any more junk sword pieces, he opened all 10 boxes at once.

Flash!

[<Lowest Grade Healing Potion x 10> acquired.]

“You guys aren’t human!”

Yuseong let out a roar of frustration.

This was just too much. Ten lowest-grade potions? Sure, it wasn’t more broken sword pieces, but it was still infuriating.

[666: Nope. We’re not human ^^.]

[Black Star: We’re gods, remember? ^^ Pfft.]

[Goddess of Mischief: Wow… this is actually painful.]

As Yuseong huffed in anger, Titania cautiously patted him on the shoulder.

“Um, Yuseong…”

“What!”

Yuseong’s voice was sharp with frustration.

“Don’t get too hung up on the random box results… You still have a lot of points left…”

“Oh, right! The points!”

He still had nearly 100,000 points. That was enough for him to get decent gear and still have some left over.

As he was planning to use his points to get better equipment, the Goddess of Mischief sent him a private message.

[Goddess of Mischief: Hey, why don’t we try more boxes? I’ll help you out ^^]

“What?”

[Goddess of Mischief: I’ll bless you so you can get better items.]

“Why would I trust you and take that risk?”

[Goddess of Mischief: Remember, you might’ve died if it weren’t for the item I first sponsored. Technically, I’m the reason you’re still alive. Isn’t that worth a little trust? Kind of disappointing if it’s not.]

Thinking about it, if it hadn’t been for the Goddess of Mischief’s initial support, he could have been in real danger.

‘Should I trust her…?’

[Goddess of Mischief: Just trust me and go for it~ Even if you don’t, I won’t lose anything~ Whether you do it or not, it’s your choice~ And this is our little secret~]

‘Hmm…’

After a moment of consideration, Yuseong made his decision.

He would trust her.

Yuseong decided to believe in the Goddess of Mischief. After all, she truly was the one who saved his life. She wouldn’t do anything to put him in harm’s way; that’s what he thought.

“Titania! How many points is a low-tier random box?”

“It’s 1,000 points. But why do you ask?”

“I’m going to buy it.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I’m serious.”

“Why? The chances of getting good items from a random box are super low! And you know the chance of getting a top-tier item from a low-tier box is only 0.5%, right?”

“Let’s just try it out.”

“Uh…?”

“Don’t ask too many questions. Just trust me on this one.”

Hearing Yuseong’s words, Titania was taken aback. She felt like she’d made the biggest mistake in supporting fairy history. Now, she was determined to make it up to him by being the best support she could be.

She’d already checked his points balance, selected some recommended equipment, and even shortlisted a few cost-effective techniques for him.

But now, here was Yuseong, saying he wanted to spend his points on random boxes. It was something she could never have expected or imagined.

“Y-Yuseong, please think about it one more time. You’re seriously just going to waste your points. I even found some gear and techniques for you. How about we forget the random boxes and look at other items instead, okay?”

“Didn’t I just say? Trust me this once. I’m sure something good will come out, so don’t worry.”

Titania tried again to get him to reconsider, but Yuseong was resolute.