Vol. 10 - Chapter 484 - Grind for the ‹Gold Chest›! May the blessing be upon us!

"Alright guys, now part ways for our Nico-sama! It's time for the sparkling ‹Gold Chest›! Please grace us with a beaming smile!"

"Wahahaha, just you wait! This venerable would be putting a smile on your face right now!!"

Nico quickly jumped aboard the flattery train I started as she aims her gun at the target. She struck a cool pose and pressed the trigger of her handgun, dealing a normal attack to the ‹King Dinosaur›, reaping its last silver of health.

"Grrrr....raaw.........."

‹King Dinosaur› HP immediately chugged to 0 and it dispersed amidst the sea of effect.

At the same time, it also activated Nico’s skill ‹Last Attack Bonus›, which required the user to deal the last blow. The effect of the skill was just as it implies, as long the last strike was made by the user of skill, it would buff the drop chance, making it easier to get ‹Silver Chest› or ‹Gold Chest›!

Because she had already maxed the ‹Last Attack Bonus›, it was going to be big buff too!

It's really like a dream comes true with such handy skills. Other types of skills typically stand to improve the ‹luck›, which basically means it's still the probability game at the end. But compared to the restrictive condition ‹Last Attack Bonus› had, it instead grants an increase in reward for the user once they successfully cleared the condition.

It was also why we're now seeing—

"Oh, two ‹Silver Chest›......"

"Let's re-do~!"

Ah, well. It's a normal scenario.

Hey, ‹Silver Chest› were also rare, let alone we now have two when the typical was one chest to drop. Alas, the only regretful thing is ‹Silver Chest› don't drop ‹Job Ascension Ticket›.

"We're looking forward to your next beaming blessing, Nico-sama!"

"Aye, leave it to me! That said, I think I am fine with no -sama. Sierra-kun's eyes are scaring me."

Heh, now it was rare for Nico to actually just treat her like other members. I also glanced at Sierra's way, but she looked no different to me. Hmm, maybe she's tired?

Anyway, we grabbed the drops of ‹Silver Chest› and moved to another round. Hehe, I will see how long you're going to hide, my sweet-sweet ‹Gold Chest›.

We continued to grind ‹King Dinosaur›, or ‹King D› for short, weakening it to the limit before Nico launched the final strike.

There was also her ‹Rare Drop UP LV10› skill that increased the probability of rare drops, making it extremely easier for bosses to drop ‹Silver Chest› or ‹Gold Chest›. Plus, with the bonus of ‹Last Attack Bonus›, the ‹King D› dropped ‹Silver Chest› 3 out of 5 tries!

It's truly a rare phenomenon frankly, considering the probability of ‹Silver Chest› was merely 20%, but the skills casually raised that bar to 60% chance. Long Live Skills. Love Live ‹Collector›! I think I may now have newfound respect for it.

Though of course, I was also properly giving my respect to ‹Sachineko-sama›, ‹Koneko-sama›, ‹Cat's Gold Coin›. Plus, thanks to the overlapped bonus of every front, we were now getting ‹Gold Chest› at least 1 out of 5 attempts guaranteed!

I mean, I know the effect but holy moly, 20% drop rate for ‹Gold Chest› was like striking rich overnight.

We had been drowning in ‹Silver Chest› and ‹Gold Chest› since a while ago. Just before summer vacation we had sold almost the entirety of our inventory to Marie-senpai, and we seemed to reach the same point again. Fuhaha, guess time to rack more Mir. I am sure they would sell for a high price.

But on the other hand, we had yet to find any tickets. Phew, Yokai seemed to be more possessive than I thought. C'mon, shouldn't it give us a break already!

Ugh, no. What was the motto again? Yeah, no greed, me. No greed. Calm down the spirit, even Yokai was mere superstitious as long as we opened enough ‹Gold Chest›.

With a mindset akin to the Buddha, I chanted the mantra and opened the ‹Gold Chest›.

"Aww, no. It's another ‹Dinosaur Axe› that none of us uses."

Ugh, another failure. The ‹Gold Chest› dropped a two-handed axe. It was a useful weapon due to the ‹Dinosaur Killer› bonus it came with...but a pity. It's going to be sold at the end.

Damn it! Why, why couldn't the ticket just drop when I had even cleared my mind of any desire! (‹—Famous line said by none other than greedy folks.)

"What happened to the second chest?"

I asked Aegis-senpai, who was opening the second ‹Gold Chest›. Though, she was somehow paused? frozen? on her spot, her hands still grasping the opened lid.

"Err, Zephyr-san...It's a ‹Job Ascension Ticket›."

"I see~?"

I had already lost most of my hope, so my reaction lagged behind by a bit, even though Aegis-senpai was clear in her wording. I was puzzled, and just tilted my head until...Aegis-senpai fetched the ticket from the treasure chest and showed it to me.

I see...I seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?

"Wohooo!!"

"Kyaa!"

"It's not happening!"

With an overwhelming excitement, I leaped toward Aegis-senpai, but Sierra, as if she had already conceived this situation, suddenly stepped between while holding her shield. Of course, I whammed into the shield at full speed.

"Ouchhh!"

"I already knew you're going to go for another spin. Sheesh, do you really forget all my previous warnings? You're truly hopeless."

Sierra's shieldmanship floored me instantly...or not. I wasn't that easy to knock down! I swiftly put up my guard and looked up at her.

"Hey, hey, now that's a bit too much, Sierra. Return all my excitement!"

"Another excuse. What do you think you're about to do? Oh wait, I bet it was the same twirling your hand around Aegis-senpai’s waist and forcing her to dance along with you, eh? Why don't you say I am wrong?"

"Kuh......"

She guessed it all precisely. I could even feel the sternness behind her glare going up by a notch or two.

I guess that was it huh. I couldn't believe my upbeat dance was sealed so easily. What a bummer.

I averted my gaze and feigned calmness as I got back to my feet.

"Aegis-senpai, you should be careful too. It is easier for Zephyr to lose his calm, even if he appears level headed normally. It especially happens when it involves rare drops and would suddenly move to huge you or even take you for a dance."

"Well...I don't think it's a problem for me."

"But it's for us."

"Ugh, alright. Understood."

"Hmm, wait? What's the harm if others consent?"

"Oh my, are you hearing yourself, Zephyr? By the way, you're not even calling Aegis-senpai senpai. Heh, I didn't see when you became so close."

"Huh, ahh.....well, during the summer vacation I guess?"

Wait, why did I felt like I accidentally startled the snake while poking at the bush? D-Did I open some sort of pandora box?

Even my otherwise quiet ‹Intuition› was suddenly ringing an alarm one after another.

But before the situation could go anymore south—

"Alright, enough messing around. You can continue the play at another time, but for now, let's discuss about the ticket."

Mert, who had been watching debacle with keen eyes, quipped suddenly.

Oh, right. Ticket. Yeah. It needs our attention more than anything.

But before it ends, I must add—Mwahaha, the gamers always prevail! I could totally see the Yokai retreating with tails tucked between its legs. Hurray!!

T/N - In the starting and in the title, there was wordplay. Nico and Niconico. Former was Nico’s name, the later means joyful smile. So Nico was saying ‘This Nico shall bring nionico on your face!’.