"Alright, that concludes the explanation. Now, please go ahead and roll your first limited gacha. No rerolls, though. Okay, open the gacha page, open it up!"
Following the instructions, I pressed the gacha page, thinking how this all felt like a game. At the top of the page, there was a big, flashy button labeled "First-Time Limited Gacha." When I pressed it, a light pop sound echoed, and a gacha machine—like the ones you see at game centers—appeared right in front of me.
There was no slot for inserting coins, just a lever and a simple outlet for the capsule.
"Alright, go ahead and spin it!"
As I obediently turned the lever, a silver capsule rolled out.
"Silver means R-rank."
"Whoa!"
I picked up the capsule and twisted it open. From the small gap, a dazzling silver light burst forth. It wasn't blinding, but I had to squint. As I watched, the light condensed into a shape, then burst and disappeared.
"Meeow?"
What appeared before me was a creature with perked ears, a fluffy body, a long tail, and sharp green eyes. No matter how you looked at it, it was undeniably adorable—resembling that familiar animal.
"Meeow?"
It stood up from its sitting position and came toward me, staring intently.
"There's an appraisal function on your My Page, so let's use that to check out this little one's details."
I opened My Page as instructed, pressed the button labeled "Appraisal," and the page appeared, with the cat-like creature showing up on the screen like through a camera lens.
When I pressed the "Appraise" button, information appeared on the right side of the screen next to the image of the creature.
Name: None
Species: Nukkonyan (Long-haired, Silver Tabby)
Gender: Female
Skills: Charm (Weak) / Healing Magic
Description: Not a cat. A Nukkonyan.
Adorable enough to charm anyone.
The charm ability pierces through to cat lovers, while it works just enough not to disgust cat haters.
It may attack anyone other than its dungeon creator, so be cautious.
"It's a cat!"
"No, it's a Nukkonyan."
"But that species name!"
"…Naming sense is important, isn't it?"
"I get it now."
With just that one remark from the mysterious voice, I realized the god who designed this monster lacked any sense of creativity.
"Meeow?"
"Cute…!"
"So, you're a cat lover?"
The mysterious voice threw out a warm comment as the little one placed her paws on my lap. Having lived with cats since I was born, and being unable to keep one after I moved into a no-pets apartment, I'd been yearning for this moment. Just having a cat—well, technically not a cat, according to the description—felt like a dream come true. But no matter how I looked at it, it was definitely a cat. It resembled a Maine Coon or a Norwegian Forest Cat.
"By the way, there's a 'Monster Encyclopedia' and a 'Material Encyclopedia' under your My Page's 'Library' section. However, you can only view what you've acquired or placed in your dungeon.
For now, let's give this little one a name."
I gently lifted the Nukkonyan—listed as "No Name" in the appraisal—and placed her on my lap. She sat there quietly, her front paws neatly together, her long, fluffy tail wrapped around her body, gazing up at me with her striking green eyes. I pondered what name to give her. Since she looked exactly like a Maine Coon or a Norwegian Forest Cat, a Western name might suit her, but being Japanese, I thought maybe a Japanese name would be nice.
After a while, staring into those pretty green eyes, a name popped into my head.
"I'll call you Hisui (Jade)."
"Meeow!"
When I called her name, she happily meowed, stretched up, and rubbed her head against my chin. Too cute. And the purring? Even cuter. As I stroked her head, I noticed the name "Hisui" had been updated on the appraisal page. Apparently, there's a slight lag after naming them before it appears.
"The assistants… or monsters summoned from the gacha can be named if they're R-rank or below. SSRs and URs already come with names, so… pray for the god's naming sense. Seriously."
Considering that the god who came up with "Nukkonyan" exists, I couldn't help but imagine what kind of ridiculous names they might have come up with for other monsters. The thought gave me a strange expression.
"Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention: aside from sensitive situations like when you're sleeping, bathing, using the restroom, or changing clothes, everything is being live-streamed, so be prepared. Actually, it's already streaming."
"What?"
"The higher-ups decided it would be fun to add an entertainment aspect. They created a streaming platform just for dungeon masters like you. So, aside from just showing the dungeon challenges, viewers can also enjoy watching how you run your dungeon. There'll even be rankings once the dungeons are up and running."
"Wait, wait, hold on! You can't just do that without asking! I'm, like, a total introvert! There's no way I can handle 24/7 surveillance! This is impossible!"
"Yeah, we thought you might say that. Out of the five people selected from Japan—oh, one panicked and was sent back, so now it's four—only one other person reacted as calmly as you. The other two were so hyped up that they didn't even notice. Apparently, they just let the god's explanation go in one ear and out the other."
I felt bad for startling Hisui, but the thought of having no privacy was too much.
"Having no privacy is out of the question. I can't. And also, I'm someone who hates spoilers! I don't want to show the dungeon-creation process. People will figure out the type of dungeon I'm building just from that. It's like getting spoiled on a game you've been waiting for before it even releases! It's not a teaser, it's a full-on spoiler! No way!"
"…! You're absolutely right. I'll pass that along. My boss looks like they just had an epiphany, so I think this will go through!"
"You should've anticipated that before I had to point it out."
"True."
With a deep sigh, I gently lifted Hisui from my lap and stood up.
"They're going to change the streaming settings. Check the help section tomorrow for the updated rules."
"Got it. Anything else I should know?"
"That's all the explanations for now. If you don't have any questions, feel free to start creating your dungeon."
"I see. I'll finish up my current work first before I get to that."
"…As long as you create it, I guess that's fine."
"Oh, and can I contact the other... unfortunate people who were chosen?"
"Uh… My boss is making a gesture saying 'not yet,' so no, not for now."
"Alright. I understand."
Satisfied that I'd be able to contact them eventually, I moved toward the room where I'd left the equipment for my current work. The transparent screen followed me, unlike earlier when it stayed behind in the white space.
There was something different about it now, but since it wasn't causing any issues, I decided to ignore it.
"Oh, and my boss said to remind you: since you brought in your work equipment and it's all hooked up to the internet, you can now communicate with the outside world. But remember, don't follow any external instructions regarding dungeon creation or management. If you do, misfortune will fall upon those giving the instructions. We're gods, after all. If someone messes with our plans, they'll be punished. Viewers, take note."
I stopped walking and glared at the transparent screen.
"Are there really people watching this?"
"Yup, loads! You're pretty well-known as a composer, right? Some kind of… Vocaloid producer? Apparently, the company that contracted you for your current project freaked out and posted about it on social media, which brought a flood of viewers. Pretty funny, actually."
"There's nothing funny about this."
"It is from our perspective!"
I sighed, already suspecting which company had lost its mind online. The thought of being exposed, after avoiding showing my face this whole time, made my stomach churn.
"Just to be clear, even if I work at full speed, it's going to take about a month to finish up this job. Is that okay?"
"As long as you create the dungeon, it's fine."
"Understood. I'll get to work, then."
"Alright, best of luck!"
"Oh, and should I skip the daily free gacha pulls until I'm done with work? I probably won't be able to take care of whatever comes out."
"That's a shame, but it can't be helped. I'll pause the free gacha for now. Once you're done, let me know, and I'll reactivate it."
"Understood."
"Good luck!"
With Hisui and the transparent screen trailing behind me, I entered my workspace and closed the door.
I took a deep breath, surveying the familiar equipment around me.
"Hisui, don't rub against the gear, okay? If you want to rub up against me, that's fine, but… Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Meeow."
"Hmm… Maybe understanding me is part of being a dungeon creator?"
As Hisui rubbed herself against my legs, I tilted my head, feeling like I was beginning to understand her too.