I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

Heroes Chronicle's world kept turning even when players weren't logged in. Specifically, logging out outside a player's "mansion" recognized as a base by the system left you completely exposed.

Though you wouldn't return to find months had passed in-game without logging in - automatic progression only lasted until the next morning - even one night in the wilderness often brought terrifying events.

Because of this, complaints from novice adventurers and mercenary newcomers about getting their heads bashed in during camp and finding themselves back a day earlier had become so common they were boring - anyone ambushed without posting sentries was considered an idiot.

Indeed.

"S-something's coming! Everyone wake up!"

"H-Hanna won't wake up!"

"Grace, carry Hanna and climb the rock with Irene! The rest guard the dog sleds while I intercept from the front!"

Han Se-ah, who started with 18★ total between her innate 6★ tank and gathered 5★, 4★, and 3★ companions, was an idiot in this regard. While it might be unfair to mock someone for random events during logout, when had cyber ghosts ever cared about fairness?

Being logged out, Han Se-ah just curled up caterpillar-like in her sleeping bag despite Irene's repeated face slaps. Startled, Grace quickly hoisted her onto her shoulders and grabbed Irene's hand, leaping up onto the rock.

Fortunately, the massive wind-breaking boulder wasn't smoothly rounded but looked like a sheer cliff face had been cleanly cut. With a ledge partway up like a precipice, Grace laid Han Se-ah there and drew her bow.

"Last time we had to protect horses, now we're protecting dogs...!"

"Wave, it's boars! Take the sleds and fall back!"

Simultaneously, the attackers came into view. Though our sled dogs were large enough to be mistaken for wolves or monsters, the charging boars were far bigger.

The leader at the front looked about the size of a mid-sized car, while those running behind ranged from motorcycle to compact car size. The retired adventurers immediately shouting "boars" and pulling the dog sleds from their charge path suggested these were quite common in the north.

'When they charge so straightforwardly, that's actually better.'

Their hooves made snow flurries instead of dust clouds as they struck the ground, sending vibrations through the frozen earth with a rumbling sound. As I lowered my helmet, the leader boar's eyes met mine.

Mid-sized car bulk - roughly 5m, like a small ogre charging on all fours with similar momentum. With nearly a hundred such creatures, "wave" perfectly described the scene.

Getting caught in that mindless charge would turn even a half-grown ogre into meat paste, trampled and skewered by tusks. The boar's eyes blazed with blind hatred for humans mixed with confidence.

But naturally, I specialized in handling such head-on charges more than flying wyverns or burrowing giant worms.

"Don't follow, I'll take them!"

"W-will you be alright? They crush not just palisades but even decent-sized rocks like gravel!"

Tom or Olson's worried shout vanished in the threatening northern wind, my vision now filled only with the boars' bristly fur.

Mid-sized and compact cars charging en masse made their grayish-white bristles look like waves. No wonder people called this a monster wave.

I stepped forward, coating myself in mana while lowering my stance. Seeing I wouldn't dodge, the leader's mouth twisted into a sneer around its vicious tusks. As expected of a wave leader, it showed some intelligence.

"Hrrrgh--!!"

Squeeeeeal--!!!

To answer that bloody sneer, I drew up mana to use a skill after so long - that nonsensical basic skill that perfectly reflected all attacks hitting my shield.

As my shield gleamed white, a force unlike mana made my heart pound.

※

Ah fuck my life.

"Whoa, w-what happened here?"

Han Se-ah woke sharply after an unsettling night. Her eyes snapped open despite sleeping through both the boar wave's charge and Irene's face slaps.

"Damn, something seriously went down while I was out."

"Hanna, you're awake? We were so worried when you wouldn't wake up last night..."

Her eyes took in Irene hugging her tight with concern, Grace patting her back, and boar corpses strewn everywhere with blood painted across the rock.

The leader boar died thrashing in the snow with its head crushed and only its lower body remaining. The wave charged straight into the rock as if knowing nothing but forward movement. Corpses with heads or forelegs messily crushed littered the ground, crushed proportional to their charge's force.

The sight wasn't pretty - Han Se-ah swallowed back rising bile.

Unlike in the Magic Tower where corpses neatly turned to mana stones, brain matter, blood, bone fragments and dying boars' waste were right in front of her - how could a modern person from the 21st century handle this?

"Urgh, Roland... you're really okay?"

"No injuries, none of the blood is mine. Could use some water magic cleaning though."

"Right, got it!"

Perhaps feeling guilty, she immediately washed away the filth that wouldn't budge even with vigorous eye-rubbing. Her mana control rivaled master mages - water droplets swept across my armor like an AI washing machine, cleanly removing frozen grime.

Then, still nestled in Irene's arms, she reached out to gently stroke my cheek as if checking for remaining moisture.

"...?"

"Good, dried nice and fluffy. Can't leave moisture in this weather... but what do we do with these boar bodies?"

"The byproducts aren't worth much but they taste good, so let's take what we can eat and leave the rest."

-What a situation to log into lololololololol

-Didn't bother with mosaic and now we've got a gore party lol

-Snuggling with Mama Irene while lowkey flirting with teacher? Watch yourself getting handsy lol

-Anyone else want to cuddle with Mama while stroking teacher's cheeks? Hit like if you're thirsty

-Caressing his cheek all tender instead of the armor, definitely making moves lololololol

Living an earnest life, she probably logged in early morning. Finding such a shocking scene before fully waking left me pondering - our relationship had been comfortably platonic with no physical contact.

Had she been secretly building affection points without my knowledge?

...Maybe she'd been secretly watching at night, building one-sided intimacy.

"The dogs are all safe! But eating this much might tire them out while running...?"

"Oh yeah? But the handler said they're smart, so they won't stupidly eat till they collapse."

Irene hugging Han Se-ah while giving divine force massages and Grace chattering beside them both gave me and Han Se-ah strange looks.

Hmm... I hadn't done anything wrong, but somehow felt like a man caught cheating.

The awkward atmosphere instantly dissipated at Igor's shout about the sleds. Unlike noble ladies openly flirting or lovers like Grace openly showing affection by clinging, this embarrassing mood felt a bit unsettling.

"Come on, stop spamming 'hmm hmm.' As a companion I can check if something's on your cheek. It's not like I held your hand or hugged you - one touch and suddenly I'd have twenty wives and over ten husbands from past collabs."

-So Irene's wife #21 and teacher's husband #11?

-Let me know when the wedding is, I'll donate congrats money right away lol Another world first record?

-Nah there's surprisingly many already living happily married to NPCs in medieval common law marriages

-DD Heroes Chronicle is actually an alien corporation trying to destroy humanity by tanking birth rates

-If humanity's gonna die from marrying virtual NPCs maybe it deserves to die?

Han Se-ah slept through both night attack and slaps, then immediately gagged upon waking. Seeing this, Irene and Grace stuck close beside her, supporting her to the prepared dog sled.

That left just Katie beside me, which was rather convenient.

Though strange for a mage to draw the tank's aggro, the first slip of an unworldly genius beauty mage from the countryside warranted great interest from companions. Run while you can, Han Se-ah. Space out during streaming and Irene might lay you across her lap to sleep.

A reward for some, but quite uncomfortable if it keeps happening.