I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

As expected, cliché and antiquated sorcery was broken by equally cliché and antiquated methods.

"Ah, love"

"Sweet and tender, but above all, powerful"

"Such a powerful emotion, you would make a good test subject—"

Was she saying Grace overcame the sorcery through her love for me?

Grace continued shooting arrows without hesitation at the witch's illusion, which had transformed from a porcupine into an arrow person, chattering all the while. As we followed her beyond the ruins and into the mountains, the scenery abruptly changed again.

This time the green forest transformed into a snowy landscape, perhaps Katie's memory. But it seemed to be the Kingdom rather than the Empire, as the creatures charging from the distance weren't yeti and carnivorous wyverns but more familiar Kingdom monsters.

Wesley Duchy falling to the swarming wolves, orcs, and worms. Having seen similar scenes in Grace's and my own memories, I was getting bored rather than surprised.

"Arrows! How long until more arrows arrive?"

"We've run out and are throwing stones now, my lady!"

"Father? Where is Father?"

Unlike Grace, Katie hadn't broken free from the sorcery and was locked in a desperate battle alongside her knights. Even knowing it was an illusion, watching Katie's face streaked with blood and tears wasn't pleasant.

Should I have smashed everyone's nightmares within those 5 minutes instead of dispersing the holy sword? As I regretted wasting the 3 minutes left of the sword's duration, I felt a soft, warm touch on my cheek.

Turning briefly from Katie, I found Grace smiling brightly in my arms. At this close distance where I could feel her breath, her eyes sparkled strangely, as if something had taken residence within them—not like the flickering flames of the ruins, but something else entirely.

"Roland, we need to get Katie too."

"...But how?"

"A sleeping princess is always awakened by a prince. And the way to wake her is—"

Chu—

Just as I realized her usually playful brown eyes were glowing as brightly as amber, her moist lips approached mine and quickly planted a kiss before pulling away.

"Like that."

Once on the cheek, once on the lips.

While I was still flustered by the sudden kiss, she gently slipped from my arms and pushed me toward Katie. After pushing me away like a gentle spring breeze, she began drawing her bowstring again to attack the witch's illusion.

She started shooting wildly at clouds, trees, ruins, and the ground. Her arrows still disappeared into thin air, only to pierce through the witch's illusion as it tried to whisper something. How was the space arranged that an arrow shot at the ground would fly toward the witch beside me?

With such thoughts, I approached Katie, who was still swinging her sword even as I moved past the illusions of corpses and burning houses. Completely consumed by the sorcery, she didn't notice me despite my being close enough to touch her sword, and continued shouting frantically.

"We must break through quickly to help my sister, my sister—"

Left to right, top to bottom. As her sword cleanly sliced through the head of an illusory orc in a cross pattern and then jabbed the air like a baton, I dove into her arms without hesitation. Even at a distance where our breaths could mingle, I wasn't reflected in Katie's blue eyes.

So without any hesitation, I grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her. I had no intention of becoming one of those dense harem protagonists who whine about not being able to steal a woman's lips.

Chu—

Though I didn't use my tongue, the kiss lasted a good 10 seconds. Even for a superhuman, it was long enough to interfere with breathing. When I turned my head after nibbling her lips, I saw Grace giving me a thumbs-up beyond the translucent camera that was excitedly circling us.

"Pfft?! What, what is this? Roland? Um, it's nice, but why suddenly, but our territory is, uh, huh?"

"Katie, are you awake?"

"Ah, Roland. We must hurry to save my father."

"Still not fully awake, I see."

"Mm, mmph?!"

Since I'd already gone this far, I grabbed Katie's cheeks again and gave her another kiss to satisfy my selfish desires—chu—

This time, I confirmed her ice-blue eyes were properly looking at me before stealing her lips, and I could see her eyes, clouded by the illusory flames and smoke, begin to sparkle clearly.

I'd followed Grace's instruction to wake Katie with a kiss, but I had no idea how this actually broke the sorcery. Both Katie and I enjoyed pressing our lips together, but we had no idea what was happening as we stared blankly at Grace.

For some reason, the aura she gave off felt slightly different from usual.

※

"What steadfast faith"

"You believed that with a loving husband, such things could never happen"

"You'll make an excellent test subject—"

Thanks to the blabbering witch's illusion, I figured out what had happened. Cliché and antiquated sorcery was broken by equally cliché and antiquated methods.

The reason the nightmare-inducing sorcery was broken was because Grace firmly believed in me. She had unwavering faith that a man like Roland would never ignore his beloved's village or be incompetent enough to let her be in danger.

Perhaps due to mana depletion, when Grace's arrows stopped, the witch eagerly approached us and started chattering. After hearing the witch's explanation that revealed Grace's naked affection, we were able to find the other party members one by one under Grace's guidance.

"Well, well. That figures. By the way, does Roland not fall for even sorcery?"

"As if something like this could affect me."

"Your annoying overconfidence is exactly the same as before."

After Katie, we found Jacob. In his illusion, he was looking with complicated eyes at his daughter's cold corpse found in a back alley of the archipelago, as if she'd been robbed, while distorting his surroundings with killing intent.

Naturally, there was no reason to kiss a man, so following restored memories, I went up to him and smacked the back of his head. Given Jacob's large build and fierce appearance, only Roland could scold him or tap his head to wake him up.

"You're here, Roland. Not a pleasant sight, is it?"

"You were already awake."

"Yes. As long as the Goddess watches over us, such things couldn't possibly happen."

Next was Irene, who had freed herself from the sorcery just before we arrived. Her nightmare was monsters escaping from the Tower, trampling the Adventurers' City and attacking the temple orphanage.

Having been recognized as a Saint rather than just a candidate, she seemed able to break through mediocre sorcery. She was praying in front of a burning temple and a shattered statue of the Goddess, completely ignoring the monster illusions. When she saw us enter the temple, she trotted over to join us.

"Roland, aren't you going to do it to Irene too?"

"Jacob is right here."

"Should I close my eyes?"

After brushing off Grace's mischievous joke, we next encountered Mills' nightmare. Unlike Jacob who was radiating killing intent in front of his dead daughter, Mills was much more actively rampaging.

He must have lost companions or family on a past mission, as he was hunting humans after setting hundreds of booby traps in a dark forest. It was as if he was showing how a natural 5★ scout could make life hell for people in a complex, narrow forest rather than open plains.

Everything from silver wires that severed ankles and necks right through the bone, to booby traps that exploded when stepped on or launched sharp branches, to hanging traps that strung people up by the neck like spiderwebs.

"What should we do about this?"

"Guess we'll have to destroy the whole forest."

So to catch Mills performing guerrilla warfare, I had to draw my shield and warhammer and spend over 10 minutes smashing the ground and breaking trees at their trunks, essentially clear-cutting the mountain.

"What a brutish method"

"But sometimes it's effective"

"Oh just shut up already!"

Grace, Katie, Jacob, Irene, Mills—

One by one, they broke free from the illusions shown by the sorcery and joined us, leaving only Han Se-ah and Elize.

I wasn't worried about Han Se-ah—she'd been filming me with her camera since the moment I kissed Katie, or more precisely, since Grace started shooting arrows into the mad witch's head. The problem was Elize, who knew something about sorcery.

"Grace, do you have any idea where the other two might be?"

"It's...difficult."

Had she resisted being swept up in the mad witch's sorcery? Grace, who had seen through the illusion and guided us without the slightest hesitation, was now hesitating and looking around the devastated forest. Perhaps Elize had resisted and been sent to a different space.

"But how do I get out of here? Don't tell me I have to wait until Grace finds me?"

-Seems like everyone forgot about the pack mule and is focused on finding the sorcery lady?

-Just a pack mule~ Just a pack mule~ Just a pack mule~ Just a pack mule~ Just a pack mule~ Just a pack mule~ Just a pack mule~ Just a pack mule~ Just a pack mule~

-I guess they figure the hero can handle herself, so they're looking for Elize first?

-LOL how did they treat her normally that they don't even care about checking on her

-Is she collecting hero party maintenance fees and extorting them? Her reputation seems pretty bad LOLOL

While Grace concentrated as if trying to find a lead, Han Se-ah began writhing in the dark space, listening to her viewers' complaints.

...But seriously, where was the player, anyway?

Enjoy the chappy!