I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

Looking at the completely incinerated 62nd floor, I could only think of one thing.

A layer transformation trigger.

For example, when I swung my holy sword with the Temple's enhancement ritual in the contaminated swamp, that entire layer was completely transformed. I not only uprooted the 35th floor's mid-boss, the Doppelganger Tentacle Tree, but converted the entire layer into a safe zone.

If extremely enhanced holy power applied to a layer corrupted by dark magic could purify it, then couldn't excessively applying fire to a deep, lush forest change the layer too?

I'd set fires in lower-level forests for various reasons before... but this was different—we'd dumped an entire war weapon created by otherworldly artisan races, far beyond what regular fires could do. The kind of casual burning that mages did to create research labs wouldn't have this effect.

'Of course, this is all just my speculation.'

Still, looking at the completely incinerated forest, that's what came to mind. It had been a forest full of massive trees, at least 5 meters tall, with the larger ones exceeding 10 meters.

No matter how effective the stone dwarves' sticky oil was, it couldn't have covered this entire forest, could it? If regular flames had burned all these enormous trees to ash... wouldn't that be impossible?

From what I'd seen in internet photos of forest fires, even trees thinner than a human torso died but remained standing. That was in massive overseas forest fires that burned for three days and nights.

"No. Not just no monsters, but no safe zones either? We'll need to use Hanna's magic to clear a spot for our tent."

Our exploration continued steadily despite my concerns. Not wanting to waste anything, my companions filled their belt pouches with the clinking mana stones as they gazed at the ashen wasteland stretching to the horizon.

If the layer had changed like the 35th floor, had the 62nd floor become a safe zone too? Looking at this barren wasteland with nothing but swirling ash, no beasts, no wraiths... my theory seemed increasingly plausible.

It had been about a week since we'd set fire to the place with the sticky oil. Destroyed layers typically took 3-4 weeks to regenerate, so while it made sense that only ashes remained with no lingering flames, the complete absence of respawning monsters was highly suspicious.

"We should set up the tent around here."

"The large standard tent? Or the concealment tent?"

"It's so exposed that we'll be easily spotted. Let's all squeeze into one concealment tent."

While I pondered the nature of the layer, Grace naturally pulled out a small concealment tent from her inventory instead of the larger luxury tent. She grinned, suggesting I wouldn't escape this time, then gestured to Han Se-ah to prepare the ground for the tent.

Though ash had accumulated ankle-deep, soil still existed underneath. Earth Control made the fine forest soil rise up like a spring, clearing a spot for the tent.

As I thought about how the soil looked like the rich black earth I'd read about online—perfect for farming despite the fire—I began to hear a strange ringing in my ears.

Heuuuung—

Heuuuuuk—

"...Grace, you sure there's nothing out there?"

"I'm not detecting anything, but I hear it too."

A whimpering sound cut through the crackling noise of setting up a tent on ashes. Though neither my senses nor Grace's could detect anything tangible, there was definitely a ghostly wailing sound reaching our ears.

Katie and Irene apparently couldn't hear it, but Grace must have, as she continued pitching the tent while spreading her mana outward in extremely thin threads.

Though stealthy, slow, and delicate, her extending mana threads caught Katie's attention. Recognizing something was happening but knowing not to react openly, Katie silently took the tent poles from Grace and began helping her.

'What's going on?'

'Ghost wailing, only Grace and I can hear it.'

'...Is it far away? Or near Irene?'

The three of us huddled together, whispering while pretending to pitch the tent. We excluded Irene, who was worrying about how to cook amid the flying ash, and Han Se-ah, who was struggling in front of the camera to clear away ash with magic, insisting that meals were a serious matter.

A crying sound that only two could hear and three couldn't—obviously suspicious as hell.

An ordinary person might attribute it to background noise or a health issue, but the five of us were superhumans who could crush concrete like tofu with our mana-enhanced bodies. Even the magician and priest, with the least physical prowess among us, were at that level. There was no way they simply couldn't hear the sound.

-Heuuuuk, can you hear me

"Well, the tent's all set up. 'What should we do?' Should we leave the cooking to Hanna?"

-Humans, you huuumans...

"Even if we tried to move around, 'I heard it too this time.' We'd just kick up more ash."

-I'll tell you where the gate is, so please leave this forest for good...

As we pretended not to hear anything, huddling together and whispering after setting up the tent, someone whispered directly into my ear.

Huh?

※

A wraith suddenly appeared on the ash heap. Seeing the large burlap cloth with fingers protruding from underneath, I recognized it as the named monster, the Secret Terror, that we'd encountered before. I'd wondered why no wraiths had appeared in the incinerated forest, but here one was at last.

But unlike our first encounter, there was no eerie presence—just a pitiful whimpering. Curious, I summoned my holy power and watched as the wraith's burlap cloth wriggled.

It bulged and moved around like fabric covering a thrashing beast, and the long, thin hands dangling below were drawn back inside. Then, poking out from under the cloth fragment emerged a very small child's leg.

"...Oh my?"

"Is it mimicry?"

The Secret Terror, which had transformed from a terrifying ghost of human limbs woven into a spider-like form, now appeared before us as a little girl draped in burlap.

Despite its cute new appearance, it was still a wraith. It floated over without disturbing a single ash particle and pointed in one direction. Glancing at Han Se-ah's open minimap, I saw it was indicating slightly east of our current path.

Of course, we should be suspicious of this information, but what puzzled me more was why this named monster from the deep forest layer had only appeared now.

-The gate is that way, humans... please leave with that bird!

"Hmm, I'm not stupid enough to blindly trust a wraith."

-Just! Go! After turning the forest into this!

As I prodded it gently with my words, the wraith shouted in anger, but the moment it raised its voice, its form immediately began to fade.

...Was it actually dying rather than plotting something?

It flickered and wavered, the face area crackling like a malfunctioning TV screen filled with static. Anyone could see the wraith was on the verge of forced passing. Combined with its childlike appearance, it was perfectly designed to evoke sympathy.

"My, I wonder why?"

Fortunately for the wraith, we had a saint in our party who couldn't be heartless to a seemingly harmless child.

If it had been relentlessly pursuing us with minion wraiths in a horrifying form, that would be different. But Irene seemed to think we could reason with a girl-shaped wraith begging us to leave the forest.

Of course, as a veteran adventurer who had conquered the Tower's 60th floor, she wouldn't blindly side with a wraith. Though usually compassionate, she could be ruthlessly cold to those who blasphemed against the Goddess.

-How can you say that after seeing this, THIS?!

"This was, well, unavoidable. And won't it grow back?"

-Do you have any idea how long it would take for this massive forest to regrow?

"About a month?"

-Are you insane, human? Then again, you'd have to be insane to set fire to a forest like this...

Sensing this quality in her, the Secret Terror slumped before Irene's cheerful attempt at conversation. The static that had started at its face spread downward until its entire upper body became indistinct.

I'd thought it might have died in the fire, but it wasn't dead—just severely damaged at its core, barely hanging on.

But didn't it know this was a layer inside the Tower, transported wholesale by the Demon Lord? The wraith glared at us like we were complete lunatics when I mentioned it would take only a month for the vast primeval forest to regenerate. I never expected to be looked down on as beneath common sense by a forest wraith.

"I think I can take it down."

"One moment, Roland. Unlike our first day, it doesn't seem hostile. I'd like to talk with it more."

-You, YOUUU! You split the forest for no reason, then set it on fire, you maniac!

Among all the party members who had set the fire, the Secret Terror directed most of its anger at me—the one who had shattered the forest twice with the holy sword to create firebreaks.

Not that it was particularly threatening now, with its form blurred up to the waist, only its calves still visible. It no longer emanated that spine-chilling presence from our first meeting, which made it feel like it really was dying.

I could probably crush and kill it with just my hammer wrapped in holy power, without even needing the holy sword. As I was sizing it up, the Secret Terror's voice began to fade.

"Looks like we might be able to get some information. Should we try feeding it this?"

As I wondered whether the mana stone would drop here or at its hidden core if I delivered the killing blow, Han Se-ah quickly pulled the lich's head from her inventory and shoved it at the wraith.

-Ahhh, a, a golden skull that emanates life force?

-Pl, ease, just, kill meee...

Seems like we can use that thing in another useful way!

Enjoy the chappy!