I finished off what few missions the board offered me, and examined the loot. It… wasn’t much, if I was honest. Stone tapes, resource packs and a few collectable tokens that would eventually become hats for summons I didn’t have. Woo. There were materials too- Monster hide, monster claw, monster bone (distinct from Rune Bones, apparently), but the crafting area hadn’t been unlocked yet.

No, the real prizes were, one, keeping all my summons alive through the wave, two, the special crystal with the specified draw, and three, enough resonance crystals to bring me up to ninety.

Now, gacha game designers think they are slick. They are all about the tease. Oh, you are almost there! Aaaalllllmost there. Just play a bit more. Maybe buy a resource pack. If you use our Elite Recruitment Orders (available only in the cash shop) you get a guaranteed S rank Hero with every hundred pulls.

I just happened to almost have enough for two pulls? Sure. I believe you. So much. We will just see what tomorrow’s scouting brings, shall we?

Oh, interesting thought. Could… Rache scout further thanks to the movement speed boost? It wouldn’t be by much, but she was only One Star, and with limited XP. I’d have to see.

I went to the summoning pool and took a look at the crystal. It was the same size and shape as an ordinary resonance crystal, but it had a faint red halo around it. I felt that, somehow, the crystal was blushing. It was strangely kawaii. The picture of the girl-

I stuck on the word for a moment. On the one hand, I was quite certain nobody on my side of the violence was “human” in any biological sense. On the other hand, if these really were souls being shoved into golems, was “girl” appropriate?

The face was mischievous, with lively eyes. Fingers crossed. They couldn’t be a One Star, right?

Feeling the jinx trying to land on me, I quickly flung the crystal into the pool.

“Oh Great God Pachinko, protect me from bad pulls! Omni Omnia Omm! Great God Pachinko, protect me from bad pulls. Omni Omnia Omm!”

Reciting the sacred chant, I carefully watched the changes in the mist. The “awe inspiring” music was a little different. There was a livelier pace to it. More of an aahAAAhAoAAOOAOAOAaahhhIIII sound than a ooooowoooAaAaA. Well something like that. A form started emerging from the mist.

“Don’t underestimate me! I’m stronger now than I ever was!” There were three glittering stars over her head. I smiled warmly, and gave my newest recruit a proper looking over.

Taller than Mika, shorter than Rache, but very slim all over. The features were young, but not Pammy young. Going to say… seventeen-ish. Young looking eighteen, maybe. And cute as a button. Just something really excited in their face.

Reddish-pink hair was pulled back and held in place with a pair of star shaped clips. She wore an olive drab “military” jacket over a collared shirt (top three buttons left undone) and a knee length pleated skirt.

The summons twirled a little black and white wand like a stage magician in her left hand. Her right hand… had been left behind on some battlefield. The whole right sleeve was pinned up at her shoulder. I noticed there were colored bars on her chest. I couldn’t read them, but… didn’t the army stick medals there?

“Welcome. Name and skills?”

“Kim reporting for duty! I’m a fire mage, Tower Master, rear echelon support.”

The difference in Star Level was huge. She seemed… alive. Maybe not as alive as Versai, but it was night and day compared to someone like Pammy.

“Explain that a bit more?”

“Yes. I basically lack any direct attacks myself, but I can make everyone else’s attack stronger, faster, or add fire damage, as well as weaken or negate fire based attacks. With the other members of my squad, we can give fighters True Damage for a while, as well as erect near unbreakable wards. Well, for short periods. Still, don’t underestimate me. I’m stronger than I look!”

My gacha senses tingled. “The other members of your squad?”

She nodded firmly. “Yes. Myself, our leader, Park, plus Lee and Choi. We called ourselves the Call to Arms Group.”

Hah! Fun name. Sounds like a Korean… boy… band…

Did... did I pull the Portal Fantasy equvalent of a Idol for some kind of USO organization? Is... is that what she is? Is that... a thing? Does Korea have Idol groups that just tour bases exclusively?

“Can you do anything that is useful to the Tower outside of combat?”

Kim tilted her head to the side and thought it over.

“Well, I can sing. I don’t know if that’s useful, exactly, but people always loved watching us perform.”

Great God Pachinko, are you testing me? Joke’s on you, Korea has LOADS of female idol bands. Legions of them! There is definately at least one that fits this template!

“I’m a great dancer too, but that’s probably even less useful.”

LEGIONS OF THEM!

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Welcome aboard, Kim. We can use all the help we can get, and somehow I just know you can perform under pressure.” I didn’t let my eyes go to that empty sleeve or the medals on her chest.

Nothing left to do. “Advance to the next day.”

Unnaturally refreshed and raring to go, I walked over to the missions. Time to see what the day would bring.

Hmm. Send someone to scout- I was going to do that anyway. Resource harvesting? Ditto. Oh? What’s this? There was a mission, already completed, to add an “improvement” to the Tower. Nice to be ahead of the curve. Let’s see… raise an Awakened Soul’s level to ten.

Ah. Tricky. I need to be in the Hall of Records to see what level they were. It wasn’t marked as complete though, so I hadn’t fed enough XP to a unit to level them to ten. Was the Hall of Records open yet? No, Versai said after Wave Three.

The obvious solution was just pick someone and feed them XP, of course, but I didn’t want to throw off the team balance too much.

Screw it. I needed to order a scouting mission anyway. “Rache, front and center!”

Rache appeared, looking none the worse for wear after last night. Her clothes had all been repaired. Don’t ask me how a bandage invisibly repaired tasseled buckskin, because I don’t know. It just did. Gacha logic.

“Just another rodeo. Rache is ready to ride.” I took a long moment looking at her. She had those glassy eyes I had started associating with One-Stars. Lights are on, no one’s home.

Rache was pretty, in her fashion. Kawaii? Not really. Not for me at least. But the way she throws herself into everything with laconic enthusiasm was charming. That sense of being capable, while also loving life. She might not be Kawaii, but she was plenty Moe.

“How many Stone Tapes have you had already?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Just another rodeo?”

I handed her a Stone Tape. It vanished in a tiny flash of light. “I think that’s three,” I muttered.

In the end, it only took six more Stone Tapes to level her up to Level Ten. A fact I only knew because the mission was suddenly marked as complete. I didn’t know why it took nine Tapes. If we all lived through the night, maybe I would find out. I had hoped there would be some costume change, or a new skill or something. No such luck.

I sighed, but pressed on. The tower was, according to the map room, at the far eastern end of the map. Not all the way east, there was a good strip of land between us and the end of the world, but most of the way. Our “Front Door” faced west. There was a good bit of land North and south of us, but the overwhelming majority of the map was to the west. Rache had barely put a dent in the world with her scouting. Time to push out a-ways. More importantly, time to cover our rear.

“Rache, Scout the area to the east of the tower. How much time would you need to search your maximum range?”

“Aww, my ‘lil filly loves to run. I’ll get it done in one,” she nodded, putting a finger to the brim of her cavalry hat.

Nice!

“Right. Search your maximum range East of the Tower!”

“Chromed Lightning! And she was off.

“Judiths!”

“Tear it down or put it up, we can get it done!”

“Tree cutting duty. Clear as much wood as you can around the tower, not just in front of the west door. Once they are cut, turn the trees into cut lumber. Time needed?”

“Sounds like a One job, boss!”

“Great! Get to it.”

I rubbed my hands, waiting for Rache to return. I wanted to save my extra orders, in case there was a nearby expedition. Hmm… I still had those herbs, right? Could I replant them?

“Kim, are you any good at gardening?”

The question seemed to confuse her. She tilted her head to the side? “Is it show time?”

Ah hell. She had been doing so well. Three Stars is half way to Six, huh?

“Never mind.”

She smiled and looked away, humming happily.

While Rache was coming back, I looked over the battlefield. The addition of Kim should increase our kill rate, but we would be facing more, and more durable, monsters than ever before.

The “Slow them down, shoot ‘em up” tactic had been working so far, but it really relied on them being willing to charge straight at us, more or less in a narrow column. They were already coming from two directions, making us split our artillery fire. It wasn’t that much of a stretch to imagine more of them coming at once, spread out in a thinner, wider, line. It’s what I would do if I was the attacker, anyway.

I mean, who hasn’t clicked a “loose formation” button in a RTS? Limiting ranged damage is what it’s for.

Thank you Total War- Shogun 2. You may be the only reason I make it out of here alive.

I saw Versai, lying bonelessly on the firing platform behind the Palisade. Watching the clouds, or maybe just remembering.

“Wondering if you are going to have a new boss the next time you see the sun?” I asked, feeling a bit morbid.

“Assuming I will. I’ve gotten good at not hoping.”

“You don’t mind if I do, do you?”

“No, no, go right ahead. You have definitely been one of the more interesting Tower Masters. Keep up the hust- Oh my goodness, is that KIM?”

She jumped off the palisade. “Kim! It is so great to see you. We never met, but I am a huge fan of your music!

“Hahaha! Always happy to meet a fan. I love to put on a show- I’m so glad you enjoyed it.”

“I always wished I could see Call To Arms reunited again- I bet you just SLAY.”

My hand to God, Pachinko, are you trying to screw with me? ARE YOU?!

Rache came blowing up in a cloud of dust, barely coming to a stop inches from me. “Boss, you got to come and see this!”

“I can’t “come and see” anything,” I ground out. “What is it I need to see?”

“I found a ruin site, boss, an ancient ruin!”

I blinked. “Good. Good for you. Well done. Versai?”

“Little pockets of twisted space, holding bits of… an old place. Sometimes part of a city or the countryside. Sometimes stranger places. Very rare, VERY valuable. I have never seen one completed, as you can go back there on multiple days. Every Tower Master who found one died before they could finish the exploration. And… uh…” She smiled awkwardly. “Not to contradict you, but they are one of the few places a Tower Master can go, away from the Tower.”

Rache is the most Kawaii. And really damn Moe.