My Unique Skill [Gacha] Will Save the World - Episode 11: Rank Assessment

Episode 11: Rank Assessment

(Note: Special for this chapter, dialogues through speaker or faraway voice is in ‘……’.)

Though taken aback, Rindou’s body moved instinctively. It was thanks to his [Basic Swordsmanship] skill. 

He stepped forward swiftly and executed a quick draw of his Gale Sword. He sliced through the Goblin’s torso in one fluid motion as they passed each other. 

“…Phew.”

‘Next up is the Wild Wolf.’

“A-Another battle?!” 

‘Monsters won’t wait for you. Here it comes!’

“Damn it, I got it!” 

The mannequin, which Rindou thought he had cut in two, restored itself in an instant. It transformed into a Wild Wolf. 

(The Wild Wolf is a weaker variant of the Sword Wolf. However, individual strength can vary. So underestimating it would be foolish.)

“Grrraaahhh!” 

The Wild Wolf bared its sharp fangs and charged forward. Known for its incredible linear speed, it was said to be weak in lateral movements. Rindou transformed his knowledge into action, adapting it to the fight.

“Haaah!”

“Yelp?!”

By turning his body sideways, he dodged the wolf’s fangs with minimal movement. And he countered with a downward slash with his Gale Sword, cleanly severing its head. 

‘Next, the Ghost Knight.’

“That’s the one from the stampede…” 

Seeing the Ghost Knight, the armored monster, Rindou’s fighting spirit was ignited. This was the monster that had led to his awakening.

“Alright, let’s see how far I can go!” 

Thus, Rindou fought a series of consecutive battles. He ultimately succumbed during the fifth match. 

The sequence of opponents was: Goblin, Wild Wolf, Ghost Knight, Sword Wolf, and finally, Killer Panther. 

The Killer Panther towered at twice Rindou’s size. It was known for its agility. While Rindou managed to handle the movements of the Wild Wolf and Sword Wolf, the panther’s sheer size and double the speed overwhelmed him. 

In the end, a direct tackle sent him flying into a wall, marking his defeat.

‘Rank assessment is now complete. Thank you for your efforts, Rindou-sama.’

“Ugh… Well, I guess that’s as far as [Basic Swordsmanship] can manage.”

Leaning against the wall and rubbing his sore waist, Rindou sighed softly. 

(…Still, the gacha didn’t activate this time. Does it only trigger with real monsters? Well, if it activated on mock monsters, it’d be an outright cheat.) 

While mulling over this, Aoba and Ayane entered the training room from the control area.

“Good work, Rindou-san.”

“Yeah.”

“As for the rank evaluation, there were no issues in handling monsters from E-rank to lower D-rank. However, you struggled against upper D-rank monsters. So the result is an E-rank assessment.”

“…E-rank, huh.”

Player ranks are divided into six tiers: E, D, C, B, A, and the highest, S. Rindou’s assessment was the lowest, E-rank.

“E-rank? But even though he lost to the Killer Panther, he moved by the book!”

“Still, a loss is a loss. If it were a real monster, he would’ve died. It’s best for him to start at E-rank and build his skills from there.”

“Can’t be helped, I guess.”

Although Ayane seemed dissatisfied, Rindou found starting at E-rank more convenient and accepted the result. 

(I haven’t tested the gacha properly yet. At E-rank, I should be able to test it while tackling simpler dungeon gates.)

As he thought this, he recalled yesterday’s stampede and asked Aoba a question.

“By the way, Yanase-san, what star rating was yesterday’s stampede door?”

On the front of gates connecting to other worlds, the difficulty level is indicated by stars. 

The more stars, the higher the difficulty. And naturally, the monsters inside are stronger. 

To prevent stampedes, the Player Association carefully assigns players of appropriate ranks to tackle these gates. However, this time, a stampede had occurred. 

Thus, Rindou was curious about the difficulty of the failed door.

“This one was three stars, equivalent to a D-rank gate. However, the leader of the player team was ambushed and killed by monsters. It caused the group to collapse and fail the raid.”

“See? That’s why I keep saying they should send higher-ranked players to handle gate raids! But no, they insist it’s about fostering growth or whatever!”

“Th-This time was a failure, but we’ve handled it without issues in the past, Kazaki-sama!”

The gates continue to appear without end. 

No one can predict when, where, or how many stars the next gate will have. 

For this reason, the Player Association prioritizes sending players of appropriate ranks. It’s to encourage growth and bolster the ranks rather than relying solely on higher-ranked players for safety.

“It was lucky that I happened to be nearby. But if I hadn’t been, the damage could have been far worse, you know?” 

“Ayane, that’s probably not entirely the Association’s fault.”

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, based on Rindou-sama’s report, it seems that some of the players deployed as a reserve force abandoned their duties. That’s what led to the increased damage.”

Since it was likely information that would eventually be made public, Aoba shared the truth with Ayane without hesitation.

“I’ve heard that too. That same detail was in another report I saw.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Which is why I’m saying it’s a problem, even considering that!”

“Okay, okay, calm down. Telling that to Yanase-san won’t change anything, will it?”

“Well… I guess not. Sorry, Yanase-san.”

“No, it’s alright………. Honestly, the Association is going to take the heat for this regardless, so it’s understandable… sigh.”

In the end, their conversation drifted into a shared venting session between Ayane and Aoba. But at least Rindou’s rank assessment was completed without issue.