Full Limit Break, Full Refinement.
If you’re into mobile games, especially the kind that revolves around gacha mechanics, these terms might be somewhat familiar.
Full Limit Break.
Full Refinement.
To put it simply, in gacha games, pulling a character doesn’t mean you can fully utilize their potential right away.
When you pull a duplicate (1st Limit Break), the character unlocks a special skill.
With another duplicate (2nd Limit Break), their stats improve drastically.
But is pulling the character enough?
No.
You also need their specialized weapon—only with it can the character truly shine.
Even then, simply obtaining the weapon once isn’t enough. For instance, if the weapon initially boosts critical hit rate by 24%, pulling four more duplicates (a total of five) can increase that rate to 48%.
This process of maxing out both the character and their weapon is what players refer to as Maxed.
In practice, this means pulling a character once, performing six Limit Breaks, and then acquiring five copies of the same weapon—a total of 1 character + 6 Limit Breaks + 5 weapons worth of pulls.
Although the cost of purchasing summoning resources varies between game companies, on average, it costs about 25,000 won per 10 summons.
Discussing pity systems or other related mechanics might delve too deeply, and since the 10-summon prices of the mobile games I play vary, let’s estimate roughly:
– 200 million won spent~!!
On average, it costs 2 million won to fully limit break and refine a single character.
Of course, you can save money by using in-game rewards such as event currencies, story completion bonuses, or other free resources like gems, orbs, or jewels to purchase summon tickets.
However, 2 million won assumes you’re going in completely raw, spending only cash.
In reality, if you’re unlucky, 2 million won could turn into 2.5 million, or in the worst case, even 3 million KRW, reflecting the brutal reality of gacha games.
– Even after spending 12 million won, not getting a Moonlight summon—
“…Ugh.”
I felt a brief headache, but that’s an exceptionally extreme case, so I pull myself together.
Yes, I need to focus.
Otherwise, as someone responsible for this unprecedented situation, any immature response could result in significant trouble.
[A new record for humanity! How did you conquer the Tower?!]
A reporter rushes over with a microphone, its logo indicating it belongs to the country’s oldest broadcasting station.
The reporter aggressively pushes the microphone, but not toward anyone else—toward ‘Elaine’.
Clear signs of excitement.
Considering that the interview they’re conducting could spread across all of South Korea—no, all of humanity—it’s natural for a reporter to feel this level of exhilaration.
Such excitement is understandable.
But the fact that the interview target is my summon, Elaine makes it infuriating!
[I only conquered the Tower as per my Master’s instructions.]
Elaine responds calmly, speaking with the flawless pronunciation of someone born and raised in Korea for over 20 years.
The reporter flinches at her words.
[M-Master?]
[Yes. My Master instructed me to conquer the Tower. I entered it and dealt with all the beasts that emerged.]
Elaine nods toward the camera as if completing an obvious task, her demeanor devoid of any extraordinary expression.
Yet her gaze conveys a clear message.
A signal to me that the mission has been accomplished.
If it weren’t for the crowd gathering the moment we exited the Tower, she likely would’ve—
“Oh.”
There’s no way to contact her.
I told her to use a messaging app on the spare phone or a Wi-Fi hotspot to call me via data if necessary, but escaping through this crowd isn’t easy.
Worse still, with people packed so close, taking out a smartphone to send a message could risk exposing my identity.
‘Good judgment.’
Elaine understands this as well.
Her uniqueness.
If she had been someone less intelligent or more impulsive, she might have panicked or made a mistake. But Elaine is the Perfect Maid.
She would never do anything to trouble her Master.
‘I need a way to send her a message.’
Is there a method?
A way to signal Elaine to return home discreetly, without anyone noticing.
A way for her to slip away without causing a commotion, avoiding cries of “She’s on the 23rd floor!” or people banging on my front door after seeing her flying through my apartment window.
If there’s a way to send a signal without using a smartphone—
“…”
Telepathy doesn’t seem like an option.
Then I’d have to rely on another kind of supernatural ability.
‘What if I use the System’s power?’
It might work.
“Status screen. System. …Summon management?”
No response.
In that case, my only hope is to turn to the one entity capable of advising me in this situation.
“Alice.”
[Yes, did you call for me?]
“I want to summon Elaine to my side. Is there a way to do that? Like an emergency escape.”
[…]
Alice goes silent for a moment.
Then, with a soft “Pop“, a window suddenly opens on my computer.
“…A game?”
The very game where Elaine was originally from.
Almost instinctively, I clicked the button on the screen.
“…!”
And there it was.
Elaine wasn’t in her character slot where she should have been. Instead, she appeared assigned to the far-right party slot—a party that shouldn’t exist.
“…This one’s 2D.”
On the screen, Elaine’s familiar appearance flickered into view.
Unlike her usual idle animation, she seemed aware of being observed, her expression thoughtful as if contemplating something. I turned my gaze back to the TV.
‘Synchronization?’
If the real-world Elaine is synced with the in-game Elaine, then perhaps I can retrieve her from there—
“Remove from party.”
Pop.
As soon as I pressed the button, Elaine vanished from the TV screen.
[Ah, wh-where did she go?!]
[Is this the Hunter’s power? Search the area immediately! We can’t let her escape!]
The gathered reporters panicked at the missed scoop, but I was just as bewildered as they were.
What if—
Though it’s unlikely—
‘She won’t be summoned to some strange place, right?’
Or worse, what if she appeared right in front of the fountain outside?
“…”
I tried assigning her back to the party.
Nothing happened.
But this time, the app newly installed on my smartphone, ‘Alice’, began blinking.
“…”
A special UI appeared within the app, displaying an SD-style illustration of Elaine’s profile.
[…Update complete. From now on, all summoned units will be managed through this app. Would you like to test the <Summon> command?]
Alice’s tone felt unusually stiff, but I followed her lead and pressed the button.
Flash!
Elaine appeared before me once more.
She looked no different from when she exited the Tower, but there was an unmistakable air of displeasure about her.
“…Master.”
Elaine spoke seriously, her tone firm.
“Please refrain from using ‘re-summoning’ on me in the future. If necessary, I will physically retreat from the area instead.”
“Re-summoning?”
“Yes, that…”
Elaine glanced toward the computer screen with a complex expression.
“The sensation of being dragged back into that place—it honestly feels like I may never be able to escape.”
“Oh.”
I understood.
Elaine’s ability to exist in this reality depended entirely on my summoning her.
‘Like Piochu??’
Even the electric mouse from the Village of Beginnings hated being inside its Pokball, preferring to remain outside because being inside felt less cozy and more like being trapped in a void.
If a real-world entity were confined to a 2D virtual space, entirely dependent on someone else to let them out…
“I get it. I won’t summon you like that again.”
“If Master is in danger, then by all means, do so. What I mean is—please allow me to stay by your side whenever possible.”
“…Understood.”
It couldn’t have been a pleasant experience for her.
“Then, if something like that happens again, what will you do next time?”
“I’ll create physical distance, wait for an opportunity when no one is around, and infiltrate this building from the rooftop to enter through the window.”
“…”
“For the time being, I’ll use the window for entry—”
“Elaine.”
I calmed Elaine down and then said.
“First, let’s pick some clothes.”
I opened the internet browser I had prepared earlier.
“Clothes?”
“Yeah, clothes. Like people are saying…”
[…The Management Committee is expected to make every effort to track down the ‘Cosplay Maid’ who set a new world record for Tower Conquest….]
“You can take off that maid outfit, right?”
If people are looking for a hero, it’s better to stay disguised in everyday life.
“For clothes….”
“Master.”
Elaine tapped the air a couple of times, then smiled as she mimicked swiping a credit card in my direction.
“The ‘reward’ for conquering the Tower has come in. Why not spend that first?”
* * *
[Meanwhile, in an office within a government building in Sejong City.]
Beep Beep Beep.
“Damn it, who is it this time?”
A man in a gray suit, his hair entirely white, picked up an old rotary phone from his desk.
“…Ah, Michael. I know. Yes, it’s real. No, we don’t know either. Really.”
He scratched his head furiously as he watched the maid on the TV screen.
“‘Unregistered Awakened.’ If she’s not among the one million registered Awakened, then she’s likely an unregistered Awakened from across the border. Yes, of course.”
The man answered.
“In our country, just like all citizens register as residents, awakened people must also register as awakened people. If you come to register as an awakened person…then you’ll only find out…what?”
The man who had been speaking politely blushed.
“Hire her? Offering $2 million to make her an American citizen? Is that supposed to be a threat? Absolutely not!”
Click.
He slammed the receiver down, fuming.
“Secretary!!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“The Americans are offering $2 million to make that maid Awakened one of their citizens! Find whatever’s left in the reserve funds right now!”
“Y-you mean an amount equivalent to $2 million?”
“Of course!”
The man—none other than the President of South Korea—yelled out.
“If conquering a Tower costs only 2 million, I’d hire every single one of them with my salary immediately!”
* * *
In Seoul, a Tower that had appeared near a fountain vanished after just 1 hour and 10 minutes.
The sudden appearance of a minimum A-Rank Awakened, [Maid], shrouded in mystery, left everyone in awe.