Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World

Lydia quietly observed the boy in front of her.

There’s a saying that those born with pink hair are loved by the Goddess of Love. Of course, it hasn’t been officially confirmed by the temple…

The rumor had spread because, regardless of age, gender, or race, they all possessed beautiful appearances and strong sexual desires.

If that saying is true, then the boy in front of her must surely be the child most cherished by the Goddess of Love.

His pink hair shone despite the lack of proper care, and he had smooth skin even without applying anything.

Not to mention the neatness of his facial features, and the occasional mischievousness that could pull a woman’s heart up and down. Usually, he exhibited an unguarded manner that was beyond being easy-going.

Even to Lydia, who had never taken much interest in the opposite sex, Jonah was an incredibly attractive child.

If he aged a bit more and dressed up a bit more, he would be a man fitting the definition of unparalleled beauty.

However, Jonah’s greatest peculiarity wasn’t his appearance.

“Yes.”

Jonah was dining with Lydia, displaying somewhat clumsy movements.

‘It is indeed strange.’

Jonah might not know the complex etiquette or the order of eating food, but his handling of utensils was oddly proficient.

In truth, Jonah had just been a tonkatsu enthusiast on Earth who couldn’t bear going three days without eating tonkatsu… but Lydia, unaware of this fact, saw it a bit differently.

He knew the bare minimum of dining etiquette but seemed unfamiliar with expensive food.

This was a characteristic often seen in clergy who considered frugality a virtue.

It was a wild goose chase, but for Lydia, who had already begun to suspect that Jonah was from One Who Devours the Twilight, it was significantly meaningful.

One Who Devours the Twilight.

While all other gods destroyed the world with their folly, they fanatically worshipped the Goddess of Love, who had merely continued to love everything.

They believed without a doubt that only the Goddess of Love was a true god and should be the owner of all miracles in this world.

Thus, they committed any deed they considered necessary, no matter how unethical, without hesitation.

This included dissecting those who had obtained the miracles of a dead god in the labyrinth to steal their power and conducting human experiments to see how far one could still be considered ‘human’, as the love of their goddess fell upon all ‘humans’…

Then there were various studies targeting those with pink hair, who were believed to be favored by the goddess.

They did all of this because they believed it was a way to repay the love given by the Goddess of Love, so they never hesitated or pondered.

Naturally, the orthodox religion that believes in the Goddess of Love strongly opposed this, declaring One Who Devours the Twilight to be a heretical group.

Many nations and adventurer guilds also define them as an extremely dangerous criminal group, hunting them down at every opportunity.

They had practically turned the entire world into an enemy. The reason why One Who Devours the Twilight still managed to survive and spread their infamy was simple.

It’s because they have their base not in the overworld, but in a labyrinth.

And Jonah was a child who had been kidnapped during his childhood and raised in a branch of One Who Devours the Twilight… or so Lydia thought.

Three years ago, Lydia did not directly experience the incident that led Ellie to retire from adventuring. At the time, she lacked the skills to participate in the subjugation operation.

However, she could infer the general circumstances from what she heard from Ellie and her own investigations.

Ellie, along with other high-ranking adventurers, embarked on a subjugation mission targeting a branch where two main experiments were being conducted.

The first experiment questioned whether it was possible to control monsters, imbued with madness, using fragments from the corpse of the God of Madness.

The second experiment pondered, ‘Does the goddess love even a child who does not know love?’

The former was dismissed as mere folly by the madmen, but the nature of the latter experiment was shocking enough to spark widespread discussion at the time.

Initially, they would bring in a child young enough not to remember being loved and subject them to thorough brainwashing.

They suppressed the child’s emotions, denied them any form of warmth from others, and relentlessly indoctrinated them with praises for the goddess.

Once a foundation was somewhat established, they moved on to eradicating even the slightest sense of self-love.

During this process, they forbade the wearing of clothes, commanded the children to harm themselves, and if they refused, subjected them to torture. Through various means, they obliterated not only the concept of shame but also the instinct for self-preservation, shattering the spirit.

The aim was to make the children see themselves as beings of no value, both physically and mentally, never having been loved, nor having the right to love anyone.

In this process, most either died or went mad… but even those who somehow survived became nothing more than empty shells.

What the One Who Devours the Twilight taught these hollowed-out children were the skills for slaughter.

They believed that if caring for someone was an expression of love, then its antithesis was to kill them.

The next step, learned from interrogating captured prisoners, was to force the children to kill each other until only one survivor remained, and then to verify if that child had been imbued with the goddess’s power…

Fortunately, the research did not advance that far. The extermination team, including Ellie, arrived while the children were still being trained in combat skills.

‘Senior Ellie is a fool but a good person. She wouldn’t have just ignored them, even knowing it would interfere with the mission.’

Ellie had pitied the children and wanted to rescue them, to help them lead normal lives.

But that was the problem. The children had nothing except for enforced faith and combat skills.

What would they have thought, seeing the branch of One Who Devours the Twilight collapse before their eyes, and the zealots they had considered absolute beings being killed off?

The children felt endangered. Though it had been forced and false, they feared losing their faith, which had been the only thing allowed to them.

Thus, they deemed Ellie… the adventurers as enemies.

That was why Ellie, who had been fighting against the floor guardian, was stabbed in the back.

If Jonah was one of those children, wouldn’t that explain everything?

The lack of hesitation in taking lives, the attitude that seems to place little value on one’s own body and pain, his unusually vast amount of knowledge, the speech and conduct that seemed somewhat off from common sense…

And the abnormal obsession with Ellie.

If all of this was because Jonah was a child thoroughly ruined by the hands of One Who Devours the Twilight, then everything that had been incomprehensible to her until now suddenly made sense.

Of course, several parts were realistically impossible.

For example, the location. Ellie’s last extermination operation took place on the 6th floor, which corresponds to the middle floors of the labyrinth.

Moreover, the branch of One Who Devours the Twilight was a mess due to the battle between the floor guardian and Ellie.

Even if one somehow survived that chaos, was it really possible to find a safe zone and escape out of the labyrinth?

…Originally, it would have been nearly impossible. However, it is said that at that time, most of the monsters on the 6th floor were only targeting the extermination team due to the schemes of the Twilight.

If one had somehow, by luck, managed to survive, then the labyrinth would have acknowledged Jonah’s achievements and given corresponding rewards.

For example, a speed that could never come from a child of that age.

“Sigh.”

Perhaps she had thought too much. Lydia inadvertently let out a sigh, unable to properly enjoy her delicious meal.

Jonah, who had been sneakily eyeing Lydia’s plate, flinched in startlement and retracted his fork. Then, as if nothing had happened, he asked worriedly,

“Lydia? Do you have something on your mind?”

“Yeah. I got sad because Jonah was trying to steal my steak.”

“Steal! Please, say that we were sharing! Look, like this….”

“Trading salad for meat is an unfair exchange.”

“Tsk.”

Such shamelessness. Jonah has been like this since the moment they met.

She tried to save him, but he took advantage of a chance and escaped on his own. Then, as if he knew nothing, he simply thanked her for coming to save him.

“…Jonah.”

“Yes?”

“When you defeated the Twin Daggers Clan leader, why did you pretend that you didn’t do it?”

“Cough cough!”

He must not have expected to be asked such a question. Jonah hurriedly drank some water to clear his cough, then laughed incredulously.

“What? Were you playing with your food because you were curious about something like that?”

“Answer me.”

“Well… it’s not that big of a deal, but…”

Jonah, looking a bit embarrassed, averted her gaze and continued,

“I really like salvation stories.”

“Salvation stories?”

“Yes. You know them, right? A man kidnapped by a villain. And the hero who makes a cool entrance to save him. A powerful first encounter. The feelings that start from compassion and admiration develop into love as they get to know each other deeply… It’s a common and cliché story, but it’s romantic, isn’t it?”

“…I’m not sure. I don’t really read that genre of books.”

“I’ll recommend you some good ones next time. …Anyway, my first meeting with Miss Lydia was like the beginning of a salvation story, so I just tried saying something that someone who was kidnapped might say.”

“Salvation….”

Lydia pondered Jonah’s words. Could it be that Jonah sees Ellie not as an enemy of his faith but as a savior?

If Lydia could see into people’s hearts, she might have noticed that Jonah was seething with anger as he recalled the hate comments from his past life about being a salvation story one-trick pony… Unfortunately, Lydia does not possess such a skill.

‘Come to think of it, Senior Ellie did decide to trust Jonah in the end.’

It didn’t matter what his true identity was. What did he say, that he won’t doubt the continuous kindness shown to him?

Suddenly, Lydia realized that she had been too obsessed with Jonah’s past.

‘What kind of person was the Jonah I saw in person?’

He tried to understand Ellie and Lydia’s feelings, attempted to keep to a moral line even with his revenge, and stared at her chest for some reason, but asked to be petted with a giggling smile.

Of course, he was a bit of a kleptomaniac, and a bit of a psychopath, and liked to play with women’s hearts, but…

‘Wait, the problems are too severe.’

Even if Jonah’s past is what she thought it was, he had become a much better person now. Perhaps, in the distant future, he might become an even better person.

‘But I can’t just leave him be.’

Indeed, Jonah needs someone to teach him proper common sense and a way of life.

And that was supposed to be her role, having taken on the task of guiding Jonah.

“Jonah. Let’s go for dessert after we finish eating.”

“Hm? Sure, if Miss Lydia wants to.”

“Let’s go shopping too.”

“That would be perfect for digestion.”

Jonah nodded nonchalantly. At the sight, Lydia smiled slyly.

‘I still have a lot of money left from Senior Ellie. After making a round at the nearby dessert shop, then fitting some weapons at the forge, and then putting it all on his debt… Yes. I can extend the period of my guidance.’

After all, a few months would not be enough to teach Jonah about a normal life.

Lydia finished making her resolution to take responsibility(?) for Jonah’s life.

Unaware of the tragedy born from deep misunderstandings and a strong sense of duty, Jonah secretly switched his and Lydia’s steak plates while she was still lost in deep thought.

He was a growing boy.