Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World

I had declared that I would defeat the guardian of the 1st floor, but of course, that didn’t mean right now.

After all, I still lacked the absolute specs, and it was obvious that I wouldn’t even be able to properly fill the minimum contribution points.

What was important right now was to become stronger. And the fastest way to become stronger was, of course…

“The gacha.”

“Huh? What did you just say, Jonah?”

It was the next day. This time, I was properly equipped with weapons, and Lydia, who was leading the way in the labyrinth, turned around.

Her bright red eyes stared straight at me. I, too, without avoiding her gaze, asked in a serious voice.

“Miss Lydia. Could you lend me about 100 gold?”

“…What do you need that much money for?”

“Gambling?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why nooooot! I’ll pay it back if I win!”

“Stop talking nonsense. Just get ready for battle. There’s a goblin up ahead.”

“I know that too. I’ll be right back.”

I briskly walked past Lydia. There was an area with an uneasy feeling about 5 meters ahead, near a thick tree.

Its plan must be to wait atop the tree, then jump down and kill whoever fell into the hidden trap.

It must have thought it was thoroughly camouflaged, with the trap covered with a thin layer of soil and it hiding among the branches…

But true to goblin nature, the execution was somewhat sloppy.

If you look closely at the trap, its outline is visible through the dirt, and the goblin, though hiding, seems unable to stay still, constantly rustling.

With a bit of attention, it was a threat that could easily be seen through. Just the difficulty level you’d expect from a first-floor monster.

I walked defenselessly forward, pretending not to notice, then the moment I neared the tree, I screamed loudly as if I had fallen into the trap.

“Aaaah!”

“Gobureubut! Stupid little human! Become my husband!”

The goblin, completely fooled, dropped from the tree with a gleeful expression. It seemed to use the momentum of its fall to strike me with its club, but…

I wasn’t actually trapped and unable to move, and I knew where the goblin was, so why let it hit me?

“I don’t understand why you’re in heat for someone of a different species.”

Muttering so, I kicked off the ground and leaped up. But once wasn’t enough, so I aimed diagonally towards the tree.

Pa-pat!

I stepped on the trunk of the tree and jumped again in a triangular movement. The distance closed in an instant.

The goblin, who had only lifted the club above its head, was not yet ready to swing. I grabbed it with both arms wide open as if embracing it.

My smoothly curved arm dug into the goblin’s joints and then firmly restrained it.

“Gobubbeut?!”

The goblin, surprised by the joint lock in mid-air, might have had the strength to escape if given time… but it didn’t have that time.

I put strength into my waist and flipped over. Then, quickly releasing my restraint, I kicked the goblin’s body away.

With that recoil, I adjusted my posture in the air and landed safely. Conversely, the goblin completely flipped over and fell headfirst.

“Gobueeuut…!”

Crack.

Turning away from the corpse that I didn’t even use my dagger on, I deepened my voice.

“Hmph. Cut down something useless again.”

“But you didn’t cut anything.”

Ignoring Lydia’s exasperated reply, I began dissecting the goblin.

Since the bones of the hand were sold as alchemical materials, I cut near the wrist, threw it into my backpack, and then split the heart to remove the magic stone inside.

That was it. Goblins were weak and easy to catch, but that also meant they weren’t worth much.

As I sighed and put the dagger back into its sheath, the goblin’s corpse lost its color and crumbled not long after.

Half of the remains turned to dust and were blown away by the wind, while the other half seeped into the ground. Thus, within 10 seconds, any sign that the goblin ever existed disappeared.

Once the core that bound the monster to this dimension was gone, it could no longer maintain its form.

So, if there was a part that one needed, it had to be cut off before extracting the magic stone.

Well, even if it disappeared, it didn’t completely vanish. Instead, it regrouped somewhere to respawn as a new goblin… but no one knows in which time period.

It could appear in the labyrinth a thousand years ago, have just sprung up somewhere in the Great Forest right at this moment, or have jumped into the future several hundred years from now.

Naturally, the goblins we face could originally have been from an entirely different time period.

The space-time of the labyrinth was fundamentally twisted, and the layers we explore have been made as habitable as possible by untangling them as much as possible.

It was somewhat complicated, but this was just content that I added to justify the setting where the labyrinth’s monsters and resources were infinite.

However, the key that formed the floor, the remains of a dead god, were an exception… but originally, it’s like the core that formed the floor, so no one could interfere except for the Goddess of Love who constructed the structure of the labyrinth.

For example, the World Tree that could be seen from anywhere on the first floor when one looked up. That thing was practically a huge illusion.

The remains observable within the floor could be described as a shadow cast over a specific space-time.

Even if you somehow managed to reach the World Tree after breaking through the increasingly ferocious monsters, it would be impossible to touch or destroy it.

You would just pass through it as if there was nothing there.

After looking at the World Tree for a moment, I turned my gaze to Lydia.

“By the way, Miss Lydia, it seems goblins are no longer a proper match for me. So, shall we start facing other monsters?”

“Yes. I didn’t expect you to use the dagger I bought you for butchering.”

“Ah… Well, this time, it seemed more inconvenient to draw my weapon. You know, with the limited time to stay airborne, why bother drawing the dagger? Especially when it doesn’t have the power to kill in one hit.”

“I wasn’t scolding you. You did well. It was a good decision.”

With a faint smile, Lydia patted my head. For some reason, she seems to think I like being patted.

She patted my head even for trivial things, saying it was her way of praising me. Of course, I don’t dislike it… but it’s not like I particularly enjoy it either.

And right now, I couldn’t even see her bust area because we were in the labyrinth, and she was wearing armor.

It was only for a moment that I gazed at Lydia with a strange expression. Perhaps she felt my gaze, as Lydia coughed awkwardly.

“Ahem. Let’s go a bit deeper, Jonah. You’re more than skilled enough, Jonah.”

“Yayy…!”

“But before that, come here for a moment.”

Crouching in place, Lydia tapped the ground beside her. Curious, I crouched next to her, and there was a goblin’s crude trap.

“We’re going to disarm this.”

“If you know it’s a trap, can’t you just avoid it? Why bother?”

“Even if you know it’s a trap, there are times you can’t avoid it. Do you know the difference between a Wandering Goblin on the outskirts and a Hobgoblin in the central regions?”

“The civilization.”

Overall, Hobgoblins are bigger and stronger, and occasionally, even have shamans, so there’s definitely a racial difference.

But still, they’re goblins. The difference in specs wasn’t tremendously large.

Therefore, the biggest difference was their way of life.

Wandering Goblins always move alone or in small groups, never exceeding three, living a barbaric life.

In contrast, Hobgoblins gather in dozens to form tribes, creating their own civilization and living systematically.

Hobgoblins have primitive huts and fences surrounding them, use a wider variety of tools, and have a clear class distinction.

Therefore, they disdain Wandering Goblins, considering them barbarians… but since their sexual desire is just as strong, they exceptionally accept all the males that come their way.

Male goblins are said to never leave their home, not work, and spend their days mating until the end of their lives, hence called the breeding class.

It’s a bit enviable, but when you consider that all their partners are goblins, the appeal quickly fades.

…Wait. So, is that why Wandering Goblins get excited whenever they see me?

All the males must have gone to the Hobgoblins, leaving only females behind. It’s clear that they get excited firsthand, regardless of species, if they see a male.

Shivering at the memory of the goblin that wouldn’t take its eyes off my groin until the moment it died, Lydia started patting my head again.

I really wish she would do this with her armor off….

“Correct. If Jonah goes deeper, it will be inevitable to clash with the Hobgoblins. They’re not the strongest monsters, but they are the most numerous.”

“So, we need to know how to disarm traps?”

“Yes. Hobgoblins don’t just throw traps hoping someone will get caught; they use them in a way that makes it impossible not to get caught. So, we’ll practice in advance. If you can’t avoid a trap, how to disarm it, and if you’re already caught in it, how to escape.”

Nodding, Lydia began to demonstrate on the trap that was in front of us.

“Professional trap disassembly is quite difficult and complex, so only a few scouts have mastered it… but goblin traps are crude. Anyone who is an adventurer should be able to do this much. Look at this. Easy, right?”

“Oh….”

Afterward, as we made our way toward the center, we encountered several traps. However, as Lydia had mentioned, they all had a simple structure, making the disarming process straightforward.

Yet, after detecting and disarming traps multiple times, a thought suddenly struck me.

‘Goblins fight in a cowardly manner, so is there any reason for me, who’s weaker than a goblin, to fight fairly with just a dagger and a crossbow?’

Considering making traps like theirs wasn’t a bad idea, I realized there must be other methods as well.

Thus, I decided to let my imagination wander. Specifically, into darker territories, pondering how I could tilt a fight in my favor.

Surely, this will prove to be useful someday.