Disclaimer - All rights for the canon material goes to their original authors and creators. I only own my story.

Chapter 1 : I thought this was supposed to be a game with cute girls!

"Phew, it's almost finished downloading huh?"

Sitting alone in his room, Bell Cranel, a young man of 18 years, could be seen relaxing at his desk as he waited for the new app on his phone to finish.

-'Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?-

That was the name of a new gacha game that has been going absolutely viral on the mobile platform at the moment, with many people preferring to play it more than other popular console titles. Despite being only released a couple of weeks ago, the player base has since skyrocketed at an unbelievable rate whilst earning countless praises from members of all age groups. At this moment, it is currently ranked as the 2nd most played mobile game in the world.

The game play itself is fairly simple and not unlike many other gacha orientated games out there. Basically the premise of the story is to clear dungeons and complete missions in a world that has slowly become infested with monsters that vary in strength. These ranged from saving villagers to clearing out monster nests to even fighting demon lord level bosses. In order to compete against these evil forces, the player (aka the Hero of the story) must recruit and form their own team of powerful NPC characters to fight with you as a party. Of course, the player can also further strengthen their companions by sending them out on expeditions in order to earn exp for leveling up. Naturally, gear and armor are also fairly important.

While players can unlock fairly decent companions and equipment by completing the story missions and farming the appropriate materials from bosses for crafting, this is ultimately a gacha game. This meant that the more desirable characters and gear could only be unlocked by rolling/gambling for them with real money via gacha and hoping you got lucky.

Of course, there were those unlucky players that would spend a lot of cash and still not get anything good as it is random at the end of the day. However -'Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?- is still fairly well-received when compared to any other gacha game because the drop rates for the paid content was substantially higher.

But the biggest reason for it's popularity, was the fact that the characters were downright designed to be absolutely stunning. The female characters were out of this world in terms of beauty, each with a different personality that catered towards audiences of different tastes.

It wasn't a stretch to say that this game was the best source for 2D waifus.

As a result, the player base was predominately male based.

Having said all that though, Bell himself had only heard about all this and had yet to actually experience the game himself.

You see, many of Bell's friends at school have also jumped onto the bandwagon during it's launch which was perhaps the leading reason as to why Bell was even considering downloading it in the first place.

For a poor high school student who lived alone in a small apartment, his bank account was...well fairly empty and he would often use his paycheck on a week to week basis with barely any savings making through these expenses. Hence the reason for his initial distaste towards the idea of playing a game that essentially worked off a form of gambling nature. The last thing he needed was to fall into gacha hell and end up wasting money that he needed to pay bills with.

Thankfully though this game was unique in the sense that it offered a free gacha roll every day, so even free players had a chance of obtaining the higher tier stuff.

So he figured why not? If it was a game that even a free player could enjoy, then he might as well join in on the fun. At the very least, he would be able to participate in the lunchtime conversations at school which often revolved around this game.

"Hmm, so they released a new limited time gacha huh?" Bell muttered to himself as he scanned the game's official website on his computer, occasionally throwing his phone a glance or two to check on the download process. "Oh wow, there's even limited characters being released in this gacha!"

You see, characters and gear are separated into many different combat grades. These tiers are simplified as follows from highest to lowest F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS and finally SSS. Each of these characters and gear also possess a rarity level which range from very common all the way up to unique. Unique means that only one of these items exists and as a result, are often worth a lot in game. However rarity and their combat grades do not necessarily go in hand. For example if you were a beta tester for the game, you would receive an event item which would be considered rare as they could only be obtained then and never again, but only have a combat level of E class as they were designed to be a collectible. It was effectively a way for the developers to not give the beta testers an unfair advantage.

Moreover, in order to balance out the player base so that the free players have a chance to fight wallet warriors in PVP, the developers also implemented companion restrictions when it comes to forming your personal squad of NPC fighters. The more high leveled companions you placed in your team, the smaller your team would be as it would be capped at a smaller limit. For example, a player could form a team of 10 F ranked companions and opt to have more turns for attack but would suffer from each unit being weaker. On the other hand, if a player wanted to have SSS ranked companions on their team, they would only be allowed to have 2 units in total which results in higher firepower but less turns to make moves.

This was implemented into the game so that paid players wouldn't just steamroll free players due to the sheer amount of SSS leveled companions they have from purchasing more gacha rolls.

Of course the game isn't restricted to purely PVP content as there is a single player story line available, which Bell was actually fairly pumped to play especially since this game is set in a time that resembled the middle ages but with magic and adventurers.

RING!

"Oh, it's finally finished!"

With excitement coursing through his veins, Bell quickly sent his friend a message to alert them that he was ready to join the game.

Hey Tachibana! I'm done downloading the game. You wanna play right now?

Aye Bell! Right now I'm in the middle of a dungeon, how about you finish the tutorial first? Fun fact, you get to spin your very first gacha in this game during it.

Really? Is it possible to get anything good from it?

Hm, well the tutorial gacha has some interesting stuff in it, but nobody really knows if there's anything rare in it cause everyone only gets to spin it once.

Ah okay. Oh before I start the tutorial, have you seen the newest gacha?

Heck yeah Bell, did you check out the unique units in it?

Yes I did, their attack power is ridiculously high though...it's almost borderline broken to be honest.

What?! I wasn't even talking about their stats, I'm talking about the looks! The female characters are so pretty in this update! Seriously Bell, you need to take a second look at em.

How about I focus on the tutorial first. Chances are, I won't be able to roll any of those female characters anyway so I'd prefer not to get my hopes up.

Come on Bell, it's only 100 yen a roll, it's not even that expensive.

If I did that, I would probably end up skipping meals frequently so I'll pass. Don't want to fall into gacha hell before I even began.

Your loss! Don't complain when I land myself some cute girls.

Lol, Good luck buddy. Anyway, I'm going to do the tutorial now!

Alright, good luck with the gacha.

"Tachibana and his 2D Waifus hah." Bell laughed at his friend's antiques as he waited for the screen to load. He did admit that the newest gacha contained some of the best drawn female characters he had seen, but he wasn't really sure why people would be willing to pay so much for them. Yet he easily found one too many forum pages with people raging over the low drop chances and how they were willing to spend their live savings to buy it off whoever got the best waifus.

"Everyone has too much money these days huh?"

Eventually the tutorial began and he was taught most of the basics, most of which he had already covered just now. You know the usual stuff where the game teaches you the combat mechanics and what not.

Finally he had arrived at the end of the tutorial with a new message popping up on his screen.

Congratulations on your completion of the tutorial, you are now ready to embark on your adventure! Before you begin, we would like to leave you with a small token of our appreciation for your participation! Best of luck with the gacha!

Shortly afterwards, a treasure chest appeared on Bell's screen where a small bubble 'Tap the screen to continue' could be seen floating next to it. The young man slowly counted to 10 in his mind before giving the screen a firm click, praying for something special to appear from it. It would certainly be very nice to receive an item that no one else has received before or something that would help him get a nice head start.

With that glimmer of hope in mind, Bell watched as the treasure exploded causing a multitude of confetti to rain.

Congratulations Bell, you have obtained -A Hero's Summoning- !

"A Hero's Summoning? What in the world is that?" To say he was confused was probably putting it lightly as he could see no window popping up to explain what the strange orb of crystal did.

Maybe it was something he would find out once he actually entered the game?

Figuring that was the case, Bell confidently tapped the screen once again, feeling absolutely pumped and ready for the start of his virtual adventure.

Best of luck on your journey, oh brave hero!

Then without any further delay, the phone began to vibrate in his hands as though overcome by some otherworldly force before a bright ray of light erupted from the phone's screen, encompassing the entire room in it's process.

"Wow, that's some next level programming. Never would have thought they would be able to ramp up the phone brightness to such a crazy extent." Bell groaned as he rubbed his temples, his eyes still feeling somewhat sore from witnessing the crazy burst of light just seconds ago. "Surely they should have at least given some sort of warning for that one. Gonna ask Tachibana about this one after."

With his vision still slowly recovering, Bell couldn't exactly see anything in front but felt a rather unnatural sensation coming from above, more specifically the feeling of the sun's warmth.

"What? That can't be." Bell whispered whilst shaking his head in the process. "I'm in my room and last I checked, I don't have anything sophisticated like a sun roof."

Although still blinded, he instinctively turned to face the source, feeling the gentle warmth reaching his face. What's more, he saw a bright ray of light even through his closed eyelids.

Everything seemed to point towards the fact that the sun was shining down on him, yet the notion of him being outdoors simply didn't make sense. In all his confusion, Bell took an absent-minded step forward only to feel a somewhat prickly yet soft sensation under his feet.

"What is going on?" By now, a certain well of fear has begun to build up in the young man causing a heavy wave of unease to wash over him. That in turn, caused his mind to go bananas as it raced at a million miles per hour, trying to come to some sort of explanation towards his current predicament.

Maybe he left a sock on the floor or something?

Or maybe he had somehow wandered out into his backyard?

When his vision finally recovered, the scene before him only caused him to fall deeper into a daze. The field currently in front of him was rich like a green land that stretched as far as the eye could see into the horizon with a few trees growing here and there. His earlier assumptions had indeed been correct as a single glance upward was enough to confirm the presence of a sun. What lay under his feet was also just as he has assumed, it was fresh green grass that seemed to brim with life and nutrients as every strand appeared to be lush and healthy, displaying a pure shade of green that Bell had never even seen before.

Either someone tended to this place extremely well, or this was no ordinary grass.

Spinning on the spot, Bell confirmed that at least the scene behind him was a little different for there appeared to be a man-made road. It wasn't particularly well maintained since there were obvious pieces of rocks sticking out here and there as well as the occasional puddle filled with muddy water. On the other side of the track was a rather large area of overgrown forest with the trees that Bell could currently see, being well over 3 meters. In a group, they formed a canopy that shielded anything underneath from the rays of the sun.

As a result, Bell couldn't really see well into the forest as it was veiled in darkness from the lack of light filtering into its depths.

At least one thing was certain though...he was definitely not in his room.

'Is this even real? Am I dreaming at the moment?' Using the classic method to confirm his theory, Bell gave his right cheek a hard slap before letting out a pained cry. "Ouch! Ow Ow!"

With his first test down, Bell instead turned his attention to something else, glancing down at his attire as though to see if there were any irregularities. Just as he had thought, he was currently wearing his indoor hoodie and baggy pants. It was a combination he often used when he was at home and if his pajamas were in the washing machine. He could tell right away that it was his hoodie as it was faded in brown from being worn and washed so much, hence the reason why he stopped using it in public.

"Hmm, for now I should at least follow the road. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll bump into someone who can help."

His current outfit wasn't the best getup for the great outdoors but thankfully, the sun was out so the cold was not an issue. Although he couldn't exactly say the same for his feet. Unsurprisingly, he was currently wearing his slippers which made trekking across any form of uneven ground somewhat uncomfortable.

His feet quickly tired from the unnatural workout so there was no choice but to take a break.

RING!

"Huh?" Momentarily shocked by the unexpected noise, Bell immediately reached into his pant's pocket before pulling out his smartphone. "Oh my goodness! I still have you?!"

He wanted to cry tears of happiness as he gently held the electronic device in his hands like it was some lifesaver. In his current situation, anything that he found familiar was like a sight for sore eyes.

Wasting not a second, Bell gingerly gave the home button a tap on his phone and it immediately lit up in response, showing the familiar locked screen.

"I never thought I'd see the day when I would be so happy to see my own phone." He whispered before quickly entering his credentials. But what he saw next kinda surprised him. Instead of being greeted by the familiar home screen, all Bell could see were some random bits of information.

"HP? Strength? Mana? Dexterity? What is this?" Lifting an eyebrow in confusion, Bell carefully studied the contents. If one didn't know any better, they would naturally assume that he was a cryptographer of some sort trying to decipher a mystery code. "This looks like what you would find in a game."

Whats even more mind boggling was the fact that 'Bell Cranel' was displayed at the top of the window.

"What is going on?"

But before he could read any further, a new window popped up on the screen with a message that was displayed in bold letters.

Welcome to the new world oh brave adventurer Bell Cranel, in order to aid you on your journey we would like to provide you with one final parting gift.

-You have received a new gacha (The Hero's Guardian x 1)

The item has been added to your inventory which can be accessed from the main menu. Best of luck!

"Why do they keep referring to me as the brave adventurer? Is there something that I'm missing?" Bell furrowed his eyebrow as he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he was part of something big. It felt like he wasn't just sent here randomly but that it was all part of someone's plan.

But before he could lose himself in these doubtful thoughts, a rather odd noise reached the young man's ears.

Pleesshhh! Pleassshhhh!

It sounded like the sound of liquid splattering on the floor like what you would hear if you accidentally split a whole glass of milk. What really bothered Bell was the fact that noise continually repeated itself plus...it was getting louder and louder each time. By now, he was fairly certain that the mysterious noise was coming from the forest to his right on the other side of the road as it continued to squelch.

Then all of a sudden a mysterious...thing flew out of the darkness and landed in the middle of the road.

"Is that...a slime?"

Although it didn't have a definitive form as it kept changing shape constantly due to it's liquid nature, it was for the most part somewhat circular in shape. It was a little strange to say this, but Bell found it somewhat oddly cute as it reminded him of a very chubby hamster when it nestled on the floor.

But it only took him a second to figure out that it was anything but cute.

Pooosh!

The slime seemingly spit in Bell's direction causing the young boy to take a few clumsy steps to his left, dodging the foreign substance almost out of instinct. And thank goodness he did because the patch of grass that the substance landed on seemed to rot away, as though killed by some kind of poison.

"Oh crap, it shoots toxic bullets?" Bell yelled before turning around and bolting. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that this was not somewhere he wanted to be right now. And so he bolted.

Pleesshhh! Pleassshhhh! Pleesshhh! Pleassshhhh!

All of a sudden, the dreaded noise, that Bell now knew belonged to slimes, could be heard in multitude from the forest beside him. He didn't even have time to blink before an army of those slimes flew out into the opening, moving much faster than the original one had. What's more, they all varied in sizes with the biggest ones being at least 4 times larger than the one he had seen before.

"Oh nuts!" Bell screamed as the group of slimes all chased him. Unfortunately for someone who rarely did exercise on a regular basis, he was beginning to feel his stamina fading. Hi throat was starting to hurt from the constant sharp intake of breathes and his legs were starting to get wobbly. To make matters worse, his head was pounding somewhat painfully from exhaustion especially since he realized that it should be around about 2 am back in his world.

'Wait that gacha from earlier!' At this point he was really grasping for straws, desperate for anything that might help him. But with so little in his possession, his options were extremely limited and it didn't take long for him to realize that he had that weird gacha from earlier. 'It was called The Hero's Guardian right? If this is anything like the gacha game, does it mean that I get a companion?'

It was definitely a logical guess, one that Bell could only hope would be correct.

'Please give me strong companion who can take care of all these slimes with ease!' He prayed whilst desperately trying to navigate to his inventory window, the task proving extremely difficult due to him being on the run.

Finally he managed to find what he was looking for as a new message popped up on the screen.

This gacha requires you to form a permanent partnership with the randomly summoned guardian, do you wish to accept? Y/N

'Not like I have much of a choice!' Bell screamed mentally before giving the yes option a ridiculously powerful tap.

Pooosh! Pooosh! Pooosh! Pooosh! Pooosh! Pooosh!

Spinning around, the young man watched helplessly as a rain of acid fell from the sky, temporarily darkening the skies during the process.

'Is this the end?' Bell thought sadly as the last of his stamina reserves faded from his exhausted body. However he managed to see one last message on his phone through his half lidded eyes before his consciousness faded completely.

Congratulations, you have successfully formed a permanent partnership with summoned guardian, Ais Wallenstein!