Gacha in Love

By Quinn Fey

Gacha in Love is a cute get-together romance story that also touches on the hardships of people in their late 20s. The main character, Irisa, recently got into a gacha game. Meanwhile, Desmond is a popular streamer who has been in the gaming industry for a long time. The chances of these two different souls meeting are low, yet they become friends in-game without knowing each other's identities. One day, Irisa's friend mentions how she apparently appears in viral clips from a streamer and how people like their chat and interaction. That should be the end of it, right? But then they meet in real life, at a game convention, and get close to each other. Love is... honestly not that far behind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quinn Fey
• Release date: Mar 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215472118

Quinn Fey

Normal is boring, that’s what Quinn thinks. As such, her books will also rummage into the magical realism or a topic not quite touched by a lot. Yet, she knows she’s not the only one liking the edge of fantasy. She hopes her stories can bring enjoyment to readers, as much as she enjoys writing it.

Book preview

Prologue

The constellation of the eagle is shining blue brightly in pale yellow sky. It’s too beautiful to be missed; Irisa makes sure to make a mental note to visit this spot again tomorrow. She changes the angle of the view multiple times, zooming here and there, takes a quick screenshot of the eagle, how the sapphire dots connect to draw the beak, eyes, to the majestic wings spread upon gold clouds. The vision is so perfect in detail and of such high quality, accompanied by the lullaby of crickets and the bird chirps of the woods.

Irisa plops down on the grass and wonders if she should set up the tent right here. But monsters can attack her so easily and openly in this wilderness, she can’t afford to lose a life here. She should log out from another secure location, a budget inn preferably.

It costs another twenty silver coins from her purse, but at least she can gain more money working some odd jobs in this inn, until she can find the traveling merchant who sells the medical gear.

Irisa logs off the Sapphire Sire game. The blue and yellow icon on her phone brings some type of comfort as the brunette closes her eyes to sleep.

Chapter 1. Charge

For this boss, Irisa decides to ask her friend, Desmondian to help her in co-op mode. As far as she recalled, the guy is always online. He probably has the same gaming schedule as she does, but Irisa swears he's always there. Desmondian, as usual, readily agrees to assist. And before long, the game is loading to change to co-op mode, where she goes to DESMONDIAN world. Together, they do a good job of finishing off the tarantula boss.

She can just stand there doing nothing, a little healing here and there, while Desmondian takes care of the rest with his incredibly strong characters and offensive gears. Usually, Irisa doesn’t spend too much time in co-op chat because it’s hard to type on a mobile device. She does, however, enjoy conversing with Saianide, Trassie, and, more recently, Desmondian. Sometimes she indulges in chatting with friends if she has the time, like now.

DESMONDIAN: We did great! Cool gear!

IRIS: Thanks. LOL. The gear matches her eyes.

Okay, don’t judge her; she plays mostly for aesthetic. Some really invested gamers will have something to say for her less effective choice during combat, but she knows Desmond doesn’t judge. So far, he’s been incredibly nice.

DESMONDIAN: I can see that. Nice. I myself tend to gravitate toward level A character more than level A gear. Are you collecting gear instead?

IRIS: Oh, no. I collect characters too. I mean, I try to be. Mostly, I don’t have enough gemstones. But I got lucky with animal collection!

DESMONDIAN: You don’t say! I know this streamer. He’s cool. And he’s giving gemstones as gifts to his viewers. Do you watch any steamer on Plitch?

That application name rings a bell. Irisa is pretty sure it’s some kind of streaming application mostly for gamers, she heard it from Saianide before. But she has absolutely no idea what it looks like, what it does, or whether it will be complicated. Giving gemstones as gifts is very generous though.

IRIS: Ah, I’m not on Plitch.

DESMONDIAN: That’s a shame bruh.

IRIS: Yeah. Sadly, I don’t have much free time. But what’s his name? I’ll look for him since you like him so much.

DESMONDIAN: Nah, it’s okay. You busy? Those streamers took about 4 hours out of each day of your life. Minimum.

Four hours?! Irisa doesn’t have that kind of luxury. She rests more on the bed, yawning and moving her limbs slowly. It’s pretty late already. Did she take out the trash yet? She can’t remember.

IRIS: Oh. That’s a lot.

DESMONDIAN: IKR. So, you don’t watch anything related to games?

IRIS: I watch funny Sapphire clips on Tube. And those puzzle solving walkthroughs since you know I suck at this game.

DESMONDIAN: You don’t suck! You play on mobile! I don’t know if I can even kill anything on mobile.

IRIS: LMAO. Thanks. But really, it’s not that hard, I just can’t use ranged characters, but it’s okay. Still have many interesting actions to do.

DESMONDIAN: Is Sapphire Sire the only game you play?

IRIS: Yes, and the first one. I was always preoccupied in the past. But I had some free time after my employer laid off some of its employees. I got fired. But when I got a new job, I kept playing because I liked it.

DESMONDIAN: Oh. I hope you’re in a better workplace now. Gaming is fun. I’ve been playing since I was a kid.

See? Desmondian is nice! Who says you can’t make friends with people online? Irisa has met quite a few people who she considered to know more than her colleagues at work and her friends from college and high school. Not everyone meets their friends the normal way. Online gaming, as unbelievable as it may seem, is a pretty cool way to meet people with similar interests, nice people of your kind.

IRIS: Really? That’s cool.

DESMONDIAN: Most people think gaming is useless. Well, it used to be my form of escape. But, well, it’s a part of my life. It sounds cringey saying this, but gaming helped a lot with me surviving real life and whatnot.

IRIS: Bruh. I’m not going to judge you. That sounds so wholesome. Everybody has their own stories. You should do whatever makes you happy. I’m glad gaming can be some sort of gentle, comfortable home for you.

DESMONDIAN: Bruh. That warms my heart. Bruh.

IRIS: Bruh.

Unfortunately, while waiting for Desmondian’s reply, Irisa’s eyes succumbed to the heaviness. She is tired. She plans to rest her eyes for a few seconds. But, before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep with her phone in her palm, the game still running. Her phone is dead when she wakes up in the morning due to the natural impulse of her body. Irisa jumps, swears as she charges her phone and heads straight to the bathroom, forgetting the unfinished conversation from last night. 

Chapter 2. Platinum

Irisa knocks on the apartment door across from her place. A letter with her neighbor's name, Kevin, accidentally got into her place instead. She means to give it to its rightful owner. She doesn’t have to wait long before the guy opens the door.

Oh! Hi, Irisa. Kevin smiles warmly at her.

He’s in his casual black t-shirt, contrasting well with his pale and tall figure, platinum blond hair a bit askew, but not too messy, like he’s been running his hands through it not long ago. Kevin has been her neighbor for approximately one year. So far, he’s been much more understanding compared to the previous occupants. In fact, he is beyond nice, sometimes bringing her the extra free coffee he got from the café below.

Hi, sorry to disturb you. I think the postman got the mail wrong. This has your name on it. Irisa pushes the mail forward.

Oh, thank you. Yeah, I think this belongs to me. Thanks again.

No problem.

Irisa makes a move to turn back before Kevin says, Uh, I ordered too much pizza. Do you want to come in? Help me finish it? Or you can just take it back to your apartment, if you want.

Too much pizza?

Yeah?

There’s no such thing as too much pizza. Irisa jokes.

There is, duh.

Uh, is it really okay though?

I really can’t finish it on my own. You’ll see.

Oh, thank you then. I was also planning to order something. Irisa walks through the open door.

Yeah? Just got home?

Don’t have energy left to cook, to be honest. Was thinking of Chinese takeout. Do you like those? I would bring it to you next time. I feel bad for eating your food.

No, don’t worry about it. It’s really a lot. Look. There, before her eyes, are six or seven boxes of extra-large portion of pizzas. Kevin is not kidding about the excessive pizzas. It makes her feel better, at least it won’t go to waste.

Oh woah! Are you planning to have a party here? Kevin chuckles. The sound of his chuckle is warm like hot chocolate during winter nights.

No, just for myself. But maybe I should throw a small party sometime. Irisa brushes it off.

Did you accidently press the wrong number or something?

Uh, I did miscalculate a little bit, but I didn’t press the wrong order. Kevin gestures for Irisa to take a seat on his dinner table. She easily follows. The space organization and design of Kevin’s apartment is more or less the same as hers. She can pinpoint the exact place Kevin retrieves glasses for both of them because she also puts them in the same cupboard.

A little bit?

I thought about living off pizzas during my time in the studio. Then I realized it can go bad real quick. And then you came to the rescue.

Studio? She doesn’t have any studio space in her place.

Ah, it’s a small work studio, there. Kevin points to the door, which Irisa previously thought of as the guest toilet. Guess not everything is the perfect copy of her apartment. She grows curious.

What for?

Just work stuff, nothing important, more like a hobby really. They start eating the pizza. Kevin pours a carbonated drink to her glass.

Hmm. That’s interesting. You being serious about your hobby, I mean. I respect that.

Thanks. It’s just something I look forward to after tedious work in the office, can be refreshing.

Nice.

What’s your hobby?

Irisa chews and gulps the rest of the food before replying, Ah, I had lots of hobbies back in my teenage years. Now, not so much. I do enjoy playing mobile games before I go to bed.

You’re a gamer? I would never expect that. There’s an unknown glint in his clear blue eyes. Irisa probably catches him off guard