Chapter 1: One More Gamble
"...You okay there, son?"
I turned my head, vision swimming, to see an old man. Judging by the rags hanging off his bony frame and the unkempt beard that practically swallowed his face, he was probably a hobo. He was looking down at me with strangely clear eyes.
I followed his gaze down to my stomach—
where a knife was buried up to the hilt.
A reminder to never, ever deal with loan sharks. Too late for that lesson to stick… unless we're counting the knife.
"Urp—! J-just peachy." I managed to breathe out, swallowing bile that clawed at my throat.
The hobo crouched beside me, inspecting the wound with a critical eye that seemed wildly out of place for someone living on the streets.
"Hmm."
"How's it looking?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
He glanced at me. No words, just a look.
"That bad, huh?" I let my head slump against the cold, wet pavement. The sticky warmth at the back of my skull told me it wasn't just rain soaking into my hair.
Most people would cry or beg in my position.
I'd already spent all my tears and pleas on too many people, too many times.
Might as well go out quiet… with whatever dignity I had left.
Another sigh left me, shaky and shallow. My fingers were numb, clammy.
"Why did you do it?" he asked softly.
"Hm?"
"Why gamble your life away, son?"
There was no reason to tell this weird old man my sob story but something in that man's eyes compelled me to do so.
So I did.
"I just wanted to reach that 'Fuck You' position, I guess..."
He tilted his head. "'Fuck You' position?"
"Yep." I coughed a laugh that hurt more than the knife. "You stack enough cash to buy a house with a 25-year roof, an indestructible old shit box car, and stash the rest somewhere in a system that grows at three to five percent. You pay your taxes. And you're set. You're untouchable. That's the fortress of solitude. That's what puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of 'Fuck You.'"
I met his gaze, blood smearing my lips.
"Someone wants you to do something? Fuck you. Boss breathing down your neck? Fuck you. The government tries to drag you into a war cooked up by sycophants? Fuck. You."
"I see." He nodded, like I'd handed him a piece of profound wisdom rather than a bastardized quote I half-remembered from a nice movie long ago.
A grim smile tugged at my lips. "But I guess… I did make it, in a way."
He frowned. "How do you figure?"
I grinned weakly, tasting copper. "Tell me to do something."
"Oh! Um… you still could turn your life around? Live frugally?" he offered lamely.
"...Fuck you."
The old man's eyes went wide.
Then he chuckled.
I joined him, laughing until it turned into a hacking cough that painted my lips red.
"I see… Well, I have nothing to offer you," he said, "but I can at least keep you company for the end."
"Thanks. I'd buy you a beer for that if I could."
He patted my shoulder. "What else do you do, besides losing it all to the slots?"
"Oh, you know… cartoons, anime, video games, jerking off—the usual."
A strange glint lit his eyes. "Mhm. Then maybe I can give you something, boy."
"Ah, for me~? You shouldn't have…" My eyelids were lead weights now.
"One last spin of the wheel," he murmured, taking my limp hand in both of his.
Something shifted.
Suddenly, under my fingers, I felt the familiar polished handle of my favorite slot machine's lever. My heart skipped as I gasped, a spark of euphoria jolting through my fading body. I could almost hear the bright jingle, see the rainbow lights of the casino.
Was this… my tunnel of light? Figures. Even dying, I'm thinking about the slots.
"Just. Pull. Down."
And I pulled.
Somehow, the lever resisted with the same mechanical tension I'd memorized over years of wasted tokens. In the air before me, reels spun—chiming, clinking, until the sound blurred into a rare yet familiar victory fanfare.
My vision dimmed completely, but I heard it. The glorious sound of coins raining, crashing like golden bells in my skull.
A voice, deep and alien, echoed inside my head as words shone under my eyelids even when I felt them close for the final time.
[Chaos Gacha Obtained]
[3x Gold Random Gacha Ticket]
Then it disappeared.
…
There was only Darkness. Only Silence. Only Nothing.
…
…That's it? Am I actually dead?
Damn.
…
Gosh, this is going to get boring real quick…
Before I could start mentally belting out 2003 pop songs just to keep my sanity, a cold wind swept over me. I shivered.
Then it seeped into me, chilling both my marrow and muscle, until it began crushing the breath out of my lungs. My chest clenched, pain spiking sharp and deep.
I gasped and opened my eyes…
…to a brilliant blue sky and towering green trees.
Above them…was a shattered moon.
Huh?
I pushed myself up, fingers sinking into soft grass. A weirdly comforting sensation, for a dead man.
Is this heaven?
A warm puff of air ghosted across my back. This wasn't the type of air that came from the wind.
It came from an animal.
A low, guttural growl crawled into my ears, set every nerve on edge and reassured me of that notion.
Nope. This was definitely hell.
I rose carefully, muscles tense, the presence behind me coiling like a spring.
I didn't even get three steps before I felt agony tore across my back. I screamed, staggering forward, then twisted around with my back pressed to rough bark.
What I saw froze me in place.
A dog—or what used to be one—stood there. Blackened flesh stretched over corded muscle, bone-white claws carving trenches into the dirt. Its muzzle was packed with too many teeth, each one glistening with saliva that sizzled where it hit the ground.
"Old man!" I barked, panic rising in my throat. "This isn't funny! You got me! Hahaha! You can come out now!"
The beast just growled, crouching low. And then it leapt, jaws yawning wide enough to take my head clean off.
Just. Pull. Down.
The words weren't mine and yet my hand moved on its own, reaching forward with my fingers closing around a familiar, impossibly solid lever. I yanked.
I pulled down.
Congratulations!
[Gold Random Gacha Ticket Used.]
[Desperation]
|Rare Ability|
Your physical stats are augmented by the amount of danger you are in at any given moment, if you aren't in danger it will give you nothing, if you are in mild danger it will give you a common rank boost in all stats, if you are in danger the rarity will be raised to uncommon, if you are in severe danger it will be raised to rare, if you are in danger of dying at any moment it will be raised to Elite and if you are facing certain death it will be raised to Epic. This ability does not cost energy.
[Desperation — Physical Stats raised to Epic.]
I didn't think as my foot lashed out—faster, harder, stronger than I'd ever moved. It slammed into the beast's gaping jaws, snapping them shut with a crack that echoed through the clearing.
The thing hurtled backward, smashing into the ground with a bone-rattling boom.
Holy shit.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
A Gacha!? A fucking Gacha!?
My breath came in short, ragged bursts as I stared at my trembling hands, clenching them into fists. It felt like I could bench-press a semi.
A roar erupted from the dust cloud before I could even take stock, and the skull-faced beast staggered up, shaking its head. Its burning red eyes locked onto me again.
It bounded forward in two impossibly long strides—far too fast for me to even think of running. I threw a desperate, clumsy punch.
The thing clamped down on my arm, teeth sawing through flesh, and whipped me around like a rag doll. I somehow managed to hook my legs around its midsection, clinging to its back like a man possessed.
"Give me something good!" I screamed, yanking the invisible lever with my free hand.
The now-familiar jingle of cascading golden coins rang in my skull.
Congratulations!
[Gold Random Gacha Ticket Used.]
[Chicken]
|Common Familiar|
Minecraft - Whatever this chicken is, it does not obey any known laws of physics. It lays an egg every 6 - 12 in perfect condition and this egg can be thrown at the ground to have a chance of spawning a baby chicken that will grow to adulthood in 24 hours, they can also breed without eggs too in order to produce children together. The eggs are not fertilized unless thrown and taste great, so does the chicken's meat. No biology explains this, you get a pair.
A burst of light flared in the middle of the clearing, and the beast skidded to a halt.
I blinked.
It was white.
It was square.
It was a…chicken without the jockey.
"Bok!" it clucked cheerfully.
"Fuck!" I shouted.
"Graaaaagh!" the dog roared, thrashing me violently again with my hand still trapped in its jaws.
"Don't just stand there! Get the bastard!" I yelled.
To my utter disbelief, the chicken seemed to understand. It clucked furiously, flapping into the air like a feathered missile, and started pecking at the beast's glowing red eyes.
The Grimm howled, convulsing wildly. It leapt and shook me around like a chew toy until my teeth rattled, and I was dragged across the grass, back screaming with fresh pain.
I am not! Not! Going to die like this!
With a mouthful of dirt and grass, I yanked down on the lever again.
LET'S GO GAMBLING!
Congratulations!
[Gold Random Gacha Ticket Used.]
[Golem Armor]
|Rare Ability|
Allows you to create a golem around yourself that acts as armour and enhances your physical stats constructed from the ground underneath your feet or materials you are touching.
A feral grin split my face.
I slammed my foot into the earth. Rocks surged up, encasing my legs, chest, arms, and finally my head in jagged armor.
The beast's violent thrashing came to an abrupt halt under the crushing weight. My newfound strength wrenched its jaws apart, snapping free my bloodied hand.
I rose to my feet, towering over it.
The creature barely registered what was happening as I raised both stone-coated fists over my head.
It still didn't understand when I brought them down.
"Hah!"
Its skull mask crumpled under the blow, the ground beneath it shattering like glass with a boom.
For a moment, silence reigned. Then the Grimm twitched once, twice—and began dissolving into black mist.
I stood there, panting hard, sweat and blood mingling under the weight of my new rocky shell.
Feat Achieved!
First Grimm Kill +1 Gold Ability Gacha Ticket
[Desperation - Physical Stats set to default.]
"…Holy shit," I wheezed as the golem armor crumbled into nothing, leaving me shaky and aching all over.
"Bok."
I turned my head.
A white, blocky chicken stared up at me with its tiny black eyes, unblinking and oddly judgmental.
I collapsed onto my ass, too exhausted to care, then let gravity win as my back hit the grass.
"Bok," the chicken clucked again, hopping onto my chest. It nestled against me like I was its long-lost roost.
"Heh. Thanks for the assist…Bok," I muttered, chuckling weakly as I scratched its square little head with a finger. Bok then let out a happy cluck… if I was interpreting chicken body language correctly, anyway.
I let my head fall back, lungs heaving. After a long minute, I raised my hand and pulled the lever again.
Congratulations!
[Gold Ability Gacha Ticket Used.]
[Death Valley Duster]
|Rare Ability|
Allows you to conjure violent clouds of sand and dust that you can launch with blasts of immense power like a sandblast to shred targets.
I stared up at the blue sky and its fractured moon, letting the information I gathered that could only be summarised in good news, bad news, and worst news.
Good news: I'm alive with a kickass gambling power.
Bad news: I'm in goddamn RWBY. A death world of bloody evolution.
Worst news: My entire knowledge of this accursed place was from the Red, White, Black, and Yellow trailers…
I sighed out again. Well, Mom didn't raise no quitter.
"C'mon, Bok. Maximum effort! HUP!" I grunted, hauling myself upright. Bok, the chicken on my chest clucked indignantly at being disturbed, wings flapping as if to slap me for my audacity.
I brushed grass and blood from my clothes, taking in my surroundings. A forest of towering trees, endless shadows, and, if my first encounter was any clue, home of bloodthirsty monsters.
"So… I'm currently stuck in a forest full of murder-dogs and I don't have a shred of survival training." I glanced up. "I should probably climb a tree or something, right?"
"Bok."
I rubbed my face. "Mhm…"
I barely got my legs around the trunk of the nearest tree when a sharp rustle came from the bushes behind me.
[Desperation — Physical Stats raised to Elite.]
A dozen crimson eyes ignited in the gloom, accompanied by a chorus of guttural growls. The underbrush parted to reveal shapes—lean, black, bone-masked beasts slinking forward, teeth bared and claws carving furrows into the earth.
Apparently, my first little brawl had attracted an audience.
Stone erupted around me as I summoned my golem armor once more. The heavy, grounding weight settled over my body, familiar now, almost comforting. I raised my fists.
I wasn't sure if I'd scrambled my brain earlier, if the adrenaline was still burning in my veins, or if I'd simply lost my goddamn mind.
But one thing I knew for sure:
As long as I was still breathing, I was going to keep on gambling.
"COME ON!"
"BOK!"
We charged, vision tunneling red as the pack of teeth on legs lunged to meet me head-on.