"Rael, do you know why I called you here?" a bald man in a fancy suit asked, leisurely holding a pistol in his right hand.
Fucking prick wants his tribute money early again, doesn't he?
"Why? Do you want me to polish your gun or something? You know I don't swing that way."
Rael's response made the bald man furrow his nonexistent brows and aim the gun at him.
"You think this is funny?" he said in a cold tone before continuing, "Sketa Online was our major source of income... our items, everything. And what did you do? You went ahead and gambled it all!"
"Can you blame me? Did you see the item that can drop?" Rael replied.
Carl scooted closer, his anger practically oozing off him.
"Carl... Listen, it was too good to pass up," Rael stated, pulling out his phone. "Just fucking look at this! 10 billion Trell to the person who can get the item first? Of course I took that gamble!"
Carl looked at him as though he was some sort of idiot. "Did you win?"
"Well... No, but I—"
"Then shut the fuck up!" Carl slammed the gun's handle into Rael's forehead.
Rael put a hand to his forehead, wiping away a bit of blood before it could drip into his eyes.
"I don't have insurance."
Carl froze. "Are you serious?"
"Well... 80 Trell wasn't something I wanted to spend haphazardly every month," Rael answered truthfully.
"You spent 50 million Trell on gambling... Do you not know your place? You're just a gun smuggler for the Yakuza. Nothing more."
Carl sighed and pressed the gun against Rael's temple.
"24 hours," he said before emphasizing, "I am giving you 24 hours to make that money back, whatever it takes. If you fail to do so, well..."
Suddenly, Carl brought his finger onto the trigger, causing Rael to flinch.
"I will kill you and harvest your organs to make up for the loss, even if just a little bit. Do not test me," Carl finished, smacking Rael in the head with the gun again, this time, lighter.
Before Rael could ask for a less severe punishment, the car's door swung open, and a man in an equally fancy black suit picked Rael up and slammed him onto the ground.
Groaning in pain, Rael turned toward the car, meeting Carl's cold gaze.
"24 hours."
With those words, the bodyguard that had slammed him onto the ground a moment ago got into the car and immediately drove off.
Rael collapsed onto the cold, hard ground, looking at the night sky above.
"I am fucked..."
How am I supposed to make that much money so fast... he pondered, seemingly losing all hope.
Just then, he remembered something.
He spent a total of 50 million Trell to get 10 pulls.
However, he only used 9 of them, saving the last one for when he was drunk to lessen his depression.
Now was as good a time as any to open it, what did he have to lose anyway? He could always get one of the other expensive items.
Rael sprinted the few blocks to his fifth-floor apartment. Upon entering, he downed an energy drink, then collapsed into the blue VR pod, his consciousness fading instantly.
In the next moment, Rael opened his eyes and found himself in the luxurious 10,000 Trell-a-night room, which he had to admit might have been a bit overboard.
He opened his status screen and reached into his inventory, pulling out a purple orb the size of a soccer ball before taking a deep breath and preparing to open it.
There were a lot of thoughts swirling inside his mind. He was even thinking of ringing up the reception and ordering a martini for good luck.
But just as fast, Rael scrapped the thought as a resolute look appeared on his face.
Then, he took a deep breath and pressed the lone button on the purple orb.
Soon, a system interface appeared before him, rolling through the hundreds of items inside the orb.
But there was one item in particular he was looking for.
Eye of the Beast. It was an item that really did not have much information circulating around.
The only thing the community knew was that it was an extremely rare, one-of-a-kind item, which the developers of Sketa Online called revolutionary.
Yet, in the eyes of most, especially Rael, it was just an opportunity to make money.
He truly didn't give a shit if it was rare or even unattainable, so long as it could pay off his debts, the item was worth it.
Rael saw the icons of different kinds of items flashing, their colors varied.
However, there was one color in particular that flashed more than he initially expected.
Black.
The highest Rael had ever seen was Mythic, and it was pink in color.
Whatever that black rarity was had never been seen in any of the Sketa Online community forum posts.
But... Hey, maybe that's the special item? What if I actually get it? Rael thought, his hands trembling.
This gacha roll was taking longer than usual, most lasted about ten seconds, but soon enough, the gacha interface began slowing down.
At the same time, black appeared a couple of times until, eventually, the gacha roll stopped square on the black rarity item.
Rael was speechless as the miniature congratulatory firework show began, followed by a loud voice coming from the sky.
[Congratulations! Player: Quarterpounder69 obtained the (Divine) Grade item, Eye of the Beast!]
This was followed by a message only he could see.
[New title unlocked!]
Heavenly Attraction:
500% increased affinity with NPCs.
Now that's pretty bad. I'm not looking to seduce anybody, Rael thought sarcastically, yet his heart was beating out of his chest.
He had gotten it, the item that would make his problems go away.
Great, now I just have to... Hm?
Eye of the Beast [Divine] [Soulbound]
Consume the eye to receive #####.
Soulbound.
It was a lock on an item that made it completely untradable.
There were many emotions going through his mind right now, but the main one was despair.
50 million Trell for an item he couldn't even sell.
He wasn't sure what to do, so he immediately logged out, staring at the ceiling of the pod with a dazed look.
But before he could even mope around, his phone rang. At the same time, Rael could hear knocking on his door.
"Hey! Bastard!" Carl screamed from the other side. "Open the fuck up! Sleeping with my wife? Did you think I wasn't going to find out, huh!?"
"...Oh shit."
There was only one person he had slept with in the past month, and it was a beautiful blonde.
I knew that overly beautiful woman wasn't single... Though, what a small world, huh?
He had a few guns in the closet that he could use to defend himself from Carl, but if he were to fight back, he would be hunted by the Yakuza until the day he died.
But if I can somehow get something useful when I eat the eyeball...
He followed the one irrational thought that swirled around in his mind, and before Carl and his goons could break the door down, Rael jumped back into Sketa Online.
He swiftly pulled out the new item and inspected it closely.
It was a consumable, much like all food and potions in this game.
He had a small hope that maybe, just maybe, once he ate it, it would spew out some riches that he could use as leverage for his life, and then leave the country safely.
Here goes nothing.
Rael took a deep breath and gulped the eyeball down in one go.
Its taste was surprisingly sweet, just like candy.
In an instant, a strong wave of dizziness enveloped him. Yet this particular dizziness felt real, it was almost like he was in the real world.
[Eye of the Beast has been consumed!]
A notification appeared, followed by another one.
[Reality migration commencing!]
Reality what now? Rael stared, puzzled.
He felt a strange sensation in his chest as though his heart was being compressed.
The same went for the rest of his body, and soon, he toppled over onto the bed, his consciousness waning as his sense of smell suddenly dulled.
Am I dying? Why does it feel so... realistic...
Soon, the final system message fell.
[Role change! User → ### BOSS MONSTER]
[Possibilities: Calculating...]
How am I still conscious?
Rael tried moving his arms, yet to no avail.
He was there, but also not there at the same time.
The only thing he was able to see was the system interface calculating possibilities, alongside the message that changed his role.
A sudden jolt cut his thoughts short as new notifications flashed in front of his eyes.
[Calculations complete!]
[Boss Monster Variation Possibilities: 9,554,117]
[To ensure fairness, we implore you to pick a random number, which, in turn, will decide which boss monster variation you shall be.]
[Type in the number of your choosing.]
[...]
Hmm? 69... Nevermind, that's stupid... Rael thought absentmindedly, still not fully grasping the situation.
[Confirmed.]
Pardon? I didn't type anything in—
His words were interrupted when a flash of light suddenly entered his eyes, soon replaced by constant dimming. Eventually, the only thing he could see was the massive glowing stalactite off in the distance.
Then more pop-ups appeared, leaving him speechless.
[Congratulations! You've chosen the Special-Type Boss Monster Variation: The Pay-to-Win Boss.]
[Bestowing Skills!]
[No Skills to Bestow! Analyzing...]
[Unique Perks Obtained!]
Premium Leveling [Special-Unique]
—The user is able to use currency to level up or raise their stats.
Premium Evolution [Special-Unique]
—The user can evolve infinitely by spending currency.
Premium Shop [Special-Unique]
—The user can spend currency to acquire any item or skill.
[Congratulations! You've become a Boss Monster!]