Did it work?
Carl asked as he opened his eyes, however, in front of him there was nothing.
Did the ritual fail? Where am I? And now, what happens?
For a moment he felt taken by panic at the prospect of his ritual failing, but the next moment he was overwhelmed by guilt at the gaze of judgment and disappointment that fell upon him.
"Why do you abandon me, my child?"
Said an ethereal voice as Carl's soul twisted with regret before the voice.
Carl couldn't see anything, he only felt the gaze of the one who said these words, and he was crushed by a torrent of emotions without the ability to speak or even think of a way to argue.
"You had family, friends, people who cared about you… so why? You surrendered yourself to a failed ritual of some random liar and gave your own life for a one-in-a-million chance."
"I, Gaia, will give you one more chance to live, but I will make you regret your foolish decision."
"Take this power that tried to infiltrate my world, so that you may not simply die."
[THE GACHA SYSTEM IS ACTIVE. WELCOME, HOST.]
"And take also a curse so that you remember your sin."
[WARNING: THE HOST HAS BEEN CURSED BY A (??????) CLASS BEING]
[THE (CURSE OF ESCAPISM) HAS BEEN OBTAINED.]
[CURSE OF ESCAPISM (????)]
[Randomly, the user will travel through the multiverse, leaving behind everything that is not part of themselves.]
"Now go, and if you ever return, come with repentance, my child."
"For I, Gaia, hold no resentment toward any of my children."
Carl couldn't think; even feeling was a complicated task before such a being. He wanted to cry, but he had no tears; he wanted to scream, but he had no mouth; he wanted to bite, kick and thrash all at once. But he could only watch as Gaia, with a voice full of pity, bid him farewell.
In another place, at another time...
Opening his eyes, Carl saw that he was no longer in that oppressive nothingness.
Gaia cursed me, so is this like infinite isekai? Well, too bad for her, I'm going to love this.
For a moment he felt pain thinking of that moment, but quickly decided to surrender to positive thinking. After all, he got what he wanted.
Looking around, he saw a forest full of tall trees, their dark wood with a cluster of leaves that hid the sky.
The scenery scared Carl for a moment, but he remembered the gift he received from Gaia along with his curse and became excited.
"Status." Carl called for the classic status screen in a simple and forcefully calm manner, so that it would sound cooler.
No response was obtained by Carl's call, but he wasn't shaken and kept trying.
"Properties?"
"System?" Even the simple call yielded no response.
Gaia, did you trick me?
She wouldn't give me hope just to throw me here with nothing, right?
"Gacha system!" He tried, while feeling despair settling in.
[GACHA SYSTEM]
[GACHA AVAILABLE:1 (Next in 23:54:53)]
"Huh, that's it?"
"No beginner's pack, not even a status screen, just one gacha chance a day?"
Beggars can't be choosers, but isn't this way too simple?
"Spin the gacha." Declared Carl after a moment, realizing he had no choice.
With that, a wheel with hundreds or thousands of divisions began to spin, glowing before Carl's eyes.
Carl tried to read the possibilities, but the letters were so ridiculously small it was impossible.
So he just watched as the wheel spun.
It took about a minute before the wheel stopped.
Without even giving Carl the chance to try to read what he got, the wheel quickly disappeared.
[OBTAINED SKILL (Explosion)]
[Explosion (Gold)]
[Releases a substance similar to nitroglycerin to cause explosions from the user's palms.]
Is this Bakugou's Quirk? I never really liked the character, but it's nice to get something this useful.
Pausing for a moment, Carl looked at his hand and, with minimal effort, cracks began to sound and small sparks began to emerge from his palms.
Not at the same level as Bakugou, who spent his life training this ability, but with a little effort it would serve well as self-defense.
Satisfied with what he received, Carl stood up and, not knowing where to go, pondered what to do.
Damn, I have no idea where I am, but it's not like I'm defenseless.
Well, with this ability I hit the jackpot, so how about I just bet on this luck and follow a random direction?
With a decision in mind, he closed his eyes and spun without thinking.
Then he calmly proceeded along the path he ended up seeing.
Passing through the trees of the forest, which even by day didn't have much light, he had a doubt.
By the way, what world is this? That system only gave me one gacha chance and warned me of the curse.
I guess that's natural, after all, traveling between worlds was something Gaia made happen and has nothing to do with this simple system.
Continuing down the path, Carl felt himself sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness, as he walked through the forest that seemed endless.
After about 30 minutes, already beginning to despair, he had hope when he spotted a tall bearded man who seemed to be talking to someone.
Feeling that luck shone on him again, he quickly shouted to get the man's attention, who hadn't seen him.
"Hey, sir, could you help me? I got lost in this forest!"
The man, for a moment, didn't seem to care much, just looking in Carl's direction with the look of an adult seeing an undisciplined youth, until, suddenly, he straightened up and started running toward him.
With the older man coming toward him, Carl got a better notion of his appearance: a long, unkempt beard, along with a brown overcoat that gave him a rough appearance.
Seeing the man, apparently 3 or 4 meters tall, running in his direction, Carl had his survival instinct automatically activated, turning in the opposite direction and running with all his might.
"You have to get out of here fast, young man!" Shouted the man behind Carl.
"I'm leaving, I swear!" Shouted Carl, scared, as he ran desperately, trying to get away from the tall, burly man chasing him.
"Don't shout! You might attract more creatures! Just let me get close to you, I know a shortcut to get out faster!"
"No need! I'll get out alone, no need to help me!" Shouted Carl, preferring to be devoured by a creature than 'devoured' by a giant.
"My boy, the Forbidden Forest is far more dangerous than you think! Stop running so I can guide you to a better path!"
At that moment, Carl, running for the safety of his anus upon hearing the term, thought of the man's appearance and realized which world he was in.
Hagrid? Damn, I ended up straight in the Forbidden Forest!
Stopping running for a moment, Carl lost his breath and leaned against a tree, as the half-giant approached.
"My boy, you shouldn't have left the school. This place isn't safe." Said Hagrid with a reproving voice, before starting to notice Carl's appearance.
He didn't look like an Englishman at all, but Hogwarts accepted foreigners and sometimes even other races. The lack of wizard's robes, a wand or a school uniform, however, alarmed him.
"My boy, are you from here?" Asked Hagrid, concerned.
"No! I'm not 'from here,' I have no idea how I ended up in this place!" Said Carl quickly, in a tired voice.
"Oh, poor thing, a Muggle in the Forbidden Forest… you're lucky to have found me, but ending up here is really something worrying." Said Hagrid with pity for the young man who looked nothing like a wizard.
"Follow me, I'll guide you through a safer path." Said Hagrid, turning around when, suddenly, he stopped speaking and walking.
As he prepared to follow Hagrid, Carl suddenly noticed the way the half-giant abruptly stopped and got confused, until he saw a horde of giant spiders staring at them both.
The spiders, with their hairy legs, were about 2 to 3 meters, with the largest being just a little bigger than Hagrid. Carl, being stared at by all those dark, frightening eyes, kept quiet and looked at Hagrid, who seemed nervous, but not as much as the young man.
Turning to Carl, Hagrid forced a confident smile and spoke a few comforting words.
"I have a deal with these spiders so I can walk here. I should be able to get you out without problems." Said the man, trying to sound calm.
The spiders made confusing sounds while Hagrid argued in human speech.
Carl listened to Hagrid trying to negotiate and argue with the creatures, while growing more and more anxious.
After about 2 minutes of conversation, Hagrid suddenly pulled something from his bag.
Carl thought maybe the man had negotiated the item, but was surprised when Hagrid pulled out a vial and a potion from his pocket and threw it on the ground, releasing a cloud of gas that, although not harming Hagrid and Carl, made the spiders start to fall and stumble.
Grabbing Carl and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, the half-giant fearlessly ran among the spiders with all his might.
"What was that?" Asked Carl, impressed.
"Doesn't matter, it doesn't last long, we have to run!" Said Hagrid, silencing Carl.
On the man's huge shoulders, he felt they would probably make it out in time, but his hopes were frustrated when spiders began emerging from the trees, moving much faster than Hagrid carrying dead weight.
"They're here!" Said Carl simply, as he began to accept that his life would end there.
"Damn!" Shouted Hagrid, his facade of calm breaking.
As the spiders, with their long agile legs, approached Hagrid's back, with many claws also aimed at Carl's exposed face, he was filled with rage at the situation.
I just got here! My adventure hasn't even started yet… as if I'd let you ruin my chance like this!
With his face contorted, he stretched out his hands toward the spiders about to grab them and, with a shout, activated his ability.
"DIE!"
With a scream full of hatred, a huge explosion came out of Carl's hands, illuminating the partial darkness of the place for a moment and incinerating the nearest spider.
The impact made Hagrid stumble for a moment, but the half-giant still kept running without falling.
The spiders, seeing a companion dead, stopped for a moment, backing away soon after.
"You scared them. They won't chase us anymore! I thought you were a Muggle… that was a fine Bombarda without a wand!" Said Hagrid with an impressed voice.
For a moment, Carl tried to think of a response, but with the relief that came, there also came nausea and fatigue, along with a horrible pain in his arms that made his eyes very heavy.
As the trees around him became blurrier and blurrier, Carl felt himself falling asleep.