"A slot machine?" Kobi blinked his eyes incredulously.
The moment he clicked on the bar, a holographic tab appeared, its contents saying: (Congratulations! You are level 1 in this dungeon)
Following that, another tab appeared, it looked like a slot machine with its three screens flashing a myriad of things his eyes couldn't take in clearly.
As the speed of the items flashing past slowed down, he could catch a few glimpses. They were all weird icons with words below.
The first screen stopped on a weird lightening symbol.
If this was indeed a slot machine like he knew it, than the second one immediately dashed his hopes.
It seemed to be an arrow lit on fire.
The three one stopped on an icon of a human with bulged muscles.
"Fuck, first skill roll and nothing?!" Kobi slammed his palm on his face, his quivering eyes peeled o the screen. His lips morphed in loathe, "Seriously?! What a bitch system."
"Hahaha! Calm down, calm down!" Shik sensing Kobi's rising rage motioned for him to take a breather, "This is no ordinary Skill-Roll, here, you don't need to match all three screens in order to get your skill, but instead, you can choose any one of the three that appears! Isn't the system generous? Isn't it?? Isn't it!!» Shik inched his face closer to Kobi, his eyes glittering in pride.
"Huh, Really?! Isn't this too generous? And... what's the gacha in all this then?! Didn't you say you were a gacha system?!" Kobi tilted his head, his eyes scrutinizing Shik from head to toe. He wasn't the type to believe in free lunches.
"HaHa!" Shik sheepishly scratched his wavy hair, "Didn't I say I copied that introduction from some novel on earth?!"
Kobi blankly stared at Shik shyly looking away, not daring to meet his eyes. "Huh! Real reliable system I have!"
Shik coughed lightly. His lips morphing into a moué.
"So... what do each of these skills do?!" Kobi tilted his head, muttering the names given below each skill out loud, "Lightening Decent, Fire Arrows, Buffed Strength."
He did get a bearable understanding from the name, but it wasn't that it would cost him to learn more about them, now did it?
"Hmm! Maybe this is what. you can call the gacha part?!" Shik muttered to himself before turning his head to Kobi, "You will get the description of only that skill which you choose." Shik grinned, "Like the mystery element?"
Kobi chuckled, shaking his head, "Not really!" After mulling it over and not understanding what to choose, he closed his eyes and tapped randomly.
'Fire Arrows!?'
With a whoosh, the slot screen vanished and a new tap replaced it.
[Level: 1
Exp: 2/50
Floor: 1/5
Dungeon Skill-Rolled: Fire Arrow.
Items Obtained: Bronze Coins(x12)]
"Alrighty!" Kobi whistled, "So, now what does this skill do anyway? And... what's next?" Kobi glanced around, there was a door in front again, nothing else.
"Lemme see–" Shik's eyes glowed before he turned to Kobi with a smile, "Hmm! Those arrows that you were shooting out, they will naturally ignite on fire. And just keep walking through, the door in front is unlocked now."
"Oh! So literally fire arrows? How much Mp?!" Kobi asked while walking towards the door. His heart stirring, 'There's no real danger here at all, is this really meant to test me?'
"No Mp!" Shik replied with a prideful grin.
"No Mp!?" Kobi repeated in surprise, his eyes trying to see through Shik's grin and see if he was for real.
"Yep!" Shik's grin widened as he stared into Kobi's eyes.
Kobi raised his brow and opened the door.
The same floor unrolled further.
The next floor looked like a pure imitation of the earlier one.
Just that... in addition to ten slimes, there was another humanoid green skinned creature.
"Goblin?!" Kobi grinned, "This is turning more and more fantasy like!" Shik chuckled.
Letting out a shrill screech, the goblin, half his size, rushed towards him.
Kobi's grin widened as he raised his palm, "Attack!"
An arrow with fire dancing on its tip rushed out from the circle and struck a slime.
To Kobi's surprise, the the red bar of the slime instantly plummeted.
"Dang! This is too much for something costing no Mp!" Another three arrows rushed out, causing another three slimes to burst into coins and leaving an ordinary arrow on the floor.
"Hey! Do the arrows turn to normal after one use or–"
"Keee!" The goblin, way faster than the hopping slimes, rushed in front of Kobi, its fangs flickered dangerously toward him, its claws reaching out for Kobi.
"Hey, hey!" Kobi, intimidated, stepped back in surprise. His palm directed towards the goblin and an arrow rapidly rushed out, piercing into its abdomen.
"KEEE!" The goblin hobbled back in pain, its hand covering the area from where green blood rushed out and splodged on the floor.
Kobi blinked his eyes, his gaze fixated on the blood rushing out.
His gaze advertently turned to the goblin's face. His ugly features had been made even more uglier from the constant twitching of his muscles.
Its eyes, its animal like vertical pupils kept shivering. Not from pain but from fear... fear of its demise.
From Kobi's out-stretched palm shot out another searing arrow. It plunged right into the hand of the goblin covering its wound and dug through its flesh.
"Gah!" The goblin skidded backwards, blood pilee up in its mouth and leaked out from the corners, the goblin staggered backwards before stumbling and falling to its death.
Kobi swallowed, "That was... a real creature, right? Not an illusion, not a dream, not a game!" Kobi felt his throat going coarse.
"Hahaha! Of course, those slimes you killed are also real, the ones you will kill now are also real! Everything is real!"
Shik didn't need to tell him, the blood flowing out from the goblin's corpse and pilling beneath his feet was enough proof.
"I didn't know... taking a life, could be so easy." Fear flickered in Kobi's eyes as he gazed up at the slimes encroaching forward.
'The same can... happen to me? These harmless, almost cute slimes can... kill me!' Kobi's eyes trembled as he raised his palm.
With his head befuddled by the thought of his death, he mercilessly murdered the slimes one after another.
The hall fell silent, only Kobi remained and the goblin's corpse, the slimes burst apart. The arrows rested back in his storage.
"This is... different from what I thought." Kobi muttered with a conflicted look, his eyes fixated on the goblin's face which was still morphed from pain and fear.
"What do you mean?!" Shik tilted his head, a harmless smile on his face, one stretching from his ear to ear, "Don't tell me you thought you would be playing a game? This is real life! Everything you will do in this world is hundred percent legit! So don't be delusional! You either die in this dungeon and I choose a new host or..." Shik's eeriely large eyes flickered dangerously, "You move forward and kill everything in your path!"
Kobi's eyes widened, his heart thrashed against his chest, his heart seemed to drum in his ears, "System– Shik! Listen up, I ain't dyin'."
A smile stretched across his face, excitement mixed in along with his fear, "And when I get out of this dungeon, I am returning! I will do everything in my power to leave this place and go back to my world and nothing will be able to stop me!"
Kobi's eyes flickered maliciously, his darkened face lifting up, a malicious grin creeping over his face.
"I'm not stopping you. Fulfill the requirements and you can–"
"Because!" Kobi's voice shout up, an arrogant sheen, like that of a blade, enveloped his face. His reddened eyes, mad at his fate... enraged at his helplessness, pierced af Shik's pupils, "I am the youngest son of the family of Coll's– The tyrant's of earth!
"I have never lost to fate... and I ain't planning on losing to you or whatever you're plotting either.
"I will...return alive!"
Shik felt something flicker inside Kobi, 'Is he... afraid of the notion of his death? How... human!' His eyes trembled as he gazed at Kobi, his words betraying his inner intrigue, "Such arrogance..." Shik muttered, "I didn't expect this kind of pride from you, you seemed to be the playful type, the one to not get serious over anything."
Shaking his head, Shik clapped thunderously, "It seems I struck gold on my first host, brilliant, brilliant! lets keep moving! I want to see... where exactly can you reach with my help! entertain me, Oh, Kobi Colls! hahahaha!"
"I am not your entertainment!" Kobi snickered disdainfully, "I am nobody's entertainment... I am my own tool! I am the one who can bet tye lives of millions on a mere game of chess. Don't look down on me!" His eyes lowered at the corpse below.
"Really?!" Shik raised a brow, "Then one day, if fate allows you to live long enough, I would like to play chess with you!"
Kobi to snickered, he ignored Shik and clasped his hands together, his eyes piercing into the goblin's, "Your blood... is on my hands! I seek not forgiveness, but hate is not my goal either... Know! I shall remember you, you who has forged me anew!"
Kobi shoved his hand in his pocket and strolled towards the door, his demeanour returning back to normal from his earlier frightened self.
Shik whistled seeing Kobi's actions and hovered along, 'What was that line?' He giggled sneakily.