[Claire's commentary]
"Despite how mature he is with others, deep down, he's still a broken 15 years old." Claire said before biting her fingers slightly. She removed her finger, brought her hand to her lap and continued, "It's not healthy for him to have 'periodic episodes of depression' – or at least I think that's what it was all about."
She lowered her gaze as she fell into deep thoughts.
"I don't know what happened, what was the cause of it, whether he cried because it's going to be his mother's birthday tomorrow, or because he's relieved that his career change from classical to mainstream music is taking off. Maybe he's feeling under pressure to excel here too, and he broke down because he's finally made it."
She raised her head and looked directly into the camera and said, "All I know is that he needed someone to be there for him. And I don't mean his dad. He needs…a motherly figure in his life."
"So I decided to treat him like one of my children." Claire said despite the fact she had already started treating him like one of her offspring weeks ago.
[Commentary ends]
…
[Edward POV]
"Well, that was embarrassing." I muttered as I woke up in the morning. While still laying down on the bed, I recounted the affairs of last night.
As I calmed myself down, I went directly to bed instead of talking about it and slept like a log till morning came. To be honest when I noticed that Claire was there, my heart almost dropped from the shock. That kind of emotional roller coaster helped me to calm myself faster than needed too.
I talked with Claire for a while, and she tried to comfort me even though she didn't know why I was crying. But as I was too tired, she just nodded in understanding and let me rest. I guess that's why no one disturbed, nor called my phone after the incident.
"Still…It feels as if I was abandoned. Even Haley didn't start the usual midnight texting session with me."
My mind was refreshed after last night, and my spirits were raised after such a long time battling with my sense of loss.
"I hope that Claire will not tell anyone what happened- Oh hell, why do I even say that. I know for sure she WILL tell someone about it. What I need to do is to prepare for the aftermath."
Finally, I got out of bed and went to take a shower as I needed to go to school today. Curiously, as I was getting dressed, Haley texted me to come to her house to have breakfast with her family.
'Did Claire plan this? Did everyone already know about it?' I thought in concern. If everyone already knows, then I wouldn't want to be there this morning as the memories were still fresh.
"Why?" I texted Haley back.
Haley: "Duh. To have breakfast. What else? Also, mom already called Abby and asked her to pick you up at our home. So come quick otherwise Luke and Dad will eat your pancakes."
I rubbed my forehead in frustration as I analyzed the text message.
"So it's one of two things, either she knows about it and is pretending she doesn't while trying to act normal, or she really doesn't know. But, since she's not being awkward, I guess it's the latter."
"Maybe Claire has actually kept my secret??...Unlikely…I guess Phil knows." I muttered to myself before I put an Armani leather belt on my waist.
I was wearing a blue-colored short sleeve shirt with golden buttons, and straight cut black pants which paired nicely with my sneakers. The shirt had a handmade insignia on the front pocket which I made myself.
As the weather was becoming hotter, I no longer wanted to wear long sleeve shirts and opted to wear lighter outfits instead.
When I walked to the kitchen, I saw a note left behind by my dad as he had already gone to work early in the morning. It was just a few simple words of affirmations, but my heart felt a sense of warmth emanating from the sentences. I appreciated his effort greatly and muttered, "So…He knows."
My cheeks felt hot from the embarrassment. I cursed softly, "Fuck…"
"However, it's also the right time for me to test the [Lie to Truth] skill that I got last night."
How did I get the skill you wonder? It's from a game of poker that I played last night with a humanoid bunny.
…
[Flashback]
After I went to sleep last night, I was transported to a white space without me realizing it.
"Oh. So my mother's birthday counted…Damn.." I muttered as I realized that the condition for the Day of Life or Death to activate the gacha session was activated.
"So. What is it this time?" I wondered as my eyes flashed traces of excitement as I walked deeper into the white space. However, I suddenly heard the sound of someone shuffling a deck of cards. I turned my head to the source of the sound, only to find a humanoid bunny in a butler's outfit, a monocle on his left eye, and wearing a top hat smiling at me.
My instinctive fear of the unknown strikes my heart and I had cold sweats on my back as I stared at the bunny.
"Are you going to keep looking at me all session? Don't you want your prizes?" The bunny said with a childish voice.
"Who are you?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.
"Gacha is a game of luck. What has more meaning to the game of luck than a casino itself?!" The bunny said ceremoniously and snapped his fingers. The white space suddenly turned into a casino, filled with numerous intelligent beings and a game of chances inside the hall.
He snapped his fingers again, and I suddenly found myself sitting on a chair at the poker game table, facing the dealer (Bunny) in a game of cards.
"First, let me explain a few rules of the unique gacha. Unlike the various gacha games that have infinite chances for a prize draw, here at the [Lucky table] you can use your karmic points as Bets. 100,000 karmic points to decide where to pull the prizes from.
I widened my eyes as I understood the rules, and I couldn't help but want to confirm, "So if I bet 100,000 karmic points to draw prizes from the One Piece world, then I could get prizes from that world?"
"Basically, Yes. However, although the draws were narrowed, you still have a chance to draw a completely random gacha prize from your poker card. As you know, a poker card has a combination of 8x1067 possible prizes. Your bet will narrow ⅔ of that into the universe you wanted to draw your prizes from. And If you manage to draw the cards you wanted, then the bets will be doubled and given back to you."
I scrunched my brows as I heard the numbers of possible draws. "That isn't narrowing it down at all!" I retorted.
The bunny shook his finger while clicking his tongue at me. He then said, "My boy, you understand what infinite means, so why are you pretending not to know it?"
I laughed a bit and said, "Fine. I understand. Another question, if I increase the betting prize to…let say a million."
The bunny smiled eerily and said, "Now you're getting it. The higher your bets are, the lower the probability of the combinations you will get."
I nodded and said, "Before that, how can I check how many negative and positive karmic points I have now?"
The bunny slides 5 cards into the desk while simultaneously pushing it towards me. I picked one of the cards and opened it to read what was written inside.
Edward Newgate:
Affiliation: Official member of the Afterlife Corps.
Current status: Singer/Game Maker/ Inventor
Positive Karma: 13, 998, 099.5
Negative Karma: –500,000.5
I couldn't help but rub my forehead at the number of negative karma I accumulated. As my reputation soared worldwide, so did the numbers of karma I received from my influence on people.
"Why is this happening?" I asked with a frown while looking at the negative karma value.
The bunny sneered and said, "Try to remember your previous life. Was all the influences from a celebrity positive in nature?"
"Ah you mean…" I blinked my eyes twice in realization.
"Some will be influenced positively, some will take it the wrong way." The bunny explained simply.
"I see…"
Many groupies would postpone fighting for their future as they were rooting for me, some may even develop fanatical obsession, some may destroy their relationship with their current/future partner because of my influence.
"That's pretty sad." I muttered.
"That's human." The bunny said.
I throw the matter to the back of my mind before asking, "How come I don't have special value gacha roll in here?"
The bunny smiled evilly and said, "The casino would only be opened to an agent who surpassed 10 million accumulated positive karma. The hundreds of karma gachas are only for poor people. However, you will still be deducted 666 karma points if you manage to draw your betting prize."
I stared at the bunny with an inexplicable expression before I sighed and said, "How about the Grim Reaper? Can I still donate karma to him?"
"You can still do it, but I advise not to do it until at the end of the session. Otherwise…you might not have enough points~!" The bunny ended his sentence with a singy-songy tone as he mocked my 'poorness'. It couldn't be helped as I was a newbie at this part after all.
Despite the fact that I could see a few other people inside the casino, I couldn't register their faces into my memory even though I could see their faces clearly. There were also a few people sitting next to me, playing the same game that I was going to play.
"You don't have much time. Why don't we start with the first draw?" The bunny urged.
I furrowed my eyebrows and said, "How did you measure the time I have left?"
"By the strength of souls. Players~~ Place your bets!" The bunny said.
"Okay then." I muttered as I knew I couldn't get the answer from the greedy bunny, so I placed my bets. As I imagined how many points I wanted to bet, a white poker chip appeared on my hand. I threw the chip to the bunny and said, "500,00. The year 2050 in my previous world."
"Nope." The bunny inexplicably threw back the chip to my hand.
"Why not?" I asked in frustration.
"You cannot have anything related to your previous world. So try again. You cannot get one piece's ending using this method~"
I sighed and thought for a while before throwing the chip back at him. "Captain America."
"So Marvel universe." The bunny said and he laid down the 52 cards smoothly in front of me. "Pick 5 of them."
I nodded and I picked the King of Heart, Ace of Heart, Queen of Heart, The Joker, and 7 of spades."
(There isn't any specific combination for the card. It's just based on his luck)
"Ohh..So close." The bunny exclaimed and the 5 cards I picked merged into 1 of them.
[Special Ability Prize: Captain America → Enhanced Digestive System]
"What the-" I muttered.
"Congrats. You won the bet, and now, you won't ever have diarrhea!" The bunny mocked before returning two chips to my hands valued at 500,000 positive karma points each.
"PLAYERS! PLACE YOUR BETS!" The bunny exclaimed once more.
I merged the two chips together and threw it at the bunny. "1 Million points for 'Everyone Else is a Returnee' universe."
The bunny changed facial expression for the first time in the session and muttered, "That's why weebs are dangerous."
I smiled at him, making him more annoyed.
"Pick your cards." The bunny said and the cards were laid out in front of me again. I picked 5 cards, and got 3 Ace cards and 2 queens.
"You're… a very lucky man." The bunny said with vigilance.
The cards merged and turned into [Skill: Yu Ilhan: Rest]
"Ohhhhh…." I exclaimed in bewilderment as I got the card that I needed the most right now.
"Although the skill was an active skill that uses mana, Afterlife Corps had adjusted the skill to meet your needs in your own world. After the skill is activated, you will fall deeply asleep in 15 seconds, so make sure to lock the door before you activate it." The bunny said mockingly before giving me back 2 million worth of karmic points.
"I see we have a peeper here. I'm only 15, you pedo." I said, making the bunny stunned speechless.
Next, I threw only 100,000 worth of karmic points to the dealer.
"Afraid are we?" He mocked.
"Nah. I know the first 2 is 'newbie's' luck. It's a casino's trick to make you fall deeper into the betting. Am I right?" I said with a sly smile. The bunny spit out his saliva to the side in irritation as he mumbled, "So. I threw away 1.5 million points for nothing?"
As I expected, I lost continuously for 5 more bets after the initial two, leaving me with card such as;
[Special Ability: Kenji Harima→ Animal Affinity] (School Rumble)
[Skill: Barney Stintson → Photogenic poses] (HIMYM)
[Skill: Akira Hayama → Spice Handling] (Food War)
[Talent: Malcolm Reese → Chef]
[Knowledge: Xia Shiyu → Business management] (I have a Mansion in Post Apocalypse)
"500,000 points for Marvel Comics." I said before throwing the chip at the bunny.
He sneered and said, "Trying to get the amount you lost back? Friendly reminder, this is how a gambler becomes bankrupt!"
I shrugged and said, "I don't mind. I still haven't used any of 'my' karma points."
The bunny snorted and laid down the stack of cards again. I picked 5 cards and it merged into a unique card, [Skill: Chameleon → Acting]
"See. I'm still lucky." I said with a sly grin that made fumes come out of the bunny's ears.
The bet continued for another 7 times, with me losing every single betting session. I lost almost 3 million karmic points, and gained a few unique prizes from the gacha draw.
[Skill: Batman → Anti-recognizance]
[Talent: Lee Jin Woo → Golden Ratio Body Proportion] (The Novel's Villain)
[Special Ability: Mermaid→ Soul Voice ] (The Little Mermaid.)
[IQ Increases by 20]
[IQ Increases by 10]
[Talent: Kakashi → Fashionably late]
[Skill: Baby → Driving] (Baby Driver)
"Ah shit." I muttered as I got the Kakashi talent. "This will cause a lot of trouble."
"HAHAHA!" The bunny laughed at my misery and said, "Not only that. You don't even need Kenji Harima Affinity. All members of the afterlife will have added affinities to newborns and animals, so we don't have to be afraid of getting mauled by a raging beast…Ever!"
I lowered my head and cursed, "Damn it!"
"Of course, you can cancel out Kakashi's talent by getting a stronger…more perfect talent." The bunny whispered evilly.
I raised my head up as I was tempted by his words. I then throw a 5 million worth of karma point to the bunny, making him stunned.
"Sakamoto-kun." I muttered.
The bunny grimaced and said, "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Then, pick out your cards!" The bunny exclaimed.
I picked up 5 cards and checked them one by one. "Joker, Joker, Joker, King, King."
The bunny's happy expression shattered and his hands shivered.
"I got the Full House." I smiled softly, making the bunny hold his head in frustration.
The card's merged and it turned into, [Skill: Sakamoto-kun → Prank Proof]
"Damn. It's not what I wanted." I said.
"Shut up you point guzzler! Do you know how much I lost!?" The bunny said and threw 10 million worth of chips in my direction. I smiled and said, "That's your problem. Not mine."
He was stunned, but then he realized that what I said was true. I was only gambling.
I threw back the chip he gave me and said, "10 million points. Sakamoto-kun."
"ARE YOU CRAZY!?" The bunny exploded!
"I'm not. It's just, there's something else that I really wanted."
"Fuck!" The bunny cursed before making the cards appear again. I picked 5 cards and smiled. "Ace, 2, 3, 4, and 5. So I got straight."
The bunny almost fainted and the card merged into the winning prize, [Skill: 7 language proficiency. (English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Mongolian, Korean)]
"Damn it. Still not what I want." I cursed while the bunny looked at me with a spooked face as he threw 2o million points worth of chips in my direction.
"You- You should place your bet on another-"
"20 Million points on Sakamoto-kun."
The bunny gave up and said without any emotion, "Okay. You win. You win. Take it all then."
I picked up the cards, and read them. "A king…"
"A queen…"
"An ace…"
"A Joker…"
"And lastly… A 10 of heart."
"So I got the Royal Flush right?" I said with a kind smile, which made the bunny's knees weak.
The cards merged together, and I finally got the prize that I wanted!
[Special Ability: Sakamoto-kun → 'Exactly on time']
"Also, I got 40 million karma points." I added, which made the bunny fall to his knees. He had to be exchanged with another dealer, a female bunny in a sexy bunny's outfit as he was too depressed to continue.
I played the game for another 5 times as I know the gacha will change its appearance when I come here next session. As the previous gacha said, the method of drawing prizes was totally random. It was just that I had good luck to stumble into the casino this time.
At the end of the session, I eliminated my negative karma and donated 10 million karmic points to the Grim Reaper– freeing him from his imprisonment. However, I still have millions of positive points even after I did that, and I didn't know what to do with them.
"You cannot keep the point with you and bring them back to the real world. With no bad karma and tens of millions of positive karma, you will become the second coming of Jesus, or a Saint when you go back." The new dealer said.
"So what should I do with it?" I asked.
"There's an option to store karma, but it's only for 5 million values. The rest will be destroyed before you go home." The bunny said.
"I see.. Then, how about donating them?" I asked.
"You want to donate all of them?" The bunny asked in confusion.
"Yeah. Just donate it to the unfortunate people in the multiverse. I would rather it be put to good use instead of being destroyed." I said.
"Hmmm…I'll contact my superior and ask him about it first." The bunny said before walking away.
While she was gone, I checked the new prizes that I got after the dealer changed.
[Skill: Bruce Wayne → Trained Playboy Character]
[Knowledge Lex Luthor → Image Management]
[Memory: Kai Ling → School Level Education] (Mass effect. Year 2170)
[Skill: Kenichi → Karate (First Year)] (History Strongest Disciple)
[Charisma Increase]
[Charisma Increase]
[Jiang Chen→ Mutated Immune System] (same as Xia Shiyu. He's immune to everything from poison or any infectious diseases. Even deadly ones]
[Special Ability: God Usopp → Lie to Truth]
The dealer came back soon after, and she said, " Management decided that your intentions are pure. Therefore they decided to respect your choices and let you donate the karma points."
"Pure?" I said, confused.
The bunny gazed directly in my eyes and said, "We can see through a person's soul. No lies or hidden intentions could escape our sight. If you planned to donate the karma point with a hidden agenda, then we would have rejected your request mercilessly. "
"Ahh I see. Okay then, I guess my time is up right?" I said as I could sense the force pulling me back to the real world.
"Yes. You have a good haul today. Enjoy your new Life Mr Newgate. There won't be any sessions till months from now, so we won't meet again. And as you donated the karma point with a pure heart, you won't experience any discomfort as you assimilated the prize you got today.]
"That's awesome. So I won't pass out again. Gar-Chuu. I mean. Goodbye!"
I disappeared from the casino in a rush and returned to the real world. After I woke up, I was invited to the Dunphy's house for breakfast as I was dressing up.
I looked in the mirror and found that I had grown 3 centimeters more, making my height reach 178 cm. My eyes seemed clearer and I noticed a change in my temperament as my charisma increased.
"Not only that, a few skills have synergy with each other, making my changes seem more prominent." I said as I noticed the golden body ratio, the perfectness, Bruce Wayne's trained playboy skill, and the karate skill superimposed with each other.
As I continued to grow, I was sure that I could replace Ryan Reynolds as the sexiest man alive, or at the very least be tied with him in first place.
"*Cough* *Cough* The mermaid voice…This is a bit troubling." I said as I tried to use the soul voice, but the strain it put on my vocal box was too much. "I need more practice with it."
Not only that the skill was on par with the Siren's temptation, but a Mermaid's singing had a more positive impact on the soul. It'll take me years to master this skill, but I wasn't in a rush, so I would go at it slowly.
"Now, I hope that the [Lie to Truth] could help me face the breakfast ordeal today." I muttered as not only the skill would let me concoct a more effective lie, there was a slight chance that what I said was the truth.
I didn't realize it then, the ability was completely useless if I used it in front of people with common sense. It could only be used to trick some idiots. However, my impression of the Godly character Usopp-kun made me think that the ability was a good one.
My misunderstanding also occurs from the fact that the gacha draw this time didn't show the level of quality for the prizes I got. If I could see it, then [Lie to Truth] would only be a white rank special ability.
Not knowing I was cheated by Usopp, I said in full confidence of the ability, "Hopefully I won't create a fucked up future if I use this."