The chime of the convenience store doors met his ears as he looked at the rack of snacks, trying to decide what he'd prefer while spending the rest of his night glued to his computer. This was the average evening outing for him, only venturing beyond his bedroom for the store just a couple blocks down.
'Chips…Maybe spicy?' He considered.
The rowdy voices of a group of delinquents filled the once quiet store as he glanced down the aisle, seeing the young men fiddling with the product. That was his cue to grab the chips he stared at without considering his choice further.
He glanced over the pale, white shelving, seeing the group near the fridges as he made his way to the counter. The idea of having any kind of interaction with the loud-mouthed teens was something he wanted to avoid.
A beep came as the cashier scanned the plastic bag with flame details, "That'll be two-fifty, sir." The middle-aged man said with a monotone voice, staring right past him.
"--" He said nothing as he simply placed his phone against the scanner, confirming the purchase.
"Thank you for shopping at Walbrums," the cashier boredly said.
Not so much as a look at the balding convenience store worker was given as he grabbed the plastic bag, heading out of the automatic doors.
["Gael, twenty-two years old, jobless, not attending college. Yeah, by all considerations, I'm a drain on society. That's fine by me, though. It's not like I have any sort of big aspirations. As long as I can relax, play games, watch anime–that's fine by me."]
Waiting on the sidewalk for the crosswalk to give him passage across the street of the night time city, he stood there, staring off into the sky. There didn't tend to be any stars visible during dusk, with the lights of the city obscuring them, yet an abundance of them presented themselves to him.
It was an enamoring sight, like a glimpse past the loud, bustling cityscape–
Beep. Beep. Beep.
His attention was torn back as the crosswalk played its chime for him to walk. For some reason, he didn't step forward just yet. Standing there, staring at the street that was empty of traffic, a thought ran through his head.
'How many times have I been in this exact position? Crossing this same corner, at the same time, with the same night ahead of me. Hundreds? Thousands? Is that fine?' Gael questioned.
It wasn't like him to give consideration to that kind of thing, bringing him to shake his head as he blinked, setting it off his mind, however–
A chill ran across the left side of his body as a light shined against his eyes, making him glance to the left. It was only then he realized, without noticing, he was already halfway across the street.
No more than a couple meters away was the front of a semi-truck, coming in like a train as its horn blared. At that moment as certain death graced him, everything seemed to slow to a crawl.
'Ah…time has slowed down–no, it's like it's frozen. This sort of thing only happens when somebody is dying, right? Like their life flashing before their eyes, but, well…I'm not seeing anything like that. I guess there's not much to look back on, is there?' He questioned, staring at the front of the truck that was a moment away from pulverizing him.
In that frozen moment, only one thing moved besides his own breaths; like a snowflake gliding down a winter night, a plain, white envelope floated down between him and the truck. It landed on his hand, unfolding itself as the letter within unraveled.
A short message was written in perfectly inscribed ink:
"Meet your end accomplishing nothing, or continue on in an unforgiving world and learn what it is to live."
In that moment of frozen time, alone with only the two options printed on the enigmatic letter, the words resonated with him. A life having done nothing; at that time, staring down certain death, it was a thought that made his chest tight.
Though he never showed it, always locking himself in his room, he appreciated his parents; at that moment, he felt a sadness when realizing what this situation meant. It was goodbye; whether it was death or the unknown world ahead.
'I'm sorry, Mom, Dad–I was a terrible son,' he thought.
When it came down to it, even if he didn't fully understand what the option pertained to, there was no way he could choose death. He ran his index finger against the second choice, engraving that decision in his heart.
As he cemented that option, the lights of the frozen truck faded as did everything around him, falling to black–
["The choice has been made, then. Welcome to your new life in the world of Gaia, Gael."]
A sense of weightlessness overtook his senses, as though simply floating in a void where nothing existed. Perhaps it was death he experienced, reasonably suspecting that it was his fate that the truck collided with him.
[Integrating system into body.]
[...10%...]
[....45%...]
[....87%...]
[Integration complete.]
[Gacha System initiated.] [Level: 1]
Before he could process just what the peculiar, digitized words he saw in the void were, the darkness was washed away.
"Gaah–?!"
A gasp left his mouth, blinking as though his eyes were closed. He sat up, finding himself laying down in a patch of grass, being watched by quiet trees.
'What happened…? Something about being transported to "Gaia"...?' He questioned.
As he picked himself up to his feet, something glimmered in the dew-slick grass just beside his hands. Reaching between the verdant blades, he lifted a sword that looked weathered by time, surely having lost its edge.
A shortsword, hardly larger than a dagger, though its weight caught him by surprise.
'Why is this here? Was it left for me?' He considered.
Glancing down at his own body, he lifted his black hoodie, checking his abdomen for any sort of wounds, there was nothing to be found. He suspected the truck might've hit him, though his body felt fine–better than ever, in fact.
A quick glance around only found more and more trees, filling the landscape like sand in a desert. The forest was quiet; so silent that it made his ears ring, devoid of the constant chatter of the city he was used to.
"It's not some kind of dream…I'm really in another world?" He mumbled to himself in shock.
The concept of "transportation" was one he was familiar with, though actually finding himself in that fantastical scenario was another thing entirely.
He paced back and forth for a minute, taking everything in and deciding what was real.
'Right…Maybe I did die, and this is reincarnation? Well, I'm still "me"—just in a different world,' he thought.
Excitement ran through his body; a tingly sensation at the tips of his fingers and toes. The first thing on his mind was power—
'I should have special powers then, right? Some kind of magic, unique to me,' he considered, holding his hand out.
He pointed towards the tree across the forest clearing, attempting to conjure a fireball, or maybe even a lightning bolt. Clenching his whole body, huffing—nothing.
'Well, maybe I have to train…Yeah,' he reasoned.
Looking at his hand in disappointment, he leaned the rusty sword against his hoodie, glancing around.
"Where am I supposed to go?—" He audibly wondered, seeing no difference in scenery whatever direction he chose.
Amidst his futile decision making, the air flexed for a moment before—BANG. It sounded like an explosion flashed by his ears, scaring the birds from the trees as he stood there.
"Ah?"
It took a moment to process what happened; that distinct sound he heard. No, what he was more focused on was the feeling against his ear: a warm, liquid sensation trickling down from his left ear.
He reached his hand up to touch it—
"Ngh!…" He winced, immediately pulling his hand away.
There was a hole in his ear, no doubt about it, profusely leaking blood onto his shoulder.
'A gun—? The hell? This is a fantasy world, right? There's not supposed to be guns!' He thought.
Caught in his own panic, another "BANG" rang through the forest, this time feeling the projectile pass right by his head.
He covered his bleeding ear, nearly stumbling over as he sprinted into the trees, running through bushes.
[EXP: +1] [1 / 5]
'EXP? Experience? From what? Why?' He hurriedly thought, racing into the depths of the forest.
Keeping a hold of the dull sword, he glanced back—BANG.
[EXP: +1] [2 / 5]
Zooming inches by his head, the bullet instead struck the bark of the neighboring tree. Again, he witnessed his "EXP" increase, even though he did nothing but run for his life.
More important in the moment was not receiving a bullet to the head as he aimlessly sprinted through the abundant nature.
'Zig-zag!…Zig-zag!' He reminded himself, using what little knowledge he had in such situations.
He cut between trees, hearing a projectile struck the bark behind him as he kept up the pace. Kicking a root that was sticking out of the dirt, he stumbled forward, waving his arms through the low-hanging leaves so as not to face plant.
'Who the hell is trying to shoot me?!' He questioned, glancing back.
Between the cluster of verdant trees, he saw a glint, seeing the flash of a muzzle before—
He held the dull sword in front of his face by pure dumb luck—CLANG. An impact struck the flat side of the blade, bouncing right off of it as steam oozed from the silver.
'Holy shit…! Did I just block a bullet?!' He questioned.
[EXP: +2] [4 / 5]
Distracted only for a split-second, his foot kicked against a root, this time unable to hold his balance. He rolled forward, having no control of his momentum as he crashed through multiple bushes.
"Ghhh!—"
Spitting out a mix of leaves and twigs from his mouth, he picked himself up, lifting off of one knee before—BANG.
"Gah…!"
A yelp of pain came as he found the projectile shooting right through his knee. Scarlet fluid gushed from the perfectly round wound on his leg—
[To activate [Summoning] skill, chant "Summon" and what category you choose. Including: "Familiar", or "Weapon."]
—The monotone voice filled his ears, advising him with information that seemed nonsensical in the moment.
'Summon?!' He thought.
Looking up, a sense of dread filled his gut as he finally found what was hunting him. A slender figure in a snow-white cloak, wearing a mask resembling a pale skull. In the stranger's hand, a long-barreled, archaic-seeming gun was held.
Seeing it made his ear and knee throb, knowing full well that was responsible for his wounds. All that ran through his mind was "death", not wanting to meet it so soon—
Only one thing surfaced on his mind as that wordless figure approached him with their weapon.
'Shit…This better work,' he thought.
Holding his hand out, he sucked in a breath before shouting the words of wisdom bestowed to him:
"Summon: Weapon!"
[Weapon Summoning Initiated | (N): 70% | (R ): 20% | (SR): 7% | (SSR): 2% | (UR): 1%]
'Rarities? Hold on, this really does function like a gacha game—the hell?!' He observed, watching as a flash of shifting colors manifested near his hand.
[Chance Summoning complete…You've obtained…!]
A puff of smoke pushed outwards before he found himself wielding a rather dense, compact object in his hand, already aiming it at the enigmatic stalker.
"Ah…?" Gael looked at it in surprise.
[Weapon Temporarily Obtained: (R ) "Aim-Assist Pistol"]
That was right; in this fantastical situation he found himself in, what arrived to his rescue wasn't the sword in his hand, but a standard-looking pistol.
As he presented the oddly-acquired weapon, the skull-faced, silent hunter raised their own before—
He squeezed the trigger out of reflex, finding his arm naturally moving to point the pistol right between the eyes of the masked figure.
BANG.
'It aimed itself—?' He thought.
Shutting his eyes for a moment at the loud noise emitting from the pistol, he opened them again to find the hostile figure no longer standing.
Instead, the cloaked assailant was slumped against the tree, oozing a black substance from the hole in their mask.
"I did it…?" He mumbled, picking himself up while looking at the gun in his hand.
[Temporary summoning over.]
Before he could even consider what just happened, the gun released into a small cloud of smoke. Within that single second, it vanished without a trace.
[EXP: +10]
[Level Up!] [1 -> 2] [9/10]
[BODY: +1] [MANA: +1]
[PERMANENT SUMMON: +1]
"What the hell is all of this? I leveled up…from killing that thing?" Gael questioned, watching his own personal interface.