"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? Rael grumbled before putting on a soft smile.
"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 main source of income—our items, everything... And what did you do? You went ahead and fucking gambled it all!"
"Can you blame me? Did you see the item that can drop?" Rael replied, amusement flickering in his eyes, as the man scooted closer, his anger practically oozing into the air.
Alright... Maybe I should stop. He seems pretty cranky today.
"Carl... Listen, that shit 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 before patiently saying, "Did you win?"
"Well... No, but I—"
"Then shut the fuck up!" Carl slammed the gun's handle into Rael's forehead, sending blood trickling down.
Has he lost it? Rael put a hand to his forehead, wiping away the blood before it could drip into his eyes.
"I don't have insurance, you fuck!"
Carl froze. "Are you serious?"
"Well, yeah? 80 Trell wasn't something I wanted to spend haphazardly every month," Rael answered with a tilt of his head.
"You spent 50 million Trell on gambling..." 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.
Fuck... How am I supposed to get 50 million Trell in 24 hours!? Rael thought as panic finally began to set in.
However, before he could ask for a lighter 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.
Standing back up, Rael immediately sprinted toward his apartment, which just so happened to be a few blocks away.
It took him only a few minutes before he dashed up the stairs to the 5th floor and entered his apartment.
Looking around, he spotted an energy drink and immediately downed it before walking up to the blue VR pod and lying down inside it.
Closing it after himself, he was greeted with the familiar sensation of his body relaxing before, finally, he grew sleepy.
Yet in the next moment, Rael opened his eyes, finding himself in the luxurious 10,000 Trell-a-night room, which he had to admit might have been a bit overboard.
Nonetheless, he opened his status screen.
•———•
[Status]
Nickname: Quarterpounder69
- Race: Human
- Class: Earth Evoker
- Level: [209]
- Experience: [27,800 / 103,798]
•—Titles—•
The Unyielding (Common): Grants +10% Health Regen when HP < 20%
•—Inventory—•
Storage Space—[17/50]
•—Stats—•
Health Points (HP): [16,000 / 16,000]
Mana Points (MP): [101,000 / 101,000]
Strength: 200
Agility: 200
Constitution: 400
Intelligence: 2,525
Wisdom: 1,500
Charisma: 400
•—Advanced Stats—•
Attack Power (AP): [450]
Movement Speed Increase: [100%]
Critical Hit Damage Increase: [75%]
•—Skills—•
Earth Manipulation: [Level 49 | 3,450/15,749] {Common}
Stone Wall: [Level 16 | 1,232/3,675] {Common}
Quake Strike: [Level 88 | 11,696/33,715] {Common}
Quagmire: [Level 100 | MAX] {Common -> Ready to Evolve}
•—Equipment—•
Weapon: [Larique's Earth Staff (Rare)]
Head—[Magic Lancer Latisha's Helmet (Uncommon)]
Chest—[Earthborn Royal Robe (Rare)]
Legs—[Elder Jester's Pantaloons (Uncommon)]
Gloves—[Thief's Gloves (Common)]
•—Accessories—•
Cloak—[Red Fairy Cloak (Common)]
Neck—[Night Owl Necklace (Common)]
Ring—[Flaunder's Ring of Traps (Uncommon)]
Ring—[Magic Amplifying Ring (Rare)]
Belt—[Empty]
•—Quests—•
Active Quests—17
Tracking Quest—[Troll Vengeance (Level 100) | Progress—60/250]
Total Quests Completed—[456]
•———•
He zoned in on the inventory and, after just a few moments, pulled out a purple orb the size of a soccer ball before taking a deep breath and preparing to open it.
However, Rael stopped himself, putting the orb down on the table.
I need luck... fuck. He let out a sigh and headed over to the telephone, ringing up the reception.
"Send a girl to room 433. I need one with massive jugs. Put it on my tab," Rael explained with a straight face.
"Great, thank—oh, she hung up." Rael chuckled and sat back down.
After just a few minutes, his doorbell rang, and following that, a hot and busty woman walked in, sporting no clothes.
"Hello, customer. How may I be of service today?" Lisa spoke with a soft smile.
"Sit down. You're going to be my lucky charm today," Rael said, pointing to the bed.
Lisa seductively strided over to the bed, lying down and putting herself on full display
But that was not his main interest currently, as—after all—if he fucked this up, he'd be gutted in the real world.
Picking up the orb and sitting down on the bed, he gestured for Lisa to come closer.
She began taking off his pants; however, Rael stopped her. "None of that today. Sit down on my lap."
"Okay?" Lisa stopped, confused. Soon, she sat on his lap.
As she did, Rael grabbed hold of her massive tit, holding onto it as if his life depended on it—which it did.
"Aah..." She let out a soft moan, which he ignored.
Fucking give me that item. Rael prayed and took a deep breath before clicking 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 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 Skata Online called revolutionary.
Yet, in the eyes of most—especially Rael—it was just an opportunity to make money.
He truly could not give a shit if it was rare or even unattainable—as long as it could pay off his debts, it 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—a rarity he had not seen.
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 Skata Online community forum posts.
But... Fuck yeah. Black... black... Come on! Rael exclaimed with a grin, clenching his hand and grasping Lisa's massive tit with even more strength.
However, this gacha roll was taking longer than usual—most lasted about ten seconds.
He sent another prayer dedicated to Lisa's tits, and soon, 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, leaving him shocked.
...What? Rael was speechless as the miniature congratulatory firework show began, followed by a loud voice coming from the sky.
This was followed by a few messages only he could see.
-Heavenly Attraction—500% increased affinity with NPCs. Now that's pretty shit, Rael remarked inwardly, 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? Rael froze as he read the descriptions of the item. -Eye of the Beast [Divine] [Soulbound] —Consume the eye to receive #####. 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. "Ouch... You're squeezing too hard," Lily muttered, making his brows twitch as he pushed her off. "Lily, thank you for the company. Please get out now," Rael said and handed her a towel. "Let the receptionist know I'll talk later—gotta go." As his words fell, 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. No... I'm not letting them sell my fucking organs! He exclaimed inwardly and jumped back into Skata Online. Pulling out the new item he got, Rael proceeded to look at it closely. It was a consumable, much like all food and potions in this game. However, each had its unique taste, which meant he would be eating a completely black eyeball. Nonetheless, he had a small hope that maybe—just maybe—once he ate it, it would spew out some riches. Here goes nothing. Rael heaved a deep breath and gulped the eyeball down in one go. Its taste was surprisingly sweet—just like candy. However, in the very next moment, he felt dizzy, which was pretty unusual, as all status effects had reduced visual effects. Yet this particular dizziness felt real—it was almost like he was in the real world. A notification appeared, followed by another one. Reality what now? Rael stared, puzzled. But 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. Am I dying? Why does it feel so... realistic... Rael trailed off. Soon, the final system message fell. 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—whatever that was. Though, I wonder— Rael's words were interrupted by a sudden jolt in his body before another bout of notifications appeared. <...> Uh, I don't fucking know? 69... hmm, maybe not... Rael thought absentmindedly, still not fully grasping the situation. Pardon? I didn't type anything in— His words were interrupted when, all of a sudden, a flash of light entered his eyes—soon replaced by constant dimming—until eventually, the only thing he could see was the massive glowing stalactite off in the distance. Get this shit out of my face, you're blinding me! Rael exclaimed inwardly as the indecisive system kept flashing before his eyes. However, it soon stopped, and the only things present were something like a skill—but not quite like them. Perks. -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.