The cloudy sky covered the city. Raindrops fell, tapping on the roofs of old row shops lined up along the narrow street. In a corner of the city rarely noticed, inside a small fourth-floor apartment room, a young man sat in silence, staring at a phone screen cracked at the bottom left.
His name was Takuya Minami, 17 years old, a final-year high school student. His grades were average. He didn't have many friends. He had only one hobby: playing gacha games.
"Come on, just give me an SSR character this one time," Takuya muttered.
He clicked his tongue in frustration. He had already spent nearly 15,000 yen on this gacha event and still hadn't gotten the new character he wanted.
This was the final pull he could do. "Please! Give me the beautiful Nagumi," he whispered, closing his eyes and praying.
Takuya's heart pounded faster. He didn't want to open his eyes. But at the same time, he had to. Hoping he had gotten the character named Nagumi.
"Please! Just this once is enough."
Takuya opened his eyes. There was no golden light from his gacha result this time. The 15,000 yen he had spent—wasted.
The beautiful elf character wielding a sword with a hot body—he didn't get her. Even though he had spent 90% of his money.
Takuya placed his phone on the table. "Am I really cursed by the Gacha God?" he groaned.
He stood up and walked toward the door. He stood there for a while. Then—
BAAM!
Takuya punched his apartment door hard. He winced, his right hand trembling.
"Damn it!" he shouted loudly.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing, idiot?! If you don't like me, come over here!" someone shouted from the apartment next door.
Takuya ignored it. He stepped back slowly and dropped himself onto the bed. Staring at the stained ceiling of his apartment.
He had chosen this crappy apartment to save on expenses. Of course, the rest of his money would be used for gacha. Takuya was already addicted to gacha games. He had even skipped school for four days just to pull a few more times.
It sounded stupid, but Takuya was stupid.
"Shit. Shit. Shit."
Takuya was furious. This time, he hadn't just used money for living expenses—he'd also used money meant for buying books and paying for tutoring. All for the hope of getting the character he had waited for over two months.
But the result was trash.
Takuya closed his eyes. Holding his right hand, which was swollen from punching the apartment door.
"Come out, you bastard!" someone shouted from outside.
The same man who had yelled at Takuya earlier. Now he was right in front of Takuya's door. The two of them weren't on good terms. They had even fought before because Takuya kept yelling every time he failed to get what he wanted.
This time, Takuya ignored it. He sat up and grabbed his phone. Looking at the game screen again. His mood was still terrible.
"Stupid game," he muttered.
He held his finger over the game logo for a long time. Then the word 'uninstall' appeared. Takuya wanted to tap it, but he hesitated.
"I should've never played that stupid game in the first place," he grumbled.
As Takuya put his phone back down, something suddenly happened. A bright light burst from the floor.
Takuya panicked. He stood up, trying to run—but it was too late.
A few seconds later, the light disappeared, but the floor beneath his feet… had changed.
Takuya raised his head. As he looked ahead, his eyes widened. He saw something completely different.
"Where… is this?"
At that moment, a screen appeared in front of his face. A screen just like from a game.
[GACHA SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[WELCOME, HERO!]
Tap…
Takuya froze, shocked. He had no idea what was going on.