The grey, bureaucratic void of Mortis's domain dissolved into a sensory assault. One moment, Noctar was a soul in a lobby; the next, he was standing in what could only be described as the world's most garish casino, if a casino were designed by a hyperactive god of rainbows and poor financial decisions.
The air shimmered with golden glitter. Massive, spinning wheels of light covered in cryptic symbols lined the walls. The constant, deafening chime of slot machines paying out was punctuated by the occasional blast of celebratory trumpets and the sad, soft plink of what sounded like a single, disappointed tear.
Byte clapped his hands together, his data-form stabilizing into a tourist's Hawaiian shirt. "Welcome to the Divine Random Number Generator! Also known as my niece's domain. Try not to break anything."
"His karma will break anything he touches, Byte," Mortis muttered, having followed them simply for the entertainment. He leaned against a celestial slot machine, looking thoroughly amused. "A soul that stained? The RNG is going to feed him nothing but commons and junk. I'm just here to see him get a divine whoopee cushion."
Before Noctar could retort, a new divine being popped into existence in a shower of pink sparks and the sound of jingling coins. She was a short goddess, with hair the colour of spun gold and eyes that shifted like kaleidoscopes. She wore a dress made of what looked like lottery tickets.
"Uncle Byte! A new customer!" she chirped, her voice like a hundred wind chimes. Then her kaleidoscope eyes landed on Noctar's soul-form, which still reflected his original, hunched and chronically sleep-deprived physique.
Her smile didn't falter, but it became… pitying. "Oh, my. The mortal realm has not been kind to your… aesthetic, has it? Don't worry! We have so many wonderful options to improve your base character model! You'll stop being ugly in no time."
Noctar stared down at her, his expression utterly deadpan. "And you must be the divinity of impulsive spending and buyer's remorse. Your visual theme is… loud. Is the glitter a necessary part of the divine matrix, or just a personal choice to distract from the flimsy premise of your entire existence?"
The Goddess of Gacha's smile froze. The glitter in the air around her seemed to pause mid-fall.
Mortis, the God of Death, let out a sound that was halfway between a choke and a cackle, slapping his bony knee. "FLIMSY DIVINITY! Oh, I'm writing that down! Byte, your family is getting roasted by a landfill candidate!"
Byte just sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fortuna, just give him his ten rolls so we can go."
Fortuna, the Goddess of Gacha, recovered with a huff. "Well, with an attitude like that, I hope you like the colour beige." With a flick of her wrist, a single, multicoloured box materialized in front of Noctar. It hovered, spinning slowly, covered in question marks. "Go on. Give it a spin. Let's see what destiny has in store for someone with the aesthetic charm of a corrupted JPEG."
Noctar reached out a spectral hand.
He willed the box to spin.
It whirred, lights flashing, before landing with a soft thud. The box vanished, and in its place was… a hat. A slightly crumpled, olive-green fedora.
[ACQUIRED: Fedora of Uneven Charm - Rarity: Common]
// Effect: Slightly increases confidence while simultaneously decreasing the wearer's social standing.
Mortis howled with laughter. "YES! PERFECTION!"
Noctar picked up the hat. It felt cheap. He tossed it over his shoulder without a word.
He spun the box again.
This time, the light show was more intense. A golden glow! Trumpets sounded! The box dissolved to reveal… a gleaming, twenty-foot speedboat, which crashed onto the glittering floor with a jarring clang.
[ACQUIRED: 'Marauder' Series Speedboat - Rarity: Rare]
// Effect: Dominates the high seas! (Note: Requires a large body of water. Not amphibious.)
"The hell am I supposed to do with this in a dungeon?" Noctar muttered, staring at the utterly out of place vessel.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Mortis wheezed, holding his ribcage. "PLEASE, SPIN AGAIN! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT USELESS TREASURE COMES NEXT!"
Even Byte looked concerned. "The RNG seems a bit… skewed, Fortuna."
Fortuna just shrugged, a smug little smile on her face. "Karma's a system, Uncle. I don't make the rules, I just run the lottery."
Gritting his metaphysical teeth, Noctar spun a third time. The box whirred, but this time, the light was a pure, blinding white, shot through with veins of gold. A single, resonant chime echoed through the hall. The box didn't just vanish; it erupted.
[ACQUIRED: Divine Physique - Apex Tier - Rarity: SSR]
[RARITY: SSR (SUPERIOR SOUL RARITY)
//EFFECT: A physical vessel crafted by the gods themselves. Peak biological performance, divine aesthetics and uncanny innate charisma. Permanently Active.]
A wave of power slammed into Noctar's soul. It wasn't painful; it was like being rewritten by a master craftsman. He felt his form stretching, straightening. The perpetual slouch was carved away into a posture of effortless authority. The generic grey of his soul-flame ignited, reshaping into a form that was 187 cm of pure, sculpted perfection, broad shoulders, a defined jawline, the works. His features sharpened, his black hair settling into a perfectly untamed style, his ice-blue eyes now glowing with an inner light.
He looked like a god of war and wit, sculpted from marble and moonlight.
Fortuna's smug smile vanished. Her jaw dropped. "That's… that's an SSR! The body sculptor SSR! The pull rate is 0.0001%! How did you..... with your karma....." She looked like she was going to be sick.
Mortis stopped laughing. "Well, shit," he said, with a tone of genuine respect.
Byte pumped his fist. "YES! Now we're talking! That's my envoy!"
Noctar looked down at his new hands they were strong, elegant and capable.
Emboldened, he spun a fourth time.
The box whirred and this time, the light was not gold or white, but the deep, profound black of empty code, speckled with glowing green digits that fell like rain. There was no sound, only a profound silence that consumed the glitter and the noise. When it cleared, a single pulsing icon hovered in the air: a keyhole made of light.
[ACQUIRED: Skill - Root Access - Rarity: SSR]
// Effect: Grants the user the privilege to perceive, analyze, and, with sufficient understanding and power, interact with the base source code of reality. Warning: Handle with care.
The description was simple. The implication was universe-shattering.
Mortis took a step back, his blue flame eyes wide. "He can see the… the strings of all life? Byte, you didn't say you were giving him that!"
"It's not something you give!" Byte retorted, his own eyes wide with manic glee. "It's something a soul is either compatible with or it isn't! I just put it in the gatcha pool! I didn't think he'd actually get it!"
Noctar felt the skill settle into his being. It wasn't a weapon or a spell. It was a new layer of perception, a dormant lens over his vision waiting to be activated. He could feel it. The potential to not just play the game, but to open the developer console.
He looked at the beautiful, furious Goddess of Gacha. He looked at the shocked God of Death and the ecstatic God of Tech.
He had six spins left.
And for the first time since he died, a genuine, cold dread trickled down his newly sculpted spine.