My soul had flickered upwards as my vision blurred,
my ears sharpened showing a chorus of laughter and pleasure,
in the background the monotone churning of the slots mixed with occasional jingles and ringing bells which created a hypnotic presence around me.
'What- What in the world?'
TING!
Congratulations!
An unknown entity has taken interest in you!
He's offering you: The ultimate gambler's system!
Accept?
Y/N
Ps: It's obviously a yes for a pathetic loser as you!!
I couldn't believe my eyes, nor could I stop a slight smile from forming. "System?"
'Am I dreaming?'
Then realizing it's real, it's happening, I'm about to get a system of my own, the very thing I had dreamed of, read about, watched and hoped for- Had happened I jumped from my seat.
Celebrating? Jumping in happiness? Saying my prayers?
.
.
.
I pinched my cheek, "Argh, alright- It hurts good." Then opened both of my palms "One two three, ten. Ten! Ten! It's ten.. IT'S TEN FINGERS!!" I yelled out overjoyed as a madman to the more or less empty bus, lest for the driver who muttered "Fucking drunkard…"
The user could be on the spectrum, the unknown entity is rethinking the system's acceptability with the user..
"NO NO, WAIT," Suddenly my soul violently snapped back into my body making me gasp forward as I fell down, my senses appeared to be normal again. Realizing I could have messed up my heart dropped, "Was it a hallucination? "Did… did I just lose it?"
TING!
Unknown entity had changed its mind,
"No.. impossible-" my eyes tracked that sentence again and again, then I continued after the comma
I swallowed hard, eyes trembling as the next line appeared:
User is offered a trial version of the Ultimate gambler's system.
Accept?
Y/N
Slightly my heartbeat calmed, realizing I hadn't completely lost the chance. "Trial?..." I thought for a bit, What does it mean by trial? Will I lose this chance? Am I actually high without knowing?
"Ye-" I stuttered for a second as the bus accelerated, I glanced at the sight of the casino disappearing from my sight. I could swear it was almost as if my chance was slipping out of my hands,
I knew this was suspicious. Anyone with a slightly functioning brain would be cautious. Government testing? Devil's work? Death? I don't care, I wasn't anyone. I needed a miracle, and I wasn't about to hesitate now.
"Yes. Yes, accept the trial version."
User accepted trial version.
NOTICE: Downloading trial version.
I gulped while waiting for the system's reaction, it turned into a line of downloading. Then as it quickly finished, Three red windows shimmered in front of me.
TING! ABILITY RECOMMENDED – GAMBLER'S HAND.
TING! ABILITY RECOMMENDED – GAMBLER'S EYE.
TING! ABILITY RECOMMENDED – GAMBLER'S DICE.
'Gambler's hand, eye and dice? What in the world-'
As I thought about what the use of each ability was, a yellow window shimmered in front of me.
In the trial version you may choose one of the three given abilities to test. The ability's use won't be said, until it is chosen.
"What the f–? You won't tell me the ability's use?" I leaned back against the chair, "Ultimate gambler's system and an unknown entity?" I smirked looking at the roof of the bus. "Well when you won't tell me.. I'll just find out on my own."
Quickly I pulled out my phone, changed my tab from questionable doujin masterpieces to the browser and typed in Online gambling - spin of wheel, free of charge. On my search browser, and there it was- Thousands appeared.
I picked the first one, Heaven's miracle and quickly entered the wheel tab.
'Heaven's miracle huh..?'
"Alright then.. GH yellow, GE red, GD green. Twenty-five spins." I typed in the names and clicked spin.
The wheel of luck spun in a dizzying blur, colors streaking past like liquid fire.
Red…
Green…
Each jingle of the spinning slots echoed in my chest, then it finally slowed down. I counted every second and every spin "Twenty, twenty two, twenty three, four.. Five-" My eyes dazed at the screen as it had finally picked its host,
"Gambler's dice huh."
User's wish acknowledged, gambler's dice picked -
My head lifted to look at the system once again. "Gambler's dice. Yeah gambler's dice."
As I selected Gambler's Dice, the air in front of me shimmered.
A faint clink… clink… clink echoed—like something hard tumbling across glass.
Then—
POP.
A single white dice dropped from thin air. "Incredible-"
Then another.
and another.
Sixty three more followed, each one identical: smooth ivory faces, sharp red markings, and a faint golden glow from their edges.
They hovered above my head like a constellation, gently spinning.
"Whoa- what the hell…"
Without warning, the entire cluster slammed downward as if released by an invisible hand.
They struck an invisible table mid-air—
CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER!!
The dice tumbled wildly, ricocheting off each other, bouncing, spinning, rattling in a frenzy.
My heart hammered along with them.
One by one the dice began to slow, their chaotic motion calming until they froze, suspended again in the air.
Each one showed a different glowing number.
6. 8. 12. 9. 14…
The dice lifted once more, then slammed together, fusing into a single spinning orb of red - with a ring of gold light.
TING!
The dice lifted once more, then slammed together, fusing into a single spinning orb of red - with a ring of gold light.
TING!
Calculating user's accumulated luck
The orb's golden ring spun faster, a blur of light, before it slammed into my chest, exploding into a thousand sparks.
My hand immediately flew to touch my chest "WHA- WHAT WAS THAT? WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" I touched my heart, it was still slamming as before, it was still beating.
My head wasn't particularly hurting.
Then my eyes widened
Gambler's Dice Result: +666× user's Luck (Temporary)
Congratulations! Gambler's luck increased by Six hundred sixty six times.
"Six hundred times my luck??"
A trembling laugh escaped my throat.
"That's a bit too OP!?"
Luck surged through me like wildfire, coursing through my veins, setting every nerve alight. Adrenaline? Maybe—but even as I reveled, a shadow flickered at the corner of my eye. I shook my head, blaming fatigue. Instead focusing on my new found ability.
"Six hundred.. This isn't a skill- It's a miracle at its fine- Wait a second? What do I do with it?" Immediately a thought flashed through my mind, or more so a raspy whisper slid past my ear.
Diamonte… It's waiting… The… Grand… Casino.
A shiver ran down my spine, my arm hair rising as if every nerve had woken at once. I shook my head again, trying to dismiss it, 'is it fatigue?.' but the shadow flickering at the corner of my eye told me otherwise, slowly disappearing.