"Just calm down, it can't be that bad…" Klaus muttered under his breath as he sat up and looked back at the mirror.
So what if he didn't get reincarnated as the most handsome man in this world? That really didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things, right?
'Think about it,' Klaus told himself, forcing his racing thoughts to slow down. 'I'm a commoner, sure, but commoners have the chance to get stronger in this world. I'm also a reincarnator… I have meta-knowledge about this entire game world. I know where hidden items are, which dungeons have the best loot, how certain quests unlock. I can use all of that to increase this body's magical aptitude and power.'
The problem, of course, was money.
Everything in Artemis required resources. Better spells? Cost gold. Training materials? Cost gold.
Even the damn entrance exam registration had cost this a full gold coin.
'With my Red Resonance, I really don't see myself going anywhere in this world without serious intervention.' Klaus thought grimly. 'But I could probably steal an enhancement item from the Protagonist's route. There was that Resonance-boosting artifact in the early game that he finds in the Academy sewers. If I get there first…'
First things first, though.
He needed to check how screwed he actually was.
Klaus took a deep breath. "Alright, let's see what the original Klaus left me to work with. How much money do I—"
"Ugh!"
Klaus staggered backward, his vision suddenly swimming as a sharp pain lanced through his skull. He grabbed his head with both hands, barely keeping himself upright.
「Memories are being loaded into your consciousness…」
The notification appeared in glowing text before his eyes, floating in his vision like some kind of AR interface.
'So I have a Sys—' Klaus's thought cut off as another spike of pain hit him. He grunted, gritting his teeth against the sensation.
It wasn't the soul-destroying agony that web novels always described when protagonists received memory downloads.
It wasn't like his brain was being torn apart or his skull was splitting open. But it still hurt… like someone was forcibly shoving a filing cabinet's worth of information directly into his head, drawer by drawer, without asking permission.
Images flashed behind his eyes and memories that weren't his flowed in. A cramped apartment… this apartment. Working long shifts at a tavern called The Brass Mug, serving drinks to adventurers and merchants.
Counting copper coins late at night, carefully sorting them into small piles. The weight of a single gold coin in his palm.
The moment of reckless determination when he'd walked into the Divine Academy's registration office and slid that coin across the counter.
The entrance exam ticket burning a hole in his pocket.
The sinking realization that he'd just spent his entire savings on a dream that would probably kill him.
Klaus's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor, slamming his hand against the rough wooden boards.
"Stupid… Dumb… Fuck… Commoner," Klaus bit out between clenched teeth, punctuating each word by hitting the floor as if that would somehow change the past.
A full minute passed before the pain finally receded, leaving him gasping on his hands and knees. Klaus pushed himself up slowly, his mind reeling from what he'd just learned.
The original Klaus… the NPC version of himself had been working at The Brass Mug for three years. Three years of backbreaking labor, serving drinks, cleaning tables, dodging the occasional drunk patron's fist.
Out of his meager salary, he'd managed to save exactly one gold coin and change.
And yesterday, that absolute idiot had taken that gold coin… his entire life savings and registered for the Divine Academy's entrance exam.
Then he'd quit his job.
Just… quit with no back-up plan or anything else…
"Do you not see your situation?!" Klaus shouted at the empty room, as if the original Klaus's ghost could somehow hear him. "You're seventeen! You have Red Resonance! You don't know a single spell! How were you supposed to survive the entrance exam?!"
The room, predictably, offered no answers.
Klaus stood up shakily and sat on the edge of the narrow bed, forcing himself to think rationally instead of yelling at a dead NPC.
"Okay," he said aloud, his voice steadier now. "How do I survive in this world?"
He mentally tallied up what he knew from the absorbed memories.
He had a bit of money left over… maybe some silver and copper scattered around. It was enough for upkeep that would maybe last him to the end of the month if he was careful.
After that? There was nothing.
The entrance exam was in two months.
He had no spells, no equipment, and stats that would make even other Red Resonance users look down on him.
'I need an alternative way to earn income,' Klaus thought. 'Something that pays well enough to buy spell scrolls and maybe some basic equipment. The Academy won't accept a completely helpless student.'
The obvious answer was to become an Adventurer.
Adventurers made decent money… far more than tavern workers, at least. The Guild paid bounties for monster cores, and dungeon runs could net serious coin if you survived.
Plus, Klaus had meta-knowledge about which dungeons were safe for beginners and which ones had hidden treasure caches if they were even around here but there was a problem.
To register as an Adventurer in this world, you had to prove you had at least one combat-capable spell or skill.
The Guild didn't let completely helpless people sign up because it was a liability… new adventurers dying on their first quest reflected poorly on the organization.
And as Klaus mentally reviewed his status from back in the game…
He had nothing.
He had zero spells… zero skills and zero combat ability.
He was pure cannon fodder.
"Well," Klaus muttered, "I saw a system notification when the memories were loading. So that means I must have a System, right?"
Systems were one of the most overused tropes in isekai fiction. Overpowered protagonists with stat screens, quest logs, inventory boxes that could hold infinite items, and skill trees that broke all logic…
But in a situation like this? Klaus would take any advantage he could get.
"System," Klaus called out clearly, his voice echoing slightly in the small room.
He waited and nothing happened.
"…System?" he tried again, a bit louder this time.
Still nothing.
A minute passed… then two.
Klaus felt unease creeping up his spine like cold fingers.
'No. No, no, no. Don't tell me I hallucinated that notification. Don't tell me I'm just a normal reincarnator with no cheat ability in a world where I'm objectively the weakest piece of trash—'
"Okay, fine," Klaus said, standing up abruptly. "No System. That's… fine. I'll figure something out."
Then, with the grim determination of a man who'd run out of options, he pulled at the waistband of his trousers and looked down.
'At least it's longer than average,' Klaus thought with bitter resignation. 'I can work in the red-light district as a male prostitute… It's honest work and it probably pays better than the tavern.'
He didn't want to do it, but did he have a choi—
「Ultimate Gacha System has been initialized」
「Roll the gacha wheel once daily for a chance at legendary rewards!」
「Good luck, player. You'll need it.」
Klaus yelped and leapt backward, slamming his hip against the bed frame.
The glowing notification screen had materialized directly in front of his face without warning, floating in midair like some kind of holographic interface.
His heart was pounding, but for the first time since waking up in this world, Klaus felt genuine hope pump through his chest.
"Gacha… System?" Klaus breathed, his eyes widening as he read the text again.
Not only had he received a System, but it was a gacha system. The very mechanic that had defined Artemis Online in his previous life.
A slow grin spread across Klaus's face.
"Alright," he said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm ready to gamble with my life on the line."
Excluding the cursed Legendary Pull that had landed him in this mess, Klaus considered himself a pretty solid gacha player in his past life.
He'd had good instincts, decent luck, and the patience to save up resources for the right banners. It hadn't taken him that many pulls to get the characters he wanted.
'Of course,' he thought wryly, 'my last pull was literal trash, and then I died. So maybe my luck isn't as good as I thought.'
But beggars couldn't be choosers.
Klaus studied the notification more carefully. "I can only roll once, though?"
That seemed… limiting. In the actual game, players got five rolls from a single regular ticket. Only the Legendary Ticket… the cursed thing that had given him his current predicament allowed just one spin.
Then another line of text appeared:
「Would you like to roll the gacha wheel?」
「Y / N」
「Current Tickets: 2 (First-Time Bonus)」
Klaus's eyebrows shot up. "So I can spin twice? Alright then. That's something."
Without hesitation, he mentally selected Y.
The moment he did, the air in front of him glowed and distorted.
A massive gacha wheel materialized, taking up most of his field of vision. It was similar to the Legendary Wheel he'd seen on his phone just before dying, but this one was much larger and offered a staggering variety of options.
Spell scrolls... Weapons… Potions... Materials… Gold coins glinting in neat stacks… even strange artifacts he didn't recognize.
The wheel was divided into hundreds of segments, each one labeled with an item name and a corresponding rarity color… gray for common, green for uncommon, blue for rare, purple for epic, and gold for legendary.
「Insert ticket in slot to spin」
On the bottom right of his vision, two golden tickets glowed softly. Klaus reached out with his right hand, half-expecting his fingers to pass through empty air but the ticket felt solid.
It had weight and texture, like real paper. Klaus's fingers closed around it, and he carefully pulled it free from the interface.
At the bottom of the wheel, a small slot had appeared and it was just wide enough for the ticket.
Klaus took a deep breath, inserted the ticket, and let go.
The wheel immediately began spinning.
It rotated faster and faster, becoming a complete blur of colors and light. The individual segments blended together into a continuous rainbow, and Klaus had to squint against the brightness.
"Please," Klaus said, pressing his hands together in prayer. "Please stop at the gold coins option. Just give me money. I don't need anything fancy… just enough to buy spell scrolls and maybe a weapon. Maybe some armor. Please."
Money would solve so many of his problems. With gold, he could buy 1st Tier spell scrolls, register as an Adventurer, purchase basic equipment, and actually have a fighting chance at the entrance exam.
Metal Magicraft users needed metal weapons to manipulate in combat. Iron swords, steel daggers, even copper wires… anything he could shape and control with his magic.
Money meant options and survival.
The wheel began to slow.
Klaus held his breath, watching as the pointer ticked past segment after segment. Common herbs… basic mana potion… iron dagger… spell scroll… bronze armor…
And then—
The wheel stopped and the pointer landed on a segment that glowed with soft purple light.
「Congratulations! You have received: Resonance Boost (↑) Potion」
"Resonance Boost?" Klaus repeated, confused.
The item shimmered and phased out of the wheel, materializing in his waiting palm. It was a small crystalline vial, no bigger than his thumb, filled with swirling violet liquid.
The bottle itself was elegant… a smooth glass with intricate etchings along the surface and sealed with a pristine cork.
'I could probably sell this bottle alone for a few gold… It looks elegant enough.' Klaus thought absently, turning it over in his hand.
Then another notification appeared.
「Resonance Boost Potion: An extremely rare alchemical elixir that permanently enhances a wizard's Resonance by one stage (Red → Blue, Blue → Purple). Once consumed, the potion restructures the user's mana pathways, expanding their growth potential and accelerating future cultivation. This potion can only be used once per person… subsequent consumption has no effect.」
Klaus froze.
He read the description again then a third time.
"I… I never came across this item in the game," he whispered.
Which made sense. Artemis Online had thousands of items, and he'd never focused on obscure alchemical potions. He'd been too busy pulling for waifus and grinding PvP tournaments.
Red Resonance was a death sentence for anyone with serious ambitions. It meant slow growth, low potential, and a ceiling that most people hit before reaching even Second-Class Apprentice.
But Blue Resonance?
Blue was normal. It was what most successful mages had. It meant reasonable growth rates, achievable breakthroughs, and a real chance at becoming a Full Wizard someday.
Klaus didn't hesitate.
He uncorked the vial and took a cautious sniff. The purple liquid inside had no smell… it just had a cool sensation like standing near a waterfall.
'I trust the gacha wheel,' Klaus thought, and downed the potion in one gulp.
It tasted like… nothing… It was just cold water with a faint metallic aftertaste.
Klaus set the empty vial on the desk beside his bed, already planning to sell it later for whatever coin he could get.
As he turned back toward the gacha wheel, ready to use his second ticket, he felt a bit underwhelmed.
"It didn't even do anything," Klaus muttered. "I'm no—"
ZZZT!
Klaus's entire body locked up.
Every muscle seized at once, and he toppled backward like a felled tree, crashing onto the wooden floor with a heavy thud.
'What the hell?!'
ZZZT!
His body began to spasm violently. Both hands and legs shot into the air, twitching uncontrollably like he'd been hit with a taser.
ZZZT!
Klaus started rolling across the floor… actually rolling, flopping around like a fish out of water. He tried to scream, but his jaw was clenched too tight.
All he could manage was a strangled grunt.
'Is this supposed to happen?! Did I just poison myself?!'
But even as panic clawed at the edges of his mind, Klaus felt something else.
Energy.
It was growing inside him… deep in his chest, right where his mana core should be. It felt like a dam had burst, and raw power was flooding through pathways that had been dry and withered for seventeen years.
Red mana began to glow around his body, visible even through his clothes. It pulsed like his heartbeat, growing brighter and brighter until the entire room was bathed in crimson light.
And then—
The red shifted.
It deepened, darkened, turned from scarlet to cobalt blue in the space of a single breath.
The spasms stopped.
Klaus collapsed onto his back, gasping for air. His entire body felt like it had been electrocuted.
Slowly… very slowly, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
His hands were trembling and his legs felt weak but there was a strange lightness in his chest, like someone had removed a weight he hadn't known he was carrying.
Klaus crawled over to the mirror and stared at his reflection.
He looked… different.
Not dramatically so. He wasn't suddenly handsome enough to rival nobles or anything but there was a clarity to his features now.
His skin looked healthier and his eyes seemed brighter.
'I actually look kind of decent,' Klaus thought, tilting his head. 'Still can't compare to even a low-tier noble, but… better.'
A new notification appeared:
「Your Resonance has evolved: Red ★☆☆ → Blue ★★☆」
「Your Mana Capacity and Magic Power have increased drastically」
Klaus let out a shaky laugh.
"Thank you, Gacha God," he said, bowing his head toward the floating interface. "But this time… give me money. Please… Just money."
He reached for the second golden ticket, pulled it free, and inserted it into the slot. The wheel spun again, faster this time, blurring into a kaleidoscope of light.
As it rotated, Klaus had a childish urge. He reached out and stuck his hand directly through the spinning wheel.
His fingers passed through without resistance.
'Of course,' Klaus thought with a smile. 'It's just a hologram.'
The wheel began to slow.
Klaus watched the pointer tick past option after option, his hope rising with each segment that wasn't money.
And then… The wheel stopped.
Klaus stared at the result.
He blinked and took a deep breath.
'No,' he told himself firmly. 'Don't crash out. Stay calm. It's fine. It's just a Tier 2 spell.'
The magic system in Artemis Online didn't use the typical F-rank through SSS-rank garbage that most gacha games employed.
It had its own classification: Tier 1 through Tier 6 spells.
Tier 1 was basic… Tier 2 was intermediate… Tier 3 was advanced… while Tier 6 was… a myth.
There was no playable character in the game that had ever been confirmed to have Tier 6 magic.
「Congratulations! You have pulled: Tier 2 Spell - Magnetic Field」
「Magnetic Field (Tier 2) has been registered as your first skill」
「Skill Description: Creates a localized magnetic field (10-meter radius) that attracts or repels ferrous metals. User can control the polarity and intensity, allowing them to disarm opponents, manipulate battlefield debris, or pull/push metal objects with significant force.」
「Mana Cost: 35 mana per activation」
Klaus let out a long, slow breath through his nose.
He should be happy. Tier 2 spells were what Second-Class Apprentices learned. They cost 3-10 Gold to purchase as scrolls… money he absolutely didn't have.
This was a legitimate advantage but… 35 mana per activation.
His current mana pool… even after the Resonance boost was probably only around 150-180 mana. That meant he could cast Magnetic Field maybe four or five times before running completely dry.
If he were a noble with high Magic Power and massive mana reserves like Alder… the Main Villain's younger brother, this would've been a jackpot. Alder could probably spam this spell a dozen times in a single fight.
But Klaus? Klaus had to ration every single cast.
"Whatever," Klaus muttered, standing up as the gacha wheel faded from view.
Three new tabs appeared in his vision:
「Status」
「Spin!」
「Merge」
Klaus blinked. "The hell is 'Merge'?"
Curious, he tapped the glowing icon. A new interface opened up, showing two empty slots arranged vertically with glowing lines connecting them to a third slot below.
「With Merge, you can combine similar skills and items together to create a new one」
Klaus stared at the screen then he started laughing.
It wasn't a bitter laugh or a desperate one… It was genuine.
"Maybe I don't have to be the protagonist," Klaus said aloud, grinning at the interface.
He walked over to the small wooden wardrobe in the corner and pulled it open. Inside hung several plain outfits… the kind of simple tunics and trousers that screamed commoner from a mile away.
Klaus grabbed one and started changing.
"Time to head to the Guild, I guess."
…
It took about ten minutes, but Klaus finally made it to the ground floor of the massive apartment building.
When he'd looked out the window earlier, he'd known he was living on a high floor. But he hadn't realized just how high until he started descending the stairs.
Floor 500.
He'd been living on Floor 500.
The stairwell had seemed endless… narrow, dimly lit, and filled with the smell of old stone and stale air.
By the time Klaus finally stumbled out onto street level, his legs were burning and he was seriously questioning the original Klaus's life choices.
'Why live on Floor 500?' Klaus thought, gasping for breath. 'Was rent cheaper up there? Was he trying to get exercise? Did he just hate himself?'
Now he stood at the bottom of the wide stone steps that led up to the building's entrance, hands on his hips, catching his breath.
The streets of the city stretched out before him… cobblestone roads winding between timber-framed buildings, people bustling about in tunics and cloaks, the distant sound of market vendors hawking their wares.
It was beautiful, in a rustic, fantasy-world kind of way.
Klaus patted his pocket, feeling the reassuring weight of the empty Resonance Boost vial. The Gacha System didn't seem to have an inventory function or if it did, he hadn't unlocked it yet.
'I'll sell this at the Guild,' Klaus thought. 'Even the bottle alone should fetch a few gold.'
He took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and smiled.
"Well," Klaus said aloud, "nothing can ruin this day no—"
A carriage exploded past him.
It came out of nowhere… a heavy, ornate vehicle pulled by two massive crystal-horned mares, moving at what had to be an illegal speed through the city streets.
The wheels kicked up a massive spray of mud from the road.
And Klaus, standing at the perfect angle at the bottom of the steps, took the full brunt of it.
SPLAT.
Thick, cold, disgusting mud splattered across his face, his chest, his arms, his legs. It soaked through his clothes in an instant, leaving him looking like he'd just crawled out of a swamp.
Klaus stood there, frozen with mud dripping from his hair.
Slowly, he looked down at himself then he looked up at the rapidly disappearing carriage, after that his gaze went to the several pedestrians on the street who had stopped to stare at him, their expressions ranging from pity to barely concealed amusement.
Klaus closed his eyes.
He took a deep, calming breath.
"Fuck my big mouth." he muttered.