James woke up countless times during the night.
Sleep wouldn't come easily. Every time he started drifting off, the pain from his injuries pulled him back awake. His broken arm throbbed constantly, and even turning in bed sent sharp pain through his ribs.
After another restless stretch, he groaned and forced himself out of bed.
"God… this sucks."
He slowly walked to the bathroom, holding his casted arm carefully against his body.
After relieving himself, he leaned over the sink and turned on the faucet. Washing his hands was simple enough, but cleaning his face with only his left hand proved a lot more difficult.
When he finally managed it, he looked up at the mirror above the sink. James Carter was, objectively speaking, a fairly good-looking guy. He stood a little over six feet tall, with brown hair and honey-brown eyes. His body was lean but naturally muscular, the kind that didn't require much effort to maintain. He knew it too.
And his ego reflected that.
"How does a guy this good-looking end up in a situation like this?" he muttered to himself.
He stared at his bruised face for a moment longer before turning away and leaving the bathroom. Before getting back into bed, he glanced out the window.
And froze.
The sky was splitting open. A massive crack stretched across the night sky like reality itself had been torn apart. From that tear, something enormous began descending slowly.
A tower.
A gigantic black tower fell from the split in the sky, its dark structure disappearing into the clouds above and below. And surrounding it were monsters. Huge winged creatures that looked like grotesque, oversized bats circled the falling structure carefully, their wings beating slowly through the night air.
James blinked.
"What the fuck?"
He rubbed his eyes.
"My brain is playing some crazy tricks on me," he muttered.
Too exhausted and too injured to question reality any further, he crawled back into bed. The moment his head hit the pillow, a voice echoed inside his mind.
[System awakening…]
[Scanning subject…]
[Synchronizing…]
[System awakened.]
A blue screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Name: James Carter]
[Occupation: None]
[Classification: SS-tier]
[Class : Gambler]
[Synchronization complete]
[Strength: 1, Agility: 1, Defense: 1, Mana: 10, Magic afinnity : 1, Speed: 2, Ego: Max]
[The Gambler's System activated.]
[Good luck, Champion.]
James stared at the glowing blue screen hovering in front of his face.
"What the fuck is this?" he asked quietly.
He squinted at it for a moment.
"…Yeah, I really need to lay off the shrooms."
He closed his eyes. And within seconds, he was asleep again.
...
James woke the next morning to sunlight burning through the unclosed curtains.
He squinted and rolled over, groaning as the light hit his eyes. Then he heard it. Gunshots. Distant screaming. "What the hell is all that noise this early?" James muttered.
Still half-asleep, he dragged himself out of bed and walked toward the bathroom. He paid the sounds outside little attention, assuming it was just something happening in the city.
He relieved himself, washed his face, struggled through brushing his teeth with his left hand, and pulled on some clothes. When he stepped out of his room and into the living room, he stopped.
His mother, father, and younger sister were sitting on the couch, staring at the television. None of them were speaking. Their faces looked pale, frozen in shock.
"What is thi—"
"Shhh," his father cut him off without looking away from the screen. "Be quiet."
James frowned and walked over, sitting beside his sister. The news broadcast filled the room.
"Breaking news: A massive black tower appeared in the center of Tokyo earlier this morning. Witnesses report monsters pouring out of the structure in large numbers. The Japanese military has been deployed and is currently engaging the creatures, but normal firearms appear to be largely ineffective…"
The footage shifted.
Smoke filled the streets of Tokyo. Soldiers fired rifles and machine guns at large winged creatures and twisted beasts crawling across the pavement.
Many of the bullets barely slowed them down. The reporter continued speaking, their voice tense.
"Experts are unsure whether this is some form of attack or an unexplained natural event."
Another clip appeared.
"Is this punishment? Is it retribution? Is humanity facing extinction?"
James leaned forward, suddenly wide awake. The tower. The one he saw last night.
"So it wasn't a dream…" he muttered quietly.
The broadcast shifted again. The camera zoomed in on something strange.
"What is this?" the reporter said. "Humans are gathering near the monsters… wait… what are they wearing?"
On the screen, groups of people stepped forward toward the monsters. Some carried swords. Others wore armor that looked like something out of a fantasy movie. One person raised their hand, and a burst of flame shot forward, slamming into a monster and sending it crashing to the ground.
The room fell silent.
"…Did that guy just use magic?" James whispered.
The broadcast continued for hours. More and more people joined the fighting. Some moved faster than normal humans should be able to. Others wielded strange abilities—fire, lightning, barriers of light.
Eventually, the military managed to evacuate the civilians from the surrounding districts. By midday, something strange became clear. The monsters stopped advancing. No matter how aggressive they were, none of them crossed a certain invisible boundary. News drones confirmed it.
The creatures could not move more than five hundred meters away from the tower. It was as if an invisible wall surrounded the structure, locking them inside its range.
The reporters sounded almost relieved.
"For now, the situation appears to be contained. Authorities believe the monsters are restricted to an area roughly five hundred meters from each tower."
James stared at the screen. The words from last night echoed in his mind.
System awakened. Good luck, Champion.
A chill ran down his spine.
"…What the hell did I get dragged into?"
....
James ran back to his room, his mind still spinning from the news. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, breathing heavily.
"System awakened… huh?" he muttered.
The words from last night echoed in his mind.
"Am I the only one who got that notification?" he said quietly. "What the hell is going on?"
He walked to the middle of the room, thinking.
"Alright… how did that screen appear again?"
He raised his hand awkwardly.
"System open," he said.
Nothing happened.
"…Okay."
"Open system."
Still nothing. James frowned.
"Seriously?"
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Closing his eyes, he focused on the memory of last night. The blue screen. The floating text. The strange voice inside his head.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
A voice spoke.
[Hello, Champion James Carter.]
James' eyes snapped open. The blue screen appeared again, floating in front of him.
[Welcome to… the Death Game.]
James felt a chill run down his spine.
[Unfortunately, you are unable to pick your starting weapon and abilities.]
[The system has already selected them for you.]
[Open stat screen?]
"…Yeah," James said hesitantly. "I guess?"
The screen shifted.
[Champion: James Carter]
[Occupation: None]
[Classification: SS-tier]
[Class: Gambler]
[Level: 1]
[Monsters Slain: 0]
[Exp: 0 / 100]
[Skill points: 0]
[Strength: 1, Agility: 1, Defense: 1, Mana: 10, Magic Affinity: 1, Speed: 2, Ego: Max]
[Abilities:[The Gambler]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]
[?]]
James blinked.
"…My stats are garbage."
Then another window appeared.
[Description: By killing monsters, all champions gain experience points which allow them to level up. Each monster provides a different amount of experience. Monsters may also drop weapons, armor, or items.]
[Upon leveling up or clearing certain conditions, you will receive stat points which can be used to increase your attributes.]
[However, your class allows you to gamble these points.]
James slowly raised an eyebrow.
"…Of course it does."
Another window appeared.
[Ability: The Gambler]
[Description: You may wager stat points in a game of Red or Black.]
[A card will be drawn from the system deck.]
[Guess correctly: your wagered points are doubled.]
[Guess incorrectly: the wagered points are permanently lost.]
[Each successful guess doubles the previous result.]
[Example:]
2 → 4 → 8 → 16 → 32 → 64 → 128 → 256 → 512 → 1024 → 2048
[Ten consecutive correct guesses will turn 2 points into 2048 points.]
[However, a single incorrect guess will erase the entire wager.]
James stared at the screen.
Then he slowly grinned.
"…Wait."
His heart started beating faster.
"You're telling me…"
He leaned closer to the screen.
"…I can turn two points into two thousand?"
The grin on his face widened. For the first time since the towers appeared… James Carter felt lucky.
"Now that," he muttered, "is a game I understand."