As an otaku, Felix had always imagined that dying and meeting a Random Omnipotent Being would be a surreal experience.
He had just never imagined he would actually get to test the theory.
The dying part, admittedly, had not been particularly pleasant.
The meeting an ROB part, however?
That was… strangely fascinating.
Felix floated in a darkness so deep it seemed to swallow the concept of light itself. There were no stars, no ground, no sense of up or down. Just an endless void stretching into eternity.
Except for the thing in front of him.
It did not resemble a person. It didn't even resemble a creature.
The being looked like an enormous cluster of atoms—countless spheres orbiting one another in complex, shifting patterns. Each "atom" burned like a miniature star, radiating soft cosmic light that illuminated the void around it. Entire constellations seemed to move within its structure, orbiting a center Felix could not see.
The sheer scale of it was impossible to judge.
It might have been the size of a mountain.
Or a galaxy.
Felix folded his arms, studying the being carefully.
"…Okay," he said after a moment. "Just to confirm."
His voice echoed strangely in the void.
"You're an ROB."
The enormous structure of living starlight pulsed once.
"Yes."
Felix nodded slowly.
"Right. Thought so."
He exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Man… if someone told me this would actually happen someday, I'd have asked them what drugs they were on."
The being remained silent.
Felix glanced up at the cosmic construct again, squinting slightly.
"…You're not going to ask me if I have any wishes?"
"No."
"Not even three?"
"No."
"Damn. Tough crowd."
The massive atomic structure rotated slowly in the void, stars shifting across its surface like glowing particles of dust.
"You have already been given a proposal," the being said.
Felix sighed.
"Yeah, yeah. I just want to make sure I understood it correctly."
He pointed upward, as if gesturing toward an invisible interface.
"So in short, I'll have a Gacha system. It pulls things from CYOAs across reality. Perks, powers, items… whatever those CYOAs contain."
The being's orbiting stars flickered faintly.
"Correct."
Felix continued.
"And it can also pull Drawbacks."
"Correct."
"And whatever I roll gets applied immediately."
"Yes."
Felix grimaced slightly.
"So it's basically a double-edged knife."
"In essence."
Felix stared at the being for a moment.
Then he sighed again.
"…You know, I've read a lot of CYOAs."
The cosmic entity remained silent.
"And some of those drawbacks are absolutely insane."
He raised a finger.
"I'm talking world-ending bad."
Another finger.
"Or 'everyone wants to kill you' bad."
A third finger.
"Or 'your soul gets eaten by a demon every Tuesday' bad."
The being's orbiting particles shifted slowly.
Felix shook his head.
"I don't think I want that."
For a moment, the void remained completely silent.
Then the ROB spoke again.
"Humans."
The word echoed with faint amusement.
"Always attempting to negotiate a better outcome."
Felix immediately pointed at it.
"Of course we do."
He shrugged.
"Look, if I'm going to roll the cosmic equivalent of a loot box, I'd at least like some insurance."
The star-like structure pulsed once more.
"Very well."
Felix blinked.
"…Wait, that was easier than expected."
"I will add a safety condition."
Felix's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And that is?"
"If you obtain a drawback, it will not immediately attach to you."
Felix leaned forward.
"Oh?"
"You will instead receive a quest."
The ROB continued calmly.
"If you complete the quest within the specified time limit, the drawback will be nullified."
Felix raised an eyebrow.
"And if I fail?"
"The drawback will take effect."
He scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"…Let me guess."
"The worse the drawback," Felix said slowly, "the harder the quest."
"Correct."
Felix stared at the cosmic being for several seconds.
"…That's actually pretty reasonable."
The ROB did not respond.
Felix thought about it for another moment.
Then he shrugged.
"Yeah, alright. I'll take it."
The moment the words left his mouth—
Reality changed.
—
The void vanished.
Felix blinked.
Now he was standing inside a white room.
Or at least, that was the closest word he could find for it.
The walls were white.
The floor was white.
The ceiling was white.
Except the room didn't actually feel like a room.
It felt… wrong.
Felix took a step forward.
His footsteps echoed strangely.
The space around him felt infinitely large, yet somehow unbearably claustrophobic at the same time.
Like standing inside a box that contained an entire universe.
Worse still—
There were shapes.
Vague outlines, barely visible in the white expanse.
Shadows of figures.
Crowds.
Thousands of indistinct silhouettes pressing against the edges of reality itself.
Felix quickly looked away.
"…Yeah, I'm not thinking about that."
In the center of the room stood a single object.
A blackboard.
Felix walked over to it.
Written across its surface in clean white chalk were a few simple words.
"Use the Gacha and you can go to that world."
"Do not stay here longer than ten minutes."
"This world will collapse after that."
Felix stared at the message.
"…Well that's comforting."
A faint translucent screen appeared in the corner of his vision.
It didn't block his sight.
It simply existed—like an extra layer of reality attached directly to his mind.
At the center of the screen was a single option.
[Roll Gacha]
Felix looked at it.
"…So this is it."
He took a slow breath.
Then he pressed the button.
—
[Rolling the Gacha: Congratulations You've gotten:
Expertise
Choose three specific mundane talents or skills. You will now have the knowledge and experience in this subject to be considered genuinely talented by society's standards, or equivalent to a decade of dedicated training.
The broader the scope of this chosen talent is, the less effect this will have. For example, choosing to be a talented musician would not be as effective as being talented at singing, or guitar, or a specific instrument. (Angelic CYOA)]
Felix blinked.
"…Huh."
That wasn't bad.
Actually, that was pretty good.
"Three talents with ten years of experience…"
He thought about it for a moment.
Self Defense was an obvious pick. Being thrown into random worlds without knowing how to fight sounded like a fantastic way to die.
Cooking was another easy choice.
He had watched enough anime to know that being able to cook decent food was basically a social superpower.
The third one required a bit more thought.
Then Felix smirked slightly.
"Acting."
If he ended up in some fantasy kingdom full of nobles and suspicious people, being able to fake confidence would probably be extremely useful.
The moment the choices were made, Felix felt… nothing.
No flood of memories.
No strange sensations.
But somehow he knew the system had worked.
If someone handed him a knife right now, he was confident he could cook something decent.
If someone threw a punch, his body would instinctively know how to react.
Not perfectly.
But naturally.
"Nice."
Felix glanced back at the interface.
There was no cost for rolling.
No currency.
No points.
Nothing.
He could simply… roll again.
Which sounded amazing.
Right up until the moment he remembered something.
The consequences.
If he kept rolling long enough, eventually something bad would appear.
Still…
Each roll was also connected to a CYOA world.
And the Expertise roll hadn't given him a world he particularly wanted to enter.
Which meant—
He pressed the button again.
—
[Rolling the Gacha: Unfortunately You've gotten:
Weakness to Silver:
Silver is a metal that acts like poison to you. Damage caused by silver regenerates more slowly, and contact with silver temporarily weakens you. Silver weapons are likely to kill you. (Becoming a Vampire CYOA)]
Felix stared at the screen.
"…Of course."
A second notification appeared.
[Quest Triggered: Donate 1 Ton of silver to any religious organization (Charity Organization if there are no religious organizations in the world) within the next 3 months.]
[Failure: Receive the Weakness to Silver]
Felix rubbed his face.
"Seriously?"
First drawback.
Second roll.
His luck was incredible.
"Alright," he muttered.
He thought about the quest for a moment.
"…Actually, that's doable."
One ton of silver sounded like a lot, but if he ended up in a fantasy world with magic or monsters, earning money quickly shouldn't be impossible.
"As long as I don't end up somewhere like Attack on Titan."
Felix glanced back at the roll button.
"…Third time's the charm."
He pressed it again.
—
[Rolling the Gacha: Congratulations You've gotten:
Destined for Greatness: – You have the markings of the greatest heroes. A meteoric destiny that pushes you further and further beyond towards new glories. Inside of your soul rest many of the fragments of the soul of the first Hero, the Emperor Rudra.
This condition grants you a powerful attracting factor, one that seems to warp destiny, so things always result in your favor. You stumble over opportunities to showcase your greatness constantly, especially situations that will make you look even more heroic. Foiling the plans of an evil cult and dismantling a slave trade ring are things that may happen over the course of a weekend, even without you realizing much. And even in combat attacks always become critical ones, allowing you to defeat even those stronger than you with a single attack, and even put up a good fight against those who exist on a higher realm than yours.
But what's perhaps more interesting is the effect this has on those around you. The common masses will struggle to ever find fault in your actions, being quickly captivated by your image, your deeds, and even the stories of your exploits. Those of greater strength are left equally in awe and often wish to join you as companions or devoted followers. Even those in the highest realms are quick to befriend you, whether through partnership or friendly rivalry. Even gods may find you interesting enough to shower you with blessings.
Additionally, this also has a positive effect on those who fight at your side. They benefit from a portion of your exceptional luck. Their senses sharpen and their ability to perform lucky dodges and strikes increases dramatically. Even if you did nothing, simply standing among your allies could raise the performance of an entire group by one or two ranks.
Finally, if you achieve full synchronicity with your heroic nature, it becomes possible to temporarily wield the power of the First Hero Rudra at the height of his prime.
In future jumps, you may select a great human hero of the past and act as their reincarnation, eventually allowing you to temporarily mantle their powers as well. For this to work, the hero must either be deceased or in a situation similar to Emperor Rudra, whose soul has fragmented through repeated reincarnations.
Taking this perk grants you the Unique Skill 'Chosen Hero' (Bonus – Ultimate Level), condensing your luck and heroic aura. In time, it will evolve into the Ultimate Skill 'King of Heroes' once you become fully attuned to your heroic nature.
If you are human, you may choose to fully replace Honjou Masayuki as the final reincarnation of Emperor Rudra, arriving around the same time he was transported.]
Felix's eyes widened.
"…Oh."
That was—
Very good.
Extremely good.
Possibly absurdly good.
But there was no time to celebrate.
Because the moment he looked up—
The white room was beginning to crack.
Thin fractures spread across the walls like spiderwebs.
The silhouettes pressing against reality twitched violently.
Felix didn't hesitate.
He selected the option immediately.
Transfer.
Felix had expected many things when he chose to replace Masayuki.
Appearing dramatically in the middle of some heroic summoning circle.
Materializing in a quiet field.
Maybe waking up in a random village somewhere.
What he had not expected—
Was appearing directly behind Demon Lord Clayman.
Felix blinked.
In front of him stood a pale man with long blond hair, dressed in elegant clothing that looked far too refined for the grim environment around them. The room resembled some kind of experimental chamber—stone walls lined with strange magical arrays, broken cages scattered across the floor, the air thick with the faint smell of blood and magic.
Clayman stood only a few steps away.
And in front of him—
A small fox.
The creature was barely larger than a housecat. Its white fur was stained with dirt and blood, and several faint magical restraints shimmered around it like broken threads.
The fox trembled weakly, its tails flicking in pain.
Felix froze.
"…Oh."
He knew this scene.
Clayman.
A fox experiment.
Which meant—
His eyes widened.
That's the future Kumara.
For a split second Felix considered the situation.
Then anger surged through him.
"This…" he muttered.
Clayman was still focused entirely on the fox, his back partially turned. His hands glowed faintly with magic as he tried to maintain control over the struggling creature.
Felix swallowed.
He had just arrived.
He had no combat experience beyond theoretical expertise.
And the man in front of him was a Demon Lord.
Logically speaking—
This was a terrible situation.
But Felix also had something new.
Something ridiculous.
Something that, according to the giant wall of text he had just read—
Bent fate itself.
The Chosen Hero.
"…Well," Felix whispered under his breath. "No better time to test it."
Clayman finally sensed something.
The demon lord slowly turned his head.
His golden eyes narrowed as he noticed the unfamiliar figure standing behind him.
Felix reacted instantly.
He threw his head back and laughed.
A confident, theatrical laugh.
Honestly, he surprised even himself.
"Leave the fox, young Demon Lord," Felix declared, his voice steady and calm.
His acting talent slid into place naturally.
He crossed his arms, looking down at Clayman like a disappointed teacher addressing a misbehaving student.
"You have no idea what powers you are provoking."
Clayman blinked.
The sudden appearance.
The confident tone.
The ridiculous statement.
For a moment, the demon lord was genuinely confused.
"…Who are you?" Clayman asked coldly.
Felix didn't answer.
He simply smiled faintly.
Which, thanks to the acting talent, somehow looked extremely mysterious.
And then—
A voice echoed inside his mind.
{Conditions Fulfilled: Unlocking Hero's Blessing and Hero's Haki.}
Felix barely had time to process that before everything exploded into chaos.
The fox moved first.
The moment Clayman had turned his attention away from it—
The tiny creature lunged.
A blur of white fur shot forward with desperate speed.
Its jaws snapped toward Clayman's neck.
Slash.
The fox's fangs tore into the demon lord's throat.
Blood erupted instantly.
Clayman's eyes widened in shock.
"—WHAT?!"
He staggered back, clutching his neck as crimson poured between his fingers.
The fox fell back to the ground, panting weakly from the effort.
Clayman spun around in fury—
Just in time to see Felix sprinting toward him.
Felix had absolutely no idea what he was doing.
So he did the most logical thing his brain could think of.
He jumped.
And delivered a full force dropkick.
Normally, this would have been an extremely bad idea.
Felix was just a normal human.
Clayman was a powerful demon lord.
But fate had other plans.
Clayman instinctively tried to dodge.
At that exact moment—
His foot slipped slightly on the blood pooling beneath him.
His balance shifted.
Felix's foot struck precisely the same spot where the fox had torn open his throat.
The impact landed with brutal accuracy.
CRACK.
Clayman screamed.
Blood sprayed across the floor as the damaged flesh tore open further.
The injury, already serious, instantly became life-threatening.
Felix landed awkwardly and rolled across the stone floor.
"…Holy shit that worked."
Conditions Fulfilled: Unlocking Hero's Action and Hero's Charisma.}
Clayman staggered back several steps, clutching his throat in disbelief.
His eyes burned with rage.
"You—!"
But the demon lord didn't finish the sentence.
Instead he raised a trembling hand.
"Mjurran!"
The name echoed through the chamber.
Only seconds later, a woman rushed into the room.
Dark hair. Elegant dress. A sharp magical presence.
Mjurran immediately took in the scene.
Clayman bleeding.
A mysterious stranger.
A wounded fox.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Lord Clayman—"
"Kill him!" Clayman snarled, blood dripping from his lips.
Mjurran raised her hand instantly.
Psychic magic gathered around her fingers.
Invisible waves of mental force began to build in the air.
Felix stared at her.
"…Uh."
That looked bad.
Very bad.
Mjurran released the spell.
And fate immediately decided to intervene again.
Instead of striking Felix—
The psychic attack slammed directly into the surrounding magical arrays embedded in the walls.
The entire room trembled.
Invisible ley lines twisted violently as the energy rebounded unpredictably.
Mjurran's eyes widened.
"What—"
The backlash struck her like a wave.
But instead of harming her—
Something snapped.
A faint magical thread connecting her to Clayman suddenly shattered.
Clayman froze.
His eyes widened in horror.
"…No."
Mjurran gasped as something shifted deep inside her chest.
The Marionette Heart that had enslaved her twisted violently.
Then—
It detached from Clayman's control.
And fused with her own magic instead.
The oppressive leash that had bound her mind for years suddenly vanished.
Silence filled the room.
Mjurran slowly looked down at her hands.
"…I'm… free?"
Clayman's face turned pale.
His gaze darted between Felix, the fox, and Mjurran.
In the span of less than a minute—
His fox experiment had attacked him.
A stranger had appeared out of nowhere.
His throat had been nearly destroyed.
And his loyal subordinate had been freed from his control.
Something about this situation felt deeply wrong.
Suspicious.
Unnatural.
Clayman made a decision.
"…This isn't over," he rasped.
Then he turned—
And fled.
Felix watched him disappear through the corridor.
"…Huh."
Well.
That worked out better than expected.
Behind him, Mjurran slowly approached.
Then she knelt.
"I thank you, Great Hero," she said sincerely.
Felix blinked.
"I will never forget that you freed me," she continued. "Allow me to aid you in your noble quest to defeat Demon Lord Clayman."
Felix smiled politely.
Inside his head, however—
I absolutely did not plan that.
Still…
Having a powerful magic user as an ally sounded extremely useful.
Especially when the only information he had about this world came from a light novel.
Before Felix could respond—
Something nudged his leg.
He looked down.
The small fox had walked over and was rubbing its head against him.
Felix froze.
"…Oh no."
The creature looked up at him with bright trusting eyes.
"So cute…" Felix muttered, blushing slightly.
He carefully picked up the fox.
Up close, the injuries were obvious.
Small cuts. Burn marks from magical experiments.
The creature was trembling weakly.
Felix frowned.
"She's hurt."
He looked toward Mjurran.
"Do you have anything that could help her?"
Mjurran stood.
"I am not skilled in healing magic," she admitted, "but there should be emergency potions inside the mansion."
Felix nodded.
"Let's go then."
As the two of them began walking toward the corridor Clayman had fled from, Mjurran glanced at him.
"You have not yet told me your name, Great Hero."
Felix shifted the fox slightly in his arms.
"…Felix."
Mjurran smiled faintly.
"Then I shall serve you well, Lord Felix."
She placed a hand over her chest.
"My name is Mjurran."
She hesitated slightly before adding,
"But you may call me Mjur."