Opening his eyelids, Damien breathed out the exhaustion that had plagued his body. His perception flickered as he found himself in a clouded haze. But not long after, his consciousness cleared.
A scrutinizing gaze escaped him, deeply hidden, yet remained focused. His first awakening since that peculiar dream or memory had been far from pleasant. Armed soldiers surrounded him, quickly sedating him.
He couldn't even raise his hands to surrender, which was unfortunate. After all, he'd rather avoid being thought of as an animal or monster. Even more so, when he, in all intents and purposes, was human.
'Quite violent, but now that my head is clear. I need some answers.' He sighed as he observed his surroundings with intensity. At the moment, he was enclosed by metal and steel. His wrist was cuffed, his body shackled.
Beside and in front of him were armed soldiers, their faces veiled by gas masks whose lenses gleamed with velvet-tint. Their rifles were pointed downward, but their fingers clenched the metallic surface tightly.
No doubt that they were ready to shoot him once he acted loosely or erratically.
'Nonetheless, how did I wake up in the middle of an intersection? Wasn't I supposed to be on the rooftop? And why was there an airship advertising a cologne in the skies?' Everything was too peculiar for him.
Nothing made sense, as if he was shoved into a world far different than what was in his memories. Then, a flash of the recent past came to mind. 'Memories are superficial, huh? Am I the one who's crazy?'
Damien didn't know what to believe. He was even beginning to doubt himself, wondering if he had gone crazy. But his eyes promptly narrowed.
All of it felt real.
Until something was confirmed, there was no need to question sanity. Instead, Damien must find answers. At the moment, he was ignorant of the situation and was merely a fool of his delusions.
'That pitch-black monolith... It looked like a mountain descending from the skies. There's no doubt that an explosion resulted from it. Did the shockwave knock me out?' Inside his mind, he connected pieces of info.
'But if there was a shockwave, I shouldn't have woken up. The explosion brought about by that thing landing on the ground would have flattened New York.' Counterarguments sprang up, which made sense.
However, another idea emerged from the depths of his thoughts. 'What if something sent me here? My arrival caused an explosion at a random intersection. It could have been the shockwave of the blast.'
'Regardless... It's astounding that I wasn't even injured. It's probably the reason why these people considered me the cause of the accident.' He wasn't wrong, though more questions remained unanswered.
'Sam-' His thoughts were interrupted as he felt his head ache in pain. It was as though someone had struck him without warning, bashing his mind into the gutter. Fortunately, he managed to control himself.
The armed soldiers seemed to not have noticed his reaction, though in actuality, he didn't react much from the aching pain and managed to maintain his outward calmness.
His eyebrows subtly furrowed as he contemplated the sudden headache when he thought of her. There must be a reason, but for now, something needed to be done.
Perceiving the vibrations, he concluded that he was currently inside a confinement wagon behind some vehicle or truck. Why these people were acting as if he were some monster terrorist needed to be pondered.
At any rate, he needed to escape the metallic confines that encapsulated him. Otherwise, he would never be able to see the light of the sun.
With this in mind, he decided to question something that had been irking him since his awakening. Why was there a notification box blinking beneath his vision?
It flashed in and out of existence, resembling the contours of a letter, glimmering in neon hue. From its appearance, Damien could only correlate it to the notification box of various games.
Although it seemed much more advanced and refined, with a flush of futuristic design. In any case, others could not perceive the notification box, which meant that it was embedded in perception alone.
It was peculiar, to say the least. It had bothered Damien since rousing from his first and second slumber as it blinked to attract his attention. The notification box was among the reasons he questioned his sanity.
After all, who wouldn't? He had ignored it all the time, waiting for it to fade away. But it persisted in his eyes, vying for him ever more.
'What is this?' Never had he heard of someone having a notification box embedded in their vision. Maybe he was the first? Or was he trapped in a computer simulation? It seemed plausible.
'Can I interact with it?' Without warning, the notification box suddenly expanded, utilizing almost half of his perception. His eyes merely blinked for a moment before returning to their usual composed state.
'A notification window?'
Congratulations, Monster Gacha System has been initialized!
You have received the Beginner's Gift Pack. Would you wish to open it?
'Hmm... Monster Gacha System... Interesting.' His gaze narrowed, analyzing the notification before him. He could have gone crazy, but what if he was actually sane?
Maybe the so-called Monster Gacha System does exist.
It could be his way out. The system even incentivizes him in some way by rewarding a gift pack. 'A gacha, huh? I believe I heard of this. Isn't it popular in Japan?'
'I guess that spending my time on the internet wasn't all for naught. But if memory serves me well, no matter how superficial they may seem, gacha requires me to roll for the things I want.'
'It reminds me of a slot machine, though, instead of winning wealth. I win the rated items, and in my terms, monsters. Truly, interesting.'
In all honesty, He would have preferred it to resemble an RPG in some way. Especially when he was familiar with that gaming concept. But gambling for power isn't that bad. It's better than nothing.
'For now, let's open my beginner's gift pack. I hope that it would be useful for my current circumstance.' His expectations were high, so it had better not disappoint. Otherwise, he would rot somewhere.
The neon text plastered upon the notification box shifted, informing him about the beginner's gift pack and what he might have received from it.
Unwrapping gift pack... Rewards received!
Launching Summon Banner!
The notification window parted from his vision and was replaced by the gacha window. There seemed to be three banners: terrestrial, paranormal, and extraterrestrial.
---
| Summon Banner |
-| Terrestrial (100 TP) |
-| Paranormal (500 TP) |
-| Extraterrestrial (1000 TP) |
<| Terror Point(s) : 100 |>
---
'I presumed TP means Terror Points, and from the word alone, I believe that Terror Points can be gained by causing Terror.' Damien felt muddled, unable to welcome the implications. 'Does it want me to be a villain?'
'Inspiring terror throughout society sounds like what a madman would do for power.' He didn't want to hurt anyone for power. But something unnerved him. It was his aloofness regarding the proposition.
He was too calm. If it were the usual him, he would have been panicking while imprisoned within a random vehicle. His body would have been trembling from dread, his heart pounding out of his chest.
Damien may have been a brooding introvert, but he wasn't emotionless or entirely logical. If he were forced into a situation that was beyond normal, he wouldn't be calm, no matter what. After all, he was merely a student.
'Is my state because of the Monster Gacha System? That doesn't sound improbable. It can already affect my perception. What can it not do with my mind? Though it doesn't seem malicious.'
'Perhaps, it's required. After all, if emotions were not slightly muted in some way. Having such power would turn anyone insane. Few could control themselves, but how much is a few for the system?'
He closed his eyelids and decided to let it go for now. What was important was escaping the imprisonment of whoever captured him from that intersection. Obviously, it could further his supposed crimes.
But he didn't want to deal with whatever detained him while being ignorant. And he didn't plan on getting captured for the second time. He would probably become a fugitive, though.
Nevertheless, a message popped up before the banner.
You have received a free spin. The banner will be random.
'Oh... That doesn't sound good.' The beginner's gift pack wasn't an item, but a free spin from the gacha alongside a hundred Terror Points. For it to be adequate, he needed to rely on his luck.
It felt predatory, reminding him of a gambling house.
'This isn't here to help me, but to collect terror points as much as possible. The monsters merely are an incentive.' It wasn't a good practice, but as he had said before, it was better than nothing.
Barely containing his annoyance, Damien decided to use his free spin. An actual superpower would have been better, but he was the beggar between the two.
The gacha banner faded and was replaced by a wheel. Inside the fairly large wheel were the names of hundreds of monsters. Some could be useful, others may not. Perhaps, few would be overpowered.
Though it remains to be answered.
The gigantic wheel spun in revolutions, blurring the names imprinted throughout its surface. Damien watched, his eyes blankly staring forward, a behavior noticed by one of the armed soldiers.
They merely ignored him, deducing it to be no more than the delirium of a madman. In their eyes, he wasn't that different from a lunatic. And maybe they weren't wrong.
Seconds later, a glint escaped the shackled one's gaze.
His luck wasn't so bad, after all.
Staring at the notification, he muttered about the one he had received from the gacha. "Eclipse..."
You have received One-Star EX Monster: Eclipse(Fragment).