"Is this for real? Must be a bug!"
"Two times in a row on single numbers—what are the odds of that!?"
"Over a million gold coins… that's enough to buy a full set of top-tier gear!"
"Who is this guy? Did he find an exploit in the game?"
The crowd's chatter was so loud it felt like the roof would blow off.
It couldn't be helped—an event like this was practically legendary. Not only had nobody ever seen it before, most had never even heard of such a thing. You couldn't even make up something this absurd.
The cascade of coins from the roulette finally came to an end.
More than a million coins piled up into a small mountain several meters high, something you had to crane your neck to look up at.
Just seeing that sight, even though the coins didn't belong to them, left the surrounding players with burning gazes and pounding hearts.
Haruto tapped the panel, stowing the mountain of gold away. Meanwhile, the roulette wheel began spinning again.
Everyone stared at him with feverish eyes.
To witness such a legend firsthand—of course, they all hoped the one who created it would say something, anything, that they could later brag about.
But instead, Haruto calmly placed his hand on the roulette again. After authentication, the betting interface reopened.
The players collectively held their breath. They all had the same suspicion—but it was too outrageous to be true, so they dismissed it themselves.
Sinon tugged on Haruto's sleeve.
"If you listed those coins on the official market, you'd get a fortune for them."
At this point, no one else would try to talk him out of it.
Watching someone soar, only to fall into the mud—that was just as entertaining. Besides, after seeing that mountain of gold, everyone was too excited to care about spoiling the mood.
Only someone who genuinely cared would say something unwelcome now.
Sinon's voice was quiet.
Haruto had already hit two impossible bets. For her to say this now was almost like questioning his ability. He might even take it the wrong way.
But she said it anyway.
To her surprise, Haruto didn't seem the least bit displeased. Instead, he smiled and gently patted her head.
The biggest perk of full-dive VR was the perfect simulation of physical sensations. That warm touch was real, and for someone like Sinon, who lacked any real sense of safety, it was incredibly precious.
But just as she was savoring that warmth, Haruto pressed the bet button.
The balance emptied again—1,225,000 gold coins.
All of it on a single number.
Seven.
The crowd exploded into a frenzy.
But interestingly, no one joined in on the bet. Most figured: "Once, sure. Twice, fine. But three times? Impossible."
Even if fortune smiled on them, they didn't have the courage to reach for it.
The betting closed. The roulette slowed.
Even the sound of breathing seemed to fade. Everyone fixed their eyes on the spinning wheel.
And then—inevitably—the pointer stopped.
On seven.
The place erupted in deafening cheers.
Coins poured down like a torrential rain.
Over a million, multiplied by thirty-five—more than forty million gold coins.
It looked like someone had turned on a cheat code.
But since the roulette had a payout cap of thirty million, that's what he got.
A little disappointing, sure.
But to Haruto, there was no difference between thirty and forty million. Either way, he couldn't possibly spend it all.
He casually collected the winnings.
"Alright, now that we're rich, let's buy some gear." He smiled at Sinon.
Not a trace of gambling mania or the thrill of sudden wealth. Just calm.
The crowd swarmed around them, voices overlapping—
"How did you do it!?"
"Come on, just one more bet!"
Haruto simply toggled the collision-ignoring feature and walked straight through with the two girls, leaving the chaos behind.
Once they finally got away, Haruto asked,
"Impressive, right?"
Mirai dumbly nodded. She didn't fully understand what had just happened—only that it was amazing.
Sinon, meanwhile, was speechless.
She couldn't make sense of it.
Just like when they'd faced that monster before, she felt that the boy before her wasn't even from the same world.
She had tried to suppress her thoughts about that supernatural creature. But now, she couldn't help but recall it again.
If he could kill something like that so easily… was he truly all-powerful?
At least, that was the feeling Haruto gave her now.
Lost in thought, she suddenly noticed his hand waving in front of her face.
"Hey, you okay?"
Sinon blinked back to awareness.
"Um… sorry, but this is actually my first time playing this game. Would you mind helping us shop for equipment? Not that money's a problem anymore…"
She laughed softly. So he wasn't all-powerful after all.
"Alright, I'll treat you like newbies. But first, add me as a friend."
She sent him a friend request, speaking with a mock-annoyed air of 'guess I'll help you after all'.
But inside, she was nervous.
Would he recognize her?
Her in-game name was just an abbreviation of her real one.
The chance was pretty high.
If he remembered her name from before they parted ways…
But when Haruto accepted, he showed no reaction.
No recognition.
A faint disappointment spread through her chest.
The three of them headed to another weapon shop.
With so much money—and with Sinon suddenly in low spirits—the shopping spree got out of hand.
Items they normally wouldn't even consider were bought without hesitation.
Originally, Sinon had suggested a lightweight rifle and a pistol for Mirai, the standard beginner's loadout.
But now that money wasn't an issue, they could go for something else entirely.
They spent seven hundred thousand on a set: a special combat suit, mobility boots, and dual shotguns.
It was a new strategy in GGO: give up long-range dueling, use mobility to close distance, then rely on shotguns to finish the fight.
Perfect for pure agility builds.
The pros: no need for high gun skill, accuracy came from distance and spread.
The cons: it required insane reflexes and dodging ability to get close enough.
Still, this had been the winning strategy for multiple BoB champions. Even if the meta later shifted toward strength-agility hybrids, the pure agility playstyle remained viable.
For someone like Mirai, who had no shooting experience, it was the best fit.
As for Haruto—
He had planned to try out GGO ages ago, but hadn't had the time.
So long ago, he'd paid players a fortune to craft him a fully customized 3D maneuver gear set. The cost was well over twenty million in-game coins, plus rare materials that were nearly impossible to obtain.
In GGO, you could forge custom weapons from materials—even swords made of metal. But in a gun-dominated world, it was costly, inefficient, and impractical. Hardly anyone bothered.
But for Haruto?
If you're playing a game, you might as well do what's fun.
"Haruto, are you joining GGO just to enter the BoB tournament?" Sinon asked curiously.
His in-game name was blank, but he had told them his real one.
He nodded.
"Yeah."
After registering, Mirai logged off.
Sinon wanted to spend more time with him, but it was already dinnertime. If she didn't eat soon, her body might give out.
"See you at the BoB tomorrow, Haruto." She waved goodbye.
Even if he hadn't remembered her name, just being with him like this made her happy.
But just as she opened her panel to log out—
"Sinon," Haruto said, "if going to in-person therapy feels too far, or you're uncomfortable meeting strangers offline… there are actually online therapy clinics too. They even take clients in full-dive."
Shino Asada froze.
Her eyes widened as she turned toward him.
"Eh!?"