Common Sense Manipulation App

The night air in Eldoria felt sharp, biting at Karl's skin despite the worn-out jacket he wore. The wet pavement, slick from a light drizzle, made his footsteps echo faintly. A plastic bag swung lightly in his hand, containing only a few packs of instant noodles and a box of tissue.

Eldoria, one of the busiest cities in Neosia, was usually filled with the noise of vehicles and the laughter of people spilling out of bars at night. But tonight, everything felt... off. Too quiet. Too still. Even the distant hum of traffic had vanished, swallowed by the cold night air.

Karl took a deep breath, a thin fog escaping his lips as he walked. His gaze was empty, his mind swirling with anxiety about his future. It had been three months since he lost his job in Eldoria's industrial district. Every job application he'd sent ended up in a digital trash bin. His savings were dwindling, and his options were running out.

"If this keeps up, I don't even know if I'll make it through next month," he muttered under his breath.

His steps halted suddenly. Under the flickering glow of a streetlamp, an old gacha machine stood in the middle of the sidewalk. Its surface was dull gold, with a small light blinking lazily on top. It looked like a relic from the past, something that belonged in the corner of an old arcade, not on an empty sidewalk like this.

"A gacha machine? Here? At this hour?" Karl squinted, eyeing the machine suspiciously.

It seemed to radiate an eerie aura, almost as if it was calling him closer. The little light blinked slowly, like an unblinking eye staring at him. Karl took a step back, turned away, and continued walking.

But when he rounded the next corner, the gacha machine was there again. This time, its light blinked faster, almost like a warning.

Karl swallowed hard. "No way... This... this must be a coincidence."

He quickened his pace, almost jogging now. But no matter how many turns he took, no matter how many narrow alleys he ducked into, the machine was always there. Standing still. Blinking with an ever-intensifying rhythm.

"What is this? A ghost? Aliens? Or... some lunatic hacker controlling drones or robots?!" Karl's mind raced in panic.

Goosebumps crawled up his arms. The night air felt even colder, cutting through his skin and sinking into his bones. The streets around him twisted into an endless labyrinth. Karl's breaths grew ragged, and his steps turned erratic.

Finally, at a quiet little intersection, the gacha machine stood directly in his path. This time, there was no avoiding it. Its tiny lights shone brightly, casting a yellowish glow on Karl's pale face.

A small screen on the machine lit up, displaying text:

"Try the Gacha from the Goddess of Fortune. Receive Your Luck."

Karl stared at the screen, his jaw clenched. There was something hypnotic about the blinking lights. He glanced around quickly, ensuring no one was watching him.

"Should I... try it?" he whispered. Every ounce of common sense screamed at him to walk away, but curiosity—and the suffocating pressure of this surreal situation—held him captive.

His hand reached into his pocket, pulling out the last few crumpled bills he had. He gripped them tightly, his face clouded with frustration.

"This is ridiculous. But if this stops all of this..."

With trembling hands, he fed the money into the slot. The machine's lights began to blink faster, and a creaky mechanical sound echoed from within. A small golden ball dropped into the collection tray.

Karl stared at the ball for a moment before reaching out and picking it up. With shaking fingers, he twisted it open.

Inside was a single card with a large barcode printed in the center. No text. No instructions.

"That's it? I thought there'd at least be something... valuable," Karl grumbled.

He glanced around again. The gacha machine... was gone. Vanished without a trace. Only the empty sidewalk and the faint breeze remained.

---

Back in his cramped, musty apartment, Karl sat at a small desk under the weak glow of a flickering desk lamp. The barcode card lay in front of him, reflecting faint light.

On the back of the card, tiny, almost unreadable text was printed:

"Scan the barcode to claim your reward."

Karl squinted at it, rereading the words several times. "A reward? Is this some kind of phishing scam? Or a hacker's trap? But how could a hacker control a gacha machine that kept appearing in front of me?"

Curiosity slowly overpowered his fear. With trembling hands, Karl grabbed his phone and opened a barcode scanner app. He aimed the camera at the card.

Beep!

His phone screen suddenly lit up brightly, nearly blinding him. A notification popped up clearly on the screen:

[Common Sense Manipulation App has been installed.]

Karl's mouth fell open. "An app? Who... how did this get on my phone!?"

Before he could process what was happening, the card in his hand began to glow. Light seeped from its surface, forming faint lines in the air that merged into a small holographic screen.

On the screen, bold text appeared:

[Congratulations! You got the Common Sense Manipulation App.]

The screen flickered briefly before fading into tiny particles of light that scattered into the air. Karl sat frozen in his chair, staring at his phone, which now displayed a new app icon: a brain symbol, struck through with a lightning bolt.

In a hoarse whisper, he muttered:

"What the actual fuck is going on...?"

Outside his tiny apartment window, the lights of Eldoria twinkled faintly, as if watching the beginning of something that would change Karl's life forever.