Chapter 5 - Daily Roulette

The apartment I found myself in was a little different from my apartment in the real world. There wasn't the smell of my mother's plants or my father's chair. The walls were worn, and the furniture had seen better days, but it was still my home, somehow.

I tossed my coat in the wardrobe and approached the coffee table, where a pile of papers and random objects were stacked in disarray.

The place was too quiet, and the absence of any sound except for the echo of my own breathing was a little disconcerting. This was probably only the second time in months that I'd experienced complete silence, the first being when I spent a few seconds in the darkness of the afterlife.

As I walked around the apartment, nostalgia hit hard. The large family photo on the wall, the sofa I knew well, and even the small kitchen. As I stopped to look at it all, I finally realized that the apartment I fled when I first came to the Marvel multiverse was also this one. These two apartments were just alternate versions of the place I used to live with my family, but knowing that didn't make it any easier to see everything differently.

I went to my room. There was a single bed and a closed notebook on a dusty desk. I threw myself on the bed, stretched my hand to the ceiling and said:

"System, you talked about a daily roulette wheel that could spin up to 10 times a day... How many Card Points do I have now?"

[Card Points balance: 500.]

"Okay, so after I got the Daily Roulette, I was able to spin the Roulette wheel 10 times for the price of 20 Card Points. Is this my only other way to get cards?"

[Quests are the guaranteed way. Daily Roulette would be pure luck, and you'd still need to complete the main and side quests to get more Card Points if you wanted to keep spinning.]

"I see, so roulette is the desperate and ineffective way. Actually, 10% is a pretty ridiculous chance of getting anything. Even if I spend all my points, there's still no guarantee that I'll get anything. I need to think wisely... System, do I have a way to level up or increase my attributes like in a video game?"

It was a standard question, considering that having a system reminded me of video games, and it was logical that I could level up.

[You need 5,000 CPs to create the "Attribute Leveling and Fortification" feature.]

"I can't say if it's expensive, but considering that I had 1,500 CPs when I started and spent 1,000 to travel to this universe, and the main quest only gives me 5,000, it's logical to conclude that 5,000 CPs is expensive. However, it might be worth saving up and investing in it when I get stronger, as I could gradually get stronger without spending Card Points to roll or buy skills."

Basically, the system was designed to force me to take risks and make difficult decisions. I had to choose my battles carefully and plan my moves as if I were playing a game of chess.

While I was thinking about what to do, I heard a distant bang, like firecrackers, and then the barking of desperate dogs, honking of horns, and so on. If it weren't for my real-life experience of living in the suburbs, I would never have known that those loud bangs were actually the sound of gunfire.

The sound seemed to be coming from somewhere nearby, perhaps from one of the nearby alleys. That's what I was afraid of. In practically every Marvel world, superheroes and criminals fought day and night, so ordinary people were the biggest victims of violence. What's more, it wasn't often that a hero would show up to save the day, so life in these universes could be brutal and short.

It was a cruel reminder to me that even though this was the Marvel Universe, tragedy and danger were more prevalent here.

"I must become stronger. System, I want to spin the roulette wheel. Ten times. Let's see if luck is on my side today."

As I gave the command to the system, my surroundings began to change. I felt as if everything had suddenly gone silent.

[300 card points have been deducted from your account.]

[Daily Roulette has been received!]

The soft feeling of lying in bed disappeared as a blinding brightness filled the room. After a few seconds, a floating, translucent, and glittering interface appeared in front of me. At its center was a circular roulette wheel, divided into several sections so colorful and segmented that I could not tell what each section represented.

"So this is what daily roulette looks like..."

The roulette wheel had many parts with bright colors, but most of it was white, representing the absence of a prize.

[Remember, there's a 10% chance of getting a card per spin. Do you want to continue?]

"Yes, let's go."

[20 Card Points have been debited].

As soon as I gave the command, the roulette wheel began to spin, the bright colors blending into the white as the wheel spun at top speed. The sound that accompanied the spinning of the wheel was a high-pitched hum, but soon the wheel began to slow.

I held my breath, almost regretting what I had done. "Man, my mom always told me not to fall for gambling ads on the Internet and waste my money, so I always invested in my studies... Well, actually I invested my pocket money in novels, manhwas and fanfics, but they were supplementary studies! How could I have fallen for the easy prize hype just when it mattered most?"

I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get anything. A guaranteed prize every ten spins would still be good, but the odds weren't stacked. And the first spin came up empty, just as I had predicted.

"Damn. Nothing."

[You still have 9 spins left.]

I shook my head. "Now that I've started, I have to make it count."

The roulette wheel spun again, and I watched as the second and third spins also stopped on empty spots.

I was about to give up, but the pride inside me didn't want things to end like this. Then, on the fourth spin, something different happened. The roulette wheel began to slow down, and this time it stopped on one of the bright spots. The symbol that appeared on the screen was a red eye with a tomoe.

"Wait... Is that a... Sharingan?"

The system confirmed.

[You have received the Skill Card "Sharingan"!]

[Skill: Sharingan.

Description: This skill grants the user advanced ocular skills, including accelerated movement perception, copying skills, and, depending on the user's evolution, other ocular-related skills.

Rating: Rare.

Assimilation: not assimilated.]

"This is fucking awesome!"

The fact that I had received a Sharingan was something far beyond what I had expected. This was a power that I, in particular, considered to be one of the most attractive powers in Naruto.

I could hardly believe my luck, and there were more turns to come. Who knew what I could do?

With my heart pounding, I continued to spin the wheel. Most of the following spins were again fruitless, but on the last spin... the roulette wheel slowed down and stopped on a pixelated symbol.

"An iron pickaxe?"

[You have received the Weapon Card "Minecraft Iron Pickaxe"!]

[Item: Minecraft Iron Pickaxe.

Description: This item allows the user to mine and destroy objects as if they were in the Minecraft universe. Its durskill is limited, but it can be used as an efficient tool in various situations.

Rating: Uncommon.

Durability: 251 swings.]

[You have reached the limit of 10 rolls per day. Try again tomorrow.]

I was completely speechless. As much as it might seem like a joke to get such an item, I was very happy to see that it was possible to get Minecraft items. What if I could get an Ender's Dragon Egg?! What if I could also get items from mods?

I thought to myself, perhaps because I was still unable to grasp what the skill to obtain powers and items from across the omniverse really meant.

It wasn't impossible for me to obtain some of the most attractive powers from all the works, such as Jojo's Stands or even Gojo's Mugen from Jujutsu Kaisen.

"I can't believe it... I got two really good items with only 10 spins. I think I need to touch them to see if they're real! System, please equip the pickaxe I just received."

[The "Minecraft Iron Pickaxe" Weapon Card has been equipped.]

[⅓ slots of your deck are filled.]

"What's that? I fill slots when I use a card?"