Stroke of Fate

"Ah…" 

Sitting in his unorganized, messy bedroom, he stared at his phone screen, which was displaying a new banner from his favorite mobile game: "Ryusei Impact". 

It was a character he had been waiting months and months for, even keeping up with the character's release through leaks before they were officially announced. 

A powerful character that was able to wield fire, and most of all, was just his type: silver-hair and a chest that was not too big or too small. 

Clear as day, he read the banner header on his phone, over-and-over: [NEW 5 LIMITED, SUPER-EXCLUSIVE LIMITED CHARACTER: Jeanne Crimsonsmith] 

The problem? 

Jett Levine's bank funds: [-$5.50] 

Perhaps if it wasn't unfortunate enough that he didn't have the cash to spend on his long-awaited character in the gacha game, it was that he had negative money–just a little touch to rub salt in the wound. 

He was as still as a statue for an entire few minutes, staring at disbelief at the notification he had received from his banking account. 

'Five months…Sixteen days…Twenty-two hours…I waited all this time–and I'm not going to get her?!' He thought. 

It wasn't as though he didn't properly prepare–in fact, he was diligent as could be, saving every "free-to-play crystal', or resources obtained through simply playing the game, for months upon months, not daring to do a single summon on another character banner. 

The issue was, Jett Levine possessed inexplicably terrible luck. In fact, he believed he was cursed; there was no other explanation for the minimum wage-earning, hopeless young man. 

'All my life I've had shit luck! The shittiest of shit! I've fumbled every relationship with a girl I've had, flunked every important exam, and hit zero on every scratcher I've bought!...Yet, even this one time, you can't throw me a bone?! What the hell did I do to deserve this?! Did I kick puppies in a past life?!' He questioned. 

It wasn't as though he was born severely introverted or with bad looks; he was average, if not slightly above, in such regards. The only feature of his that really stood out was the light-gray hair he was born with, coming from his mother–though it often led to him receiving odd looks. The problem always came down to one thing: luck. 

The ill-fated man let out a sigh, having a whopping zero crystals left to summon with and even less money in his bank account. 

'...No Jeanne for me. Might as well die…Just kidding,' he thought. 

In an attempt to take his mind off the soul-crushing reality of playing a gacha game, he got out of his chair and threw a pale-gray jacket on, zipping up and checking his wallet. 

While his bank account was in a sorry state, he at least had enough cash in his pocket for some snacks. He left his apartment after sliding on his shoes, tossing his hood on as well. 

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

A shower of rain was beating down on the balcony, moistening the railing as he looked over it, letting out a sigh that came out as a frosty mist in the cold weather. 

Taking a single step onto the stairs of his apartment, as he lived on the dingy second floor, he found himself unknowingly stepping onto a puddle of water sitting on the step–

"Woah–!"

The silver-haired, blue-eyed man found himself tripping, which could prove to be a lethal experience as only concrete awaited him at the bottom of the stairs. 

–Fortunately, he managed to catch himself, grabbing onto the railing as he slowly exhaled in disbelief of how close he came to at the very least, a painful injury. 

"Sheesh. Give me a break," he mumbled before continuing down. 

Crossing the parking lot, he looked up towards the grim sky that loomed over Osaka; the solemn clouds continued letting down a shower of cold rain. 

'I could really go for a cheeseburger. I've been trying to stay a bit healthier, but it's not like I've ever been able to gain weight, anyway. Cheeseburger, it is,' he planned. 

Losing himself in thought as he sought to cope with his gacha losses with his favorite snack, he wandered onto the street–

BEEEP

A car horn blared against his ears as his vision was filled with the flash of headlights that shined potently during the dim afternoon. 

"--Huh?" 

As he looked to the side, he found himself directly in the path of a quickly-approaching truck, finding himself freezing for a moment before–

He stepped back. It was purely out of instinct that he managed to stumble backward, but he managed to get himself out of the way of the speeding vehicle, saving himself from becoming red paint on the road. 

"Phew," he breathed out. 

Over the course of just a few minutes, he felt he lost a few years off of his life through the skyrocketing of his heart rate in the close encounters. 

'Almost dying twice in a row now…Seriously, is that the worst luck or the best? Knowing me, it's bad…' He thought. 

With one last sigh emitting from his lips, he sought out to cross the road undisturbed now, setting his sights on the glorious convenience store just across the street which had the snacks he desired. 

There were no other issues he found crossing the street; no cars were coming and no slippery puddles aimed to cause him to fall. 

–Yet, once he took a single step onto the sidewalk, mere steps from entering the store, perhaps the worst luck of all was struck. 

A headache worse than any other erupted; it was so mind-numbingly intense that his vision swirled and his balance instantly was swept from beneath his feet. 

'Huh?' He thought. 

It felt as though a hammer was banging against his skull and static was flickering in his brain; the ominous sensation of blood leaking from his nose was felt, trailing over his lips. 

"...Ah…"

As he collapsed onto the sidewalk, all he could somewhat see were frantic civilians gathering around, freaking out, shouting words he couldn't hear through his rapidly-deteriorating senses. 

'...You have to be kidding me. A death like this? Just my luck,' he groggily thought. 

A brain hemorrhage; spontaneous without any prior signs. No amount of vigilance could save him from such a fate–simply, he was unlucky. 

[Reincarnation Process Beginning.] 

[Premature death. Arduous life. Abysmal luck.] 

[Due to such factors, you will be granted a new lease on life. However, when you next open your eyes, the world you're familiar with will be gone. One of magic and monsters awaits you–it will be your choice on how you live out this new life.]

[Jett Levine | Age 20 | Occupation: Fast Food Worker | Trait: Misfortune] 

[...] 

[Adjusting…] 

'Huh…?' 

There was no physical body of his own he could sense, even as he attempted to wiggle his fingers, no such sensation arrived. He sat in a black void with only a monotone, female voice greeting his ears. 

[Jett Levine | Age 20 | Occupation: Summoner | Trait: Evolving Luck] 

[System Activation: "Gacha System"] 

[Starting Level: 0] 

[Good luck on your new adventure, Jett Levine. Welcome to "Fantasia Online": the virtual rebirth of the unfortunate..] 

–

"Gah–!"

As though only a moment had passed from his death until his eyelids suddenly parted, he gasped out, feeling a breath of fresh air enter his lungs as he jumped up. 

'That voice…what was all of that about?' He wondered. 

Sitting there for a moment, he placed his hand down to realize he was sitting on grass. Somehow, he found himself stuck in the middle of a dense forest, surrounded by towering trees of healthy, brown bark. 

"What's going on…? Wait, hold on…I died, didn't I?" He mumbled, placing his hand on his own head. 

'...It's hard to say for sure, but I felt something go out with my brain. Like a deathly headache,' he questioned. 

Looking down at his own body, he found himself wearing the same outfit he remembered wearing: plain, black jeans and a pale-gray jacket with some worn sneakers. However, checking his pockets, in place of his phone, he found something else, pulling it out. 

"What's this?..." 

It was a full sack of something not exactly light. Opening it up, he found it filled with what looked to be copper coins, however, they weren't any recognizable currency as they had the symbol of a dragon etched onto them. 

In addition, the inscriptions on the coins were of an illegible language, leaving him perplexed. 

'What's going on here?...That voice mentioned something about the 'world I'm familiar with being gone' when I wake up…That can't be true, right?' He wondered. 

As soon as he gripped one of the coppers between his index finger and thumb, lifting it for a closer look, something flashed in front of his eyes–

"Ghh–?" He flinched briefly. 

Blinking a few times, he looked before him to find what appeared to be a digital screen etched in the air in front of him. 

"What is…?" He mumbled in disbelief. 

[Gacha System Activated] 

[ATK: 1 | DEF: 1 | MAG: 5] 

[Current Selectable Summon(s): "Rookie Weapon Summon" | "Rookie Creature Summon" | "Rookie Ability Summon: Magic" | "Rookie Ability Summon: Skills"] 

It was far too much to take in at once, but in his mind that had been engulfed in gacha games for years and countless, thousands of hours, he instantly recognized the meaning behind the digital prompts. 

"Hold up…summons? Is this a gacha game? Huh? This isn't VR, is it? No way, it can't be that…" He questioned. 

The digital screen imprinted on the air in front of his vision periodically scrolled through each of the summon banners with the "Rookie Weapon Summon" displaying rather basic looking medieval weaponry, though the forefront of it showcased a jeweled sword that was "R" rarity. 

'R…Rare. Wait, isn't this banner terrible, then?' He questioned. 

[Information: Rookie Summons are the only available options due to your beginner level. You can only obtain up to "R" rarity results in these summons.] 

The monotone voice spoke directly to his mind, causing him to jump a bit as he accidentally slapped his own cheek out of reflex. 

He was beginning to understand, though. The words he was originally told directly after dying finally settled in as he realized what was going on: he had been transported into another world. It wasn't that hard to believe, actually. For him, such stories were fairly common. Still, he was excited. 

"Woohoo–! I'm out of that shitty life! No more flipping burgers!" He threw his fist into the air. 

Still, he was curious about the intricacies of the ability he possessed, which seemed to pertain to his one, true expertise in life: gacha–or in other terms, games that involved spending premium currency to summon random items of varying quality. 

"--Ah? Wait, what're the rates I'm looking at here, then?" He asked. 

[Information: "B" (Basic) rarity = 70% | "N" (Normal) rarity = 20% | "R" (Rare) rarity = 10%] 

[Each summon will cost [3] copper.]

Thinking logically, he focused himself while standing in the lonesome forest, processing this for a few minutes as he rubbed his chin. 

'Right now, I'm level zero. It seems this system or whatever is only willing to indulge very basic information, and not all of it, at that. I'm on my own here for the most part. If I'm right though, I should be able to level up by continuously summoning and probably defeating enemies. Ah, speaking of which…' He thought. 

While standing there, he could hear bushes rustling, followed by snarls that didn't sound beast-like in nature. 

Carefully, he set his coin sack in his pocket, keeping only three copper on hand as he clenched them in his fist. 

"Alright!" He called out, "Let's roll one time on the 'Rookie Weapon Summon'!" 

Jumping out from the bushes was a creature his geek-adjusted brain had predicted would appear as one of his first encounters: a short, green-skinned creature of foul appearance, possessing yellow eyes, sharp teeth, and wielding a bloody dagger. 

'A goblin. Alright, it's no bigger than a fifth-grader! I'll whoop its ass and get my 'EXP'!' He confidently decided.

Just then, he could feel the cool, solid coins disappear from his squeezed fist, witnessing a mystical light appear in front of him that flashed between a variety of colors. 

[Summon Initiated!] 

A digital screen appeared briefly, flipping through a variety of weapons–swords, spears, daggers, axes, and even shields. An energetic tune emitted from the screen before it landed on the result of his single summon–

[New Weapon Obtained: (B) Rusty Short Sword | Special Traits: Uselessly Dull!] 

[ATK: 1] 

–A dud summon. 

Straight into his grip appeared the outcome of his summon from a puff of smoke and a glow of dull, gray light to represent the [Basic] rarity weapon. 

"Argh–!" He gritted his teeth in reaction to the unfortunate summoning. 

'Even in this new life, my luck is still abysmal…! Alright, calm down–it's just a goblin, right? Even if I'm level zero, I can still beat a simple, little goblin, no?' He thought. 

[Pity: +1 | 1/100]