Dead Man’s Luck

"Are you insane!?" Matious yelled, pulling his blade back to prevent the teen from slicing his neck open.

Grey gritted his teeth when the blade didn't cut his neck. He reflexively pulled his leg back in anger and kicked between the little man's legs, making the man's face contort with fear. However—

[-1]

A cute number damage sign floated above Matious when air when the teen's brutal kick landed on his testicles. The damage bar popped up a moment later.

[27,249,999/27,250,000]

"Where the hell did that sick freak send me!?" Grey cried, studying the damage numbers.

"What the fuck just happened?" Matious looked between his legs in disbelief and then back at the teen, appraising him for the first time. "You're unprimed!?"

"Unprimed?' The teen asked in exasperation. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about, who you are, or where I am. A trusted client introduced me to Casper Jones twenty minutes ago for an unknown reason. Then he sent me here for a basic demo."

"A demo?" the little man laughed. "Now that's funny. Well, here it is—what was it like to kick a demigod in the balls, bitch? I want your honest opinion before I harvest your organs and send your mangled, tortured corpse back to the Mortal Realm."

Grey blinked twice into dead space and then grinned nefariously, "Are you saying I'm weak?"

"Hah, too weak. Minx, come sleep with this man and make him transcend," Matious ordered, turning to the black-haired cat woman whose face flushed red with overwhelming anger. "Don't give me that face, baby. We gotta get this bitch ass' level up to the Celestial Realm, so I don't accidently—"

SLAP!

[-1] [27,249,998/27,250,000]

"Don't you dare order a beautiful, noble beastkin woman to have sex with someone," Grey ordered didactically. "You're despicable. Didn't your mother teach you any respect for women?"

Minx erupted into laughter, abruptly changing her mind and deciding that she enjoyed the scene.

Matious was stunned, touching his cheek and turning back to the teen. "You want to die, you little cuck!?"

"Die?" Grey laughed mockingly. "I'm going to fuck you up, you little midget!"

SLAP!

[-1] [27,249,997/27,250,000]

"Hoh… hohohoh… hahahahahHAHAHA!" the little man laughed with crazed eyes. "I get it; you're smart enough to know I can't hit you without you dying, so you're trying to provoke me. Well, I hate to break it to you, but if you think—"

SLAP!

[-1] [27,249,996/27,250,000]

"Don't hit him… Matious… don't hit him...." Matious' muttered under his breath, jumping back, his cheek twitching involuntarily. "One blessing; that's all it'll take for you to rip his balls off."

"Hello, ladies," Grey smiled charmingly, eyeing the seductive figures of the women around him. "Have you enjoyed the company of a real man recently?"

All the women's eyes widened in disbelief, and they burst into involuntary giggles, jiggling their uncovered breasts as they hid their mouths with their fists.

The blonde elf blushed playfully, and the redhead covered her body with her wings with faux bashfulness. Minx materialized a massive battle axe from a purple spatial earring on one of her black cat ears. However, she flipped it over and thrust it into the water to lean against the handle.

"Oh, the things I'll do to you," Matious grinned homicidally. "It'll be a treat."

"Yeah, about that," Grey replied absentmindedly. "Can you wait? At least eight of these stunning ladies look like they could use some company before you throw a tantrum."

Giggles rang through the misty hot springs, with all the women doubling over. The nerve of the weak mortal before them was far too extreme to ignore.

"Stop laughing, hoes!" Matious snarled, settling them down.

"This is a realm for demigods, right?" Grey asked the women with wide eyes. "If you're here, you're powerful women of stature. Do you really let this coffee-stunted runt call you hoes?"

"Of course not," the redhead smiled viciously. "We get paid for a non-sexual service here. Out manager is just a small man acting tiny."

The women's giggling became contagious, feeding itself like laughing in an echo chamber.

Matious turned to her with a crazed expression. "Hoh… hohoho… you best be getting that head screwed back on Lilith before I—"

"Before you what?" the blonde elf mused with vibrant green eyes. "You tell Aphrodite you got flustered and ordered her cleansing specialists to become whores to impress an ant?

They all giggled snidely at Matious, condemning him decisively. "Shut up, Luna! Even if you don't want to accept opportunities, I'm still your manager!"

Grey didn't know their situation but was grateful they weren't his property. It was a huge boon! He silently waded up to the man during his heckling.

SLAP!

[-1] [27,249,995/27,250,000]

"THAT'S FOR APHRODITE!" Grey declared. "I know she regrets choosing you to fill her diversity quota!"

Matious blinked five times in a row, calming his throbbing jugular vein as the women giggled again. The teen was pole vaulting over every line imaginable, and he couldn't touch him; it made his blood boil. "Hah… fine. Let's gamble, bitch."

Grey frowned when he heard the word [gamble]. If there was one thing he hated doing, it was gambling. "Does an almighty demigod like you need to gamble?"

The little person ignored him, lifting his hand. A bright flash from a ring followed, and the women gasped, seeing the item in his hand.

"No way…." Lilith grinned in amazement, her wings fluttering in excitement.

"Is he really going to waste that on a mortal?" Luna asked, her elf ears twitching in anticipation.

SPLASH!

"How exciting!" Minx grinned, "Let's see what happens. I've always been curious what that thing would do."

The women erupted in speculative chatter and giggling, watching the scene playing out. Grey ignored them, studying a golden vial with shock in his eyes.

-

─┈━═[Item Information]═━┈─

Name: Dead Man's Luck

Type: Potion

Grade: Mythical

Description: On the cusp of certain death, the drinker permanently gains 10 LUK (caps out at the maximum of 10 LUK).

Requirement: Must be facing an enemy one entity level higher than the user, have less than 10% health remaining, or face an overwhelming attack before drinking.

Warning: The user will experience a devastating loss in the future. The exact timeline for the loss is unknown. It could be a day or millennia.

─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─

-

"Hoh?" Matious grinned. "Do you know what this potion does, transmigrator?"

"I'm not certain," Grey smiled with greedy eyes. "Please let me test it to find out."

The area fell silent, hearing his words.

"It seems you know the description, but not the legends," the little person smiled, uncorking the bottle. "No matter, please, be my guest."

"Gladly," the teen smiled, grabbing the potion. "After all, you've never met a person with more misfortune in their life. For even one stroke of luck, I'd gladly bathe in the ninth circle of hell."

Minx's eyes flashed with interest, watching the teen lift the vial to his lips with a crazed expression.