A compensation

"Congratulations, you've won 10 Universal Lottery tickets," says a voice strange. "Would you like to use them?" The voice pauses, and it's now clear that it's an AI voice.

"Am I dreaming?" I ask, trying to look around, but all I see is darkness. The only light source is a square with the word 'Ticket' written on it.

"Would you like to use your Universal Lottery ticket?" I hear the AI voice coming from the box again. It doesn't seem like it answers my questions.

"I guess I'm really dreaming." I smile, a bit amused by the whole strange situation. This is the first time I've been able to experience a lucid dream. Although it's bizarre, it's still an interesting experience. "I thought I'd dream about Elden Ring, since I've spent countless sleepless nights completing the DLC." 

I'm frustrated with the game. I don't even know why I bought the DLC. Elden Ring was the first Souls-like game I played. On release day, I bought it because of the hype, and at the first boss, I realized I wasn't made for Souls-like games.

No, it wasn't Margit, it was the damn Tree Sentinel, the first one you encounter in the game. It took me 16 hours to defeat that boss.

"Yes, the right thing would have been to explore the game and get stronger before facing it, but I insisted on defeating that LV 1 Sentinel with the Wretch class, and... Anyway, I ended up taking so long to defeat it."

Now, out of pride, I decided to buy the DLC, and here I am again, stuck in this game, facing that damn Miquella and his partner. I can't stand having to fight this LV 1 boss with a club.

"Would you like to use your Universal Lottery ticket?" I hear the damn AI voice again.

"Just use the ticket already, I need to focus on memorizing this damn partner's movements." I say, irritated. I've been up for two nights straight trying to defeat Miquella and his consort, and I need to wake up and go back to the game.

"Ticket No. 1 used." The AI voice says, and the square with the word "Ticket" begins to spin, as if being shuffled. This helps distract me a bit from my frustrating thoughts about the game and makes me curiously look at what will happen next.

"I'm not very lucky, but at least in this dream, I should be lucky, right?" I think of another stressful game, Honkai Star Rail. I walked away frustrated after only getting guaranteed pulls to buy Elden Ring's DLC and getting frustrated again.

The square spins slower and slower until it finally stops.

"Congratulations, you've received the reward: Box Bleach – Complete manga set with all volumes of Bleach – Low/Low-level reward."

I'm stunned to see the complete Bleach manga box floating in front of me, in this dark space. I don't hate the work, but the ending is, at the very least, frustrating.

"Even my dreams are frustrating?" I grow more and more irritated. "I don't accept this. I still have 9 chances left, and this is my dream, at least one of these rewards has to be special. Let's spin again."

I say urgently. At least in my dream, a special reward should come.

The square slows down its rotation again before stopping.

"High-level cooking skill – Low/Low-level reward." The AI voice says, and next to the Bleach box, a green jade appears. I suppose it's like those jades that appear in cultivation novels.

"That... is useful, but... being classified as a low-level reward, there must be something better. I need a high-level reward. Spin again." I say, anxious. Even though it's a dream, my hands are sweating. At least here, I have to be lucky.

The light dims until it stops again, and the AI voice announces the reward: "Sharingan – Medium/Low-level reward." Next to the jade, a red eye with a tomoe appears, clearly the Sharingan.

"Hahaha, finally, luck kicks in. I'm definitely not affected by bad luck like everyone says." I feel relieved when I look at the reward. At least one of them is a medium-level reward.

"But why is the Sharingan a medium-level reward? It's an incredible ability, capable of evolving into the Rinnegan." I ask the AI, but once again, there's no answer.

"Maybe it's because it's only a 1-tomoe Sharingan? Will the next rewards have something like the Rinnegan? Since it's my dream, I should get it, right? I think the Rinnegan is a high/high-level reward. Come on, spin again." I say cheerfully, this helps me forget a bit about the frustration of the games.

The square spins a bit longer before stopping.

"Good deeds: Good deeds accumulate positive energy – Low/Medium-level reward." Next to the Sharingan, a white orb appears.

"Another low-level reward. Good deeds... This reminds me of Obito Uchiha. Could I, like in reincarnation novels, be reincarnated as him? Haha, no way, right, AI?" I ask dryly to the AI, and once again, there's no answer.

"This is just a dream. There's no way it's real. Spin again." I decide, determined. I can't deny it, gacha is addictive. I have to use these 10 tickets before I wake up.

The light dims again and, just like before, the AI voice speaks.

"Golden mushroom: A mushroom that, when eaten, will perform 3 random beneficial actions to the user's. However, since it's cursed, each action will also bring a negative effect. – High/Low-level reward."

Next to the white orb appears a golden mushroom with purple lines around it, giving off an ominous vibe.

"Finally, a high-level reward, but why does it have to be cursed? Maybe this mushroom was supposed to be a high/high-level reward. But since I got a high-level reward, I should get another. Come on, spin again." I say, anxious. This time, I need the perfect reward.

The square spins a little longer before stopping.

"Analysis skill: A skill capable of analyzing properties – Low/High-level reward." Next to the golden mushroom, another light orb appears.

"Strange... Why is the cooking skill a jade and the analysis skill a light orb? Well, it doesn't matter. Spin again. I only have 4 tickets left."

The situation is getting a bit strange. What bothers me is that this is a dream, but it's starting to feel way too real.

"Great Talisman Formation skill – Medium/Medium-level reward." I realize that, lost in discomfort, I didn't notice the box stopped spinning.

Next to the analysis skill's orb of light, a book with mysterious markings and an order-shaped stone in the middle appears.

"A medium/medium-level reward. Not bad. The name Great Talisman Formation sounds strong. Doesn't matter. I need to finish this and wake up from this dream. It's becoming more and more uncomfortable."

I interrupt my thoughts and ask to spin again.

"Ticket No. 8 used – Reward: Spiritual field 100x100 – Low/Medium-level reward."

I'm a little surprised. Even though I wanted to finish quickly, this reward caused a large mass of earth to appear out of nowhere, beneath the other rewards.

The earth, which seems to be of good quality, covers an area of 100x100 meters. I don't know much about earth, but I can tell it looks like high-quality soil. It even makes me want to chew on it.

"What a disturbing thought. Push that away. Who would want to eat dirt? Maybe I ate some when I was little, but now this is too much." I shake my head, trying to push away that thought.

"Spin, spin again." At my request, the square starts spinning again. "High-level control – Low/High-level reward." Next to the book and above the earth, a new transparent light orb appears.

"Another low-level reward. I only have one ticket left. Let's finish this. Spin, come on, my high/high-level reward."

This time, the spin took longer than the others. This is a sign that the best reward is coming. Yes, it must be a Gacha rule: every 10 tickets, a high-level reward is guaranteed. Come on, my best reward, and take me out of this dream.

"Ticket No. 10 – Reward: Noble Birth – The user will be born into a high-level family – Low/Low-level reward." I look at the reward with my glowing eyes, but upon hearing the AI's voice, I am instantly frustrated.

"It should be a guaranteed reward, this is a fake game, damn bad dream. If this is the kind of dream I'll have, I hope I never have to dream again," I grumble, frustrated. Not that the reward is bad, but the low/low classification is discouraging. I can hardly imagine what a higher-level reward would look like.

"But it doesn't matter, now that the tickets are gone, I should be able to leave this dream. I need to go back and face Miquella, I can't forget his movements. How do I do that?" I wonder, looking at all the items I've received. Next to the transparent light orb, a golden beam of light appears, as if it were liquid luck.

"Congratulations, all tickets have been used." Finally, the AI voice said something different.

"Yes, yes, the tickets are gone, now, please get me out of here," I say with an eye roll, to the AI, which is clearly just a dream and won't be able to get me out of here.

"As all tickets have been used, reincarnation will begin. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by your death. Don't worry, as per our incident protocol, your family will be compensated with an abundance of luck. All items will be sent to your spiritual ocean, and you will be able to access them normally as a bonus reward. All spiritual items and some special ones will be melted and used in your spiritual ocean, while physical items will remain there, waiting to be retrieved. We wish you a happy new life," the AI says, with its usual empty voice.

I was momentarily confused by the wave of new information. "Wait, what do you mean by..." Before I could finish speaking, I was engulfed by darkness, and my thoughts vanished.

---Some time later---

"Huh? Where is that boy? I'm sure I left him here," a golden entity appeared in the darkness where the square with the word 'ticket' had been.

"**** Do you know where the boy is?" asked the golden entity.

"*****, the injured one used the tickets and moved on to his new life," the AI says with its usual voice.

"What? I didn't get a chance to explain what happened to him." Said the golden entity, a little sad. "Well, since he got his compensation rewards and moved on to his new life, there's nothing more I can do. Let me see the boy's rewards." The golden entity went from sad to curious at lightning speed.

"Wow... This boy is pretty unlucky, isn't he? Normally, he should have received at least 3 medium-level rewards and 1 high/high-level reward. He only received 2 medium-level rewards, and his high/high-level reward ended up being cursed and dropped to a high/low level. I hope he can survive in this new world." The golden entity said, surprised by the boy's bad luck.