The sky was cloudy. Rain fell, touching the roofs of old apartments on the outskirts of Tokyo. In a corner of the city, inside a small fourth-floor apartment room, a young man sat silently while staring at the phone screen that was cracked on the lower left side.
The young man's name was Takuya Minami, 17 years old, a senior high school student. Average grades. Not many friends. A former Kendo athlete, but he had left his old hobby. Now his new hobby was playing gacha games.
"Come on, give me an SSR Girl just once," Takuya complained.
He clicked his tongue in frustration because he had already spent almost 15,000 yen on this gacha event and still had not gotten the new character he wanted. He was extremely unlucky in gacha, yet he kept playing the same game for years.
Stupid? Maybe.
This was the last pull he could do. "Please! Give me the cute Loli Elf just once," he muttered while closing his eyes and praying.
Takuya's heart beat faster, and he did not want to open his eyes. But at the same time, he had to. He hoped he would get the character named Nagumi. A small-bodied elf girl with a bazooka.
"Please! Just this time."
Takuya slowly opened his eyes. There was one legendary character he obtained, but when he touched the card, Takuya's face immediately turned gloomy. He had gotten something he did not want. The 15,000 yen he had spent vanished for nothing.
The cute small elf girl with a bazooka on her shoulder and an adorable face was not obtained. Even though he had used 90 percent of his money. Even though he had been waiting for this for two months.
Takuya put his phone on the table with a disappointed expression. "Am I really cursed by the Gacha God?" he complained. His hand clenched.
He stood and walked toward the door. He stayed there for a long moment, staring at the door with a slightly empty look.
"Bastard!" Takuya cursed.
BRAAAAKKGH!
Takuya punched his own apartment door very hard. He winced. His right hand trembled.
"Bastard!" he shouted.
"Bastard!" he shouted again.
He punched the door five times with force. The sound was very loud. The floor even shook. Blood dripped from his knuckles. His right hand kept trembling from the pain.
"Bastard," Takuya muttered again.
He was furious because he had spent so much money, yet he did not get what he wanted. He could continue pulling and get the character through pity, but he needed at least 5,000 yen more. But he no longer had any money.
This was the worst situation he had ever experienced.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" someone shouted from the apartment next door. "Be quiet or I will come over and beat you, bastard!"
Takuya first ignored that. He stepped back slowly and dropped himself onto the bed. He stared at the ceiling of his worn-out apartment.
He chose this lousy apartment to save expenses. Of course, the remaining money would be used for gacha. Takuya was addicted to gacha games. He was even willing to not eat for several days just to do a few pulls.
It sounded stupid, but Takuya really was an idiot.
"Damn. Damn. Damn. Bastard!" Takuya shouted.
He was extremely annoyed. This time he had not only used his living expenses, but also money meant for books and extra classes. With the hope that he would get the character he had been waiting for since two months ago.
But the result was trash.
Takuya closed his eyes while holding his swollen right hand after punching the door earlier.
"I will drag you out, bastard!" someone shouted from outside.
The same man who had yelled earlier was now in front of Takuya's apartment door. The two of them were never friendly with each other. They had even fought once just because they made eye contact.
At that time, Takuya had spent 35,000 yen on gacha and the result was terrible. It made his emotions unstable. When they made eye contact, Takuya cursed the man and they ended up fighting.
This time Takuya ignored it. He sat up and grabbed his phone. He looked at the game screen again. His mood was still terrible.
"Stupid game," he complained.
He held the game logo for a long time. Then the uninstall option appeared. Takuya wanted to tap it, but he stopped himself.
"I should not have played this stupid game from the beginning," he complained.
When Takuya put his phone down again, just as he was about to close his eyes, something suddenly happened. A bright light appeared from the floor.
Takuya panicked. He immediately stood up and tried to move away, but he was too late.
A few seconds later, the light vanished, but the floor beneath his feet had changed.
Takuya lifted his gaze. When he looked ahead, his eyes widened. He saw something completely different.
"Where is this?"
At the same time, a screen appeared in front of his face. A screen like in a game.
[GACHA SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[WELCOME HERO!]
Tap...
Takuya froze, shocked.
"Is this an isekai?"