"Screw this!" Klaus slammed his fist into the table and stared at the screen of his phone, his face filled with a deeply disappointed and frustrated look.
For the past fifteen minutes, he had been burning his money on a gacha to obtain an extremely precious six-star character, limited to 100 accounts.
It wasn’t a wise decision, but Klaus was optimistic. He believed that the reward was worth the price; after all, his actual plan was to sell the account.
But even he was slowly losing his optimism; he had already wasted over 80% of his savings.
"Is it even possible to get this?" Klaus mumbled with a hint of suspicion.
How does it make sense that even after burning through five thousand dollars, I still haven’t obtained one damn character?
’This isn’t biased, right?’ Klaus’s suspicion deepened even further, but suddenly, his eyes widened, and a stunned look appeared on his face.
"One more person got it! How?!"
At the corner of the screen was a counter showing how many of the limited characters were remaining, and it just decreased by one.
"If they can get it, then why can’t I?" Klaus’s eyes flared in determination, and he got ready to bleed his wallet dry.
A sweat drop rolled down his face as his finger slowly moved toward the "Pull X10" button, his heart pounding in his chest as the possibilities of both success and failure filled his mind.
’Please! Please! I only need one.’
He closed his eyes, and his finger landed on the button.
A chime filled the room, followed by a young girl’s voice saying: Nico Nico Nii!
Then stars exploded, and ten rapid swishes tore through the silence.
Klaus crossed his fingers and checked the result.
His expression soured instantly. His highest was a single five-star, nowhere near what he wanted or at this point needed.
However, Klaus wasn’t the one to give up.
"99% of gamblers quit right before they hit it big," he quoted, and once again pressed the button.
’If I don’t quit, I’ll make it big!’
The sounds of cards swishing through the exploding stars continued to echo in the room for the next ten minutes.
Klaus finally turned off his phone and placed it on the table.
He hadn’t stopped because he had finally given up; no, he had simply run out of money.
For a few minutes, he denied believing that he had wasted all of his savings on something so stupid, then his expression twisted furiously.
"Who the fuck made this stupid game?! Why are the players even letting them do something as absurd as limited characters? Anyone can see they are just trying to bleed us poor people dry!"
A sudden thought flashed in his head, and he mumbled, "What if I sell the account?"
"I got almost all of the five-star and four-star characters that this pool has. That should be enough to at least get back my savings, right?"
But there was one problem:
I don’t even know the market price of these characters. Can I really get all of it back?
Klaus’s expression grimmed, his eyes turned heavy, and he stared at his palms with a lost look.
"I shouldn’t have done that. It’s all my fault. Whenever I try to do something, I always end up making more trouble... maybe I should just end it all..."
After a long while, he shook his head and stated, "No! This is just a minor setback. There’s a lot more I can do to earn all of it back."
Finally reaching the fifth stage of acceptance, he crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and said with a smile, "This is not the end of the world."
[Ding!]
[The world is ending!]
[Apocalypse System is binding with the host!]
[1%...9%...27%...58%...69%...84%...99%]
[Bondage complete!]
[Congratulations, Host! Your savior is here.]
Klaus stared at the screen before him with a dumbfounded expression and muttered, "The fuck?"
[I am sent here to help create a mighty hero who will save humanity from extinction.]
[I will reward you based on what you do during the apocalypse, including: finding safe shelter, drinkable water, edible food, trusted companions, killing mutated monsters, and much more.]
’What’s going on? Apocalypse? Mutated monsters? What is it talking about? Am I hallucinating after losing all my savings on a gacha?’
[No, host. This is not a hallucination. Today is 7 July 2030, the day of the apocalypse.]
"2030?" Klaus blinked, and his gaze shifted to the date on his digital clock.
7 July 2025
’Is this a joke?’ He narrowed his eyes.
[No, host. This is not a joke but reality. Please open your eyes and look around; even a dog can see that the world is ending.]
A vein throbbed at Klaus’s forehead. Everything around him was just as it should be.
The walls of his room were intact, his air conditioner was working fine, the expansive curtains which he had bought to show off were fluttering amazingly, and the sun was still in the sky.
[Checking host’s current progress!]
"Huh?"
[Host has found a safe shelter!]
[Host has found edible food!]
[Host has found drinkable water!]
[Host has found a usable communication device!]
[Host has found items for hygiene!]
"Did it break or something?"
[Host has completed five daily tasks!]
[Host has leveled up!]
[No environmental mana found. Level up effect has been reduced by 50%.]
[Remaining effect will be reapplied once environmental mana has been detected.]
Suddenly, a warm feeling spread through every part of Klaus’s body, and his eyes widened in pure shock.
"What was that?" He mumbled and clenched his fist a few times.
Huh? I feel stronger and fresher all of a sudden.
He looked at the screen with a stunned expression and mumbled, "Is this really real?"
[For real. For real.]
’It’s actually real!’ He was stunned.
"Uhh... then what am I supposed to do?"
[Host has to grow strong, save as many humans as possible, and replenish the human population.]
"What do you mean by ’replenish the human population’?"
I am not some playboy. I have morals and shit.
[More than 50% of humanity was wiped out on the first day of the apocalypse, so even if you do your best, you cannot save a significant amount. Unless you make more of them via reproduction.]
Klaus’s eyes shone like he had understood something, and he thought.
’This thing is a pervert.’