"Those are terrible odds."

"Those are gacha odds, my boy. Besides." He waved his hand and the banner shifted, revealing silhouettes of items I couldn’t quite see. "This banner was curated specifically for your build. Close-range fighter. High burst damage. Needs mobility solutions and defensive options against ranged opponents."

"So it’s rigged."

"It’s optimized. There’s a difference."

Don’t do it, Nel warned. He wants you desperate. Wants you gambling. That’s when you make mistakes.

"Or," I said slowly. "That’s when I pull something that makes Reyna regret challenging me."

Apollo’s laugh filled the room like thunder wrapped in silk.

"Now you’re speaking my language."

I thought about it.

Really thought about it.

The safe play meant grinding my way to marginal improvements.

The gacha meant chaos.

Potential.

The chance to pull something that turned Reyna’s advantage into my weapon.

Or I could end up with a Divine Feather Duster and a trait that made birds love me even more than they already inexplicably did.

"One pull."

"Boring."

"Two pulls."

"Better." Apollo clapped his hands together. "But I know you, Satori Nakano. You’re not a two-pull kind of guy. You’re the idiot who chose Impossible Mode. Who charged an Arborist with a bat. Who took a death beam for his healer."

"Your point?"

"My point is you’re going to go all in. Six pulls. Three thousand SP. Everything you’ve got."

"That’s insane."

"That’s why you’re going to do it."

He wasn’t wrong.

The smart play bored me.

Had since Tokyo.

Since the first time I’d walked into a Yamaguchi safehouse and negotiated my way out with a gun to my head.

Playing it safe meant staying small.

Staying small meant getting stepped on.

"Six pulls."

Nel groaned.

Apollo’s grin could have split mountains.

"Excellent choice. Let’s see what fate has in store for you."

The banner exploded into light.

Golden cards materialized in the air, spinning slowly.

Each one hummed with potential.

Or disappointment.

Hard to tell until you flipped them over.

That was the beauty of the gacha.

And the horror.

"First pull!"

I reached out.

Grabbed the card.

It burst into silver light.

[THERMAL VISION]

Passive Ability - Silver Tier

See heat signatures through obstacles. Effective range: 50 meters.

Not bad.

Actually useful for tracking enemies or finding ambush points.

But not exactly game-changing.

"Solid B-plus!" Apollo announced. "A little boring, but practical. Let’s try again."

Second card.

This one glowed gold before I even touched it.

[KINETIC ABSORPTION]

Passive Trait - Gold Tier

Absorb 15% of incoming kinetic damage and convert it to temporary stat buffs. Duration: 30 seconds.

My eyebrows went up.

"Now that’s interesting."

"Right?" Apollo twirled. "Take a hit, get stronger. Very shonen of you."

That one’s good, Nel admitted. Reyna hits hard. This lets you turn her offense into your advantage.

"Three more cards. Let’s go."

The third pull shimmered.

Platinum light.

[STEEL BODY]

Active Ability - Platinum Tier

Temporarily harden your body to near-invulnerability. Duration: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.

"Oh, you’re on a roll now." Apollo’s eyes gleamed. "Ten seconds of being unkillable. That’s enough time to close distance, eat a lightning bolt, and cave someone’s face in."

"I like it."

"I knew you would. Fourth pull!"

The card spun.

Slower this time.

The light shifted from gold to platinum to something that hurt to look at directly.

Diamond.

Actual Diamond-tier.

[SOVEREIGN’S MANDATE]

Trait - Diamond Tier

All bonded Ensemble members within 100 meters receive +20% to all stats. Their abilities cost 15% less mana. They recover stamina 30% faster.

I stared at the description.

Read it three times.

"This is a team buff."

"This is the team buff," Apollo corrected. "You wanted to build a kingdom? Congratulations. You just became the cornerstone that makes everyone around you better by existing."

That’s broken, Nel whispered. Completely, utterly broken. Natalia gets twenty percent stronger just by standing near you. Cel’s ice costs less. Emi heals faster. Skylar’s illusions last longer.

"Two pulls left."

My hands were actually shaking.

The fourth pull had been Diamond.

Diamond didn’t just happen.

That was the kind of reward Apollo saved for special occasions or protagonists he actually liked.

Which meant the last two cards were either going to be trash to balance the luck.

Or something worse.

Apollo gestured at the remaining cards with theatrical flair.

"Go on. Two more. Let’s see if fortune favors the foolish."

I grabbed the fifth card.

It exploded into light so bright I had to look away.

When my vision cleared, a single word hung in the air.

[MYTHICAL]

"Oh." Apollo’s voice went soft. "Oh, that’s interesting."

The card unfurled into a full notification.

[LIGHTNING ROD]

Active Ability - Mythical Tier

Designate yourself as an electromagnetic anchor for 60 seconds. All electrical attacks within 200 meters are drawn to you and absorbed harmlessly. Absorbed energy can be redirected as a single devastating counterattack.

I read it again.

Then again.

"This is Reyna’s counter."

"This is Reyna’s nightmare." Apollo’s grin returned. "She throws lightning at you? You eat it. Her marionettes attack? You drink the electricity and spit it back in her face. For sixty seconds, you become the thing she fears most."

That’s not luck, Nel said quietly. That’s intervention.

"You rigged this."

"I optimized the pool for your opponent." Apollo shrugged. "There’s a difference. Besides, you still had to pull it. The RNG could have given you the feather duster."

"One more card."

"One more card," he agreed.

The final pull sat there.

Spinning slowly.

Waiting.

I reached out. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Grabbed it.

The light that erupted wasn’t gold or platinum or even diamond.

It was something beyond classification.

Something that made the windows rattle and Bartholomew retreat into his shell.

[DIVINE]

Apollo stopped smiling.

"That’s not supposed to happen."

The card expanded into a full screen that took up my entire vision.

[ASPECT EVOLUTION TICKET]

Item - Divine Tier

Evolve your registered Aspect to its next tier. WARNING: Evolution is permanent and irreversible. Side effects may include dimensional instability, ego death, or spontaneous combustion.

I couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think.

"What does that mean."

"It means," Apollo said slowly, "that your cute little Thermal Incision can become something adults use. An Aspect worthy of the name Sovereign."

"What’s the catch?"

"There’s always a catch with Divine-tier items." He leaned closer. "The evolution is random. Could be good. Could be catastrophic. Could turn you into a walking god. Could fry every neuron in your skull and leave you drooling."