Chapter 1 - First Gacha
Gacha.
A machine that is, by inserting coins and turning the lever, would dispense a capsule containing a prize from the outlet.
What's inside the capsule is a surprise until you open them.
A lot of people are obsessed with the excitement of not knowing what they will get and would continue to pull from the gacha.
*****
When I came to, I found myself in an unfamiliar white room.
The floor, ceiling, and walls were all pure white and smooth to the touch.
The size of the room was like that of a school gym, and the ceiling was at a similar height to a regular house.
"Hey! Is anybody here?!"
I screamed and screamed again. However, the only response I received was the echo of my own voice. There was no visible change, nothing at all.
Was this some kind of prank? But there's no way a TV station with strict compliance rules would kidnap and imprison a mere college student with no special talent or fame. That's just impossible.
I tried to look back at my memories. The only thing I remembered was playing games on my smartphone before falling asleep at 1 am.
As if to back up my thoughts, I was only wearing my pajamas which was a regular pair I bought at a shopping mall.
"What about my university lectures..."
Feeling lost, I began to explore the room. However, I found nothing. There were no doors or windows, and I had no idea how I had entered the room. Furthermore, there was no apparent source of light, yet the entire room was not dark. Just what is going on?
"As expected, this is the only weird thing in the room."
It was a completely out-of-place object in this room, something that should not have been there in the first place.
It was a gacha machine. It sat in the center of the room, with no logical reason for it to be there.
Gacha machines were found all over Japan, with a white base that contained a coin slot and a lever that could be turned to release a capsule.
There was no paper explaining what was inside, which was usually found on the top of the machine. However, this allowed me to get a better look at the capsules inside.
The capsules were packed tightly and came in various colors, but unfortunately, there was no way to peek inside and see what was in them.
It was as if it was preventing me from knowing the prizes.
However, the only thing in this completely white room was this gacha. If I don't try anything with it, I am confident my situation won't progress.
Was I kidnapped for the amusement of some filthy-rich person, like what I've seen from the movies? I thought.
Fortunately, there were coins placed in front of the gacha.
After picking up the coin and examining it, I could only see that it was made of metal, without any kind of design.
Well then, since I have nothing else better to do, let's insert some coins. Now that I see it, there's no instruction anywhere how much coins I need to insert, would it break if I put a lot? With those thoughts in mind, I pulled the lever.
Clank!
A white capsule came out of the outlet. It had a sticker on it with the letter 'C'.
A common one, huh? A miss.
A rather iffy item came out this time. Oh, the capsule opens easily even though I did not use much force.
Inside, there was a piece of paper.
[Convenience store-bought chicken.]
Chicken is usually sold in the space in front of the cash register at convenience stores in Japan. The price ranges between 180 and 240 yen, and is very juicy with plenty of meat juice. It is a delicious chicken with a lot of fat.
I heard a sound of something falling and turned around. It was a paper bag. I looked up to find where it came from, but there was nothing in particular. When I took a peek inside, I saw that it was fried chicken.
Where did this even fall from? And what am I supposed to do with it now?
I was at a loss, but the chicken was delicious.
*****
On a certain day, the world shook from a sudden announcement.
[Attention, earthlings. You have lost your ways. According to our predictions, the civilization built by humanity on Earth will collapse within the next 30 years, and the pollution of the Earth's environment will receive an irreversible blow that cannot be restored by the technological level of humanity, resulting in the beautiful and rich environment of Earth to be lost. We simply cannot overlook this.]
[Thus, we have selected one thousand individuals from among the people of Earth. We will give them each superpowers, artifacts, and a planet to compete against each other.]
[The winner of this competition will be granted absolute control over Earth. All of you have no right to refuse.]
