Fujimi watched with bated breath as the massive roulette wheel spun round and round, displaying a blur of brightly colored capsules. This was it - the moment that could alter the course of his destiny forever.

As the wheel started to slow, Fujimi couldn’t help but feel a swell of hope. Maybe, just maybe, the Reality Sphere capsule would align with his portal, against all odds. And with the power to reshape reality itself, he could finally turn his perpetual bad luck around.

No longer would he have to struggle as the underdog, Fate forever conspiring against him. That cycle of defeat could end here. Glancing around, Fujimi spotted a young girl cheering ecstatically, having just won some kind of flying pet dragon from her gacha attempt. Her joy gave Fujimi a spark of optimism - today could be the day his luck changed.

With a loud thunk, the roulette wheel locked into place, the Reality Sphere capsule far out of alignment with Fujimi’s portal. He sighed, dismayed but unsurprised by his poor fortune.

“Step right up!” shouted the shopkeeper. “The wheel has selected; now to receive your destiny!”

Fujimi stepped onto the platform which immediately began rising up toward the roulette wheel. This part always made him nervous, ascending hundreds of feet in the air to meet his fate. But he steeled himself, crossing his fingers as the floor beneath him gave way.

Slideways and upside down, he was whisked through a dark tube before being deposited into the giant wheel itself. As it spun rapidly, Fujimi tightly shut his eyes, losing all sense of direction.

“Come on, come on,” he whispered through clenched teeth, hoping against hope for a miracle. After a minute of chaotic spinning, he felt himself ejected from the wheel, falling down a long spiraling tube.

Fujimi hit the cushioned floor of the repository room with an unceremonious thud. Dazed, he looked around at the stacks of prize capsules surrounding him. Many were locked in glass cases with rarity tags like “Legendary” or “Mythic.”

With trembling hands, he opened the capsule that had dropped down after him. Peering inside, he saw… a single sock. His heart sank. Of course - just his luck.

Dejected, he headed back up to the central chamber to find his friends. As expected, their prizes were equally useless - a beat-up umbrella, some expired coupons, a broken keychain. Their enthusiasm had quickly faded to resigned disappointment.

“Cheer up man, it happens,” said Takashi, trying to be positive. But Fujimi was crushed. Deep down, he had really hoped this time his luck would finally change. But no, his sad fortune stayed the same.

Leaving the Ultra Luck Pavilion empty-handed, Fujimi couldn’t help but dwell on the seemingly unbreakable cycle of defeat that dogged his every step. In his past life, he had tried so hard to succeed, only to repeatedly come up short. Now in this strange futuristic reincarnation, he had hoped these miraculous Gacha machines could be the answer.

But no matter what, he realized, the deck always seemed stacked against him. Was he doomed by Fate itself to a life of misfortune? How could he alter the predetermined course of his pathetic destiny?

“Hey, don’t take it so hard,” said Miku gently. “There’s always next time.” But Fujimi struggled to share her optimism. Next time would probably go just as poorly, he figured. After all, when had he ever gotten a lucky break?

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Still sulking, Fujimi didn’t notice the hooded figure watching him closely from the shadows. As he exited the pavilion, the mysterious stranger began following at a distance…

Meanwhile, all around Fujimi, people were celebrating wildly, cheering over their newly won prizes. One man laughed maniacally as he spun the dial of his Reality Sphere, warping the building’s architecture into a psychedelic funhouse. Another girl hugged her new flying pet dragon as it playfully nuzzled against her.

Why did Fate bless them, Fujimi wondered bitterly, while condemning him to misfortune? He stared forlornly at the ground, feeling like a prisoner trapped in an inescapable loop of defeat.

Lost in his gloomy thoughts, Fujimi didn’t see the crack in the pavement ahead. His foot snagged and he stumbled forward, barely catching himself before faceplanting on the sidewalk. Figures, he thought. Just another minor indignity to rub in his sorry lot in life.

“Are you okay?” came a voice. Fujimi turned to see the hooded stranger who had been following him. It was a girl, he realized, about his age. Up close, her most striking feature was her eyes - one green, one violet. Those heterochromic eyes stared at him with a look of…recognition?

“Um, I’m fine, thanks,” Fujimi mumbled, taken aback. “Just, you know, ground’s uneven.”

The girl smiled cryptically. “Not the ground’s fault, though, is it? The cause lies elsewhere.”

Fujimi blinked, not understanding her meaning. Before he could ask, the girl continued. “My name’s Yira. And I think it’s time you woke up.”

She offered her hand to help Fujimi up. He hesitated before taking it. Her grip was firm and strangely comforting.

“Woke up from what?” Fujimi asked, now thoroughly confused.

“From the illusion that binds you,” Yira replied. “The illusion that your luck and Fate can never change. When really, the power lies within you all along.”

Fujimi stared at her. How could she know about his endless struggle with misfortune? And what did she mean that he had the power to change it?

Noticing his befuddlement, Yira laughed. “Sorry, I get ahead of myself sometimes. I promise it will make sense soon.”

She flipped her hood back, revealing a shock of pink hair. “For now, just know that I’m here to guide you. To help awaken you to your true potential.”

Fujimi didn’t know what potential she was talking about. But looking into her earnest, heterochromic eyes, he felt a glimmer of hope again.

Yira smiled and gestured for Fujimi to follow her. “Come on, let’s get out of here. This place reeks of false promises. The kind that keep people trapped wishing their lives away.”

Fujimi took one last look back at the Ultra Luck Pavilion, with its flashing holograms and crowds clinging to fantasies of altering fate. He sighed and turned away. Maybe Yira was right - real change wouldn’t come from some spins of a giant roulette wheel. It had to come from within.

Together, they set off down the bustling street, leaving the throbbing pavilion behind. As they walked, Yira recounted her own struggles with cruel twists of fate, and how she had eventually awakened to truth. Fujimi listened intently, feeling the beginnings of a profound shift in his perspective.

For the first time, he dared to imagine he wasn’t doomed to a predetermined story arc of continuous defeat. Yira was living proof Fate could be challenged, even rewritten. He just needed to expand his beliefs about what was possible…

Meanwhile, in a sleek skyscraper downtown, a shadowy figure watched Fujimi’s exit from the Ultra Luck Pavilion on a screen. “Did the mission succeed?” an assistant asked nervously.

“No,” the figure rasped angrily. “He remains unaware of his true nature. We must accelerate the plan.”

Glowing with dark energy, the figure opened a portal. Horrific creatures began emerging…creatures that sought the latent power within Fujimi. Power this “Yira” meant to awaken first.

“Target the girl,” the figure commanded. “Remove her, then force his awakening through torment. Our time is short.”

The creatures hissed and convulsed, then swiftly dove into the portal, descending toward the city where Fujimi walked unaware, at last allowing a sliver of hope about his destiny…