When I came to, I found myself floating in eternal darkness. I don't know how I find myself here. My memories are so blurry that I don't even know what happens before waking up in this emptiness.
Am I alive? Dead? Maybe I am on the last vestiges of my consciousness before my brain shuts down?
I don't really know what is happening. I can't feel my body at all. I try to open my eyelids but sense the lack of it. I try to move my limbs only to feel nothing. Even as I try to speak, no noise is coming out, as I can't feel the movement of my throat or my mouth and lips. I can't smell. I can't even feel the beating of my heart.
There is nothing in here other than my own consciousness. I think I might actually be dead. How can I explain everything else other than this?
I can't even remember my own name, nor do I know who I am. I know I am a human at least and that I live in Japan. I don't know the specific year when I live, but I know it is modern due to my memories of skyscrapers, cars, and mobile phones from my blurry memories.
I can't remember who my parents are, and I don't know if I have any friends or not. What is my gender? Do I have any pets? What about the city that I live in? All I know is that I'm from Japan, but not the city that I actually live in!
I don't know the answer to those. Most of the things about me slip out of my mind, though there is one thing that I am clear about.
What I clearly remember is my love of Gacha Games. I still remember how I gush when I get Labrysta from Princess Connect. I still remember when I C6 Furina and Raiden Shogun, two of my favorite characters in Genshin Impact. I can clearly remember managing to pull the alternate version of Nearl from Arknights and building her up to be an absolute tank to finish harder stages. I can remember shredding Myouki Kurokage with Hanako's summer variant from Blue Archive. I remember finally finishing the slog of content that is the whole main story of Fate Grand Order. I remember jumping in joy when getting Don's Sancho ID.
I clearly recall all of the Gacha Games I have played. Blue Archive, Princess Connect - Re:Dive, Limbus Company, Fate Grand Order, Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact 3rd, Honkai: Star Rail, Arknights, Nikke: Goddess of Victory, Epic Seven, Guardian Tales, Girl's Frontline, Azur Lane, Battle Cats, Punishing: Gray Raven, and many, many more.
Even the obscure ones like Oh! My Office, Gacha Life, Girls X Battle, League of Angels: Paradise Land, Otogi: Spirit Agent, Immortal Taoist, and other unpopular games, to name a few, haven't been spared by my attention.
I also play gacha games that have been adapted by other franchises, like Konosuba: Fantastic Days, Overlord: Lord of Nazarick, Touhou Lost Word, you get the point.
I play every gacha game regardless of its quality. I just have a lot of fun playing games that let me pull for characters. I don't know about others, but I think I really love gacha games in general.
Why is it the only thing I can remember?
I don't know, but I think that is fine. Recalling what I love in my final moments is at least comforting enough to my non-existent heart.
[You can roll the Character Gacha for free!]
What is that!?
Even with the lack of head and eyes, I still try to look around. There is nothing around other than this thing floating in front of me. It's the only thing I can see from this nothingness.
Character Gacha? Is this my mind making things up?
Well, it is fitting, isn't it?
A gacha addict imagining themselves pulling on their gacha for one last time before they truly lost consciousness.
How do I do that though?
(Gacha)
Common Gacha [1 Spin (1 Silver Ticket)] [11 Spins (10 Silver Tickets)]
Premium Gacha [1 Spin (1 Golden Ticket)] [11 Spins (10 Golden Tickets)]
Supreme Gacha [1 Spin (1 Rainbow Ticket)] [11 Spins (10 Rainbow Tickets)]
Character Gacha [1 Spin (Free)] [11 Spins (100 Character Tokens)]
What?
(Status)
Silver Ticket: 0
Golden Ticket 0
Rainbow Ticket: 0
Character Token: 0
(Avatar Lists)
N/A
I recall a few gacha games that have the premise of reincarnating to another world, like 32 Heroes. I think I can use Konosuba as a good comparison for this. Based on the premise of typical Isekai, those who died would reincarnate into another world with their own cheat abilities.
Perhaps this might be my cheat ability, and I am actually going to be transported to another world?
If that is so, what does it mean from the Avatar Lists?
Don't tell me...!?
... Whatever, even if this is just a hallucination my dying mind is making up, I don't care. As a gacha player, there is only one thing I have to do.
I have to pull!
I pick the free spin on the Character Gacha by thinking about it. This mysterious floating panel that is stuck in my vision works just like I am hoping for, showing a new panel asking me for confirmation. Of course I pick "Yes" before the panel vanishes and a simplistic animation of a chest occurs.
The chest that appears in the panel shines in a brilliant white. Then it shakes around for a moment before opening up, showing the image of one of my favorite characters.
[Rikuhachima Aru - C Tier]
Rikuhachima Aru. One of the characters introduced in the first arc of Blue Archive. The leader of Problem Solver 68 and one of the infamous troublemakers on Gehenna Academy. Her base of operation is currently located in Abydos Region, or that is one of the popular theories about where she resides right now.
If I remember correctly, isn't Aru a three-star student? Why does this mysterious panel categorize her as a C-Tier?
I look at the Character Gacha, and then realize why it categorizes her as that when I see the lineup shown on the banner. No way Aru can contend against Kiana Kaslana or Gilgamesh. Even the Cat God, no matter how funny he looks, is a lot stronger than a student from Kivotos.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Does that mean this mysterious panel ranks each character based on their power levels?
That is a bit iffy. I don't think most of the characters from the SSS Tier can contend with the other ones there. Like, how come Aqua from Konosuba is an SSS-tier character comparable to characters like Yukari Yakumo?
Whatever. I don't care. I won't think about it too much.
Anyway, is that all?
There is nothing to do anymore. The panel in front of my eyes shows the Gacha section, and the Character Gacha there needs 10 Character Tokens if I want to pull again. How can I get a Character Token?
Is there any tutorial here?
And more than that, what should I do with Aru? If I can pull for a character, shouldn't I be able to use that character?
At least let me play a game, even if it's a figment of my imagination!
Not seeing anything wrong with it and feeling fed up with this emptiness, I look at my avatar list and then think of picking Aru's name from it.
Surprisingly, something happens.
[Searching for available avatars... found!]
[Creation of physical avatar... complete!]
[Locating primary spawn point... not found!]
[Creating primary spawn point... complete!]
[Summoning avatar to the primary spawn point... complete!]
[Establishing existential link... complete!]
There is something tugging within me. I subconsciously realize it is connecting in my existence. I don't know how I know that.
[Inputting additional points... complete!]
[Creation of soul container... complete!
Setting required parameters... complete!]
I can feel my consciousness being pulled somewhere. The direction feels like it is below, but it isn't at the same time. I don't know what's actually happening.
[Checking for other required processes.... all complete!]
And then, sensation floods me.
----------------------------------------
When I open my eyes, I find myself standing in a dark alleyway somewhere. The familiar weight of my rifle is held on my arms and hands as I look around before stopping as I realize something.
Wait... rifle?
I look below and see my breasts, fortunately covered by my buttoned-up white shirt. Just below my breasts is a large rifle that is painted in maroon colors. I raise it up, and it takes a short time before I recognize it.
Wine Red - Admire. The name of Aru's sniper rifle.
Wait, if I am holding this then. I look at my own body and see the color of my hair from my periphery, the office skirt that accentuates the shape of my hips and waist. I look beside me and see a window there. In the reflection of that window, I can see a beautiful girl with sharp golden eyes and pinkish red hair along with that curved horn protruding from the rear end of her head looking back at me. I open my eyes and see the reflection following my movements.
... Right, of course... that is obvious. Right now, I'm in the body of one of my favorite characters in Blue Archive!
I'm now Rikuhachima Aru!?
This is surprising. I am not expecting to wake up in the body of my favorite character.
I have to touch myself and even pinch my cheeks. The pain tells me that all of this is real.
"Amazing..."
Even my voice is the same as hers. I truly became Aru, not just a copycat of some sort!
Then where am I?
I look up expecting to see a towering spire with rings around the sky, but I don't see anything like that. There is a tower piercing the skies, but instead of a pure white, just like the one I've seen on Blue Archive's 1st PV, this one looks sleek and metallic. It is also not straight and is irregularly built like metallic blocks stacked together by a child.
Now that I am more aware of my surroundings, I can't help but grimace at the smell of this place. It smells horrendous. It's like rotten tomatoes and rat corpses mixed together and clogged in a single space. I feel like throwing up and staying in this place.
I quickly leave this alleyway. After walking for a while, I reached an opening beyond my pathway. Light illuminates my eyes when I reach the end of the alleyway, and I have to cover my eyes for a moment. After that, my eyes got used to the light enough to look around.
The roads are well maintained, and it seems like I'm in a suburban part of a city. People taller than me walk around with wildly varying outfits ranging from common casual clothes for modern civilians up to those who look like they are cosplaying. Almost everyone I can see has inhuman features in them, like animal ears, tails, or even some who have wings. There are even those who have actual inhuman appearances, like that avian-looking man in a coat or that voluptuous woman in jeans and a casual shirt with a squid face.
This is definitely not Kivotos or any other worlds I am familiar with. It doesn't resemble any Gacha Game settings I know, and this is definitely not Earth.
Then what is this place?
"Sir, excuse me. Can I ask you something?"
I ask the nearest person to me, and looking up, I realize it is a man with the face of a crocodile. That is a bit surprising, but I stop myself from gawking and keep a straight face after getting his attention.
"Whatz iss itz, lass?"
"This will sound weird, but can you tell me what this place is? Just explain it to me like I'm a newborn."
I think it will be weird to ask where I am when I am in the middle of this city. I can only swallow my embarrassment and word it like that. Hopefully he doesn't become suspicious of me.
"Azh? Dish ssssomeone hitz your head or sssomething?"
It feels like he is always slurping whenever he speaks. Might be because his mouth functions just like that. I don't want to ask too much about it.
"Sorry..."
"Iz fine. We mutantz hazz to ssstick together."
The smile he directed at me after saying that looks honestly terrifying. It looks like a sneer of a predator, ready to pounce on its prey. Thankfully he has no plans to turn me into his next meal as he answers my question.
This is the city of Cradle, the one they call the Greatest Civilization of the Apocalyptic Era. This is the largest city in this world, covering multiple regions and housing billions of people from within. Most of the Strongest Rankers are living in this city.
Rankers are people who protect civilization from threats outside. They deal with the horrors that can end civilization instantly and other beings that normal citizens can't handle by themselves.
Now this specific district I find myself is what they call Zone 96. This is basically a place for humanity's reject, or mutants in other terms.
Mutants are those who acquire inhuman mutations on their body after long exposure to the eldritch energies that cover the entirety of the world. Outside Cradle is a wasteland where nothing but monsters exist. Civilization itself seems to have ended a long time ago, and the remnants who manage to survive build up communities that later turn into their own civilization, with Cradle being the largest one.
People acquire abilities after some time. They call themselves Ability Users, and 99% of people can have this. Though there is a 10% chance that people will greatly mutate and acquire inhuman changes on their bodies. People call them humanity's rejects because they look like monsters instead of humans.
Just hearing that makes me frown. What does physical mutation have to do with being monsters?
Mutants are discriminated against by many human civilizations. Though mutants can't really do anything about it because the abilities they awaken with are limited to their mutations. Like this gentle crocodile explaining this to me now. He says he has a strong bite strength that can grind bones quickly, and his body is a lot stronger than a regular human. He can't grow anymore from his strength, unlike humans, who can continuously grow from their initial strength.
It means that people without mutations on their bodies can evolve beyond their capabilities, while mutants can't.
I see. So that is why they are discriminated against this much.
Wait, what will they think if they see me? Are they also going to see me in contempt?
Well, I don't actually mind if they insult me but this is not me in this body right now. This is Rikuhachima Aru. I will hate it if someone insults my favorite character!
"You lookz like you ssnot financially ssstruggling with howz you dressss up, but I am curiousssss... ssdyou have anywhere you can ssstay?"
I have to process what he is talking about before I manage to answer.
"... No. I'm actually lost right now."
"That'ssss fine. D'you want me ssto helpz? I knowz a placesss that will letz you ssstay."
"Right. I'll take your offer. Thank you..."
"Karkosss." He presents his scaly hand at me. "Whatsss about you?"
Introduction, I see?
Well, now that I am Aru, there is only one way I can introduce myself.
"Rikuhachima Aru, boss of the greatest fixer company in Kivotos, Problem Solver 68."
I think I confused him, but it doesn't matter. This is the proper way to introduce Aru to anyone.
I still don't know what's in store with me, but whatever it is, I'll have to try living in this new world with my new body.