The wheel clicked.
And fell—
YES.
For a split second, John didn't react.
His brain lagged behind reality.
"…Wait."
He blinked.
"…WAIT."
The word YES burned into existence, glowing brighter than everything else in that endless sky.
Then—
"LET'S GOOOOOO—"
John shot upright midair, pumping his fists like he'd just won the lottery.
"I KNEW IT. I KNEW YOU HAD CURSED LUCK—BUT LIKE, REVERSE CURSED LUCK—"
pulse rippled through the space.
The celebration died instantly.
John froze.
"…Why does it feel like I just triggered something?"
Sheila raised her hand.
The glowing "YES" shattered.
Fragments of light scattered—
And then reformed into something else.
A screen.
[Gacha System Initializing…]
John's grin slowly returned.
"…Oh yeah."
[Welcome, User: John Raisen]
[System Type: cursed Gacha Engine]
[Synchronization with Soul… Complete]
"…Cursed?" John repeated. "That sounds… mildly concerning."
[Warning: This system does not guarantee fairness or survival.]
"…You could've led with that."
Sheila said nothing.
Which somehow made it worse.
She raised her hand one final time.
The sky began to crack.
Reality splitting open again.
"Your transmigration begins now."
John braced himself.
"…Alright."
A grin formed.
Half excitement
Half dread.
"Let's see how long I last."
The world shattered.
And somewhere
Far away
Something opened its eyes.
.
.
.
.
Pain.
Not a sharp pain.
Not something he could scream through.
It was everywhere.
White-hot.
Constant.
Unrelenting.
John's mind blanked instantly.
"—?!"
No sound came out.
His throat worked, but nothing followed.
His body—
No.
This body—
Didn't respond the way it should.
He couldn't feel his legs.
At all.
His chest felt wrong, like breathing itself was a chore forced onto him.
Light burned.
Even through closed eyes, it burned.
"What the hell is—"
The words came out hoarse, unfamiliar.
Then it hit him.
Memories.
Not his.
They slammed into him all at once.
A child.
Small.
Fragile.
Wrapped in bandages.
Pain. Always pain.
Doctors.
Cold rooms.
Machines.
A voice—parents.
Crying.
Apologizing.
Then gone.
Gone for good.
"They… thought I died…"
John's thoughts stuttered as the realization sank in.
He wasn't just in a new body.
He was in this body.
Kokichi Muta.
Mechamaru.
A Heavenly Restriction.
His cursed energy—massive.
In exchange?
Everything else was taken.
A broken body.
No sensation below the waist.
Skin that couldn't handle light.
A life locked away in isolation.
"…You've gotta be kidding me…"
The pain didn't stop.
It never stopped.
It wasn't peaking.
It wasn't fading.
It was just there.
Constant.
Like background noise that screamed.
John's breathing turned uneven.
"This… this is daily?"
Another wave of memories confirmed it.
Yes.
Every second.
Every day.
No breaks.
No relief.
Just endurance.
"…That's insane."
His fingers twitched slightly.
That alone felt like an achievement.
Minutes passed.
Or maybe seconds.
Time didn't feel real under this kind of pain.
His mind kept trying to reject it.
Then accept it.
Then panic again.
"I can't—"
He stopped.
Forced himself to think.
Panicking wouldn't help.
Nothing here would.
"…Just deal with it."
It sounded stupid.
But there was nothing else.
So he endured.
Time crawled.
The pain didn't lessen.
But something else changed.
He adapted.
Not physically.
Mentally.
The shock wore off first.
Then the panic dulled.
Then it became…
manageable.
Not okay.
Never okay.
But survivable.
After what felt like forever, his breathing steadied slightly.
"…Alright."
His voice was still rough, but stable.
"…I'm not dead."
That was step one.
Another memory surfaced.
A room.
Hidden.
Machines hooked into his body.
A puppet outside.
Mechamaru.
His way of interacting with the world.
"…Right."
That meant something important.
He wasn't completely helpless.
Just mostly.
He let out a slow breath.
"…Two hours?"
It felt like more.
Way more.
But something inside him said that was about right.
Two hours of pure, uninterrupted suffering.
And he was still conscious.
"…I'm built different," he muttered weakly.
Then paused.
"…Or he was."
Silence filled the room.
No voices.
No movement.
Just him.
And the pain.
Then—
Something appeared.
Right in front of him.
Clean.
Sharp.
Out of place.
A screen.
⸻
A new screen snapped into existence.
[Starter Bonus Granted]
[Cursed Points: 1000]
Bronze: 5 CP
Silver: 25 CP
Gold: 150 CP
Platinum: 500 CP
Diamond: 2,500 CP
Jade: 5,000 CP
⸻
John stared at it.
"…Okay."
That was… normal.
Well.
As normal as things were going to get.
He focused.
Points.
Tiers.
Simple system.
No nonsense.
He liked that.
"Alright… think."
He forced himself to ignore the pain again.
Focus shifted.
Math kicked in.
1000 points total.
He could go all-in on high tiers.
Or spread it out.
High risk vs consistency.
"…Nah."
He shook his head slightly.
"With my luck?"
Not happening.
John steadied his breathing and locked in his decision.
"No all-in. I'm not stupid."
His eyes scanned the system again, sharper now.
"Balanced build."
He spoke each choice clearly, like committing it to reality.
"One Platinum. Three Gold. Two Silver."
A brief pause followed.
"…That should cover everything I need."
The system didn't confirm.
It simply moved.
Space in front of him distorted, folding inward like reality was being compressed into something artificial. Then it formed.
Not a wheel.
Not anything clean or mechanical.
It looked unstable, like a construct made from overlapping systems that didn't belong together. Rings rotated at different speeds, layers phasing in and out of alignment, symbols flickering in and out of existence before the mind could fully process them.
It felt less like a tool and more like something alive.
Watching.
Waiting.
John narrowed his eyes.
"…Yeah. Definitely not fair."
Still, he didn't hesitate.
"Silver first."
The outermost layer began to spin, its motion jittery, like it was skipping frames in reality. Unlike a normal rotation, it didn't flow. It lurched forward in uneven bursts, as if dragged by something unseen.
Then it stopped instantly.
The result appeared.
Silver Pull One
Skill Acquired: Novice Management
Information flowed into his mind immediately.
Not overwhelming.
Structured.
Organized.
He suddenly understood how to manage time more efficiently. How to break tasks into parts, how to prioritize, how to avoid wasting effort. It wasn't genius-level thinking, but it was practical. Clean. Useful.
"…That's actually really solid," he muttered.
With this body, time mattered. Efficiency mattered more.
"Next."
The construct shifted again, another layer taking over. The spin resumed, slightly faster this time, but no less unstable.
It stopped with a sharp jolt.
Silver Pull Two
Trait Acquired: Enhanced Focus
Something in his mind tightened.
The constant pain didn't lessen, but it became easier to push aside. His thoughts stopped slipping. Distractions faded quicker. He could hold onto a line of thinking without it breaking apart.
John let out a slow breath.
"…Yeah. I needed that."
Without focus, this body would have broken him already.
"Alright. Gold."
The structure reacted differently this time.
The inner layers engaged.
Heavier.
Denser.
Each movement carried weight, like the system itself was resisting the process.
The spin was slower, but more forceful.
Then it locked.
Gold Pull One
Skill Acquired: Reinforcement
A surge of understanding hit him.
Cursed energy flowing through the body. Strengthening it. Hardening it. Supporting weak points.
Basic for sorcerers.
Essential for survival.
John flexed his fingers slightly.
"…With this body, that's not optional."
If he couldn't move properly, he'd reinforce what he could.
"Next."
The second gold pull began.
This time, the spin dragged longer than expected, like something was interfering with the result.
Then it snapped into place.
Gold Pull Two
Trait Acquired: Pain Conversion
John went still.
"…Hold on."
The effect settled in.
Sustained pain would increase cursed energy output.
Not a burst.
Not temporary.
A scaling effect.
Based on how long the pain continued.
Silence filled the room.
Then John laughed under his breath.
"…You're kidding me."
This body lived in pain.
Constant.
Endless.
No off switch.
"…This is actually insane."
It wasn't just synergy.
It was perfect alignment.
"Last Gold."
The third spin felt different.
Less resistance.
More… fluid.
But not in a good way.
The symbols flickered faster, less stable, like the system itself was pulling from something wider.
Then it stopped.
Gold Pull Three
Trait Acquired: Adept Chemistry
Knowledge flooded in.
Not scattered.
Not incomplete.
Structured like years of study compressed into seconds.
Molecular structures. Chemical reactions. Compound formation. Interaction patterns. Manipulation of substances at a practical level.
This wasn't beginner knowledge.
This was advanced.
Professional.
On par with someone who had spent decades in the field.
John blinked slowly.
"…cool I know how to make slime now"
He understood how substances reacted. How to create compounds. How to manipulate materials with precision.
In a normal world, that would be impressive.
In this world?
Combined with cursed energy?
"…Yeah, that's dangerous."
He pushed the thought aside for now.
Only one left.
The big one.
Platinum.
His expression sharpened.
"Alright."
The construct reacted immediately.
Everything moved at once.
All layers.
All directions.
The structure didn't spin anymore.
It distorted.
Space around it bent slightly, like it couldn't fully contain what it was trying to produce.
John didn't move.
Didn't speak.
He just watched.
The motion slowed.
Gradually.
Then—
Stopped.
Platinum Pull
Skill Acquired: Domain Seed (Incomplete)
John froze.
"…No way."
Even without full knowledge, he understood the implication.
Domain Expansion.
The pinnacle.
The thing that separated the strongest from everyone else.
And he had a seed of it.
Right at the start.
The system followed up immediately.
Warning: Incomplete
Cannot deploy
Growth required
John didn't even care about the restriction.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"…Still counts."
He leaned back slightly, ignoring the constant burning pain threading through his body.
Then he reviewed everything.
Time management.
Mental focus.
Reinforcement.
Pain scaling into power.
Advanced chemical knowledge.
And a Domain foundation.
His build wasn't random.
It wasn't messy.
It was forming a direction.
A path.
John exhaled slowly.
"…Yeah."
His eyes sharpened.
Not excited.
Not nervous.
Focused.
"…I can work with this."
The pain was still there.
Constant.
Unforgiving.
But now?
It wasn't just suffering.
It was fuel.
He felt armed.
"…Alright."
A faint smile formed.