Ten minutes slipped by in the blink of an eye as I watched the people across from me playing a card game.
It wasn’t that the game itself was particularly interesting, nor were they especially skilled at it.
The only reason I couldn’t take my eyes off them was the girl sitting at the center of the group, wearing a huge grin.
She had long blonde hair draped over one shoulder, striking purple eyes, and eyelashes that somehow matched the color of her hair.
Her face looked as though it had stepped straight out of someone’s wildest imagination, and despite her warm, inviting smile, there was something undeniably unhinged about her.
’Looks like she’s some second-generation rich kid,’ I thought, recalling the several times she’d lost, yanked at her hair in frustration, sworn to quit, then won a small round and immediately doubled the stakes with a satisfied grin.
’Does money grow on her parents’ trees or something?’
Watching people like her honestly made me want to become a thief instead of working myself to death. Then again, who knew if the system would even approve of that?
I gave her one last look, only then realizing that both her face and her faintly erratic personality reminded me of a certain idiot in my contacts.
Shaking my head, I let my gaze drift from the group to the huge clock hanging at the edge of the room.
’Guess it’s time to find out how good my luck really is now.’
A soft yawn escaped my lips as I pulled the ticket from my pocket.
Step. Step. Step
For some reason, my stride felt unusually confident as I made my way toward Sarah’s counter.
’Is this a sign I was about to hit it big?’
The moment the beautiful young woman noticed me approaching, she straightened up, a pleased smile spreading across her face.
"Nice, nice! You didn’t run away, Horns~!" she exclaimed the moment I stopped in front of her.
"Why would I? I’m about to cash out," I replied with a puzzled look.
"Hahaha! You’re a funny one."
Sarah didn’t say another word. She simply bent down and rummaged through a drawer beneath the counter before pulling out a small device that resembled a phone, but not quite.
It was long, with smoothly curved edges and a display that looked like something straight out of the early 2000s.
Every few seconds, it emitted a strange series of beeps, each one growing sharper as Sarah tapped away at the screen.
"What’s that?"
Sarah, still focused on the screen, glanced up at me before lowering her gaze again.
"It’s a draw-phone. We use it to make sure Awakened can’t tamper with the winning numbers."
’That... makes sense.’
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "Then what’s stopping someone from just changing the numbers on their ticket?"
She let out a quiet scoff and held out her hand. "Well, that’s why we do this."
I pulled out the slip of paper she’d given me earlier and handed it back, curiosity bubbling inside me.
Sarah placed the ticket on the draw-phone’s screen before flashing me a smirk.
"Care to witness a little magic trick, young lad?"
She delivered the line with exaggerated elegance, as though she were an ancient noble putting on a performance.
Snap!
With a simple snap of her fingers, the slip vanished from the screen, and a stream of digits began racing across the display.
About ten seconds later, the dark screen split into two.
One side displayed a long string of red numbers beneath the label "Me," while the other showed green numbers beneath "You."
I couldn’t help leaning closer as my eyes scanned each number on the screen.
The first one?
[Match!]
The second?
[Match!]
The third...
The fourth...
[Match!]
My breath caught in my throat as my eyes drifted to the final two digits.
"..."
For the briefest of moments, the entire world fell silent.
"Haaa..."
A long sigh escaped my lips as I simply... stared at the ceiling.
Goosebumps prickled across my skin, and an involuntary smile tugged at the corners of my lips.
For ten years, I’d struggled to survive in this world, scraping together enough money to support my sister and myself. Yet no matter how hard I tried, this damned world always seemed determined to stand in my way.
Never, not even once—had I truly believed I would amount to anything, let alone become what people like me could only dream of being...
Rich.
But in just ten minutes...
I couldn’t even finish my thoughts as a voice, gentle and a little amused, rang in my ear, an outstretched hand popping into my vision.
"Hahaha, I didn’t think you’d win it, horns," Sarah teased, her huge grin squeezing her small eyes into a thin slit. "Congratulations on becoming a millionaire, big guy."
In just ten minutes, I had become a millionaire!
I took her hand. "Thanks, guess lady luck is shining on me today."
Sarah let out a small giggle and pulled out a bank card from her pocket. "Can you bring out your phone?"
Without wasting a second, I did as I was told. Sarah tapped the card on my phone scanner, and a notification immediately popped up.
+$10,000,000
A cool breath left my lips that instant. At the same time, the system’s booming voice rang in my ear, and for just a second, I could have sworn it was just as excited as I was.
Ding!
[Host has made more than his entire ancestors combined, congratulations.]
[Now that you have enough funds, what’s your next course of action?]
Before answering the system, I stared intensely at Sarah. "Hey," I began. "Can I get in there now?"
Sarah raised a brow, a smile still stuck at her lips. "Want to gamble your luck even further?"
I shrugged, raising my hands wide and high. "Well, where do you think we are? If not to gamble our lives, why would such a wonderful place exist?"
I smirked. "So, are you taking me or not?"
Sarah’s expression relaxed. "As long as it isn’t my money and you’re entertaining enough, horns, I’ll take you anywhere."
I offered a nod before turning back to the system.
’My next course of action huh? Well, I still got to go gambling, don’t I? So pull up the best luck card I can get, and a cool ass ability too.’
At this moment, I shall shed the skin of the former Michael Kaiser and take on a new form.
Today, the awakened ’Kaiser’ shall be born.