Have you ever thought about what would happen after death? No? Good, neither have I. But now, standing in this cramped single room beside an open window and staring at the clear night sky with only the moon as my witness, I'm forced to admit that there was indeed life after death. At least, such was true for me. Because no matter from which angle I looked at it, this wasn't the world I'd grown up in.
Not only that...
I walked closer to the mirror placed against the far wall—a large mirror, ornate enough to reflect my entire form back at me.
Black hair like an endless void cascaded all the way to my hips, with two elegant bangs framing my face and loose strands falling here and there. Thin, perfectly sculpted eyebrows arched above sharp eyes, complementing a straight jawline and nose. Matched with a pair of piercing silver-gray eyes, I looked like the wet dream of every teenage girl out there. And probably some mature ones too.
This face... it wasn't me. No, the more accurate description would be that it was indeed me, but a version that had undergone plastic surgery performed by some divine doctor, elevating everything to absolute perfection. There wasn't an ounce of excess fat, not a single blemish on the porcelain skin. It was smooth and flawless. From each defined line of the face to the subtle curves of lean muscle, it was hard to believe that any normal human being could possess such perfection.
And if that transformation wasn't jarring enough, there came the flood of memories—unfamiliar yet intimately familiar at the same time, leaving no room for skepticism.
Shen Yujin. That was the name bestowed upon me in this world. One of three sons born to Shen Hong, conceived from the union between the clan patriarch and a lowly servant girl. And if that backstory wasn't enough to paint a picture of how utterly miserable 'my' life was in this realm, there came the crushing revelation that I possessed the Red Soul Realm—the absolute bottom of the cultivation hierarchy—with a Soul Force value of merely 3.
I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to applaud whoever had crafted this background for me. Seriously, what was this? Had they taken every existing cliché from Chinese protagonist starter packs, thrown them into a blender, and dumped the resulting mess on me?
What's next? Maybe I'd encounter some chubby kid desperately wanting to become my sworn brother, or perhaps a fiancée from some prestigious family whose sole desire was to cancel our engagement. Maybe I should start rehearsing classic lines like "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't bully the poor youth!"
I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity.
Just thinking about it made me realize how utterly ridiculous my situation had become. Perhaps all these jokes were simply my mind's way of coping with the fact that I had somehow transmigrated—or possibly reincarnated—into what appeared to be a fictional world straight out of a cultivation novel.
For all I knew, the version of me from the previous world had died somehow. The thought was deeply unsettling, to say the least.
That's when my eyes landed on a conspicuously placed bottle containing swirling rainbow-colored liquid sitting on the wooden desk near the bed. Definitely not suspicious at all. Who was I kidding? That bottle was practically screaming 'drink me!' with the subtlety of a neon sign. Even without anyone explaining it to me, I could instinctively tell that this mysterious bottle was very much my golden ticket to survival in this world.
What kind of cheat could possibly come in liquid form? Of course, the term "Essence" immediately popped into my mind, and with it came barely contained excitement.
As someone who had read extensively about the so-called Essences in my previous life, how could I not be thrilled? Back in my old world, there was a popular saying among fans: "No Essence is a bad Essence." It was just a way of acknowledging how every single one of them was utterly broken in their own unique ways.
With careful steps, I approached the table and picked up the bottle. As I held it up to examine it more closely, the container seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly light. Without hesitation, I popped open the cork and downed the entire contents in one swift motion. A refreshingly cool sensation washed over me as I felt the liquid simply vanishing in my mouth before it could even reach my throat.
It never actually entered my system—it simply ceased to exist.
[Welcome to Meta Gacha Essence!]
I blinked as floating text appeared before my eyes. Something primordial stirred within me, an urge that seemed embedded in the very genetic code of human beings—my dormant gambling addiction was awakening with a vengeance.
Meta Gacha. Of course, how could I not recognize this particular Essence? It was, after all, one of the more intriguing options I'd read about in various online discussions and fan theories. Honestly, there weren't many truly interesting Essences documented in the community archives, but Meta Gacha was definitely one of those gems that caught people's attention.
While it wasn't some overpowered, reality-breaking Essence that would instantly transform the drinker into a multiversal overlord, it certainly wasn't weak either. Though its progression was heavily tied to luck and RNG, the sheer diversity of its item pool more than compensated for that uncertainty.
Who knew? I might end up pulling a bunch of legendary 5-star cards right off the bat.
Anyway, let me see exactly how this system works. The moment that thought crossed my mind, detailed information flooded my consciousness—three distinct modes of operation, two genuinely useful and one that was... well, pretty mediocre. At least for the kind of world I'd found myself in. If this had been some peaceful slice-of-life setting, the second mode wouldn't have been half bad. After all, receiving 10 free gacha points every single day was nothing to scoff at, even if you were limited to pulling cards of 3-star rarity or below.
As for the other two modes... the first one allowed me to pull items from literally any fictional universe, with individual pulls costing 3 gacha points and ten-pulls costing 30. Unlike the restricted second mode, there was absolutely no limit to what kind of rarity I could obtain. It could range from the most common trash to the most legendary artifacts, all depending entirely on my luck. The third and final mode was the "local" option. More precisely, by spending 6 gacha points for a single pull or 60 for a ten-pull, I could draw items exclusively from my current universe—meaning, unlike the completely randomized fiction pulls of the first mode, the third mode gave me the strategic choice to pull items solely from the world of Tales of Demons and Gods.
Each day, I would automatically receive a single gacha point as a baseline income. Additionally, each month I could exchange one hundred gacha points using in-world currency—specifically, one hundred Demon Spirit Coins for one hundred points. In total, that meant I could potentially make around 40 pulls each month if I managed my resources carefully. And while that might not sound like much compared to modern mobile games, in this context it was actually quite substantial.
There were several other features and mechanics built into the system, but they weren't immediately relevant to my current predicament. What really mattered right now was pulling some useful items to salvage the absolutely terrible starting position I'd inherited.
No cultivation base? No problem—I had gacha.
Pulling out exactly one hundred Demon Spirit Coins from Shen Yujin's meager savings, I immediately exchanged them for the equivalent gacha points. Instantly, my point total jumped from a disappointing 0 to a much more promising 100.
In reality, the Meta Gacha system had no physical form whatsoever. It existed more as a conceptual interface, and the holographic screen materializing in front of me was simply a visual projection shaped by my subconscious expectations. I didn't actually need to click buttons or make any physical gestures to operate it—a simple thought would suffice to trigger any function.
[Pulling ten cards...]
[1-Star - Power Boost Card]
"It's alright. That's only the first pull out of ten," I muttered to myself, though honestly, starting with a 1-star wasn't exactly filling me with confidence. In fact, my gacha PTSD from mobile games was already beginning to rear its ugly head. Please don't let the next pull be another 1-star...
[1-Star - Time Savers (WC)]
I pursed my lips thoughtfully. Actually, this wasn't bad at all. Time Savers... if I remembered correctly, this was a perk from the Waifu Catalog that kept its user perpetually clean and well-groomed. Something about never needing to worry about hygiene or personal maintenance. Now that I thought about it, that was actually an incredibly valuable ability to have, especially in a world where modern conveniences and luxury amenities didn't exist.
[1-Star - Power Boost Card]
Hmm... another duplicate. I made a mental note and moved on to the next result.
[2-Star - Perception Distortion]
I raised an eyebrow in pleasant surprise as detailed information about the ability downloaded directly into my consciousness. A skill that allowed me to subtly manipulate and distort how others perceived reality around them... The only real limitation was that stronger targets required significantly more energy to affect, and attempting to influence multiple people simultaneously would drain my resources much faster. Still, it was an incredibly versatile ability with massive potential. In many ways, it functioned similarly to Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu from Bleach—and that comparison alone spoke volumes about how devastating this skill could become with proper application.
I mentally selected the floating card and chose to learn the ability. Instantly, comprehensive knowledge about its usage flooded my mind. Though I couldn't actually utilize it yet due to my nonexistent cultivation base, it would definitely prove invaluable once I gained some real power.
I refocused my attention on the gacha interface as the next card materialized...
[3-Star - Sage (TenSura)]
"Ohhh..." I exclaimed with genuine excitement. Sage—the Extra Skill from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. While it wasn't quite as ridiculously overpowered as Great Sage or its later evolutionary forms, it still provided a massive boost to my thought processing speed and comprehension capabilities. Definitely a skill worth having.
With a quick mental command, I learned it and proceeded to the next pull.
[2-Star - The Black Blade Yoru (One Piece)]
Mihawk's sword? That overhyped piece of decorative scrap metal? Ugh. What a waste of a pull. Seriously, was it black because of advanced Haki coating, or did Mihawk just decide to paint it that color? Either way, it was essentially just a very sturdy but ultimately useless oversized letter opener.
[2-Star - Neuralyzer (Men in Black)]
Now this was a decent pull. Definitely superior to that ugly excuse for a legendary blade. The ability to selectively erase and modify memories could prove incredibly useful in the right circumstances.
Shaking my head to dispel my irritation, I focused on the next result.
[3-Star - Gravity Sword (Modified | UQ Holder)]
"Another genuinely good pull!"
While the weapon possessed only one primary ability—manipulating gravitational forces through an integrated control mechanism—it was still infinitely more useful than Yoru. One could increase its effective weight to millions of tons for devastating attacks, while the other just... existed as an overgrown black crossguard.
But the "Modified" designation caught my attention.
I materialized the card, and a sleek black katana appeared in my hands. It looked like a standard katana, just slightly longer than normal and completely black from tip to pommel. Examining it more closely, I noticed the absence of the usual dial mechanism that was typically used to adjust its weight. More surprisingly, I couldn't sense any form of consciousness or spirit dwelling within the blade.
Just as I was puzzling over these changes, relevant information streamed directly into my mind.
"I see... so the modification essentially removed both the embedded consciousness and the physical dial interface. Now I can manipulate its weight through pure thought alone."
I smiled with satisfaction. That was actually a brilliant improvement.
Unlike the original version that required manual adjustment, I could now alter the sword's mass instantaneously just by willing it to change. The only potential concern was what would happen if someone else got their hands on it—would they be able to control it as well? How would that work considering there was no consciousness within it anymore?
As if responding to my thoughts, another stream of information appeared in my consciousness—all items pulled from the gacha could only be used by me or individuals I explicitly granted permission to. For anyone else, they would appear to be nothing more than useless junk. Additionally, I could summon any of my items directly to myself regardless of distance or location.
An excellent failsafe system. With these protections in place, I wouldn't have to worry about others stealing or misusing my equipment.
With a simple thought, the sword vanished from my hand and materialized within the sub-dimensional storage space of the spatial ring I wore. Apparently, once an item was summoned from its card form, it could never return to that state. Since the gacha's inventory could only store cards rather than physical objects, I had to rely on the spatial ring for actual item storage.
Moving on to the next pull...
[2-Star - The Cloak of Levitation (MCU)]
Useful for mobility and defense, but not exactly what I needed for my immediate survival concerns. Next...
[3-Star - Thought Acceleration (Tensura)]
"Another TenSura pull?" I raised an eyebrow before learning the skill anyway. Even though my newly acquired Sage ability already provided thought acceleration, I figured it was worth adding to my collection. Who knew? The effects might stack or synergize in some unexpected way. It was still a 3-star pull, after all—it couldn't possibly be useless.
My intuition proved correct. As I integrated the skill, something fundamental shifted within my Sage ability. Where before I had only a vague sense of enhanced mental processing, now I could quantify the exact improvement—a thousand-fold acceleration!
"If I remember correctly, even Great Sage only increased Rimuru's thought processing speed by 1000 times initially. That means even without evolving to Great Sage level, I already possess the same mental capabilities that Rimuru had when he first reincarnated."
While it might not sound earth-shatteringly powerful on the surface, it was an incredibly valuable support ability. A thousand times acceleration meant that a single second of real time equated to over 16 minutes of subjective thinking time. Of course, I could control the intensity of the acceleration, with 1000x being the absolute maximum.
In combat situations, even a split second of hesitation could prove fatal. With this ability, I would always maintain a significant advantage during fights, able to analyze situations and plan responses with what would appear to be superhuman reaction times.