The second's grin stretched too far, he leaned toward the first.
"So… what's cooking in her head right now?"
The first scanned the paper, squinting. "Hmm…She's wishing… for fire."
The fourth slammed her hand down, shaking the table.
"Fire? In a grassland?! Are you insane? Way too dangerous!"
The second threw his hands up, smiling like a mad man.
"Arg…quit nagging… just give her the fire! Give her the FIREEE SKILL!"
The first shook his head, scribbling fast.
"Fine. Ability to control fire."
"Ohh… now that's a good idea." The second clasped the first's hand.
Hard. Firm. Deal sealed.
Both turned to the third.
"How bout' it?"
The third raised a thumb lazily.
"Approved."
The fourth exhaled, a long, annoyed sigh.
The first wrote down the name.
Skill: Infernia
Passed it to the second. He jotted the description.
Ability: Control fire.
The third added the numbers :
Duration: 1 minute.
Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Mana cost: 15.
Finally, it reached the fourth. He scrawled one last line, smirking.
Debuff: Can only control flames the size of a candle.
She tucked the scroll with the skill into a tiny capsule, tied a cute little ribbon around it, and sent it back.
The gacha machine glowed. Shook violently. Then… stopped.
She reached for the capsule, hands trembling.
Opened it.
The scroll floated up on its own. Letters glimmered as they appeared, one by one.
The whole crowd leaned in, eyes wide.
Skill name: Infernia
Her eyes went wide. "OMG… a fire skill? For real?"
Ability: Control fire.
She jumped, spun, and shouted. "Yess… Yesss!"
The crowd clapped, cheered.
"Congrats!"
Then the scroll added the kicker.
Can only control flames the size of a candle.
Her smile froze.
The crowd tilted their heads. "Huh?"
The scroll burst like confetti, tiny sparkles swirling into her.
Some laughed. "What the hell can you do with that??.. Control your cooking temperature?"
She sank into the corner, small and defeated, hugging her knees.
The next guy slapped his coin into the gacha machine.
It rattled, shook like crazy.
The capsule slid out.
He grabbed it, hands shaking.
The crowd leaned in, buzzing.
The scroll floated up again. Letters glowed, revealing themselves slowly.
Skill name: Aerial Dominion
The crowd froze.
Just the name alone felt like it was a good skill.
Ability: Float oneself.
"Wow…"someone muttered.
Duration: 30 seconds
Cooldown: 2 minutes
Mana cost: 25
The man grinned. "Oh.. so it's like a short flight."
The man bragged, chest puffed up, "I can totally use this to Escap—"
Then the scroll added the kicker.
Float 5 inches above the ground.
The room went silent.
A collective, baffled whisper floated through.
"The…fuck…is this skill?"
After a few turns, Lyra slipped out of the room.
the crowd either groaned or burst into laughter at their new skills.
Ahrie, who was quietly waiting in line, finally reached the front of the gacha machine.
Only eight people left in the room.
He slipped his hand into his pocket, pulled out the coin, and dropped it in.
Ahrie grinned.
A thought popped in his head… "If I punch this damn thing… Do I get two skills?"
The coin vanished, warping into the four strange beings.
"This coin…" the first said, grabbing it.
"Isn't this from that big-ass monster?" the fourth muttered.
"Ho… someone finally beat that son of a bitch," the second mumbled.
"Mind if we switch?" the second asked the fourth.
"Nooo… you're gonna make something chaotic again," the fourth replied.
"I'll give you something in return," the second smirked.
"...Ugg… fine," the fourth sighed.
"So what was it… Sword skill? Gun? Oww… Oww… anything attack related?" the second asked the first.
"Hm… support," the first said.
"Huh? Support? He beat the damn Huge Imp, and you tell me he's a support?" the second shot back.
"Check his mind. What does he want?: the second shrugged.
"He… wants to punch something," the first replied.
"See? He wants to punch… let him!" the second argued.
"Sorry. Rules are rules. We can only go by what his Ent recommends," the fourth said.
"Fuck his Ent…" the second shouted.
The third just watched them bicker, saying nothing.
Meanwhile, Ahrie's Ent kept munching on snacks, totally unbothered.
The first wrote down the skill.
Skill name: Healing Bulb
The fourth jotted the next part.
Ability: Heal.
The third added the rest.
Cooldown: 1 minute
Mana cost: 15
Then it went to the second.
He grinned… mischievous as hell.
He used his authority secretly, trying to rewrite it.
Couldn't erase the healing part.
"Tch…"
He pushed through, rewriting everything else.
Skill name: P.A.I.N. - Physical Aid Initiated by Neutralization
Ability: Heal
Cooldown: 20 seconds
Mana cost: 10
Debuff: Can only heal via fist. Stronger impact = stronger healing. Any damage caused by this skill cannot be healed by it.
"Hehe… that should do it," the second whispered, shoved it into a capsule that emits a dark aura, and tossed it back.
The fourth muttered, "I knew you'd try using your authority… like I said, we're not allowed to create—"
"Tch… stop ruining my fun… I'll pay you half, you b*tch," the second snapped.
The capsule landed in the gacha machine.
Ahrie reached out with his good hand.
A faint, dark aura crawled around the capsule.
Everyone stared.
"Hey… why's his all dark? Ours had ribbons," someone whispered.
Gossips spread like wildfire.
Ahrie opened it.
The scroll shot straight up, then exploded with chaotic energy.
Shivers crawled up everyone's spines.
Lyra, tucked in the corner, outside of the tower felt that energy. "This is—"
The letters revealed themselves, one by one.
Skill name: P.A.I.N.
Ability: Heal
Cooldown: 20 seconds
Mana cost: 10
A collective sigh.
"Oh… just a healing skill," someone muttered.
Giggles here and there.
Ahrie's eyebrow twitched.
Then the kicker.
Can only heal via fist. Stronger impact = stronger healing. Any damage caused by this skill cannot be healed by it.
Ahrie grinned.
The scroll exploded into particles and fused with his body.
He clenched his fist.
"Yo… you guys don't look so well."
"We haven't hit the medical facility yet," someone replied.
"Hmm… is that so? Don't worry. I gotchuu," Ahrie said.
[P.A.I.N.]
His fists glowed.
"Ohh really… thankyo—"
SMACK
Ahrie's punch landed square in the guy's face.
Knocked him clean out.
The room froze.
"Wut da hell?"
Eyes followed the guy as his injuries healed—face still smushed.
"Who's next?" Ahrie grinned like a maniac.
Heads shook. Everyone backed away.
Ahrie didn't care. He healed them all anyway.
When the last person was done, a coin rolled out.
Ahrie snatched it up.
Walked out.
Left the unconscious crowd behind.