How long has it been?
I don't even know anymore. Days? Weeks? Years? Hell, maybe centuries. Hard to keep track when you don't have a calendar app or a body that even sleeps.
I don't even remember how I got here.
All I recall is… killing.
Yup, the good ol' murder spree life. Rage, hunger, destruction. 10/10 not recommended.
But hold up.
I can… think?
Wait, seriously? My brain's actually online? Did I finally pay my Wi-Fi bill in this world?
Those negative emotions that once turned me into a berserk kaiju are gone. The fog's lifted. The endless "REEE KILL DESTROY" sound loop in my head? Dead silent.
"…Hahahaha finally, finally, I'm free! Hahahaha!"
Yeah, I laughed like a maniac. Sue me. You'd do the same after being on monster auto-pilot for god knows how long.
…But okay, calm down. Chill. No need to embarrass myself in front of, uh, nobody.
Let's take stock of things.
Back on Earth, I was just your average orphan scholarship kid. No parents, no money, just vibes. Life was basically a Dark Souls run on hard mode, except my only bonfire was anime and fanfiction. I was a proud man of culture, 2D wives, power fantasies, the works.
And then yep. Truck-kun. The classic. Out of nowhere. No warning. Straight-up respawned me.
When I woke up, I wasn't in heaven. Not hell either. Nope, I got isekai'd into that world. Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken. My favourite.
I was hyped. Rimuru's world. Skills. Evolution. Waifus.
Except, plot twist.
I wasn't Rimuru.
I wasn't a human.
I wasn't even a goblin side character.
I was… Charybdis.
That giant flying calamity fish-bug-dragon-whatever with "disaster monster" written all over it.
The moment I realised that, I knew I was cooked. The LN literally described Charybdis as mindless. Just a berserk weapon of mass destruction. Congratulations to me for winning the "worst reincarnation lottery" of the century.
And surprise surprise, it happened.
My mind went poof. Instincts took over. Hunger, rage, destruction, rinse and repeat. Humans, monsters, allies none, enemies, didn't matter. I just went full kaiju mode.
Then I got killed.
Then I revived.
Then I got killed again.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Infinite respawn. Except unlike gamers, I wasn't having fun.
That was my life, a cycle without end, without meaning.
But now, for the first time since that hell started, I can actually think.
"System, if you're there," I mutter like some sad wannabe protagonist, "give me something. A screen. A skill. Hell, even a tutorial quest. Anything."
I really wanted to say it, but deep down I knew better. If a system had existed, I would've regained my sanity long ago.
"Ding."
"Gacha System Online."
For a moment, I could only stare, though technically, I didn't even have eyes to widen, in silent disbelief.
".....Fuck."
Was this real?
I mean, what kind of protagonist-tier development was this? I'd already accepted my fate as monster-of-the-week fodder, and now the heavens decide to throw me a bone?
What was that saying again? Right, when it rains, it pours.
Well, apparently it's pouring gacha pulls now. Lucky me.
....Though, not immediately.
Sigh.
According to the tutorial a single card requires three points. And I get one point per day. Which means three days for one pull.
Three whole days.
I can't believe I waited centuries just to get stuck behind a daily login reward wall. What is this, Fate/Grand Order?
And now I can't stop thinking about the weird logistics. How does this thing even count a day? What if I'm on a planet with two suns? What if I get isekai'd again into some time-dilated world where one second here equals a year there? Would I get free infinite pulls?
...Forget it.
That's just going to remain a mystery. Or maybe a scam. Same thing.
Though honestly, it pains me to think about it. If the system had unlocked earlier, even without a single spin, I can't even imagine how many points I'd have stacked up by now.
Tch.
Well, no point crying over what's already gone. Since there's nothing else to do, I might as well plan. Or at least..... try to plan. My first real step as a thinking being.
First, let's check what I've got.
Gravity Manipulation. The main reason I can fly around instead of rolling in the dirt like some oversized worm.
Mana Jamming. Supposed to mess with other people's attacks, but my control is clumsy at best. Better than nothing, I guess.
Ultraspeed Regeneration. Nice on paper, though useless in this spiritual body unless I anchor a material form.
A handful of resistances, physical attack, paralysis, the usual stuff. Nothing flashy, but it keeps small fry from becoming a problem.
And then there's Summon Monster. A strange one. It's supposed to call creatures from other worlds, yet so far I've only ever used it to bring in Megalodons.
Altogether, enough to make me Calamity-class, though my magicule reserves alone could rival Disaster-class.
Next I have to think about how to break this seal.
BOOM
Some minutes ago
A group of humans had gathered around the mouth of a cave. Most of them were ordinary soldiers, clad in dull iron plate and carrying swords or spears. Nothing special, just the usual fodder you'd expect to be thrown at some monster.
But among them, two figures stood out.
The first was a middle-aged man in a well-kept robe, a polished staff clutched in his hands. He wore a smile that was far too bright for someone standing at the edge of disaster. His gaze kept flicking between the cave and the parchment map he carried, as if he had finally reached the end of some long, obsessive search.
"It's here," the robed man declared, his voice trembling with excitement. "There's no doubt about it."
Turning to his companion, his smile widened. "You're truly fortunate, Tony. Soon, unimaginable power will be within your grasp."
The second figure, Tony, a blond boy barely in his teens, offered no reply. His lips tightened, his expression twisting ever so slightly at the words, as though they left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Yet his gaze never wavered from the cave's dark maw.
"…Is Charybdis truly within, Master Distr?" he asked at last, his tone subdued.
Distr gave a confident nod, lightly tapping the map in his hand. "Of course. This is the place. The beast was sealed here long ago by mages, after the destruction it wrought, much like the calamity of its progenitor." His eyes gleamed with fanatic light. "The location may have been hidden, but everything in this world can be achieved for the right price."
He paused then, as if remembering something, before speaking again. "Your Unique Skill has potential, Tony. Potential that can only be drawn out against something like this."
Tony understood what he meant. That was the entire reason they had come so far from the kingdom that had summoned him.
Yes, summoned. He was not a native of this world, but another victim pulled into the so-called Cardinal World. From the very moment of his arrival, a binding magic seal had been forced upon him, chaining his life and actions to the will of the kingdom, all to strengthen its military might.
In this world, when someone is summoned from another realm, there is a chance they will awaken powerful abilities, sometimes even Unique Skills. Such gifts were exceedingly rare among ordinary citizens, especially humans, which was why kingdoms invested so heavily in summoning rituals.
It was a gamble, but one worth taking. Most summoned never awakened combat-worthy abilities, and even fewer manifested anything of true value. Yet for those who did, entire nations were willing to fight and bleed for their power.
Tony had been one of the "lucky" ones.
His Unique Skill, Snatch, granted him the terrifying ability to steal the abilities of others, sometimes even Unique Skills, and claim them as his own.
Of course, something so dangerous could not exist without restrictions. After all, not everyone was blessed with Rimuru's ridiculous protagonist halo.
The skill had clear limits. Only five abilities could be stored within him at any given time. Once filled, one had to be discarded to make room for another. And, more importantly, the same person could not be snatched twice. A single chance, no second attempts.
Even so, in a world where most never awakened anything beyond minor resistances or minor stat-boosting tricks, Snatch was already a weapon kingdoms would kill for.
And there was another truth. Monsters were far more likely to possess powerful skills than humans. The reason was simple, their vast stores of magicules. The greater the magicule density, the higher the chance of developing unique or extraordinary abilities. Which meant, of course, that monsters were the most suitable prey for Tony's power.
It was precisely because of this skill, and its potential, that Distr had led him here.
To Charybdis.
A monster feared as a walking disaster. A being that could destroy countries with its rampages alone. If it possessed skills, and there was no doubt it did, then they would be far superior to anything Tony could take from ordinary monsters or humans.
And most importantly, Charybdis was sealed.
Which meant, for once, there was an opportunity. A chance to face a calamity not in the full fury of its freedom, but bound, weakened, unable to unleash its true terror.
******
Character Templates suggestion