She looked at me, half confused, but ultimately took the money and kissed me on the cheek as a goodbye before she left the house.
Left alone in a vast of an almost empty living room, with an old TV running some ads in the background and a rundown couch, I entered the kitchen and grabbed the red envelope from the table
Opening it, I hesitantly read the letter.
"To dear Mr. Ryuu Fuuki. We write to you from the Kanzaki high prosecutor's office to inform you that Mr. –Redacted– wishes for your swift relocation."
Several months earlier our neighborhood's representative body collectively agreed to put everyone's house on auction for investors to buy. One organization, or betterly explained a family - decided to buy every house in the neighborhood, thus buying the whole street.
"We do understand there was a slight misunderstanding with the neighborhood representatives that is why Mr. –Redacted– has decided to meet with you and personally discuss payment and possible relocation to a different house."
One conglomerate family invested in the whole street, most houses except mine stand empty - and why didn't we leave? Because we never agreed to sell anything, I never will. Yet legally I couldn't do anything.
They lured in my innocent sister months ago to sign a letter of admission into an idol company, innocent as she is she signed it, not knowing she was accepting to selling the land.
No money to hire lawyers, public lawyers are more or less affiliated with conglomerate families so it would be a losing fight, and to top it all with a cherry - I wouldn't have time for it.
As she's barely eighteen and the house was on me, it was borderline illegal. But a few letters, corruption and money - and it was done,
"We are deeply grateful for your understanding, and deeply sorry about the misunderstanding. The information of the meeting will be sent on the following number -"
It was my phone number. I looked through the paper a few more times "Why didn't they call me or send a message if they already knew my number?"
I turned the paper around, there was another paper just behind it tightly connected.
"Eviction notice. By the latest date - 31/12/2025 -. Signed by the Chief prosecutor of the Kanzaki high prosecuting office of civil enforcement. Until the given date the prosecution office guarantees the safety of the two individuals within the property, anything beyond it and the prosecution office can't guarantee it."
My eyes just tightened as I smirked, I would have been scared. Was it not for that God damned creature in the corner of the room, smirking, asking no - begging to be used.
"By new year's huh? What a gift, Kanzaki prosecuting pigs."
Kanzaki prosecuting office, a well known one in the city - appearing calm and professional under layers of corruption, their chief prosecutor is a well known conglomerate puppet willing to do anything and everything for money.
Had I not moved by December 31st. I knew what would happen, threatening letters, then violent teen gangs, and it would culminate with actual gangsters.
"You really think you can scare us out? You'll need more than one half of a polite threat."
I took my phone. The date was 12/12/2025.
I looked at the shadow. "What are you?"
At first, the entity didn't speak. Its eyes, two pinpricks of static red light suspended in the gloom of the living room, remained glued to the small, tarnished silver crucifix I earlier dropped on the table, just beside an empty fruit bowl.
"Ah, that?" I pushed the cross an inch away from the letter. "I promise I won't try to use it this time—As long as you don't hurt me."
The shadow itself off the wall, moving with the fluidity of oil in water. It didn't walk; it flowed, growing taller until its head brushed the water-stained ceiling. The static white eyes lifted from the cross and fixed on me.
[SYSTEM PROMPT: ENGAGE HOSTILE NEGOTIATION. STAKE: SURVIVAL.]
[FREE TRIAL LEFT - FORTY FIVE MINUTES.]
"A name? is that what you want," it rasped, a sound like dry leaves skittering across concrete. " I am your dealer, Ryuu Fuuki if that's even your real name." Even as a bodyless mass of shadow, I felt his grin widen saying that. He continued. "I am the odds. I am the System you were gifted…."
As he got closer I couldn't help but hold the cross tighter, what if my head hurt at all? those voices, the screams, the slots, the tingling - I couldn't survive that again.
[DAYS REMAINING UNTIL EVICTION: 16. THE ODDS ARE CURRENTLY 1:99 AGAINST YOU WITHOUT THE LUCK FACTOR, INCLUDING LUCK FACTOR 9999:0 FOR YOU.]
"You have sixteen days," the System's manifestation noted, gesturing with a claw made of compressed darkness toward the folded paper in my hand. "They will send violence. They want the street. They want you gone. Your odds of success are negligible. You have rejected me once, cast me away with that weapon of mass destruction my ancestors have feared for generations. Tell me though, will it help you against the oncoming disaster?"
"I read the letter," I snapped, tossing the papers back onto the table, careful to keep the crucifix between myself and the notification just to mess with the shadow's aesthetic, his playfully manipulative way of speaking making me drop guard.
"What I want to know is why you're still here. You're supposed to help me manipulate probability, not stand in the corner looking dramatic. I rejected you? It fucking hurt dipshit. I gained increased luck right? Why were my senses heightened?"
The creature settled back down into a compact, coiled shape.
"The best gambles require patience, not an ounce impatience. Besides, the girl has a pleasant scent of hope, which I am not permitted to consume. You, however, are currently burning with defiance." The red eyes intensified as my face stiffened at the mention of my sister. "It's a bitter dish, but invigorated by risk. The table is being set, Ryuu. You simply need to make your first wager. Accept me and this world shall be yours to consume. As for your senses, that is a gift every system emissary gains."
I was quickly realizing the System was right: honesty wasn't going to cut it. The city of Kanzaki was beautiful on the surface, but underneath it was a rigged game run by the conglomerate families. My street was the last pot of chips they wanted to cash in.
"I understand. But can you turn dramatic mode off?" I curiously asked.