Judas Crown had no right being in a casino.
At least, not on a Tuesday night with thirty-six cents in his checking account, and definitely not when he had an 8 a.m. midterm on Arithmetic he hadn't studied for.
But that's exactly why he was here. Better to mindlessly spend his money than to think about his countless failures.
He was six-foot-one with shaggy hair falling into blue eyes that looked lifeless. He had the kind of face that could've been handsome if he wasn't wearing the expression of a prisoner waiting for his sentencing.
Judas moved past crowds of tourists. Couples were dry-humping by the craps tables, and frat boys were screaming over a ten-dollar win. He pushed past them like a ghost haunting the Las Vegas strip.
He slouched onto a cracked vinyl stool in the dimmest corner of The Lucky Loon, Vegas's least reputable casino. The air smelled of stale cigarettes, regret, and the leather of thin wallets.
"Maybe I'll just skip class tomorrow," he muttered, fingering his last quarter against the cool metal of a vintage slot machine. The plastic casing was barely held together and stained with sticky beer. "Blow off steam. Yeah. Great job, Judas. Feeling super relaxed."
He pushed a lock of messy black hair out of his eyes, exhaled a breath, and fed his very last coin into the slot with the same energy one uses to sign their own eviction notice.
"Out of money. Then home. Then failure. The holy trinity."
He grabbed the lever. It felt greasy. He pulled.
The reels spun: cherry, bar, lemon, before fading into a hypnotic gray.
And then…
[WELCOME, GAMBLER]
There was no screen. The text seared itself directly onto his retinas, glowing with an invasive gold light.
[CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.]
[SYSTEM: HAREM ROULETTE UNLOCKED]
"What the–?"
SNAP.
The entire casino froze instantly.
The roar of the crowd cut out all at once. People were stuck mid-laugh, mid-argument, sipping their beer. They were locked into place like mannequins at a clothing store under strobe lights. The slot machines around him stalled with reels stuck on a blur of fruits and 7s.
Then, from the slot machine Judas had just spun, came a ring of purple light. It swirled into an expanding ring of neon velvet.
Judas Crown. Twenty-four. Professional loser. Part-time gambler. He thought he'd seen every part of Vegas at this point.
He was wrong.
Glowing symbols poured out of the slot machine, floating in midair like holograms. It was a mixture of runes, roulette icons, purple hearts, and flaming skulls, all whirling around him like a tornado. The hairs on his arms stood up, static electricity filling the air.
"Hey!" Judas waved a hand in front of the guy sitting next to him. "Are you seeing this shit?" The man's eyes were glassy and unmoving. Not even a blink.
Okay. Either he was dead, or he'd finally gambled and drank so much that his brain had given up.
The interface didn't care about his sanity.
[PLAYER: JUDAS CROWN]
[STATUS: VIRGIN. BANKRUPT. LUCK: F-]
"Wow, rude," Judas whispered, staring at the system text. "You didn't have to add the virgin part."
The words glitched, then rewrote themselves.
[LUCK: QUALIFIED FOR DIVINE INTERVENTION.]
"I'm too drunk for this," he wheezed, backing away clumsily, but his back hit an invisible wall.
[PLAYER LOCATION: LAS VEGAS - SECTOR 7]
[GAME DIFFICULTY: HARDCORE]
"Hardcore? Wait, why is it hardcore?!"
A new text slammed into his vision, flashing like a siren.
[SPIN OR DIE.]
His throat dried out. "Wh-what?"
But the letters didn't change or disappear.
[SPIN OR DIE.]
He swallowed hard, voice unsteady. "Die as in…actually die? Or a metaphorical 'you lost the game' die?"
[CLARIFICATION: PERMANENT CEASING OF VITAL LIFE FUNCTIONS. YOUR HEART WILL EXPLODE.]
"What the fuck?"
His heart drummed against his rib cage as adrenaline flooded his blood. Judas clenched his empty wallet like it was a shield. This was insane. He should walk away or scream. Maybe see a psychiatrist—
He tried to step left.
His legs wouldn't move. It was as if gravity had planted his feet to the carpet.
[ATTEMPT TO FLEE DETECTED.]
[PENALTY PHASE BEGINNING.]
Pain tore through his chest, like ice water had been injected directly into his lungs. Every inhale was hell. Judas gasped, eyes bulging as the agony whitened his vision.
"Okay!" Okay! Spin right—?!" he choked, doubling over. "Spin! I'LL SPIN!"
The pain vanished as quickly as it came.
[CONSENT ACKNOWLEDGED.]
The purple light surrounding him dropped to the floor. It boiled the carpet before reconstructing it into a new machine.
This wasn't a standard slot machine. It was a gambler's dream made of polished obsidian with lines of neon pink patterns. It had curves that mimicked the silhouette of a woman's waist.
Gone were the cherries and sevens. The reels displayed new icons.
–A heart made of purple hellfire.
–A golden W with a devil's horns and an angel's halo.
–A skull with lipstick marks.
–Silhouettes of busty women all displayed in different seductive poses.
Of course. Of course, his death-game slot machine was horny.
[HAREM ROULETTE – ROUND 1]
[SPIN ODDS: BUFFED. (TUTORIAL BONUS)]
He reached toward the slot machine.
The lever was made of smooth leather, resting easily beneath his hand.
[SPIN OR DIE.]
"Screw it," Judas whispered, sweat running down his face. "All in."
He yanked the lever.
KA-CHUNK.
The machine shrieked, metal grinding against itself. The reels spun at impossible speeds, blurring into a wall of neon purple.
CLICK. The first reel stopped. "W"
CLICK. The second. "W"
Judas held his breath. Come on… I don't want to find out what happens if I get a bad spin.
CLACK-BOOM! The third reel locked into place.
"W"
The machine erupted in a blinding golden light that spread throughout the Lucky Loon. Still, no one moved a muscle.
[TRIPLE MATCH - JACKPOT!]
[RARITY: LEGENDARY (SSR)]
[UNIT TYPE: SUCCUBUS HIGH-BORN]
The metal of the machine groaned before splitting down the middle. Thick purple mist poured out, smelling of lavender and vanilla.
The mist drifted into the empty seat next to him and solidified into a silhouette.
First, legs. Long, impossibly smooth legs wrapped in black stockings that ended mid-thigh. They squeezed the skin just enough to create a divot. Then, hips that curved dangerously, drawing Judas's eyes like a magnet.
Finally, the mist cleared around her face.
She stretched, arching her back like a cat waking from a nap. She yawned, thrusting out her chest against a black laced top. The fabric was fighting a losing battle against gravity.
She met his gaze, her eyes glowing an electric blue.
"You spun," she purred. "Congratulations, my little gambler."
Judas stared dumbfounded. Apparently, his brain had clocked out, leaving his mouth to fend for itself. "I–what–you're…"
"Real?" She tilted her head. A lock of shining purple hair fell over her shoulder, drawing his eye to the pale skin of her collarbone. "Very. I'm Sera. Your guide. And you are Judas Crown. Twenty-four. Bankrupt." Her eyes dropped to his crotch, then flicked back up with a dangerous smirk. "Pent up."
"How do you—"
"The system tells me everything I need to know." Sera leaned forward, elbows on her knees, and the lace top dipped low enough to make his mouth go completely dry. "Your name. Your luck stat—which is abysmal, by the way. And your desires."
Heat crawled up Judas's neck and settled heavily in his groin. "My desires?"
Judas forced his eyes back to her face. He really tried.
They drifted down anyway.
Get a grip, he told himself, jaw tightening. You are about to die. This is not the time to be thinking about how her stockings cling to her thighs.
"Mhmm." She leaned close, hot breath brushing against his ear. "Heart rate: 140 BPM. Pupils dilated. Blood flow diverting to… lower extremities."
She pulled back, biting her lower lip.
"You're nervous, my little gambler."
"There's a..." His voice cracked. He cleared his throat, trying to salvage his dignity. "There's a drop-dead gorgeous demon woman who just materialized from a slot machine. Being nervous is the only response right now."
"Gorgeous?" Sera's smile widened, revealing slightly sharpened canines. "You think I'm gorgeous?"
She pressed her body against his. Soft curves met rigid tension.
"I think you're trouble," Judas managed to say, though he didn't push her away. He couldn't. His hands were itching to touch her waist.
"The best kind," she whispered, her hand sliding down his chest. It trailed heat through his shirt. Her fingers hooked into his belt loop. "Let's get to know each other better... Master."