Riku woke up on the cold warehouse floor with his face mashed into the makeshift towel-pillow he'd haphazardly folded last night. His spine cracked as he sat up.
"Oh shit," he muttered groggily. Then it hit him all at once.
"OH SHIT I FUCKING FELL ASLEEP—MOM'S GOING TO FUCKING KILL ME!"
["Good morning, Host. Would you like to draw the daily gacha?"]
"Not now!" he shouted, already throwing himself to his feet.
Cursed energy flooded through his body. Armament Haki surged down to his legs. In one instant, he blitzed out of the warehouse and sprinted across the city like a human comet, the wind howling past his ears.
The streets blurred. His bare feet left cracked rooftiles in his wake. His heart hammered against his ribs—but Better Breathing kicked in, syncing his breath and pulse perfectly as he darted through narrow alleyways and busy sidewalks.
He skid to a stop outside his house.
Panting lightly, he reached for the door handle—then paused.
"…Shit. I look like a walking murder scene."
His clothes were still soaked in dried blood from yesterday's regeneration training. He sighed, looked up to the second floor window, and leapt. In one clean motion, he slipped through his own bedroom window like a shadow.
A trail of bloody footprints followed him into the bathroom. He peeled off his clothes, jumped into the shower, and scrubbed the dried crimson from his body. Five minutes later, he was clean, dressed, and flopped face-first onto his bed.
"Okay... now I'm ready."
["Daily Gacha Draw activated."]
[Congratulations! You have acquired: Flash Step (B-Tier Movement Skill)!]
Riku sat up slowly, eyes widening as he read the text.
And then—
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!"
He instantly slapped both hands over his mouth. "Shit! Quiet, idiot!"
His whole body trembled with excitement. "Flash Step. Flash Step. HOLY SHIT. If I get good with this, I can combine it with Batman's 127-style and my movement speed will be absolutely broken."
He stood in his room, heart pounding, and faced the wall across from him.
"Okay. Let's see how it works…"
He planted one foot forward. Activated the skill.
In a snap, he vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room with a gust of displaced air—
—and immediately slammed into the wall.
"FUCK!"
He bounced off it like a dodgeball and landed on the floor with a thud.
"Okay... okay. Needs work."
He lay there for a moment, then rolled onto his back, still grinning.
"But first… food."
He bolted downstairs. The house was dead quiet.
"…Weird. No one home?"
He peeked around. Empty.
"Huh. Well, saves me from explaining why I didn't come back last night."
Shrugging, he headed to the kitchen and whipped up breakfast—rice, miso soup, and the last of the frozen dumplings. While he ate, a thought crossed his mind.
'…Do I even have a phone in this world?'
He stared blankly into space.
'You absolute dumbass. How did you just now realize that?'
He sighed, finished eating, washed the dishes, and headed back upstairs.
Booting up his PC, he logged into the stock tracker he set up when he first arrived in this world.
He yawned. Stretched. Looked at the screen.
And froze.
"...Three hundred and twenty million yen?"
His lips moved slowly.
"THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILLION YEN?! WHAT THE FUCK?! I'M RICH—I'M FUCKING RICH!"
He jumped up—
—and immediately slammed his head into the ceiling.
"AAAAAAAGH FUCK! OW—OW—FUCK—OW!"
He collapsed on the floor, writhing in pain.
Eventually, he limped back into his chair, eyes still glued to the screen.
"I'm rich. I'm really rich. Okay… okay. Calm down. Play it cool."
He squinted at his computer.
"How do I explain this…"
He tapped his chin. "I'll just say I threw money into stocks, forgot about it, and checked randomly. Dumb story, but... it might actually work."
"Alright. Sell the shares. Reinvest twenty percent. Let it grow."
A few clicks later, it was done.
He checked his bank account—and frowned.
"…Still empty?"
Then he facepalmed.
"Right. It takes three days to transfer."
With nothing else to do, he stood, stretched again, and hopped out his window.
As he flew through the air, he let cursed energy spread throughout his body and coated his legs in Armament Haki.
A split second later, he vanished from view.
Back at the warehouse, he stripped down to boxers and exhaled.
The day had barely started.
And now?
It was training time.
Flash Step. Armament Haki. Cursed technique control. Echo Delay. Self-launch. Regeneration. Batman's 127-style. Physical conditioning.
Everything.
If yesterday was brutal, today was war.
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Sorry the chapter was late guys. I was busy sleeping since I need it desperately but I promise tomorrow I'll update early....that's a damn lie don't believe me I'll update when I do. Also can we get more reviews so more people can read this shit show.