LET'S GO GAMBLING! [OPM]

Chapter 14: 14



LET'S GO GAMBLING!

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Kenshin fell backwards into his bed, his body tired, his muscles sore, his mind reeling. He could already feel the telltale signs of an oncoming migraine. Superhuman or not, repeatedly hearing explosions all day and mosquito buzzing tends to overwork the ears of any living being. 

He just got out of the shower, clad in nothing but simple black boxers. His home was already full of random stuff, all gotten from his impressive gambling addiction. Kenshin didn't keep a list, just a mental note of everything that he owned, but he was fairly sure anything that he lost previously was already back, at least in the form of value.

Compulsive Gambler had a really large list of stuff it could give, thankfully, none of the items so far seemed to be larger than that one bouncy castle, hell, most didn't even come close. He got a small, electric car once, but he gambled it away insanely quickly. He didn't want to get his floorboards damaged.

But back to the present.

The encounter with the monster he dubbed Mosquito Girl, because, well, it fit, really proved just how outclassed he currently was. Even Genos, that cyborg he met only for an hour or so before he dipped, appeared stronger than him and got absolutely demolished anyway.

The short fight revealed a flaw. A flaw that Cardcaster couldn't yet fix. It was Kenshin's ongoing weakness, he wasn't strong. Not at all, he was... well, he was decently strong, but nowhere near where he could rest in the comfort of knowing that no random monster could get the jump on him. The world was cruel and unforgiving, and there was no telling when a giant like the one that flattened two cities would appear again.

He needed power. He needed strength. Comrades would be nice. And a girlfriend too! He wasn't delusional enough to believe he could just make a harem, not even with his Charm being EX+, the highest it can get. 

But hey, a man can dream. And sometimes, dreams come true...

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So tell me what you want~ What you really, really want~

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A new day, another opportunity to get lucky. Through some miracle, Kenshin managed to maintain a steady sleep schedule, 8 hours of sleep while getting up nice and early. Truly, the most busted ability of them all.

Since he didn't need to eat, only go outside and occasionally drink some water, he was feeling good, "Time to get my gambling freak on..."

That was certainly a sentence of all time, but moving on, he did just that. He got to gambling like a true professional, walking around his apartment, randomly picking up items he didn't think he'd need and just... gambling them away. The slot machines were a standard now, rarely, a pachinko machine would also appear. Hell, there was even a time when a claw machine made its appearance. 

They all worked automatically, appearing and working at the activation of Compulsive Gambler. Their loot also appeared to be the same across the board, so the different machines had no purpose other than breaking up the monotony of the usual slot machines. 

Kenshin swore that if his Luck attribute had a personality it would be laughing and pointing at him, the damn machines gave him 9 golden tickets. NINE! Where the fuck were they last time? Garbage ahh luck...

◇──◆──◇──◆◆──◇──◆──◇

>[Name]

Kenshin

>[Age]

Irrelevant, legal.

>[Ability List]

Compulsive Gambler [N/A]

-In combat: roll a d20, the higher the number, the greater the critical strike, however, low numbers run the risk of the attack outright missing.

-Out of combat: play a variety of minigames at the cost of currency or items, each giving special rewards. The greater the risk, the greater the possible reward~

Perfect Self [EX+]

-View and edit personal attributes portraying to one's physique and even luck.

Photosynthesis] [C-]

The user can survive off of sunlight.

Autonomous Ultra Instinct [EX+]

Activated automatically at the loss of consciousness during combat. An auto-combat ability that pushes one's body beyond its limits, maximising speed, power and durability at the cost of stamina. For continued use, go into monkey mode. Do not think. Just do.

Cardcaster [A+]

Generate a deck of cards and imbue them with energy depending on the drawn card's value. The greater the value the greater the explosive or penetrative force.

>[ATTRIBUTES]

Strength: A- -> A+

Stamina: A -> S+

Speed: A- -> S-

Charm: EX+

Ability: A+ -> S-

Luck: EX+

◇──◆──◇──◆◆──◇──◆──◇

"Huh?" Kenshin made a confused sound, where did the extra Ability buff come from?

"Oh right," a realisation followed by satisfaction, "I used Cardcaster an awful lot today... But Photosynthesis is probably always active anyway, so... yeah. That stat only goes up when I actively use a higher-rated ability. Probably..."

That was nice. It was very nice. But now that most of his stats were in the S range, outside of strength, because he didn't think it was all that necessary yet, it brought a small sense of completion to Kenshin's mind. He should be able to ace the Hero Entrance Exam, at least the physical portion of it. The written exam was a different story, but he believed in his exceptionally average brain to pull through. Either that or his luck. 

Checking his calendar, the tension was brought back to his nerves considering the entrance exam was soon. Very. Soon. Not this week, but too far off. It doesn't matter how prepared a person is, if they panic in a critical moment, all of their hard work gets flushed down the shitter. And Kenshin knew this, but that didn't mean he could just... fap the anxiety away or something! 

"...I need me a smoke..."

Dressing himself up in some warm clothes, those being a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants, he picked up the box of lavish, "Cuban Lung Destroyer 9000" cigars he got from his gambling rampage and went to his balcony. 

"These things are almost as big as my dick..." he commented, putting one of the thick cigars in his mouth, materialising a burning card and lighting it on fire.

"Oh hey Ken," came the voice of his only neighbour, who was also on the balcony, hanging out his hero outfit to dry.

"Hey Saitama," the younger male took a large drag from the cigarette.

And immediately choked.

"COUGH! COUGH! WHAT THE FUC- COUGH!"

"You good?" asked the bald male, a small bead of sweat dripping down his bald head.

Kenshin took several laboured breaths, his lungs burned from improperly inhaling the cigar smoke, "Y-Yeah... phew..."

And then he took another drag. Kenshin was nothing if not persistent. This time he didn't almost die, and the chemicals laced into the thicc cigar certainly did their job making him less anxious for the upcoming days.

"Sorry about the smoke," Kenshin apologised for the puffs of small clouds he was making right next to his neighbour.

"It's fine," Saitama was as unbothered as ever, "Don't overdo it, it's bad for you."

"I know, I just needed something to help me calm down," Kenshin took another big drag from his overpriced but free cigar, "You want some?"

"Nah," Saitama, the living embodiment of perfect health declined.

The sun had already set, the streets outside were dark, and it seemed that only their apartments were being lived in, as no other lights appeared in the distance. The ghost town of Z-City really lived up to its name, there appeared to be nobody here except Kenshin and Saitama. 

It was almost... well, there were no words Kenshin could describe the feeling. It was like living in a post-apocalyptic world, except not really. You get the point, I hope. 

"I didn't know you were taking on disciples," offhandedly commented Kenshin.

"I'm not dammit!" Saitama of course wasn't a fan of his little slip-up earlier with Genos, the cyborg would be back, of that there was no doubt. 

But at the end of the day, he was Saitama's baggage. And if Genos decided to live near here, well, Kenshin was fine with that. Surrounding himself with strong people had its benefits, and Genos was nothing if not strong from what he'd seen.

"...Do you think they do DoorBash here?"

"Nah."

"Aww..."

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