Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

Gacha. Who didn’t fear it? It was the ultimate gambling addiction, a bottomless pit that consumed souls. But Caelus Kross was not afraid of the gacha. The gacha should be afraid of him!

He brought the tickets out, and immediately a glowing, semi-transparent window materialized.

"Would you like to do single pulls or wait for 10 full pulls?"

"Single pulls it is." Caelus excitedly rubbed his hands together as a massive, glittering roulette wheel materialized before him.

"Choose categories to equip into the roulette. You can choose up to four."

Multiple golden options floated in the air: [General], [Items], [Race], [Physique], [Skills], [Talents], [Blueprints], [Professions], [Mix].

"Excluding talents and skills. I will take anything," Caelus mumbled, tapping the holographic interface. He eventually locked in Items, Race, Physique, and Blueprints. He could extract professions and skills freely out in the field anyway. He had just looted a Miner skill recently, after all.

He slammed the "Spin" button.

[Spinning!]

The wheel blurred into a vortex of flashing neon lights. Gold, purple, and blue streaks chased each other. It slowed, ticking agonizingly past a glittering Mythical slot, only to brutally click one notch further into a dull grey zone.

[Ding! You got Nothing!]

"Tch."

The wheel spun again, teasing a Legendary blueprint before clicking over once more.

[Ding! You got Nothing again! x2 streak!]

Caelus’s eye twitched. The familiar, terrifying dread of the gacha began to creep into his chest. But the wheel spun a third time, glowing a faint blue.

[Ding! You got +100 EXP]

"Come on..." Caelus muttered.

On the fourth spin, the roulette exploded with a blinding, golden-purple radiance.

[Ding! You got 10x Mana Potions (Legendary, 1-star)]

[Ding! You got an Undying Token (Legendary, 1-Star)]

Caelus exhaled a long, heavy breath. He had been genuinely sweating after those first two dead spins, but this was a massive haul.

[Item: Undying Token (Legendary, 1-Star): When you die, you resurrect with full health and an additional +50 HP to your maximum HP pool lasting for 5 minutes.]

[Item: MP Potion (Legendary, 1-Star): Restores 80% of the user’s MP instantly. Afterward, restores 5 MP every 5 seconds until the mana pool is completely filled.]

It was a stroke of luck that these Mana Potions worked perfectly for restoring his Chaos Axiom energy. Otherwise, he would have had to turn the Domain upside down searching for a highly specific Chaos Axiom Potion.

Caelus turned his gaze toward Kevin, who was staring back at him in sheer bewilderment. Caelus was truly a walking anomaly. The way he acted and the things he pulled off defied all logic. Maybe being entirely unhinged was the secret to gaining power in the Domain, despite having a trash E-Rank Affinity.

However, before Kevin could process his thoughts, Caelus’s eyes flashed with a dangerous light. He shot toward Kevin with terrifying, untrackable speed.

[Talent Activated: First Generation: Spark Ignition!]

"Wait, what are you..."

BOOM!

In a flash of blinding heat, Kevin’s physical avatar was violently vaporized into glowing digital ash. Caelus immediately reached his hand into the dissolving particles, activating his core ability.

[Extraction failed...]

"Tch." Caelus clicked his tongue in genuine annoyance.

It failed! He was hoping to snatch Kevin’s talent before the respawn system kicked in. That could only mean one thing: he had to keep grinding extractions.

Just then, a system blare interrupted his thoughts.

[Ding! You need to complete three Space Games to be eligible for the Middle Expanse. Would you like to initiate matchmaking for a Space League?]

"Yes," Caelus smiled. "If it can be finished early, why wait?"

While fighting the alien invaders earlier, he had easily gauged their power levels. Most had reached Iron II, but they weren’t significantly threatening. As long as he maintained his overwhelming momentum, he could secure victories. The Domain only cared that the planet won, not which rank of being brought them that victory.

[Space League Stage 2 initiated.]

[Initiating Teleport.]

Caelus’s vision flashed. When the light faded, he found himself standing at the starting line of a massive, open terrain course. Several alien beings materialized around him.

[You are in Map #50]

[Ding! Challenge initiated.]

[Condition: The first participant to reach the far end of the map is the winner.]

A familiar figure pixelated into existence right next to him. It was Kevin.

Kevin was pale, breathing heavily, and clutching his chest where he had just been incinerated seconds ago. He looked at Caelus with a mix of pure trauma and complete speechlessness.

"Are you insane?! Why did you just kill me?!" Kevin shouted, his voice cracking.

"Oh, you’re back," Caelus replied with a small, shameless sigh. "I thought you were a shape-shifting alien spy hiding among us. But it turned out to just be you. My bad."

"..." Kevin stared at Caelus. There was a limit to blatantly lying to someone’s face!

"Hmph. Two Humans. Is this your first time in the Space League?" A raspy, grating voice interrupted them.

Caelus glanced over. A lanky goblin with muscular, coiled legs was staring at them with a crooked, mocking smile.

"Unfortunately for you frail apes, in a pure sprint, you have absolutely zero chance of winning." The goblin burst into a grating laugh. "Humans are naturally the slowest race in the Lower Expanse! As for me, I evolved from a standard grunt into a Swift Goblin. You can never outrun me! Hahahah!"

[Get ready...]

Kevin and Caelus ignored the goblin’s boasting.

"Do you think we can actually win this, Caelus?" Kevin inquired helplessly, massaging his temples. He was still rattled from being vaporized.

"What do you think?" Caelus smiled faintly.

"I... I’m uncertain."

BEEP!

The starting blare rang out. Instantly, the ground shook as the alien participants exploded off the starting line. Dust kicked up into the atmosphere as the horde of extraterrestrial racers shot toward the horizon with terrifying, superhuman speed.

Kevin stood frozen. The race was over before it even began. These beings were incredibly fast.

Caelus casually watched the alien racers pull halfway across the map. He turned his head to Kevin.

"What do you think the probability of us winning is now?"

"The probability? Is there even such a thing anymore?" Kevin smiled bitterly.

"Tch. You should be more confident, Kevin," Caelus muttered.

He turned his gaze back to the track. His golden draconic eyes locked onto the finish line.

Whrmm!

[Talent Activated: Projection Frame!]

Caelus’s physical figure violently distorted, glitching out of reality itself. A terrifying sonic boom shattered the air at the starting line, the sheer kinetic pressure nearly knocking Kevin off his feet.

WHOOSH!

The wind pressure from Caelus’s launch tore a trench into the dirt track. Behind him, a rapid succession of afterimages painted the terrain. He effortlessly swept past the horde of alien racers, moving so fast he was nothing more than a blur of golden-black lightning.

"What was that just now..." The Swift Goblin started to ask, looking over his shoulder in confusion.

But before the goblin could even finish his sentence or process the blur that just shattered the sound barrier beside him, a massive holographic screen flashed across the entire sky.

[Ding!]

[Caelus Kross is the first participant to reach the finish line. New track record established!]

[Caelus Kross is the MVP]

[Clearance Reward:

[1. +5 Level]

[2. +10,000 Origin Credits]

[3. +10 Reputation Points]

[4. 5x Gacha Pass (Legendary, 1-star)]

[You have five minutes until you can make your next choice.]

Every other race stopped dead in their tracks as they stared at the lone figure of Caelus that stood at the end of the map with his body crackling with lightning.

"It’s a human..."

They were stunned.

They too had speed type skills and talents. Some even evolved their race to be able to move faster... yet they couldn’t win against a human?

They were too stunned to speak.

Humans didn’t have much standing in the Lower Expanse. The other races had something they didn’t, and that was their racial skills and aspects.

Humans didn’t have them until they evolved two times from a normal human to a high human and then beyond.

"..." Kevin was completely baffled on the other hand.

What the hell was this?

How was he so powerful and so fast?

"Does this guy even have a weakness?"

[Would you like to initiate the final match?]

[If anyone has cleared the stage as fast as you, you will get matched. It will be a 2v2. If someone from your stage managed to become an MVP like you, you will be paired with them. Or else you will be going in alone.]

"Talk about being unfair." Caelus clicked his tongue but then smiled.

He knew who was going to be on the other side.

[Initiating Jump...]

His vision blurred, and he was in a huge arena.

[Initiating Livestream.]

[The last stage will be streamed to everyone.]

[Win the 2v2. Death is permanent here. Good luck.]

"Hm." Caelus’s eyes hardened lightly seeing this, but just as quickly he relaxed.

He had already prepared himself for this. Hence, his initial shock swiftly vanished.

Then a pleasant voice came from the side.

"Good work~" It was Sylvia.

She waved at him with her little hands.

"I expected to find you here." Caelus smiled seeing Sylvia.

"Same~" Sylvia clapped her hands with a smile.