The Ultra Rare Chapter

After school time! A time for the Weeb Club to reunite once again and discuss the wonders of Japanese entertainment! To engage in a passionate discussion about the latest topics coming directly from the Land of the Sun! To share their excitement for the future of the industry of videogames! This is the daily routine of the Weeb Club!

*tap tap tap tap tap*

...or not.

"You guys..." started Alex, drinking his lemonade. "You've been playing that game on your phone the entire day. Not that I care about this club or your health though..."

"Whatever, tsundere boy," said the President.

"Don't care, normie boy" said Luna.

Neither took their eyes off their phones. Alex could see anime girls of all kinds on the screen, drawn in chibi styles and fighting against weirdly out-of-place monsters, like dragons and zombies. It was a cute game, yet he could not understand how his clubmates had got so addicted to it.

"Is it fun?" asked Alex.

"Not really" replied Luna.

"Why are you playing it, then?!"

"I can skip the battles with some tickets," said the President.

Luna added, "Yeah, just farm Stage 40-5 and you can skip like 10 battles right after".

"You guys are playing just to not play?!" Alex felt left out. "Why would you play something so much just so you can stop playing it?"

Suddenly, the President stood up, both fists in the air, and happily yelled.

"キタ━━━(゜∀゜)━━━!!!!! "

"What is that supposed to mean?! Actually, how did you make that face?!"

"Alex, my boi!" the President was crying as he grabbed Alex from the shoulders. "The time has finally come. I haven't slept for three days, and I ran out of stamina drinks, but she's here. She' finally here!"

"Who is?!"

The President showed him his phone. An illustration of a young girl in bikini armor, holding a pretty big axe. The letters "SSR" were just above her written in rainbow colors.

Alex was still confused. "You lost three days' worth of sleep over a picture of an underage girl with a weapon she can't even hold?"

"Here we go again..." whispered Luna while tapping at her phone.

The President slapped Alex in the face.

"You hit me! Not even my father has slapped me before!"

"Alex, you fool! This picture is proof that not giving up is always worth it! That you're gonna be rewarded for your hard work, eventually! That little girls are the best! My god, little girls are just the best!"

"I'm calling the cops," said Alex as he took his phone out, but the President grabbed it from him before he could dial.

"Perfect time! I will show you the wonders of this game! Now now, sit down!" said the President happily. His eyes were sparkling as he offered his usual seat to Alex. Already regretting bringing up the topic, he sat down and the President gave him his phone back.

"OK I'll play for a bit, but you guys don't really make it sound like fun. Where do I download it?"

"You already have it."

"How?!"

"I installed it two weeks ago. I'm actually surprised you took this long to talk about it"

Luna added, "Oh right, I also deleted some pictures. Gee, you sure have some pervy tastes."

"Do I have no privacy?!"

"No"

"No"

Alex gave up. Taking a sip of his lemonade, he looked at the screen.

"OK, what do I do first?"

The President sat next to him and calmly started his explanation on the basics of this new videogame.

"Just do the tutorials, gee."

"Alex please, are you really that lazy you can't just...read?" asked Luna who was playing with just one hand while she looked at Alex. She had already memorized the position of every button on the screen.

"You guys are supposed to teach me!" cried Alex.

"Dude, if you have questions just google them. You have a phone in your hands."

"Honestly, you're like an old man. You want us to get you your pills, old man?"

"You guys are the reason I cry at night." Alex decided to focus on his phone. A girl dressed as a fairy and she started talking.

And talking.

And talking.

She just kept having dialogue boxes one after the other.

"Uh, guys? Is this game one of those novels you play or something?"

The President and Luna gave him disappointed looks.

"So now you complain about the text? Are you one of those people who think reading is for nerds? Oh no, the scary words, Alex look out!"

"Alex please, it's just letters. It's only gonna take you an hour or two.

"Just for the tutorial?!" Alex yelled.

"No, the tutorial goes after the prologue. Now shut up and read, the intro is actually a sequel from their last game. Ah, don't worry, they'll explain what happened after Chapter 12. You just gotta keep grinding until level 500 to unlock that."

"I don't care anymore..." Alex tapped and tapped on his phone.

*2 hours later*

The main menu.

"I did it...she finally stopped talking..." Alex felt dead inside. He had spent the last two hours reading confusing lore with unknown characters in a strange fantasy world before they started explaining hundreds of mechanics and words he had not heard before.

"Congratulations on passing the first part of the tutorial!" said Luna as she clapped.

"Yeah yeah, let's just play this thing so you guys leave me alone." Alex went straight to the Team Builder menu and noticed he only had three characters, yet the team allowed up to five of them.

The President put a hand on his shoulder, and with a serious tone he explained. "Alex, my boy, it is finally time for you to learn the wonders of Gacha."

"Gotcha?"

"GA-CHA! But before you do that, Alex my boy, I must warn you about the..."

Alex tapped the screen, hoping to avoid another speech.

"They're just anime characters, President..." A flashy animation showing crystals of all kinds popped up and one after another, characters were revealed on the screen.

Lastly, a rainbow-colored one popped up and revealed the girl the President had cried for so excitedly before.

Suddenly, a fist went straight into Alex's face and sent him flying across the room, him landing on his head.

"I HOPE YOU DIE IN A FIRE"

To Alex's surprise, both the fist and that voice had come from Luna.

"e...et tu...Luna?" Alex fainted.

Alex would eventually wake up in the middle of the night. A note from Luna was taped to his head.

"uwu! sowy for hitting you! good luck on gacha hell! *Luna*"

Alex read the note and wondered what Luna meant with Gacha Hell. Probably just another random otaku term that didn't actually mean nothing. He stood up, opened the door and went home.

*****************************************************************

A week had passed.

Neither Luna nor the President had heard from Alex since that day.

"Whatever, he's probably busy getting more Ultra Rare characters! Gosh, does he have any idea how much we worked our asses off for Yuri-chan?! She only has 0.2% of appearing and he gets her right away! Beginner's luck, I swear!" Luna had spent the entire week messaging the President about it, and by that point, the President had stopped thinking altogether.

Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door. It was one of their teachers.

"Excuse me, are you perhaps friends of Alex?" asked the teacher.

The teacher was called Rosalia. As the club had no designed teacher (it was pretty infamous, after all), Rosalia had been selected to talk to them after losing a bet. Rosalia was the most quiet, shy teacher of them all, often struggling to keep students' respect.

"Well, we know him I guess" replied Luna, who wore his worst face after hearing that name.

"Did something happen, Teacher?" asked the President.

"I think you should both see it for yourself..."

*******************************************************************

"DUDE I WILL LITERALLY SELL YOU MY LUNCH AND I'LL DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR TWO WEEKS"

They found Alex at the school cafeteria. He was talking to random students, grabbing them by their clothes and offering odd jobs and goods in exchange for money.

Alex was wearing nothing but his underwear. He preferred boxers. His eyes had big dark bags underneath them, and he looked like he had lost half his weight.

"WE HAVE BEEN FRIENDS FOR OVER TWO DECADES, MY GUY! PLEASE! JUST ONE DOLLAR IS ENOUGH! ACTUALLY MAKE IT FIVE, I JUST NEED IT"

"I have literally never met you before!" The random student shook him off and ran away.

"Ahh no, please, you were my last hope. Danny! DANNYYYYYYY!"

"MY NAME IS NOT DANNY" was heard from the hallway before Alex started crying.

Rosalia looked at the club members and started explaining the situation.

"Your friend has been like this all day long. His parents say he's been acting strange since last week. Apparently he sold all his personal stuff and doesn't leave his room at all."

Luna looked the President. "You think he has a debt to pay or something?

"A debt? What could that guy even be interested in? He doesn't even have hobbies."

Their teacher added, "Oh, they also said he hasn't let go of his phone and gets violent if you try to take it from him. Apparently he fought a dog on the street because it yelled at him and he thought it was after his phone."

"Oh no", exclaimed Luna as she covered his mouth with both hands. "Was Alex hurt?"

"It was a poodle"

"That bastard..."

"But yes, he was bitten twice"

"..."

Alex got on top of a table and announced to the world. "My name is Alex, and I'm a dancing machine! Watch me dance! But don't forget to pay!" He started doing strange movements with no sense of rhythm whatsoever. So this guy even sucks at dancing? What is he even good for? The narrator has an opinion now? God damn it author, just type the story!

The President started walking towards the dancing man. "Do not worry, ladies. I will handle this." he said with his back facing them.

"President, I will go with you!" said Luna, but the President turned his head and smiled at her.

"I will be back, Luna. This is my last battle before I retire. And after that, we will get married. I am not scared anymore. Just what could possibly go wrong?"

"Stop raising red flags and just go!"

The President disappeared in thin air.

"He disappeared?!" said Rosalia, shocked.

"No, he's above him!" yelled Luna.

"PRESIDENT DROPKICK!" The President's kick went straight into Alex's face, sending him flying across the cafeteria before landing on a vending machine. Hot coffee poured on his head.

"It buuuuuuuuuuurns!". Alex scratched his head on the floor before collapsing on a chair.

"Sorry, Alex my boy, but I had to slap some sense into you" said the President as he approached Alex.

"That was no slap!"

"Well, details aside..." The President crouched in front of Alex, their eyes meeting at the same height. "I know why you are like this, my boy. I have been observing you, and I noticed. I have seen many people like you. Your soul was stolen. Your humanity is gone. What made you be you is gone now, leaving nothing but an empty shell of dust and bones."

Rosalia looked confused. "Uhm...Luna? What is he talking about?"

Luna wore a serious expression, like the main character of a shounen manga from the 80's.

"We forgot to warn him about it. God, how could we be so clueless. This is all my fault! All because I got mad at him that day". Luna covered his face as she started crying. "We forgot to warn him about Gacha Hell!"

Indeed. Alex had not, for one second that week, let go of his phone. Even as he went flying across the room, he sent his characters on a mission before landing on the chair. Every second was precious for him, as every single stage would get him closer to a new character.

Alex dropped his head, looking hurt. But suddenly, he started laughing.

"You guys don't get it. You don't get it at all! I'm just so close! The Special Event Sumer Limited 2X Rate UP! Banner is ending in two hours, and I'm only 50 gems away from Miko-chan! She will carry me to the leaderboards! And she looks so cute in that kimono! You guys just don't get it at all, you hopeless bastards!" Alex laughed like a lunatic.

That fateful day, once he got home, he received a notification from the game. He was awared enough gems to summon 10 new characters. And it all went straight downhill from there. Alex had received two new Ultra Rare characters instantly, yet what surprised him the most was reading the rules of the system.

"Every banner has a 0.2% chance of awarding an Ultra Rare character!"

Alex had never had luck in anything in his life before. Absolutely everything about him was normal. His looks, his grades, his personality, his skills. All of it was as common as humanly possible.

Yet just now, he had defeated the laws of this world. With a mere 0.2% chance of getting a character his clubmates had worked so hard for, he managed to surpass destiny and the gods themselves to award himself with two characters! And the game just kept throwing gems at him.

New mission beaten! 25 gems!

Thanks for logging in today as well! 10 gems!

It sure is hot today, isn't it? Have 5 gems!

The game was a friend. It was the best friend Alex could ever hope for. It made no fun of him and constantly awarded him with presents. The characters on his menu would greet him every single day, with smiles on their faces and inviting him to go into different adventures.

And yet, no other character came after that.

Alex had played the gacha hundreds of times that week, yet he had never gotten a new character after his initial ones.

"Dupes! It's all just duplicates! Oh why have you forsaken me, gacha gods?!" he started yelling at his ceiling before he even realized what he was doing.

Eventually, he ran out of stages to farm gems from. He ran out of beginner rewards. He ran out of options. But then he saw it. His one and only salvation.

"Special Offer! 1500 Gems For Just $9.99!"

That's right. He didn't actually have to play the game! He could just save time by giving them money! $9.99 is pretty cheap, isn't it? Just once will be fine! Surely one purchase would be enough.

"I didn't get a character that time. I spent 10 dollars, yet I didn't even get a duplicate! So I did the obvious thing! I kept buying! I would justify my purchases by rubbing my new Ultra Rare characters in your faces! But they just wouldn't come home! My savings, they were all gone before I knew it! My parents yelled at me for using their credit cards! Why do they even put a limit on those?! Do those companies like not earning free money?! So I sold my stuff!" Alex grabbed an imaginary thing in his hand and showed it the President. "First it was just some stuff I didn't use anymore. I sold some games. And then I sold my books!. And then I sold my TV. Before I realized, I had nothing but my clothes left. So I sold them!"

Rosalia had started crying as well. "Alex..."

Alex stood up and faced the President. "And yet! I could've bought more chances! I should've sold more!"

He saw himself surrounded by all the girls he had managed to get that week. All Normal and Rare characters. They smiled at him. They comforted him; he had done enough.

"I...I didn't do enough", he cried. He grabbed an imaginary watch on his hand. "This watch..two characters!" He looked at the distance at something that wasn't there. "My bike. Why did I keep the bike? It's give characters right there...five characters..." He looked at the sky. "My lunch...two more characters...I didn't deserve to eat." Alex's knees gave up and he crumbled to the floor.

"I could've got...so many characters...and I didn't!". Alex cried and the President hugged him.

"You saved enough girls, Alex my boy. Let's go home" he conforted him.

Before Alex realized it, Luna and Rosalia were hugging him too.

"You guys..." he said before starting crying once more.

"It's ok, Alex. You're my student! I swear I will protect you! That's my duty as a teacher!"

"Alex, I've been so mean to you! You're a saviour! A man of fine taste! A gentleman and a scholar! I will not doubt you anymore!"

The group hugged and cried for several minutes as other students had their food, ignoring them.

"Man, they do this like every week" said one of them.

***********************************************************************

After they all calmed down, Alex borrowed a new uniform and apologized.

"I have caused you so much trouble this week. I swear I will think deeply about my actions and be more mature in the future!"

"Oh, my boy is a grown man now, isn't he?"

"You can do it, Alex! Fight-o!"

Alex took out his phone once more. During his crying, he had got enough gems for one more chance. Just one more character. Yet, he decided not to. He gave his phone to Rosalia.

"Teacher, you can have this. I'll just say I got it confiscated for using it in class. Ah, please delete the app and don't look at the folder that says homework."

Rosalia accepted the phone with a smile. "We're all proud of you, Alex."

The club members left the school, walking close to each other. A beautiful moment of friendship.

After sending them off, Rosalia looked at the phone, ready to delete the app.

"But still, kids these days. Do they really have to struggle so much for a game? I don't really get it..." She started looking through the menus. "I mean...the characters are cute...oh, this muscular old man, he looks so cool! Ah, the dresses of these girls are so frilly and colorful! So cute!!" She finally got a notification.

"Special Offer! Rates are 3X UP!!!!!! Just For Today! Get New Characters! Tap The ROLL Button!"

Rosalia wondered about the message. "Wonder what the rate is, normally? About 50%, maybe?" She tapped the ROLL button and a rainbow crystal appeared.

That week, no one saw Rosalia again, and her rent would have to wait a few extra weeks