Kotario

Humanity is caught in a great upheaval after the Intergalactic Union of All Species coincidentally discovers their existence on what they had formerly considered to be the fringe of the universe. 

Without any say in the matter, they get indicted into the Union as a legal member. Unfortunately, this meant that they were now obligated to partake in the exploration of a new Chaotic Realm parallel to their universe containing rich energies, resources, and essence that the universe itself craved.

To that end, the universe has created its own will, which seeks to gather all races and strengthen warriors from them to explore the dangerous but lucrative Chaotic Realm, initiating the Augmented Reality simulation, Essence.

In Essence, one can experience a carefully crafted universe similar to an RPG game, either by going in through your soul or going in through VR. The former means that death is true, and the latter is similar to a normal FIVR experience.

Those who go in with their souls can freely receive feedback from their 'game characters' to obtain all stats, skills, and items they acquire in Essence, while those who go in with VR do not obtain that benefit.

However, those who pay for it in Essence can receive an awakening of genetic talent called abilities. These abilities are graded from F to EX, a total of 10 stages.

Not much is expected from the human race when the first 100 participants get chosen at random from the public - a standard protocol - only for each one of them to awaken at least an A-grade ability.

Then, there was Damon Arnan, a young Ghanaian politician, who ended up awakening, not one, not two, but three EX-Grade Talents. 

The human race, which had just entered the galactic playground, was about to experience a storm with Damon smackdab in the middle.

Damon's Ascension

And now, at the end of it all, it was time to make a decision.

As was obvious already, the casino had promised them not only to free them if they voted against Damon, but also various benefits that would ensure that they would be able to rise in the Bright Realm once more.

It was a deal too good to pass up.

In a way, these Pre-Chaos beings felt sorry for Damon. He was truly something exceptional, understanding the core truth of the universe about 'value' from a young age without any violence inflicted on him.

Many of them had to go through harrowing fights and deep crises back in the day in order to realize that they needed to accumulate strength in order to increase their value in order to become more useful, more authoritative or more willful.

High Stakes Gambling 24