New Game+

Morning sunlight streamed through thin curtains and landed squarely on Sam Barnes' eyes.

He groaned, turned over, and paused.

This wasn't his room.

He sat up sharply, heart thudding. White walls. A single futon. A neatly organized desk, a small kitchenette. Sliding door closet. Tatami mat floors. Clean. Minimalist. Too clean.

His pulse quickened as he stood up. The air smelled faintly of rice, fresh outside wind, and soap. Outside the window: narrow streets, cherry trees in bloom, Japanese-style rooftops.

Not Brooklyn. Not even America.

He turned to the desk. A school uniform was folded neatly on top—black jacket with crimson trim, polished loafers on the floor. A single card sat next to it:

Kuoh Academy – Student ID

Name: Sam Barnes

Grade: 3rd Year – Transfer

Start Date: April 5th

Address: Asamizu Apartments, Unit 3A

"What the hell…" he muttered.

His hand instinctively reached for his phone. It was charging on the desk, sleek and modern, but not quite like any phone he had ever used. He turned it on.

The screen was in Japanese, and yet, he could read it clearly.

No memory of arriving. No memory of applying. No warning.

Just… here.

He moved to the small bathroom and froze at the mirror.

That wasn't quite his face. It was close—same dark eyes, same hair—but cleaner, sharper, like someone had redrawn him with better lighting and symmetry. His complexion looked smoother. It was unsettling. The mirror reflected a version of himself that seemed almost too perfect—like a stranger wearing his skin. After everything he'd been through, the sudden perfection felt like a lie, a mask he hadn't chosen to wear. His eyes were brighter. He didn't look like someone who spent too much time studying under dim lights and living off cheap takeout.

"I got isekai'd," he muttered, horrified.

There was no denying it anymore. This had all the signs: sudden relocation, improved looks, language fluency, strange school setting.

He changed into the uniform slowly, cautiously. It fit perfectly. Of course it did.

As he adjusted the crimson-lined blazer and tied the last button, something clicked in his mind.

[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]

A glowing screen appeared before his eyes—semi-transparent, light blue, like something from a sci-fi game HUD.

CHAOS GACHA SYSTEM — USER: SAM BARNES

Welcome to the Chaos Gacha System.

World Classification: Anime-Type Reality (Tier Unknown)

Narrative Status: Pre-Plot Activation

Initial Gift: 3x [GOLD RANDOM TICKET]

Would you like to redeem your gold tickets now?

[YES] — [NO]

Sam stared at it. Blinked. Then whispered, "Alright… guess we're doing this."

He hesitated for a moment, staring at the glowing screen, the weight of his decision heavy on his shoulders. This wasn't a game. This was real. But the pull of the unknown... the chance at power... he couldn't resist. He tapped [YES].

The screen pulsed. A large glowing wheel appeared in front of him, flickering through dozens of shimmering icons—items, weapons, glowing orbs, even what looked like creatures.

[ROLLING FIRST TICKET…]

The wheel spun fast, clinking audibly like a slot machine, before slowing…

It stopped on a blood-red icon.

RARE ITEM: VIAL OF LIFEBLOOD

A sealed vial of condensed vitality in a semi-liquid blood form.

Effects: Enhanced vitality, minor healing factor, increased lifespan.

Secondary effects: Subtle body optimization, including skin clarity, improved physical symmetry, and reproductive enhancement.

Trait Gained: [Enhanced Vitality] — Your vitality is beyond the norm. You recover from wounds and ailments faster than average, and your life force has been strengthened, extending your lifespan.

A blood-filled crystal vial materialized on the table next to his phone, glowing faintly with crimson light. Sam stared at it, swallowing.

"...That sounds a little too useful."

[ROLLING SECOND TICKET…]

The wheel spun again—this time landing on an icon resembling a glowing parchment with strange sigils.

RARE ITEM: FAMILIAR CONTRACT

A mystical contract.

Anyone who signs it while fully understanding its purpose becomes registered in your Gacha as a Familiar.

Familiars may be summoned, dismissed, and gain experience through use.

Cannot be signed without full understanding.

A dark scroll unfurled into existence beside the vial, hovering for a moment before settling gently on his desk.

Sam's eyes widened. "Familiars? So this is that kind of world…"

[ROLLING THIRD TICKET…]

This time, the wheel glowed with a deeper, darker hue—purple and black sparks trailed behind it.

It stopped on a crescent-shaped dagger icon.

RARE FAMILIAR: BLACK KNIFE TICHE

Origin: Elden Ring

One of the famed Black Knife assassins.

Wields a blade imbued with a lesser form of Destined Death—inflicts wounds that cannot be healed and ignore durability to an extent.

Exceptionally stealthy, loyal only to her summoner, and highly lethal.

Current Status: Bound Familiar

There was a faint pressure in the air—like a sudden drop in temperature.

Behind Sam, the air thickened. A dark ripple stretched across the room, cold and unnatural. He turned, heart pounding, eyes locking onto the shadow forming in the center of the space.

A figure emerged from the shadows—cloaked in a black hood, silver trim dancing across her edges like moonlight on a blade. Her arrival was silent, but there was a subtle rustle of fabric, a cool ripple of air that kissed his skin. Her shadow pooled unnaturally long behind her. Her face was partially concealed, but her eyes burned with ghostly purpose.

Silent.

Deadly.

Sam stumbled back a step. Something instinctual—some primal awareness—tightened in his chest, like a whisper warning him to stay still. She was his, yes, but the sheer weight of her presence stirred the same unease he'd once felt when betrayal had taught him how trust could be fatal. "Tiche…?"

The woman gave a shallow bow, one hand over her heart, the other resting on the hilt of her black dagger. Her voice, when it came, was soft and emotionless:

"I am yours to command."

The system chimed.

FAMILIAR REGISTERED: BLACK KNIFE TICHE

Status: Passive until summoned

Traits: Stealth, Assassination, Destined Death, Loyalty (Bound)

Sam sat down hard on the futon, heart racing.

"Okay. Okay. I'm in an anime world... and I just pulled a legendary assassin from a soulsborne gacha. This is either the best or worst start to the year."

Twenty minutes later, Sam stepped out of his apartment, the school uniform feeling more comfortable than it had any right to.

The Vial of Lifeblood had been consumed.

The moment he drank it, heat surged through his body, as though the very sunlight of the world itself was coursing through him. His skin tingled, his muscles rippled with newfound energy, and for a fleeting moment, he felt… whole. Clean. Sharper.

His vision felt sharper, even colors seemed more vibrant. A strange, warm calm had settled in his core.

The screen had flashed again:

[VIAL OF LIFEBLOOD — PERMANENT EFFECTS ACQUIRED]

[Enhanced Vitality] Gained.

You now recover from injuries, fatigue, and disease faster than normal.

Your life force has strengthened. You will live longer.

Your body has optimized its physical form, increasing sexual function and aesthetic symmetry.

Cosmetic improvements have been subtly integrated.

He tried not to focus on the part about "genital optimization," but there was no denying the changes. His whole body felt... better. Like it had always been held back by some invisible limit, and now that limit was gone.

He walked the quiet morning streets of Kuoh, trying to ignore how surreal it all still felt. The other students looked normal enough—except for the fact that they all seemed impossibly well-groomed and attractive.

The moment he passed the Kuoh Academy gates, the air seemed to thicken. It wasn't just the morning fog or the usual buzz of school life—it was a palpable weight, as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something. Waiting for him?

He was early. Most of the upperclassmen hadn't arrived yet. A few underclassmen whispered when they saw him pass by.

"Is that the transfer student?"

"Foreign guy, right?"

"He looks kind of cool…"

Sam didn't respond. His thoughts were on the screen now floating dimly in the corner of his vision, minimized but ever-present.

He walked until he found a quiet stone bench under a cherry tree on the school grounds. He sat down slowly and whispered:

"I don't know why I'm here. I don't know what this world is."

He pulled out his phone and checked the calendar. April 5th. Spring semester. If he had to guess, the story hadn't started yet.

Which meant... he had time.

He glanced down at his hand—the one that had held the vial.

Then, quietly, he smirked.

"But I'm not playing this safe."

He leaned back against the bench, the early morning breeze washing over him. The quiet steps of students beginning to arrive echoed in the distance.

In the shadows nearby, unseen by anyone else, Tiche lingered—watching. Silent.

He stared up at the drifting cherry blossom petals, trying to make sense of the storm that had just hit his life.

The last clear memory he had was walking back to his apartment in New York after grabbing groceries. It had been a quiet evening—at least on the surface. But underneath, his mind had been heavy with distrust, fear, and years of emotional damage left behind by betrayal and isolation. Then—nothing. No bright light, no truck, no godly being explaining the rules. Just… this.

Being dropped into an anime world with no tutorial.

Chaos Gacha System, huh?

A fitting name. It gave him power, but it didn't explain anything. No origin. No goal. No mentor figure. Just three golden tickets and the warning: "Pre-Plot Activation."

He exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing.

This wasn't a dream. He could feel the cold of the metal bench under his hands, smell the subtle perfume of spring in the air, and hear the distant chirp of cicadas warming up for the day.

Everything was real. And everything was fragile.

If he truly was in an anime, then odds were high that powerful things lurked just out of view—devils, angels, magic, maybe worse. And if this was the kind of anime where people threw around energy blasts or summoned holy weapons…

He needed to get stronger. Fast.

No one knew him. No one knew what he could do.

He had no reputation, no friends, no obligations.

Only potential.

And that made him dangerous.

He smiled to himself, lips curling into something quiet and predatory.

"This world doesn't know what I'm about to become."