Episode 1: The First Gacha

I'll keep it easy to read and push the story along nice and smooth.

What the hell is this!?

The words slipped out before I could stop them—“That”… the moment I saw it.

After work, I decided to take a different route home—then there it was, just sitting alone in the empty lot in front of the abandoned building.

A “Gacha” plastered with hype phrases like “Limited-time only!” “Right now!” “Guaranteed rare or higher!” “Amazing deals!” “Open and be shocked!” — it’s like they’re trying to cram every possible selling point into one sentence.

"Vending Machine," but it looked more like a slightly smaller version of one—no coin slot for spinning, just a bill acceptor.

Closer now… really look…

Once, ten thousand yen.

"High!!!"

Only a complete lunatic would pay ten thousand yen for a suspicious vending machine like that. No way anyone’d actually do it!!! I was about to walk away, thinking that... ...Gah!

Something's bugging me... no wait! Seriously bugging me!!

Is it just human nature to want to try something suspicious? Or is there some psychological trick in this Vending Machine's pitch??

Right now, I’ve got twelve thousand yen in my wallet—so I could do it. I know. It’s like throwing money down a drain. Me, twenty-eight years old, still a freelancer. Working at a izakaya, barely scraping together sixteen thousand yen a month after taxes.

For someone like me, ten thousand yen is a big deal... but still...

I grit my teeth and slide a 10,000 yen note into the Gacha Vending Machine. Clack-clack, clink—light sounds, and the capsule drops down.

Relief washed over me—just that it came out at all. Could’ve been nothing but money, no return at all.

I picked up the capsule, twisted it open, and pulled out the contents. Inside was a tiny ball, like a marble, and a small piece of paper that looked like instructions. There, it read:

[Space-Time Manipulation] SSR

You can manipulate time and space by eating it.

"Wait... this is the thing I'm supposed to eat?!?! It wasn't a marble, was it? Some kind of candy, maybe?"

Still, manipulating time and space? Seriously? I mean... I did spend money on gacha pulls in old social games, but I never thought I’d actually drop ten thousand yen on some random, half-assed gacha in real life.

I considered calling to complain, but there’s no phone number on the vending machine. Even if I did, who’d answer?

I put the candy in my mouth, gave up, and stared at the vending machine. A faint sweetness, but honestly... it tastes terrible.

I turned away, walking home slowly, already deciding I’d never touch this machine again.

Back at home, I started preparing dinner. Living alone means I have to do everything myself.

I pulled out a beer, popped the cap, took a sip, set it on the table, grabbed a snack from the fridge, and turned around—my elbow knocked the can off the table.

"Ah—"

That’s when it happened.

The beer can froze mid-air. Like someone hit pause on a video. I looked around, stunned—clock hands were frozen, the TV screen was dead, completely still.

After a few seconds, everything resumed normally. The can fell, the clock ticked, and beer spilled on the floor.

"No way... no fucking way..."

I stood there, dazed, shivers crawling up my arms.

I stepped back to the clock, concentrated hard, and whispered, “Stop, time.” 37... 38... 39...

It never reached 40. The clock hand stayed frozen at 39 seconds.

Time really stopped.

"That gacha... was real all along...?"