Lady Luck?!?!?!

Steven spent the early morning browsing the Player Marketplace on his computer.

This time...

He wasn't just window shopping.

He was planning.

"A second chance..."

He leaned back in his chair.

"No..."

"A third chance."

He still wasn't entirely sure how to classify what had happened.

Had he rewound time?

Had he jumped to another reality?

Or was he simply reliving his own life after death?

Whatever the answer...

He intended to abuse every bit of future knowledge he possessed.

The Player Marketplace had a convenient Bookmark feature, allowing Players to save items they wanted to purchase later. Steven immediately started filling the list.

The first item caught his attention almost immediately.

Beginner's Mana Pistol

Quality: Common

Attack Power: +5

Special Effect: Automatically draws mana directly from the user's MP pool. No manual mana charging required.

Steven nodded.

"So that's why everyone recommends this thing."

More advanced Arc Gunners apparently focused mana into specialized weapons, creating stronger shots through concentration.

This pistol skipped that process entirely.

Lower damage.

Higher convenience.

Perfect for beginners.

His Intelligence sat at twelve.

The handbook had mentioned that eight was considered the baseline human average.

"So my Intelligence is already four points above average..."

He wasn't entirely sure how the hidden damage formulas worked.

But he knew one thing.

The pistol simply granted another five points of attack power on top.

"Good enough."

Bookmark.

The next item was jewelry.

A single silver earring with a tiny sapphire embedded into it.

Apprentice Mana Earring

+60 Maximum MP

Steven practically drooled.

"...Sixty mana..."

"That's six extra shots..."

"...or six more points of healing."

Bookmark.

Then he searched for passive skills.

His healing skill consumed mana.

Which meant...

Recovering mana automatically would dramatically increase both his survivability and combat endurance.

After several pages he found exactly what he hoped existed.

Skill Book — Mana Tide

Common Passive Skill

"Gradually regenerates Mana while outside of active combat. Recovery rate increases slightly with Wisdom."

Steven grinned.

"...Perfect."

It wasn't flashy.

It wasn't rare.

It wasn't exciting.

It was...

Practical.

Exactly the kind of skill he wanted.

Bookmark.

"Eventually."

The remainder of the day passed quietly.

He played a few hours of Rose Online.

Browsed YouTube for the latest dungeon discoveries.

Scrolled endlessly through X, reading player theories about hidden mechanics and newly conquered Gates.

Most of the community still had no idea how deep the System actually went.

Steven quietly smiled to himself.

"If only they knew..."

Dinner smelled incredible.

His mother had made baked lemon-pepper chicken with buttery mashed potatoes, roasted green beans, and warm dinner rolls fresh from the oven.

Simple.

Comfort food.

The kind of meal that somehow always tasted better when someone else cooked it.

Steven happily cleaned his plate.

Afterward he spent the evening watching the newest episodes of a few seasonal anime before eventually drifting off to sleep, his healing skill steadily consuming mana throughout the night.

The following weeks became familiar.

Heal.

Exercise.

Recover.

Repeat.

Except this time...

Steven pushed himself much harder.

He knew exactly what was waiting for him.

Weak legs wouldn't cut it.

Every day he forced himself to stand longer.

Walk farther.

Climb stairs more often.

By the end of the second week...

He felt even stronger than he had during his first life.

His movements were smoother.

His balance better.

His confidence greater.

When he could comfortably walk again, he booked another Slewber ride to the Player Association.

Walking into the lobby felt strangely nostalgic.

The same young woman sat behind the reception desk.

This time...

Steven actually looked at her instead of nervously staring at the floor.

She had shoulder-length red hair pulled behind one ear.

Freckles sprinkled across fair skin.

Rosy cheeks.

Medium-length pink-painted fingernails tapping rhythmically against her keyboard.

She was pleasantly chubby rather than slim, giving her an approachable appearance.

Steven couldn't help but think...

"Actually..."

"She's pretty cute."

"My kind of woman, now that I think about it."

He immediately shoved the thought aside before it could linger.

Business first.

"Hello."

"I'm here to register as a Player."

The receptionist looked up.

Her eyes widened exactly like before.

"Oh my God..."

"Um..."

"One minute please."

She reached for the phone.

Steven almost laughed.

Déjà vu was becoming a daily occurrence.

Three minutes later...

The elevator opened.

Gerald stepped out.

The same weathered face.

The same white hair.

The same battle scars.

The same firm handshake.

The same office.

The same speech.

Steven answered every question almost identically until...

"What class were you assigned?"

"Arc Gunner."

Gerald stopped writing.

"...Interesting."

He slowly leaned back.

"That's considerably rarer than most starting classes."

Steven stayed quiet.

Gerald continued.

"Most Players begin with straightforward professions."

"Hunter."

"Warrior."

"Monk."

"Scout."

"Basic Mage."

"Arc Gunner..."

He folded his hands.

"...Most existing Arc Gunners actually started as other classes before acquiring a Class Change Book."

"You simply..."

"...started with it."

He smiled.

"I think special cases deserve special treatment."

Steven blinked.

Gerald pressed the intercom.

"Linda."

"Yes, sir?"

"Prepare Mr. Thornberry's Player Identification Card."

A pause.

"And authorize a fifty-thousand-dollar Starter Advancement Grant."

Silence.

"...Fifty thousand?"

"Correct."

Steven nearly fell out of his chair.

Gerald chuckled.

"If we're fortunate enough to receive a naturally rare class..."

"...it's worth investing in their future."

A few minutes later Steven held his Player Card.

Moments after syncing it to his phone...

His Player Wallet displayed:

$50,000

Steven stared.

"...No way."

His Luck was still four.

Yet somehow...

Everything seemed to be aligning in his favor.

He quietly checked the Player App.

Just as he'd hoped...

Only Arc Gunner and Mana Circulation appeared.

The mysterious gibberish skill remained completely absent.

Hidden.

Invisible.

Only visible through his own personal System.

Steven quietly whispered...

"Thank the gods."

The Skyrim reference slipped out instinctively, earning a confused look from Linda.

He awkwardly coughed.

"...Sorry."

Outside...

He checked nearby Gates.

Nothing.

The Beach Gate hadn't respawned yet.

Of course it hadn't.

This time he'd healed far faster.

He was weeks ahead of his previous schedule.

"So..."

"I need somewhere else."

Without hesitation he purchased the bookmarked equipment.

Ten thousand dollars disappeared.

Beginner's Mana Pistol

Another ten thousand.

Apprentice Mana Earring

He immediately created a new Equipment Preset.

Mana Pistol.

Mana Earring.

Saved.

Simple.

Efficient.

Twenty thousand dollars remained.

After another hour of searching...

One Gate caught his attention.

It required nearly an hour-long Slewber ride.

The reconnaissance report simply stated:

Recommended Level: 1–10

Environment Unknown

Primary Objective Unknown

Monsters Identified: Animated Constructs

Completion Rate: 0%

Steven frowned.

"...Nobody's beaten this?"

Curiosity won.

The ride eventually stopped several streets away.

Traffic had been rerouted.

Concrete barriers blocked the road.

Police tape fluttered lazily in the summer breeze.

Standing directly in the middle of the intersection...

Rose an enormous silver Gate.

Its polished surface reflected sunlight like a mirror.

The carvings covering both doors were unlike anything Steven had seen before.

Interlocking gears.

Massive clock faces.

Swinging pendulums.

Mechanical birds.

Tiny armored soldiers marching between intricate machinery.

Every carving appeared frozen in time...

Yet somehow looked as though it might begin moving at any moment.

Steven slowly approached.

"...A clockwork theme?"

He rested a hand against the cool metal.

Then pushed.

The doors silently opened.

Light swallowed him.

When his vision returned...

Steven stood atop a massive brass platform suspended in endless sky.

There was no ground below.

Only clouds stretching infinitely in every direction.

Towering clockwork mechanisms rotated all around him.

Gigantic gears larger than buildings meshed together with deafening precision.

Steam hissed from bronze pipes overhead.

Massive pendulums swung across distant gaps.

Entire bridges shifted position every few seconds as gears rotated beneath them.

Some staircases slowly turned upside down before righting themselves again moments later.

Nothing remained still.

Everything...

Moved.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The entire world echoed with the rhythmic heartbeat of an unimaginably large machine.

A blue System window appeared.

Gate Objective: Unknown

Warning: The mechanisms never stop moving.

Steven slowly smiled.

"..."

"...Now this..."

He drew his newly purchased Mana Pistol from his Inventory as it materialized into his waiting hand.

"...looks like an adventure."