[Nightmare]

[A/N: Try not to have expectations about the wedding.

First, ceremonies are boring af. Second, so are weddings.]

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"This feels like… I don't know." Maze commented with a confused expression.

"I got a participation award?"

"I… don't know how to feel—"

"Ah, shut it, idiots." Miskie growled ten feet away.

"Miskie… people are watching us." Millie warned nervously.

"Yeah, and?" Miskie asked in genuine confusion.

"I…."

"Ah. Please don't make Millie nervous." Sarah requested.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Millz." Miskie replied with a genuine expression.

"Were you saying something?" Atlas asked while giving David a side-long glance.

"Ummm… no." David replied nervously.

He was genuinely conflicted about his position.

"It's kinda… strange wearing a tie." Maze laughed while looking down.

"Yeah." Atlas sighed.

"We traveled thirty million light-years away to an undeveloped civilization, only to wear the same clothing we were avoiding."

"Ah, I get it. You're rockin' the whole [realist by convenience] vibe." Maze remarked with a knuckle on his chin.

"Or~maybe." Atlas chimed.

"Weddings suck. They're boring, formal, and there's no gambling, thrill, or shame to earn."

The four people standing to the group of men burst into laughter.

Atlas and Maze were standing in a line in front of a shockingly large number of people.

Shockingly large meant three hundred people, which would have been five hundred if the massive outdoor area they were sitting in wasn't full.

It was a noble wedding area north of the Capital, and it was not meant for public weddings.

The issue the Kingdom faced was how to organize the people that knew Helix at such short notice.

So they made announcements to talk to Helix, but he was drowning in people.

They ended up giving [priority] invitations to those close to him, official invitations to important people, and then opened it up for others until occupancy.

No one expected it to be such a massive event.

Standing on the stage were ten people before an alter.

On the right there were male otakus; on the left were the females.

The order from the left was: David, Atlas, Maze, Leo, and Aleko.

Miskie, Millie, Leera, Leo, and Petra were on the other side of the stage, with Miskie closest to the alter.

"Ah. I see. Sorry, man. I thought you were too cool for a wedding type." Maze chuckled.

"Turns out you're just a shameless degenerate at a wedding."

Atlas groaned after the admission.

Everyone looked at Atlas.

"Wait. No… come back?" Leo asked in bewilderment.

"I would on any other day." Atlas sighed.

"But this is the most public [private event] in existence.

As a result, I'm avoiding eye contact with my debt collectors right now."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait. The rumors you're always running from debt collectors are true?" Maze chuckled breathlessly.

"What? You think people create backstories like that up?" Atlas asked with a lifeless voice.

"No… it's a rational point. It's just… you make a lot of money, so I'm surprise you never pay them off."

Atlas laughed at Maze's naivety.

"I see. You don't understand how this works."

Everyone listened to Atlas with expressions showing their interest.

The man's tinted blue sunglasses and [dangle earring] at a wedding made him stand out.

Combined with the suit and tie, he looked like the son of a syndicate head.

"If I paid off my debt collectors, I wouldn't have money to gamble with." Atlas explained.

Maze's eyes widened in shock.

"I've always wondered this, but… do gamblers make money gambling?"

Atlas turned to Maze with a quizzical expression.

"What does that mean?" He chuckled breathlessly.

Maze put a knuckle on his chin.

"I mean… gamblers are notoriously broke." He reasoned.

"But it with the amount of money they gamble, you'd think they'd win big sometimes."

Atlas laughed sharply.

"Ahhhhhh. I get it. You don't know how this works."

Maze's eyes narrowed in annoyance after being told the same thing twice.

"We win lots of money, revel in it for two days, and no matter how much we earn…." Atlas chuckled with confused shame in his eyes.

"We lose it all gambling in one epic night."

Maze's eyes trembled with madness swirling in them.

Everyone was likewise surprised by the admission.

"We don't go broke two days later, of course." Atlas chuckled.

"Instead, we live by streaks."

Everyone listened with true curiosity in their eyes.

An otaku gambler is not a conventional combination.

Of all of the Earthians, Atlas was the strangest.

He had the strangest fighting style and habits and never talked about anything otaku-related.

However, no one knew much about him other than Helix.

Even Helix didn't know much about him.

"As gamblers, we throw in money, and then it multiplies." Atlas explained with madness in his eyes.

"You throw in 500 hundred, and it turns to 1000; suddenly, you're at 25,000 and coked up on endorphins and adrenaline.

Those neurotransmitters don't line up biologically, but they sure as hell do at the gambling table."

Hearing Atlas' explanation was shocking to Aleko.

That's he couldn't see the madness written on Atlas's face.

There was no shame whatsoever.

Nor was there regret.

Everyone else felt adrenaline and excitement pumping through their veins.

It was strange.

"H-How did you get into gambling?" David asked.

The young man asked the question on [everyone]'s mind.

Atlas never talked about anything regarding his life, past, or otaku-related.

He'd avoid the topics.

However, everyone was misguided about their assumptions of him.

Atlas didn't avoid conversations about his life.

The main reason that no one knew about him was that no one asked about gambling.

Gambling [was] his life.

That's not to say that he was one-dimensional.

It meant that his lifestyle was the result of gambling.

So if someone didn't ask about it, they wouldn't get answers.

So they didn't get answers.

They were afraid to ask.

Atlas was wild to them.

Now two people have asked questions, and they would both get answers.

Atlas laughed and gave him a playful expression.

David was so nervous that he was trembling.

He was interested in how much people feared him despite being so bored and uncontroversial during training.

"It starts with betting you'll win a game against a friend." Atlas chuckled.

Everyone's eyes widened with shock.

"The friend says they'll pwn you; you call them an unqualified noobjack, suddenly you're betting snack packs."

Confused chuckles rang out.

They just connected that Atlas told them his story started in elementary school.

"Then you keep betting." He continued with a sharp gaze.

"Somewhere along the way, you figure out that betting something real makes the blood pump."

The four near him could feel their hearts racing.

It was contagious.

"You put on your nerve gear, and your mind becomes crystal clear, and strategies start playing out." Atlas explained in a vortex of delirium.

"Now you're in a Unilink RPG world going wild."

His insanity was sweeping outward.

"When you're in that state, the muted nerve reality experience from Unilink was no different than Myriad." Atlas chuckled with manic fervor.

"The fake magic feels real; losing feels like death.

Your body is throwing around magic as if it were reality.

Then you get summoned to Myriad, only to find it's the same world you've been living in."

Maze's mouth curled into a grin.

Everyone else was being sucked into Atlas' words like a black hole.

"Lastly, someone gives you a lot of money.

You have money to bet but don't have games to bet on.

Otakus surround you, gambling isn't exactly otaku, so you must find a way to bet.

You discover a gambling den, win an insane amount of money on your first night, and then you wake up three months later an addict.

It's a blast. You should try it."

They finally understood two things.

First, how being an otaku turned Atlas into a gambling degenerate.

More importantly, how Atlas was so strong, despite treating practice like a 9 to 5.

"I'm not going to lie… that sounds fun." Maze laughed.

"Fun's not a good word. Thrilling." Atlas declared with an evil grin.

"That's the right word."

David's eyes trembled in confusion.

"You did say Unilink, right? Not Kalcon?" He asked nervously.

Atlas gave David a side-long glance.

"Yes, Unilink. It's used by 98% of world's connected population at least once per month." He commented.

"So why do you look so nervous?"

"I-It's just…." David replied in a panic.

He wanted to shake his hands in front of his face to clear the misconceptions.

"I'm surprised. While there are RPGs, Unlink games are physical and taxing… so they're for athletes and professionals… and not exactly… video games." David explained.

"So it's odd for an otaku to play them."

Atlas laughed and looked into the air.

"Well. It's also odd for an otaku to neglect magic training to gamble."

The group laughed lightly.

"I'm curious… how often did you play Unilink games?" Leo asked.

Atlas laughed lightly with a self-deprecating smile.

"Daily." He replied.

The expression of everyone crumbled.

"Did… you exercise?" Leo asked in confusion.

"Yeeee~p." Atlas smacked.

"Mostly endurance and cardio training when I woke up."

Everyone listened with interest.

"I ran five miles a day and did basic bodyweight exercises." Atlas continued.

"You're… the strangest otaku ever." Maze laughed.

"I guess? I still played RPGs and had the same interest in light novels." Atlas shrugged.

"The difference was that I was seeking out the real experience.

I wanted to be the undefeated, overpowered protagonist and achieve real victory.

To live on the cusp of life and death.

That's why I played in Unilink worlds instead of Kalcon and gambled on my matchups.

Death has meaning, and victory has real rewards.

You'll do [anything] to win when you live for the rush.

Real exercise becomes easier when you're living out a fantasy.

So even if it's a muted world with fake fighting, it gives you something you can't achieve IRL."

The four otakus stared at Atlas in disbelief.

While he was a degenerate, they respected him.

Especially Aleko, who was inspired by Atlas' desire.

It felt dangerous.

"So I'm curious." Maze prefaced.

Atlas gave him a sidelong glance.

"Now that you're in a world with real magic, where you can feel real pain, and you can die…." Maze began pensively.

"Why do you skip practice when Marie doesn't force you to show up?

Isn't this what you were chasing after?"

Atlas chuckled.

Then he chuckled again.

He chuckled a third time and then burst into laughter.

"About~that…." Atlas laughed.

"As it turns out, it was never about the magic, being a hero, or achieving victory."

The other four were shocked by the sudden shift.

Aleko was stunned, speechless.

"I just liked gambling." Atlas laughed.

"After getting 500 gold and finding a night of Largon den, I found out that I didn't need to work hard to get my fix."

Maze's eyes widened, and his mouth curled into a bewildered smile.

"So that means… you're genuinely not working hard here…."

He chucked breathlessly in disbelief.

"You're just using your experience from Earthian videogames to be strong.

We just suck because we've never exercised or fought using our real bodies before."

"Cor-rect." Atlas smacked.

"And you're genuinely spending all of your time gambling or blowing money?" Maze clarified.

"Cor-rect." Atlas smacked again.

"That's… legendary." Maze laughed in disbelief.

"Come with me next time." Atlas chuckled.

"I…. Atlas, to be frank with you… I don't try things I find negative out of fear I'll like them." Maze chuckled nervously.

"Smart man." Atlas replied with a wry smile.

"Oh my god!" Millie cried.

"What's going… oh my go!" Sarah chimed in.

"Haaaaaah. That's stupid dramatic." Miskie chuckled mockingly.

"Who cares. I'm jealous." Petra laughed.

"Not gonna lie… I am too." Leera said with a bitter-sweet smile.

"Well. At least the guy bailing me out showed up." Atlas sighed.

"Can't you leave him out of bail duty for a day?" Maze scoff-laughed.

"Maze…. No." Atlas replied with a serious expression.

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[A/N: Please save conjecture until the future; it will only drive you crazy.

This novel is extremely twisted, so it's best to sit back and experience it unfold.]

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Power stones and grammatical errors = more content. :)