Jackpot from the First Day

A thrilling logo and a short opening cinematic swept past. I was floating in the middle of the void, surrounded by clusters of big and small light orbs. It looked like the character creation screen.

Two character creation methods, right?

The first was semi-custom. You pick a base race, finish the tutorial, choose skills, and select your desired job. Stats get allocated with points earned after the tutorial, tailored to your job. It came with starter gear and various other perks, so it was recommended for beginners. Most alt account players went this route too.

The second was random roulette. Exactly as it sounded—all elements chosen by roulette, with the tutorial auto-adjusting to the results. The roulette numbers ranged from 1 to 99. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠According to the official game company announcement, 1 to 40 had equal odds, but from 41 onward, higher numbers had exponentially lower probabilities.

High risk, high return. The average expected value is lower than semi-custom anyway.

Stats were one thing, but race and class could be total trash. If you hit double 1s, you might end up as a pathetic monster slave. Just delete the character and remake it? Nope, the game company blocked that. This game pursued 100% realism, which meant hardcore difficulty too.

If your character died during play, you got a 2-hour grace period. Fail to revive within that, and the character auto-deletes. In parties, someone else could revive you, but solo? Dead is dead. Pay-to-revive? No such thing. The company's stance was that even in reality, money can't bring back the dead.

Character creation was a bit different to prevent grinding. Once created, you couldn't recreate for 24 hours. To lift that, you had to drop 2 million won on a cash item. Alt slots? One extra slot cost 10 million won. At that point, they were basically nudging you to just raise one character properly.

"But a real man goes for the jackpot, even if it means crashing and burning."

I selected random roulette and took a deep breath. Fuck it—if it flops, just enjoy the flop. Treat it like a demo, play around, delete, remake.

Rankers make billions off this or whatever.

My first goal was playing around with girls in-game anyway. If the roulette totally fucked me over, I'd use my secret weapon: snap.

A few seconds of snapping could limit it to a bit of blood or a bruise. Stop just before a bone cracks, maybe?

"Here goes...!"

The race and class roulettes were straightforward. Higher numbers unlocked more options.

"13 and 15... not bad."

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Apparently, the odds of flopping here were near zero. Anything over 10 included human for race, and classes were solid too. I went with human hunter. Bows for early-game grinding was RPG canon.

Next up: stats. This was where it got real.

Novel Continent had six stats: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Endurance, Charm, Luck. They interlinked for bonus effects, but you still wanted good base numbers. The good news? Each stat let you spin the roulette three times and pick the highest.

The first four directly impacted combat power, so you needed at least baseline. 15+ was safe.

"Base stats are decent."

I nailed Strength 31, Agility 42, Intelligence 25, Endurance 22. Hitting over 40 Agility was solid luck already.

But for me, Charm's the real MVP.

Higher Charm widened customization options and boosted NPC affinity. Below 10? You'd look worse than your real self.

"Please, please...!"

Heart pounding, I spun the wheel. I didn't ask for much—just 20+.

Real-life me was tall with a decent face; a little tweak would make me a total hunk.

"What the fuck?!"

But it bombed: 5, 8, 3. How? Equal odds 1-40, right? Other players might pick 8 and grind Charm later, but not me.

"Log out."

Lying in the capsule, I checked the time. Novel Continent ran at 8x real speed. Three real hours equaled a full in-game day.

"So, roughly... 5 seconds ago."

Even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠0.1 seconds mattered to minimize pain. Calculations done, I snapped my fingers.

Snap!

"Ow!"

Finger-flick pain this time. Mirror check: red mark dead center on my forehead. Bearable—for one go.

"Fucking bullshit game!"

Exactly the sixth try, I clutched my swollen left pinky, cursing the air. Who knew all three pains would stack here? Lucky the other two were a bruise on my right shin and left knee. If those hit the finger too, it'd be broken for sure.

"Getting annoying, tch."

Logging out, rewinding, logging back in—fine once or twice. Unlike PC games with instant clicks, capsule boot-up was a hassle.

Can't I just rewind while logged in?

I iced my pinky, pondering. My ability had two modes: calculate time precisely or intuitively recall a moment. First risked time slipping during calc; second made pain unpredictable.

Convenience store gropes were under a minute, so intuitive worked. But...

Worst case, 5 seconds tops. Three spins don't take long.

In-game, it'd feel like 3-40 seconds. Close enough. Time to test.

Does pain transmit mid-login?

Imagining the Charm roulette screen, I snapped.

Snap!

"Oh, it works?"

Before me: confirmed first four stats and the big roulette. I held off spinning, waiting out the pain first.

Then the screen flooded red with a weird message.

"...What the hell?"

Spooked, I logged out mid-roulette. Hiss—the capsule opened, back to reality.

I jumped up, checking my body frantically.

"...Nothing?"

Shin and knee fine. Pinky no worse than login. No way, no fucking way.

I bolted to my room, inspecting every inch in the full-length mirror—even back and ass.

All good.

"...One more test."

Swallowing hard, snap.

Snap!

"Fuck, it works?"

I'd rewound time, but in logged-in state, the avatar tanked the penalty. Reality me and game avatar were synced.

Wait, so I can use it right in-game ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too...?

Mesmerized, snap—imagining pre-race/class selection.

Log out. Capsule hiss louder than ever. I staggered to my room, mirror vigil.

A weird cackle escaped me.

"Kekeke..."

Capsule logs: only initial login, nothing else.

Heart racing, log in—character still at race/class roulette.

"Heh, hehehe. Hahaha!"

In-game—precisely in the Safe Zone—rewind all you want, no pain. And it applied across reality and game.

Snap anytime; as long as you return in the Safe Zone, penalty nullified. No timing needed—just remember the moment, rewind days or months.

"Everything's fucked now, fuck."

First day in Novel Continent. I'd snagged my life's save point.

"So fucking boring, goddamn..."

How many times now? Thousands? Tens of thousands? The system messages on each use barely registered anymore.

Yawning mechanically, I spun the roulettes.

I'd braced for it, but mental fatigue was brutal. Like two days of all-nighters.

But the end's in sight.

Endless grinding paid off: all stats at 99, just Luck left.

"Done!"

All 99s locked in. Golden flash in the void.

"Wh-what the hell is this?"

The screen went pure white, sucking me into some space.