The Gacha Of Forbidden Taboos

Chapter 2: The Taste Of Copper and Gold.

Lin Feng's POV

The smoke in the Great Hall hadn’t even fully settled before the weight of the world crashed back down on me.

I had survived Shen’s strike, but I wasn't a hero yet. I was just a survivor who had forgotten his place. The High Priest’s shock had quickly curdled into indignation. A Zero-Percentile Nullity standing in the wreckage of a Tier-4 spell wasn’t a miracle to them, it was an insult to the natural laws of Mana.

Before I could take a second step toward Shen, the heavy iron grip of the Academy Guards locked onto my scorched arms.

"Insolence," the Priest spat, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and fury. "To provoke a High-Talent and defile the Awakening Ceremony... take him to the Pits. Let the filth scrub the filth."

The Scavenger Pits sat at the very bowels of Silver-Spire, a series of damp, echoing caverns where the Academy’s pride, the spirit beasts, were housed. It was a place of rot, sulfur, and the constant, low-frequency growls of creatures that viewed humans as snacks.

I was thrown into the muck of a Drake’s pen, the sludge seeped into my open burns. I didn't wince. I watched the red screen flickering in the corner of my vision, tracking my stats like a vulture circling a carcass.

"Still alive, trash?"

Shen stood at the edge of the pit, flanked by two lackeys. He had changed into fresh robes, but his pride was still singed. He held a small, glowing orb of Stinging-Hex mana between his fingers.

"I heard you like it," Shen mocked, flicking his wrist.

A bolt of purple energy hissed through the air and slammed into my shoulder. It didn't burn like the fire; it felt like a thousand needles being driven into the bone.

[Minor Trauma Detected: Stinging-Hex.]

[Points Harvested: 5.]

Five points? I stared at the counter. The "Devouring Void-Body" was working, knitting the flesh back together, but the yield was pathetic.

I looked at the Gacha menu. A single "Basic Pull" cost 100 points.

"Is that it?" I asked, pushing myself up from the Drake dung. I spat a glob of blood into the straw. "My little brother hits harder when he’s throwing a tantrum, Shen. Are you sure you’re a Tier-4?"

Shen’s face turned a violent shade of plum. "You’re begging for it now? Fine. Let’s see how much you can swallow."

He signaled his lackeys. For the next hour, they used me as a living target. Stinging-Hexes, minor Frost-Chills, Wind-Blades that nicked the skin but didn't deep-cut.

It was a calculated torture, enough to hurt, but not enough to trigger a formal investigation.

[Total Points: 145.]

[1x Basic Pull Available.]

Pull, I commanded.

The rusted wheel spun, sluggish and depressing. It landed on a grey icon.

[REWARD: 1x Loaf of Stale Spirit-Bread.]

[Description: It’s dry. It’s hard. It’ll stop your stomach from growling.]

A piece of rock, hard bread materialized in my hand. I stared at it, then at Shen. This wouldn't work. If I stayed at this level, I’d be a well, fed punching bag for the rest of my short life.

I didn't need bread, I needed a god-slaying edge. And for that, I needed to die, or get close enough to see the gates.

I dropped the bread into the filth.

"You’re boring me, Shen," I said, my voice echoing in the damp cavern. I forced myself to stand, my legs shaking from the dozens of micro-traumas. "You’re all talent and no balls. You’re afraid that if you actually try to kill me, the Academy will see you as a monster. But we both know the truth. You’re afraid you can't kill me."

I walked toward the edge of the pit, stopping only when the heat from his aura began to singe my hair. I looked him dead in the eye, ignoring the "Danger" warnings flashing across my vision.

"Give me your best shot. Right here." I tapped the center of my chest, over my heart. "One 'Flame Burst.' If I die, you’ve cleaned up the Academy’s trash. If I live... well, you’ve already lost, haven't you?"

"Shen, don't," one of the lackeys whispered. "The Elder Mu is nearby..."

"Shut up!" Shen roared. He was shaking. His mana was leaking out in jagged bursts of orange light. "You think you’re special because you can take a hit? You’re a Zero! You’re nothing!"

He didn't just cast a spell. He drew in a massive breath, his entire chest cavity glowing like a furnace. The air in the Scavenger Pits began to boil. The drakes in the nearby pens began to howl in distress.

"Burn in hell, Lin Feng!"

He thrust both palms forward. A concentrated beam of white-hot Flame Burst erupted. It wasn't a flicker; it was a physical force, a pillar of pure elemental destruction that hit me with the weight of a falling mountain.

The world turned white.

The pain wasn't a needle anymore, it was an ocean. I felt my skin vaporize. I felt the air in my lungs turn to steam. My heart hammered once, a frantic, desperate rhythm, and then it stuttered.

[CRITICAL DAMAGE DETECTED.]

[Vital Organs: 12% Integrity.]

[Near-Death State Confirmed.]

[Hidden Multiplier Triggered: THE GAMBLER’S DESPAIR.]

[Luck Stat increased by 5,000% for 10 seconds.]

[Points Harvested: 15,000.]

I was falling.