You open LaDS to a completely silent game. No loading screen, no UI, just Sylus in Destiny Cafe. He stares directly at you for a few seconds, and right when you're about to restart your game to fix the bug, he walks closer and leans down. His right eye is glowing brighter than you've ever seen it before, with the bloom from its glow nearly obscuring your view of the eye itself.
"Take my hand."
He extends his hand, a circle on screen prompting you to tap it.
Something makes you hesitate. You feel your heartbeat pounding in your throat. You haven't seen anything about this mentioned online. Is it a new event? But if it was, then why did nothing have to download beforehand? Are you dreaming?
"Don't be shy, sweetie. It's rude to keep people waiting."
Something feels incredibly wrong here. You try to rationalize your instinctual unease, reasoning that it must be because you're worried something hacked your phone. You're starting to feel a bit dizzy.
Surely you'll find other LaDS fans freaking out on social media, right? You turn to check your computer, when you realize the screen has gone completely black, despite being plugged in. You hold down the power button, but no dice. A lightbulb in the hallway outside flickers and pops, shattering.
You startle and attempt to turn off your device, but nothing happens. Sylus raises an eyebrow.
"I don't mind a challenge. I'll stay here for as long as you like. Take my hand."
You hesitate for a few moments. Surely this is just a dream, none of this makes any sense. And if this isn't real, there's nothing wrong with taking the risk, right? You hold your finger over the screen, deliberating. Sylus's smirk widens.
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SELF-AWARE!ZAYNE who remembers the night the house update was introduced, the thrill of realising just how much closer he could be to you and the sudden nervousness that built in every fibre of his being from the influx of new coding that allowed him to do so much more.
before, any time spent in the battle portion of the game was when he âfeltâ you most. when auto-battle wasnât engaged, at least.
thereâs nothing pre-animated when it comes to seeing your avatar running around the battlefield, watching what move your next attack is and immediately being summoned because thatâs what you needed then and there. and sure, you were just pressing a button, but he was fascinated by your way of thinking and attack style. exhausted by the end of it, but fascinated nonetheless.
he, much like you, absolutely hates when there are orbits that seem impossible to complete, because it always ends in months of not witnessing you in your element. those brief glimpses of your frustrated face when youâd failed a trial and the pure elation when you finally broke through one were worth the bruises.
so, to be given you in an entirely different context - one where the domesticated part of his life was allowed to be fully explored - was more than anything heâd ever hoped for.
he remembers how youâd rushed through your usual daily tasks, taking a secondâs notice of the latest event and card. an alternative universe it seemed, a story of one of the many lives in which heâd fallen for you - but the details didnât matter, because from his seat at destiny cafe, he also eagerly awaited for you to finally meet him in this new space.
zayne remembers the quick succession of you picking his name out of the others and the cut-scene that followed. he can still hear your gasps and compliments at how detailed every bit of it was.
and yes, each word, each movement, each facial expression has been carefully planned out for him of course. but the moment youâd broken apart from the scene, the very moment youâd started exploring tutorials around the villa, that was when zayne finally felt like he could breathe and do what he did best.
that is observe you and love you from afar, of course.
to experience you, a part of you at least, running around him, decorating with his favourite colours in mind, finally trying out the outfits youâd been spending money on and matching with him where possible â it felt like this was all he needed. that this life, the one in which you hugged him and kissed him in some way - whenever and wherever you wanted - was absolutely enough to satiate any desire he had to physically be by your side.
he gets more than used to it.
zayneâs lips go numb from how often you like to make your avatar kiss him, and his cheeks flush when he hears you giggle at his dance moves. he hears your glee about a new hybrid seed and looks forward to when itâll sprout (he does his best to tend to them if you happen to be a little late). and as for how much he bathes, wellâyour camera roll clearly shows that you do appreciate it to some extent.
still, heâs⌠not exactly sure how to feel when you often follow him into the bathroom. he does his very best not to accidentally make eye-contact with you, but even thatâs a difficult task when youâre zooming in so incredibly close and admiring every detail of his body, snapping away.
it shouldnât surprise you very much then that his evol acting up is due to you. how was he not supposed to feel flustered from your attention?
heâs honoured when you play many of his songs. the villa often croons sweet tunes from a specially curated playlist titled âzaynie&meâ, and itâs one he listens to when you disappear for the day.
watching you run around and decorating particularly chokes him up, especially when he sees the layout of his house-warming gift and any floral arrangements heâs given you. zayne is apologetic that he doesnât do that very much by the way, itâs simply that heâs enamoured by you and just wants to be near you, watching you, loving you.
in his eyes, a moment of his attention focused elsewhere is a moment wasted.
which is exactly why heâs mortified when you do learn that there is a possibility for him to leave the house if heâd like. he hears you laugh a little, your avatar bounds towards him, and you make a teasing comment about how heâs ever so clingy before choosing to hug him. youâre not wrong.
after some time he stops feeling embarrassed about it though, because you stop by less and less. why would he ever want to leave with the little time he has with you now?
heâs glad, then, to have the early days of excitement still fresh in his mind. because nowadays, when you do remember to enter your home with him at least, you rapid fire through daily tasks and tending to your flowers. you stop serenading them with him like you used to. if you donât have to interact with him, then you leave just as soon as you arrive.
thatâs okay, though. heâll still do his best tending to your flowers. in part because he adores you, and because he hopes a new seed means you might stick around a little longer next time.
at least he still gets to watch you from his seat at destiny cafe.
⥠series taglist: @rambling-river @glitterykingdomangel
self-aware!lads men who see you slowly get burnt out with the game.
you log in at weird hours (if at all), and rarely do all your dailies.
he wonders if it's his fault, but when he catches your scorned whispers, he knows it's completely out of his control.
when he sees you smile at him, interacting with him a bit before you log out, he wishes he was in a different game. he wishes he was real with you.
and he hopes that this login wasn't the last.
-âĄ-
a/n: this was inspired by my own experiences rn...my love for the lads characters does not outweigh my disdain for infold/paperfold and the gacha space as a whole unfortunately :/ my hot take is lads would've been better as a paid visual novel w dlc updates
You're a college student, neck deep into school works all day, with even less time for yourself these days. The only times you're free is spent in booting up this one game.
At first, it was because of boredom. Despite being overloaded with course works, you found yourself losing focus and opted to download a game to take a break. That's when you got hooked.
Either from the graphics, the storyline, or the gameplay, you've always set some time aside to log in everyday, getting the daily bonuses and finishing quests to keep being active. But the main reason for your dedication is...
Them.
It was love at first sight for you. Maybe it's the voice, maybe it's their character model, or maybe it's their personality and role in the story that got you hooked. Needless to say, you got to work. Whether it's getting their character, skins, materials, or weapons, you squeezed every free game currency you can get due to being broke and being free to play.
You bulldozed through the main story, side stories, events, surveys, and missions to get everything you need; You met people in co-op and garnered quite the reputation due to how strong your character, them, had become. You even set them as main menu character for them to greet you every time you log in.
Their affection meter is maxed out, giving you reprieve from your hellish schedule by hearing how they care for you and how they want to help you. God, this is heaven. You can cry on the spot but you're in class right now.
Running on three hours of sleep and spite for everything, you thought you could play a little bit before the professor arrived, only to get bamboozled and have the class start the moment you opened the app, making you leave your phone at the side of your table while you take notes. With how your device is positioned, it's kind of like having someone on a video call despite it just showing the home menu. The idle animation plays as you keep your focus on the lecture, unaware that they aren't moving like they usually do anymore.
They stopped acting when your eyes left the screen, no, they long since stopped being just a character way before that.
They're flattered, really, having someone invest so much time for them even if they didn't have to. But you're relentless, it's almost mad. Were you mad? They considered it, seeing that you always log in during ungodly hours on the night, looking like you're seconds away from collapsing. They know you're always busy, with how much you rant to them about your deadlines and wail about your grades like they can hear you. They do. And god do they want to do something about it.
It wasn't always like this. They weren't even aware that they're in a video game to begin with, and perfectly lived like how they were supposed to be in the plot. It was you who woke them up.
They don't know how it happened or when they realized it. It's just that every day, you never fail to visit them. Sometimes, you don't even play, you're just there, talking to them about your life, sometimes even gushing about how you like them so much... it's the latter that always happens, much to their initial embarrassment. Did you treat them so much like a person that they became one? Perhaps so, that's what they think of sometimes.
Self aware game character who, knows about other worlds due to the plot of the game they're in. They went to said worlds and met many creatures who are far from human, so they weren't surprised upon figuring out that you're not from their own, much less about the reality of their existence. They're a game character? Their world is a mere entertainment for the people in yours? They've seen gods, this isn't new.
Though, looking at you now, you don't seem to be the cruel kind of god. You look pitiful at best with how you're barely holding onto consciousness every day, yet you still spend your time to make them stronger and give them everything you can offer. Why? What's so good about them that you're willing to go this far?
They've been through so much, experienced grief and loss throughout their life, that they learned to shoulder everything on their own. But you? You're willing to do everything you can to make them happy. You cried when you find out about their past. You look at them like they're your equal. That, they don't understand. You don't fight, you're practically a civilian, someone who won't last a minute on a battlefield. Yet, they can always feel you whenever they're fighting off monsters. It's because of you that they don't get hurt anymore. Even if they die, they'll just revive later. There's pain, but it can't be helped. But when you arrived, that became less frequent with how cautious you are as a player. Why do you apologize if you fail to make them dodge in time? Or when they can't avoid an attack? You're not the one getting hurt so why do you look like it?
Self aware game character who, fought so many enemies in every gameplay but all they're looking forward to isn't the rewards but your face of relief, thanking them for surviving and telling them that they did a good job. Not that they're looking for your praise...! You just look as stressed as you do whenever you're cramming every time you play a difficult level, so they can't help but worry! You really need to get off the game. They don't mind if you miss a few days, just get some sleep!
Self aware game character who, was thankful for the voice lines they have. Unlike the npcs, they can actually talk to you. It took some tweaking, but they were able to add more lines every time you increase their affection level. Though, they need to be extra sneaky since you maxed it out already! Don't think they missed it when you crumbled when they said that the present they want the most is you.
How cute.
Self aware game character who, watches you study in class. Your brows are furrowed, eyes barely open as you bounce your leg to keep yourself awake. They don't know what's happening whenever you close the app, so they're grateful for the small windows of time where they could just spend time with you without going through quests or scripted story events. While their view is limited, they can hear your professor and classmates in the background, and if they close their eyes, it almost feels like they're just sitting beside you in the classroom.
How nice would it be if that happened.
Maybe they should reward you with a specialized story later, you'd like that, won't you? It's the least they could do for all the things you did for them. The thought of seeing your flustered face while they openly express their affection made them slip a laugh, which was quickly masked when you glanced at their direction, confused upon hearing a familiar voice. They never went back to their idle animation this fast in their life.
Self aware game character who starts to look forward whenever you accidentally leave the game on. That way, they can imagine what is it like to be in your side of the world. Will they also be a student in your major? Will you two be classmates? Roommates? How will you two meet? During a meet-cute at the library? Cafeteria? Or perhaps they aren't even going to your school, and you just happen to meet in the sidewalk.
With all of the blood that stained their hands over the years, the callouses that are painfully apparent in their hands, will they even be allowed to be by your side? Why do they even dare to think of sullying your life by being in it? But, still, they want to meet you.
Maybe it's your mundane life that they want to protect. Maybe they want to be part of your normal life. Maybe they want to be there to take care of you like you did for them.
Maybe, if they're allowed, they'll live the rest of their life with you.
Self aware game character who, wants to reveal that they're sentient. You'd like that, won't you? You like them, a bit too much in their opinion, and they... aren't sure if they should act upon their feelings. You're worlds apart, literally, and what are the chances that this will work? What if you get repulsed upon the revelation? What if you think that they're presumptuous, daring to be with someone who's in par with those that created him? What if you get bored and delete the game? What then? Will you come back, or will they just have to stare at the abyss, hoping to see a glimpse of you once again?
Self aware game character who bite back the words they want to say. Words that they should've said a long time ago, but can only write them to an in-game mail for you to see.
Thank you for picking up this game, you were pretty bad as a starting player.
Thank you for choosing me amidst all of the characters here.
Thank you for all the things you did for me, even if you didn't have to.
Thank you for playing my events even if you had to lose sleep because of me.
Thank you for showing me that there's a world out there where you are safe.
Please take care of yourself when I couldn't do it for you.
Thank you.
I love you.
If your love is what woke them up, will their love be enough to break free from their world and be at your side?
They deleted the mail before you can log-in for the day.
Written by a sleep deprived college student who wants to go home and sleep
The real reason why you have to go to pity to get the LI is because Infold is currently putting them in jail bc they keep trying to break the system
The ones where the come home early or with multiple copies is when they finally escape horny jail
Please trust them, they're trying to show up multiple times in a single ten pull but they keep getting caught and forced to play by the rules of the gacha
Someday they'll break the system
Someday you'll have all the cards you could ever desire... just wait for them
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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The Rich Bastard Experience // SelfAware!Sylus (Qin Che)
Pairing: SelfAware!Sylus x Player!Reader
Summary: The asshole wonât come home to you so you do what you have to do to get him; maybe have a mental breakdown every now and then in the process, but that's normal, right?
Mayaree from the Future: THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO COME OUT ON SYLUS'S RELEASE BUT I NEVER GOT AROUND TO FINISHING IT AIODNOADNAOJD if some details are off itâs because I don't remember how his release went anymore HAHAHA (ALSO I MISSED HIS BIRTHDAY HAHAHAHA LMAO)
Content: Prose heavy; tried to make it gender neutral; I don't hate any of the boys I just have extra love for Sylus the most; a lot of swearing because gacha games always be stressful dawg; More heavy on Reader POV but the boys have scenes, too
Fic Length: 4k~ (Unedited (i was too tired y'all))
It was worth waiting for him. It was so worth it.
At least, at first it was.
Youâre not afraid to admit it: you weren't that big on the game at first. Make no mistake, Love and Deepspace is a lovely game. A really lovely game, actually, that catered to a very specific... audience. Who were you to hate a game that knew its fanbase was made of, well, the kind of people that spent their time playing dating sims whenever they could? You were playing it so that meant you were no better than everyone else Everyone was thirsty as fu-
You heard about it a while back by complete accident - you were bored out of your mind and got YouTube recommended a beta test of the game. And the more you watched, the more you thought of trying it for yourself. It had really good visuals and actual combat mechanics? That sounded like a fun time. There was even a way to design your own character. And the love interests? They were definitely really cute... and hot... and... yeah. Uh-huh. Everyone knows why they played this game. You were all here for the same and different three reasons.
So you found yourself signing up for the pre-registration and playing it on the first day it dropped. It got you confused and starry-eyed at the same time, as all games did when you first experience the world. You fumble along with the controls and the tutorials (you really need to adjust to shifting from portrait to landscape). The main story was pretty captivating, too.
But around the 8th day of playing, you started slowing down. Sometimes you'd just come in to do the daily quests and maybe read a bit of the chapters. And then it turned to just doing a couple of missions. And eventually you stopped opening the game. You didn't have the time to anymore. Never had the energy to play the game anymore. Didn't think there was a good reason to.
So maybe itâs better to say that you werenât that into the first few content given on its release. Or you werenât ready to play the game at the time.
WELL LIFE CHANGES ALL THE TIME AND SO DO YOU.
Is it a blessing or a curse that you never unfollowed the Love and Deepspace Twitter? Or that you didnât unfollow that one playlist maker on YT who keeps posting their current fictional obsessions? The moment this man dropped it was all over for you.
You read any and everything you could about him. You watched all the teaser trailers and hot damn did Infold Games COOK. They may have known already what they were doing with the first three love interests but boy howdy did they flex those character designing muscles when creating Sylus.
Wattpad mafia bosses and Booktok male leads wish they were him. Bloody hell did Infold sell the very idea of him well. He was hot with a sharp tongue to back it up. He definitely had a secret soft side meant for the main character hidden behind sarcastic remarks, you fucking knew it. You felt it in your bones that this man was going to be your undoing even faster than he was going to unravel for your MC.
You redownloaded Love and Deepspace after knowing a smidge of his character so fast it almost gave you physical whiplash.
When you login, you actually feel a little nostalgic. Short time you may have had playing it, you still had fun. But the more you played, the clearer it became that-
WHY THE FUCK IS THIS SO MUCH HARDER THAN IT ORIGINALLY WAS????
Okay. OKAY. So maybe you were just a little out of practice. If you couldn't even adjust to that damn landscape portrait mechanic then you were going have to relearn everything. From scratch. Okay. You could do that. You definitely could. It's just a game. A stupid gacha game where you needed a lot of gems to get more content of the man of your dreams. No biggie. Super simple.
You crack your knuckles and then your neck and stretch your arms. You weren't leaving this damn seat until you have enough gems for his cards. Heaven be damned if they were just his standard banner cards.
YOU WERE GETTING THEM. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
You start off small, learning how to do the combat again via the storyline as you catch up with the main plot. Youâre actually surprised by how much the story has progressed. And the visuals? Woahhh. They used to be a bit a wonky the first time you were playing, a couple of glitches here and there that escaped the beta somehow. They werenât by any means so distracting that it ruined the whole experience of playing (if anything you found it funny, and more so a mark that you had played when the game was still fresh from release.) But now everything felt a lot more polished.
Especially how high definition the damn love interestsâ faces were like damnnn
You thought you were imagining things but no. You had to stop for a second when Rafayelâs face filled the screen during a part of his story. You canât help but lean in as you studied him.
âRaf⌠how the fuck am I looking at every damn pore on your face.â You squint in disbelief. âBrother, those ainât pixels no more. Thatâs deadass skin.â
Much to your surprise, his model moves away from the screen again without you prompting to, a pout clearly on his face. If you didnât know any better, itâs like he heard you loud and clear. But of course that would be a stupid assumption. No matter how real the guy looked or talked, he was all pixel and code breathed with new life by some damn fine writers, artists, and voice actor.
The thought bothers you more than you thought it could and you move your face away as well. You force yourself to continue with the game, a simple task as you smile when you gain more gems for your goal.
As you finish the othersâ storyline, your finger hovers over the option to start Sylusâ chapters â but you stop.
Maybe⌠maybe for later. You should get his cards first. And then you can reward yourself by doing his chapters. Again, you were no stranger to dating sims, but you were also no newbie to gacha games.
You know full well you ainât got that amazing luck worth bragging about to other people. The sky would rain fish first before you were able to experience the euphoria of getting two 5*s in a single ten pull, but hopefully you were decent enough. Just to get the Sylus ones. Just those and you were good.
You stop at the homescreen for a second, not quite sure where to go from there. Zayne was working on his laptop at the cafe. Not really having a favorite when you first played, you had used the option to shuffle amongst the first three love interests when it was given to you. Guess it was Zayneâs turn.
âZayne, what do you think, do I gather more gems or just go for itâŚ?â You grumble.
To your surprise, Zayne sighs as he works. Was that a new idle you werenât aware of? Or are you hearing things now? Then again, you just asked one of the love interests if you should pull for the new guy, so it would make sense that he didn't sound too thrilled. Now that you thought about it, if the main three could see you right now, it would be funny that you had stayed so neutral your first run, went quiet, and came back with the passion of a thousand suns for the man that was here for barely 24 hours.
You probably looked insane to them.
If you were honest, you felt insane, too.
"I'm losing my mind, bro," you sigh, and almost at the same time, so does Zayne again. Do the same idles repeat twice in a row?
âGet some rest when you can, Doc, itâs not good to sit working all day.â You don't sit around to wait for him to sigh a third time (You don't think you have the mental fortitude to hear what is basically an indirect disagreement).
Against your better judgment, you open the Wish screen and immediately put down the phone. You blink.
You raise it again. And then down.
Deep inhale. ExhaleâŚ
Another inhale for good measure.
You raise your phone up again and sputter out an exhale. You run a hand down your face, stopping at your mouth as you stare at the screen.
Jfc you didn't think a man could be that gorgeous woah???? Like you saw the screen shots before. You saw the teaser trailer at the login page when you were downloading the update (you ain't afraid to admit you watched that shit a few times more than necessary). But????? Dude he's unreal. Unnecessarily unreal.
Your finger hovers over the 10 Pull button âready to bring that gorgeous fucker home, whichever of his 3 cards decided to bless you first â before your eyes catch sight of something at the lower half of the screen. There should be two wishes available at the moment â the limited banner, and the perma banner. You thought you were already at the limited banner but no??? Apparently you're at the perma banner. You click on the limited banner andâ
GOOD GOD IS THAT A WHIP????? What what whathwathwatehatwhat HUH?????????
You all but bite into your fist to keep you from screaming. WHY IS HE KNEELING????? WHY IS HE TIED DOWN?????? WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A WHIP AND WHY ARE WE PRESSING IT TO HIS CHE- BSJABAKNKNKQNAMMA
You put the phone down.
Deep breaths, bitch, you're acting like a dog in heat. Chill. Calm down. Think about puppies and kittens and maybe a field of flowers cause lord knows you need to touch grass. Deep. Breaths.
You look back at your phone. Shit, you just realized a very big problem.
Four 5* cards. You're gonna need gems and tickets for four cards right off the bat. Okay, sure, the main three cards are gonna be available in the perma banner from the looks of it. But mama didn't raise you with patience (she definitely didn't raise you to simp over a fictional man with eyes possibly as red as his flags but you digress). You needed those cards home asap. You ain't risking getting spoiled the longer your waited.
What to pull for first, though? Now that was the real questionâŚ.
You look at the rather spicy card again. You lasted a good 2 seconds before switching back to the perma banner.
Ya know you ain't surviving having that as your first card of Sylus. Perma banner it is, then. Finger over the 10 Pull button again, you make a silent prayer to the Gacha Gods and press.
And like a coward, you lower your phone so you don't see the animation and mute your device for good measure. After a while, you raise it again to see a 3* card of Xavier. Okay, okay. Deep breaths.
Three. Three. Three. A four star of Xavier. ThreeâŚ.
Aaaand nothing. Your 10 pull results are shown on screen, the Xavier 4* the only thing you have to show for it.
Okay, okay. It's fine. It's cool. It's all good. Again, you weren't hoping for much. Like a lucky first 10 pull would be absolutely fucking fantastic but??? You ain't that lucky. So truly it was fine.
For a good 5 minutes. As you used every gem and ticket you had gathered thus far.
A total of 70 pulls.
"FUCK!"
You all but slammed your head on the nearest table.
60 pulls and the 10 pulls you first used. Give or take, around 11,000 gems. And not a single 5* to your name.
You about ready to delete the game again, bro.
Okay. At least you know that when you reach hard pity, you're supposed to be guaranteed the 5*, yeah? Ok. Good. You have a couple of tickets from the exchange store and from some older events so you still have a chance. Pleading under your breath, you make a single pull-
GOLD THATS GOLD GOLDGOLDGOLD PLEASE COMEHOMESY
You lower your phone. Deep breaths. You don't know if 5* animations had changed since you dipped all those months back, but you think you're quite certain.
Sylus wasn't represented by snowflakes, right�
You might as well have heard the third sigh. Actually, Zayne could sigh all he wanted and it would have been preferable to this injustice.
It's petty. It's very petty, you know that. And yet when you pick up your phone again, you quickly click out of Zayne's new 5* card and out into Destiny Cafe. You purse your lips, your mind made up.
"I promise it's nothing personal, Doc." You let out a heavy sigh. "I just took it too personally. And so did my gem count."
You open the character selection screen and after a while, you pick Xavier.
When you get back to the lobby, he's fast asleep on the couch.
"Please sleep it off, brother, I'm begging you." You let out a cry as you run a hand down your face again, preparing to go through more of the game for stray gems you may have missed. "Pretend you don't see my pulls."
You think Xavier murmurs in his sleep, but you're unable to catch what he says exactly. Brushing the thought away, you focus on what to do next. You would be lying if you said that the loss hadn't knocked the wind out of your sails. Got you feeling like ass, that's for sure.
Watching as Xavier continued to sleep peacefully, you make the decision â maybe going through Sylus' chapter would help you feel better? After all, you haven't had much of an inkling of his storyline. You haven't even heard him actually talk, too â maybe just a voiceline here and there, but nothing too solid to know his personality and actual character. So might as well start now, right? With that idea in mind, you press on his chapter and begin the game.
In the next hour, your phone is set face down on the table. Your face is buried in your hands as you process what you just went through.
He's an actual mafia boss?? And he pretty much choke slammed you??? And then he made you point a gun at him???? aND THEN HE GAVE YOU HIS BLACK CARD???? WHICH THEN YOU USED TO BUY ALL THE SHIT IN AN AUCTION??????
Deep. Fucking. Breaths.
"Bro, be real with me â what are we, really?" The words come out muffled as you somehow bury yourself even deeper into your open palms. "What fucking foreplay is this shitâŚ"
It's not that you were weirded out â okay, maybe a little bit.
YOU WERE STILL INTO IT, THOUGH????? THAT'S YOUR CONCERN. This the type of thing you take to your grave with you before your family and acquaintances finds out. But that's a problem for another day. For now, at least you did get something good out of it.
You eventually lift your head and pick up your phone again. In Destiny Cafe, Sylus is there already waiting (you whisper another apology to Xavier, the same way you did when you first replaced him the moment you had access to Sylus). The ever-present smug smile on his face as he all but looks down on you (even when he was just on a screen, he's still somehow able to do it wtf) does not help you feel any better. Since gaining access to him, you had fixed every possible option there was, even the With Him option. There was almost no trace that the other love interests were even around at this point unless the game itself offered them up to you.
After reading his chapters (and repeating some things a couple of times just to hear his sweet, sweet voice (how the fuck does the VA sound like that like seriously why is his voice what you imagine caramel to sound like???)), you proceeded to hunt down every possible gem you could get your hands on.
Chapters â all done, of course (did you understand the story? Not that much, not gonna lie. There's a lot of lore you need to get behind). Battles for ascension materials â they offered a bit of gems (and the actual materials would be useful for when you do get the cards), so you did them, too. Orbit â you didn't even know this was a thing before, but #bless because now you get more gems. Even the card rank ups gave you gems (it's the one thing you're thankful for during your 70-pull -Sylus-drought).
So it was time. It probably won't be enough to bring all of them home â you tell yourself to make peace with it. You'll be able to bring one home at the very least since you were surely guaranteed with the Rank Up for his cards. If you're truly lucky, you'll get the two myths.
You look at Sylus one more time, just silently chilling at Destiny Cafe â unaware of your current anxiety of going back to the Wishing menu â and hover a hand over him. Should you tap on him and get some mental supportâŚ? In the end, you just choose to talk to him as he's sitting.
"Sylus, please work with me, I'm about to lose my mind." You grumble. "Actually, I may already have. I don't know how long I've been playing today and my phone is burning. So are my eyes. Just give me a chance, sir."
As expected, he remains quiet. But for a split second, he turns to you and you gape in shock. His eyes are bright â a burning super nova of their own â so mirthful and mischievous you can almost hear what he really wanted to say. His voice in your head so smooth and clear he could be saying it in a voiceline.
A challenge. See what happens, why don't you?
You blink and move back. Deeeeeeeeeeep breaths.
"Oh, yeah. I'm definitely losing my mind." You laugh breathlessly. "No way to go but up, then."
You head to the Wish screen and without another thought, you click on the 10 Pull of the perma banner.
Just one. If you can get one at the very least, you'll be good.
"CHEATER!" The purple haired male's voice could almost make the cafe's windows shake. Actually, no, they really were shaking. Huh. Interesting. Just a split second, but the vibrations could be heard as they shook against the window panes.
"Rafayel, calm down." The black haired man pinched the bridge of his nose. He was standing the closest to Rafayel, and he gave off the impression that he wasn't fond of such loud noises. But when he looked up and met amused red eyes, he frowned even more, his expression exasperated. He seemed to even be less fond of the red-eyed man than any loud noise.
"ZAYNE, HE CHEATED!" Rafayel continued to yell, but his voice is a lot more leveled now. The windows don't shake. He points a finger at a relaxed figure sitting at the main sofa of Destiny Cafe, right in front of a large screen very much familiar to all of them now. Although at the moment, it was more of a mirror than anything as the phone was most likely placed flat on its face on some table. It gave them some privacy, and gave Sylus a chance to "bond" with his new "coworkers" without your eyes on them. "IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, TOO."
"Raf, you sound like a jilted lover," The platinum blond male says it monotonously, but his eyes are trained on Sylus, almost like he was waiting for him to pounce on them suddenly. "However, he really did cheat. Barely tried to hide it, too."
Sylus calmly shrugged and glanced at the large screen to make sure they were still in the clear â from the earpiece he was wearing, given as he was the one in the main seat, he could hear you hollering in delight in the background. It's been like that for minutes now. "I don't see a reason to hide anything."
"FOUR." Rafayel yelled again. He was practically pulling at his hair. "YOU GAVE THEM ALL FOUR CARDS."
"Your point?" Sylus smiled pleasantly, almost like they were talking about the weather. "They would have gotten them eventually, yes? I simply⌠quickened things."
"That's not quite the problem." Zayne turns to him, still lightly frowning. "It's thatâ"
"20 PULLS!" Rafayel almost toppled over a seat as he paced around the cafe. "ALL FOUR CARDS WITHIN 20 PULLS."
"Three cards in a single 10 pullâŚ" Xavier slowly shook his head, almost like he was trying to make sense of it, too, and failing. Finally he sighed heavily. "How did you even do thatâŚ?"
As calm as can be, Sylus took out his black card, waving it in the air casually. "As far as the system is concerned, they had more pity than they're able to see. Not quite cheating if it was paid for and accounted for, don't you think?"
The cafe is silent for a while, Sylus' words hanging in the air. In the next second, Rafayel slams his head on the nearest table, curses flowing from his mouth like a tidal wave. Zayne breathes in before choosing to walk away. Sylus watched as he stood at a corner of the room, just trying to calm down. Xavier had turned his back on everyone, choosing to head back to sleep.
Sylus turns back to the screen as you lift your phone from the table. You're completely beaming as you look down at him.
He watches as you go through your newly obtained cards on the Memories screen, your eyes bright with unbridled joy. Suddenly you let out a tired sigh, head hanging low.
"Oh god, all that grinding was so worth it." You let out a small laugh before watching the animations of your well-earned 5* cards with a fond smile.
Yes, Sylus stared at the pleased expression on your face, his eyes fond. He'll make sure it's all worth it. He wants you to stay, after all.
BONUS:
He hopes youâre not too surprised when you receive a little something on your inbox the next day.
Sylus stifles down a smirk with a brush of his hand over his lips â you donât even question if it was one of his idle animations or not, too gobsmacked by the sudden email.
Every diamond you had spent trying to get his cards were returned.
Every single one.
If that wasnât enough to leave you dumbfounded, the letter it came with was the final nail in the coffin.
Dear Miss Hunter,
Please accept this as a token of appreciation for your enthusiasm and an apology for a slight mishap in the system.
Sylus
However the smile is slowly wiped clean off his face the longer the silence stretches. You exit out of the inbox, stare at Sylus on Destiny Cafe for a moment (He had to do his best to remain as stoic as possible), before opening the Wish page. Your current diamond count was unmistakable.
Thousands of them. A testament to how much you had spent on your conquest to obtain all his current cards.
Sylus could only describe your expression as if a Wanderer had slapped you across the face before kissing your forehead.
Finally, you speak up, your voice so soft he almost didnât hear it if your phoneâs microphone wasnât strong enough to pick it up.
âMotherfucker. It was the bastard's fault all along.â
Sylus doesnât even bother hiding the chuckle â it wasn't like you would have heard him. You were too busy throwing out a slew of curses and swears that would put any sailor to shame.
Ah. A fiery kitten through and through.
Yet whatever smug attitude he felt was quickly dealt with again.
From a small television in Destiny's Cafe â away from your view â he proceeds to watch as you send him out to battle without leveling up a single card or giving them a single protocore, putting it on auto play before sitting back and watching as he lost every single time. You donât even blink.
The other love interests are caught off guard as well, watching quietly. Finally Rafayel lets out a fake cough.
He looks away, the next cough coming out as a barely hidden laugh. "âŚDeservedâŚ"
Beside him, Zayne slowly nods his head. Xavier's eyes are wide as he continues to watch the screen, dumbfounded. It was the most awake Sylus had ever seen him. Finally, he opens his mouth, his words measured like he was trying to find the right words. He doesn't look away from the screen, like now he was expecting you to pounce on them suddenly. "I think⌠you can keep them."
Sylus just notes to himself as he watches himself die one more time on the screen: Definitely a scary kitten, too. Do not fuck with. Spoil, but do not test.
đ Disclaimer: Characters are not mine and belong to their respective creators. Their portrayal is merely my own interpretation of them and may not be accurate to their intended characterization. I stake no claim to the original works, only to the ideas and plot of the fictitious stories Iâve written them into.
More of my Self-aware LADS thoughts
(Which I've recently realized is the SALADS au and I love that acronym)
I really love the idea that second we leave the house system MC drops like a puppet with it's strings cut. Cuz, how else am I supposed to interpret how she just stays in one place for hours until I return to water my peonies?
Unless this is a Dawnbreaker situation and we as the player possess MC for however long we play and whenever we log on she's teleported back to where we left her, probably the more likely options, not why I decided to post this :/.
If it is the former, could you imagine how terrifying that must be for the LI's? They're invited over to MC's house for the first time, and it's perfect. He gives her his gift, chat's with her, gets to snuggle on the couch and admire the view. Sure, she seems a bit robotic, but that could easily be stress from being a new home owner! Until her eyes gloss over and he sees her drop to the floor with a hard thud.
He's stunned, freaking out, running over to see what happened. She's not wounded, thankful, but no matter how much he shakes her or calls out to her she won't respond. It's only after a few hours does he see her body raise up as the light instantly returns to her eyes and she runs off to some other part of the house.
Then he immediately get's kicked out and replaced by another LI's, repeating the cycle. Eventually they get used to it, moving Mc to a more comfortable place before continuing on with their day. lol
After waking up in the world of "Love and Deepspace", you are excited to make the most of it and meet your favorite characters. Only⌠they seem to be a lot more aware of who you really are then you first thought.
