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The Rich Bastard Experience // SelfAware!Sylus (Qin Che)

Pairing: SelfAware!Sylus x Player!Reader

Summary: The asshole won’t 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 it’s 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.

You’re 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 it’s better to say that you weren’t that into the first few content given on its release. Or you weren’t 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 didn’t 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. You’re 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 weren’t 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 interests’ faces were like damnnn

You thought you were imagining things but no. You had to stop for a second when Rafayel’s face filled the screen during a part of his story. You can’t help but lean in as you studied him.

“Raf… how the fuck am I looking at every damn pore on your face.” You squint in disbelief. “Brother, those ain’t pixels no more. That’s deadass skin.”

Much to your surprise, his model moves away from the screen again without you prompting to, a pout clearly on his face. If you didn’t know any better, it’s 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 others’ storyline, your finger hovers over the option to start Sylus’ chapters — 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 ain’t 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 Zayne’s turn.

“Zayne, what do you think, do I gather more gems or just go for it…?” You grumble.

To your surprise, Zayne sighs as he works. Was that a new idle you weren’t 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?

“Get some rest when you can, Doc, it’s not good to sit working all day.” 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. Exhale…

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 —ready to bring that gorgeous fucker home, whichever of his 3 cards decided to bless you first — before your eyes catch sight of something at the lower half of the screen. There should be two wishes available at the moment — 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 and—

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 question….

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. Three….

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 — 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 — 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 — 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 shit…"

It's not that you were weirded out — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 — unaware of your current anxiety of going back to the Wishing menu — and hover a hand over him. Should you tap on him and get some mental support…? 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 — a burning super nova of their own — 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 — 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 that—"

"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 pull…" 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 that…?"

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 you’re 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 — you don’t 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 wasn’t 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 didn’t hear it if your phone’s microphone wasn’t strong enough to pick it up.

“Motherfucker. It was the bastard's fault all along.”

Sylus doesn’t even bother hiding the chuckle — 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 — away from your view — 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 don’t 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. "…Deserved…"

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.

🌙 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 I’ve written them into.

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