Pretending to be a noob in a world scaled by power level

[22] Lila's story

"How did you get into all this debt in the first place?" I asked Lila.

With a deep sigh, Lila started to explain. "My mother passed away when I was very young," she began, her voice soft. "She was the one who held our family together, the one who always made sure everything was okay. After she died, my father was... lost."

She paused for a moment, her gaze far away as she remembered. "He started to gamble. At first, it was just a distraction, a way to forget the pain. But as time passed, he lost himself in it. He gambled everything we had, and when that wasn't enough, he started borrowing money."

There was a deep sadness in her eyes as she spoke. "One night, he wanted to borrow more money. He was desperate, and the lenders saw an opportunity. They forced him to sign off on a contract. If he couldn't repay the money, I... I would belong to them."

Her voice cracked at the last sentence, her eyes welling up with tears. "He thought he could win, that he could repay the debt and everything would be fine. But he lost. He lost everything... including me."

She sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "That's how I got into this mess. That's why I was there tonight. And that's why... why I am so grateful to you for saving me."

I watched as she cried, a feeling of sympathy welling up within me. It was a cruel world we lived in, and Lila was just another victim of its harsh reality.

I then pulled her in for a hug.

"It's fine, just let all your emotions out now..." I said with a soft voice. "We all need to let our emotions out at some point." I said.

It was at the second I finished the last in my sentence, the tears in her eyes broke out like water in a dam.

She buried her head deeper into my shoulder.

"Thank you master...Thank you..."

Q: Do you know anyone with a gambling addiction?