The Glorious Evolution

Ding!

[SECOND DICE ROUND]

The announcement drew Levi’s attention away from the Taxman as the two gigantic dice manifested before Akira.

”Forty Fortune Points in one fight!” Gamemaster Gamble exclaimed, still pointing toward the Taxman’s balance. ”Let’s see whether the rest of you can put your points to better use before someone else inherits them!”

Many Rifters’ expressions turned solemn, but Akira merely opened the interface connected to her Loaded Dice.

She had already chosen her destination.

A Mystery Tile.

She pushed both dice forward and watched them tumble across her tile... soon, they settled on the total she had selected, with the Fortune Die shining slightly brighter than its crimson counterpart.

[LOADED DICE — CONSUMED]

Akira disappeared before the spectators could finish cheering, reappearing on a tile bearing an enormous question mark.

Then, three-dimensional windows manifested before her.

[Random Teleportation: Teleport to one of the thirty nearest tiles. Fortune Points may be spent to favor the outcome.]

[Challenge: Challenge another Rifter... victory grants possession of their tile and Fortune Points.]

[Random Tool: Receive a tool. Its rarity depends on the Fortune Points invested.]

Akira read all three options before glancing toward the Throne and then behind her... her cold gaze fixed on Levi.

Levi could tell that she wanted to challenge him and kill him right away... however, his garbage position on the board made it too much of a waste.

’There will be other opportunities.’

She scoffed and switched her focus to the Tool option... it was quite decent, but she refused to waste such an opportunity on a random tool.

In the end...

”Teleportation... five Fortune Points.”

The points were deducted from her balance, causing the giant question mark beneath her feet to brighten... then, one tile after another flashed across the surrounding board as the Rifters and viewers watched.

Some were in front of Akira, and some were behind her... yet she waited with her arms crossed, her expression remaining unchanged until a destination much farther ahead lit up.

Whoosh!

Akira reappeared twenty tiles ahead of the closest Rifter, putting a sizable distance between herself and the others that left most Rifters with ugly expressions.

However, before Akira could properly inspect her new position...

CLANG!

Black bars shot out of the ground and connected above her head, trapping her inside a cage.

[PRISON TILE]

[PUNISHMENT: IMPRISONMENT FOR ONE DICE ROUND]

Her fans’ cheers quietened a little while the Rifters sighed in relief... although the punishment covered only one Dice Round, she would have to wait through the upcoming Freedom Round as well, making it two rounds in practice.

Akira lowered her arms as she read the announcement, her golden pupil thinning in slight displeasure. She had spent quite a decent amount of Fortune Points, and she was about to lose more passively during her imprisonment.

’Still a good outcome... provided no one catches up while she’s imprisoned,’ Levi thought.

He recognized that her position was far enough ahead to compensate for missing the next Dice Round.

Compared to traveling across the board just to return to START with a debt, Levi would have accepted that cage without a second thought.

[THE BORROWER]

[IMPRISONED — DICE TURN SKIPPED]

The Borrower’s smile disappeared when his own notification arrived.

He had known it was coming, but watching the dice bypass him while everyone else received another opportunity to advance still made the tip of his tail strike the floor in anger.

Worse... he was still going to be imprisoned for another Dice Round!

Alas, all he could do was watch his opponents advance beyond his tile, with some obtaining tools from Fortune Wheels while others found themselves facing punishments.

Those fortunate enough to have Fortune Luck active didn’t hesitate to spend points to reduce the severity.

After witnessing Thundersap’s end, none of them were interested in entering a mandatory duel with all their Fortune Points still unspent.

By the time Levi’s name appeared, the Borrower was watching everyone from behind with four narrowed golden eyes.

At least he still had someone farther behind him to ease his pain.

[The Three-Body Problem]

Levi’s friends and fans began chanting again as the dice manifested before him... though Arthur and the girls looked less excited than before, fearing that his bad luck might strike again.

”Just let him move forward this time...” Arthur muttered, his hands tightening around the armrests and breaking them apart.

Levi shared his brother’s sentiment... he was no longer asking for double sixes or some ridiculous roll... he merely wanted to leave the starting zone without owing the board anything afterward.

With that modest wish in mind, he rolled.

Thud! Thud!

The dice bounced a few times before settling, and Levi immediately focused on the golden glow spreading from the Fortune Die.

[FORTUNE DOMINANT]

’At last...’

The total was enough to clear his Tile Debt and carry him onto the board.

However, his relief lasted for a mere second before the Borrower’s tile lit up as his destination... more specifically, the Prison Tile!

”...”

Stunned, Levi was teleported a few steps away from the Borrower, whose gaze shifted from the glowing dice results to the three celestial stars on Levi’s face.

Then, both of them stared at each other in silence as giant notification screens appeared above Levi’s head.

[PRISON TILE]

[FORTUNE LUCK — PUNISHMENT REDUCED]

[IMPRISONMENT FOR ONE FREEDOM ROUND]

Levi read the notification while black bars began rising around him... Had he been imprisoned alone, the punishment would have been almost harmless.

He had no tools to use during the Freedom Round, and unlike the Borrower, he wouldn’t lose his next opportunity to roll.

Sadly...

Ding!

[SHARED TILE DETECTED]

[MANDATORY DUEL SCHEDULED]

[MANDATORY DUELS TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER IMPRISONMENT]

The bars stopped rising after locking both Levi and the Borrower inside... then the live audience exploded into feverish excitement, shared by most of the stream viewers.

-At last!! KILL HIM, CELESTIAL!-

-This is going to be a banger battle!-

-These two genuinely share the worst possible luck... but it’s fortunate for us!-

Yet, no one was happier than Gamemaster Gamble.

”A prison sentence does not excuse you from your obligations!” Gamemaster Gamble announced cheerfully. ”You may skip your freedom, Celestial, but you certainly won’t be skipping your fight!”

Levi ignored him and kept his attention on the Borrower, whose mouth curled into a faint smile.

”I was beginning to think everyone intended to leave me behind,” he said, his tone polite.

However, Levi noticed the way his gaze kept shifting from his face to his Fortune Points... it was filled with genuine envy.

”You looked comfortable where you were,” Levi replied indifferently.

”Comfort is expensive here, unfortunately.”

The Borrower rested his hands behind his head, revealing none of the irritation he had displayed while imprisoned.

How could he? If he defeated Levi, he could recover his lost Fortune Points and earn much more.

’Borrower... one of the Velkyr Trueborn, masterful wielders of the Envy Aspect.’

Meanwhile, Levi hadn’t forgotten what he had read during the preparation period... he had learned that the Borrower could imitate techniques, traits, and even Aspect abilities he witnessed... provided he genuinely envied them.

The copies were weaker than their originals, but that hardly made them harmless since he could store multiple powers at a time... this meant Levi had absolutely no clue what kind of powers he had brought into the game, making him the sole anomaly whose current arsenal Levi knew nothing about.

Soon, the Freedom Round arrived, and most Rifters planned on making the best of it... Burden Collector was among the first to act.

The small, sponge-like creature lifted a tile-shaped tool between his hands, his rugged, white flesh compressing slightly around its edges.

He resembled a tiny humanoid sea sponge who had decided to evolve as well for the love of the game.

”Tile Favorite.”

The tool broke apart into particles after activation, causing a notification to manifest above his head.

[The first Standard Tile becomes a Fortune Tile upon landing.]

’That’s a useful one,’ Levi murmured inwardly.

Standard Tiles offered no reward of their own, but the tool had turned every future landing on one into an opportunity for Burden Collector.

He still had to reach them, and his dice would still determine how favorable the rewards were... but it was a considerable improvement over receiving nothing.

Next, Mournful Spirit, who was suffering from the Exhaustion Curse, decided to get rid of it.

She crushed a small cleansing tool in her palm, causing pale light to spread across her chest and gather around the dark mark beneath her clothes.

The mark resisted for a moment before breaking apart.

[EXHAUSTION CURSE REMOVED]

Mournful Spirit dismissed the notification and sat down on the floor, resting the biwa on her lap... then she played it softly while the rest of the Rifters continued with their turns until the second mandatory duel arrived.

[THREE-BODY PROBLEM] [THE BORROWER]

As their names took the spotlight, the Prison Tile separated from the board and rose into the sky, its metal bars still keeping them locked inside.

However, unlike the Taxman’s battlefield, the tile showed no signs of expanding beyond twice its original size.

Levi and the Borrower waited another moment before their expressions turned solemn...

There was no open ground between them, no distant corner to retreat to while studying an unfamiliar technique.

The prison left the two Rifters confined to a battlefield far tighter than any Rifter of their strength would have been comfortable fighting in.

Then... came the worst part.

Ding!

[BATTLEFIELD: PRISON TILE]

[All abilities and effects used within the tile will remain confined inside the prison.]