The Glorious Evolution

The top ten win three extra coins while the top three win five extra coins... as for the first? They win ten coins!

This translated to ten wins in the Nocturnal Ring, which was much harder to achieve... meanwhile, all they had to do was spin the wheel and bet on their chances to not get killed.

”To hit such scores, they must be hitting every single randomization even if it had a high number of trap cards.”

Levi shook his head, having no idea how they do it...but he could feel that something wasn’t natural about it.

Ting...Ting...

A moment later, the wheel had new randomized prizes on board... when Levi saw that the board had no trap card, he didn’t know why, but he felt a tingle of disappointment deep within him.

All because the shown rewards weren’t as of higher quality than the ones in the fortune wheels he saw in the network.

”I saw a short clip of a Rifter hitting the Jackpot on an S-grade Artifact... Yet, I am getting common tokens, 10% discounts, or dozens of map fragments.”

Levi murmured under his breath, but he soon caught himself getting drawn to the mind of a gambler... he shook his head and spun the wheel, ignoring the creepy grin on the Joker’s face.

Ting...Ting... Ting.

The wheel slowed down bit by bit until a green colored segment was stopped by the Joker’s extended leg.

-Congratulation... you won fifty desolate fragments!-

A dimensional message appeared before him with a small explosion of fireworks, seeking to touch Levi’s dopamine receptors and get him hooked.

”Not bad.”

Yet, Levi remained grateful and added the fragments to his collection... then, he spent another coin to randomize the wheel and waited with held breaths.

Ting...Ting... Ting!

The newly randomized wheel halted and shimmered brighter in Levi’s face, leaving him quite stunned as he gazed at the ludicrous latest collection.

”95% discount rate in the Infinity Shop for one item? 20 Citadel-graded fragments? A-ten token package... and lastly...” Levi sucked a cold breath before uttering in disbelief, ”An SS-Grade Recovery Totem... what the...”

”Well, here’s your jackpot.” Ash’Kral snickered under his breath, ”I dare you to spin the wheel.”

Hearing his snarky voice, Levi returned to reality... his vision now displayed six trap cards stacked up next to each jackpot!

The entire wheel had only ten sections... to have 60% of it covered in traps, Levi’s excitement chilled out rapidly as he leaned back a little.

”You think Nocturn’s Administration is that generous?” Ash’Kral sneered, ”The entire wheel is a trap even with its rewards... because your wins will make you keep coming back until the day they get what they wanted from you.”

”Ash is right... it’s called the Wheel of Fortune and Madness for a reason.” The Titan nodded, ”You have to be mad to spin such wheels of death.”

”...”

Levi went silent... he steadied his breathing while staring deeply at the glittering prizes, their light was so bright, it made the wheel appear flawless... but in reality, there were six pits of deaths hidden in clear sight.

Although Levi wasn’t a gambler, he also wasn’t a quitter... he waved off the wheel to the side, knowing that the displayed rewards would remain there until the day he decided to spin it or spend another coin to randomize it.

”The moment I play a game of chance, I have already lost.” Levi tapped a finger on his chin, ”But... the universe’s laws aren’t unreachable... even luck and fate can be predicted and controlled to one’s favor.”

The first person that came in Levi’s mind in relation to such subject left him with a twitching lip... But, then he smiled wryly in acceptance, understanding that he was the sole contact in his possession that had the highest chance of helping him with this.

He opened his contact list and saw a sea of blocked requests that kept on going and going forever... this was the list of everyone sought to befriend the Celestial.

Absolute Rejection.

However, Levi wasn’t dumb to block everyone... he ensured to keep the requests from high profile individuals like his ex-opponents, nobles, or such.

They were already situated on top of the list with different colors, separating their connection to him... purple was for death game’s opponents.

The moment he filtered out the rest and left only purple... three names popped up at the front: Madam Future, The Ruiner, and The Dealer.

Levi ignored the Ruiner and glanced at Madam Future and The Dealer... one was capable of viewing the future and the other wielded the Aspect of Probabilities. Two broken powers when dealing with such matters related to gambles.

”I didn’t really talk that much with Madam Future... still, I prefer her much more than him.” Levi glanced at the Dealer’s name... his annoying chuckle and attitude got on his nerves even when he wasn’t around him. Especially, when he realized later on that the Dealer was responsible over exhausting the Ruiner before the final battle against him.

Levi could tell that the Dealer did it to help him and make him feel like he owed him one... as much as he annoyed Levi, he had to admit that if it wasn’t for the Dealer’s assistance, he would have struggled much more against the Ruiner.

In fact, he might not even make it out alive... after all, he might have tamed him through his Melody Aspect, but if the Ruiner wasn’t exhausted and weakened, there was a much higher chance of him catching Levi before he could play it out.

”I don’t like owing anything to anyone.” Levi rubbed his brows, ”But, I already owe him one... might as well ask for another and see what he wants from me.”

”You’re a Baron now. You need to start building connections, not just climbing the ladder and expecting to be welcomed into high-profile circles,” Ash’Kral advised. ”The Dealer, Madam Future, the Ruiner... anyone who holds even a hint of goodwill toward you... you should stay in contact with them. You never know when you’ll need their help, whether it’s tied to their bloodlines or powers... like right now.”

”I know... but that also means I have to be there for them when they need me.” Levi sighed.

He didn’t need Ash’Kral to tell him how important it was to build relationships in the Boundless Expanse... but, he also knew that his Celestial persona had nothing to its name but its participation in the games.

If he wanted to be part of a network, he had to be useful too... yet he lacked the resources and influence their backgrounds granted them.

This meant, if he wanted to keep his persona legit... he needed to be resourceful and reliable... otherwise, it wasn’t hard to guess his identity to be someone from a weak lineage or race.

”Still... as you said, I am a Baron now, and I should act like it.”

Levi dropped his doubts and accepted the Dealer and Madam Future friendship requests... the moment they got logged in as part of his friends list, their status showed up offline for a second... and then instantly, both became online.

-Celestiaaal! I knew fate won’t keep us apart for too long.-

-Hello...Mr. Celestial.-

It didn’t take a genius to guess which greeting belonged to which person.