The Glorious Evolution

The Dealer and Madam Future weren’t the only ones who received the automatic notification... hundreds of billions of viewers across the Nine GreatRoot Realms received it as well.

Arthur, Jasmine, Shia, Nurah, and Jojo all stopped what they were doing almost at the same time as a dimensional screen appeared before them, displaying a notification none of them had expected to see so soon.

[Three-Body Problem is now live in the Nocturnal Ring under a Special Event.]

[Tune in to Channel 4 or purchase live tickets... sales are now online.]

All of them shared serious expressions mixed with concern... Levi had already warned them that something like this might happen and specifically told them not to panic if it did.

Still, knowing that beforehand didn’t make seeing the notification any less alarming... especially when this was their first time watching one of his Death Games live.

It didn’t take long for everyone to gather inside the Deserted Kingdom’s small camp.

Right away, Arthur opened the Nocturnal Ring’s official ticket marketplace while the others crowded around the dimensional screen, expecting the process to be straightforward.

Instead, their shocked eyes were met with absolute chaos.

Tickets under Levi’s Ring name were disappearing almost as quickly as they were being listed!

Every refresh changed the numbers, reducing the availability by millions each second!

The purchase counter continued climbing at such an absurd rate that Arthur briefly wondered whether the website was malfunctioning.

”I knew he was popular, but...” Shia sucked in a cold breath. ”This feels like a cult rallying behind its leader.”

Arthur and the girls felt the same... they had visited his fan club and knew that he had plenty of fans... yet, they never thought it would be this severe.

The marketplace separated ticket purchases according to the Rifter the spectators intended to follow for the sake of giving the Rifters their fair cut... and Levi’s section was being absolutely flooded.

The shocking part? The other Rifters weren’t some nobodies!

”Buy first. Question it later.”

Arthur swiftly secured tickets for all of them before the available batch disappeared, and once their purchases were confirmed, there was nothing left to do but wait for the Gamemaster to open the game’s map.

In the meantime, they went to search for the game’s details and the meaning of the ”Special Event.”

...

Meanwhile, the moment Levi was kicked out of the dimensional gate by the Joker, he landed inside a gigantic, dim hall... it resembled an auditorium without chairs, with only a wooden stage and a massive red curtain.

’Where is this?’

Levi swiftly scanned the entire hall with his guard raised to the limit, believing that he had been thrown inside a live Death Game.

But then... he was surprised to see nine Rifters scattered across the dim game hall, most of them sharing the same expression or body language as him.

Confused, alarmed, and equally pissed.

Unlike him, some had been sleeping, eating, training, or doing some nightly ’cardio.’.. Before they knew it, they had been kidnapped by the same giant Joker.

Suddenly, a familiar laugh echoed across the hall, cutting through everyone’s confusion.

”At last, the list is complete!”

Levi’s lips twitched after recognizing the voice... he raised his head and saw a blue-furred squirrel hovering above them.

He had a thick, curly white mustache, a dark-gray formal suit, and a classic watch wrapped around his tiny wrist... combined with the dice-decorated microphone in his hand, he resembled a squirrel version of James Bond attending a casino.

Who else possessed such appearence besides the one and only... Gamemaster Gamble!

”I have been waiting a very, very long time for this.”

Levi and the Rifters remained silent, many thoughts going through their heads... Unbothered, Gamemaster Gamble looked over the ten Rifters with a wide grin.

”Do you have any idea how difficult it is to gather ten Cheats within such close proximity in strength?”

’Cheats...’

Levi’s heart skipped a beat while the others’ expressions darkened beneath their masks... every one of them had a bad feeling about where this was going, as they knew that getting caught cheating by any of the Four Murinori Clans meant a fate worse than death.

Seeing their slightly nervous expressions and accelerated heartbeats, Gamemaster Gamble chuckled while landing at the center of the stage.

”Some of you have been very naughty.” He sneered. ”You’ve been manipulating the odds and cheating your spins on the Wheel of Fortune... what? You thought the Administration was oblivious and would just continue allowing you to scam its treasury?”

”... ”

”... ”

”... ”

The anger from before evaporated and was replaced with pure dread... all of them had done it, finding ways to manipulate, exploit, or cheat the Wheel without getting caught.

Some had been doing it for years to maintain their leaderboard rank and get rewarded with more coins to spend... since the Administration had never made a fuss about it, they kept abusing the system and earning better rewards nonstop.

Well... almost everyone.

Levi’s expression turned ugly under the mask.

’Is this some kind of fucking joke?’

He had tried it once... fucking once!

Meanwhile, some of these bastards had apparently been cheating the Wheel for who knew how long, piling up rewards and walking away untouched.

Yet, the moment Levi dipped his hand into the same pot, the heavens suddenly remembered justice existed and decided to make an example out of him for the next ten generations.

It was like watching thieves build fortunes for years without consequence, only for the law to kick down his door the first time he stole a loaf of bread!

’Great Fortune my ass!’

Levi cursed inwardly as the Dealer’s shameless face resurfaced in his mind.

He rarely lost his composure, but this level of bullshit warranted it... Meanwhile, Ash’Kral and the Titan were stifling their laughter in the background.

Ignoring everyone’s reaction, Gamemaster Gamble clapped his hands as he declared out loud.

”But I’m not angry... In fact, I should thank you. Because of your greed, arrogance, and complete lack of respect for honest gambling...”

Rumble!

The floor shook, and the red curtain behind Gamemaster Gamble began pulling away, exposing a gigantic transparent dimensional gate.

Levi and the Rifters’ expressions turned solemn at the sight of a gigantic board suspended high above a sea of clouds.

The board was packed with hundreds of massive tiles, forming dozens of roads filled with strange symbols.

Some tiles had golden clovers, while others had black skulls, dice, treasure chests, question marks, and symbols Levi didn’t recognize.

At the far end of the board stood a massive golden throne, connected to a single road.

Gamemaster Gamble pointed toward it and announced with the widest grin imaginable.

”...I can finally launch my Special Death Game Event.”

Several dimensional screens appeared in front of every Rifter, with notifications written in golden and bleak gray letters.

[AS PUNISHMENT FOR CHEATING THE SYSTEM, ALL RIFTERS ARE MANDATED TO PARTICIPATE OR FACE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES.]

[THE BOARD OF FORTUNE AND CALAMITY!]

[JOIN OR REJECT?]

Although the system gave them the option to join or reject participating in the Special Event, not a single Rifter dared to press reject.

They knew... the system didn’t throw around the term ’serious consequences’ lightly, and they preferred their odds in a Death Game.

’Fuck me...’

Levi joined as well despite feeling like he had been scammed into a punishment... even when he had cheated to manipulate the odds, he had still ended up pulling a trap card.

The moment all the Rifters signed up for the Special Event, Gamemaster Gamble’s grin widened.

”Smart decision... now, don’t look so worried.” Gamble clapped his hands again. ”I’m not unreasonable. You’ll have fifteen minutes to prepare while I warm up the audience.”

A giant screen appeared in front of the dimensional gate.

[PREPARATION TIME: 15:00]

The Game’s rules were below it, appearing as follows:

[DEATH GAME: THE BOARD OF FORTUNE AND CALAMITY]

Format: Restrictive Chance Game.

Rifters: 10

Combined average power level: 64 N (range 59–70 N).

Ranks allowed: Baron.

Battle map: The Long Hundred.

Map fragments pot: None (Special Event).

Hidden achievement: The Hundredth Seat.

Gamemaster: Gamble.

[RULES]:

1. All Rifters begin on the ’Start’ Tile with 20 Fortune Points.

2. The first Rifter to reach Tile 100 and sit on the Golden Throne wins.

3. Each Dice Round, every Rifter must roll both the Fortune Die and Calamity Die.

4. The higher die (Fortune/Calamity) determines the Rifter’s Luck and its degree for that round, while its number determines how many tiles they advance.

5. If both dice roll the same number, the Rifter advances by that number and earns an additional roll (Non-repeatable).

6. Fortune Luck favors the Rifter; Calamity Luck favors the Board.

7. The Board is split into six types of tiles: Standard, Fortune, Calamity, Gamble, Mystery, Prison.

8. Landing on a Fortune Tile allows Rifters to spin a Wheel filled with In-Game Tools (Loaded Dice, Fool’s Shield, Oracle Eye, Position Exchange, etc.) Fortune Points may be spent to improve the rarity of the Wheel’s items.

9. Landing on a Calamity Tile forces Rifters to spin a Wheel of Calamity filled with punishments and disasters...Under Fortune Luck, Fortune Points may be spent to reduce or completely negate them... Under Calamity Luck, the punishment severity increases.

10. Landing on a Gamble Tile spins the Wheel of Randomness, split into buffs, curses, tools, punishments, mystery challenges, and more... Fortune Points can be used to enhance the odds.

11. Landing on a Mystery Tile is... a Mystery.

12. Landing on a Prison Tile will imprison the Rifters for a Dice Round or more based on either Fortune Luck or Calamity Luck...

13. After every Dice Round comes the Freedom Round... Rifters can use their acquired tools, endure active curses, complete Board challenges, or participate in mandatory duels.

14. Rifters who landed on the same tile will participate in a mandatory duel, and the rules of the battle are based on what kind of tile they landed on.

15. Rifters may attack and kill one another only during the mandatory duels or other special events.

16. Fortune Points belonging to an eliminated Rifter are transferred to their eliminator... If no Rifter is responsible for the elimination, the Fortune Points enter the Fortune Pot and are spread out to the remaining Rifters based on their Fortune Luck on the Dice Round.

17. Refusing a roll, mandatory event, or Board command results in immediate elimination.

Good luck, and may fortune favor the Bravest!//