The Glorious Evolution

”The Freedom Round begins! Akira, you’re up!”

Akira glanced toward the distant Throne before shifting her attention to the other Rifters... her fingers brushed against the protective shield stored in her inventory, but she didn’t take it out.

She was close, but she still wasn’t close enough.

Using her protection now would give her some peace of mind for the coming round, only to leave her defenseless when the others started throwing their best Tools at her.

With the Taxman still holding his Position Exchange Tool, that would be a foolish trade.

”Tsk, I skip.” She clicked her tongue, getting irritated by the Taxman’s constant, silent harassment.

If only he landed on her tile or she had something to challenge him with, she wouldn’t hesitate to take the fight.

The Taxman studied her for a moment before adjusting his grip on his briefcase.

If she wasn’t going to commit anything, neither was he... five tiles weren’t worth wasting the Tool he had been saving since the early stages of the game.

”Skip.”

Mournful Spirit followed their example, resting her hands over her biwa without plucking its strings.

After taking Backlash’s position and Fortune Points, she had little reason to attract more attention to herself.

”I’ll skip as well.”

Gamemaster Gamble’s whiskers twitched as he turned toward Levi.

”Three skips! Please tell me you have something to rescue this dreadful round, Celestial!”

Levi lifted his head to face Gamemaster Gamble... he could feel that even Gamemaster Gamble wanted him to use it, as it was the perfect time.

Levi didn’t disappoint... he reached into his inventory and withdrew a medal hanging from a dark ribbon.

The moment it appeared, the other Rifters’ attention shifted toward his hand... even Akira turned fully to face him, her expression becoming slightly more guarded.

[Stolen Valor Activated.]

He crushed the medal between his fingers, causing it to break into golden particles that gathered over his chest.

For a brief moment, an unfamiliar military decoration appeared on his clothes before fading away.

Then... nothing.

No one moved, no Fortune Points disappeared, and no curse notification appeared before any of the Rifters.

The Taxman checked his interface while Mournful Spirit glanced toward the path connecting their tiles... even Bad Penny inspected himself, searching for anything that might explain what Levi had just done.

They found nothing... and this bothered them even more.

”Hehehe... next round is bound to be interesting.”

Gamemaster Gamble teased the viewers, his voice not reaching the Rifters to avoid affecting the results... especially since Bad Penny’s turn came after Levi’s.

Levi kept his arms inside his cloak and waited, offering them no explanation.

When Bad Penny’s turn arrived, he was forced to skip even though he knew that something horrible was on the horizon... he had no tool to prevent it.

[Freedom Round Concluded]

Gamemaster Gamble swung his arm toward Akira, and the two giant dice appeared before her.

She gave Levi one final glance before throwing them... they tumbled through the air and stopped with a combined result of nine.

The spectators cheered as her path lit up, carrying her from the seventy-eighth tile to the eighty-seventh, which was a standard tile.

Thirteen tiles from the Throne!

A mere round away from victory if she rolled a double!

Akira’s lips curved slightly, but she kept her protective shield untouched... if her next roll was equally favorable, she would finally have a reason to use it.

The Taxman wasn’t nearly as fortunate... his result amounted to only three tiles, bringing him to the seventy-sixth while the gap between him and Akira widened considerably.

Though his expression remained composed, the widening distance between him and Akira was becoming difficult to ignore.

Mournful Spirit’s dice landed on four and two, bringing her from the sixty-eighth tile to the seventy-fourth... neither she nor the Taxman seemed pleased about their progress when Akira was already so close to winning.

Then, Levi’s turn arrived.

Before the dice could fully materialize before him, the decoration over his chest reappeared.

This time, its golden light spread across the Board.

[Stolen Valor — Effect Revealed.]

[Steal every other Rifter’s movement roll for the current Dice Round. Completed movement is reversed and transferred to the user... Subsequent rolls will move the user instead of their original owner.]

[The user’s own roll remains available.]

Akira’s smile disappeared.

”You...”

She barely managed to utter a word before her body was pulled backward, retracing the nine tiles she had just crossed!

At the same time, the Taxman and Mournful Spirit were pulled back from their respective tiles, returning to the seventy-third and sixty-eighth tiles!

The movement transferred by Stolen Valor wouldn’t activate Tile effects or encounters... Levi still had to throw his own dice to determine where his turn would be settled!

[Stolen Movement: 9 + 3 + 6 = 18 Tiles.]

The eighteen tiles ahead of Levi lit up at once!

Under the stunned eyes of the spectators, he was pushed forward rapidly, closing the distance that had separated him from the others.

Tile fifty... sixty... sixty-eight!

He arrived beside Mournful Spirit with his own dice still waiting to be rolled!

For a brief moment, the board went silent... then, the spectators and the livestream erupted at once.

-HE TOOK ALL OF THEM?!-

-Holy shit!! As expected from a tool that consumed twenty Fortune Points!-

-Hahahaha! Look at their faces!-

Arthur and the girls high-fived in excitement, not expecting Levi to be sitting on such a card... Gamemaster Gamble hadn’t exposed the tool’s effect to keep the suspense.

He had done so for every tool, which made the Freedom Rounds as exciting as the battles.

”Stolen Valor!” Gamemaster Gamble shouted delightedly. ”Why work for your progress when your opponents are willing to work for you?!”

”Willing?” Akira repeated coldly while switching her focus to Levi. ”It’s even better... I was wondering how I could clean up such filth and still win the game.”

Levi didn’t even bother to glance in her direction... since the start of the game, she had been talking crap, and he had ignored it.

In his eyes, it was an expected reaction from the Radians’ followers, who took absolute pride in their Radian bloodline, whether it was as thin as a strand of hair or not.

To have him mix it with the Oblivar bloodline... it was the epitome of blasphemy.

Hell, if Akira’s bloodline hadn’t been so thin, her judgment would have been clouded by a single purpose: kill him regardless of the cost, even if it meant throwing the game.

But these beings were still too far ahead in the Nocturnal Ring.

Levi threw the dice before Akira or the others could find something unpleasant to say.

They spun through the air and came to a stop.

[Fortune Die: 1]

[Calamity Die: 6]

[Total: 7]

’I ain’t never gambling in my life again...’

Levi clicked his tongue at the familiar result... apparently, his brief good relationship with the Fortune Die had already come to an end.

However, his luck might not have completely forsaken him, as the seventh illuminated tile was a Fortune tile!

The Board pushed him forward again, bringing him to the seventy-fifth tile as golden light spread around his feet.

[Fortune Tile.]

[Calamity Influence Applied.]

A reward wheel manifested before him, though the unfavorable influence reduced the quality of the tools to the point that none of their names inspired confidence.

Levi went quiet as he scanned his surroundings and the wheel... Akira, the Taxman, Bad Penny, and Mournful Spirit.

All of them were spread in a straight line towards the throne within a ten-tile area... he had only one tool remaining, and it wasn’t really as great as Stolen Valor.

Then, he looked at the tiles ahead of them... the majority were standard tiles with Fortune, Prison, and Calamity Tiles scattered here and there.

’We’ve reached the point where it’s do or die.’

Without hesitation, Levi chose to pay a whole twenty-five points, leaving himself with four points!

The Taxman and the rest showed mixed reactions... but all of them understood why he went for it, even though spending this much under Calamity’s influence was a considerable gamble.

He had already caught up to them, and unused Fortune Points were useless compared to a decent tool.

After the investment was deducted, the wheel’s sections shifted, improving the rewards enough to make the attempt more than worthwhile.

Levi reached out with his hand and spun it... the wheel accelerated, filling the air with rapid clicks before gradually slowing down as the viewers and the Rifters held their breath.

[Replication Tool.]

As Levi read its details, a grin slowly formed under his mask... he showed no other reaction as he stored the tool like it was nothing but trash.

But Akira, the Taxman, and the others weren’t dumb... despite not knowing the effect, their minds worked overtime trying to figure out what it did.

Replicate his own roll?

Replicate their roll and steal it?

Replicate a tool’s effect?

Replicate a tile?

In the Board of Fortune and Calamity, there was so much randomness that it was nearly impossible to lock onto a single effect... all they could do was analyze in silence and prepare for the worst.

Meanwhile, Bad Penny stared at the notification hovering in front of him.

[Subsequent rolls will move the user instead of their original owner.]

His turn hadn’t even started when Levi activated the effect... but that didn’t mean he had escaped it.

”Bad Penny!” Gamemaster Gamble called out cheerfully. ”Our generous contributor has been waiting long enough! Let’s see how much more help you can offer.”

’Fuck...’

Bad Penny turned toward Levi and stared at him with an irritated expression... for once, he had absolutely no interest in obtaining a high roll... every additional tile would help Levi while leaving him exactly where he was.

Yet, he couldn’t refuse to throw the dice... with the countdown already running, he threw them forward and watched them land on a total of four, without a double.

[Additional Stolen Movement: 4 Tiles.]

Levi left the seventy-fifth tile and advanced directly to the seventy-ninth... which was also a Standard Tile... though even if he had landed on a different type of tile, it wouldn’t have activated, since he had already used his turn on the previous Fortune Tile.

One tile ahead of Akira... six ahead of the Taxman.

The venue turned noisy as the Board updated their positions, placing Levi’s name at the top for the first time!

In a single Dice Round, he had advanced twenty-nine tiles while the other four hadn’t gained a damn thing... Truly, Stolen Valor!

”The Three-Body Problem has claimed the lead from the jaws of defeat!” Gamemaster Gamble shouted as he pointed his microphone at the Rifters. ”Me personally? I wouldn’t let him do me like this... but that’s just me.”