Gambling Addicts Die Miserable Deaths

The volcanic island in the Oceanus.

"Screee—!"

With a shrill, agonized cry, a Siren...well a bird-woman with a human face for those who don't know...plummeted from the sky in a shower of blood, crashing onto the rocky shore.

Before she could struggle to her feet, a foot came down abruptly, snapping her neck with a crisp *crack*.

Her pitiful cries for help dissolved into choked, gurgling gasps as her throat collapsed.

Lorne reached out and took out two balls of grass soaked in magic potion from his left and right ear canals, threw them on the ground, and stretched his body to welcome the golden-red blood essence seeping from the Siren's corpse.

As the flowing divinity converged into his body, the final unlit star on the bronze altar flickered to life.

'A hundred Gold-rank sacrifices—collected through half a month of grueling hunts, finally complete!'

The moment the goal was achieved, a searing heat erupted in Lorne's chest.

The Wheel of Hecate, symbolizing rebirth, rotated and transformed.

The hundred strands of divine light above the bronze altar fell like shooting stars, crashing one after another into the sea of his soul.

"Boom—!"

In an instant, Lorne's entire mental world was struck by a cataclysmic meteor shower.

Thought, consciousness, and emotion were obliterated in the deafening explosions and tremors that echoed through his skull.

At this moment, time lost meaning. Space lost dimension.

Everything ceased to exist, returning to the primordial chaos.

Then, in the blink of an eye, a golden spark ignited in the darkness. Infinite light spilled forth, illuminating the boundless chaos and darkness.

Thought, sensation, and emotion surged back like rivers into the sea, flooding every bone, every drop of blood, every cell in his body.

Every pore in his flesh seemed to open wide, perceiving the world with unprecedented clarity.

For a fleeting moment, Lorne felt as though he stood in the heart of a bustling city.

The breathing of the wind, the flow of water, the deposition of soil, the burning of light and fire, the budding of life, the rhythm of the soul... Everything around him was clearly reflected in his mind.

The world was like an eternally burning flame.

And he—a spark born within it.

Of the same essence, intrinsically linked!

"Haaah…"

With a long exhale, Lorne slowly opened his eyes. Golden flames seemed to flicker within his pupils, within which one could vaguely glimpse another world of chaos.

:So this is it.'

A demigod was a being whose soul, through the medium of divinity, fused and resonated with the essence of the world itself!

Mortal power had limits, but by anchoring oneself to the world, freely wielding mana and manipulating its laws, such a life could truly be called a [god].

However, the strength of the soul and the limit of the body's endurance will become the upper limit of limiting its own performance.

Thus, those who ignited their divine spark could only be called [demigods].

Lorne's thoughts raced, continuously refining his understanding of cultivation and this world.

As this process unfolded, the mana within several kilometers visibly surged toward him in waves of etheric tides, celebrating the birth of a new demigod in the Oceanus.

Dense, pure mana particles scoured his flesh and bones, refining his vessel to better harmonize with the world, allowing him to channel even greater power.

As if they had a premonition of danger, the schools of fish and sea beasts that had been lured by the scent of blood in the nearby seas were frightened and fled in all directions, including some golden-level monsters.

Looking at the creatures he once had to tread carefully around now trembling in terror before the aura of a demigod, Lorne couldn't help but laugh as a surreal sense of detachment washed over him.

'Who would've thought I'd ascend so quickly?'

Everything had gone smoothly.

Too smoothly, perhaps…

Lorne looked down at his palm, and a sense of unreality and absurdity filled his chest.

"Bzzzt—!"

Just as he was lost in thought, the vanished twelve-sided die reappeared in his palm with a faint hum.

Immediately after, the bluish-gray serpentine-patterned die seemed to be picked up and tossed by an invisible hand.

It spun a few times before him, finally landing to reveal a number formed by coiling serpents.

This was the symbol and emblem of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War.

At the same time, above the bronze altar formed by the Wheel of Hecate, a line of divine script flickered into clarity:

[First Blasphemy: Commit an act of desecration against Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom.]

Wha—what the hell is this?

While Lorne stood there in stunned confusion, the twelve-sided die before him spun once more and this time, the symbol was a lyre and musical notes.

—The emblem of Apollo, God of Light and Prophecy.

And the divine script on the bronze altar in his mind shifted accordingly:

["Second Blasphemy: Destroy a temple of Apollo, the God of Light."]

A foreboding sense of dread surged through him. Lorne's expression darkened, and he subconsciously stretched out his hand to grab the twelve-sided dice in front of him.

Yet, the die spun a third time.

The pattern of rolling waves appeared before his eyes, accompanied by yet another new prompt on the altar:

["Third Blasphemy: Slay a demigod child of Poseidon, God of the Sea."]

Staring at the three lines of divine edicts that now appeared side by side in his mind, each dripping with malice, Lorne couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

At this moment, all the joy of his ascension to demigodhood evaporated instantly.

"You seem… confused?"

A graceful, melodious voice drifted over.

The guide-giving Goddess of Crossroads had appeared on the beach at some point, elegantly perched on a reef, her jade-white feet dipped into the azure waters, swaying gently.

"So, lost one—do you require my guidance?"

The hazy figure with a mysterious temperament turned to Lorne, and a hint of amusement appeared on the face that seemed to be smiling.

At this moment, Lorne took a deep breath, his face ashen as he glared at Hecate, who had clearly withheld critical information.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"A small price for wielding this thing…"

"I already paid it, didn't I?"

"Ah, I forgot to mention…"

Hecate tapped her forehead lightly, then lifted her eyes to meet Lorne's approaching figure, her gaze brimming with apology as she murmured:

"Slaying a hundred Gold-rank sea beasts and gathering their divinity?

That was merely the nourishment for your ascension—for your own sake. It wasn't the price for twisting fate."

"..."

Realizing he'd been played, Lorne's cheek twitched violently.

He finally understood now.

In that game of chess, he had won on the board—while Hecate had won beyond it.

From the very beginning, this woman had planned every step to screw him over.

Noticing Lorne's increasingly stormy expression, Hecate offered a consoling smile.

"Don't worry. You only need to pick one of the three. It's not like you have to do them all."

Lorne's lips curled into a cold smirk, his face still shadowed with fury.

'Is there even a difference?'

Among the three prices, one was to provoke the battle-crazed Athena, who could crush him with a finger, another was to find and demolish a temple of Apollo somewhere in the vast Oceanus, and the last was to kill a demigod child of Poseidon...

Each option was practically a death flag waving in his face.

Had he known this "Die of Fortune" would be such a scam, he would never have rolled that damned number.

Wait a minute,

Didn't Hecate give him this die right after his return from the Underworld?

It was just that, due to his wariness of her, he had left the thing gathering dust in Hecate's temple all these years, never even touching it.

Thinking of this, Lorne's thoughts suddenly clicked into place, and all his doubts were resolved.

His cold gaze fixed on the goddess of crossroads.. "So, from the very beginning, this thing was meant for me..."

"Didn't you say you wanted to overthrow Olympus? I was just fulfilling your wish, guiding you onto the path you should walk."

Hecate just spread her hands and smiled in return.

Lorne was speechless and depressed.

Big sister, I was joking! Who asked you to take it seriously?

The creditor amiably patted the debtor's shoulder, offering kind consolation."Relax, I'm not some evil god. How could I just watch you march to your death? That's why I waited until you ascended to demigod status, giving you the qualifications to enter the game, before officially starting it."

"Gee, thanks a lot!"

Realizing there was no way to weasel out of this debt, Lorne gritted his teeth and forced out his gratitude.

Hecate, as if oblivious to the thick resentment in his tone, waved it off with a smile.

"No need to thank me. It's my pleasure."

"..."

Lorne was choked again.

He was silent for a moment, and then he straightened his breath, clutched the twelve-sided dice in his hand, and spoke faintly.

"So... once I pay the price, can I step off the table?"

"You know how gambling works—there's no such thing as just one bet, it's either zero times or infinite times."

Hecate smiled and shook her head.

The seemingly comforting words in her mouth also extinguished his last fantasy.

"But don't worry, this die will roll periodically from now on, ensuring you always have enough chips to stay at Fate's gambling table to gamble"

As Lorne's face twisted in despair, the goddess who'd just turned him into a gambler offered encouragement: "I'm quite looking forward to seeing how this 'Die of Fortune' might overturn 'Inevitable Destiny.'"

"Given the chance, I'll certainly... live up to your expectations." Lorne forced a smile on his face, maintaining surface courtesy while imagining beating this troublemaking goddess black and blue for pushing him into conflict with the twelve gods of Olympus.

Hecate smiled and waved her hand, making a gesture of farewell.

But at the moment of turning around as if remembering something again, she once again turned back suddenly, and kindly reminded him.

"Oh, one more thing. If you don't choose within the time limit, the price will be selected randomly, just like a die roll. Good luck with that."

"...!"

On the shore, Lorne, who had just been fantasizing about how to deal with this gambling-addicted goddess if he survived, suddenly shuddered.

A chill shot up his spine, turning his face ashen.

But before he could react, the three divine edicts on the bronze altar in his mind faded away.

At the same time, fierce winds and towering waves erupted across the sea.

A massive, towering figure crashed onto the volcanic island like a falling meteor, sending shattered rocks flying in all directions.

From the swirling dust came a low, savage growl, brimming with excitement and cruelty:

"So it's you I've found here, you damned sheep thief!"

Lorne's looked at the huge figure as majestic as a hill, his face changed suddenly, and his body subconsciously tightened like a bowstring.

Him!