chapter 451
451 – Column 13. Winter. War.
451 – Column 13. Winter. War.
『Roll the dice you brought, player.』
Game Master.
He gestured in the air.
Then the map on the table gradually became more three-dimensional.
Sssssuk-.
It was a sight that made me wonder what Ludens would look like if seen from high in the sky.
Watching the scenery of tiny people moving around in a tight manner reminded me of a game where you build an amusement park and recruit guests, or a game where you start with a primitive civilization and aim for victory by launching a rocket into space.
Is there anything different from the game above?
The point is that there are square scaffolding boxes located around the island.
An intuitive picture was drawn in each cell.
A brief explanation of the picture is as follows.
The first space is where two red swords are crossed.
A compartment with a purple hand mirror.
A space with a hammer and anvil drawn.
A space with a white skull on it.
A space with a treasure chest drawn.
A space with scales drawn.
A space with a question mark.
And every now and then, there was a space with dice drawn on it.
The cells on which the dice were drawn were drawn in various numbers from 1 to 7, and my guess was that there would be some difference in each scale.
Anyway, it was a board made with the above markings repeated in each cell.
Looking at the correlation between the purpose of this game and the participants, aren’t the pictures drawn in each square perhaps the signs of ‘gods’?
The first Khan has two crossed red swords – Warrior God
Khan with a purple hand mirror – Goddess of beauty and love
Khan depicting a hammer and anvil – the blacksmith god
Khan with a white skull – Goddess of Death (possibly)
Khan with a treasure chest drawn – God of adventure and rewards
Khan with scales drawn – Goddess of order and justice
The space with a question mark – God of Chaos (it’s hard to be sure about this either)
The space with the dice drawn probably belongs to the game master.
Because he is the god of dice.
Are there gods in charge of events that will occur upon arrival in each space?
This was all that could be guessed from the given information.
My eyes now followed the repetition of these spaces until I reached the end.
Board games using dice and pieces often have something called a ‘goal point.’
The same goes for this strange game.
To conclude, there was a goal as expected.
The only thing that bothered me was the square drawn in front of the goal line.
Based on the goal point, all 16 squares in front of it are drawn in the shape of an 8-eye dice.
I don’t know what that means, but a chill more ominous than I thought ran down my spine like lightning. I was a little nervous, but I decided to shake off my anxiety and move my hands.
“A total of 48 spaces to the finish line. And dice.”
I took out a pair of dice from my pocket.
It was a strange object made of eight eyes and an octahedron.
Wooow-.
It cried out like a happy animal that had found its place.
It’s more like a creature than a dice.
『Look at that, it’s the dice of fate and causality.』
『Isn’t it the first time in a while that we’ve seen all of the couples together?』
『I don’t think it’s a joke.』
The hidden gods behind the black curtain were amazed.
The names of the two eight-sided dice I have are ‘Fate’ and ‘Cause’, respectively.
It is an object that can exert the most mysterious power when used as a pair.
Kwaak.
I grabbed the dice and threw it at the board game board.
Rrrr-.
The sound of the eight-sided dice hitting each other or spinning around is quite beautiful.
The numbers that came out were 5. And 8.
Total 13.
It was a sufficiently high number that could be produced with two 8-eye dice.
At that time, the one-eyed game master moved his lips covered with beard roots.
『The game has started again. Once the dice of cause and effect and fate start rolling, no one here can stop it. Now time in the Saba world accelerates again.』
Zek-.
He pointed to the board ‘Ludence’ with a finger like the bark of an old tree.
Cracking, clanking, clanking, clanking, clanking-, clanking!
Then, the horse board, which looks like it has been deformed and carved into the shape of a person, passes the starting point at will and moves 13 spaces to reach a certain location.
Soon, the moon and sun, which were rising around Ludens, were seen spinning around, rapidly changing places.
Day and night change quickly.
Reality… , Or is Ludens’ time accelerating?
Day and night changed a total of 13 times.
It was the same as the number I threw the dice on.
Is this a system where a day passes in Ludens according to the number on the dice?
One day per space.
For now, my reasoning ends there.
『It’s Khan of the Warrior God!』
『Did we arrive at the Khan of the Warrior God from the beginning?』
『It’s good that we have more things to see, but it won’t be easy.』
While I was exercising my brain as hard as I could in my life, I heard a loud commotion around me.
Now I see that the symbol drawn in the space where my horse arrived was in the shape of two crossed red swords.
Was it, as I expected, the compartment in charge of the ‘warrior god’?
Mate-.
The three-meter-tall warrior clapped his hands and smiled, showing his red teeth.
『Humans, welcome to the Khan of Struggle! The history of humanity is a history of struggle! Struggle and war are the source of human development! Day 13, Khan of ‘War’. The event I have prepared is, of course, an intense and poignant ‘war’.』
* * *
It was peaceful.
Nike was keenly aware that it was more peaceful than ever these days.
“How many days has it been since Victor left?”
━Kkeongkeong, keungkeong, hioong… ?
The wolf spider guarding the club room was busy moving his front legs
I thought I stretched out five legs, but then I straightened eight.
Number 13.
It meant the 13th.
“It’s already been 13 days since Victor left…”
Meanwhile, Ludens was very peaceful.
There was no incident and no problem occurred.
Of course, somewhere there might have been people fighting and frowning, but at least Nike’s world was dull and boringly static.
“… Where is Victor and what is he doing right now?”
Nike sat on a chair in the club room and hugged her knees.
A man like a huge rock who always stayed in the same place.
There were many traces of him in this club room.
Tools that are worn out by being touched every day.
Smells here and there, etc.
One day, these smells and traces will fade and disappear.
Nike hoped that Victor would return before then.
Kwaaang-!
It was at that moment that Nike felt a loud explosion and vibration.
“What! What is it?”
Nike was very embarrassed.
Soon, the beautiful wolf spider Kkeongkeong cleverly pressed the button on the remote control and turned on the crystal TV installed in the club room.
Beep-.
“This is urgent breaking news. Currently, the student center has been attacked by unknown assailants and is engulfed in great confusion. Students and citizens of Ludens, please evacuate to a designated location as soon as possible.
The broadcasting team’s anchor announced the emergency situation in a calm yet somewhat urgent voice.
Outside the window, Waewe Eeng-Siren, which keeps ringing, means cordred.
Nike quickly determined that this was not just a defense exercise, but a real situation.
“It’s an attack! At the important moment when we have to wait for Victor… !?”
Nike didn’t understand.
It was the same for Victorica, who was in the student council building that was suddenly bombed.
“Everyone is safe!?”
Looking at the ruins of the broken building, Victorica looked for the faces of her acquaintances.
Fortunately, all student council members seemed to be safe.
“Move the wounded! Evacuate the citizens!”
Victorica is skillfully conducted.
Following her words her, the student council moves in order.
“Damn it, what on earth happened!?”
Christina approached Victorica, who was lightly cursed.
Then she said, fixing her glasses, which were broken on one side.
“Jin says it looks like an illegally manufactured homemade bomb was used! As of now, the only people who can make and use something like this are the remnants of Pymblebert… !”
“The Pymblebert guys? Now you come? When everything is already over and all we have to do is wait for Viktor to return?”
Victorica was dumbfounded.
However, since she was the top student at Ludens, she was able to quickly understand the situation.
“Did they target now because Viktor is not there? The purpose of the Pymbleberts from the beginning was to disrupt this ‘game’. “They want to ruin everything until the end.”
I thought they were disgusting guys.
Soon Shadi France, the student council secretary, shouted.
“Vicky! I received a call from the executive committee! A separate unit led by the remnants of Fimblebert attacked the offices and detention centers of the executive committee members! And… I heard there is an unknown military unit!?”
“Unidentified troops.”
Victorica felt a little dizzy.
However, on the other hand, there was even a feeling of relief that ‘that’s right’.
The 13 days since Victor left have been very smooth.
Just like the calm night before the storm.
‘Did they attack the detention center?’
Victorica quickly guessed that what Pymblebert was aiming for was the liberation of the Pymblebert executives imprisoned in the dungeon.
In the detention center, there were many criminals that Victor and they had captured, including Garna the black dog and Enrique the belligerent.
If all the prisoners held so far are freed, Ludens will literally become a battlefield.
It is better to end the situation as quickly as possible.
“Shadi, is there someone nearby! First, recruit everyone nearby and stop the war in the detention center! It’s an order from the student council president!”
Weeeeeng-.
Victorica became dizzy as the siren began to sound loudly.
As she raised her head, the burning fire, like a beacon signaling war, began to color the sky of Ludens black.
* * *
『Now, the remnants of Pimblebert, who were unable to resolve the issue, started a ‘war’. They raided the detention center and began releasing prisoners and criminals into the world.』
The warrior god explained while looking at the board.
As he said, the flames of war began to bloom on the board ‘Ludence’.
People as small as ants were seen screaming and running away.
The sky is becoming increasingly black due to the collapsing buildings and the smoke from the fire rising here and there.
However.
It was difficult for me to understand.
“The remnants of Pymblebert are almost destroyed. “There’s no way we could start a reckless ‘war’, right?”
There were quite a few troops visible beyond the board.
However, as I said, Fimblebert had lost almost all of its executives and was in a state of collapse.
When they wondered how they could carry out such a large-scale operation, the warrior god laughed loudly and said, “Pahahaha.”
『We don’t prepare events roughly either. Don’t worry. Because there is enough probability. The person who supported Pymblebert’s crumbling troops was an ambitious man who had been preparing for war for a long time. This is the guy I sometimes watched and supported.』
Zek-.
The warrior god took out a horse board and placed it on the 13th day square.
Malpan strangely resembles a man I know.
Soon a letter appears on the board.
「War Lord – Count de Winter」
『Now, Count de Winter and Fimblebert. How can you endure the harsh cold winds that are beginning to blow due to these two ambitious winter forces? The four words that can currently be used are as follows.』
Grumble-.
A drawer opened in front of the board game board where I was standing.
What was inside was a wooden figure that looked like it had been carved out of 2D characters I knew. It resembles the characters of the game D&A.
「Choose a character to participate.」
Deering-.
It feels like a familiar game window.
A turn-based game for a party of 4.
I feel like I hear familiar background sounds and mechanical sounds in my head.
『Defeat the Warlord, Count de Winter, despite all odds. Of course it won’t be easy. Because his soldiers have been strengthened to roughly level 60 or higher.』
The blacksmith was enraged by the story of the warrior god.
『Oh, come on. If we prepare such a big event from the beginning, the game will be over before we can see the event we prepared later. Don’t you know that there is difficulty control?』
『That’s right. The events of the warrior god are always focused on destroying and hitting everything, so they are not very good. It’s not even beautiful.』
『Kuhhh, I like it. War and chaos are usually a couple. Like a needle and thread.』
The gods talked as they were pleased.
When the game board started to become noisy due to the complaints of the big guys.
I listened to the words with a familiar yet nostalgic feeling.
Then, their items, levels, and skills appeared before my eyes like a game status window.
Amazing. At the same time, I thought it was natural.
Because this is a game.
I checked all of their items, checked their levels and skills, and placed each of the four pieces on the 13th slot.
“Party of four. “Everyone is ready.”