Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1537  Indulge

Atticus turned away, ignoring the lingering provocations. There was nothing to gain from answering them. Moments later, he and the others gathered at the edges of their respective domains, waiting.

They didn't wait long.

"Ample time has been allotted to all new players. The chosen player will now roll."

A massive die appeared above the board, spinning slowly in the air.

'Looks ordinary enough.'

It was cubic, like any common die, but its faces were marked only with ones, twos, and threes, repeating.

Atticus felt a familiar figure and turned. Across the board, Anorah was looking straight at him. Ozerra as well.

'No way to speak.'

The board stretched for kilometers. Even with his expanded awareness, extending his will that far was risky. The last thing he needed was someone listening in.

He gave them a brief, reassuring nod. Anorah hesitated only a moment before gesturing toward Ozerra.

Ozerra grinned and stepped forward, chin raised.

As she reached out, the spinning die halted midair, shrinking before snapping into her hand. She gave it a single shake, then hurled it forward.

The Marquis watched in silence as it tumbled across the board and came to a stop.

'Three.'

"Marquis Ozerra has rolled a three. Please select your movement."

'How will sh—'

"Me! Three steps forward!"

Atticus nearly face palmed.

'Of course.'

Ozerra was Ozeroth in another body. Planning had never been her strength.

At the very least, the domain ahead was unclaimed.

The chosen domain, three spaces forward, flared red. Light wrapped around Ozerra, and in the next instant, she vanished, reappearing atop the domain.

"Domain task. You will lose all awareness until the next round. Do you choose to claim?"

"Claim!"

The light surrounding the domain folded inward, converging on Ozerra. A moment later, the crimson glow faded, replaced by golden light that covered the entire domain.

Atticus felt no outward shift, but there was no mistaking it, her awareness had been sealed.

'So the tasks can affect us directly.'

He'd taken the rule at face value. A task meant an action, something to do. A fight. A hunt. A test of strength.

He hadn't considered actual restrictions that sliced into their abilities themselves.

Still, that wasn't the only realization.

'Everything is visible.'

Like a board of chess laid bare, every move was exposed. From their rolled number to even the penalties.

The danger in that was obvious.

Ozerra rolled one during her next turn.

This time, Atticus was relieved to see her push Kiara forward instead of stepping in herself. He silently noted the lighter penalty.

A brief glance passed between him and Anorah. She gave a short nod, then stepped forward and rolled.

'Two.'

She mirrored Ozerra's earlier choice, moving herself two domains ahead.

"Domain task. You will lose vision in one eye until the next round. Do you choose to claim?"

Anorah's expression hardened.

"Claim."

Her second roll came up a three. This time, she sent one of her champions forward instead, causing her to be ahead of her.

Finally, it was Atticus' turn to roll.

He felt the weight of countless gazes on him silently waiting, but ignored them, retreating to his mind.

'Fifteen by fifteen.'

The board was a perfect square, which brought the total domains to two hundred and twenty five.

They'd all been placed along the edges, and asked to reach the center to win. To keep things clear, Atticus started numbering them from his side.

'Vertical first. Then horizontal.'

If each axis ran from one to fifteen, starting from his left, then his position was simple enough to track.

'Vertical one. Horizontal five.'

Anorah stood at thirteen, two. Ozerra at twelve, nine.

The center, their goal, was rested at seven, seven.

'About eleven moves.'

Rolling three multiple times would get one to the center, yet no one had reached it yet.

That alone told him everything he needed to know.

'It won't be that simple.'

As Atticus stretched out his arm, the die shot into his grasp. He felt the burning gazes of the Willguard and Dravek, but ignored them and rolled. The die stopped at the number three.

'I hope I'm right about this.'

"I'll move three steps forward."

He appeared in the chosen domain the next moment.

"Domain task. Minus one to your next movement roll. Do you choose to claim?"

"Claim."

It was a harsh penalty, but Atticus had already begun to sense a pattern.

'The starting penalties aren't that severe.'

Another announcement echoed in his mind. 'You have gained one power point." 'I see.' It would appear that not everything was open. His second roll landed on another three. Minus one reduced it to two.

The rule appeared clearly in his mind. The verge gave gods absolute authority over their movement. Which meant…

'I should be able to split it.'

Atticus chose Magnus and Noctis, moving each of them one domain forward. He felt a faint sense of relief when it worked. It would make him far less predictable going forward.

Their penalties followed, but they were also not severe.

"All new players have completed their opening turns. The board will now proceed."

A random domain lit up, signaling another gods' turn. Atticus watched carefully as each god rolled and moved their people across the board.

'No one can reach me this turn.'

The rules forbade backward movement. As a new player, Atticus was still the farthest from the center. Still, he hadn't missed their actions. Many had chosen to move sideways instead… toward him.

'I'm being targeted.'

"Atticus Ravenstein."

Atticus turned toward the voice to find the aged Willguard staring straight at him. It was the man's turn to roll. "I believe it's long overdue that we met," the man said. "We've been connected throughout this game, after all."

"But before I proceed… indulge me. My grandson… he joined this game, against my wishes of course. He's bright, prideful, foolish in the way only the talented tend to be. Still, his potential was real."

His eyes began to glow faintly.

"…I can feel his will around you. Tell me, did you kill him?"