Zarin and the guard had played more than a dozen rounds at that point. Zarin had won a little over half of them, but he had let his opponents have some winning time. Otherwise, the game could end fast.
Those few winnings had added to the person's addiction, as he was certain that the next one would raise his victory count.
Zarin kept trying to consider a way to get himself free, but he wasn't certain what he could do.
"How about we put a wage for this round?" the guard suggested.
Zarin's eyes got wide from surprise over that suggestion.
"I have nothing to offer, though," he said.
A wide grin appeared on the face of the guard. A grin that Zarin was very familiar with. This was the same expression that the guard had during his pummeling of Zarin.
"You have nothing to lose, but you may have a lot to win," the guard said.
"Will you set me free if I win, then?"
Zarin considered it to be impossible to be that simple, but he could at least try. Maybe his high luck would make it work, even though he wasn't certain what luck affected.
"Sure," the guard expressed right away without giving it a second thought.
Zarin didn't know what to say. Was he really that close to freedom?
"But rules will be different this time."
Zarin didn't like that, but he didn't worry. With the control over the dice no matter the rules, he could win no matter what.
"First, I will use my die this time."
And the guard brought a simple die out of his pocket.
Zarin still didn't worry about it. He could still control himself, so he could just make his roll to be best fitted in the situation.
"Second, we will roll at the same time."
Zarin still didn't have any worries, as rolling at the same time changed little for his side.
"Finally, in order for you to win, you need to have a number at least 3 values over or under my number."
Now worries appeared in Zarin's mind.
With the last rule, his chances of winning weren't 100% anymore.
If the guard landed on a 6, he had to roll 1,2, or 3, while if the guard landed on a 1 he had to get a 4,5, or 6. The worst-case was the guard getting a three, as it would be impossible for Zarin to win.
Also, since they would roll Zarin couldn't know what he had to roll, and he could affect the roll of his opponent since he used his own die. He also had to decide what his die would end landing at the start of the throw.
He tried for a second to see if he could connect with the guard's die the same way as his, but there was no connection.
This was truly a game of luck.
Zarin in the end had only one choice to make. Should he land on a one or a six? Anything else had a significant chance of losing, and the worst result would be the guard getting a three, as it would mean Zarin lost no matter what.
'Well, at least I have a plan now. I can keep trying until I succeed.'
As he had that thought, almost like an answer, two panels of a similar appearance to his Status appeared in front of him.
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PLAN TO FREEDOM
You found a way to freedom. But your adventures are just at their beginning.
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RESPAWN MODE is DISABLED
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Zarin was ready to throw multiple curses on Ais, but he stayed calm. If he did, anything weird could lead to him getting pummeled. He had no second chance, so he had to focus.
Even if he had no control over what the guard would roll, he had some knowledge of his throws. Even if he controlled the eventual result, he was aware of what it would normally land at without him doing anything, and just changed it if the result didn't fit him.
Getting this information in his mind, and his knowledge of how the guard moved, after seeing him so many times killing him, he was certain that he could guess the result with a high chance of being correct.
He paid attention to the guard's movement as he threw the die and both of them threw their dice at almost the same time. Of course, it was impossible to get exactly the same time, but the difference was minor.
Both dice kept rolling for what felt to Zarin to be hours, while in reality, it was just a couple of seconds.
First, his dice stopped and picked to land on one. With his calculations, the guard should get a high number by the way he threw the dice.
The guard's die finally showed signs of stopping, and heavy sweat came down Zarin's forehead. The number of the die was the undesired three.
But the die hadn't fully stopped rolling, and it actually made a final rotation, and then rested at the eventual result.
It was a four.
Zarin's sweat didn't stop, but its degree lessened, and excitement appeared in his eyes.
He looked toward the guard as a thought came to his mind.
'He can decide not to keep his end of the deal.'
Zarin was helpless to stop the guard from not letting the guard to not keep his promise to let him go. He also thought that even if this guard let him leave, there may be others outside that would stop him.
In the end, he wasn't certain if he truly was a winner after all.
The guard stood up after a few seconds of just staring at where the die of Zarin was before he picked it up.
"Come on, let's go."
The guard brought out a set of keys from one of his pockets and started unlocking the cuffs that connected the chains to Zarin's hands and legs.
He then signaled Zarin to follow.
Zarin stood up, after rubbing his arms over where the cuffs were.
As he stood, he had some trouble balancing himself. He had little energy, probably since his SP was low. His SP slowly replenished itself, but each time he died, it went back to 2.
His SP was currently 3, meaning that him staying alive for all those games was enough to replenish a single SP. He wasn't certain how things worked, but probably the reason his SP got replenished that slowly was because he wasn't comfortably resting.
The guard noticed the problem with Zarin standing and approached him.
"Use this to balance yourself," and the guard gave him his spear.
The spear was taller than Zarin, standing, and since this was the first time he stood with his new body, he understood how tall he was.
The guard looked to be quite tall, maybe a little less than two meters, but Zarin's height standing was under the guard's shoulders.
The spear was taller than the guards, close to 2 and a half meters, meaning the size difference between it and Zarin was even greater. Still, for its size, it was lighter than what Zarin thought of it to be.
He used it as a walking stick and followed the guard.
As they exited the cell, Zarin didn't see any other guards. They turned left after exiting the cell and moved through a stone corridor. Zarin noticed more cell doors on their left and right, and he could hear the familiar sound of chains moving from inside for some of them.
After moving for more than a couple of minutes, they reached some stone stairs that headed up.
It didn't take long for them to reach the end, where there was a heavy-looking wooden door.
The guard brought out another key and unlocked the door and opened it.
Natural light came through the opened door, as it led right away outside.
Then the guard signaled Zarin to get out, while he stayed at the side.
Zarin slowly made his way outside, but when he reached the door and was ready to take a step outside, the guard brought his hand forward and stopped him.
Zarin turned toward the guard with a look of fear.
"I need my spear."
Hearing that fear left Zarin's eyes, and he gave the spear back. He still had trouble balancing himself, but he was so close to getting out, and wouldn't let something like that stop him.
He made his first step outside, and soon after, the second one followed, and then a third, and fourth.
Soon the door of the place he just exited closed behind him, and there was no sign of the guard coming after him.
He was finally free of that nightmare.
Like reading his mind once more, another set of panels appeared in front of him.
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QUEST COMPLETED - CHANCE TO NEW LIFE
Rating: D-Rank
Reward: 20 Exps,1x Kester's Die
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KESTER'S DIE
Description: Using this die you can summon Kester. Depending on the result of the die, different abilities of Kester will be available.
Kester (Lvl 25 Warrior)
Race: Human
HP: 300/300
SP: 300/300
MP: 0/0
STATS
Power: 35
Agility: 15
Mind: 10
Defense: 62 (22+40)
Endurance: 20
Luck: 10
SKILLS
General: Charge, Taunt
Roll 1: Iron Wall, Combo Breaker
Roll 2: Riposte, Sweep
Roll 3: Flurry of Slashes
Roll 4: Cleave, Frenzy
Roll 5: Aura of Lion Heart
Roll 6: All abilities (but effects will be at 80%)
Uses left: 3
Duration: 1 minute
Cooldown: 1 hour
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