So dark, so cold...
Lorne felt as though he were submerged in the depths of the ocean, sinking, sinking...
Endless waves of seawater flooded his body, drowning his senses but by bit
Here, time lost its meaning, and space lost its dimensions.
Until a mysterious, female voice, like a sound of nature, echoed in his ears.
"Hmm, so this is how it is? Interesting..."
Splash—!
With an ethereal sound of water, a hand pulled him out of the maddening silence, and the world before him suddenly gained sound and color.
Everything began to come alive.
"Cough, cough~!"
Like a drowning man, Lorne instinctively coughed violently as he lay on the ground and only after the suffocating sensation in his lungs subsided did he raise his head to survey his surroundings.
The parched earth was riddled with cracks, and the sky was a chaotic, dusky yellow.
Above, what seemed like flowing water rippled across the heavens.
A few withered trees, resembling the arms of the dead, stretched out from the soil, growing in the desolate wilderness.
Several ravens perched on the blackened branches, preening their feathers.
Directly in front of him, a tall woman stood at the crossroads, holding a lantern.
She was wearing a veil and a long black dress, her purple hair cascading over her shoulders.
She observed him with interest for a moment before extending her hand.
"You're awake? Then let's go."
"Go where?"
Lorne, still disoriented, was stunned for a moment as he instinctively asked the question, only to realize that his current form was not that of a baby but rather resembled his adult self from his previous life.
The purple-haired woman pursed her lips, forming a faint, amused smile.
"The Underworld..."
"I... I'm dead?"
"It's only a matter of time."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Lorne's expression darkened, his face ashen as he gritted his teeth and spat out the words.
"Fuck, so this is how it's going to be?"
The life of abundance he should have had—gone.
The mother he should have saved—turned to ash.
The divine status he should have attained—nothing but an illusion.
The "father" who should have given him new life, destroyed him with his own hands...
He couldn't understand why the true course of fate was so different from what was recorded in the Theogony.
What was the truth behind it all? What was the answer?
Caught in the whirlwind of extreme ups and downs, Lorne's expression was one of gloom and despair.
The purple-haired woman gazed at the ethereal figure before her, smiling as she rested her chin on her hand and spoke leisurely.
"Do you want to live?"
In an instant, a fierce desire to survive and a burning hope ignited in Lorne's previously dull eyes as he snapped his head up to look at the mysterious goddess, nodding vigorously like a drowning man clutching at a lifeline.
"Live! I want to live!"
In his previous life, he had lived in a haze of confusion.
If he were to die again in this life without understanding anything, it would be a double humiliation.
He wanted to live—to uncover the truth behind everything, and then take revenge, chopping that cheap old man of his into pieces!
Even if that cheap old man was Zeus!
"You want to live?"
The purple-haired goddess curled her lips into a subtle smile.
"Possible. But the Underworld has had no precedent for releasing souls at will."
"So?"
"Gamble with me! If you win, I'll let you return to the world of the living."
As she spoke, the purple-haired goddess couldn't wait to open her palm, revealing two exquisitely crafted twelve-sided dice made of serpentinite, which immediately caught Lorne's eye.
These were two uniquely designed dice, each face engraved with ancient Greek letters in red and black, seemingly representing numbers.
Seeing the professional equipment the other party had produced in an instant, along with her eager gaze, Lorne couldn't help but be taken aback.
'Holy crap, since when did the god of death have a gambling addiction?'
But soon, Lorne felt a bit relaxed.
After all, the bad habit of gambling has existed in human culture for a long time.
This was especially true in Greece.
For example, the origins of playing cards can be traced back to the Minoan civilization over 3,500 years ago.
The famous vase painting Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice depicts the two great heroes of the Trojan War engaging in a leisurely gambling activity during their downtime.
Similarly, in Greek mythology, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon played a game of "rolling dice" to divide the universe among themselves.
And the belief that rolling two sixes in a dice game is lucky also has ancient origins.
Thousands of years ago, rolling two sixes was called the "Aphrodite throw," signifying victory in the game.
Since there was a precedent, this meant there was still hope for survival!
Lorne couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement as he looked deeply at the unnamed goddess before him.
"So, what's the price?"
There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and Lorne wasn't stupid, so, he understood this principle well.
The purple-haired goddess showed a hint of surprise on her face, her interest piqued as she examined the figure before her, caught between the realms of the real and the ethereal.
Between life and death lies great terror.
In the face of the temptation of life, even heroes and gods often cannot remain calm, and fall into madness in order to grasp that glimmer of possibility, willing to give up everything.
In such circumstances, someone who could remain rational was indeed intriguing.
"Your soul..."
The purple-haired goddess smiled faintly, her cherry lips parting beneath her veil, her dark eyes like bottomless abysses.
"If you lose, willingly give me your soul. There seems to be something in it that I haven't seen before."
Hiss—
Although he had a feeling the stakes wouldn't be simple, this condition felt more like a demon's temptation.
While Lorne cursed in his heart, he suddenly realized that his current soul form wasn't that of a baby but rather an adult's silhouette.
Only his eyes remained as pure as a child's.
No wonder...
After figuring out the reason for the goddess's interest in him, Lorne glanced around.
This silent wilderness seemed endless, with no beginning and no end.
After a long moment of contemplation, Lorne sighed.
"How do we gamble?"
There was no other choice—the temptation of life was indeed something he couldn't refuse.
Besides, in the goddess's domain, he didn't seem to have the right to refuse anyway.
Alas, the life of the upper class nobles hax not even lasted a month, and in the blink of an eye, it was time to play the resurrection match.
His luck was really fucked up
At this moment, the unnamed goddess, having received his response, lightly pursed her lips. The smile on her face seemed to deepen, and her tone carried a hint of pleasure.
"Simple. We'll compare the numbers."
As she spoke, the goddess handed one of the dice to Lorne and raised her fair wrist, ready to cast the dice of fate...however.
"Wait!"
Lorne hurriedly stopped her, his gaze flickering with suspicion as he looked at the goddess.
"This doesn't seem fair to me. If you use your divine powers during the game, how could I possibly win? If it's a game I'm destined to lose, then I refuse!"
"Fine, I promise not to use my divine power during the game."
After thinking about it for a moment, the goddess nodded in concession and raised her hand again.
"Wait!"
With another urgent stop, the goddess frowned slightly, and the smile on her face obviously faded a lot.
"Do you have more conditions?"
"A single round to decide the outcome is too arbitrary."
"Then, best of three?"
"Ten rounds!"
Lorne gritted his teeth and made the demand, going all out with his request.
"If in any of the ten rounds my number is equal to or greater than yours, I win! Only under these conditions will I willingly bet my soul!"
A brief silence followed for a few seconds as the goddess looked at the figure before her, her expression a mix of amusement and curiosity.
"You don't have any other conditions, do you?"
Under the goddess's intense gaze, Lorne felt pressure like a mountain, so, he swallowed hard and nodded stiffly, not daring to push his luck any further.
Three times is the limit.
Now that he had gained enough favorable conditions for himself, if he continues to do it, he was afraid that he would be slapped into a QR code by the goddess in front of him.
With the agreement reached, both parties simultaneously released their grip, letting the twelve-sided dice fall from their hands.
First round: Lorne rolled a 7, the goddess rolled a 9.
Not bad, the gap wasn't too big. There was still a chance.
Lorne comforted himself, took a deep breath, and continued to toss the dice onto the stone floor.
Second round: Lorne rolled an 8, the goddess rolled a 10.
Third round: Lorne rolled a 4, the goddess rolled a 6.
Fourth round: Lorne rolled a 1, the goddess rolled a 3.
Fifth round... Sixth round... Seventh round...
Eighth round: Lorne rolled an 11, the goddess rolled a 12...
The consecutive losses made Lorne's expression grow more and grim.
Gambling with a god was indeed not as simple as it seemed.
Even though they had agreed not to use divine power, her control over her body and her skill in gambling were far beyond what any mortal could hope to achieve.
Well .he was quite afraid that if this goddess wanted to, she could easily roll any number she desired.
Only two rounds left...
Lorne's hands were trembling slightly, but he clenched his teeth, his gaze still resolute.
There was still a chance, there was still hope!
If he could roll a 12, he would be guaranteed to win.
According to their agreement, if his number was equal to or greater than the opponent's, he would win.
So from the very beginning, Lorne hadn't pinned his hopes on beating the goddess with other numbers.
His gamble was simply the chance to roll a 12 in one of the ten rounds—the slim possibility he had fought for!
Lorne took a deep breath, silently praying in his heart, and with a sudden burst of inspiration, he rolled the twelve-sided dice once more.
The dark green serpentinite dice tumbled across the stone floor, finally coming to rest on the side marked with a lightning symbol and a corresponding dark red letter.
12 points? It really was 12 points!
Seeing the result, Lorne rubbed his eyes, hardly able to believe it.
Then, an overwhelming wave of joy nearly consumed him.
"I won! I won!"
The sudden turn of events led to an excitement that could not be surpassed and his face was filled with excitement and hope.
"Little one, aren't you celebrating a bit too early? I haven't rolled yet."
The goddess's calm voice echoed in his ears as she pursed her lips and gently released her dice.
The twelve-sided dice fell and rolled, colliding with the other dice in the corner.
In that instant, the two dice made a dull clinking sound, each spinning a few times before finally coming to a stop.
Goddess: 2 points. Lorne: 1 point...
"Oh dear, how unfortunate. It seems I still won."
The goddess's face was full of pity, as if she genuinely regretted Lorne's misfortune.
Of course, if one ignored the playful glint in her eyes, her expression might have seemed sincere.
The sudden turn of events and the rapid deterioration of his situation left Lorne's expression shifting between anger and frustration.
Damn it, I should have known better than to trust these scumbag gods to play by the rules.
"Don't lose heart. You still have one last chance."
The goddess stepped forward and smiled warmly, her face full of encouragement, but..
Lorne shook his head faintly, his expression blank as he tossed the twelve-sided dice back to its owner.
"No need. I've lost."
This was always an unequal game.
All he could hope for was that the other side would abide by the rules and uphold the so-called fairness.
But once a god started playing tricks, under such a framework, no matter how hard an ordinary person tried, there was no way to win.
Even if he tried a hundred times, a thousand times, the result would still be the same, so why bother anyway.
Hearing that Lorne had taken the initiative to admit defeat, the originally excited goddess suddenly felt bored and slowly raised her hand forward.
"In that case, your soul—"
"Wait!"
Lorne, who should have been sitting there waiting to die, suddenly raised his head with a sharp gaze.
"I want to gamble with you again!"
"Oh? An interesting proposal..."
The goddess paused, raising an eyebrow with keen interest, but then her smile faded, and her tone shifted abruptly.
"But why should I? I've already won. Why should I gamble with you again?"
"Because our bet was for one soul, but I..."
Lorne wasn't afraid at all, and just pointed at himself, a challenging sneer spreading across his face.
"...have two stakes!"
Strictly speaking, he had two lives.
One came from his previous world, belonging to himself; the other came from the age of Greek gods, belonging to Dionysus, the god of wine.
As for whether this could be considered two independent souls, Lorne wasn't sure. It was just a precaution he had taken when hastily setting up the game.
In the tense silence, the goddess carefully examined the figure before her, her gaze growing even more intrigued.
So that's how it is?
Interesting, truly fascinating!
"Fine, I'll gamble with you."
The goddess, as if she had discovered a new world, happily agreed.
It worked!
At this moment, Lorne, who had been tense all over, finally let out a sigh of relief upon hearing her answer as faint smile of relief appeared on his stiff face.
'Just as I thought.'
As long as he gave a plausible reason, the other party would willingly convince herself to take the bait and sit back at the gambling table.
He might not understand souls, but he understood gamblers all too well.
As soon as the agreement was reached, the purple-haired goddess eagerly twirled the dice in her hand, ready to roll.
"So, when do we start?"
"Wait a moment."
Lorne raised his hand slightly, making a stopping gesture, and spoke solemnly.
"Last time, you set the rules of the game. This time, the method and rules should be chosen by me!"
"Hmm, that's fair."
The goddess thought for a moment, then nodded slightly, and asked with interest.
"So, how do you want to gamble?"
"I'm not good at complicated games, so let's keep it simple."
After thinking about it for a moment of, Lorne gave his answer in a serious tone.
"We'll play a counting game. The rules are simple: we take turns choosing numbers, starting from 1 and counting up to 30. Each turn, you can only say one or two consecutive numbers. Whoever says '30' wins. If I win, you must unconditionally release me back to the world of the living!"
"Fine~!"
The goddess agreed without hesitation.
Her absolute power gave her an overwhelming sense of superiority, making her unafraid of any challenge.
After explaining the rules, Lorne forced a smile and gestured politely.
"Alright, to be fair, since I set the rules, I'll let you go first."
The goddess tossed the dice in her hand, nodding carelessly, eager to dive into the game.
"1~"
The moment the goddess opened her mouth, the tension on Lorne's face eased, and his eyes gleamed with a hidden light.
'This round, I've won'!