Lord of the Karmic Fate

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[True Artifact: Dice of Fate]

• Grade: Mortal

• Form: Initial

• Description: Allows you to gain 1 random relic with random characteristic/s after every throw!

<The Grade of the relic depends on the number of stars gotten after the throw!>

<The Form of the relic depends solely on the Artifact's current Form!>

<Cooldown: Can be used once at the start of every Realm Game!>

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• Relic Grade per Stars:

-> 1 Star: Mortal

-> 2 Stars: Yet to be unlocked!

-> 3 Stars: Yet to be unlocked!

-> 4 Stars: Yet to be unlocked!

-> 5 Stars: Yet to be unlocked!

-> 6 Stars: Yet to be unlocked!

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Raven stared blankly at the small throwing dice in the middle of his palm and remained silent for a whole minute. He didn't move or blink, just stared silently at the little Artifact's description with eyes that looked hollow.

The reason you ask?

Just what was the worst ability an individual with literally zero fortune and nearly constant bad luck could possess? Naturally, there were many skills that bad luck could influence in an adverse manner, but the worst of all of them were those that required gambling luck for chances!

Yes! The worst ability one with a bad fortune could possibly possess, obviously and not so surprisingly, was everything that was related to chances and luck.

For instance, if an ability had a requirement that said it only had X% chance of activation, then that ability literally became junk in the hands of someone that was never lucky but a priceless treasure to those who were always fortunate!

Exactly because of this reason why Raven always tries to get as far away from things that were related to those two, let it be real-life gambling or events in video games, but unfortunately, almost as if by a curse of some sort, he always ends up in a casino or in a valley where he bets and puts wagers.

And naturally, almost all the time, 99% to be precise, he goes home with either all his money lost or with debts he has to pay off.

But then here came the question of how was he still alive and how he was able to pay off his debts. Well, in short, it was all thanks to Old Dan as he was a filthy rich person and, in truth, was his foster father.

However, that was something for later.

[Oh? That is quite an interesting Artifact. With great luck it can actually become an unstoppable Artifact, helping you greatly in any Realm Game.]

'With great luck...'

When those words reached Raven's ears he wished to cry, but unfortunately, no tears came to his eyes.

[Well, anyway, now that you finally have your Avatar and also possess an Artifact, it is time for you to embark on your first ever Realm Game!]

Whoosh!

While Raven was literally appalled motionlessly, still staring at the dice in his hand with a somewhat hollow expression, the surroundings around him underwent a great change.

The ground which was made up of dense white clouds quickly turned into solid earth covered in emerald green grass while trees the width of at least five humans began to grow toward the sky at rapid speed, only starting to slow down and come to a halt when they reached the height of at least 50 meters!

Even the bright sun from the sky vanished and what replaced it was a beautiful silver full moon, which in contrast to the one on earth was eerily close to the point where one could easily discern the smallest craters and pits on its surface!

At the moment when everything changed completely, Raven has already regained his composure and although slightly sad and bitter on the inside, his outer expression was calm and collected as he examined his surroundings.

One had to note, that while Raven was extremely bad at gambling thanks to his horrible luck, he was also a very perceptive individual, and everything he was doing, let it be gambling, playing video games, or doing simple chores, was done with 100% seriousness and concentration!

Due to this attitude of his why he was able to squeeze out victories here and there during his bets as he always analyzed things while he played, thinking about ways how he could avoid his bad luck without it having the slightest chance to destroy everything.

Of course, it did not work every time as his bad luck akin to a lurking curse always struck him, but at least when it did it showed that his efforts were not for nothing.

While Raven was looking around now the dense forest, which slowly but surely began to get filled with white fog, several individuals he has never seen before started to appear out of thin air one by one. They were all humans.

However, in contrast to him who was calm and seemed to be indifferent as he already accepted his fate and acknowledged he was not dreaming, those people who appeared a little bit further away from him all looked at each other and the forest around them with either baffled, anxious, or frightened expressions!

"W-What is this place? Why are we in a forest now?"

"Fucking dammit, it is dark here! Didn't you say we will play a game? So why are we in a fricking forest that looks like a place from a fucking horror movie?"

"I-I am scared... Sob... I want to go home... Where is mommy?"

People differing in gender, look, and age looked around with nervous gazes which slowly but surely turned into eyes filled with fear and panic. Though, considering that humans always feared the unknown especially if it was in a dark place, it was only natural to see such reactions.

The only ones who were somewhat looked collected and acted calm were the older ones while everyone else, except Raven, was either trembling like rabbits or started to sob quietly.

Raven examined each and everyone around him and after remaining silent, he realized that there were a total of 25 of them in the forest, including himself.

Teenagers, young men and women, and even others that seemingly had kids or were planning to have one. Among the 25 there was even an old man that could easily be Raven's grandfather, that's how old he was!

Damn, the poor guy even shook like a naked man outside in winter and could only walk because he supported his old body on a walking stick!

'Did that deity ask everyone if they want to play or only just a specific number of people was given the choice?' Raven pondered silently, but as he remembered how hundreds of thousands of Artifacts vanished right from his sight in seconds a few moments ago, he quickly realized it was very likely that at least half of humanity was experiencing the same thing as him.

"Well, assuming human curiosity, it is no wonder a lot of people accepted the invitation," Raven mumbled quietly before he let out a deep sigh.

He already thought about this the moment he created his Avatar, but after seeing he was indeed not hallucinating and others except him were undergoing the same things as him, he had to admit that things on Earth after this 'Realm Game' or whatever will change dramatically.

Changes that at the beginning very likely will bring nothing good but chaos if the UWL won't act from the very first instant!

Or at least if they will be brought back to Earth, to begin with...

As Raven was contemplating what he should do after he gets back to Earth, suddenly a magic panel appeared in front of his, and everyone else's face.

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[Realm Game: Hide or Die]

° Difficulty: White Realm

° Rank Requirements: None

° Rules: Hide or survive until the end of the time limit!

° Rewards: Unspecified

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"Hide or... Die?" Raven read the name of the Realm Game and couldn't help but frown.

However, even before he was given time to think the panel vanished, and what replaced it was a deep, quiet, and awfully eerie voice that unwittingly made everyone's blood turn cold who heard it!

[You have... One minute to hide.]