The Roll of the Dice in the Skies of Celestia

"Master. Allow me to pour you another."

"What's gotten into you, suddenly playing the generous host?"

"Ahem. It is only because I hold the deepest respect for you at all times, Master."

As if.

His eyes were practically glowing with competitive spirit even as the words left his mouth. This was Ping Lei's blatantly obvious way of saying that since he couldn't beat me in a spar, he'd challenge me to a drinking contest instead.

You're going to regret this.

Instead of something light like champagne, I knocked back the whiskey like it was water.

Thirty minutes later.

"Uweeeeck."

Ping Lei gave a full performance detailing everything he'd eaten that day.

Even a player's body that had transcended human limits had its limits. After downing that much whiskey, it was as if he'd soaked his liver directly in alcohol. No wonder he couldn't keep his senses straight.

"For someone in that state, Master, your complexion hasn't changed at all."

"I've transcended humanity, remember?"

"Ugh. Look at the winner acting all smug."

It was the truth, though. My racial category had evolved into a Dragon-Human hybrid, after all.

Color returned to Ping Lei's previously deathly pale skin.

"Use your internal energy to expel the intoxication."

"Urp... ugh."

The alcohol, driven out through energy cultivation, dispersed into the air around us.

Jiyoung pinched her nose shut.

"Eww. That's pungent."

"Tell the guy who caused the mess to clean it up himself."

"If you can suppress or expel intoxication with internal energy, couldn't you have done that during the bet?"

"Then it wouldn't have been a proper wager, would it?"

Jiyoung let out a short "Aha!" of understanding.

Ping Lei. If you want to beat me, try regressing and coming back.

Despite the minor commotion, the party itself was enjoyable. Jiyoung, our resident mood maker, chattered away without pause. Youngsu simply nodded along quietly. And after cleaning himself up, Ping Lei charged in again, leading to another round of roughhousing.

By the time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the prepared food ran out, my phone began to vibrate.

"Ahem. Thank you."

Oh. As expected of Analyst Thomas. He was the only one who ever thought about the guild's minor administrative tasks.

"Let's do it tomorrow. The sooner the better, don't you think?"

Strike while the iron is hot. The Diamond promotion match had been broadcast live in real time. A great many people would be waiting desperately for a press conference.

"Desperately might be a bit much."

Please finish chewing the cake in your mouth before you speak, Goddess.

"Also, casually leak that there's one major announcement planned."

The deep shadows cast across the ground signaled that the sun had sunk into the west. As electric lights began to illuminate the streets, reporters gathered on the first floor of the Yeokcheon Guild building with just as much fiery passion as they'd shown during the day.

"VVC from Britain? That's CCN from America over there."

"They said it would be a live broadcast."

"It's the crack of dawn over there. What are they even broadcasting?"

"There must be people watching, so why not? Plenty of folks stay ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up all night for soccer matches."

Nearly half the people camped out on the first floor were foreigners. Just the representatives from various broadcasting stations and newspapers numbered in the hundreds. Cameras whirred busily, and several anchors were already in the middle of live reports.

The scene outside the building was just as chaotic.

"Ah, guys. What do I do? There's literally no way to get inside."

BJ Raccoon—the very same nutuber who had predicted I'd be the top player during the tutorial—was loitering around the Yeokcheon Guild building again.

"I was planning to, but the reporters already took every spot!"

BJ Raccoon spun his broadcasting phone around in a circle. The massive crowd surrounding the building was almost entirely other streamers. Their eyes burned with excitement over the issue of the century as they paced around just like him.

The official press conference was scheduled for tomorrow, but the moment Analyst Thomas leaked the news to the press, media personnel had swarmed the place. His judgment had been spot on. Reporters who arrived even slightly late couldn't even enter the first floor.

"Hey, don't be too harsh. I'll explain why Jinho is such a big deal."

BJ Raccoon turned his camera toward the Yeokcheon Guild building.

"From the 61st floor onward, you compete against other races, right?"

"You guys are so impatient. This is all necessary buildup."

The number of dimensions climbing the Tower was easily in the hundreds.

"They're implementing a points system."

It was a system where you stole points by defeating your opponent in battle. Rating Points—RP.

The core of RP was that the winner didn't simply gain a fixed amount from the loser. The amount gained varied based on the difference in points between the two parties.

Assume a match between someone with 2,000 RP and someone with 1,000 RP.

The 2,000 RP player would gain 3 points.

The 1,000 RP player would gain 30 points.

Something like that.

The viewers seemed to more or less understand.

"Alright, here's a question. Then how many RP does Jinho have?"

The global average RP was 1,057. That number was already adjusted upward because rankers like Ellen sat around the 1,400 mark.

"Jinho's starting RP was a whopping—"

BJ Raccoon glanced at the chaotic chat window and quickly shouted.

"It was 2,023!"

"There's a correction based on race."

Immortals with naturally high combat power—like angels, demons, or dragonkin—received massive advantages. Letting them compete in the lower rating brackets would only hurt the other side, so the system granted them high RP immediately after their promotion match to prevent them from massacring the weak.

"From the live broadcast, it seems the Constellations intervened."

He had single-handedly slaughtered five dragonkin—the race with the highest potential—in his promotion match. Thanks to that, his RP had shot through the roof.

"I've been studying while watching Diamond player playthroughs."

This was how he made his living as a streamer.

BJ Raccoon continued his casual chatter while occasionally glancing toward the Yeokcheon Guild building. It looked like he'd have to pull an all-nighter here if he wanted even a scrap of information from the press conference.

I glanced ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out the window. There were certainly a lot of people. The lobby had been packed for a while now, and including the crowd camped outside, there were nearly a thousand people total. It hadn't even been that long since Analyst Thomas first mentioned the press conference.

This was proof that they'd been on standby the moment the promotion match results came out.

"Everyone is waiting with bated breath for your appearance, my partner."

"The protagonist always appears last."

"Hehe. I shall look forward to your magnificent entrance."

Hmm. Maybe I was trying too hard to look cool.

It wasn't me who was in a hurry. Just look at that crowd. They'd already secured their spots before I even suggested holding a press conference.

"How does it feel to have the attention of the entire world?"

"It's not bad."

"Did you not once call it bothersome? Demanding an absurd sum of money in the process."

She was referring to right after the tutorial, when I'd demanded a hundred billion.

"Back then I simply didn't want to play the clown."

The situation had changed drastically since then. By overwhelmingly defeating dragonkin in the promotion match, I'd advertised myself as the world's strongest player without spending a single cent. Who was it that resolved the Great Collapse in France?

"Our positions have changed."

"A weight befitting your elevated perspective. Splendid."

Well, it wasn't exactly wrong, but she certainly had a talent for making simple concepts sound complicated.

"Shall we climb the Tower?"

"Did you not say you were mentally exhausted?"

"I've eaten and played enough. Time to move my body a little."

Everyone knew that tower climbing was the perfect exercise after a meal. It was even written in the ancient watermelon records.

Why ask something so obvious?

The moment I pressed Y, a circle began spinning in the center of the screen.

I let out a long breath.

It hadn't been that long since the promotion match, yet it somehow felt like ages since I'd last climbed the Tower.

"It is only natural, since you have been traveling between continents and postponing your trials."

A reasonable observation. I lightly loosened up my body.

"I'm counting on you, Goddess."

"Hehe. I shall strive to live up to your trust."

Celestia, the Mysterious Sky, contains numerous islands.

Explore as far as possible from the starting island.

The voyage will not be smooth, and competitors will also be aiming for you.

▶ Objective: Settle on an island.

A light pressure pressed down on my back. It seemed I wouldn't be able to use skills like Dragon's Wings freely.

Nyx, having returned to her spirit form, climbed onto my shoulder.

"It's not quite that simple."

To head to the next island, we would need supplies. The method of obtaining supplies on each island was random. You could either complete supply-related quests from NPCs, or hunt monsters and mine resources directly to gather materials.

Should I check my teammates' levels first?

"Player Yu Jinho?"

"We're on the same team as the Savior of Paris!"

"What luck we have!"

Even though we'd been matched across dimensions, everyone on my team turned out to be Earth players.

On the other hand, all the players on the opposing side were different races.

Those vegetarian pointy-eared bastards.

"We saw them during a previous Tower mission, didn't we?"

She had a point.

The elves glanced at me before sharply turning their heads away.

Those guys. Just because I'm not as beautiful as an elf doesn't mean I've ever been called ugly, you know?

And yet they looked at me like they'd seen something unpleasant.

Just wait until the trial starts.

"If you're going to compliment me, just say I'm handsome."

Never mind.

I shot Nyx a quick glare before boarding the ship.

The six-sided die on the ship floated high into the air before rolling across the deck.