Chapter 3: 2 Welcome to the Revival Race
The ceaseless tides poured into his body, smothering his senses bit by bit.
Here, time lost its concept, and space lost its dimensions.
Until, like the celestial music of a mysterious female voice, it rang by his ear.
"Hmm, so this is how it is? Interesting..."
Whoosh—!
With a crisp sound akin to emerging from water, a hand yanked him from that maddening silence, and suddenly the world before him burst with sound and color.
Everything started to come alive.
"Cough, cough~!"
Like a drowning man, Luo En instinctively lay on the ground coughing, and when the suffocation in his lungs subsided, he finally raised his head to look around.
The parched earth was covered in cracks, the sky was a chaotic dull yellow, and above, there seemed to be flowing waves. A few trees, resembling the arms of the dead, reached out from the soil, growing on the wilderness, with several crows perched on their dark branches preening their feathers.
In front of him stood a tall woman with purple hair cascading over her shoulders. She held a lantern in her hand, her face veiled and dressed in a black long dress, quietly standing at the crossroads, looking at him with interest for a moment before extending her hand.
"You're awake? Then let's go."
"Go where?"
In a daze, Luo En blinked and instinctively asked, suddenly realizing that his current state was not that of a baby's appearance but bore some contours of his past life as an adult.
The woman with purple hair curled her lips into a pleased arc.
"The Netherworld..."
"I, I'm dead?"
"It's only a matter of time."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Luo En, coming to his senses, had a face dark as the bottom of a pot, squeezing out grim words between clenched teeth.
"Damn it, playing me like this, huh?"
The life that should have been affluent vanished into nothing;
The mother who should have been saved turned to dust;
The divine throne he should have ascended, nothing but an illusion;
The "father" who should have granted him a new life, destroyed him by his own hand...
He couldn't understand why the real destiny and the record on the "Divine Chronicle" were completely different?
All the truths, the answers lurking behind, what were they?
With great ups and downs, Luo En's expression was gloomy and dejected.
Looking at the illusory figure before her, the purple-haired woman lifted her chin with a smile, speaking leisurely.
"Do you want to live?"
In an instant, a strong desire to survive and thirst erupted in Luo En's dull eyes, and he sharply looked up at the mysterious goddess, nodding his head fiercely as if a drowning man clutched at a lifeline.
"To live! I want to live!"
He had led an oblivious life in his previous existence. If he were to die this obscurely again, it would be doubly shameful.
He must live, live to understand everything thoroughly, then seek revenge, and chop up that cheap father!
Even if that father was Zeus!
"Want to live?"
The purple-haired goddess curled up her lips, revealing a subtle smile.
"You can, but the Netherworld has never casually released a soul."
"So?"
"Have a bet with me! Win, and I will let you return to the living world."
With that, the purple-haired goddess eagerly opened her palm, revealing two exquisite dodecahedrons made of snake-patterned stone, instantly catching Luo En's eye.
They were two uniquely shaped dice, each face engraved with ancient Greek letters that seemed to represent numbers in red and black.
Seeing how she pulled out the professional equipment in the blink of an eye and that eager look, Luo En was taken aback.
What the heck, there are gamblers among the gods of death?
But soon, Luo En came to terms with it.
Gambling, an ill habit with a long history in human culture.
Greece, in particular, was no exception. For example, the origins of playing cards can be traced back more than 3,500 years to the Minoan civilization.
The famous vase painting "Achilles and Ajax playing dice" depicts the gambling activities of two great heroes during their leisure time in the Trojan War.
Similarly, in Greek mythology, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon played the "dice" game to divide the universe amongst themselves.
And our belief that throwing two sixes in a dice game is lucky also has its ancient origins. Thousands of years ago, throwing two sixes was called an "Aphrodite throw," signifying victory in the game.
Since there were precedents, this proved that he still had hope for life!
Luo En couldn't help being overwhelmed with emotions, looking intently at the Nameless Goddess before him.
"Then, what's the price?"
There were no free lunches in the world, he wasn't foolish, and he certainly understood this principle.
A look of obvious surprise emerged on the face of the purple-haired goddess, who was curiously eyeing the figure that hovered between reality and illusion.
Great terror lay between life and death.
In the face of the temptation of life, even heroes and deities often can't remain calm, succumbing to madness for that sliver of possibility, willing to give up everything.
That someone could maintain their rationality first in such a situation was indeed interesting.
"Your soul..."
The purple-haired goddess smiled faintly, her cherry lips parting under the veil, her eyes dark as the bottomless Abyss.
"If you lose, give your soul to me willingly; it seems to contain something I've never seen."
Hiss~~
Although he anticipated the stake wouldn't be so straightforward, this condition felt more like a demon's temptation.
While internally criticizing, Luo En also sharply realized that his current soul's appearance was not that of a baby but an adult's form.
Only those eyes were as pure as a child's.
No wonder...
Understanding the reason for the goddess's interest in him, Luo En was clear in his heart, taking a glance around.
This silent wilderness seemed infinite, with no beginning and no end.