Coming of age was a threshold. Once you crossed it, you entered a completely different world.
After Audrey came of age, she was gifted another sum of adult assets worth roughly 100,000 gold pounds. Combined with her trait, her total wealth had already reached 300,000 gold pounds.
Xio fell into deep thought as she looked at her own wealth, which was still 100 gold pounds in debt.
Fors' eyes were already filled entirely with the image of Miss Audrey. As expected, Miss Audrey was truly the embodiment of the Goddess of Wealth!
Only Audrey showed no happiness on her face. Her gaze fell upon a space two squares ahead, the Life Partner square.
After Audrey, Sharron also came of age. She successfully rolled the dice and landed on the Life Partner square.
Although there was still no expression on her face, Audrey caught a bright gleam deep within her eyes.
Hastur also looked over. Sharron merely lowered her head slightly and calmly stroked Ariella's head, making it impossible to discern her thoughts from her facial expression.
As the game continued, Xio still lived a life where she never knew where her next meal was coming from. No matter how hard she tried, her total wealth could never exceed 1,000 gold pounds. By comparison, Fors had much better luck, and her total wealth had already reached 15,000 gold pounds.
The wealthiest person was naturally Miss Audrey. Her wealth continued piling up, though it seemed as if money was the only thing left in her life.
Compared to the three of them constantly revolving around money, Hastur and Sharron's life stories were exceptionally eventful.
On the sixth round, Hastur successfully crossed paths with Sharron. The two first became acquainted during an adventure, then smoothly became a couple.
Faced with such a coincidental life story, Hastur could only smile awkwardly. Sharron remained silent, merely stroking Ariella's head with an especially gentle and considerate touch.
By the twentieth round, Hastur and Sharron successfully entered the halls of marriage, while Audrey continued steadily accumulating wealth. Her total wealth had already reached five million gold pounds, leaving her only halfway from the victory condition.
Xio's troubled life and Fors' ordinary life were still nowhere close to satisfying any victory condition.
Fors sighed and chose to give up struggling, continuing to live as a salted fish. After all, her efforts were incapable of changing her fate.
Xio, on the other hand, absolutely refused to accept her fate. Every time she rolled the dice, she did so with extraordinary solemnity, even praying inwardly for the gods' protection. Unfortunately, her life still showed no signs of improving.
By the time Audrey's wealth grew to eight million gold pounds, Hastur and Sharron successfully had a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. Moreover, their family had remained harmonious and happy throughout their journey, completely satisfying the Family victory condition.
Besides that, Hastur had also received various divine blessings along the way. He had currently obtained eight divine blessings and only needed two more to achieve the Divine Blessing victory condition.
When Audrey's wealth surpassed ten million gold pounds, Hastur and Sharron had another daughter.
"18."
Hastur rolled the dice again. The life event was: Due to being excessively affectionate with his wife, they broke a bed during their nighttime activities. Wealth decreased by 100 gold pounds.
"…" Hastur fell silent.
Sharron glanced at Hastur, seemingly blaming him for being so rough, then lowered her head again and stroked Ariella's head.
"…" Audrey pursed her lips tightly. In the end, she still raised her head and glanced at Hastur. "Mr. Hastur's life really is going quite smoothly."
"It's just a game. A game." Hastur could only respond with a dry laugh.
"Isn't life itself also a game?"
Sharron seemed to murmur this softly, her voice low enough that only Ariella and Audrey could hear her clearly.
Audrey's body trembled slightly. She then silently rolled the dice and headed toward the end of her life, becoming the winner of the first game. Yet she felt no joy from her victory.
Although Sharron had lost the game, there was no trace of disappointment on her face. Instead, the corners of her lips curved slightly upward, and she appeared to be in a very good mood.
As for Xio and Fors, they were merely supporting characters in other people's brilliant lives. They could only stand silently to the side without saying anything.
"Congratulations to Miss Audrey for winning this game. You truly are a winner in life."
Hastur first offered his congratulations to Miss Audrey, then suggested switching to another game.
During the previous game, he had experienced ominous premonitions several times. The longer they played, the more uneasy he became.
"Mr. Hastur, everyone wants to experience a different life," Audrey said calmly.
"Exactly! I refuse to believe my life can only be one big mess!" Xio also strongly demanded another round. She believed her next life definitely wouldn't be this unlucky!
Fors had already given up struggling. She had already seen where the destiny of her life led. No matter how many times she started over, she didn't believe her life would turn out much differently.
As for becoming a winner in life, she didn't think she had that kind of luck.
Sharron merely calmly stroked Ariella's head without expressing an opinion.
"Fine. Then let's play another round."
Hastur could only choose to continue with another game of life.
This time, Hastur's identity was a baby blessed by the gods, Audrey was a royal princess, Sharron was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Xio was the illegitimate daughter of a fallen wealthy merchant, and Fors was the sole heir of a mysterious family.
Hastur still started with three dice rolls. Audrey, Sharron, and Fors each started with two rolls. Only Xio had a low-ranking identity.
"…" Xio remained silent for a long while before saying firmly, "A life that goes too smoothly is meaningless. Only hardship can create a brilliant life."
"Mhm, mhm. Very well said." Fors was the first to voice her support, while everyone else also gave approving looks.
"…" Xio became even more silent.
After the second game began, Hastur was once again the first to come of age, and the first square he landed on after adulthood was once again the Life Partner square.
"…" This time, even Hastur fell silent.
When it was Audrey's turn, she once again accumulated a huge amount of wealth and likewise missed the Life Partner square after reaching adulthood.
"…" Audrey also fell silent.
When it was Sharron's turn, she too missed the Life Partner square this time. Just like Audrey, she instead accumulated a large amount of wealth.
"…" Sharron also remained silent.
By the time it was Fors's turn to roll the dice, the surrounding atmosphere had already become exceptionally heavy. Silence spread without a sound.
"…" Fors still chose the life of a salted fish, lying flat all the way and allowing various gods to take turns blessing her while all sorts of fortuitous encounters fell into her lap.
It was just that the surrounding atmosphere felt somewhat wrong, forcing even her to remain silent.
In the end, Fors, who had done nothing but lie flat the entire way, fulfilled the Divine Blessing condition and reached the end of her life, successfully winning the second game and becoming the winner in life.
Originally, this should have been something worth celebrating, but the surrounding atmosphere made Fors unable to express the joy in her heart. Nor did she feel it appropriate to flaunt her success in front of Xio, who had already lost all confidence in life.
"Let's play something else."
Hastur once again made this suggestion, but this time, aside from Fors, the other three all wanted to play another round.
Even Sharron took the initiative to express her desire to start another life.
"…"
Hastur could only silently begin another game.
During the third game, Hastur was no longer assigned the highest-ranking identity. For once, all five of them drew second-tier starting identities, with each person receiving two initial dice rolls.
This was the fairest starting point they had experienced so far. Even Xio, who had already completely despaired of life, once again rekindled her hope.
This time, the five of them entered the grand stage of adulthood at sixteen one after another.
As Hastur crossed the threshold of sixteen and became an adult, he once again rolled his way onto the Life Partner square.
Having landed on this square three times in a row, Hastur became even more silent. Xio and Fors cast curious looks at him.
If the atmosphere hadn't felt somewhat strange, they would have been unable to resist asking Mr. Hastur why he was so desperate for a life partner!
What Xio and Fors never expected was that Miss Audrey and Miss Sharron would also roll their dice onto that same square one after another.
"Why haven't I landed on it even once?!"
Xio truly wanted to complain. Could it be that she was destined to have no opportunities whatsoever in this regard?
Fors took the matter lightly. Compared to worrying about gains and losses within the game, she was now paying far more attention to Miss Audrey, Mr. Hastur, and Miss Sharron.
She had the distinct feeling that something interesting was happening between the three of them, and her imagination couldn't help running wild with all sorts of fantasies.
This situation caused Hastur, Audrey, and Sharron to simultaneously fall silent.
An invisible pressure made Hastur feel chilly drafts coming from both his left and right sides. Even Ariella and Susie couldn't help shivering, their fur nearly standing on end.
Every time Fors watched Mr. Hastur, Miss Audrey, or Miss Sharron roll the dice, her heart pounded with anxiety. She was terrified that their paths through life would once again produce some kind of messy entanglement.
As the game continued, Hastur's first encounter went to Sharron, his first romance went to Audrey, his first adventure went to Sharron, his first intimate date went to Audrey…
Every step was fraught with danger. Even Xio, who had been focused on changing the outcome of her life, noticed that something was wrong.
She and Fors secretly swept their gazes across the three people opposite them.
Mr. Hastur remained silent from beginning to end.
Miss Audrey always wore an elegant smile on her face.
Miss Sharron was as calm as still water, without the slightest trace of emotion leaking out.
They knew that this game of life was of critical importance.
Because, who knew? A bloody storm might erupt later.