Chapter 1676: Game of Life System
Within the Artica realm, Axios was smiling softly as he played with the piece of divine ore in his hand. For reasons unknown to those at his level, a name had not been decided for the ore, and no one was allowed to name it either. Even nicknames weren’t allowed, so for now it was simply being addressed as the divine ore, which was not really a name - it was just what it was.
The unusual situation from the name aside, the existence of this ore had caused a massive upheaval across the universe, and Axios had been in the perfect place to take advantage of it.
It did not take long for him to establish various alliances centered around the trade of this ore, bolstering his own position within his race and creating strong allies for himself. Life was very much a game of transactions, and sometimes helping others was the best way to help oneself.
All the deals he made seemed to favor the natives of the Artica race, but that was only because no one knew what he stood to gain from it. The good will of the races, an increased diplomatic standing, and steadfast allies were all things that would give him long-term returns compared to something like immediate wealth benefit.
What no one knew was that even those were merely add-on bonuses for Axios. What he really wanted by creating more allies for himself were the Go pieces they would provide.
He had to admit, he severely underestimated his opponent this time when he challenged that human. Not only had he become cognizant of the Go board much quicker than anyone else he had ever encountered, he had learned the basic rules fairly quickly as well.
His counter attacks, while somewhat basic, were also swift and lethal, and put Axios in a temporarily disadvantaged position. But the thing about this Go board was that it was more complex than simply gaining a piece every time one advanced oneself.
Axios turned his attention to his system interface. More specifically, he looked at the title of his system at the very top of the interface panel. It read: Game of Life System. The game they were playing looked like Go, but the pieces materialised whenever one advanced in any way in life.
That advancement could be in the form of personal strength, alliances, connections, networks, influence, etc.
Essentially, the board did not take into account any such advantages the players had at the time of the initiation of the game, only personal advancements made after the game began. What was especially important was that only personal advancements mattered, not any advancement to any associated organization or power - not unless one openly owned that organization or power.
Axios’ opponent was winning a lot in life, and with a frequency that was completely abnormal. Axios even suspected that he had left the Artica realm and moved to another realm with a faster flow of time. But that was only a temporary advantage. After all, this game was not a quick one.