MMORPG: Rebirth of the Mortal Online - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: The Breaking Point
‘This round, it is better not to be either attacker or defender.’ Adam thought. ‘It is now important to not get any more damage to the marble. Whoever reaches the breaking point first will be targeted.

‘Now, the attacker can lose a round and end up at the breaking point. It will be a very tough position to be in.’

“Let’s roll.” Ramon said, rolled up his sleeves, and revealed some hidden tattoos. They weren’t as visible as his face tattoo.

It looked like the tattoos on his forearms were his first tattoos, as he wanted to start with something small.

At that moment, the four rolled their marbles down the table, each marble spinning until they collided at the center of the table.

Some curious players watched from the sidelines, not daring to interrupt the game but still watching with interest.

Niko, Donald’s friend, watched the marbles collide with a look of anticipation on his face.

This game looked quite interesting to him.

However, the most interesting part was the four that were playing it—Ramon, Hannibal, Donald, and Adam—the four top players of the tutorial.

…

In a dark room, a screen flickered, showing the common room and the four top players, who were completely immersed in the game.

Ron, with his legs crossed on the table and his other hand holding a bottle of beer, watched the game with a smirk.

“A game of the Mad Marbles, ah, the good old days.” He chuckled, reminiscing about his tutorial days.

He was just like them, sitting around a table with his friends and playing the Mad Marbles.

He still played it occasionally. Sometimes, after a long mission, he went to the tavern in Dawnwatch and ordered a drink, then played a few games.

“I also never expected to see these four sitting around the same table, playing.” Ron chuckled and chugged down the beer. “I guess anything is possible in this world.”

“Oh, the numbers were rolled.”

…

From a mist, numbers appeared inside the marbles, showing the score of every player.

Ramon’s score was 16.

Hannibal’s score was 15.

Donald’s score was 11.

Adam’s score was 15.

“Now I am an attacker, typical.” Ramon said sarcastically and took his marble from the center of the table.

Everyone else took their marbles as well and turned their gazes on Ramon.

‘He shouldn’t go after me, right?’ Donald thought to himself and glanced at Adam, ‘He should be going for revenge, I feel like. Without Adam, he would’ve been sitting nicely at the top position right now.’

“I’ll attack…” Ramon looked straight at Adam before grinning, then turned to the side. “Hannibal!”

‘What?!’ Donald’s eyes widened, completely shocked by Ramon’s choice.

He didn’t expect Ramon to attack his friend!

Adam shook his head with a smile.

“Haha, you motherfucker!” Hannibal grinned widely and showed his slightly-cracked marble. “The game’s on, bastard!”

“Hahahaha!” Ramon laughed and threw his marble at Hannibal with full force.

Hannibal slapped the marble away and, at the same time, rolled his marble after it with precision. Soon, the two marbles clashed and rolled to the other ends of the table.

However, before those marbles fell off the table, they steered towards the edge and hung there, suspended in mid-air. It was as if those were held back by an invisible power.

Then, as if the marbles were magnets, they suddenly moved towards each other and collided in a loud crash.

Numbers appeared on the marbles.

Ramon’s score was 19.

Hannibal’s score was 4.

It was a crushing victory.

Smack!

Hannibal’s head snapped to the side, and he fell off the chair. He landed sideways on the ground, one cheek stinging in pain and a taste of blood filling his mouth.

The chair fell after him and fell over his legs with a silent thud.

Crack—Hannibal’s marble cracked, and now it looked like a spiderweb of destruction. It was just an inch away from shattering into a million pieces.

“Damn it…” Hannibal stood back up, cursing under his breath. He then didn’t bother picking up the chair and instead leaned on the table, planning to stand instead. “Well, attack me if you dare!”

‘He is now at the breaking point, and getting rid of him should be the wise thing to do.’ Donald thought to himself.

‘We could either try to finish him off or try to get another to breaking point.’ Adam rubbed his chin, but since the one at the breaking point was Hannibal, he had an idea.

The four picked up their marbles again and rolled them to the center of the table. Soon, the numbers again appeared.

Ramon’s score was 4.

Hannibal’s score was 9.

Donald’s score was 11.

Adam’s score was 10.

‘The decision lays in my hands!’ Donald bit his finger nervously.

‘Should I attack Hannibal? I could also go for Ramon and Adam, try to get them to the breaking point. However, then I would most likely get attacked next round.

‘If I win against Ramon, then if Adam gets attacker, he will try to push me to the breaking point. If I lose against Ramon, I will be at breaking point, but then Ramon and Adam will probably battle each other.

‘I might be off the radar unless Hannibal goes after me. I now have an advantage, and I should go for Hannibal. That’s the best solution to ensure my victory.

‘I don’t want to battle either Hannibal, Ramon, or Adam individually. If Hannibal is gone, it will be us three at the exact same point. They might treat each other as the bigger threat while ignoring me…’

At that moment, Donald’s eyes widened as he remembered one rule that he had completely forgotten so far. The skip rule!

‘Will Hannibal choose to skip? That would make my turn completely useless!’

Donald gulped, realizing that attacking Hannibal wasn’t a good choice after all. He then glanced between Ramon and Adam, biting his finger nervously.

‘Who shall I attack?’

Adam rolled the marble in his hand, keeping his attention solely on the marble.

Ramon crossed his arms and glared at Donald with deadly intensity.

Donald gulped and said, “I’ll attack Adam!”

“Good choice.” Ramon said coldly, then grinned widely.

Adam didn’t react at all and continued rolling the marble in his hand. He ignored all the glances from the watching players and the fellow contestants.

He then closed his eyes softly and hummed a song inside his mind as he was thinking about his next move. Humming and listening to songs always calmed him down and helped him to think.

“Let’s roll.” Donald said impatiently.

“Hmm…” Adam softly opened his eyes, revealing his navy-blue eyes. They looked deep, making the rest of his face look more mysterious and handsome.

“Three…” As Donald started the countdown, he suddenly heard a voice.

“I’ll skip,” Adam said, shocking all the contestants and causing the game to come to a halt.

“What?!” Donald exclaimed. ‘Why did he do that? He wasted his only skip. If he reaches the breaking point, he’ll definitely be targeted first. Why did he do that?!’

“Donald, your turn’s over,” Ramon said, picking up his marble. “Let’s roll again.”

Adam picked up his marble; the others already had their marbles in their hands. They then rolled them across the table, watching as they spun and collided with each other.

Numbers appeared on them.