Levin froze mid-bite, clutching his half-eaten chicken, every muscle primed as if it might explode.
His will to chomp evaporated instantly.
"Huh? What? Are you sure it's safe?" he stammered.
"Yup, totally safe!" Lyra chirped, practically vibrating with chaotic energy.
"Excuse me?! Permission first?!" I barked. "AND how do you even know it's safe?!"
"I don't need permission~" Lyra said sweetly and casually yeeted me into Levin's chest.
Levin caught me with the enthusiasm of a man handed a live grenade.
"So, uh... how do I even do this?" he asked, nervously fumbling me like a dropped hot potato before finally clutching me tight, sweat already pooling like a nervous waterfall.
"Should I inject mana? Imagine something?"
"HEY! DON'T TOSS ME AROUND LIKE THAT!" I screamed, flailing helplessly.
"No don't use mana, just throw it casually first," Kevin cut in, voice deadpan, clearly ignoring my plea.
His eyes were practically sparkling with excitement.
"I'm curious too."
"O-Okay," Levin said, his throat making a weird squeak halfway through the word.
Then he gently chucked me into the dirt.
[3]
Silence.
The fire crackled.
Somewhere, a lone cricket started chirping.
Nothing happened.
Lyra squinted down at me, hands on hips, eyes narrowed with cold authority of an evil overlord inspecting her minions.
"Hmm... maybe he's broken without mana flow."
"HELLO?!" I shouted. "I am a living being! I have a soul! I have feelings! I demand justice! Human rights! DICE rights!"
"I REPEAT! DICE RIGHTS!"
"Shut up," Lyra said brightly, already scooping me up as if I were a misbehaving plush toy.
"Don't be dramatic. It's for magical studies! Knowledge demands sacrifices~"
Then she yeeted me right back into Levin's arms.
Levin juggled me for a second before clutching me tight—his forehead already glistening with sweat.
"So this time... inject mana, right?" he asked, voice trembling slightly.
"And, uh... what should I imagine?"
Kevin leaned forward slightly, practically sliding closer to Levin, determined to snag the best front-row seat.
"Honestly? I don't know." Kevin admitted, eyes narrowing, tracking the moment with the focus of a man witnessing a science experiment unfold.
"Just... think about something. Anything," he said, voice a little too casual to be trusted. "The point is to trigger a reaction."
"Anything...?" Levin echoed, the words barely holding together, strained with the weight of a wish he wasn't sure he deserved.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his entire face scrunching up in concentration.
Mana flickered from his palm into my dice-body. A faint, shivery glow threading its way into me.
I felt it immediately a weird tickle, like someone poured soda into my brain.
Levin, bless his panicking soul, rolled me into the dirt again.
Thud.
[2]
The dice greedily slurped a tiny sip of mana from me.
And this time...
It didn't swallow me whole like before.
It brushed past me instead, the sensation no different from dipping a hand into a raging river without getting dragged under. Hard to explain but I could still feel it: that strange, half-formed something stirring inside the magic.
The mana was bending, twisting, reaching for something, but this time, I stayed awake.
I was still me.
And I could feel it.
Building into something very stupid.
Which, of course, made me become very, very nervous.
A sudden POP echoed through the camp.
Everyone blinked.
Then, without warning.
Pfffft~~
A giant puff of bright pink smoke exploded around Levin's face.
When it cleared...
Levin stood there.
His hair.
Gone.
Vanished without a trace.
Utterly bald.
Shining so bright, even polished marble looked pale in comparison.
I swear I could see the moon reflecting off his head.
Maybe even some constellations...
Another silence.
The fire crackled.
Somewhere, a single leaf floated down from a tree, like it, too, was mourning his scalp.
I made a small, helpless sound from the ground.
Somewhere between a gasp and a wheeze.
I wanted to laugh.
I needed to laugh.
But I couldn't.
Because Idid that to him.
Even if it was technically his fault.
And then...
Lyra exploded.
"BAHAHAHAHA—!!"
She doubled over, gasping, shrieking, practically dying on the spot, clutching her stomach and kicking the dirt.
Even Kevin, stoic, unshakeable Kevin, coughed into his hand, a sound that suspiciously resembled a laugh.
Their laughter infected me instantly.
I tried to resist.
I failed.
I snapped.
"BUAHAHAHAHA AKWOAKWOAKOWKA!!"
I rolled left and right, literally bouncing across the dirt like an out-of-control pinball.
Levin stared at us, wide-eyed, clueless.
"Huh? Why are you laughing? WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?!"
He looked genuinely concerned.
Which only made it worse.
Lyra shrieked louder, flailing helplessly, kicking her legs in the air.
Kevin gave up entirely and bent double, wheezing so hard he sounded no different from a chronic asthma patient.
The laughter hit critical mass.
Even Levin the poor sweet soul, beautiful, tragic Levin, started laughing too, swept up in the chaos.
"HA HA HA HA—WHY ARE WE LAUGHING?! HA HA HA HA I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT'S FUNNY!!" he wailed.
Lyra collapsed fully onto the grass, tears streaming down her cheeks.
I rolled even harder.
Kevin was practically gasping for air.
Fifteen minutes later, when the universe finally showed us mercy.
The laughter slowed to miserable, hiccupping breaths.
The clearing echoed with unholy giggles.
Even the crickets gave up.
Finally...
The storm passed.
Mostly.
Levin dropped to his knees, still laughing but also crying at the same time, hands clutched around his smooth, shining head as if he'd just lost a kingdom.
His voice cracked.
"I was... I was gonna look so cool for my first adventure..." he whispered.
Utterly broken.
Somewhere inside me, a tiny dice spirit saluted him.
Levin the Fallen Hero.
Gone, but not forgotten.
(Also very bald.)
Kevin finally wiped the tears from his eyes, still snorting.
When the laughter barely died down, Lyra wiped her cheeks and leaned in, grinning like a goblin.
"So, Levin..." she wheezed. "What were you even imagining when you rolled Dan?"
Levin, still kneeling in the grass, the picture of a fallen emperor, sniffled pitifully.
"...Egg," he muttered.
Dead silence.
"Egg?!" Lyra shrieked, immediately dissolving into giggles again.
"Yeah," Levin mumbled, wiping his nose. "I caught chickens earlier. Chicken, egg... same thing, right?"
Lyra flopped onto the ground again, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.
Even Kevin had to turn away, shoulders shaking violently.
I swear, these two had zero conscience between them...
I somehow managed to hold my composure. Barely.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I genuinely feel sorry for you, even though, let's be real, you did this to yourself," I said, trying very hard to sound serious.
"And listen, I can't exactly march into battle with a walking, talking egg by my side.
"So how about you roll me again?"
"Just... picture your hair coming back."
"It's worth a shot."
"Come on, buddy. I can't be seen out there saving the world next to a giant, sentient eggplant."
Levin blinked up at me, his shiny scalp practically glowing harder under the moonlight.
A tiny spark of hope flickered in his eyes.
Seriously, I deserve a medal for this.
That combination, hopeful eyes and a moonlit bald head was dangerously devastating.
Any more of that, and I'd end up second only to Lyra in emotional damage received.
He dusted himself off, scooped me up with the intensity of a man gripping his final hope.
Mana flickered nervously from his palm into my dice-body. Tiny, uneven sparks twitching between his fingers, jittering with the energy of nervous fireflies.
I braced myself.
Levin tossed me down.
[4]
My dice body struck the ground with a sharp clack.
After a moment.
A pulse.
A flare.
The dice lit up like a miniature sun, blinding and wild.
I felt it immediately.
Not a sip this time.
The dice ripped mana from me—yanked it with the hunger of a starving beast—then clawed out a thick, shimmering thread of mana straight from Levin's chest.
It was visible.
A glowing strand, stretched between us, bending and whipping as if someone frantically slurping up a noodle.
Levin staggered back, clutching his chest, a sharp breath tearing from his lungs as the color drained from his face.
After a few breaths.
A massive POP—
A tidal wave of bright pink smoke exploded outward, rippling through the camp like a shockwave.
The smoke swallowed everything, the fire, the trees, even the stars overhead—until the world became nothing but glittering pink haze.
When the smoke finally cleared.
We saw him.
Levin stood in the middle of the clearing, dazed, blinking under the moonlight.
His hair wasn't just back, it was evolving into its final form.
And then, it collapsed.
A majestic rise, followed by a waterfall-level downfall that could shame a whole river.
Silky waves tumbled around his shoulders, catching the firelight in threads of spun gold.
Every breeze made it flutter dramatically, like he was shooting a commercial for the legendary Goddess's Favorite Hairline.
We all just stared.
Levin gasped and grabbed at his head, his fingers shaking as they ran through the glorious, flowing locks.
His lips quivered.
"It...it worked...!" he choked out, eyes widened, voice trembling with pure emotion.
He wobbled.
Sprinted straight toward me as if possessed.
I didn't even have time to roll away.
He scooped me up, clutched me to his chest, and—
Smooch.
He kissed me.
I swear he smelled like chicken.
"HEY! WHY ARE YOU KISSING ME?!" I yelled, squirming.
"I'm just so glad you brought my hair back! I owe you my life for this!" Levin cried, clutching me like a sacred relic.
Well, to be fair, the man had just been bald.
If I were in his shoes, I might've done the same...
I almost forgave him.
Right up until the chicken smell hit me again.
Ughh...
Lyra froze mid-laugh, then pointed at us and screamed,
"EW! You're married now!!"
Kevin finally sighed, wiping his face with the weariness of a man babysitting kindergarteners.
"Alright, enough, if you two are done with the honeymoon phase," he said, half-grinning.
"Focus. From what we've seen, it looks like the dice number affects the mana cost somehow."
He turned to Levin.
"For that [4]roll... how much mana do you think it used?"
Levin hesitated, still gripping me with both hands, then said,
"I'm not totally sure... but it felt like around twenty or thirty percent? It took so much more than the first roll."
"We've gotta try a few more times," Kevin said.
"The number definitely affects the mana cost, and your thoughts shape the outcome but whether it's a blessing or a curse? No clue yet. We're just rolling and praying at this point."
"Great, my turn to play!" Lyra announced, snatching me right out of Levin's hands.
"HEY! I'm not a toy!" I barked uselessly.
She ignored me completely, flashing that mischievous, terrifying smile as she surged her mana into me. It's warm, wild, and crackling with barely contained excitement.
Then she tossed me casually into the air.
I spun high, catching the firelight, until it looked like a tiny burning star.
It tumbled once, twice, before landing with a soft, almost reverent tap.
[3]
The air shifted.
A spray of shimmering lights erupted from me, scattering into the sky like silver butterflies set loose.
The sparks twisted upward, catching the breeze, trailing faint ribbons of gold and silver that spiraled lazily above our heads—quiet and gentle, not loud or violent, but peaceful in the kind of way that steals your breath without trying.
It's beautiful.
We stayed still, heads tilted back, breath held somewhere between awe and disbelief, unsure whether to speak or just keep watching.
Even the fire seemed to hush, its crackle dimming in the presence of something greater.
For a long, weightless moment, we weren't adventurers or trainees or mages.We were just people, standing still beneath the stars, watching magic dance quietly across the sky.
The lights floated higher, slower, before finally fading into the stars, finding their rightful place, as if they'd been meant to be there all along.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
It was the kind of silence that stitched people together.
Just a shared, silent moment under the open sky.
A sense of peace.
A spark of belonging.
It felt like everything might actually be okay.
We would always be together.
As if nothing could ever tear us apart.
If this is what adventuring feels like… yeah, it's not the grand, heroic journey I used to dream about as a kid. But maybe being a dice isn't the worst kind of afterlife.
I mean, look at me. I've got these weird friends, our story's completely ridiculous in the best way possible, and here I am… actually smiling. Laughing.
Happy.
And then Lyra looked at me.
Right at me.
As if she'd heard everything I didn't say out loud.
And she smiled...soft and certain, carrying the quiet answer I hadn't dared to speak.
Was she feeling the same way too?
She didn't need to say anything. Her smile said enough.
And in that moment, I wasn't just a dice. I was part of something.